Two grass-roots teams, Holy Sons FC and She United will represent Nigeria at the Neymar Jr’s 5-aside tournament in Qatar after they emerged champions at the national finals held in Lagos at the weekend.
Holy Sons won the boys category following a 5-0 demolition of Kaizer Chiefs while She United dominated in the Girls’ final with the same scoreline over Gasfast FC.
Speaking after the game, Holy sons FC, Tomisin Alasiri said: “We’ve been coming to the competition since 2018. In 2019, we lost in the finals, 2021 we went out in the quarter-finals. So, this was third time lucky for us and we hope to do our best in Qatar.”
An excited She United Captain, Olasubomi Ogundele said: “I feel good about this and it has been a result of hardwork , determination and discipline. It was a tough one and we feel good that we won and we are grateful that female football is getting more attention than it used to.”
The unique competition format deployed by the organisers Redbull saw a player go off immediately a goal was scored and a well-designed goalpost was hailed by the Executive Chairman, Lagos State Sports Commission, Sola Ayepekun.
“I like the innovation of the goalpost because it forces people to attack and not defend. This will make them more alert. The exposure will be good for many of the players and if they can overcome stage fright and do their best, who knows what might happen? These types of things are platforms to expose their talents and skills,” he said.
