Why we lost President Federation Cup – Abia Warriors coach

Abia Warriors Coach, Bethel Orji, said his team’s 0-2 loss to El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri in Saturday’s finals of the President Federation Cup was due to fatigue.

Orji said this in an interview on the sidelines of their defeat in the finals of the oldest Cup competition in Nigeria, played at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Lagos.

The two-time winners of the old FA Cup, Desert Warriors, defeated the Aba Landlords courtesy of a Nasiru Salihu’s brace.

Salihu scored in the 32nd minute of the first half and in the 69th minute of the action-packed finals played in front of boisterous football fans.

Orji, however, said that fatigue and loss of possession were largely responsible for their loss in the encounter.

“The final was game of the Warriors in which one must emerge as champion. We were unfortunate that things did not go our way especially in the first half.

“Our footings were wrong and so was our possession, so we paid dearly for that. We had a rather bad game not because El-Kanemi watched our clips, we did not get it right.

“It may be because the players were carried away with the atmosphere of playing in the finals, but also we did not play to our optimum,” he said.

On the preparations towards the finals, Orji also said that his players did not have enough rest before Saturday’s finals.

“In the past one month, we have been on the road playing our league matches and trying to survive relegation, and also playing the FA Cup.

“Thank God that we survived relegation to the 10th position to face the FA Cup, but towards the final we had a terrible journey around the country.

“We traveled to Gombe to honour our last league match then traveled to Abuja thinking that the finals will be played there.

“We were shocked to be told that the finals would now be played in Lagos; so, we had to travel to Lagos on Wednesday night.

“Truly fatigue had set in because for the past four weeks it has been terrible and unfortunate and today we didn’t get a goal,” he said.

Also, the coach of El-Kanemi Warriors, Ali Zubair, said that the youthfulness of his team played a determining role in winning the match.

“I demanded for a group of young talents, ready for success to make a name for themselves.

“My intentions of gathering younger players to prosecute the season turned out to be positive.

“Because the team is young, the players have more perseverance and resilience to keep pushing no matter the odds.

“Although it was not easy, I knew that because of their age advantage they will do well,” he said.

Abia Warriors had defeated Ilaji FC from Oyo 4-2 in the Round of 64 of the competition.

The Aba Landlords also defeated Sporting Supreme of Abuja 1-0 in the Round of 32 and Kwara United FC 4-3 on penalties after the match had ended 1-1 in regulation time.

The team also defeated Sokoto United 5-4 on penalties, after their match ended one goal apiece in regulation time en route the finals.

The semi-finals of the 2024 President Federation Cup between Kano Pillars and Abia Warriors was also decided through penalties.

Abia Warriors won 4-3 after the match ended without a goal in the regulation time.

The three-time winners, El-Kanemi Warriors, also defeated Adamimogo FC from Ondo State 2-0 in the Round of 64.

In the Round of 32, the Desert Warriors walked over Gombe United FC, who failed to honour the match, while they defeated hard fighting Shooting Stars of Ibadan 1-0 in the Round of 16.

In the quarter-finals, the Ali Zubair tutored team beat NNL side, Inter Lagos FC, 2-1 and then wrapped up their semi- finals by beating Kano Pillars 4-3 on penalties.

2024 President Federation Cup win: ‘Trophiless coach’ jinx broken – Ogbonda

Coach Whyte Ogbonda of Rivers Angels says winning the the 2024 President Federation Cup on Saturday has finally broken the jinx about him as a ‘trophiless’ manager.

Ogbonda, who was excited with the win, made this known in an interview on the sidelines of his side, Rivers Angels, winning the oldest cup competition played at the iconic Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, Lagos.

Rivers Angels were crowned 2024 President Federation Cup winners after a slim 1-0 win over Naija Ratels.

The lone goal was scored by Rivers Angels’ Blessing Okpe through a spot kick just before half-time when a Naija Ratels defender was penalised for handling the ball inside the box.

Heading to the 2024 finals, Rivers Angels FC coach, Ogbonda has appeared in two previous FA Cup finals in 2017 and 2018.

Ogbonda said that by winning the 2024 edition after missing the two previous finals, he was proud to be counted among the cup-winning managers in Nigeria.

“This is my third appearance at the finals of the women’s category of the FA Cup. First was in 2017 when I was the coach of Ibom Angels when I lost to same team I am coaching today, Rivers Angels in Jos.

”My second appearance was in 2018 in the finals in Yenagoa when I lost to the same team.

”What happened then is that we have lots of inexperienced players in the team, but who are ready to give their best.

”What changed between the previous team and this is that Rivers United have the blend of experience players and gifted players; these qualities earned us the trophy.

”We are happy with the win regardless, the penalty call was right and it is there in the public space because, Naija Ratels player handled the ball in the box,” he said.

Ogbonda also said that the President Federation Cup win would have atoned for their Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) loss in Bayelsa.

”I want to say a big thank you to the press because we have been tipped to win the cup before the match was played and this put us under more pressure.

”We need to impress and not disappoint Nigerians who have been rooting for us. The match against Naija Ratels was not an easy one, because we started with 32 teams.

”I wasn’t expecting an easy match at all, but we needed to get our hands on one trophy this season having lost the NWFL by one point in Yenagoa. So we are more determined.

”We thank the Governor of River State for his support, he told us before the finals that we should go ahead to win the cup that will change our lives.

”We have won the cup and I know that my life has changed,” he said.

The Captain of Rivers Angels, Okpe, who also won the `Most Valuable Player’ award, told NAN that the team were more concerned to win the FA Cup.

”We are more pressed to win this trophy because back home the expectations are high.

”We went to the finals with the mind not to underrate our opponent, as the coach told us that any team that survived 32 others will be tough.

”We approached the match as if we are playing against the FC Barcelona Femene; and there was tension and adrenaline before we eventually won the match,” she said.

How Salihu’s brace earned El-Kanemi Warriors 2024 President Federation Cup

A brace by Nasiru Salihu on Saturday earned resilient El-kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri a win against Abia Warriors in the finals of the 2024 President Federation Cup.

The win was the third in the finals of the oldest cup competition in Nigeria for the Maiduguri-based team.

Salihu scored in the 32nd minute of the first half and completed his brace in the 69th minute of the action-packed finals played at the iconic Mobolaji Johnson Arena.

The final match, tagged ‘homecoming’ by the organisers, attracted important dignitaries in the sports industry.

The dignitaries at the finals included the deputy governor of Borno State, Umar Usman Kadafur, Minister of Sports Development, John Owan-Enoh and former Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Chairman, Amaju Pinnick.

The Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC) Chairman, Lekan Fatodu and Lagos State Football Association Chairman (LSFA) Liameed Gafaar, were also among other dignitaries who watched the final match.

The encounter, also tagged “Battle of the Warriors”, had the Desert Warriors in the driver’s seat, as Salihu’s brace got the better of Abia Warriors, when he coolly finished off his his brace in the 69th minute.

The El-kanemi goal poacher, who had been terrorising the Abia Warriors defense, had barely completed his brace when some pitch invaders escaped the barricade to celebrate the second goal.

They were, however, whisked away by the security personnel at the Arena.

The match winner, Salihu, in an interview after the match, said that the team did their home work before Saturday’s encounter in Lagos.

“We relied on our own strategy because, on paper Abia Warriors seems to be ahead of us, but that is not our worry at all.

“We kept our cool and worked on the strategy to beat them, not minding their status as Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) side,” he said.

El-kanemi Warriors won the cup in 1991 and 1992.

The Desert Warriors had defeated their northern clubside Kano Pillars 3-2 in 1991 to take home the cup for the first time.

They also defended the cup with a 2-0 win over Stationery Stores in 1992 and won with the same scoreline against Abia Warriors 32 years after in 2024.