25th April, 2015
Taiwo Adelu
Government Secondary School, Imo and Government Model School, Bida, Niger will lock horns at the final of the second edition of the Etisalat U-15 School Cup which holds Saturday at the famed Campus Square Mini Stadium, Lagos Island in Lagos.
The two finalists qualified for the final in two separate semi-final matches that were decided via penalty shootouts at the Legacy Pitch, National Stadium on Friday.
The first Semi-final match saw Government Secondary School, Imo defeating Washington Memorial Grammar School, Anambra 4-2 in a tension-soaked match that went into extra time and penalty shootouts, after both teams could not score within 90 minutes of play. While the Anambra boys frittered away four penalties and scored only one, their Imo counterparts converted four spot kicks and missed only one.
The other semi-final match between Winners College, Akure, Ondo and Government Model School, Bida, Niger was however decided on ‘sudden death’ penalty shootouts after both schools had played for 90 minutes and extra time without a goal and also scored their first five penalty shots. The winning school team and their supporters erupted into joy the minute Ondo boys missed their last ‘sudden death’ penalty shot.
Ahead of Saturday’s final, Head, Events & Sponsorships Etisalat Nigeria, Modupe Thani, extolled the talents displayed by the teams and assured football fans of a thrilling final.
Thani said, “So far, these boys have displayed exceptional skills and I know that, they will be firing from all cylinders in the final cracker. We are glad that the Etisalat U-15 School Cup continues to help discover budding talents in football and we can declare unequivocally that, we can feed the Nigeria’s U-17 team with some of these boys.
“We are passionate about the children. This competition is not about winning, because every participating team is a winner. The competition is about building friendship through football and building the moral of the students.”
She added: “The two school teams are battle ready for the final match and we hope to see the best team lift the trophy.”
Over 37 Schools across the country took part in this year’s competition with eight regional teams playing in two groups in the national finals.
Group A comprised of Rimi College, Kaduna; Winners College, Akure, Ondo; Greensprings Secondary School, Lagos and Government Secondary School, Imo while Army Day Secondary School, Sokoto; Washington Memorial Grammar School, Anambra, Asegun High School, Oyo and Government Model School Bida, Niger made up the school teams in Group B.
The winners of the competition will be rewarded with a cash prize of N2 million for the school while players of the winning school team will be given a sum of N50,000 each. The first runners -up school would be awarded N1 million and N30, 000 for each player of its team while N750, 000 will be given to the third placed school and N20, 000 to its players.