Fed Cup: The last four standing

At the Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium Enugu, former champions, Lobi Stars of Makurdi dug deep to produce 2-1 victory over surprise team of the tournament, Akwa Starlet. The Akwa Ibom State team had eliminated former champions, Dolphins of Port-Harcourt in the round of 32. Another former champion, Enyimba FC of Aba also had to hold on […]

At the Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium Enugu, former champions, Lobi Stars of Makurdi dug deep to produce 2-1 victory over surprise team of the tournament, Akwa Starlet. The Akwa Ibom State team had eliminated former champions, Dolphins of Port-Harcourt in the round of 32. Another former champion, Enyimba FC of Aba also had to hold on to Bobby Sokari’s strike in the 55th minute to go past hard fighting Nasarawa United to the semi-final.
At the Ilorin township stadium, Pillars could not survive the claws of Warri Wolves as they were beaten 3-0. And against all odds, Coach Justin Tenger led Akwa United dethroned Heartland 5-4 on penalties after David Tyavkase’s curtain raiser was cancelled out by Ini Akpan in the 64th minute.
Going by the results produced, Lobi Stars will meet Enyimba FC in a match of former champions while Warri Wolves will be up against Akwa United in a match of giant killers. Lobi Stars would be gunning for their second title having won it in 2003 while their opponents, Enyimba will be eying a third having won the prestigious Cup in 2005 and 2009.
Meanwhile, the match between Wolves and Akwa qualifies for match of giant killers because the two clubs dared the odds to eliminate their highly favoured opponents, Kano Pillars and Heartland FC.
Looking at the Federation Cup profile of the clubs, the star fixture is definitely the match between Lobi Stars and Enyimba FC. Although they are currently face to face with relegation, Lobi Stars as former champions and runners up last year wouldn’t want to go down without a fight against Enyimba.
Moreover, the Makurdi based club was denied a second title in 2005 by Enyimba at the Liberation stadium Port-Harcourt where Duke Udi’s heart-breaking miss in the penalty shoot-out that ensued after 1-1 in regulation time handed Enyimba their second title.
Enyimba on their part surrendered the trophy to their next door neighbours Heartland in 2011 and the ‘Naze millionaires’ went on to retain the trophy in 2012 with 2-1 victory over Lobi Stars.
This means there is much to play for by the two clubs as Lobi who were runners up in 2012 would do everything to reach the final again in order to atone for that loss. Enyimba on their part lost twice in the finals in 2010 and 2011 and would want to make amends this year.
Lobi Stars and Home-based Eagles defender Bassey Ezekiel’s has since declared war on Enyimba. He told Shot! that his team will beat the ‘Peoples Elephants’ to book a ticket to the finals.
He said “I am happy that we defeated Akwa Starlets. They proved to be difficult but with experience and determination, we were able to break their resistance.
“Now we are face to face with Enyimba and I tell you this is another big game. We are going to give everything in order to return to Teslim Balogun for the trophy that we failed to win last year”, he said.
Lobi has players like Moses Orkuma, a member of the Flying Eagles squad to the 2013 FIFA U20 World Cup in Turkey, Tony Okpotu, Chimobi Nwaogu, Emmanuel Ajia, Terna Ikpeen, Barnabas Imenger jnr, Esosa Igbinoba and Daniel Okorie to wreck Enyimba.
However, Enyimba is also endowed with match winning players like Ayo Saka, Bobby Sokari, Ukeyima Akombo, Sibi Gwar, Michael Okoyo, Ndubusi Ekwuribe and Bala Mohammed.
The other semi-final fixture features two clubs, Warri Wolves and Akwa United who are yet to make any appearance in the finals of the competition. It is indeed a tight one considering the fact that both clubs edged out formidable opponents to get to the semi-finals. Warri Wolves actually parades Home-based Eagles player Oghenekaro Etebo whose third goal sealed Pillars coffin in the quarter-finals, former junior international, Home-based Eagles defender Azubuike Egwuekwe, Gift Atulewa and Amutu Austin. The boys of veteran coach Solomon Ogbeide would pose a serious threat to Akwa United’s ambition but the Federation Cup experience of Coach Justin Tenger can be a neutralising factor.
It will be recalled that Tenger first won the Cup when it was known as Challenge Cup in 1997 as coach of BCC Lions and also won silver in 2008 with Gombe United when the ‘Desert Scorpions’ lost 7-6 on penalties to Ocean Boys at the Aper Aku township stadium. The former coach of Lobi Stars, Niger Tornadoes and BCC Lions has since said the Federation Cup is his area of speciality so he is not afraid of any foe.
So it is going to be a clash of highly experienced coaches when Warri Wolves battle Akwa United for a place in the finals of this year’s Federation Cup. Although a greater percentage of the match will be played from the bench, Akwa United will look up to quality in Ini Akpan, Amanfor Chimeze, Lucky Nosa, Daniel Etor, Nnamdi Edo, and Femi Thomas for inspiration.
Already the Nigeria Football Federation has fixed August 21 as date for the semi-final matches which it said would be played at the Tafawa Balewa stadium Bauchi and the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium Benin.
The Director of competitions in the NFF, Dr. Sanusi Mohammed told Shot! that Bauchi will host the match between Warri Wolves and Akwa United while Benin would be venue for the other semi-final match between Lobi Stars and Enyimba FC.
As it is, there is no hiding place for any of the four gladiators who are on the slippery road to Teslim Balogun stadium Lagos. What is now left is for them to find the winning formula that would help them surmount the obstacles in their ways.