LATEST UPDATE:
C-R-O-S-S F-I-R-E-! Enyimba’ll dent Dolphins’ record –Udoh
2014 FEDERATION CUP FINAL:
No way! We can’t lose in final – Eduok
BY EMMA NJOKU
Nigeria’s latest all-time goal king, Mfon Udoh, has sensationally declared that Enyimba International Football Club of Aba would retain the Federation Cup trophy it won last year after tomorrow’s final against Dolphins Football Club of Port Harcourt inside the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Surulere, Lagos.
Dolphins has won the trophy in all its four previous finals but Udoh said tomorrow’s encounter will be a different ball game.
“Last year I was with Akwa United and we lost to Warri Wolves in the semi-final of the Federation in Bauchi. It was such a painful loss. But I’m happy that my present team, Enyimba is in the final of the competition this year after winning the trophy last year” Enyimba’s Udoh began in a recent chat in Port Harcourt.
“My fans should expect a more spectacular Mfon Udoh on the day of the Federation Cup final. By the grace of God, I hope to give them what they want. They would get value for their money because I’m going to thrill them with beautiful football” he added.
Reminded that Dolphins FC has won the trophy four times and has never lost in the final of the competition while Enyimba has played in four previous finals; won twice and lost two, the prolific striker who scored 21 goals in the just concluded Glo Premier League season to set a new national record retorted:
“Well, records are set and records are broken. Without sounding immodest, Jude Aneke set a record of 20 goals in the Nigeria League three years ago, today the record has been broken; Dolphins has set a record of winning the Federation Cup four times and has never lost in the final; that record can still be broken.
“We (Enyimba) can be the first team to beat Dolphins in the Federation Cup final and that way we would set a new record. So records are set and records are broken. With our current form, I believe that we can overcome Dolphins in the Federation Cup final. We’re going to play the match with our shoulders up as the defending champion. We’re going out there to retain our trophy, so we’re not going to give Dolphins any chance at all.
“We were chasing both the league title as well as the Federation Cup; unfortunately we lost the league title and right now we’re left with the Federation Cup as the only trophy to show for our effort in the season and we’re not going to let it slip away. We’re going to do everything within our limits to make sure that we retain the trophy.
Asked to what extent he and his teammates were motivated to win the Federation Cup trophy, Udoh said:
“We’re relying on self motivation. We’re playing for ourselves, for our pride. We’re playing to boost our individual profiles. The problem of funds is not peculiar to Nigerian League; in fact, Nigerian League is not that bad, at least we’re earning our monthly salaries. So that’s not really a problem.
“Dolphins are a big side and Enyimba is also a big side. So when two elephants meet, the grass suffers. We’re talking about a cup final; a case of winner takes all, so we’re going to see a highly explosive match.
Udoh who has scored two goals on the road to tomorrow’s final is confident that he would score in tomorrow’s epic final against Dolphins.
“I’ve scored just two goals in this year’s Federation Cup so far, and a total of 23 goals in all competitions this season. But I look forward to scoring two goals in the final of the Federation Cup” he predicted.
On the extent to which Enyimba would rely on goalkeeper Chijioke Ejiogu whose specialty in stopping penalties is legendary, particularly, in the Federation Cup competition, Udoh remarked thus:
“Yes, it’s true that a team could rely on a particular player to win its matches; but you cannot really rely on a goalkeeper because we, the attackers, have to do our best to score goals.
The job of a goalkeeper is to help defend the goals. So we have to put the team in front by scoring the goals and then make the defenders and goalkeeper work by defending the goals.
So I think the presence of Chijioke Ejiogu in our team is big boost for Enyimba because his experience would count a lot having won the trophy many times and having been in the final of the competition many times.
He’s a lucky one because he has not lost in the final of the Federation Cup. Just as Dolphins have not lost in the final of the competition; at least we can boast of a history maker in our team too in the person of Ejiogu.
But in a swift counter, his Dolphins’ counterpart, Emem Eduok, vowed that his team will maintain its one hundred per cent record in the Federation Cup final match.
He said Enyimba will bite the dust like all other teams that met Dolphins in the team’s four previous final appearances in the Federation Cup competition.
“Before we started the Federation Cup competition, I tasked myself that I was going to win the trophy for Dolphins. So I started playing out my heart from Day One and I gave everything for us to reach the final” Eduok revealed.
“I cannot afford to lose the trophy no matter the opposition in the final; and I have no apologies to anyone that thinks otherwise. Having reached the final, I have to win the trophy for Dolphins” Emem vowed.
“It’s interesting to hear that Dolphins have never lost in the final of the Federation Cup. It shows that there’s something about Dolphins as a club. However, I’ve personally made up my mind to win the trophy for my team and I’ll do everything to achieve that feat. Enyimba is a good side no doubt, quite formidable, but I believe that we have what it takes to defeat them. And I know that the God that has always done it for Dolphins, will do it again” Eduok concluded.
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