Rivers Angels head coach, Edwin Okon has promised fans and lovers of women’s football an entertaining encounter when his team comes up against Bayelsa Queens on Friday evening in the Nigeria Women Premier League (NWPL) Super 4.
The NWPL Super 4 kicks off on Friday afternoon at the Agege Soccer Temple in Lagos with four teams – Rivers Angels, Bayelsa Queens, Confluence Queens and Adamawa Queens all going for the NWPL league title.
“The Super 4 is a competition to round off the year and the four teams that qualified are all very good teams with no one being a push over. As a coach of a leading team in this country, I expect very good fight for all the teams,” Okon said on the end of the season tournament.
For the match against Bayelsa Queens he declared it “a final before the final.” Adding that “it is going to be a very good and entertaining match to make people know that the Nigeria Women’s Football League has come of age.
“For you to qualify for the AITEO Cup knockout stages, Super 4 and the likes; it’s not a joke and that is to tell you that there are a lot of players in the country who can deliver the country whenever they are called upon,” he asserted.
Coming into the Super 4, Rivers Angels haven’t had it easy with key players like Alice Ogebe leaving for Spain during the course of the NWPL season. Speaking on how that has affected the team’s campaign so far Okon said “naturally it will affect the team as it reduces the squad size and we can’t stop them from making these moves because it is their career. At the same time we can’t be complaining about that. We must look up other players to fill the gap and even do better.
“Even as I’m talking to you now there are two or three players who could leave in a few days all things being equal. But we must remind those on ground that they have to sit up and deliver the goods.
In addition to losing key players, the Port-Harcourt based team travelled down to Lagos by road all night arriving Lagos between 12 midnight and 1am on Thursday morning. They then proceeded to train at around 11am later that morning.
“The road is something else and we haven’t rested,” Okon said on the travelling conditions. “We just decided to take 20 – 30 minutes to train a bit but the important thing is that we are here now and no one is going to take excuses from us,” he added.
The 2019 NWPL Super 4 kicks off with two games on Friday afternoon. Adamawa Queens Vs Confluence Queens at 2pm while Rivers Angels take on defending champions later in the day at 4pm. All matches will be played at the Agege Soccer Temple.
