By Femi Atolagbe
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Sunshine Queens Head Coach, Oladimeji Abimbola has described the just concluded Sheroes pre-Season competition as an eye opener and a blessing to his team.
He said the pre-season competition afforded his coaching crew the ability to completely assess the players capabilities.
The elated Coach, however, thanked the management of the team for the opportunity to participate in the tourney.
Abimbola stated this after his side defeated the Dannaz Ladies 2 -1 to coast home a bronze medal of the competition.
He disclosed that the mission to the tourney was achieved, saying his crew has been able to pick the best from about 35 players they took to Abuja for the pre-season tournament.
He added that they were able to know which of the departments they will need to fortify with more quality and experienced legs.
According to him, “I have said it before that the competition is not about winning at all cost, but a means to build our new team.
“Our aim was to give all the 35 players equal opportunity to exhibit their skills which was perfectly accomplished.”
“If we had approached the competition with the eyes in the final, we won’t lose our first and second matches against Naija Ratels and Edo Queens, because we will play the game with relatively known players, but we want to see all the players, so we ensured all of them has equal opportunities.”
“We lost the first two matches because majority of the young players were jittery, but as a coach, we encouraged them, that it’s not about the results, but what they can do together as a team, that was why they were able to come from 2-0 down and drew against Honey Badgers in their third match and also won their last two matches against Ekiti Queens and Dannaz Ladies FC.”
“We are not going to be moved by the accolades we received from the organisers of the competition and other football stakeholders.
“We will remain focus on the task ahead by ensuring that we do the right thing at the right time.”
According to coach Abimbola, “If the league kicks off today, we are good to go, saying the door has not been closed towards getting three or four experienced players injected into the team as a motivator to the young players.
“Our games at the pre -season were the reference point, we were tagged the most youngest, entertaining and tactical side, but that to me doesn’t translate to winning without scoring goals, in as much that we are going to keep our game to our chest, we are saying it loud and clear that we still need to fortify the team with experienced and more skillful players.”
“We can’t pretend as if we do not know that we are in a very tough group in the Nigeria Women Football League slated to kick off next month, but when it finally starts, the results will speak for each team.”
He sought more support from the club’s supporters, saying they should be expecting the best from his team this season.
