Sports
My Career Was Inspired By Pele’s Prophecy – Owolabi …He’s The Greatest Of All Time
Former international, Felix Owolabi, has expressed gratitude to the late Brazilian legend, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, popularly known as Pele, whom he said inspired him in his illustrious football career.
Pele passed on at the age of 82 on December 29, after a long battle with cancer at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo. The late Brazilian icon remains the only player to have won the World Cup on three occasions.
Speaking to Tidesport source on Monday, Owolabi said the coming of Pele to Nigeria in 1977 was a blessing in disguise. To him, that visit was something that would linger in his memory forever, adding that the words he spoke concerning his football career made him an household name in Nigerian football.
“Pele’s visit to Nigeria was divine; divine in the sense that he prophesied into my life and it came to pass. I was playing for Raccah Rovers of Kano then and I can remember vividly when he was asked whether the team he played with had potential.
“His answer at that time was that he saw me as a potential for the nation. I remember he came to Nigeria with the Cruisero Football Club of Brazil in 1977. The team played against Shooting Stars, Raccah Rovers and the National Team. Pele himself played for and against the teams in each half.
“But that statement he made concerning me, which was captured on the pages of all the national dailies inspired me to get me to where I am today. I later followed his career and even bought his book. He was my role model because he was complete gentleman.
“Pele was also a ‘bulldozer’ on the pitch and a moving train. He possessed very good qualities and he mesmerised and passed through defenders at will. I watched Pele score many goals with bicycle kicks.
“The number 10 jersey was his exclusive reserve and today the jersey is regarded as a jersey for special players whose i nfluence on the field cannot be underestimated. His popularity cut across the length and breadth of the globe. He was a great player of repute, who commanded fame and popularity,” he said.
The former manager of IICC Shooting Stars, while commenting on the issue of who the greatest footballer of all time is, Owolabi said: “We should not for any reason and on any platform compare Lionel Messi and Maradona with Pele at all. Pele is the greatest footballer of this century.”
Former Nigeria goalkeeper, Dosu Joseph, is full of thanks to God after he miraculously survived another life-threatening automobile accident recent at Kara, along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, where a heavy-duty truck ran into his SUV.
Narrating his ordeal, the 51-year-old, who guided Nigeria to gold in the Men’s Football Tournament of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, broke the news in a statement on his social media handles on Friday.
“To God be the glory, another death escaped by Grace and Mercy of God. Me and my friend SM were at Enyo Filling Station after Ojodu Berger bus stop to get fuel on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, around 6 p.m. when this MACK truck fully loaded with iron, with registration number LND 470 XX, left the road and crushed my car beyond repairs. Thank God for life,” he stated.
This is the second time the soft-spoken club proprietor will cheat death by a whisker, having been involved in an accident in 1997 that ended his career at 23 and left his spinal cord in bad shape.
He helped Julius Berger win the Nigeria FA Cup in November 1997 shortly a memorable Olympic outing by keeping a clean sheet in the finals against Katsina United. The following year, he was involved in the auto along Ikorodu Road, Lagos, which not only cut his career short but also left him almost paralysed, ending his spell at Serie A club Reggiana.
The former Nigeria international, who also kept goal for Julius Berger FC, said the case has been reported to Isheri Police Station, Ogun State, where the driver is currently detained and the truck also seized.
According to him, the owner of the truck said he can’t fix the badly damaged SUV until after a year.
Ex – Super Eagles of Nigeria, Okwuchukwu Waobikeze has observed that sports development in Nigeria is going down.
According to him, grassroots sports is very important, without it, the administrators cannot get it right. So everybody should key into grassroots sports development, he said.
Waobikeze said this last Wednesday in an interview with sports journalists shortly after the Port Harcourt All Stars Independence football festival (OCTOBERFEST) at the Port Harcourt club, Rivers State.
He explained that for sports administrators to get it right, grassroots development is key. “They should be organising competition at the grassroots level to fish out the young ones for different sporting activities.
“Grassroots sports is very important so the administrators have to go back to the grassroots.
” Sports Development in Nigeria is going down we need to go back to the basics.
“Look at the just concluded Paris Olympics, Nigeria did not win any medal.
” Our football team did not even qualify for the Olympics. We are going down.
” If they should go back to the grassroots, they will get young ones in the games and talents will be developed.
” I started from school games, to youth games before playing for the national team. Now everybody wants to fly board to play professional football and a lot do not know the basics of the game.
” A lot of people did not know the little things about the game, they just want to play. It is not done so,” Waobikeze stated.
Kiadum Edookor
The President of Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Ibrahim Gusau, has decried the state of playing pitches in Nigeria yesterday saying only one stadium can host grade A matches in the country.
The NFF President, who spoke yesterday shortly after accompanying Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State to inspect ongoing total rehabilitation work at the Aper Aku Stadium in Makurdi, expressed delight over the standard of work being done by the contractor.
He commended Governor Alia for undertaking the total rehabilitation of the stadium noting “I am very impressed with what am seeing on ground.
“You all know that for now, you can play grade A match, which is Super Eagles matches in Nigeria only in Uyo stadium. It is becoming a major source of worry for me and other Nigerians that in a country like Nigeria, we have only one stadium where we can play grade A matches.
“So when I heard that the Governor has awarded contract for the upgrade of facilities at the Aper Aku Stadium, I hurriedly came to talk to him to see the extent to which we can come in to assist and I must confirm that I am really happy with what I have seen on ground.
“We have our Technical Director here who will be working hand in hand with the contractors to ensure that everything is done correctly so that in the nearest future, we can have an alternative stadium for Super Eagles matches and that alternative should be Makurdi.
“With the commitment of the governor I know it is going to be possible and by the grace of God, we will do everything to support him to achieve the dream.
On his drive to resusitate grassroot football development, the NFF President said, “part of my campaign promises was to see how we can develop football at the grassroots and part of the process to develop grassroots football is to organise under 15 and the under 17 Governors Cup Competitions and it is not only in Benue State.