Team Ogun secured one of the most coveted gold medals at the 22nd National Sports Festival with a commanding 4-1 victory over Team Kwara in the men’s football final, played at a packed MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja on Tuesday.
With Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun and other top dignitaries in attendance, the home side delivered a statement performance, thrilling thousands of fans inside the newly refurbished stadium.
Ogun got off to a flying start, with Ahmed Akinyele heading in a free kick in the sixth minute to ignite early celebrations. Just four minutes later, he doubled the lead with another powerful header—this time from a corner—to complete his brace and put Ogun 2-0 up.
Kwara responded in the 13th minute through Olatunji Yusuf, who calmly slotted past goalkeeper Daniel Sodje after a well-worked move to make it 2-1.
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The visitors nearly found an equalizer in the 18th minute when Sodje spilled Abdullahi Muhammed’s long-range strike onto the crossbar in a moment of panic.
Ogun restored their cushion in the 34th minute thanks to a moment of individual brilliance from Emmanuel Hope, who weaved past four defenders before calmly finishing to make it 3-1.
Hope then matched Akinyele’s feat in the 84th minute, firing home from the edge of the box to complete his own brace and seal a dominant 4-1 win for the home team.
Governor Dapo Abiodun was on hand to hand out the players’ medals after the final. The win was a relief for Ogun State who had earlier in the day lost the men’s and women’s basketball finals to Lagos and Bayelsa States, respectively.
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