PARIS OLYMPIC GAMES
Ex-Super Eagles legends — Daniel Amokachi and Julius Aghahowa — have lauded the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for the successful hosting of the 13th edition of Africa’s largest oil company sports fiesta.
By winning 21 gold, 15 silver, and 18 bronze medals over the course of the six-day competitions, Team Integrity demonstrated exceptional grit.
Team Sustainability came in second with 17 gold, 21 silver, and 21 bronze medals, while Team Excellence finished in third place with 17 gold, 18 silver, and 22 bronze medals.
The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPCL, Malam Mele Kyari, during the medal presentation, urged his “troops” to go for gold at the National Oil and Gas Industry Games (NOGIG) coming up in April, where NNPC Ltd. will be looking to retain the title it won four years ago.
The highlight of the fiesta was the novelty game between former Super Eagles stars going against NNPCL 11.
The team, led by global maestro Austin Okocha, opened the scoring after some somptuous interchange of passes in zone 14 of the NNPCL team, splitting open their defence line for Emmanuel Emenike to score the first goal.
NNPCL missed a wonderful chance to even things up in the first half, with Mr. Femi Soneye, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer, being denied a scoring chance by the onrushing Super Eagles goalkeeper.
The national oil company team equalized in the second half but was denied victory after Aghahowa scored off an assist from Okocha.
In an exclusive chat with Persecondnews, curious why he didn’t do his trade mark back flip after scoring the winning goal, Aghahowa said: “I rarely do the flip because it’s been a long time; I don’t want to get injured.
“We are here to honour the company; putting this together is amazing, and also for the legends, it was nice to be on the pitch again.”
Amokachi thanked NNPCL for the wonderful sporting initiative and also for developing talents through the tournament.
He said, “We give God the glory; you can see the joy on the fans, staff, and legends; it shows you the tournament was a success.”
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