Nigeria’s under-18 men’s handball team defeated their Guinean counterparts 38-26 on Wednesday, November 10 to be crowned champion of the International Handball Federation (IHF) Trophy Africa Men Continental Phase in the final played in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
With this victory the U-18 men handball national team have won the trophy back-to-back in a roll, having emerged victorious in 2022 in Congo Brazzaville.
The Nigerian team was cheered to victory by teeming Nigerian embassy contingent led by Boco Effiom Mbo, the minister of the embassy against their West African brothers in a thrilling encounter.
The Emeka Nnamani’s coached team started the match with determination despite some hitches, Nigerian boys sealed the first half with 21-14 victory.
However, in the second half, the Nigerian team came out smoking contending and playing with confidence and flair spearheaded by Christian Foloki, and Azeez Olaitan.
Foloki shook off the knocks he had against Cameroon in the semi-final match, to join forces with his teammates and Olaitan, the top star player to spearhead the team’s scoring extravaganza coupled with a formidable defence which gave the Nigerian boys a huge edge over their Guineans counterparts to wrap up the match 38-26 and retain the title they won at Congo Brazzaville two years ago.
By this victory, Nigeria has qualified for the international tournament coming up in 2025.
The way and manner the team carried out their games demonstrated a team with cohesion and chemistry that can only be achieved through proper preparation that gives room for blending as a team.
It was not surprising to anybody that the Nigeria star player, Azeez Olaitan was voted the Most Valuable Player of the match.
This was exactly what Nnamani highlighted speaking in his post-match interview when he said that the team prepared for the moment and took the final with all seriousness.
“What more can I say? We prepared for this moment, and the boys took it with all seriousness. We knew the Guineans from the previous times we played them, and we watched their matches in this competition so we could tactically prepare for them, which we did,” he said.
The coach went to applaud Samuel Ocheho, the president of the Handball Federation of Nigeria for the 100 percent support given to the team right from the IHF Trophy Africa Zone 3 Phase in Ghana to this continental phase.
“Of course, the real MVP is the Handball Federation of Nigeria led by Samuel Ocheho and represented here by Abdukadir Mohammed, who is a member of the HFN for the support right from the Zone 3 Phase to the continental phase of the IHF Trophy Africa. They ensured that we made it to this competition despite the flight delay and gave us all the necessary backing to do well,” he added.
The Handball Federation of Nigeria has over the years shown the importance of adequately preparing a team for tournaments. Even at the local levels, the federation has shown itself as an epitome of adequate preparation.
This is what other federations in Nigeria including the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) need to emulate to get the country’s sports back to its glorious days.
The game of handball was introduced to Nigeria in 1972 in the fore of the All African Games hosted in the country in 1973.
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