Bookmakers and football pundits have already scored highly the 2016/17 Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) with the star match on display on Saturday at the Akure Township Stadium between hosts, Sunshine Queens and Ibom Angels.
The Akure landladies deservedly won the encounter 2-1 and stakeholders and other interest groups have told whoever that cares to listen that a new dawn, a fresh air is in the offing for the women league.
Rightly a fresh air or new experience is the appropriate word considering the unheard number of European imports, Nigerian super stars who performed creditably for their various club sides before the lure for greener pastures took them away from the domestic league shores making an audacious U-turn to link up with their choicest teams in the on-going top-flight.
Hear the names of the big guns – Ostersund DFF of Kazakhstan and En Avant de Guingamp of France midfielder, Evelyn Nwabuoku, FC Minsk of Belarus midfielder, Halimatu Ayinde, Medkila IL of Norway midfielder, Cecilia Nku, Medkila IL of Norway goalkeeper, Tochukwu Oluehi, among others.
Their destination point is no other side than the reigning and perennial champions, Rivers Angels.
The Jewel of Rivers named the Nigerian players in their killer squad for the on-going top-flight and the intention is not farfetched – to further hold firmly the trophies in the domestic front, the league and Federation Cup titles.
The Garden City landladies have always shown that winning is the simple language their teeming fans understand and they have not left them in any dire need of trophies season in and out as the side always go after a mixture of experience, maturity and youthfulness to get their work load done perfectly well.
Although the Port Harcourt side are yet to test action in the on-going top-flight, still going to be missing in action on Wednesday when the NWFL make-up matchday 1clashes will be played at various centres no thanks to the sudden disbandment of opponents, COD United Ladies their teeming fans are keeping tab on the calendar and fervently praying that the takeover bid between Capital City Doves and FC Taraba Queens will be sealed and delivered so that their darling team will be in action for matchday 2 ties.
The consolation is that Rivers Angels are duly partakers of the on-going top-flight and will have their turn to unleash their choicest imports on the opponents.
Stakeholders and other interest groups are becoming impatient they, too want to see the forms the superstars will bring to the league and their immediate club side.
The returnees too are eager and keen to quickly move to the pitch to prove once again that the hitherto flairs and flashes have not left them rather it has improved tremendously.
One of the returnees, Halimatu Ayinde who left the nation’s shores in 2015 to join Western New York Flash in the United States before moving to FC Minsk of Belarus said the language she understands in the round leather game is purely winning and that’s the huge attraction and interest in Rivers Angels.
“It’s a great thing coming back home because there is no place like home, I am very excited to be home again.
“I believe in winning and I see them (Rivers Angels) as a winning team, so I decided to come to join them to win all the trophies available,” said Ayinde.
Ayinde has aptly set the marking scheme or parameter for assessment and the way it looks other returnees are quite in agreement with what the midfield maestro said.
The league is already in progress, the pitch at Akure has already tested action with the homers, Sunshine Queens winning 2-1 against Ibom Angels on Saturday and come on Wednesday other pitches will begin to experience the lows and highs the main actors (players) especially the European imports have on offer for those who consider them as idols and demigods in the exciting world of football.
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