PresFedCup25: We’re in to Defend the Title – Coach Tosan Blackson

Head Coach of Rivers Angels FC, Tosan Blackson, has stated the desire and motivation for his team to successfully defend this year’s President’s Federation Cup.

The coach of the reigning champions of the oldest football tournament in the country spoke with the media in a post-match interview, highlighting his happiness with his team’s quarter-final victory over Remo Stars Ladies FC, mentioning the challenges they encountered during the game and the desire to win this year’s edition.

Ifeoma Ikenokwalu had put Rivers Angels ahead, converting from a spot kick in the 12th minute before an 84th minute equaliser from Remo Stars Ladies’ Bashiru Kafayat, before the game was decided by kicks from the penalty mark, which Rivers Angels won 3-1.

In his post-match reaction, Coach Blackson said, “Football is a game you cannot predict. The game was under our control until one little mistake that gave our opponents a chance, which they scored. We then had one of our players red-carded; we were then managing the game, it wasn’t really easy at that moment, so we had to keep pushing till the end of the game.”

“We had some injuries during the course of the game, which disrupted the game’s plan, so we are just managing the players to see the final outcome of the game.

On whether he was sure of his team’s ability to win when the game advanced into kicks from the penalty mark, he said he was optimistic, based on his side’s preparation for a possible situation. “Penalties are not what you predict; the question is, how have you been playing it in training? Have you been practising it in training? Has your goalkeeper been keeping in training?  So we just knew we were going to win because we had been practising penalty kicks and the goalkeeper was always involved in it.”

Additionally, he went on to state the main objective of the tournament for his team, which is winning the trophy.

“We are the defending champions of this tournament, so we want to do our best to defend the title”