A budding player from Ilupeju-Ekiti in Ekiti State, Kolawole Oluwadolapo is dreaming big about getting to play for Real Madrid of Spain, in order to take after his role models, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.
Oluwadolapo revealed his admiration for both battling midfielders after helping Ilupeju-Ekiti Pillars FC snatch an unlikely victory that shot them into the main competition stage of 1X Bet Cup 2024.
It was a pyrrhic victory, as Oluwadolapo and his teammates had to scale a scary penalty shootout in order to qualify for the next stage, and he admitted their narrow escape, while giving thanks to God for helping them carry the day.
Oluwadolapo philosophised afterwards, saying: “This victory means everything to us, because we travelled from far and wide to feature in this competition.
“When we were first told about this tournament, we dreamt of playing well and qualifying during our first competition in Lagos. We now want to give a good performance in the main stage of this tournament.”
The starry-eyed lad went on to explain how important getting to the glamorous competition’s main draw is to him and his colleagues.
“This means a lot to us, because, back home, we have a lot of supporters and people that are ready to assist once you are doing well.
“All glory be to God, we’ve moved into the next round. We say ‘be though exalted God.’ We give Him all thanks,” Oluwadolapo sermonised.
He then spoke about how they managed to scale through the shootout debacle, adding: “Penalty is actually a game of luck, 50-50 game. But we also did our assignment at home, knowing that, at regulation time, we go immediately into penalties.
“So, we had a gameplan for all that. We were then able to win the shootout with the help of God as well as our ability and constant practising of penalties. We thank God that this is a win for us.”
Oluwadolapo ended by revealing his biggest ambition in life, saying: “It’s not a new thing to dream big in football. That’s why I am personally hoping to be a successful professional footballer.
“I have two Madrid legends as my role models, which are Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. I pray, and I’m working towards making myself come to the limelight.”
