A veteran female footballer, Rukayat Aminu, who has featured for ten years in the annual All Stars Women Football Competition at Lagos National Stadium, has sent out accolades to the organisers and charged young players to take the showcase matches seriously.
While reflecting on the time she spent playing in the all-comers’ competition and how important it has become over the years, Aminu said in an interview with Sports247 that each edition is always exciting.
The bulky ace, who is fondly called ‘Abeke Aro’ and is a mother, also disclosed that she has already enjoyed featuring in this year’s edition, in which she is playing under the banner of team Germany.
Aminu began by expressing delight over her side’s 3-3 draw with team ‘Nigeria’ and thanked God for making the result possible, but the amiable lady, who is also an employer, admitted she initially felt funny to be playing against her own country.
She declared, “Alhamdullahi, first of all. I really enjoyed the game, and I give glory to Almighty Allah that we ended it this way. Though we conceded three goals, notwithstanding, I know that we are going to do better in our next game, more than this.
I actually felt emotional playing against a team named Nigeria, which is my fatherland. I first asked myself, ‘How am I going to do this? God, how am I going to face my own country?’ But, this is football, and we just have to do it.”
She then spoke about her intentions from featuring in this year’s competition, considering that she has also played in the last nine editions of the annual showcase of female veterans and youths organised by Association of Nigeria Women Football Club Coaches (ANWFCC).
The chubby battler expatiated, “Why I am doing this is mostly to encourage the young ones and tell them to buckle up. I always tell them that, when I was in their age, I didn’t have this kind of opportunity.
Thank God that we now have this All Stars Competition, which will be 30 years old next year. So, I picked the good and talented ones in my area to this place to showcase what they can do here.
I am happy that they did well; and I am using this opportunity to tell other young ones out there to take seriously everything that they are doing. This is the right time for them to do whatever they want to do for their careers. ”
Aminu concluded by expressing a strong desire to finally emerge as a champion, and she stated: “This is my tenth year playing this All Stars Competition, but I’ve never won it. My highest point is quarter-final, but I hope to do better this year.”
