By Tosin Omojola, Media Officer, 3SC
Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan goalkeepers’ coach Lateef Yusuf, had to charge goalkeepers Charles Tambe and Dare Dede, before the match against Delta Force of Asaba, due to the poor condition of the Austin Jay Jay Okocha Stadium, Ogwashi-Uku pitch.
The poor state of the turf, would, at first sight, weigh down players who were used to playing on a smooth pitch.
While Chief coach Edith Agpye and assistants coach Kabiru Alausa and Yinka Popoola were working on the outfield players, coach Lati, was also busy psyching up the two goalies to make them overcome the fear of the terrible state of the pitch, particularly, the goal areas.
The Ibadan soccer lords, eventually fought hard to secure a 1-0 win over the host in the NNL matchday seven, Group B1 encounter, with goalkeeper Charles Tambe, who was picked to man the goalpost in the keenly contested match, doing a brilliantly well to keep a clean sheet despite the poor state of the pitch’s goal areas.
Speaking on Tambe’s spectacular performance during the energy-sapping match, coach Lateef Yusuf, revealed what he told both goalies, to psyche them up before the encounter, considering the poor state of the pitch.
“The first thing I told them, was that they should see the condition of the pitch, especially the goalkeepers’ territories as mere distractions which they have to put their minds away from.
“Then, they should be calm in dealing with any ball that comes towards them because the bad state of the pitch could affect the direction of the ball.
“I was very happy to see Tambe do exactly that throughout the duration of the encounter”, said the former national women’s team’s goalkeepers’ coach.
On the task of making a choice among the goalies for each game, the former Shooting Stats’ goalkeeper admitted that it was always tough arriving at a choice, going by their qualities and the stiff competition between the quartet.
“It is always not an easy task because we have four goalkeepers with outstanding qualities. We take into consideration many factors before making our decision on who to pick among them for each match”, stated the soft-spoken tactician.
Charles Tambe has played for top clubs in the country, likewise Dare Dede, Laide Okanlawon is a FIFA U-17 World Cup winner and Detan Ogundare was a member of Nigeria’s team to the 12th All Africa Games, held in Morocco, where he saved four spot kicks to give Nigeria a 5-4 penalty shootout win over Mali in the semi-final.
All the four goalies have played their parts in the Oluyole Warriors’ superlative run so far, with all of them doing so well as the team has conceded just one goal in all the games.
 of Ibadan goalkeepers' coach Lateef Yusuf, had to charge goalkeepers Charles Tambe and Dare Dede,){kind=link}