Inter Lagos are bracing for a massive showdown with First Bank FC in the State’s FA Cup semi-finals, ahead of which the lower division club’s assistant coach, Oluwaseun Savage charged organisers to get more sponsors for the all-comers’ annual competition.
Coach Savage, a product of the once-vibrant Community Action Through Sport (CATS), which was sponsored in Surulere by The British Council up till 2010, told Sports247 that the FA Cup in Lagos State lacks adequate medical services because the competition is not being funded by any corporate body.
However, while urging Lagos State Football Association (LSFA) to be much more effective in their marketing efforts, Savage affirmed that the focus of his team for now is to defeat First Bank FC in the semi-final and pick a ticket to the National Federation Cup.
Savage started by confessing that the journey so far has not been easy for his squad, as they are also competing in the second-tier Nigeria National League (NNL), hence his surfeit of praises for Inter Lagos’ players after they silenced local rivals, 1472 FC 2-0 in Wednesday’s quarter-finals clash.
He affirmed, “It has been very, very challenging for me and the boys, because we have to play NNL games as well. Combining league matches together with games in the FA Cup has been very, very challenging for the boys, because they need to meet up and rise to the occasion in all our matches. We have to meet up with both the NNL and FA Cup games. So, it has been challenging for the boys and the management as well.”
He then spoke about lessons learnt from Wednesday’s victory and the one they earlier won via penalties’ shoot out against 36 Lion FC, then enthused that the players will take the same winning mentality into their next potentially explosive clash with First Bank.
Savage retorted, “Our opponents are in the same group with us in the NNL, and we’ve played them in the first round, which we won. So, we decided to go all out in this match, because we expected them to come out fighting and try to win this time around. They were hoping to turn the table in this FA Cup game, but they showed so much respect during the match.
“So, our boys took up the challenge and went ahead to win the game 2-0. It is a better result than our previous match; as we defeated 36 Lion 4-3 on penalties to reach this stage, after the game ended 1-1. Our next game is going to be against First Bank, and we hope to scale through to the final.
“We are not planning to do anything that will be so different from what we did before. We are just going to approach each game the way it comes … with our same team, the same boys, the same winning mentality. The boys will just do what they need to do.
“This is our second year in operation, and I started with them from scratch. I’ve been there from the beginning of this project up until now, and this is my second season with Inter Lagos. I believe we will reach the FA Cup final this year.”
He, however, concluded with a call for LSFA’s officials to step up their efforts in getting a corporate sponsor for the competition, as he pointed at some laxities that were noted in the area of medicals at the venue, which he reckoned would not have been an issue had there been a regular source of funding for the FA Cup fixtures.
“A tournament like this needs to look out for more brands that can support and encourage teams. Over the years, the FA Cup has not really got enough sponsors, and it does not have enough funds to cater for things like medicals, ambulance and other needs at match venues. It’s even our own medical experts that have to attend to players of the other team. If the FA had enough sponsors, they would have got an ambulance and a medical crew that can be of use during the tournament. We can actually get better if enough sponsors come into the system,” Savage advocated.
