The General Officer Commanding (GOC), 3 Division, Nigerian Army Rukuba, Maj.- Gen. Nuhu Angbazo, has said that the Division will sustain high calibre friendly matches for its football team, the Green Berets.
Angbazo told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos that friendlies would boost the team’s match fitness and reduce rustiness.
He said apart from keeping the team fit, such matches would also boost civil-military relations within the Division’s area of responsibility.
“Talents that could represent the country at national and international competitions could also be discovered through such competitions.
“The Army had produced athletes that had represented the nation and we want to sustain the feat,” he said.
The GOC said sports is crucial to military training as it keeps officers and men fit to discharge their responsibilities.
According to him, the sportsmen use strategies and tactics to defeat their opponents same as the military.
Green Berets on Saturday at Maxwell Koebe Cantonment playing ground hosted Plateau United of Jos, a Nigerian Professional Football League side.
Although the military boys lost 1-0 to the visitors, the encounter was entertaining as it featured display of high football skills by both sides.
The Green Berets were the better side in the opening minutes of the encounter but failed to take their chances.
Commander of the Special Task Force, Maj.-Gen Augustine Agundu, who watched the match alongside other heads of security agencies, commended the teams’ spectacular display of football prowess “comparable to European leagues”.
Agundu said that apart from the sporting benefit of the match, it had created another avenue for the military and civilian communities to interact.
