A Lagos-based amateur club, Phil Football Club have vowed that their target in this year’s Winners Golden Bet sponsored Lagos State Challenge Cup is to reach the semi-final stage.
Chairman of the club, Aliu Ayodele declared this while chatting with journalists in Lagos. Ayodele said the target he set for the club is to reach the semi-final of Lagos FA Cup, boasting that anything short of that will be a huge disappointment.
“We are not coming to Lagos State FA Cup to make number but to reach the semi-final target we set for ourselves. We are not a new club in the FA Cup, we know what it takes for a club to reach the semi-final. A lot of clubs would be involved but we are not afraid of anyone of them. Our preparation is in top gear and players are in high spirits to prove the bookmakers wrong,” he said.
Ayodele said for his team to achieve the target, the club coaching crew will engage in a series of friendly matches to know who will make it to the finalist. Challenge cup is not an ordinary grassroots competition but we need to prepare hard to get a result. By next month, we will start engaging in many friendly matches to keep the players fit ahead of the annual competition,” he said.
The organizers of this year’s FA Cup has urged the participants to come and obtain their registration forms. Dotun Coker, a chairman, Technical Committee of the Lagos State Football Association said this year’ edition will be tough considering the teams that have registered for the tournament.