Tag: El-Kanemi

El-Kanemi Warriors’ team manager, Baba Ali Ajayi is pleased that they will be playing their home games in Maiduguri next season.

The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) 2016/17 is set to kick off in January and the northern-based team will go on a week break and continue with their preparation.

“We thought that the 2016/17 NPFL will resume in December but now that it has been shifted to January 2017 we have to keep busy till the new kick-off date,” Ajayi told Goal.

“We shall be going on a week break for Christmas and resume before the end of December and hopefully continue the preparation.

“We shall be playing our home matches at home in Maiduguri, that will take the stress off of extra spending and playing our home matches away from home.  We moved back to Maiduguri at some point last season and it was fun to play in front of our fans after two seasons.

“The Borno State government has done their bit, now it’s left for El-Kanemi Warriors to at least pick a continental ticket.”

El-Kanemi Warriors’ new signing, Obadaki Halilu has revealed that his move to the Desert Warriors is motivated by a strong desire to lift trophies.

“Completing a move from Kwara United to El-Kanemi Warriors is strictly motivated by a strong desire to lift trophies,” Halilu told Goal.

“I am very ambitious and El-Kanemi Warriors offer the right platform.

“The trophies have started coming, we emerged champions at a pre-season tournament in Gombe State.

“We drew with amateur side, Doma United, got a win over Wikki Tourist but lost to Gombe United however the four points we gathered earned us a final spot against Gombe United which we won 2-1.

Kazeem Yekeen, has said he hopes to win a silverware for El-Kanemi Warriors in the next campaign, following last season’s trophyless term.

“Next season will be better for us if you consider the talents at our disposal right now. A lot of people weren’t happy with our performance last season, but the past is in the past. We want to forge ahead and try to compete with the big guns,” Yekeen told Goal.

“We are all working hard and focusing on what the future will look like for us. The team wants to win a title and for me that shouldn’t be out of place. League title or Federation Cup, any one of them will be okay for us.”

The goalkeeper joined the Desert Warriors from Kwara United at the end of the 2014/15 season and failed to win a title in his first season at the Maiduguri based club.

Yekeen, who is currently with the team for the pre-season activities in Gombe, said he will be raring to go in the new term.

Coach Ladan Bosso has extended his stay with El-Kanemi Warriors that will see him lead the Borno Armies for another season.

The club’s media officer, Anthony Obaseki revealed to SportingLife that the former Abia Warriors gaffer has decided to continue from where he stopped last season and improve on the team for better outing next season.

The former Flying Eagles guided the Maiduguri-based outfit to eighth position last season in his first time in charge of the club.

In a telephone chat with SportingLife, Bosso confirmed that he is staying with the club because he is enjoying good working relationship with management and state government.

“When I joined the team at the beginning of last season I met only eight good players that are regular in the team and I assembled most of the players in the team now. So, if I leave the club now most of these players will quit and the team will be in disarray. Again, I am enjoying good working relationship in the team, players, management, fans as well as state government are wonderful people to work with. So there is no reason for me to leave,” Bosso disclosed to SportingLife.

Bosso has also revealed that 26 players out of 40 players were retained while the club will sign only four players.

“We want to maintain stability in the team that is why we are retaining most of our players. We will register 30 players for the season and only four players will join 26 players that were retained,” he said.

 The team will resume on Sunday in preparation for the forthcoming season while the training starts on Monday.

El Kanemi Warriors FC midfielder Samuel Mathias believes his club can finish in the top four at the end of the season.

The Borno Armies defeated Sunshine Stars 3-2 during their week 32 of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) match at the El Kanemi Warriors Stadium in Maiduguri on Sunday.

In a chat with SportingLife, Mathias admitted that the game against Sunshine was tough, stressing that the win is a morale booster to his team’s aspiration.

“It was a good game and we thanked God that we picked three points against Sunshine Stars. This is a good thing for me and my team. It will go a long way in helping us to end the season among the top four. The game was very tough but our determination. We were focused and determined,” Mathias told SportingLife.

Mathias has however said that he and his teammates won’t allow the win get into their heads as they look forward to a favourable result in their previous matches.

“The game against Sunshine Stars has come and gone and we are hoping for more points in our remaining games. This is a crucial time in the league and every game is very important,” he said.

El Kanemi Warriors  forward Chinedu Ohanachom says his side are now fully focused on the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) after their round of 32 exit from the Federation Cup.

“We are very disappointed with the penalties and subsequent elimination from the tournament. We had a dream to make it far in the Federation Cup, but that lofty dream was not to be.

“It’s done and dusted as far as the Federation Cup is concerned. Right now we have no other option than to give the league our full attention. We strongly believe that a top five finish in the top-flight is quite achievable. The teams are close to each other on the league log and we believe with more hard work we could well nab one of the continental tickets up for grabs.

“So we are challenged rather than discouraged to go to FC IfeanyiUbah on Sunday in Nnewi to fight for the three points at stake. A good result in that encounter will further push our cause and spur us on to challenge for the points in other matches on the calendar,” said the former FC Taraba marksman to supersport.com.