Tag: Ofere

Nigerian striker Ofere Edward is slowly carving a niche for himself with consistently big performances for Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club, Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC.

Edward has scored three goals in as many games (two of those against giants, Celtic in the league and Cup).

He scored on Saturday as Inverness lost 1-2 to Aberdeen at Tullouch Caledonian Stadium.

His effort on 47 minutes exemplified fighting spirit and core strikers’ instinct as he forced home his effort at the second attempt after initial good work from the Aberdeen goalkeeper, Scott Brown.

It, however, counted for nothing in the end as the hosts lost following an Aberdeen comeback.

Ofere was left to contemplate what might have been as he shared his thoughts with supersport.com after the hard-fought encounter.

“My goal felt great but you can’t really celebrate much after losing. Overall, I thought we did well and controlled the first half.

“We had some excellent chances to be ahead twice in that first half but we did not take them. We’ll keep working hard,” he exclusively told supersport.com.

The 29-year-old then spoke about his current purple patch that has seen him scoring three times in successive matches for the Caley Jags.

He said it was “nothing special” and identified hard work as the reason for his recent run of form.

Nigeria forward Edward Ofere scored to lift Inverness CT to the final of Scottish Cup for the first time in their history on Sunday after a 3-2 win over Celtic.

The game,which stretched to extra time, saw Ofere getting what looked like the winner for Inverness in the 96th minute to give them a 2-1 lead over the Scottish Cup veterans, but John Guidetti levelled for Celtic in the 103rd minute, before David Raven’s 117th minute strike sealed the historic victory.

Inverness best shot in this competition was reaching the semifinal twice, in the 2002/2003 season when they lost 1-0 to Celtic and in the 2003/2004 season when they lost 3-2 on penalties to Dunfermline Athletic after the game ended 1-1.

Inverness CT will now face Falkirk in the final.

Ofere’s compatriot Efe Ambrose was an unused substitute for Celtic.

Inverness CT forward, Edward Ofere, is ready to make a statement when his side take on Glasgow Celtic in the the Scottish Cup semi-final on Sunday.

The former Enugu Rangers forward, Edward Ofere joined Inverness Caledonian Thistle after he was released by Norwegian club Sogndal. He scored against Celtic last weekend in the Premiership and his goal earned Inverness a point in the 1-1 draw. The Nigerian has stated that he has no fear facing Celtic in the Cup semi final.

The widely-travelled striker left Enugu Rangers in 2005 before playing in Sweden, Italy and Denmark. The 29-year-old forward in a chat with Aberdeen Press and Journal expressed confidence that his goals can help Inverness to their first Scottish Cup final.

“I have played against the likes of AC Milan, Juventus, Inter Milan and Roma. Celtic is also a big team for me to play against. Scoring a goal against them gave me the edge to really prove myself in Scotland.

“I’m really excited about that, so I’m going to keep working hard. It’s been physical in Scotland, from what I’ve seen so far. I’m well used to that from playing in Scandinavia where they play physical football as well,” Ofere told Aberdeen Press and Journal.

“It doesn’t come that difficult for me. I have played cup games but not semi-finals.This is an important game for me. We have a chance to get to the final.

Ofere, who already has three caps for Nigeria, believes Inverness can match the quality in Celtic, especially having recorded a draw against them just last weekend.

“We have to match the capabilities of their players. We did that on Saturday. If we can match up with them and the qualities they have, we will give them a good game.”

Edward Ofere is confident Inverness CT will see off their more illustrious opponents, Glasgow Celtic, when both teams trade tackles in the Scottish Cup next weekend.

The Swedish – Nigerian striker arrived at Inverness Caledonian Thistle as a free agent at the end of February, signing a short – term deal that will keep him at Caley Thistle until June 30, 2015.

“It would be fantastic. It’s going to be massive. For me we have an opportunity to achieve something here and if we can do it, it would be really impressive.

“It’s going to be an open game and we’re going to give it all we’ve got. It’s not home or away, it’s an open field game so if we can play well tactics-wise I think we will get it right.

“The games coming up are quite tough but we have to be tough as well,”  Ofere said to Sky Sports.

Ofere netted on his league debut against Motherwell on February 28.