Ayodeji Ayeni, Head Coach of Crown FC, Ogbomoso, has declared that despite his team’s opening-day defeat to Kun Khalifat in the ongoing NNL Super 8 play-offs, they still have a bright chance of qualifying for the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), Completesports.com reports.
Coach Ayeni expressed disbelief that after dominating large portions of the match, his side failed to get anything tangible from it.
He, however, described the play-offs as a “marathon”, insisting that the result of the first match cannot determine their fate in the tournament.
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“For me, the Super 8 play-off is a marathon,” Ayeni told the sporting media after his team’s hard-fought but disappointing 1–0 loss to Kun Khalifat.
“It’s not yet unusual or over for anybody. The fact that we lost our first game isn’t a yardstick for us to be counted out. There are still two matches to go.
“We can win those two games and come back strongly into contention. So, there’s no problem at all.”
“We Dominated From Start to Finish” – Ayeni
When asked what went wrong in the pulsating clash that saw Crown FC create countless scoring opportunities but fail to convert, Ayeni maintained that his team played well and simply lost concentration at a critical moment.
“There wasn’t anything that went wrong. You saw the flow of the game—we were in total possession throughout. We controlled the game from start to finish,” he said.
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“But just a momentary loss of concentration led to the penalty. Aside from that, they weren’t dominant over us. We dominated for the full 90 minutes. It’s just unfortunate we lost.”
Crown FC Will Bounce Back, For Sure – Ayeni
Coach Ayeni remains confident of a turnaround in their next match at the 2024 NNL Super 8 Playoffs, saying he is already preparing strategically to face their next opponents.
“We’ll bounce back, for sure. I’m going to watch the next match—Warri Wolves versus Osun United—because one of them will be our opponents on Monday,” he said.
“I want to observe technically, tactically, and in terms of discipline, so that we can come up with something positive that will help us win.”
By Sab Osuji in Asaba
