Viareggio Cup: The future stars of Nigerian football on parade

Last weekend I took a short flight from Berlin to Pisa in Italy where I was picked up at the airport by my good friend and aburo, Oluwabunmi Moses Egbebi of OE Sports, at the Galileo Galilei International Airport.

It was a warm welcome and embrace as we had not seen each other since April when we met in Aarhus, Denmark, during my trip to report the purchase of a club by Nigerian tech entrepreneur Shola Akinlade.

As he led me to his rental van, he introduced me to Paul Ogunlaja, the Sporting Director of Ojodu City FC. Ogunlaja’s team was playing in the Viareggio Cup for the first time and Moses wanted me to witness their game and see some of the talents in the squad.

We drove about 25 minutes from Pisa to the city of Lucca where we had pasta for dinner in a restaurant. Due to their busy schedule, the two men had not had time to savour the culinary treats of Italy since they arrived. So it was a good opportunity for them to relax that Friday night as we talked and discussed the vision of Ojodu City, a club founded in 2022.

We then drove to an apartment in the middle of town where I finally rested after midnight. On Saturday morning we drove into the mountains outside of Lucca to the team camp of Ojodu City in Calannori. The 23 players of the team were camped in a Florentine style stone villa. When we arrived, they were ready to proceed for their game against Empoli FC U18s, their third group game.

They needed a win to secure passage into the Round of 16 following one win and one defeat in their first two matches.

There were two vans available for everybody. As the club’s official agent, Moses drove one while Paul drove the bigger one. I sat in front with Paul and next to Ammeer “Kaka” Auwal, a Kano-born midfielder. We drove along meandering highways across the mountainous region towards Empoli’s training centre.

As we arrived, the players got ready for the game. It was a sunny day and temperatures rose to 18 degrees. They played a good game and defeated the hosts 2-0 with goals from Yahya Olayemi Subair and Hafiz Umar Ibrahim. At the end of the game, the boys celebrated like they had won the tournament. They were through to the Round of 16 as Empoli was eliminated.

We drove back to their camp in high spirits.

On Sunday morning, I returned to the camp to interview some of the players to document their stories for the future. It was important to do this because I could clearly see the talent that was on display and to recognize that some of the players would be signed up by European clubs after the tournament. I interviewed Bruno Alaekwe, Yahya Subair, Ammeer Auwal and Hafiz Ibrahim.

The interviews ran late as I lost track of the time and eventually missed my flight to Berlin. It was tough because I had promised my wife and children that I would be back with them on Sunday evening. I had to apologise to the family.

A historic visit

Later that Sunday, the camp received guests from Beyond Limits Football Academy, one of the other Nigerian teams participating in the competition. Beyond Limits’ coach Olumide Ajibolade and members of his crew including Muzamil Raji (a young lad that attended a conference that I organized in Lagos in 2019) had come to check on the Ojodu Tigers.

They came along with some food items to support the Ojodu boys. It was a great gesture from one Nigerian team to another.

As we all sat down around the dining table, we talked about Nigerian football. I asked the two coaches why teams in the NPFL are not offering opportunities to young men like them to take up head coaching roles instead of recycling old hands that is happening again and again in the league.

We also talked about why the cadet national teams are not giving younger coaches opportunities to manage the Nigeria U17 and U20 squads, considering the success they were having at the Viareggio Cup.

Then it came up that there was a possibility that both could be drawn to face each other in the competition’s latter stages. Olumide, a soft-spoken man, said that there would be no problem facing each other.

At that moment, it occurred to me to make a picture of both Paul and Olumide to keep the moment frozen in history.

The two teams progressed through their Round of 16 games. Beyond Limits defeated Avellino 3-1 while Ojodu whooped Westchester United 5-0.

They also won their quarterfinals games where Beyond Limits defeated Torino 2-1 while Ojodu beat Honved 4-0.

Fate has brought them together at last. They will meet in the semifinals for a chance to reach the final where they could meet either Nigerian side Mavlon or Congoless team Centre Nationale Brazzaville.

Whatever happens between them, after the game they will shake hands like brothers and wish the best for the other team to win the tournament as the first African side.

The future of Nigerian football is being shaped on the fields of Viareggio. And what glorious talents are emerging from the tournament, on the field and on the sidelines. Men of character and empathy. May their careers blossom beyond Viareggio into the four corners of the earth.