For his heroics in the matches played by his team, Nelson Okotie, the goal keeper of Etisalat Football Club, Nigeria’s flagbearer at the just concluded Corporate Soccer Challenge 2016 in South Africa, has emerged the competition’s Most Valuable Player.
Okotie, who was between the sticks when the Nigerian team took on South African
opponents, PSL/SAFA and FATO Cats teams, at the Zoo Lake Sports Ground, Rosebank, Sandton, kept clean sheets during regulation time and almost won the matches for his team by saving spot kicks during the ensuing penalty shootouts.
Though the team could not progress to the final, his heroics during open play and penalty shoot outs were enough to earn him the Competition’s Most Valuable Player award.
The Etisalat Football Team emerged Nigeria’s representatives to the Tournament after defeating Chevron Nigeria at the Nigeria Corporate Games held in December 2015.
This tournament was organized under the aegis of Corporate Soccer Nigeria (CORPSON) and affiliate of the International Federation of Corporate Football (FIFCO) and is aimed at promoting corporate football leagues, tournaments and events around the world.
Captain of the Team, Andrew Enebeli ‘Dre’ who spoke about the team’s performances blamed the losses on the harsh weather conditions.
“Our major challenge was that the weather condition was very harsh as we played at 2 degrees C. Also, we didn’t take our chances in front of goal when they came.
All of these affected the outcome. We now need to get on with preparations as quickly as possible for the upcoming Nigerian Telecom Games which we are targeting to win, “he said.
