By Wale Mustapha
Stand-in Head Coach of Sunshine Stars, Bobola Akinfolarin, has pointed to his team’s profligacy in front of goal as the main reason for their failure to secure a victory against Enyimba FC on Wednesday.
The Owena Whales played out a goalless draw with the Elephants in their rescheduled Matchday 13 of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) at the Aba Sports Stadium.
Despite dominating possession, creating numerous chances, and winning several duels, Sunshine Stars were unable to break the deadlock.
Akinfolarin, who expressed satisfaction with his team’s overall performance, acknowledged that while a draw was a positive result, a victory would have been more appreciated.
“We are thankful for the result, but our plan was to come here and pick up the maximum points against Enyimba International,” Akinfolarin said.
“We could have been 3-0 up in the first half, but we were wasteful in front of goal. We’ll continue to work on that to get better,” he added in an interview with Sunshine Stars media after the game.
With the draw, Sunshine Stars moved up to 17th position on the NPFL table with 18 points from 16 games. Their next fixture will be against Niger Tornadoes in Minna on Sunday.
Samuel Ahmadu is a distinguished multimedia journalist and women's football expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. He began his career at Goal.com in February 2014, where he served as an African women's football correspondent for nearly eight years. During his tenure at Goal.com, Samuel covered major events such as three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (2016, 2018, 2022) and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada plus 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His work at Goal.com earned him widespread acclaim, particularly for his in-depth profiles of African football stars, notably Asisat Oshoala, whose rise he documented from her early years to her breakthrough at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in 2014. Prior to his role at Goal.com, Samuel freelanced for various print and broadcast media outlets in Nigeria, including Graphics Newspaper, Radio Nigeria, Grace FM, and Savid Newspaper. His extensive experience and expertise led to his appointment to the Nigeria Football Federation's Standing Committee on Women's Football Development from 2016 to 2018. Since February 2018, Samuel has been the Social Media Manager for Nigeria's women's national teams.In 2019, Samuel joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as a women's football content contributor and was promoted to Women's Football Editor in 2021. His contributions to women's football continued as he worked as a Media Consultant for Content Creation and Editorials at the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Currently, Samuel also serves as the spokesman for the Nigeria Women Football League, further solidifying his influence and dedication to the growth of women's football in Africa.
