Norbert Okolie, the Media Officer of Rangers International Football Club, says the club’s participation in the ongoing Ifeanyi Ekwueme/TICO pre-season tournament is being very helpful for the team.
Okolie told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Enugu that the tournament was helping to build their players’ fitness for the forthcoming national football season.
He said the Enugu-based club had recruited 14 players and needed to blend them together for the new Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season particularly.
“This has been seen in the way we defeated an amateur club, A and A Kiviasennus Palvelut FC of Lagos, 3-0 in the first match of the tournament.
“We also played 1-1 with a national league team, Lamray FC, and will face an Academy clubside, Golden United from Abakpa, on Tuesday.
“But I must say, the purpose of the Ifeanyi Ekwueme/TICO pre-season tournament is for our coaching crew to assess the readiness of the players for the forthcoming season.
“We have recruited 14 players and they are blending well, but their fitness can only be ascertained and sustained with competitive matches,” the Rangers International FC spokesman said.
He however said the club’s performance at the tournament has not been the best, and they would keep improving as the event progressed.
Okolie nevertheless recalled that the club had played several friendly matches with clubsides in the NPFL, Nigeria National League (NNL), academy and amateur categories before the ongoing tourney.
He said this was all part of getting ready for the new Nigerian football season.
“We played a friendly match with Rivers United in Port Harcourt and it ended 1-1 and Akwa United defeated us 2-0 in Uyo.
“Also in Uyo, we beat Rocket FC Academy 1-0, followed by other numerous friendlies we have played inside our training pitch in Enugu,” Okolie said.
NAN reports that the Ifeanyi Ekwueme/TICO Pre-season Tournament is in its fourth edition.
