NIGERIA: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - Country thrashes champions Brazil in beach football tournament

Record ID: 235392

  • Title: NIGERIA: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - Country thrashes champions Brazil in beach football tournament
  • Date: 19th December 2011
  • Summary: LAGOS, NIGERIA (DECEMBER 18, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BRAZIL FOOTBALL TEAM SCORING FIRST GOAL IN THE FINALS AGAINST NIGERIA AT THE COPA LAGOS BEACH FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT VARIOUS OF FANS CHEERING NIGERIA'S TEAM SCORING VARIOUS OF NIGERIA'S FANS CHEERING/BRAZILIAN TEAM WATCHING ON VARIOUS OF NIGERIAN TEAM SCORING SECOND GOAL/FANS CHEERING NIGERIAN TEAM POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS WITH THEIR TROPHY NIGERIAN PLAYERS CELEBRATING THEIR VICTORY (SOUNDBITE) (Pidgin English) ISIAKA OLAWALE, CAPTAIN OF NIGERIAN TEAM, THE SAND EAGLES SAYING: "At least from now we can encourage and as we have hosted it and won, hopefully from next year we can start playing the league." BRAZILIAN TEAM RECEIVING THEIR TROPHY (SOUNDBITE) (English) BABATUNDE RAJI FASHOLA, LAGOS STATE GOVERNOR SAYING: "There was no beach five years ago, this place had been lost to the sea and we started with the reclamation and the restoration. Incidentally, this is the largest civil works project going on now in this continent, reclaiming lost ground and rebuilding a new city here. "
  • Embargoed: 3rd January 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria, Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAD8HKKIN3CY15GUKM0PK5WE1T1
  • Story Text: Nigerian beach football fans were treated over the weekend to a world class event that brought with it all the glitzy trappings associated with this seaside sport.
    Copa Lagos beach soccer tournament, the first ever such competition to be held in Nigeria attracted teams from Brazil, England and South Africa.
    The qualifying matches were low key but the final between Brazil and Nigeria attracted thousands of fans from across the world.
    The Sand Eagles on Sunday (December 18) battled it out with four time world champion, Brazil to win the Copa Lagos Beach tournament held at the Eko Atlantic beach in Nigeria's commercial city.
    The sand eagles thrashed the Brazilian team 9-4 in an enthralling final.
    The Nigerian team were relentless in the game as they came from 4-3 with the Brazilians leading to a whopping 9-4 to defeat the Kings of the Beach in a nerve racking game that had fans watching in anticipation.
    The Sand Eagles Captain said he looks forward to having beach soccer in Nigeria grow beyond its present state.
    "At least from now we can encourage and as we have hosted it and won, hopefully from next year we can start playing the league."
    The Brazilian team were highly disappointed with their surprise loss after beating both South Africa and England at the group stages to secure their place in the final with Nigeria.
    Babatunde Raji Fashola, the Governor of Lagos state said a lot of work had been put into developing the beach area where the tournament took place and he was optimistic that it was the right step by his administration.
    "There was no beach five years ago, this place had been lost to the sea and we started with the reclamation and the restoration. Incidentally, this is the largest civil works project going on now in this continent, reclaiming lost ground and rebuilding a new city here, " he said.
    Lagos State has embarked on a multi-billion dollar land reclamation project that will see the emergence from the Atlantic ocean of a whole new city - New Atlantic City.
    The organisers of the tournament are hopeful that with such adequate facilities, the event marked the beginning of beach soccer tournaments in Nigeria and the rest of Africa as a whole.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register