Sarah Nkongho & Colette Jani
21 September 2007
The 2007 finalists of the Southwest Mini-interpools, Tiko United alias Samba Boys and Victoria United aka One People One Power, OPOPO, failed to convince thousands of spectators in a mediocre nil tie, Wednesday, September 19.
The match, besides being devoid of goals, also lacked collective play styles from both teams, thus instilling fears in the home crowd that the Southwest representative for this year's round robin interpools, billed for Yaounde and Ebolowa, will hardly put up a good show.
Spectators that had predicted an easy victory for Tiko Untied went home with fallen faces as their team could not meet up to expectations.The match generally lacked excitement as both teams almost turned the match into a lawn tennis game - kicking the ball to each other's pole.
The players of both OPOPO and Samba Boys consistently fell to the ground, interrupting actions on several occasions. Both teams squandered many scoring chances with Tiko United losing more opportunities to the chagrin of its fans.
During the first forty five minutes of play, the Samba Boys gave their fans a false impression that they would win the match as they mounted pressure on their opponents. But OPOPO, which is also dying to represent the Southwest at the Interpools, defended vigorously and refused to concede any goals in spite of Tiko United's onslaughts.
Both teams lost the dying minutes of the match that almost resulted in a free-for-all confrontation when an OPOPO supporter threw a stone into the net of Tiko United during recess.
As it stands now, both teams have an equal chance in the return do-or-die match to produce the Southwest representative, but spectators believe that Tiko United would represent the province.
Speaking to The Post after the match, the Coach of Tiko United, Alain Wabo, said the OPOPO players were too aggressive and they did not open the game. According to him, despite the draw, OPOPO is not strong enough to win his team.
But Victoria United's Coach, Mbangue Bernard, did not talk to The Post as his supporters told him not to address the press. The players were furious that the match officials had been bribed to handle the match against them.
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