Five teams who emerged as the zonal champions at the just concluded zonal qualifiers of the NPFL Youth League which was held in Lafia, Kaduna, Enugu, Port Harcourt, and Ado Ekiti respectively have arrived in Benin City for the Championship finals starting from Saturday, February 24 at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium.
The teams are Plateau United, Katsina United, Rangers International, Remo Stars, and Rivers United.
Rivers United and Remo Stars junior teams will open the championship in the first fixture that starts at 2pm. The second fixture of the day will be between Plateau United and Katsina United at 4pm.
It looks to be a carryover of the rivalry in the senior cadre when Rivers United, winner of the South South zone takes on the Ikenne Billionaires, Remo Stars.
*Adams Jesse Odoba-Yacham* has keenly followed the competition from the zonal stages and watched all the games in Lafia, host city of the North Central zone.
He reckons that for Rivers United, a solid defence block led by Paul Jr Paul would have to contend with the strike force of Remo Stars spearheaded by Aribo Faith, the captain.
Fans would sit back from 4pm to watch Katsina United, the Northwest/Northeast zonal winners in the Kaduna zone file out against the North Central champions, Plateau United.
Again, Odoba-Yacham thinks Coach Sunday Boyi would build his assault against Katsina United around the trio of Dayong Elisha, Pede Ezekiel and the inspirational captain Abdul Musa.
Inyama is very appreciative of the support from the Edo State Government which has partnered with the NPFL to host the finals. He reiterated the importance of the youth league in creating a synergy between grassroot and professional football.
“The Government of Edo State has been very supportive of this initiative which is not surprising because the state has been a hub for sports in Nigeria”, Inyama told NPFL Media.
All the five teams will play each other over the next six days to determine the winner with the highest points.
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