The male and female teams of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) have won the Vice-Chancellor’s Cup in the Inter-faculty Soccer Tournament. SUNNY IBEH Jr. (400-Level History) reports.
Activities at the University of Benin (UNIBEN) literally moved to the Sport Complex last week, as students participated in the Inter-faculty Soccer Tournament. It was another edition of the Vice-Chancellor’s Cup, which involved male and female teams from all the 15 faculties.
The contest started from the preliminary stages where the teams struggled for points to qualify for knockout. At the end of the knockout, two teams in each of the categories qualified for the final.
In the female category, faculties of Arts and Education teams made it to the finals; the male category, faculties of Arts and Life Sciences battled for the trophy.
The final matches started at 11am at the Faculty of Education football pitch. The atmosphere was colourful as the field was filled by supporters of the contesting teams. The female teams opened the match, which was a contest between the defending champion, Faculty of Education and Faculty of Arts.
The game started on a mild tempo, with both teams taking possessions of the ball and exhibiting confidence. The tempo, however, changed 10 minutes after the match started. Juliet Chinwuba of the Faculty of Arts scored, disrupting the opponent’s defence to place the ball into the net. After regulation time, the female match ended 1-0 in favour of the Faculty of Arts.
The final of the male category started immediately after the women’s game. The Samba Boys of the Faculty of Arts and the Red Devils of the Faculty of Life Sciences jostled for the trophy.
Twenty minutes into the match, Oghenero Prince of the Samba Boys fell in the Box 18 after a hard tackle from the opponent’s defender. This resulted in a penalty kick, which led to the first goal against the Red Devils.
The tempo of the game changed and the atmosphere became tense, as the Faculty of Life Sciences strove to equalise. The Red Devils’ hope was dashed when its player missed a penalty kick in the 86th minute of the game. The game ended 1-0, with the Samba Boys beating the Red Devils.
The Faculty of Arts students literally shut down the field after its two teams won the male and female categories. The students mocked their colleagues from other faculties, declaring themselves as “unbeatable champions”.
The Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Faraday Orunwense congratulated the winners and praised the defeated teams for their courage and sportsmanship. He decorated the players with medals, after which he presented trophies to the Faculty of Arts teams.
Dean, Faculty of Arts, Prof Leo Otoide, described the feat as “double victory”, saying his faculty’s male and female teams made history by winning the two trophies at the same time. The professor of Diplomatic History said: “I am happy because my faculty teams’ victory is my victory. As we all know it is the first of its kind in the history of the university. I commend all the players and staff of our great faculty for making us proud.”
President of Faculty of Arts Students’ Association (FASA), Sunday Iroegbu, could not conceal his joy on the feat achieved by the faculty’s football teams. He said: “This shows both male and female students of our faculty as champions. We have set a record that will be hard to beat by any faculty. We will remain unbeatable champions in future tournaments.”
Captain of the Faculty of Arts female team Awele Nwanze was the highest goal scorer in the competition. She dedicated the trophy to God, who, she said, endowed her with soccer talent.
She said: “I am happy we won the trophy at last. I am dedicating the achievement to God for giving me this exceptional soccer talent.”
Source: thenationonlineng
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