Tosin Omoyele: Defenders' nightmare that refuse to settle for less

 

If Tosin Omoyele had a collection of journals, they would make for a fascinating read.

At a tender age, he was the face of COD United - conceivably the most gifted soccer player to have come out of the defunct club.

Tosin Omoyele is a name that strikes fear to defenders in the Nigerian League. In stints at Osun United, Plateau United, Enyimba and Katsina United he became the reliable target man and scored lots of goals.

His adventure abroad has seen him play for Nogoom and now USM Khenchela.

In an exclusive interview with Naija Footballers Forum, the 26-year-old forward reveals his thoughts on life in Algeria, talks about his journey so far as a Footballer and casts an eye towards the future.

Q: Just a few years ago you were playing in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL). Now you're in the Algeria Ligue 1 rubbing shoulders with some of the best in Africa. What has it been like as an experience?

Omoyele Tosin: Algerian teams do perform well on the continent. USM Algiers won the CAF Confederation Cup. It has been tough and the exciting playing in the Ligue 1. I have played with a lot of footballers, met some good coaches and a couple of national team players. Before you can play in Algeria as a foreigner, you must have been capped in the national team. I think it is a privilege for me and I'm always happy to play. I have enjoyed playing here in Algeria. Many players want a new challenge. It's not like I am the best to be out of the NPFL, it's just a rare privilege. I had some challenges at the beginning. They speak French and Arabic. I tried to familiarise with the languages and coped at the end.

Q: The Algerian top flight has been perceived as being difficult to carve a niche for foreign footballers? Will you say that your presence has been well felt within the period spent at Khenchela? For example, how do you communicate with your team-mates? How do the supporters react whenever the team is performing well or the other way round?

Teams believe you have what it takes to be a professional and disciplined. It's not easy here. They look at your attitude and willingness to be a team player. With the help of my coaches and players, I was able to settle down. The supporters always want someone to give his best. They have the winning mentality and want players to give their best. The fans want you to perform better in every game. Algerians believe that foreigners are professionals and should always give their best whenever they step to the pitch.

Q: Growing up as a teenager, you tormented a lot of defenders in the streets but didn't really get the chance to showcase the talent given to you by Teams in the league. Who will say gave you that chance to play the Nigerian League?

Omoyele: When growing up, it was streets galore. We tried to make ourselves happy. My passion and love for the game gradually developed. I was always proud to play on the streets. Some Academies around the streets gave me the chance. Through the help of one of my brothers, I joined COD United. Growing up in Lagos helped me as well. Teams like Bridge Boys, Union Bank and First Bank inspired me. I also had the opportunity to see Federation Cup, Nigeria League, Boska Cup and some interesting competitions at the Stadium. I was very attentive and learned from a couple of senior players. It was then I made up my mind to be a professional Footballer.

Q: Gold Cup Coordinator, Mr Tunde Shamsudeen is someone you say a lot of good things about. How influencial has he been to your football career?

Omoyele: Mr Tunde Shamsudeen is God sent to me. I played against Osun United during my stint at COD United. He showed interest and urged me to move to Osun United. Mr Tunde Shamsudeen wants the best for me, he wants me to be successful. He has always tried to encourage. At my lowest ebb, he was always there for me. He has always been good to me. Egbon Shamsudeen introduced me to the Late Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi of blessed memory. Playing for Osun United made people recognise me. Mr Shamsudeen is not just a partner in progress but my family.

Q: How do you cope with life in Algeria? What is favourite food, colour and holiday destination?

Omoyele: Life in Algeria has been training, come back home and eat. Once in a while I go out for shopping. There are few foreigners in the state that I am, so I don't meet a lot of people. My favourite food is Amala and Ewedu. I love white and black. My preferred holiday destination is Lagos because that's the location of my family. Smiles .....

Q:  Do you envisage a journey to Europe in the course of your football adventure?

Omoyele: If the opportunity comes, I will grab it. Every player wants to play in Europe. Wherever I find myself I will always give the best on the pitch. But right now the focus is on USM Khenchala who pay my wages.

Q: What is your best outfit? Who is favourite NPFL player and coach?

Omoyele: I prefer round neck and jean. I'm not a fan of native wears. I admire Oche Ochewechi a lot. As for my favourite coach, it is no doubt Coach Kennedy Boboye. He understands me very well. He is like a father to me.

Q: Can Tosin Omoyele choose the best XI of players who were his teammates in the NPFL?

Omoyele: Dele Ajiboye, Ogene Elijah, Solomon Junior, Daniel Itodo, Chizoba Amaefule, Farouk Mohammed, Oche Ochowechi, Reuben Bala, Alimi Sikiru, Jesse Akila and myself (Tosin Omoyele).

Q: Which defender did you found difficult to play against in the Nigerian League? Tell us your best moment in the NPFL? Who is your role model? 

No doubt, late Chinedu Udoji and Emmanuel Anyanwu. Udoji, may his soul rest in peace. The duo always come hard at me and always warn me to thread softly or get kicked...Smiles...My best moment in the NPFL was when I featured for Plateau United against the CHAN team in Kano. My role model is Lionel Messi. I love Messi so much.

Q: The Ligue 1 will come to an end on Saturday. What are the highs and lows of the 2022/23 season for you?

Omoyele: I think we did well to stabilize. We showed people that the future is bright. The coaches, management and players really did well. My contract with USM Khenchala expires at the end of the season. For now, I just want to come home and enjoy with the family. My future isn't a priority for now. We will see how things goes.

Q: What has been the greatest moment of your career?

Omoyele: It was my call up for the Super Eagles B team against Atletico Madrid in Uyo. I was very happy because my family, loved ones and fans watched me on TV. It was a great moment to play on the same pitch with Fernando Torres, Thomas Partey, Jan Oblak, Andrea Correa, Juanfran and some of the big names in the Spanish side. I even assisted Usman Mohammed's goal at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium. 22nd May, 2018 is a defining moment in my career.

Q: What is the difference between NPFL and the Algeria Ligue 1? What has improved in your game as a Footballer since having another stint in North Africa after the previous one in Egypt?

Omoyele: Clubs get sponsors to pay salaries and bonuses. Government owned clubs even do well to get sponsors. In NPFL, it's majorly Government owned clubs who wait for allocation. I think the NPFL has improved in terms of officiating and TV coverage. In Algeria, games are always on TV. I really enjoyed playing in Egypt because of the coverage. The Federation have a lot of sponsors and it helps the league. There is much fund. In Algeria and Egypt, the road networks are far better. There is little difference compared to Nigeria.

Q: Do you feel disappointed not getting a call up to the main team of the Super Eagles?

Omoyele: It's the joy of every good player to feature for the National team. Everything is time and I am prepared to wait for it. 

Q: Now that the money is coming on a regular basis, hope you are investing for the future? Where do you see yourself in the next 15 years?

Omoyele: Laughs..... Everyone wants a bright future. Life after Football is a priority for me. I hope to invest the little I have on profitable ventures.

U17 AFCON: Yahaya Lawali making us proud with back to back MOTM awards - Mahanaim Academy

 

Mahanaim Football Academy product, Yahaya Lawali, is flying high with the footballing principles learnt from the academy at the CAF U17 AFCON with two back-to-back Man of the match awards he won in the first two matches played in Algeria.

Yahaya Lawali won the MOTM award in Nigeria's 1-nil win against Zambia in the first match and also won the award again in the Golden Eaglets 1-nil loss to Morocco in the second match.

Yahaya completed 41 passes with great runs, pullouts and interceptions as a right back against Zambia and he completed 31 passes after starting as right back before moving to the midfield as the Eaglets lost to Morocco.

The CAF technical study group thus picked him as the best player in these two matches. 

Yahaya Danjuma Lawali is the vice-captain of the Golden Eaglets as the team continues to push to earn a World Cup spot in the cadet championship.

The entire team of Mahanaim have expresses delight with the exploit of one of them as they urge him not to relent in making them proud with excellent performance at the championship. 

Youth/Sports Development: Sunday Dare holds tripartite talks with Algerian, Egyptian counterparts

Minister of youth and sports Development Mr Sunday Dare on Tuesday in Abuja held a Tripartite meeting with his counterparts from Algeria and Egypt on how to foster  mutual benefits.

The meeting formed part of activities marking the 40th anniversary of Association of National Olympic Committees in Africa (ANOCA) taking place in Abuja..

Speaking during  the meeting, Dare said, "when I visited Egypt some three months ago, we had a joint meeting where we reviewed youth and Sports Development of both countries and explored common areas  we can leverage on. We have spent the past few weeks trying  to see which  areas can be best explored.  We agreed that  he would either  come to Abuja or I would visit  Cairo. Gladly, he has come to Abuja and we want to warmly welcome him.

"It is also so important to welcome the Minister of Youth and Sports Development from Algeria who was the Chairman of the Anti Corruption War in Algeria, the equivalent of our  EFCC chairman before he became the Minister.

"The population of Youth in Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt is growing in leaps and bounds. These youth need to be engaged either by giving them employment, or by keeping them busy through sports and competition, providing them finance to start their own businesses or by simply ensuring that we give them the digital skills that they need. So, for youth development there are four critical areas; Digital Skills and Digital Literacy for the digital economy for the 24th century. How do we operate this aspect because we have that challenge and I am sure we will know  whether it's the same challenge. 

"The youths are restless, if they are not engaged in productive activities, they go on riot, go into drug abuse and  other vices. We see sports as a  tool for unity and  tool to keep the youth busy. We believe that when a youth goes to practice wrestling in the morning,  does same  in the evening all he wants to do is to  eat dinner and sleep. But when he sits in the morning, 14 hours everyday doing nothing, he can be recruited for protest or recruited for  any kind of vices. Sports can be used  as a tool to promote peace and unity

"Also, there is the need to empower our youth,  give them  the finance and the resource they need to become self-employed, to become entrepreneurs and wealth creators.

"Government can no longer employ  all the youth. Government jobs are not available but the youth have  problems with banks to access loans where  the interest rate in this country is about 21-24% . In  Nigeria, we were able to establish the youth investment fund at an interest rate of 5% single digit, the lowest and we think that would help to turn our youths to entrepreneurs. I think these are the key major areas. I can provide another example when it comes to sports. It is important that we have inter-country tournament and championship beyond what we do in Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco.  We can come together and organise a Volleyball Tournament,  or an Athletics Championship. It's  miniature skills but it's impactful.   In athletics, some points could be  gained and  ranking improved. We can even organize football matches; we just did a six  -Nation football  tournament which the FIFA  and  CAF presidents came. It had six top female  countries  in Africa  participate and it was an exciting time where  they  also got points for participating. 

"Also, we can look at youth exchange, our youths love to travel, sadly some of them travel illegally. We can have them  make this travel legally and be  more impactful. We will design a youth exchange between our countries. From Egypt  and Algeria we may have  50 youths selected by Egyptian Ministy or the Algerian Ministry  have a program in  Nigeria which they will fit into, whether it is  a Sports event,  digital skill or entrepreneurship skills program. We can even start with 10 youth  for a  month exchange program. That was the practice in the past but it stopped. But  youths  in Algeria, Egypt and Nigeria want the same thing. They want  jobs,  capital to start  businesses, they want to build a career, they want government to support them and  set them on the path of progress. I think these are the critical areas we can work on. We will mention the programs that we have, but the MOU will look at the four critical areas. We  start to look at what program does Egypt, Algeria or Nigeria have in sports  that are alike and  design such programs as a module for the youth of our country.

In his response,  the  Algerian Youth and sports Minister Abderezak Sebagag said"I wish to thank the Minister of Youth and Sports Development from Nigeria and Egypt. 

"Concerning the  developmental policy that we want to engage our youth in our respective countries, especially the aspect of improving their digital skills, we have a volunteer program in Algeria. 

The Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Dr. Ashraf Sobhi also affirmed 

"We as a Ministry, we will work as one country  in an effort to develop  youth and sports in Africa. With the scheme from  the Honourable Youth and Sports Minister from Nigeria , we can seek  how to work  together.

"We should use  our roles and positions as Ministers of youth and sports to  promote our vision and development.  If we work together,  our   development and  plans can become reality"

"We look at the sports part of the youth activities, we look at sports as a leisure,  as  recreation, as  competition and  tournament. Actually we have to look at Sports as a product to shield the youth from vices in their society. In Egypt, we have a full strategy merging  youth and sports. Basically we use  sports development to   aid education  till  2052. 

"We are developing our premises, which means we are developing our facilities and sports facilities because without  good facilities we can't  actualize our plans  for the  future", he concluded.

Super Eagles' Sweet Victory and Reality Check

 What a sweet victory the Super Eagles gave their fans yesterday in Ndola, Zambia. It was sweet in several ways especially when we consider that it was an away victory.