Sanwo-Olu backs Super Eagles to win AFCON qualifiers, gives team manager Pascal new house

GOVERNOR Babajide Sanwo-Olu has urged the Super Eagles to win their two final 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Benin Republic and Lesotho.

The Eagles battle Benin Republic in Porto Novo on Saturday before hosting Lesotho next Tuesday.

The Lagos State-owned Teslim Balogun Stadium will play host to the match against Lesotho and Sanwo-Olu is excited that the Super Eagles are coming to his state after many years away.

Lagos will be hosting a competitive Super Eagles match for the first time since 2001.

 “When we were informed that we were going to have the match in Lagos, we did not only jump at it, we saw it as an opportunity to rewrite our history,” the governor said during a dinner organised by the state for the Super Eagles at the State House on Wednesday night.

“Lagos used to be home for everything around football and sports in this country. Over 80 footballers came out of Lagos. Henry Nwosu, Samson Siasia, Jonathan Akpoborie, Odion Ighalo and many others were discovered in Lagos.

“We are supporting sporting activities in different parts of Lagos so that we can get younger ones that will be coming behind and after you so that Nigeria can get back her glory; the glory of 1996 when we won the Atlanta Olympic Gold Medal in the football event. It was a glorious time for some of us.”

Governor Sanwo-Olu also announced during the dinner that the state would be presenting former international and Atlanta ’96 Dream Team squad member Patrick Pascal, who is now Super Eagles co-ordinator, with a home in a new estate in Ikorodu.

“We have here, Patrick Pascal (Super Eagles team coordinator), who was part of the team that won the gold medal in Atlanta 96,” he noted.

“Surprisingly, what we promised him as a nation has not been fulfilled, but Lagos will fulfill that today. Patrick will get a three-bedroom flat in Prince Abiodun Ogunleye Housing Estate, which I commissioned today (Wednesday).

“Sports is a unifier for all of us. Sports is a detribalised means of identification. Sports speaks no language, it speaks no tradition, it speaks no religion. It is something that usually heals our country. Even when things are down, when we have security issues and all sorts of negative things in the country, you can use sports and football to heal that wound for us. And it is on that note that I want to charge you, encourage and appeal to you to do everything you can to win the matches.”

Sanwo-Olu promised that his administration will continue to support sports in the state by providing and maintaining sporting infrastructure.