The Teslim Balogun Stadium Sunday witnessed the birth of footballtainment as the new kid on the block, this time, a professional football club side, Sporting Lagos FC made its debut in the Nigeria National League in grand style.
Founded by Shola Akinlade, the co-founder and CEO of the tech giant, Paystack, Sporting Lagos, playing in the Nigeria National League for the very first time, attracted an unbelievable large number of football enthusiasts, mostly youths, and arguably well to do, fun-loving youngsters who didn’t mind to pay to get some fun in return.
The match, played against one of the most experienced teams in the league, Go Round FC of Omoku in Rivers State, was played at a high tempo, with both sides eager to begin their campaign on a sound footing but in the end, it produced a 1-1 entertaining draw.
The first half ended goalless but it was not for lack of goal scoring opportunities but more of frayed nerves which only needed to be calmed.
That was what we witnessed in the 2nd half as the visitors finished off a counter-attacking move with Daniel Gotom slotting home from the edge of the box in the 72nd minute.
The silence that descended on the field soon gave way to rapturous applause as it took Sporting Lagos only two minutes to return the compliments with a goal of theirs courtesy of an own goal by Iheme Peculiar who turned the ball into his net under pressure from the homers.
All attempts by both sides to grab the game late on proved abortive as the goalkeepers from both sides also deserve some mention for their heroics.
Sporting Lagos is here to stay, Lagos fans are in for more electrifying moments as witnessed on Sunday with the music perfectly blended into football and lots more entertainment.
