NIGERIA'S flagbearers in this year's Milo African U-13 football championship, Lagos' St Stephen West African Evangelical Church Primary School, has intensified its build-up ahead of the tourney holding in Accra, Ghana.The team trains on weekends under the watchful eyes of officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Education. According to the captain, Deji Oshodi, the team started training few weeks ago and was still working hard to ensure that it represents and makes the country proud.'We have been training hard. We only train on weekends and we believe (that) if the competition is getting closer, we will increase the level of training. We are hopeful that we will not disappoint Nigeria in the competition.' Oshodi said.To emerge the country's representative, the Idris Babatunde-tutored side defied all odds to overcome the host, Cross River, in the final of the Milo U-13 tournament at the Calabar 2011 National School Sports Festival. The Lagos team beat Cross River 5-4 on penalties after the match ended 2-2 at regulation time.After the Calabar victory, Babatunde said: 'We know the pressure that goes with any team that represents Nigeria in any competition and I am assuring everybody that we will go back home and correct all the lapses we noticed in the team so that we can defend the title the country won at the maiden edition in South Africa.'Oshodi admitted that a lot of work still needed to be done on the team, but said that with quality training they could retain the title in Ghana. Meanwhile, golden boot winner, Segun Sanni, has vowed to win the highest goal scorer award at the continental tourney.'I could remember that my coach told me to score seven goals in Calabar but I tried my best to score five to become the highest goal scorer,' the 11-year old pupil of St Stephen's WAEC School, Lagos Island, said.'I think I can replicate this at the African championship in Ghana by doing just what my coach told me and even do better than that. I know God will help me and the team to do well and make the country proud.
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