Former Super Eagles’ winger, Emmanuel Amuneke could be in for a very rude shock with Heartland FC of Owerri this Wednesday in the Imo State FA Cup, as a youthful tactician, Coach Emeka Okoronkwo wants to be a giant killer in the encounter.
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Sports247 reports that Okoronkwo, who is the handler of Heartland’s cadet team, Comets FC, said he will motivate his wards as a former foreign-based player, who starred for many years in Poland and India.
With Amuneke still shivering from his inability to win promotion with Heartland back to the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) this season, the 1994 African Footballer of The Year is already under fire from critics, which makes him desperate to get victory on Wednesday.
However, his many woes could be compounded with defeat by Comets in their FA Cup quarter-finals fixture, which will be played at Ngwo Okpala, several kilometres outside Owerri.
Comets, who are regarded as Heartland’s under-15 squad, are captained by under-20 national team, Flying Eagles’ invitee, Kenneth Eboh, and have a large array of hugely talented lads who are determined to make history on Wednesday.
Speaking ahead of the game, Okoronkwo (aka Taribo) declared that his lads are all in the right frame of mind to pull off a huge upset and added: “We are fully focused and eager to make history on Wednesday.
“The boys have received full backing from the commissioner of sports, because our team is his grassroots baby. So, we want to make him happy by shocking Heartland, who we know have a bigger name than us.”
Coach Emeka, who played as a central defender for Progress FC of Owerri, FC Radus of Poland and Churchill FC of India during his hey day, added that Comets will do better on Wednesday than in their previous victories over Standard FC and Akudo FC.
He recalled how he got the foundation of his coaching experience while playing under former Super Eagles’ midfield battler, Emeka Ezeugo at Churchill FC, from where he was spurred to get a certificate at the National Institute for Sports (NIS) in 2015.
He went on to handle Bussdor FC of Port Harcourt and Emmanuel FC of Njamba in the lower division Nigeria National League (NNL), before joining Comets.
“I’ve won four trophies already with Comets FC and nothing stops us from winning this FA Cup. We’ll plsn towards that after we defeat Heartland on Wednesday,” said Coach Emeka, who played for seven clubs in the Nigerian league before moving overseas.
