{"id":4746,"date":"2025-07-01T11:45:36","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T10:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pillartoday.ng\/?p=4746"},"modified":"2025-07-01T11:52:56","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T10:52:56","slug":"2025-president-federation-cup-kwara-united-rivers-angels-are-champions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"pillartoday.com.ng\/?p=4746","title":{"rendered":"2025 President Federation Cup: Kwara United, Rivers Angels Are Champions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov Sanwo-Olu (3rd from left), NFF President Gusau (2nd left), presenting the men\u2019s trophy to Kwara United\u2019s captain as Gov Abdulrazaq, NSC chairman Dikko and NSC DG Olopade watch with interest.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

By Dianabasi Effiong<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cup holders Rivers Angels won their\u00a0 10th title by edging Nasarawa Amazons on penalties, while Kwara United won their first-ever national trophy at the grand finale of this year\u2019s President Federation Cup in Lagos on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s final showcased a compelling match-up between the reigning champions, Rivers Angels and arch-rivals Nasarawa Amazons. Amazons began aggressively and notched the first goal in the 8thminute through former junior international Shola Shobowale.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Jewels of Rivers\u00a0responded by increasing their offensive efforts\u00a0so as to restore parity.<\/p>\n

However, in the 20th minute, Shobowale netted her second goal of the match, extending the Amazons’ lead to 2-0 at half time.<\/p>\n

In spite of the apparent control maintained by the Amazons in the second period, Rivers Angels mounted a significant comeback effort. In the 57th minute, former Nigeria U17 team captain Taiwo Ajibade, scored to reduce the deficit. Shortly after, the Jewels found parity through a well-taken goal.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Rivers Angels celebrate their 10th title.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the ensuing penalty\u00a0shootout,\u00a0the\u00a0Angles prevailed 4-2 to successfully defend their crown and collect the trophy for the 10th\u00a0time.<\/p>\n

Goalkeeper Anderline Mgbechi, who won the best goalkeeper award, converted her team\u2019s final kick for victory.<\/p>\n

In the men’s\u00a0final, Kwara United stood firm against \u2018giant-killers\u2019 Abakaliki FC from Ebonyi State and eventually prevailed 4-3 after penalty shootout following a scoreless situation after regulation time.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Afonja Warriors\u00a0came close to scoring in the 31st\u00a0minute, advancing from midfield and executing strong play that brought them close to the Rice Boys’ goal.<\/p>\n

However, their attempt struck the woodwork, keeping the scoreline at 0-0 as both teams looked for the breakthrough.<\/p>\n

In the second half,\u00a0Kwara United pushed hard to break the deadlock, with Wasiu Alalade nodding a goal in the 57th minute, which was ruled offside by\u00a0Referee\u00a0Joseph Ogabor.<\/p>\n

In the penalty shootout,\u00a0Kwara United were triumphant in a 4-3 win.<\/p>\n

AWARDS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Women\u2019s Competition<\/strong><\/p>\n

Winner: Rivers Angels (N25million).<\/p>\n

Runner-Up: Nasarawa Amazons (N10million).<\/p>\n

MVP: Shola Shobowale (Nasarawa Amazons FC)<\/p>\n

Top Scorer: Abasi Ofon Uwa (Ibom Angels FC).<\/p>\n

Best Goalkeeper: Anderline Mgbechi (Rivers Angels FC).<\/p>\n

Men\u2019s Competition<\/strong><\/p>\n

Winner: Kwara United FC (N50million).<\/p>\n

Runner-Up: Abakaliki FC (N20million).<\/p>\n

MVP: Victor Okoye (Kwara United FC).<\/p>\n

Top Scorer: Mercelle Akinocho (Beyond Limits FC).<\/p>\n

Best Goalkeeper: Suraj Aiyeleso (Kwara United FC)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gov Sanwo-Olu (3rd from left), NFF President Gusau (2nd left), presenting the men\u2019s trophy to Kwara United\u2019s captain as Gov Abdulrazaq, NSC chairman Dikko and NSC DG Olopade watch with interest.\u00a0 By Dianabasi Effiong Cup holders Rivers Angels won their\u00a0 10th title by edging Nasarawa Amazons on penalties, while Kwara United won their first-ever national […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4750,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"pillartoday.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}