The Nigeria national deaf football team, Deaf Eagles, have won the 7th West Africa Deaf Football Union (WADFU) Tournament to lift the trophy for the fourth time.
The team’s Head Coach, Kamiludeen Banjo, said on telephone from Mali that the country defeated hosts, Mali 2- 1 in the final.
Eight countries participated in the competition which began on May 5 ended on May 12.
Banjo said that Mali had earlier defeated Nigeria 2-1 at the group stage, adding that the Deaf Eagles were able to surmount their opponents in the final.
“This is a great feat for the team having missed the last edition in 2016 due to lack of funds and coming back to lift the trophy for the fourth time.
“The build up to the tournament was really challenging for the players but I am happy that the players triumphed in the end.
“We are truly grateful to our Patron, Emmanuel Ibru, who sponsored the team to the competition,’’ he said.
The coach said that the team would arrive in the country on May 16, with the hope that the team would be rewarded by the government.
“We have never been rewarded for flying the country’s flag high in the tournament and that is something the players are not always happy about because of their disability,’’ he said.
The country won the maiden edition of the competition in 2010 and went ahead to win the title in 2011 and 2013 respectively.
The Deaf Eagles were also runners-up in the 2014 and 2015 editions.
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