The Enyimba FC Chairman, Nwankwo Kanu’s second edition of the Under-19 Football Tournament kicked off on Friday in Aba, with three matches played on the opening day.

The tournament, organised by the Enyimba Sporting Director, Ifeanyi Ekwueme, for the discovery of talents for the clubs, started in 2024.

Six teams slugged it out for supremacy inside the Enyimba International Stadium, Aba, on Friday.

The competition features two centres, Aba and Owerri, and the winners from each centre will meet in the grand finale at the Enyimba International Stadium.

The teams playing in Aba centre include Enyimba FC Under-17, Ngwa United FC, Aba Madrid FC, all from Aba.

The rest are Petson Academy and Okwu United from Umuahia.

The defending champions, Apex Crane FC from Enugu, brings the team to six and they defeated Enyimba’s Under-17 by a lone goal in the first match of the day.

In other results of the day, Aba Madrid FC drew 1-1 with Okwu United FC before Ngwa United played out goalless against Petson Academy in the last match of the day.

Coach Isaac Loute of Apex Crane FC, who once played for Enugu Rangers, hailed the players and believed the competition would serve its purpose of discovering talents.

Mr Loute stated, “I love what I saw from the first match against our opponent, Enyimba Under-17, and it showed there are talents in the lower league. The tournament is a good one for the youth and I think at the end of the day, there will be more improvement as the tournament progresses.’’

It was gathered from the Enyimba media that matches would continue on June 16 inside the Enyimba International Stadium by 9am.

(NAN)