The Guardian (Nigeria)

GC Kaduna’s Usman dreams big league, partnershi­p with Mbappe

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USMAN Jubril was the cynosure of all eyes at the Agege Stadium Lagos penultimat­e week. The attacking midfielder, who signs of maturity on the ball beyond his age, made life difficult for players of Igbobi College when his school Government College Kaduna took on the Lagos side in the opening game of the revived National Principals Cup.

It was no surprise that he won the man of the match in the game that ended 1- 1. What many questioned was why he was not in the national U- 17 team then preparing for the African

Under- 17 Nations Cup. In time past, the Principals Cup was the nursery for most of the big talents that went on to become Nigeria’s super stars in football. So, it was pleasing to all the spectators that Usman was on hand to show why the competitio­n needed to be revived.

Fielding questions from journalist­s at the Agege Stadium after the ceremonial opening game, Usman praised the Ministry of Youth and Sports Developmen­t for giving him the opportunit­y to play his game in front of a large audience.

He said, “People come to watch our school games in Kaduna but this is the largest crowd I have witnessed so far.

“My dream is to play in big matches and coming to Lagos, to me, is a dream come true.”

Usman named Paris St. Germaine star, Kylian Mbappe as his idol, saying he is dreaming of one day playing with the France World Cup winner.

“I like Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, but Mbappe is my favourite. He moves past opponents with ease and can score great goals.

“I am working on my speed and I believe with time, I can get to the same level he is now.”

Usman’s Government College Kaduna was involved in the states preliminar­ies of the Principals Cup, which ended recently. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Sports has adjusted the schedule for the competitio­n, with the national finals earlier scheduled for April 1 to 5 now to hold from March 27 to 31.

According to the Chairman of the Main Organizing Committee, Dr. Ademola Are, “this change became necessary as we do not want distractio­ns for the students writing their exams. The exams of the students must be given priority; we don’t want the matches too close to their exams so that they can concentrat­e.

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