Why I Keep Winning VAT Wonder Goals, By Ogbugh

Three-time VAT Wonder Goal Award winner, Emeka Ogbugh has revealed that supporting charity work is a motivation that spurs him to put in the extra work that has seen him win the award in three consecutive seasons of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

Ogbugh won the award in the 2015/16 NPFL season with Heartland FC of Owerri and in 2016/17 with his current club, Rivers United. Last Sunday, he was presented the ceremonial cheque for winning the award for Matchday 15 after securing over 51 percent of the votes in a poll that fielded four other players.

Speaking to www.npfl. ng on the award that was presented by Rivers State Coordinator of Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), Mr. Joel Nwakpo, Ogbugh was of the opinion that the innovative award is one every player in the league would love to win.

In his words, “Basically, every Nigerian league player wants to score spectacular goals and if you’re trying to score such goals, you have to try to score on a weekly basis. So I think that innovation is very good and coupled with the fact that you’re going to give some of the money to charity, it makes you to work very hard so you can give back to the society too”.

Ogbugh’s goal for Rivers United was a hit from outside the 18 yard box and he gave an insight into how he developed the hard hitting goal scoring skills, tracing it to his years at a football academy in Owerri where the coach made him practice hitting set pieces.

“Yeah, in my academy back in those days, my coach will normally, before every training session set balls for me to be striking them to goal, so that’s how I inculcated that habit of scoring free kicks and hitting shots from outside the 18-yard box.”