By Israel Ajise (AJ7)
On Wednesday, April 19, the draw for the Quarter Final of the ongoing 200-level competition, Survival Cup, was made at the University of Ibadan Student Union’s Sports Secretary’s office.
In an astonishing turn of events, the Round-Of-Eight tie was seeded with mouthwatering fixtures with the first being the merged football team of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering and Civil Engineering versus Wood Products Engineering in conjunction with the Department of Religious Studies. AEE/Civil are favorites going into this tie, as star players, Ehis and Heskeyman inspired the side to a comfortable 3-0 victory against the Political Science in Round Two.
Surprisingly, WPE/RES were fortunate to make the quarter-final, having qualified through the best loser route following their penalty shootout defeat to IPE. WPE/RES’s lesser number of yellow cards in the last round clinched them the ‘best losers’ slot ahead of the Animal Science and Agricultural Extension and Rural Development combined team.
The Faculty of Technology & Arts merged team are however no pushovers as they boast of great footballing talents in their squad.
The second R-Of-8 fixture pits Human Nutrition/Biochemistry against Adult Education, the only team from the Faculty of Education left in the tournament. NUT/BIOCHEM are still unbeaten in the tournament but needed the lottery of the penalties against another Education side- Arts and Social Science Education to claim their quarter-final ticket. Adult Education, however, claimed the second ‘best loser’ qualification tag to remain in the tournament. The team however remains a huge threat as they forced the merged team of Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine to penalty business.
The third fixture of the QFs is none other than the formidable Philosophy & Classics merged departments versus the combination of Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine. It is difficult to pick who the favorite of this tie is, however PHARM/VET edge the midfield battle with their power players in the person of Ifeoluwa and the last tournament edition’s MVP, Abdulafeez. The Health Science team could also be said to have the best goalkeeper in the tournament, Mr. Orodin, who leads a defense that has conceded only two goals in the tournament thus far. The opposition defense will have their hands full, as they hope to shut out Philosophy’s John in the fixture. The in-form striker has scored three goals in the tournament and is fresh off winning the Golden Boot of a previous competition, ‘SEALS’ CUP. The Philosophy/Classics team have been a high-scoring team in the tournament, as they’ve netted seven goals in three games played.
The fourth and final fixture of the round is arguably the biggest match-up. The Medicine & Surgery students will be going up against familiar foes, Industrial & Production Engineering. These two teams have been going head & neck against each other since their 100-level days, creating the biggest football rivalry of the season. MBBS have only lost once against their opponents, which was in their most recent fixture. An entertaining 5-4 scoreline. MBBS will be banking on in-form players, Sir Dave, Tofunmi, and Jide to strike the sword through their opponents. While IPE will hope their number 10, Kenneth puts on a memorable performance to bolster his team’s semi-final qualification. A solid performance from IPE’s main defensive blocks, V.K. and Bukunmi will also be required.
The quarter-final will commence on Thursday, April 20.
Here is a summary of the Quarter Final Round:
1. AEE/CIVIL VS WPE/RES
2. BIO/NUT VS ADE
3. Philosophy VS PHARM/VET
4. MBBS. VS IPE
SEMIFINAL
WINNER 1 VS WINNER 2
WINNER 3 VS WINNER 4
