The Seals Cup is one of the elite football competitions organised every session in UI, where the different departments of the University get to compete among themselves, showcase their football prowess, win bragging rights, gain recognition, ease academic stress and foster camaraderie.
This year’s edition witnessed 32 male and 10 female departmental teams and the opening ceremony, which held on 26th July at the old football Pitch, SUB, included an inaugural match between the defending champion, Philosophy and the Department of Veterinary Medicine, where the latter won by 1-nil, to the dismay of many. Ever since, many other matches have followed.
After much tussling among the 32 and 10 departmental teams in the male and female categories respectively, Art and Social Science Education (ASSE) and MBBS emerged as finalists in the female category, while Industrial and Production Engineering (IPE) and MBBS emerged as finalists in the male category. Hence, two MBBS teams reaching the finals is a record and testament to their quality. Let us review the journey of both teams to the final.
For the female team, they were placed in group B with their fellow finalist, ASSE, and three other teams in Linguistics, Statistics, and Public Health with them.
Their first game was with ASSE, which they lost by 2-1 after an initial quick succession goals by Omolola and Lolade of the department of ASSE, a few minutes into the second half and a late consolation goal for the MBBS team through Faith, their forward.
Their second game was with Statistics, which ended in a 1-1 draw after sequential goals by Eseosa and Suliyat of the opposition team. The third group stage match was against the Department of Public Health, which they won 2-1 after both teams initially converted their penalty chances in the first half through Victoria for MBBS and Sunbo for Public Health and a winning goal for the MBBS team in the second half through Agnes.
The Department of Linguistics failed to show up for the concluding game, resulting in an automatic 3-0 win for the MBBS ladies. Thus, they qualified with ASSE in Group B for the semi-final showdowns, alongside the departments of Philosophy and Architecture and Anthropology in Group A, with a total of 7 points.
Their semi-final game was with Philosophy, with whom they played a 1-1 draw at full-time through goals by Chidinma and an equalizer by Tamar of Philosophy. Thus, the match proceeded to a penalty shootout, where the MBBS team eventually edged their tough opponent by a 2-1 win after goals by Victoria and Unique of the MBBS team, to book their place in the final alongside their group stage rival, ASSE.
For the male team, it all started in Group E, where they were seeded with the departments of Human Kinetics Education (KHE), Economics, and Urban and Regional Planning (URP), leaving other departmental teams to battle it out among themselves in the remaining seven groups.
Their first match was with KHE, whom they defeated 2-1. After conceding an early goal through Tomiwa’s strike, they bounced back through a quick first-half goal by Ramoni their skipper; and a late second-half goal by Habeeb their winger, earned them their first win.
The second match was with URP, which they defeated 1-0 after Teslim converted a set-piece took by Habeeb in the second half, to hand them the much-needed win.
Match-day 3 was with the Department of Economics, which the MBBS team humiliated by 3-nil after a goalless first-half draw. Thanks to the brace by Fuhad and the late goal by Ola. Thus, the MBBS team booked their place in the round of 16 knockout stage with a total of 9 points.
The round of 16 was with Wood and Products Engineering (WPE), which posed a tough challenge to the MBBS team, as no side could break the deadlock till the full-time whistle was blown. Consequently, a penalty shootout had to decide the match. Here, the MBBS team eventually defeated their opponent by 4-1 to qualify for the quarter-final round. Thanks to the WPE first penalty miss, the second penalty save by Adeoluwa, the MBBS goalie, and the goals by the first four MBBS penalty takers- Teslim, Ramoni, Elijah, and Karbon.
The quarter-final was with Petroleum Engineering (SPE), another team from the Faculty of Engineering. MBBS won this after a mid-pitch free kick goal by Instanbul, the new MBBS defender converted from the midfield, in the first half. However, this was not an easy win, as they were massively dominated and spent most of their second half absorbing pressure repeatedly and trying to keep their opponent at bay.
In the semi-final, it was against Psychology, which had been formidable in the competition. However, after much intensive play from both sides, MBBS had their breakthrough in the second half, when Karbon dribbled past two of the opponent defenders to chip in a cross to Ola, who wasted no time before tapping it into the back of the net. This way, the MBBS team secured their place in the final alongside another team from the Engineering side – IPE.
The final game which was earlier scheduled for Friday, the 23rd of August had to be postponed till the following day, Saturday, the 24th of August due to an unfavourable weather condition. The final, first witnessed a novelty match between Team Ayobami and Team Olowu, which started around 3:45pm and lasted for about 40 minutes of both first half and second half. Team Ayobami won by 2-1 after scoring two goals in the first half. Team Olowu pulled one back after winning a foul in their opponent’s box in the second half; which Samson Oloye, the University’s number one student and President-elect, converted from the spot-kick.
The female match between MBBS and ASSE was an intensive and breathtaking one. Although ASSE had defeated the MBBS team in the group stage, the final game was highly competitive. Both teams fiercely battled it out till the last minute; with each producing breathtaking goalscoring opportunities.
With constant tension throughout both halves, which lasted about 40 minutes, neither of the two teams could break the deadlock, bringing the match to a penalty shootout. MBBS players took the first shots, and their first and second players successfully converted their goals. However, their last was a miss. ASSE capitalised on this, and ultimately edged their arch-rival by converting all their three penalties and emerged as the champions of Seals Cup ’24 Female Category.
The last match of the day was in the male category between MBBS and IPE. It started around half past five and after a balanced display between both sides in the first half, the half-time whistle was blown at about 6 pm. After a five-minute half-time break, the match resumed. In the early stages of the second half, IPE had an opportunity to score; where Pius sent an overhead ball towards Mustafa, but the MBBS defender failed to handle it properly. As a result, Abraham of IPE took advantage of this mistake to give his team a 1-0 lead in the game, much to the disappointment of the MBBS fans.
The game continued with the MBBS players believing they could even the score by applying repeated pressure on their opponent, which caused them to sit deep. After much perturbation of their opponent and some substitutions made, which involved Jide and Fuhad coming in for Ola and Teslim respectively, MBBS finally had their equaliser when Fuhad received a pass from Prestige and released it to Jide. After displaying an excellent ball control, he volleyed it with his right foot into the bottom right corner of the opponent’s post. Thus, MBBS equalized to bring the score line to 1-1; igniting a frenzy in the atmosphere.
Later, the MBBS tactician, Liam, made another substitution, replacing Mustafa with Dave. After a few minutes of play, the final whistle blew, and the score line remained at 1-1, leading to a penalty shootout. The shootout began right away, with IPE starting first. After four successful conversions by both teams, the fifth IPE player had his ball caught by Emerald, the MBBS goalkeeper.
The fifth and final MBBS player, Fuhad, successfully converted his kick to secure the win for MBBS. As a result, the MBBS team emerged as the champions of the Seals Cup ’24 Male Category. Subsequently, the MBBS students paraded around the whole SUB pitch with the chant of “Ibadan Medicine” while some carried placards that read, “UIMSA, we too good” and “no be only book we sabi,” among others.
In the previous years, they came close, so winning this cup was truly exhilarating. Finally, they made history by becoming the only department to produce two finalists in a single edition of the Seals Cup. Indeed, this was a significant victory for them.
Shortly after, presentation of awards followed, with Paragon of IPE winning the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer with a whooping 8 goals, Pius of IPE won the Most Versatile Player of the Tournament, Liam of MBBS won the Best Coach of the Tournament, Prestige of MBBS won the Young Best Player of the Tournament as the Golden Boy, and Olami of Political Science winning the Best Stopper of the Tournament with the Golden Glove, in the individual award session. There was no individual award in the female category.
In the corporate award session under the female category, ASSE won the Gold medal and the trophy as the Champion. MBBS won the silver medal as the first runner-up. Philosophy won the bronze medal as the second runner-up. In the male category, MBBS won the gold medal and the trophy as the champion. IPE won the silver medal as the first runner-up. Political science won the bronze medal as the second runner-up.
In its entirety, the Seals Cup ’24 Tournament was an exhilarating experience, brimming with undiluted passion for the beautiful game of football.
