By Ernest Osogbue

Football, the beautiful game, is a game of contrasting fortunes in its unpredictability. It is a sport where the David and Goliath scenario most frequently occurs. As a result, nothing is given in a game of football until the match is played and completed.

Who would have believed that on the road to qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, that the Super Eagles of Nigeria would fumble against the Warriors of Zimbabwe and the Crocodiles of Lesotho. When the draws were released, most football loving Nigerians believed that outside of the Bafana Bafana of South Africa, the Super Eagles would stroll through the qualifiers. Alas! Nigerians know better today.

That is the reason why I was surprised to read my respected colleague David Ngobua, of Daily Trust Newspapers, cast aspersions on Remo Stars Football Club over the 1-5 loss to Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in the preliminaries of the CAF Champions League.

In a piece he wrote with the above title and published on Saturday 25th October 2025 in the Daily Trust Newspapers, David made reference to the magnanimity of Kunle Soname, the proprietor of Remo Stars, and alluded to the fact that his magnanimity was responsible for Remo Stars being ‘aided’ to win the NPFL title. After reading David’s story, I was really disappointed and felt compelled to pen this rejoinder. I have never met Kunle Soname, I don’t even know him, but I believe that the truth doesn’t need permission to be told.

David of all people knows that football is an unpredictable sport, where a low rated team could spring a surprise against a more illustrious side. The Squirrels of Benin Republic handed the Super Eagles their only loss in the CAF group C of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, leading Finidi George to resign his position as head coach. Is Benin Republic now a more illustrious football nation than Nigeria? The Warriors of Zimbabwe held the Eagles to a draw home and away. The Crocodiles of Lesotho equally battled the Super Eagles to a draw here in Nigeria. These were damaging results, yet Nigerians still have hope in the Super Eagles. No one expected it, but Nigerians accepted the results knowing that in football victory is not guaranteed.

Several reasons could be responsible for a team not doing well in a particular game. Wrong tactics, underrating the opponent, inadequate preparation, injuries to key players, inclement weather, the atmosphere and the environment of the game, poor officiating, and many others. After losing to Brentford recently in the English Premier League, Liverpool manager, Arne Slot complained that opposing teams now deploy long balls against his side, and that this has caught his players off guard. Imagine this lame excuse from a top rated coach, yet no one has said he didn’t deserve his EPL title win last season.

By any stretch of the imagination, Mamelodi Sundowns are a far more illustrious football club than Remo Stars, as far as Africa is concerned. A loss to them, therefore, is nothing for Remo Stars to be ashamed of. I agree that the scoreline was unexpected and may have prompted David in his disappointment to write the story. That notwithstanding, there was no need to go as far as saying that Remo Stars’ NPFL title was undeserved, and may have been procured by other means outside of their performance on the field of play. That was absolutely unnecessary.

David’s position follows a pattern that has become trendy in our country of recent, where we no longer believe that people achieved by merit. We cast aspersions on every success achieved by others, especially those we oppose. Remo Stars lobbied and stole the title, the president bought the officials and stole the election, Dangote stole his riches by using underhand means, Mr. Nenemwin only got nominated because he knows the organizers, the minister was appointed because his mother is sleeping with the president, that first class degree is fake because Ms. Lagbaja cheated in the university, etc.

This is a dangerous trend that has taken over our nation, where we no longer believe that merit still exists. As journalists, we must keep our emotions in check and not encourage this line of thinking, which is damaging to the national psyche. It is our job to report information that we can prove and not pander to the reckless emotions being vented by uninformed people.

Only last last week, the Moroccan U-20 side defeated their Argentine counterparts 2-0 to lift their first FIFA U-20 title. This is an Argentina who are record winners of the championship with 6 titles. Morocco on the other hand have only ever appeared at the FIFA U-20 World Cup on two previous occasions in 1977 and 1997, where they posted unimpressive results. But on their day in 2025, they smashed the record title holders to win their first title. That is football.

In the same week that the Moroccan U-20 side was doing exploits, another top European clubside was being humbled in the UEFA Champions League. PSV Eindhoven, an almost forgotten name in European football, smashed Italian champions Napoli 6-2 in the preliminaries of the UEFA Champions League. What would David say about that? Did Napoli also ‘steal’ the Italian title?

Currently in the English Premier League, Champions Liverpool have been fumbling, losing to Manchester United at Anfield the last time, and being beaten by Brentford recently. This is after they splashed over £450 million in signing some of the best players during the off season. Does that mean they used magomago to win the EPL title?

History is replete with higher rated teams being bowled over by so-called minnows. In the case of Remo Stars, their pedigree is nowhere near that of Mamelodi Sundowns, as a result, their defeat was not a surprise. Outside the scoreline, no one expected Remo Stars to bowl Sundowns over with a heavy defeat.

I feel, therefore, that it was mischievous of David Ngobua, a well grounded reporter and respected sports journalist, to use the Remo Stars heavy defeat as a basis to cast aspersions on their 2024/2025 NPFL title win. As it stands, Remo Stars still has a chance to redeem itself when both sides meet again on the 26th of October in the return leg in South Africa.