Good morning All.
January 14th, 2026 is one of those days that, from a footballing perspective, I would happily cast into the abyss. Buried. Forgotten. Deleted from memory. Never to be revisited for a very long time.
If there was ever a day that fit the biblical description of an “evil day,” this was it. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. And not in small, manageable ways either. In the kind of ways that leave you staring at the screen, wondering how ninety minutes managed to turn into a full-blown tragedy.
Enyimba went to Ibadan and got served a healthy dose of our own medicine. Thrashed 3–0 by Shooting Stars. A full comedy show. No intermission. Someone tried to console me by calling it a “family game” and saying the scorelines just balanced out from the reverse fixture. Family game or not, it doesn’t look good. And it definitely shouldn’t be a scoreline that represents Enyimba.
Truth is, the game only completely unraveled in the last ten minutes. They scored early from the spot, and it stayed 1–0 for most of the match. Then our boys suddenly remembered they had other plans for the evening and clocked out early. Two quick goals later, and Ibadan was officially hosting a party.
Still, it hurts. But even on days like this, football always leaves you with something to hold on to, however small. One such positive is that Coach Ayeni now seems fully in charge. I watched his post-match reaction and got slight Coach Ikhana vibes. Maybe it’s the shades or just his overall demeanor; Calm. Firm. No excuses. He took the punch on the chin and is clearly focused on moving forward.
Then, as if the day wasn’t heavy enough, Nigeria lost the AFCON semifinal to Morocco. Playing the hosts was always going to be tough, but the tactical confusion didn’t help matters. Penalties are a lottery, yes, but it would have felt a bit unjust if we had sneaked through. We didn’t look good enough.
Football can be cruel; January 14th was proof. We take the loss, shake it off, and move on. We drop to 11th and onto the next one.
Back tomorrow.
‘EnyimbaEnyi.
