Sidibari
Maziya Sports and Recreation are champions of FAM League Cup as they defeated Odi Sports 4-0 in tonight’s final.
Maziya opened the scoring early on in the first half, with a strike by midfielder Aisam from the edge of the box. Maziya winger Ahmed Aiham doubled the lead with an assist from Hassan Raaif in the 28th minute.
Attempts by Odi Sports to reduce the deficit were ineffective as Maziya defense line did not let Odi make a convincing attack through to the second half.
The Green Boys added to the lead in the 70th minute, as the sixteen-year-old substitute Ilan Imran scored from distance. Ilan went on to score another goal just minutes later, effectively crushing any hopes of a comeback by Odi Sports.
With the brace scored in tonight’s final, Ilan has been awarded golden boot of the tournament, having scored a total of four throughout the tournament.
Maziya have enjoyed an invincible road to glory in the League Cup. Their only draw came against Odi Sports in the league stage of the tournament. The Green Boys had defeated TC Sports Club in the semifinals, as Odi pulled off a last-gasp comeback against New Radiant in the opposite leg of the semis.
Odi Sports had won just one of their three games in the league stage – the fixture against Mahibadhoo SC. They suffered defeat at the hands of New Radiant SC, and drew against Maziya and TC.
The League Cup, a transitional competition organized by FAM and endorsed by FIFA, is meant to be a pre-season tournament ahead of the official start of the football season in August. The football association, run by a normalization committee, had postponed the start of the season multiple times, the latest being from the second week of April to an undetermined date in August.
