Jubbaland has lifted the trophy of the second edition of Somali Inter-State football tournament after downing holders Puntland 1-0 in the final match at Stadium Banadir on Friday.

 

The stadium was full to its capacity as thousands of people traveled from far regions to watch the hotly-contested match whose first half ended in stalemate. Jubbaland dominated most of the second half and were able to break the deadlock in 74^th minute when striker Yonis Abdirahman Mohamed bagged the winning goal.

In the last 20 minutes of the match, Jubbaland lost more opportunities which could have made goals for them, while Puntland side lost at least one counter attack opportunity which could produce a goal.

Somali minister for youth and sport, Honorable Khadija Mohamed Diriye, said she was very happy that the competition ended smoothly adding that Somali Football Federation has made a very good organization. "The Prime Minister and myself as a minister are hereby thanking FIFA and CAF presidents, Gianni Infantino and Ahmed Ahmed for their support towards football in Somalia” minister Khadija Mohamed Diriye, said.

President of Somali Football Federation, Abdiqani Said Arab, added that the event was very successful and a good selection of the most talented players was made from the tournament. "From the very beginning to the end of the competition, our technical experts were busy in selecting the talented players. The selected players will go under special training programs before the best of them will be added to the National team” SFF president said.

"In 2018 we are planning to organize regional tournament which will bring all regions together while the Inter-State competition will also be held. We will do this as we want to create more opportunities for Somali youths, because if the number of teams is increased, the number of players will also increase and what we want is to have more players in action” SFF president added.

Friday’s final match was watched by key dignitaries including, Somali Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Kheyre, Minister for youth and sport Khadija Mohamed Diriye, Mayor of Mogadishu Thabet Abdi Mohamed, Somali Football Federation president Abdiqani Said Arab, government ministers, parliament members and key other officials from the federal states.

Somali Football Federation Media Department

Email:info@somsoccer.com