Olanipekun Samson

Attacking Midfielder (R) - Kwara United
27 Feb 2027
Saturday
Process

Marked for Olanipekun Samson

29 Edition

The Kwara United Sentinel

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The dugout

Sulyman Baraje keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kwara United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

A row about effort at Kwara United

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Uche Jaguar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The terraces

One of their own: Kareem Yusuff

He is 18 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

Match

Kwara United find a way past Kun Khalifat

Kun Khalifat made Kwara United work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Philip Ozor at his very best

Marked 8.15. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Kwara United.

Player ratings

Abdulsalam Abdulsalam was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

Tempers go at Kwara United

Mustapha Salisu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

Peter Adebayor: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.

The dugout

Olanipekun Samson gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief