Seals Cup 2024 promised to be an absolutely mouth-watering tournament and boy has it delivered nothing short of that. The old stadium, famously known as the SUB pitch, over the past few weeks has been a hub of enthralling and captivating match-ups as teams fight for glory. Despite having reached the knockout stages of the competition, the Round of 16 to be specific, we cannot help but look back on the major highlights of the group stage. In the second of what promises to be a series to keep looking out for, the UIMSA Press sports desk’s radar is on Mr. Azeez ‘Paragon’ Olasupo, from the stables of the Department of Industrial Production Engineering (IPE) in the Faculty of Technology.
The name ‘Paragon’ is by no means a fluke as he has put in the necessary efforts to deserve such title. Just for context, a paragon is a model of excellence, perfection, or virtue; someone who is considered supreme, an epitome of quality, integrity or achievement. A standard with which others are measured and it is very safe to say that by his antecedents, Mr. Azeez, has lived up to this name. The origin of this new nickname dates back to 2017 at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, where he showed class academically and otherwise. Not being popular in football at the time didn’t deter his admirers from the naming baptism. While it’s quite difficult to process the fact the such a talented player wasn’t popular footballing wise at the time, we all know that nothing big starts big.
Back at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Azeez was not so popular in football so much that in his own words, he was struggling to enter his level team. Like it is said, when you’re down to the lowest, there’s only one way forward, which is up. Azeez, undeterred, took the bull by the horn. Recollecting on his rise to stardom, he said ‘It was just two things for me, like the Pareto 80/20 rule. The first was believing in myself which accounted for 20% and the second, the remaining 80%, was working my ass off.’ It’s quite obvious that the secret sauce had a magical effect. Just like we have it in Europe, the brand of football played across different countries differ. Like the Spanish teams known for their technicality; the Italians for their physicality, and so on. When asked to give an honest evaluation on the dichotomy of the football played in UI and in The Polytechnic, Ibadan, he pointed out the obvious which is the fact that here in UI, relatively less attention is given to football and other sporting activities in general while at The Polytechnic, it’s quite the opposite, thus making it more difficult to get into departmental teams. To him, he doesn’t see much of a difference in the quality of football played across both campuses but UI has a slight edge over the Polytechnic as regards the maturity in the style of play, citing his department as an example.
Paragon is a very decorated player as in his little below 5-year stay in UI, he has won 3 major trophies; 2 Gala Cups and 1 Dean’s Cup. Other tournament outings were not all doom and gloom as in his 200 level, he was the first runner-up in the Survival Cup and the Dean’s Cup. In his outings as a player for IPE, he has managed to score over 40 goals. He is widely known as a point man and a lethal finisher but he wasn’t always that. In his early playing days, he was deployed as a defensive midfielder but his athleticism and eye for goal couldn’t go under the radar thus, his subsequent but inevitable conversion to a striker. His effectiveness in this position was further fueled by watching clips of his idol, Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, ‘R9’.
No matter how successful a player has been, there must always be moments which have caused tears and unbearable pains in their hearts. Azeez is no exception as the memory of the Survival Cup final in his 200-level days still haunts him till today. The tournament started off really well and promising, seeing him score all of the IPE goals from the group stage to the final. According to him, the team had a very porous midfield but due to the number of chances created and goals scored, it was not really much of a problem for the team but in the final against Chemistry, the team couldn’t go unscathed. The poor midfield display coupled with two chances gone begging, they were punished and conceded the trophy to their opponents. Describing the conditions after the game, he said ‘Rain fell after the defeat and I cried in the rain.’ This event helped him develop a better attitude towards losses as he tends to have a very long and deep sleep after each loss. And if he had a sub-par performance, he’ll increase every rep in his workout and engage more in early morning joggings. All these helps him regain his confidence.
In this edition of the Seals Cup, he has scored a total of 7 goals so far, making him the tournament’s highest goal scorer. The motivation behind this ridiculous feat is because it’s his last dance and he wants to give all the newbies in the team a taste of the Paragon whose tales are everywhere. He desperately wants the gold so that he can bow out on a high and he’s willing to give whatever it takes to get.
No doubt that Paragon has lighted up the tournament. In pidgin, he dey actually para but only time will tell if he will get that piece of silverware that his heart so desperately yearns for. IPE are currently through to the quarter finals in SEALS Cup ’24 and they will be facing Statistics. Regardless of the outcome, IPE and football fans in UI wouldn’t be quick to forget the majesty and the might of this great player, Paragon.
Nmesomachi Okoronkwo.
