Pepsi Street Cup Tournament Ends in Lagos With More Excitement For Fans

L-R: Head Marketing Seven-up Bottling Company, Norden Thurston, Manager Key Account SBC, Patricia Odia-Iletogun, Captain of Awori Street FC, Austin Joseph, Coach of the team, Lawal Kolawole and GM, Ikeja Region SBC Dele Abioye, at the Pepsi Street Cup Tournament which ended on Saturday. The football tournament tagged Pepsi Street Cup Tournament has finally come to an end. The tourney has been creating loads of excitement in different parts of Nigeria for some weeks now and on Friday 20th and Saturday 21st of June 2014, it took Lagos fans by storm, as the grand finale of the event came to an end in style. Staged in the football cities of Ajegunle-Apapa and Egbeda centres simultaneously, the event saw fans troupe in to watch the display of grassroots talents. Speaking to the media in Apapa, Head of Marketing, Seven-up Bottling Company, Mr. Norden Thurston said: “Pepsi is proud to have given Nigerians joy through football, a well known passion of the country, by taking the game to the people in their own backyard where they can express themselves better.” Thurston further stated that “Pepsi Street Cup tournament was able to touch the lives of so many Nigerians because a lot of people see themselves like Victor Moses or Lionel Messi and they want a platform to showcase the talent they have inside, Pepsi Street Cup Tournament became that platform.” The Apapa location saw KC Academy defeat AKP by 3-1 in the finals to cart away half a million Naira grand prize, while AKP settled for the first runner-up’s prize of 250,000 Naira. In the third place match, Lawal Akapo took home 150,000 Naira after defeating The Royal by 1-0. Seun Taro was the Most Valuable Player. While fans in Egbeda location were thrilled as their favourite team, Awori Street FC from Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi smiled home with half a million Naira after defeating G Boys FC by 1-0 at the final. G Boys got consolation prize of N250 000 while the third place winner, Ajao Jimoh also got N150 000 for beating Moving Train FC by 2-0. The Pepsi Street Cup tourney took place in some major cities in Nigeria like Ibadan, Ilorin, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Aba, Benin, Abuja and finally Lagos. Pepsi Street Cup is one of the ways the brand has been touching lives in Nigeria.

Pepsi Excites PH soccer fans with Street Cup Tourney

Pepsi at the weekend rewarded soccer enthusiasts who stormed Elekahia Stadium to enjoy and be part of the Port-Harcourt edition of the Pepsi Street Cup Tournament with cash and other freebies. The morning rain could not stop the soccer lovers who trooped to the stadium as early as 7:00am in their numbers to either showcase their talents or cheer their teams to victory.
The  5-a-side street tournament which attracted 144 teams from Port-Harcourt and its environs saw Spartan Soccer Academy, Abuloma dancing home with half a million naira courtesy of  Pepsi after defeating  OZ Boys FC 3-0  at the final.  OZ Boys FC got N250,000 while the third placed team Family Love FC went home with N150,000 in a game that ended through penalty kicks.
Speaking with journalists during the event, the Marketing Manager, Seven-Up Bottling Company, Port-Harcourt, Mr. Ben Ejiogu said Pepsi decided to sponsor the tournament to provide platform to showcase raw football talents in the country and also to promote soccer at the grassroots. "No time could be better than now to give our consumers a feel of live soccer actions, we know that Port-Harcourt people are sports loving and this is our own little way to showcase the game of football at its best".
According to him, "as a brand we are committed to the core passion of Nigerian youths and the Pepsi Street Cup Tournament is specially designed to achieve this objective.
Pepsi has been involved in the game of football for so many years that most of the people playing in the national team today were at one time products of Pepsi Football Academy, including Mikel Obi, Osaze Odemwingie and so many in  this country," he said.
Coach of the winning team, Chigozie Onuoha on behalf of the team appreciated the brand Pepsi for the gesture.
"I thought it was a scam but I just believed God; I was optimistic that it will have a good end. It is so interesting, I feel good, and my entire team feels good. We are all happy with Pepsi”.

The tournament has now been held in eight cities since it started in Ibadan on   May 30, 2014. It will end with twin event slated for June 20-21, 2014 at Ajegunle and Ipaja, Lagos.

Evelle Emerges Winner of Etisalat Sponsored Nigerian Idol IV

The Etisalat-sponsored Nigerian Idol Season IV has come to an end. This season, 23 year old Zibili Evelyn Ibhade also known as “Evelle” emerged winner of the competition, smiling home with the star prize of N7.5million, a brand new SUV and a mouth watering recording deal with Universal studio.

The competition which began Januray 2014 lasted about 19 weeks. The Nigerian Idol train explored four cities in the quest for the most talented singer. Lagos, Benin, Calabar and Makurdi hosted the auditions that produced 100 contestants who were given passes to Lagos for a second round of screening.

Congratulating Evelle on her win, Director, Brands and Communications at Etisalat Nigeria, Enitan Denloye said ”It has been great for us at Etisalat to be a part of this show, Evelle consistently put up a commendable performance on a weekly basis and the audience did not disappoint her as they voted accordingly. She indeed impressed everyone right from when she auditioned; it is indeed a well deserved win.”

Obviously filled with joy, Evelle could not control her happiness; with tears rolling down her eyes, she smiled and laughed intermittently amid flashing lights from cameras as everyone present attempted to get pictures of her.

Asked what she felt about emerging the 4^th winner of the competition, Evelle noted that she didn’t expect to be announced winner. “I am still in shock” she said, “all this feels like a mirage to me. I know I gave my best all through the competition but it was a fierce contest. I want to thank every single person out there who voted for me from the beginning of the competition. It is because of their votes that I am being celebrated today, and I give God the glory for letting me win.” she said.

On what she would do with the prize money, Evelle said she would invest most of it in her music career to ensure she does not leave the entertainment scene and also take part of it to her church for thanksgiving.