2024/2025 NPFL Match Day 24: Amuneke prepares Heartland FC for Nigeria's oldest football rivalry against Shooting Stars

Posted : 16 February 2025

Perhaps one of the oldest football rivalries in Nigeria, Heartland International FC will, on Sunday, welcome Shooting Stars SC of Ibadan to the Dan Anyiam Stadium in Owerri for the 2024/2025 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) Match Day 24 fixture.

Both clubs have been at each other’s throats for years, dating back to the early '70s when Heartland International was formerly known as Iwanyawu National of Owerri.

In the past, encounters between these two clubs, Heartland Football Club of Owerri from the South-East and Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan from the South-West, have attracted significant attention, with hundreds of supporters from both sides storming the match venue to cheer their teams to victory.

Die-hard supporters of the two traditional clubs in Nigeria will again show up at Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri, on Sunday, when Heartland Owerri goes head-to-head with Shooting Stars in the NPFL Week 24 match.

The Naze Millionaires are currently ranked 12th on the league table with 29 points from 23 matches, while Shooting Stars, known as the 'Oluyole Warriors,' occupy the 2nd position with 40 points from the same 23 games. A further loss by Heartland could seriously put the team in danger of dropping to the relegation zone.

Therefore, the battle cry for the Owerri-based outfit on Sunday will be to pick up the three points to improve their standing in the league.

When both clubs met in the first quarter of the 2024/2025 NPFL season, Shooting Stars defeated Heartland 1-0 in the Week 4 match at Adamasingba Stadium in Ibadan on September 29, 2024. It was a match where the visitors would have earned at least a point, but it was not to be on the day.

However, Heartland has an opportunity to repay their opponents by defeating the 'Oluyole Warriors' and picking up the full three points, which will be crucial to the club's push for a top-place finish at the end of the league season.

This makes Sunday’s match between the high-flying Shooting Stars and mid-table Heartland a tough encounter for both sides as they pursue their ambitions to earn the three points at stake this weekend.

Expectedly, Heartland’s coach Emmanuel Amuneke will be under pressure to secure all three points because any result other than a win will push his team further down the table, especially if three clubs—Bayelsa United, Katsina United, and Bendel Insurance—behind his team win their matches.

The former Golden Eaglets FIFA U-17 World Cup-winning coach and ex-international has already said that the encounter with Shooting Stars will be tough, but he believes that his players are equal to the task and will prevail at the end of the match on Sunday.

"Shooting Stars are a tough side anytime, and we will not take them for granted. They have a strong squad, and we have to be ready for the tough challenge, although I am optimistic the match will end in our favor because we need the points more," Amuneke told Prompt News in a chat.

Meanwhile, Gbenga Ogunbote, the head coach of Shooting Stars, has stated that eight new players have joined the team to assist in fulfilling the club’s aspiration for a continental ticket.

Ogunbote, who spoke to reporters recently in Ibadan after his team defeated Nasarawa United Football Club 2-0, said the team signed eight fresh legs to replace the nine players who left the Ibadan-based club.

With the reinforcement in the team, Heartland should expect a different squad from the one they played against in Ibadan last year and be ready for whatever challenge the visitors will bring on Sunday.

Will Owerri fans sing “Owerri Wu Oke Mba” or will the traveling supporters from Oyo state sing “Ose, Ose oo, Ose Baba” on Sunday? Time will tell.

2024/2025 NPFL Match Day 24: Amuneke prepares Heartland FC for Nigeria's oldest football rivalry against Shooting Stars

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