The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sports

  • We can beat Nigeria and qualify – Bance

    We can beat Nigeria and qualify – Bance

    Burkina Faso striker Aristide Bance says they have a competitive squad to take on Group C opponents Nigeria, Zambia and Ethiopia and qualify for the knockout stages of the African Cup of Nations 2013.

    In an interview with supersport.com after he played a storming match in the 3-0 victory over Swaziland’s national team on Thursday night, Bance said the confidence is back and they are “ready to face” Nigeria and the rest of the group opponents.

    “We have had intense preparations and now we are ready to face Nigeria and the rest,” Bance said.

    “It’s important that we win the first game. I am not saying it will be easy but we have a competitive squad to go all the way,” said the FC Augsburg striker.

    Bance set the ‘Stallions’ off to a romping 3-0 victory with a well-taken goal from outside the big box. He let fly with a stinging shot that rocked the roof of the net in the 36th minute. He gave Swaziland’s defence a torrid time with his off-the-ball runs and close ball control for the remainder of his time out on the field.

    Bance was born in the Ivory Coast but moved to Burkina Faso as a child. He made his debut for the Stallions in 2003 and has been in and out of the national team since then although he has featured more regularly in recent years.

    This will be his second appearance at the African Cup of Nations after featuring in 2012 in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

  • Mikel, Moses set to get new coach

    Mikel, Moses set to get new coach

    Super Eagles duo of John Mikel Obi and Victor Moses are likely to get a new team manager at the end of the 2012/2013 English Premier League season.

    Mirror Sport reported how former Chelsea favorite Gianfranco Zola has emerged as a serious contender to become full-time Blues boss next year and Benitez appeared to hint that he is prepared to accept what fate brings.

    Chelsea were forced to 2-2 with Southampton, who recently sacked the Nigel Adkinson the night and the current manager of the blues Rafael Benitez admitted that he knew he was not going to carry on with the team when the season comes to a halt in May 2013.

    When I signed we knew I was signing until the end of the season. If we were doing well maybe it would be easier for people to be interested, like the owner saying let’s stay longer, Benitez he said.

    Zola was a former Chelsea player who had a measure of success with the club and it is thought that just like former star Roberto Di Matteo achieved some level of success with the London club, the former Italian footballer will replicate the same feat of winning the Champions League for them alongside some other trophies.

  • Ekeji reminds Eagles of its objective

    Ekeji reminds Eagles of its objective

    The National Sports Commission (NSC) on Friday urged the Super Eagles not to forget their main objective at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tournament will kick off today, with Bafana Bafana trading tackles with the Blue Sharks of Cape Verde Islands, in the opening match. The Super Eagles will open their campaign on Monday, Jan. 21 in Nelspruit, against the Stallions of Burkina Faso.

    Dr Patrick Ekeji, Director-General, NSC, in an interview with NAN in Abuja, however, said the Eagles should not forget President Jonathan’s mandate.

    According to Ekeji, “the message was given to the team last year in which it was charged to go and win the trophy for Nigeria. They should go and do their best and of course the objective is to go and get the trophy.

    “To get the trophy, you have to do your very best and they have told Nigerians that they are going to do their best and we wish them the very best.”

    Ekeji’s message came just a day after the team landed in South Africa for the AFCON tournament.

    Eagles’ are drawn in Group C, alongside Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and defending champions, Zambia. The team had commenced its preparation for the tournament on Dec. 17 in Abuja with 23 home-based players.

    The preparation continued in Faro, Portugal, where 17 foreign-based players also joined the team’s camp, before a final 23-man list was arrived at for the continental tournament.

    NAN recalls that the Eagles played four tune-up matches, drawing two and winning two.

    The Eagles drew 1-1 against Catalonia, 0-0 against Cape Verde, won 1-0 over Sparta Rotterdam of the Netherlands and recorded a 5-0 win over Farense FC of Portugal.

  • Osaze focuses on Baggies’ match

    Osaze focuses on Baggies’ match

    West Brom striker Peter Odemwingie is still focused on the club after being linked with a move to Queens Park Rangers, according to coach Steve Clark.

    The striker is believed to be on the verge of leaving The Baggies after a £2.5 million bid from Harry Redknapp’s OPR. However according to Clarke, Odemwingie had nothing to say about the move and was instead focusing on their next game against Aston Villa this weekend.

    “I spoke to Peter yesterday – I had a good chat with him. All he wanted to talk about was the game on Saturday. I’ve got no reason to doubt it.

    “Queens Park Rangers are entitled to make their bids. Anyone can do that – they made an enquiry, a bid, they went through the official channels. It’s easy for us to say no. The players know what the situation is [regarding their prospects of being sold],” Clarke told the Birmingham Mail.

    Odemwingie has a year and a half left on his Baggies contract.

  • Let the games begin

    Let the games begin

    2013 Africa Cup of Nations will officially kick off today with the opening ceremony. Records have it that local and foreign coaches are tied at 14 titles each as the best of African players will also be aiming to be on the top of their games for the ultimate prize, the trophy.

    The debate over whether foreign coaches are better than local coaches or vice versa is one that is unlikely to go away, but at the end of the competition in South Africa one set of coaches will have the lead.

    Individually local coaches Charles Kumi Gyamfi and Hassan Shehata are the most successful AFCON coaches, each having racked up a treble of wins for Ghana and Egypt respectively.

    The legendary Gyamfi won the titles in 1963, 1965 and 1982, while Shehata recorded successive triumphs in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

    Four-time champions, Ghana have never won the title with a foreign coach, while Nigeria and Cameroon, who have six titles between them, have never won the competition with a local coach.

    In the seven competitions played since the turn of the century, foreign coaches have won four, with Shehata claiming his hat-trick in between.

    This year nine foreign coaches will be at the African finals where they will be leading – Angola, Mali, Congo DR, Niger, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Algeria and Togo.

    Teams which will be led by local coaches, include hosts South Africa, Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tunisia, and Cape Verde.

  • Yobo: I believe in Eagles

    Yobo: I believe in Eagles

    Nigeria skipper Joseph Yobo has again backed his team’s chances at the African Cup of Nations, which begins today in Johannesburg.

    The Super Eagles have won the competition twice, but the last time they did so was 19 years ago.

    But skipper Yobo said on arrival in South Africa on Thursday that he expects the team made up of as many as 17 AFCON debutants to gain in confidence as the tournament progresses and thus improve their chances.

    “I believe in this team. I believe in the chief coach as well as the other coaches,” said the Fenerbache defender. We have a lot of young players in the team with a few experienced ones, which tells you this is a good team going into the tournament.

    “We started this journey slowly after we did not qualify for the last tournament. But now we have qualified. That is why we are here and we will take it a game at a time. I have a lot of experience going into this tournament (this is his record sixth AFCON) and we are not under pressure to come and win it but as we progress, the confidence will come.”

    ”This is a very special tournament for me, on my own personal achievement but most importantly for the team. Nigeria needs to win something. I am working really hard with the chief coach. It is not just about me, it is about the team. If we can achieve something, I will be pleased. I believe in this team, chief coach and the technical crew. We started this journey slowly, we didn’t qualify last time, now we have qualified. Now that we are here for the tournament, we are going to take one game at a time.

    ”I am more experienced in this tournament so I know how it goes. We don’t have pressure to win it immediately. When we have progressed the confidence is going to come. I believe in this team as I said, if I did not believe in the team, I don’t think I would be here. The chief coach has worked really hard, we are coming here with full force. It is one game at one time and hopefully our confidence will increase by the end and we’ll see what happens.”

    The Eagles begin their campaign on Monday against fellow West Africans Burkina Faso in Nelspruit.

    Defending champions Zambia and Ethiopia are the other teams in Group C.

  • Celtic resume league action without Ambrose

    Celtic resume league action without Ambrose

    Celtic will resume from winter break without Nigerian defender Efe Ambrose who is with the Super Eagles at the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

    The league shut down for two weeks at the beginning of January allowing the Celtic players a much needed break as they continue to battle on four fronts.

    Celtic top the league by nine points and have a Scottish League Cup semifinal match against St Mirren before they face Italian giants Juventus in their Champions League last 16 match.

    Celtic forward Kris Commons is raring to go as the Scottish Premier League prepares to come out of cold storage following its winter break.

    After a difficult year Commons was getting back to his best before an injury sustained in the Champions League match against Spartak Moscow at the beginning of December ruled him out for several weeks.

    But after playing 45 minutes in the friendly win over Steaua Bucharest in Marbella in midweek the Scotland international is looking forward to getting back into action when Hearts come calling at Parkhead on Saturday.

    I needed that. I’ve played one game in five or six weeks, so I definitely needed it, Commons said.

    Sometimes with these friendlies, when you are abroad, you can go through the motions. But I thought there was a decent tempo to the game. It’s back to basics now and playing football.

    Defenders Kelvin Wilson and Efe Ambrose will both miss the match against Hearts due to suspension and international duty respectively but new signing Rami Gershon should be available to make his debut.

    The hamstring injury picked up by James Forrest at the end of December is likely to rule him out the match but Ledley should be fit.

  • 300 supporters storm SA for Eagles

    300 supporters storm SA for Eagles

    At least 300 members of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club will storm South Africa to drum the Super Eagles to victory.

    The contingent will leave Nigeria on Sunday for Nelspruit where the Super Eagles will play its first two games.

    Nigeria will begin its AFCON 2013 campaign with a fixture against Burkina Faso, and the supporters club want to ensure the team is sung to victory against The Stallions.

    “We are travelling to South Africa with 300 of our members,” President General of Nigeria Football Supporters Club Rafiu Ladipo said on Friday in Lagos.

    “The contingent will leave on Sunday for South Africa ahead of Super Eagles’ first game on Monday,” he said.

    “We don’t want the team to lack any support, and this is our own way of showing patriotism to our country.”

    “We also expect Super Eagles’ supporters from other countries in Africa, and most especially Nigerians in South Africa to join us,” he added.

     

  • Drogba: I’ve been after this for ten years

    Drogba: I’ve been after this for ten years

    Côte d’Ivoire captain Didier Drogba will attempt to win the trophy that he has dreamt about for ten years, in South Africa.

    The former Chelsea striker made his international debut in September 2002 against South Africa. He contributed towards qualifying the Elephants for the first World Cup of their history in 2006, the same year as his first Africa Cup of Nations which saw Côte d’Ivoire fail in a penalty shootout in the final against Egypt, with Didier Drogba in particular seeing his effort saved by the Pharaohs’ ‘keeper.

    And it would be against these same Egyptians that la Séléfanto were outclassed in the semi-final of the 2008 edition of the continental competition, before falling in the quarter-finals two years later against les Fennecs of Algeria.

    The Shanghai Shenhua forward and his teammates came so close to lifting the highly coveted trophy in 2012, in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, but slipped up again in the final in a penalty shootout against Zambia, after Drogba had missed a penalty in regulation time.

    Before embarking on his fifth Africa Cup campaign and launching a new conquest for the continental crown, the Ivoirian captain chooses to remain calm, even given the fact that this South African AFCON could well be his last.

    “I have no pressure. I have been after this title for ten years, but above all I think of the team before thinking of myself,” stated Drogba upon his arrival in Johannesburg.

    The Ivoirian striker has scored 59 goals to his 91 caps in the orange and green jersey.

  • Kanu: Nigeria deserve respect

    Kanu: Nigeria deserve respect

    Former Super Eagles skipper Nwankwo Kanu has stated that the team under Stephen Keshi deserve much more respect from Nigerians.

    Nigerians have raised some fears over the team after some less than convincing displays in the build-up to the 2013 Nations Cup as they laboured to draw with both Cape Verde and a Catalonia selected side.

    However, ex-Arsenal star Kanu said Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Zambia are afraid of the current Eagles and maintained if Nigerians believe in the team, they would gain in confidence and achieve great things.

    “Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Zambia are no threat to Nigeria at the AFCON and so there is no reason for Nigerians and Eagles to be afraid of these teams,” said Kanu, who has featured in a record six Nations Cups.

    “I am telling you it is other way round, they are afraid of playing this present Eagles. Football is all about what you do on the pitch and not the names in your team. The Eagles deserve respect from us all because they have not lost any game in recent times, while these other teams are finding it difficult to win games.

    “I am therefore urging us all to believe in Eagles as that will boost the players’ confidence to go all out and do well in South Africa.”