The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sports

  • Bafana Bafana set to lock horns with Norway

    Bafana Bafana set to lock horns with Norway

    The South African national football team, Bafana Bafana, will use its forthcoming international friendly encounter against Norway to test their readiness for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). The match is scheduled to take place on Jan. 8 at the Cape Town Stadium. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Coach Gordon Igesund announced his 23-man squad for the forthcoming AFCON on Dec. 30.

    Meanwhile, Dean Furrman, is the only South African player that is yet to join the team because of FA Cup commitment today against Nottingham Forest. Furman is expected to join the national team on Sunday. The friendly match against Norway will be the first time that the AFCON squad will play as a team before the tournament.

    “It is good to be playing Norway as part of the AFCON 2013 preparations because if you look at the style of play of both Morocco and Cape Verde, it is European-orientated,” Igesund said. He declared that Norway’s current position in the FIFA monthly ranking is something that the Bafana Bafana stands to gain from.

    “Norway’s national team is currently ranked 24th in the world, a long way clear of South Africa’s 87th ranking, so on paper they are better than us. This match will help me a great deal and I must emphasise, we need to gel and be ready for the tournament, which is the bigger picture.’’

    Igesund stressed that the international friendly line up before the tournament was to prepare the team ahead of the main tournament.

    “There is no point winning against Norway and Algeria and then not delivering on Jan. 19, when we face Cape Verde. This is a very new team and we have some different combinations we need to work on.

    “So these two matches are crucial in that they will help the team to become a unit, so that by the time the AFCON kicks off, we will play as a unit,”

    He also said that the determination exuded by his players in their bid to justify their selection for the opening match had kept him excited.

    “The players are giving me a very good headache. Previously they were fighting to be in the final 23, now they are fighting to make the starting line-up. That is great for the overall picture. The team Captain, Bongani Khumalo, said all players should regard their selection as an honour to represent their country.

  • Nigeria Police move detained Jalla to Lagos

    Players’ Union outcast Harrison Jalla, who has been in detention in Abuja since Friday, 28th December, 2012 has finally been moved to Lagos by the Nigerian Police for further interrogation and investigation.

    Jalla, who illegally continues to claim to be the Chairman of a so-called National Association of Nigerian Footballers (NANF), was arrested at a Federal High Court, Abuja on 28th December and has been in custody of the Nigerian Police since then.

    On Friday, 4th January, 2013, the Police moved the fellow from the Federal Capital, Abuja to Lagos as he countenanced tougher days ahead in custody.

    It would be recalled that Jalla’s NANF was officially expelled from the world players’ union, FIFPro in November 2008, during the latter’s Annual Congress in Chile. This fact was confirmed to the Nigerian Football Federation via a letter signed by Stephane Burchkailer, General Secretary of the Division Africa of FIFPro, on 20th February, 2009.

    Jalla had been declared wanted by the Office of the Commissioner of Police, Special Fraud Unit, Ikoyi-Lagos last year, and with the authority of the Inspector-General of Police. A warrant of arrest was duly obtained from Magistrate Court in Lagos State.

    A principal stakeholder in Nigerian football, who did not want his name in print, said on Friday: “It is good that Jalla has been arrested. He has constituted himself into a nuisance despite having no base or legitimacy, and has projected himself for many years as an enemy of peace. He should be severely dealt with.”

  • Ndubuoke: Keshi yet to build formidable team

    A top soccer administrator, Fan Ndubuoke, has said that Coach Stephen Keshi has yet to build a team good enough to face the challenges of the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations.

    Ndubuoke, the General Manager of Heartland FC of Owerri, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Owerri on Friday that the players lacked proper teamwork and aggressiveness to put them in a competitive mood.

    The administrator, who was reacting to the friendly game played by the Super Eagles against Catalonia on Jan. 2, said no team could make impact with such a handicap. He said the wings were almost inactive during the game which ended 1-1. He also faulted the team’s defence, pointing out that the Eagles could have won the game easily if they were effective in the wings.

    “The Eagles players will need to be as confident as the Eagles of 1994,’’ Ndubuoke said. He argued that the squad lacked confidence in the game and called on the chief coach to look into the deficiencies before the commencement of the Nations Cup. The Nations Cup is scheduled to run from Jan. 19 to Feb. 10 in South Africa.

  • Eagles play down Catalonia heroics

    Nigeria’s 1-1 draw with Catalonia on Wednesday has not gotten over the team as the team intensify preparations for the upcoming Nations Cup in South Africa.

    Super Eagles’ spokesman Ben Alaiya said the players are not in any way showing signs that they have achieved anything and are eager to raise their performance when next they file out for action.

    “The players went to the match with the mindset that they want to win, which has been the mentality that the ‘Big Boss’ (Keshi) has been forcing on the team.

    “Although they are very happy that they could get a draw which was a good result considering that they started the match on a shaky note by conceding an early penalty, they are still hungry and focused on the task ahead which is to win the Nations Cup.

  • NFF: Eagles have raised our expectations

    Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) 1st vice president Mike Umeh has told futaa.com that the Super Eagles have raised the body’s expectoration for a memorable outing at the forthcoming Nations Cup with Wednesday’s winning of the Catalonia trophy.

    Nigeria failed to show any respect for the star-studded Spanish side recovering from an early goal to force a 1-1 draw in the match played at the home ground of La Liga club Espanyol and Umeh said the feat is a morale booster ahead of South Africa 2013.

    “If we had lost like 5-0 it would have dampened the team spirit and considering the fact that the goal scored by their opponents came as early as the start of the game, they were able to stay composed.”

    Umeh stated that the team would have derived a positive psychological effect from the match.

    “Psychologically, if we can hold a team like Catalonia to a draw, they can then see it as a challenge that if they stay focused, they can play any team in Africa without fear.”

  • Magiari returns with Catalonia trophy

    The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President Aminu Maigari is back in the country with the trophy handed to the Super Eagles after Wednesday night’s 1-1 draw with a star-studded Catalonia side.

    The Super Eagles of Nigeria, against all odds, lifted the Catalonia trophy in Spain on Wednesday night, after holding a Catalonia Selected side to a score draw.

    The NFF boss, who watched the game live in the company of Technical Committee Chairman of the Federation, Barr. Chris Green, said that winning a trophy in faraway Barcelona in only the second day of the year was a sign of good things to come in 2013.

    Magiari urged the players not to relent in their quest for the AFCON title in South Africa, arguing that President Goodluck Jonathan has assured that all necessary support will be provided for an excellent outing for the team.

    “The president even watched the game against Catalonia selected and he was very proud of you. We also on the part of the federation will ensure that adequate provision is made for you to conquer in South Africa,” the NFF boss stated.

  • Tax delays Martins’ Levante return

    Obafemi Martins’ has been granted permission to delay his return to his Spanish club, Levante because he is facing tax issues in Nigeria.

    The Nigerian forward, who is suspended for the weekend match at home to Athletic Bilbao, is five days late returning from the winter break.

    However, even as Juan Ignacio Martinez has reflected that he was expected back sooner than this, Spanish paper, Marca, believes that the club are fully aware of his situation and have made allowances for it.

    Martins is reported as still in his home country of Nigeria trying to sort out documentation issues relating to a tax bill he has been handed by authorities.

    It is understood that he will not face sanctions from Los Granotes for having missed five training sessions already – three at the end of 2012 and two so far in 2013.

  • Eaglets’ camp reopens in February

    The Golden Eaglets will resume camping for the start of their build up to the CAF U17 Championship next month, a top official has revealed.

    The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) official explained in a brief chat on Friday afternoon that the nation’s U17 team would hit a yet-to-be-determined camp venue for the commencement of their preparation for the cadet competition billed for Morocco from 13-27 April this year.

    The Eaglets defeated all their qualifying round opponents both home and away. They beat Niger Republic 10-1 on aggregate and also dispatched Guinea 7-0 on aggregate before mauling Mali 4-0 also on aggregate to book a place to Morocco in grand style.

    Though they are pooled against Congo, Cote d’ Ivoire and Ghana in a tough Group B, the NFF official said Nigeria’s giant strides in the competition would prove to be the key to the team’s qualification for the semi final.

    The four semi finalists are assured of berths at the FIFA U17 World Cup slated for the United Arab Emirates in October.

  • Uwak resumes training with Aland United

    Cynthia Uwak has resumed training with her new team Aland United after a lay off of almost six months.

    The one-time African Women Footballer of the Year was off her game since August when she had a knee injury. She was not able to help her then club Pk-35 in their campaign at the champions’ league and also in their domestic battle. The prolific goal scorer has said she is hopeful to return to her game and to have an injury-free season.

    The preparations for the season resumed on Thursday with a series of tests. Head coach Gary Williams is happy that the attacking line is pretty ready and at a good physical level.

    Williams has said the strategy for Aland in the new season is to get to hold the ball as much as possible and to score as much goals as possible.

    “I want the team to keep a lot of balls and we will create chances to score. It seems that we will continue in the same 4-2-3-1 the team played last season. Defensively, I would like for us to win the ball back as much as possible from our opponents. We should have the initiative in our hands in all the matches we will be playing,” continued Williams.

  • Anichebe’s goal nominated for Dec. award

    Nigeria’s Victor Anichebe has seen one of his goals nominated for Everton’s goal of the month for December.

    Anichbe’s flickering header against West Ham United was part of the five goals shortlisted by panel of officials at the Goodsion Park.

    Anichebe nodded home the 64th-minute equaliser on his first appearance for two months in his injury-hit season. It was also the first. “Anichebe’s a really good player, he just needs to believe in himself a little bit more because he’s got something about him,” Everton Boss David Moyes said of the Nigerian striker.

    “He’ll play a big part, he’s a really important player, he can do two or three jobs for me and he took his goal well,” he added.

    The other goals in the run for the December Award are Maurone Fellani’s goal against Manchester City, Niika Jelavic’s strike against Totenttehanm, Phil Jageika against Wigan and Steven Piennar’s early stunner in the duel against Chelsea.