The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sports

  • Pillars agree Kabiru Umar loan deal

    Pillars agree Kabiru Umar loan deal

    Nigeria Premier League (NPL) champions Pillars have agreed a season-long loan deal with Heartland striker Kabiru Umar.

    “Kabiru Umar has joined Kano Pillars on loan for a season,” disclosed Pillars spokesman Idris Malikawa.

    Umar, who has already begun training with Pillars in Kano, has also been registered by the Kano outfit for next year’s CAF Champions League.

    The striker, who has been capped at ‘B’ international level by Nigeria, has also featured for Enugu Rangers and was widely linked with a return to the Enugu club before Pillars snapped him up.

    He is seen as a direct cover for Pillars star striker Gambo Mohammed, who is likely to return to Turkey during the winter transfer window after a series of trials there last summer.

  • OPERATION WIN CUP OF NATIONS: Osaze faces axe if…

    OPERATION WIN CUP OF NATIONS: Osaze faces axe if…

    SportingLife can reveal exclusively today that West Bromwich Albion FC of England’s striker Osaze Odemwingie may be dropped from the country’s 23-man squad to the 2013 South Africa Cup of Nations if he formally makes a request for a delay to report in camp over his wife’s pregnancy.

    Disclosing this exclusively to SportingLife on telephone, a dependable source at the GlassHouse in Abuja stated on Sunday night that he wants to consider what he read in the newspapers on Sunday as a wish especially as Osaze has not communicated his request to the federation or the team’s chief coach, Stephen Keshi.

    Indeed, the NFF chief who was livid, argued that: “Ask Osaze if he would tell his coaches that kind of message? Ask him why he thinks he would be granted that kind of favour given the number of strikers that are available to the coaches to pick from? My brother, Keshi has over 12 strikers (Ameobi, Martins, Emenike, Ike Uche, Ideye, Ahmed Musa, Utaka, Aiyegbeni, Akpala, et al ) doing well in their European clubs, so, Osaze can remain in England to do whatever he wishes.

    “We will pick committed players not those with divided attention. If he wants to stay away for some time, then he should forget about making the 23-man squad. All players would be judged by what they show in training during the camping session. There won’t be any sacred cows. No automatic shirt for anyone in the Eagles. Anyway, I consider what you are teling me as another media hype until when we get his message, would we act. But, if that comes today, we will reject it and wish him well. He can join us during the 2013 World Cup campaign.

    “Just to add my brother, any player who colludes with his club to remain in Europe will be dragged to FIFA. The rules are very clear about the release of players for big national team competiitons such as the Africa Cup of Nations. And we are determined to get all our best players in the camp to train for the Africa Cup of Nations. Mr. President has challenged the federation to prepare the Eagles properly for the event in South Africa and we will do that.

    “If the coach picks anyone, he must report to the camp if he has any excuses to make. We will not want anyone to tells us anything from afar. If we clear him, he won’t play for his European club until after the Africa Cup of Nations,” the NFF buff said.

  • NFF expecting Keshi’s AFCON programme

    NFF expecting Keshi’s AFCON programme

    The Board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is anxiously expecting the arrival of Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi to present his final programme for his team’s preparations for next January’s Africa Cup of Nations holding in South Africa.

    “I can tell you that we (the Board off the NFF) are waiting patiently to receive Stephen Keshi’s programme for the Africa Cup of Nations which we expect to contain details of both the camping in Nigeria on December 17 and the final phase in Faro, Portugal in January next year”, NFF Board member, Shehu Adamu disclosed.

    “I think whatever Keshi is putting on ground in terms of the preparation, we are behind him 100 per cent. We will not do anything, I say anything to jeopardise that particular job, because the job is not meant for him alone but for the entire country Nigeria. I also believe that Keshi is aware of the responsibility on him to pick the best players for the South Africa AFCON 2013.

    “We are behind Keshi and will do everything within our resources and capabilities to assist him in the South Africa campaign. The entire nation is desirous of winning the AFCON trophy since we last won it in 1994. We have tried for so long to win this trophy but to no avail. In my opinion, this is the time for the Super Eagles to win the Africa Nations Cup for Nigeria this time round”, Adamu, who is the Chairman of the NFF Financial Committee, told SportingLife.

    Adamu, however, used the medium to confirm SportingLife’s story of the Eagles’ friendly against Cape Verde.

    “I am happy to tell you that the Nigeria Football Federation has concluded arrangements to have the Super Eagles play two friendly matches in Faro, Portugal. The two friendly matches are against Angola and Cape Verde”, the former Kaduna State Commissioner for Sports told SportingLife in Abuja at the weekend.

    “These grade A African friendly matches and the Catalonia match is another feather to our (NFF’s) cap. We believe that these three tune up matches would actually knock our team (Eagles) into shape as well as put them in competitive mood for the 2013 Africa Nations Cup. We also cherish and are excited about the opportunity of fixing a quality friendly with Catalonia which has a player like Andreas Iniesta that is currently fighting the duo of Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo for the World Best Player”, Adamu disclosed.

  • Martins bags goal No.6

    Martins bags goal No.6

    Super Eagles striker Obafemi Martins scored his fifth goal of the season as he led Levante to a 4-0 win over visiting Mallorca in the Spanish league on Sunday.

    The Nigerian got the ball rolling three minutes before the interval as he successfully battled with Pedro Geromel for a long ball over the top before slotting past Dudu Aouate for his sixth goal of the season.

    The game was well and truly over within 13 minutes of the restart as David Navarro headed home at the back post from a corner before Ruben Garcia and Vicente Iborra also got on the scoresheet after being set-up brilliantly by Martins.

    The pace and trickery of Martins, Garcia and Nabil El Zhar caused the visitors problems right from the off and the only surprise was it took the hosts so long to make the breakthrough.

    Aouate made saves from Garcia, Martins and Navarro in the early stages while Navarro also had a goal ruled out for offside, but the opener did arrive on 42 minutes thanks to a combination of great persistence by Martins and awful defending by Geromel.

    El Zhar’s long ball forward bounced between Geromel and Aouate and Martins managed to outmuscle his marker before stroking the loose ball past the Israeli from close range.

    The Islanders’ defending did not get any better after the break as Navarro was given room to send a looping header in off the post from Michel’s corner four minutes into the second period.

    Rueben then got his goal as he and Martins exchanged passes down the left before the 19-year-old smashed the ball past Aouate from an acute angle, and Iborra rounded off the scoring as again Mallorca failed to clear a corner and Martins squared the ball across the six-yard box where Navarro touched it back for the midfielder to fire home.

  • EKO 2012… EKO 2012… EKO 2012…: Jonathan declares Games closed

    EKO 2012… EKO 2012… EKO 2012…: Jonathan declares Games closed

    The 18th National Sports Festival, tagged Eko 2012 ended yesterday with a remarkable closing ceremony and a presentation of trophies, as the President Goodluck Jonathan declared the Games closed.

    The 12-day event came to a close after 8,095 athletes competed in 25 sports and 450 events. Out of 22,893 persons registered, only 11,549 were authenticated for the Games.

    Representing the president at the occasion, the Minister for Youth, Sports and Social Development, Bolaji Abdullahi said the nation has witnessed a transformation of the festival from one edition to the other.

    “We have witnessed spectacular performances from athletes from different states and they have demonstrated the spirit of sportsmanship, and a show of determination and tenacity as they involved in the activities of the National Sports Festival, the 18th edition.

    “This festival has witnessed a tremendous transformation both in participation and organisation. This can be seen in both the opening and the closing ceremony of Eko 2012. I want to commend the Governor of Lagos State, Raji Fashola for accepting to host the festival, especially with the excellent facilities on ground.

    “All the 36 states including the Federal Capital Territory deserve our commendation for effectively participating in this festival and promoting the bond of friendship and unity. I urge you all to make the festival part of your calendar and to prepare well for the next festival coming up in Calarbar in 2014. Let me congratulate all our medal winners because soon some of you will be called to represent this country in future international competitions. “

    In his speech, Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola said in spite of all the challenges faced in organising the festival, the state was able to live up to expectation.

    “The unusual responsibility that the National Sports Festival brought and for an event that had to be organised in one year instead of the traditional two years, this has never been done before. Above all, despite all the challenges, we did not fail. This shows that as a people if we are committed to anything we can achieve it, hosting our brothers and sister all over the country and showing them our traditional hospitality.

    “I want to thank the presidency under the leadership of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, ably represented here today by the Hon. Minister for Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi for their support. To Delta State who won the overall position on the medals table, I want to say a big congratulations.

    Meanwhile, Cross River have received the flag for the hosting of the next edition of the National Sports Festival, tagged Calarbar 2014.

    Receiving the flag, Commissioner for Sports in Cross River State, Patrick Ugbe said it is a privilege to host the games in Calarbar, which incidentally is the first national capital of the country in a significant year 2014.

    “We receive this flag as host of the next sports festival in 2014. It is the remarkable because it is the year of Nigeria’s hundred years of amalgamation. We can’t wait to host a spectacular festival of all times.”

  • FIFA Club World Cup

    FIFA Club World Cup

    Super Eagles duo of John Obi Mikel, Victor Moses and their Chelsea teammates were mobbed by adoring Japanese fans as the London side arrived at Narita International Airport Sunday for the FIFA Club World Cup.

    The Nigerians, who are making their debut in the championship, will be having their hands full as the European champions are expected to face Monterrey on Thursday morning in the semi-final after the Mexican side beat South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai 3-1 this morning.

    Argentine striker Cesar Delgado, formerly of Lyon, struck twice after Jesus Corona opened the scoring early on.

    Recall, Obi who was handed a three-game ban and fined N15.6million by the Premier League’s Independent Regulatory Commission, after breaching the FA Rule E3 when he verbally assaulted Ref Mark Clattenburg in the match official’s changing room at the end of Chelsea’s fixture against Manchester United on 28 October 2012, began his first of a three-match suspension after he missed Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

    Manager Rafael Benitez said: ‘We are now challenged with the Club World Championship in Japan and it will not be easy – I tell you this from the experience of two previous participations with differing results.

    ‘This team is willing to give everything to try and return with a new title to bring home to the fans.’

  • Eaglets in Group of Death

    Eaglets in Group of Death

    Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets will renew rivalry with the Black Starlets after being drawn in a ‘Group of Death’ along side West African neighbours Ghana, Ivory Coast and Congo in Sunday’s African U17 Championship draw in Cairo.

    Hosts Morocco were drawn in Group A where they will take on Gabon, Tunisia and Botswana.

    Coach Manu Garba’s squad is expected to play their Group B matches in Marrakesh during the tournament while Group A matches will be played in Casablanca.

    The final tournament has been fixed for 13-27 April in Morocco.

    The semi finalists will represent Africa at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates next October.

  • How Delta won Eko 2012 – Pinnick

    How Delta won Eko 2012 – Pinnick

    The Chairman, Delta State Sports Commission, Amaju Pinnick has cited discipline, hard work and prayer as the factors responsible for the success story of the state at the just-concluded Eko 2012 18th National Sports Festival.

    Delta were the overall winners of Eko 2012, a feat they achieved even days before the conclusion of hostilities, the first triumph for the state since Kaduna 2009 and their 5th title overall (Bauchi, 2000, Abuja, 2004 and Ogun, 2006 being the others).

    Pinnick in a chat with Sports Writers at the National Stadium explained that after their inability to top the medals’ table as expected during the Garden City Games last year, he and his lieutenants went back to the drawing board to assess what went wrong and started earnest preparation for Eko 2012 while others were still on holiday.

    “Three days after we left Port Harcourt, we were able to identify factors that militated against us. We corrected those factors and today we are a great name.

    “I will give you an example. In Weightlifting, we got 1 gold medal in Garden City but today we got 14. In Judo we didn’t get anything in Garden City but today we had 4 gold medals.

    “In Powerlifting, we struggled with them in Garden City Games but today we got 10 gold medals. In Swimming too we struggled with them last year; we got 18 but at Eko 2012 we amassed 24 gold,”

    The Chairman gave kudos to the governor of the Delta State, Emmanuel Uduaghan who he said provided an enabling environment for athletes with his provision of necessary funding to help get the desired result.

    He also stated that with the release of funds as and when due, it was easy for the state’s athletes to embark on early preparation.

    “When you get your funding as at when due, you will get results. The impact is immediate. We got early preparation. We also embarked on the principles of discipline, hard work and prayer which answered all,” Pinnick said.

    The team placed first with an unofficial 114 gold, 99 silver and 75 bronze medals while Rivers and Lagos ended in 2nd and 3rd respectively with 76 gold, 71 silver and 70 bronze medals and 64 gold, 47 silver and 71 bronze medals in that order.

  • F/Eagles get favourable AYC draw

    F/Eagles get favourable AYC draw

    …  Eaglets to meet Ghana in U-17 

    The Flying Eagles of Nigeria on Sunday got a favourable draw for the 2013 African Youth Championship slated for Algeria, MTNFootball.com reports.

    Flying Eagles, the defending champions, will play in group B alongside Mali, debutants Gabon and DR Congo.

    Group A comprises the hosts Algeria, Ghana, Egypt and Benin Republic.

    The U-20 tournament will be played between March 16 and 30 2013 with the semi-finalists qualifying to represent Africa at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey in June.

    For the U-17 African championship, which will be hosted by Morocco in April, three-time world champions Golden Eaglets of Nigeria will meet arch rivals Black Starlets of Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Congo.

    The other group has hosts Morocco, debutants Botswana, Gabon and Tunisia.

    Like the AYC, the semi-finalists of this competition will also fly Africa’s flag at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in United Arab Emirates.

     

  • FANS HAIL LAGOS FOR INSTALLING SCORE BOARD AT AGEGE STADIUM

    FANS HAIL LAGOS FOR INSTALLING SCORE BOARD AT AGEGE STADIUM

    FANS AT THE Agege Stadium, venue of the football event of the ongoing 18th National Sports Festival (NSF) on Saturday commended the Lagos State government for providing a score board.

    The fans who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews, said that the score board should have been completed before the commencement of the NSF.

    A businessman, Bayo Akinyele, wondered why the score board was not installed before the football event kicked off.

    He, however, applauded the state for providing the score board.

    “I must say they have done a great job with the score board but they should have installed it before the festival started,” he said.

    A student, Godfrey Akpan, told NAN that the score board should be maintained for other competitions.

    ”It is a good thing that the board is working and it should be properly maintained,” he said.

    In the same vein, Rashidat Azeez, a trader, said that the score board would provide spectators with more information about a match.

    “It’s a wonderful thing to see the score board working. Fans will get to Know information about the score line and players,”she said.

    Martins Edole a businessman, said that having a functioning score board in place was a welcome development.

    He, however, urged the Lagos State Government to improve similar facilities located in other parts of the state for youth sports development.

    “This is indeed a good development in this stadium and other sports centre should be improved to engage youths in the state.”

    A fan, Ndidi Festus, said it was shameful that the board was installed at the tail end of the NSF.