The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sports

  • ‘Okrika agenda’ delays Eguavoen’s announcement

    ‘Okrika agenda’ delays Eguavoen’s announcement

    Austin Eguavoen has been handed a contract to coach Sharks football club next season, but wranglings over those who will work with him is delaying the announcement of his appointment.

    Sources in Port Harcourt told futaa.com that some people are insisting that a coach of Okrika extraction be made immediate assistant to Austin Eguavoen and there are few coaches that fit the bill.

    The story of Sharks and the Okrika people has been a continuous one: all those connected with the club last season have links to Okrika.

    Imama Amapakabor the assistant coach is an Okrika man, but given the recent turbulence, he may not want to return. Kennedy Akinboboye, also known as “Ske” in his playing days, is from Ondo state but his mother is Okrika. He was also an assistant coach at Sharks last season.

    Ernest Tegbanyo played in goal for Sharks in the 90s and was goalkeeper coach in the last dispensation. He is part Bayelsa and part Okrika.

    Sunny Iseokweima played in central defence for Sharks in the late 80s and late 90s. He later acquired his coaching badges and has been coaching at the grass root level ever since. He seems the most favoured for the job.

  • ‘Keshi unfair to home-based Eagles’

    ‘Keshi unfair to home-based Eagles’

    Heartland FC General Manager Fan Ndubuoke has expressed disappointment at Nigeria’s coach Stephen Keshi for fielding a predominant foreign-based players in last Saturday’s Nations Cup qualifier against Liberia in Calabar.

    Ndubuoke said the decision to make use of just two domestic players in the match may affect the confidence that the coach has built in the home-based players.

    “I’m not particularly happy at the way Keshi treated the home-based players because they are the ones that he (Keshi) used in preparing for the the game through the friendly matches and only for him to dump them at the crucial moment. Some of the home-based players are better than the foreign-based and I stand to be corrected on this,” he said.

    He urged Keshi to continue to build the team around the home-based players whom he said are more committed and hungry for success.

  • South Africa 2013 Africa Cup of Nations: Okocha won’t set target for Eagles

    South Africa 2013 Africa Cup of Nations: Okocha won’t set target for Eagles

    Nigeria legend, Austin ‘Jay jay’ Okocha has voiced his sentiments following the Super Eagles’ qualification for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

    Okocha was at the UJ Esuene Stadium to cheer the Eagles to a 6-1 victory over Liberia’s Lone Star in the final round of qualifying for the 2013 Afcon.

    The emphatic win which capped off a fine 8-3 aggregate success for Nigeria had Okocha beaming and he was quick to praise the boys for their “outstanding feat.”

    “I want to commend the players for this outstanding feat (of beating Liberia 6-1). I am very happy that we have made it to the Nations Cup. That was our main target and I am sure that every Nigerian is happy that we have qualified for the competition,” Okocha told supersport.com.

    Okocha, a member of arguably Nigeria’s finest football side that won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1994, will however not set targets for the current side ahead of the 2013 Afcon.

    “It would be unfair for me to set a target for the team because we have been struggling recently. We have taken a huge step (by qualifying for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations) in making sure we get to where we want to be,” he said.

    The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations will kick off on January 19 and Okocha believes the Nigeria team will have adequate time to complete preparations for the tournament.

    “Three months is enough time for us to prepare for the competition. We will go there and try to do our best but like I said earlier, it would be unfair of me to set a target for the team,” he stated.

  • Doctor to peter Rufai: No strenuous work

    Doctor to peter Rufai: No strenuous work

    Peter Rufai, the former Super Eagles goalkeeper, has been warned by the doctor who treated him at the Toki hospital in Surulere on Monday night that he should not be involved in any strenuous work until he gets medical clearance. He slumped and went into a coma in his office on Monday, and has been discharged from hospital.

    “The doctors made it clear to us he has to rest, so that is our focus. We also don’t want to lose him,”Rufia’s brother Bruce said.

    Bruce told futaa.com on Wednesday that the World Cup goalkeeper left the hospital without any support. “You know we said it before: this was an agile, active man that suddenly collapsed and went into a coma.

    “We are not surprised he left the hospital on his feet, even though we have not been told what went wrong with him, we are just glad he recovered enough to recognise everyone, and the hospital decided he will gain full recovery better in familiar surroundings, that was why he was discharged.”

    Bruce, however, insists that Dodo Maiyana will not do any strenuous activities for now.

  • Eagles to camp in Zimbabwe

    Eagles to camp in Zimbabwe

    •Home Eagles to hit Harare January 4
    •Mozambique being consider too

    Nigeria are studying a proposal to train in Zimbabwe or Mozambique for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa, officials have disclosed.

    “There’s a proposal from the team officials for such a camping arrangement in Zimbabwe,” Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) spokesman Ademola Olajire has confirmed

    “The team would like to camp in a country that shares the same weather conditions with South Africa before the Nations Cup.

    “It is a proposal and if approved it would be from the first week of January, probably January 4, but the technical committee has the final say on the team’s camping arrangement.”

    It is believed that Zimbabwe, which is largely on a high altitude like South Africa, was picked ahead of Faro, in Portugal, where a contract covers the country’s various national teams’ long-term preparations.

    Another top NFF official told MTNFootball.com Mozambique has also been pencilled to host the Eagles prior to the Nations Cup.

    The official said that the South African city the Eagles are eventually drawn to play their first round matches would inform where the team will train.

    “You would agree with me that it would be too early to begin to say the particular camp for the Eagles. For instance, what if we are drawn at Nelspruit which has the same weather conditions with Mozambique?” the top official explained.

    The Nigeria training camp in Zimbabwe will be opened by players from the Nigeria Premier League, while overseas-based players will only join up the mandatory 14 days before the big kick-off.

    As part of their build-up for the AFCON, they will take on Venezuela in a friendly in Miami, USA, on November 14.

    For the 2010 tournament in Angola, the Eagles trained in South Africa.

    The Super Eagles have returned to African football’s showpiece event after they sensationally failed to qualify for the 2012 edition.

    They are not among the top seeds for South Africa 2013 and so may face the likes of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana as early as the first round of the tournament, which begins on January 19 in Johannesburg.

    The draw for the biennial championship will be staged in Durban on October 24.

  • Kanu hails Eaglets’ superb style

    Kanu hails Eaglets’ superb style

    Nwankwo Kanu, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Ambassador and former Super Eagles’ captain, has applauded the ball artistry of the Golden Eaglets following their 3-0 victory over their Guinean counterparts at the weekend.

    Kanu, who is regarded as the best player of his generation, said he was pleasantly surprised about the excellent handling of the ball by the Nigerian youngsters, adding that they have the wherewithal to go all the way in their forthcoming competitions.

    “No Nigerian team is playing the way you do and I’m so impressed with your fine display,” Kanu who led Nigeria to a historic Soccer Gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics told the players in the locker room of the U.J. Esuene Sports Stadium on Sunday ” You are by far the better team when compared with Guinea and I know everybody that watched the game would agree with me that you are a very good team.”

    Kanu, however, enjoined the players to listen to directives from their coaches if they are determined to be successful in their chosen career as footballers.

    “We all can see that you are very good players but you can become better if you continue to listen to the coaches,” advised the gifted player whose goals helped the Golden Eaglets to win the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 1993. “You are young, talented and the best way to improve yourself is to listen to the coaches because they have the experience more than you do.

    “You are lucky to be working with this set of coaches and we all can see what they have been able to do with you under a very short time. To become better players, you must listen and be ready to do what you are told on the field,” he advised.

    Meanwhile, the Golden Eaglets have admitted that the unexpected appearance of Kanu at their locker room was a morale booster to their fledging careers.

    Ndidi Wilfred, the team’s assistant captain said the former Super Eagles star is a first choice hero for most of them, stating that it was a privilege that he came to counsel them.

    “We felt really good to see Kanu before the match when he met us on the field but we were all fulfilled when he came to the dressing room to advise us,” said the beanpole defender. “It was a rare privilege because we only used to watch him on television. We really thank him and we are not going to disappoint him and Nigerians in general.”

  • Anichebe: Eagles not on my mind

    Anichebe: Eagles not on my mind

    •Wishes Nigeria well•Wants to retain his Everton shirt

    Forward Victor Anichebe is keen to repay Everton’s faith and support by concentrating on his club form rather than thinking about regaining his place with Nigeria.

    Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi said last week that the 24-year-old remains in his plans after the national side qualified for this winter’s African Nations Cup. However, Anichebe is focused on building on his – and the Toffees’ – good start to the season having been frustrated by two serious knee injuries and a groin problem in the last few years.

    The forward said: “I am thinking about Everton. They have stuck by me and helped me get back fit so I’m thinking more about cementing [my place in] the side. The national team aspect hasn’t come into my head. I just want them to do well.”

    Everton head to bottom side QPR at the weekend and while David Moyes’ team are flying high in fourth, having lost just once, Anichebe stressed they cannot take the winless west Londoners for granted.

    “I think we’ve done okay, it’s been a good start to the season and everyone is on a high and is confident,” he told evertontv.

    “We need to carry it on though, not get ahead of ourselves and keep playing well.

    “They (QPR) are struggling so it is going to be even harder because they need results – they’ve bought a lot of players and have a lot of expectation on them.

    “They haven’t really done so well so I am sure they will look to change that against us and we need to be wary of that.”

  • CAF disqualifies Senegal

    CAF disqualifies Senegal

    The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Tuesday announced the disqualification of Senegal from the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). The impending AFCON will be hosted by South Africa from Jan. 19 to Feb. 10.

    This was contained in a CAF statement released in Cairo, Egypt on Oct. 16, after a disciplinary committee meeting.

    It said: “The CAF Disciplinary Committee met in Cairo, on Oct. 2012 to look into the incidents that led to the abandonment of match No 56, Senegal vs Cote d’Ivoire, during the final qualifier for the 29th edition of the 2013 CAF AFCON in Dakar.

    “Missiles, stones, bottles and firecrackers were thrown onto the pitch and tear gas was used, prompting the referee to stop the match after 74 minutes of play. As a result, CAF decided to officially confirm the result of the match as 2–0, in favour of Cote d’Ivoire, in accordance with the provisions of Article 16 paragraph 20 of the regulations of the competition’’.

    The statement noted that CAF now considered Senegal the loser of the match and eliminated it from the competition.

     

     

     

  • GOVERNOR’S CUP TENNIS Abinu, Omoile out

    GOVERNOR’S CUP TENNIS Abinu, Omoile out

    Home girl and national number one, Fatima Abinu got a baptism of fire Tuesday at the ongoing Governor’s Cup when she suffered a 6-1, 6-1 defeat to Russia’s Nina Bratchikova.

    Abinu was not however the only Nigerian that was shown the door on a day the weather chose to be clement.

    Samuel Omoile fell 2-6, 1-6 to Egyptian Ka rim-Mohammed Maamoun, while John Otu was stopped by Japan’s Kento Takechi in 6-1,6-1.

    In other results, South African Ruan Roelofse beat Uzebkstiani Vega Uzakov 6-0, 6-0; Portuguese Andre Gaspar Murta defeated German Mario Eckadt 6-4, 6-1. In what is the longest match of the tournament so far, lasting 4hours 15minutes, German Jasmine Steinherr had a good fight to dislodge Slovak Anna Prislan in 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 game. Egyptian Karin Hossam beat Zimbabwe’s Mark Lynn, while another Egyptian star, Sheriff Sabry defeated Jose-Ricardo Nunez of Portugal 7-6, 6-4.

    In the women’s category, Israeli Valerie Patuk beat Dallas Jakupovic 7-6, 3-6, 7-6, American Riley Alexandra, who was nursing a knee injury, lost to Russian Alexandra Romanova 0-6, 1-6.

    A disappointed Alexandra blaimed her defeat on injury but expressed optimism that the second leg will be better. “I lost to the Russian girl because I have been nursing a knee injury for some time. The pains re-occured in the course of the match; hopefully, I should be able to do well in the second leg of the competition next week,” she said.

    It was however mixed fortunes for Nigeria in the doubles as the duo of Abdulmumuni Babalola and Bolaji Olawepo beat compatriots Sani Adamu and Henry Atseye 6-3, 7-5, while the pairs of Abidemi Olanrewaju Adebisi and Ganiyu Yusuff of Nigeria lost to Michael-Bay Pllares-Gonzales and Murphy Parker of USA in 6-4, 6-0.

  • Falcons hit Accra Thursday

    Falcons hit Accra Thursday

    • Nff sure of Ikhana’s ability
    • Dreams 2010 repeat

    As part of preparation for the 8th Africa Women Championship (AWC) in Equatorial Guinea, Super Falcons will depart for Ghana tomorrow to begin a week-long intensive training.

    Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Director of Competitions, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, who confirmed this, re-affirmed that the two friendly matches scheduled for the team in the former Gold Coast is still on course.

    Sanusi reiterated the NFF’s commitment to the Super Falcons, and in ensuring that the team retains the title won in South Africa in 2010.

    “The Super Falcons are very important to Nigerians and the NFF, and we are working very hard to ensure that they retain the AWC title. We will give them quality training, and Ghana is a good place to go to and play good teams.”

    He went on to say, “We will mobilize people to support the team when they play their matches in Equatorial Guinea. We want them to feel the support from the whole country and we will ensure that they feel it.”

    Coach Kadiri Ikhana, who led Enyimba to their first Champions League title in 2003, will lead the Super Falcons as they attempt to win the AWC crown for a record 7th time, and Sanusi reiterated the football house’s support of and belief in the coach.

    “Coach Kadiri Ikhana is very up and doing and I have no doubt in his abilities as a coach. He will use his eagle eyes to select the best players to represent the country [in the AWC] and we have complete trust in him.

    “From what I have seen, he has spoken to the players and made them understand the importance of the task ahead. The atmosphere in the camp is great and I think we are good to go.”

    The Falcons will leave Accra for Equatorial Guinea on October 25, and will play their opening game at the 2012 AWC on October 29.