The Nation Newspaper

Tag: 2018 World Cup in Russia

  • Nigeria in Pot 4 for 2018 World Cup draw

    Nigeria in Pot 4 for 2018 World Cup draw

    With Peru completing the line-up of 32 teams for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the seeding pots for the Final Draws on Dec. 1 was announced on Thursday, with Nigeria drawn in Pot 4.

    The organisers, FIFA, said on its website that “it was confirmed in September by the Organising Committee for FIFA Competitions, that all teams will be allocated to (eight-team) pots 1 to 4 based on sports principles.

    “The October 2017 edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be used to allocate all qualified teams to the four pots according to their ranking in descending order, after hosts Russia, who take the top seeding spot.

    “With those factors in mind, here are the final pots for the Final Draws,’’ the statement said.

    POT 1      POT 2         POT 3           POT 4
    Russia      Spain          Denmark   Serbia
    Germany  Peru            Iceland      Nigeria
    Brazil    Switzerland Costa  Rica Australia
    Portugal  England     Sweden       Japan
    Argentina Colombia Tunisia        Morocco
    Belgium  Mexico       Egypt           Panama
    Poland Uruguay Senegal   Korea Republic
    France  Croatia        Iran       Saudi Arabia

    According to FIFA, the principle of drawing the teams into the groups would remain unchanged.

    “This means that no team from the same confederation, with the exception of UEFA, which could have up to two teams in the same group, will be drawn into the same group,’’ it said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the final draws will take place on Friday, Dec. 1 at Moscow’s State Kremlin Palace. (

  • FIFA World Rankings: Nigeria remains 40th

    FIFA World Rankings: Nigeria remains 40th

    Nigeria’s Super Eagles have remained on the 40th spot with 726 points in the May FIFA World Rankings released on Thursday.

    According to the rankings table on the website of the world football governing body, Nigeria remained unmoved from the spot it occupied in the April rankings.

    The position has also left Nigeria on the 5th spot in the continent behind Egypt, Senegal, Cameroon and Burkina Faso respectively.

    The Super Eagles Media officer, Toyin Ibitoye, reacting to the rankings said it was a reflection of what happened in the month under review.

    “The ranking have come again and the Super Eagles were ranked 40th in the World and 5th in Africa, the same position we were as at the last ranking.

    “I think it is nothing to worry about. In the month reviewed, nothing happened and there were no friendly games and no official games.

    “The new FIFA ranking is a reflection of what happened during the month, but we will continue to do what we are doing to work and prepare the team.

    “We are ready for the challenges coming up. Next month will be very busy for us; we will be going to camp for training.

    Ibitoye said that the Eagles would concentrate more on the task ahead which were qualifiers for the 2018 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

    “We will concentrate on preparing for the crucial game against Bafana Bafana of South Africa. This will be the qualifiers towards the 2018 Nations Cup.

    “But last month’s assessment by FIFA is justifiable because it has been a quiet month for the teams in international front,’’ he said.

    On the global scene, it was a quiet month on the international front with only seven games played.

    The top 20 places remained static following April, with a one-place drop for Slovakia (24) into accounting for the only movement inside the leading 73 nations.

    Bolivia (73, plus 1) brought about that small ripple of motion, but outside the top 100 there were some notable changes.

    A pair of wins for Madagascar (111, plus 9) over Malawi (114, minus 14) saw them claim the titles of the month’s biggest movers up and down the table respectively.

    Also, South Sudan (146, plus 8) is not far behind after similarly twice seeing off Somalia (206, unchanged).

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on June 1, 2017. (

     

  • Holland sack Blind

    Holland sack Blind

    Holland have officially fired Coach Danny Blind under 48 hours before their friendly against Italy in Amsterdam.

     

    The final straw proved last night’s 2-0 defeat to Bulgaria in Sofia, which left the Dutch fourth in their World Cup qualifying group.

     

    They already failed to qualify for Euro 2016 and seem very unlikely to make it for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

     

    The announcement was made this evening that assistant manager Fred Grim will take over the squad as interim manager for Tuesday night’s friendly against Italy at the Amsterdam Arena.

     

    “We have respect for what Danny meant for us and the team during his tenure,” said KNVB director Jean Paul Decossaux.

     

    “But because the sporting results were so disappointing and made our chances of qualification for the World Cup in Russia very difficult, we feel that unfortunately we have to say goodbye to him.”

     

    Blind had an absolutely disastrous record for the Netherlands, losing five of their nine competitive matches.

     

    He came under fire for the decision to debut 17-year-old Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt against Bulgaria, as the centre-back was at fault for the two goals.

     

    De Ligt was replaced by the more experienced Wesley Hoedt for the second half.

  • Izilein warns against appointing foreign coach

    Izilein warns against appointing foreign coach

    A former coach of the Super Falcons, Godwin Izilein, on Wednesday in Benin warned against appointing a foreign coach for the Super Eagles for now.

    Izilein told the newsmen that the senior national male football team may not qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia as a result of this.

    “This is because the foreign handler will not have quality time to know the players and their mentality,’’ he said.

    Izilein, also a former coach of the Golden Eaglets, said appointing a foreign coach was equally an unnecessary waste of fund and shows lack of respect for Nigerian coaches.

    “I don’t know what this rush for a foreign coach is all about, when we do not have time on our hands for the qualification games for Russia 2018.

    “The national football authorities must understand that a coach who knows his onions needs not less than a year to know the players and their mentality.

    “He will then need also another year to put a good team in place.

    “And, again, I consider the amount that will be wasted on hiring a foreign coach as unnecessary, especially against the background of the consistent lamentation of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) of paucity of funds.

    “It also shows lack of respect for Nigerian coaches because I believe that we have quality coaches with high technical ability to manage the Eagles well and even ensure their qualification for the 2018 World Cup.

    “Should they (NFF) be in doubt of the abilities of a particular coach, I will suggest that NFF engages the best three to four indigenous coaches to handle affairs of the team.

    “This suggestion is based on the fact that the three coaches cannot all make mistakes at the same time. Where one is deficient, the other will come in handy,’’ he said.

    Izilein added that what the indigenous coaches needed to perform optimally was an environment devoid of any undue interference and the right motivation.

    “If you provide for the indigenous coach the same environment and motivation provided for the foreign one, he will definitely perform,’’ he said.