The Nation Newspaper

Tag: CHAN 2014

  • CHAN 2014: Okwuosa backs Eagles to shine

    CHAN 2014: Okwuosa backs Eagles to shine

    South Africa-based James Okwuosa has tipped Nigeria to shine at the CHAN because they will play on good football pitches at the tournament.

    Former Enugu Rangers skipper Okwuosa said Nigeria is blessed with abundant talent but lacks good pitches, which have often limited them from playing to their full capacity.

    “Nigeria have a lot of good players and I see them doing well in CHAN in January. The good pitches in South Africa will make the team do well, we lack those in Nigeria,” said the Chippa United defender, who is linked with a move to Europe in the winter and has enjoyed recent call-ups to the main Eagles.

    “If I am still in South Africa by then, I will be there to support them from the stands.”

     

  • CHAN 2014: Ugbade wants cautious approach from Keshi

    Former international, Nduka Ugbade has advised coach Stephen Keshi to adopt a more cautious approach at the CHAN tournament, given that it will be Nigeria’s first appearance.

    “We usually come with very strong performances when it comes to competitions like this so I think we should defend more than attack so that at the end of the day, even with a narrow margin, we should be able to win them.”

    Nigeria will be making her debut appearance at the tournament after failing to qualify for the two previous editions. The Stephen Keshi led side will have to see off the threats from hosts, South Africa, Mali and Mozambique if the team is to qualify from the preliminary stage.

  • CHAN 2014 SHOCKER! Mba dumps Nigeria for Bastia

    CHAN 2014 SHOCKER! Mba dumps Nigeria for Bastia

    •  Keshi drops three players

    • Medics assure on Gambo

    Super Eagles’ 2013 Nations Cup hero, Sunday Mba, who is one of the players being relied upon to pull the strings at the forthcoming Championship of African Nations, CHAN, may not be available for the tournament after all, according to Head Coach Stephen Okechukwu Keshi.

    Keshi revealed on Thursday that Mba was on his way to France to join Bastia, the French side that first indicated interest in the player after the African Nations Cup triumph.

    Assistant Coach, Dan ‘the Bull’ Amokachi said the player is not one of the players listed for the friendly game in Port Harcourt on Saturday against a Rivers selected side.

    “We have resigned ourselves to fate and working hard to discover those who can fill Mba’s shoes, as he seems to have nicked a deal with Bastia and may not be part of the CHAN tourney. We just need to brace up and wish him the best because it’s a career thing,” he said.

    Also on Thursday,the pruning process of the CHAN Eagles continued with three players exiting camp. Keshi said they had all it takes to play for the national team but there was not time enough to fit them into the system. He promised to continue to monitor them for future call ups. “Take heart because as I always say, many are called but few are chosen. We will soon be back knocking on your doors.”

    Those who left camp on Thursday were Sunshine Stars’ Kingsley Onome Eduwo, Bendel Insurance’s Bello John Ikeleji and Eric Kwame of Plateau United. More players are expected to exit the camp of the national team after the training game in Port Harcourt and Monday’s other practice match against Nigerian league champions, Kano Pillars.

    Meanwhile, the Super Eagles medical team has assured the technical crew that Kano Pillars’ Gambo Mohammed will be ready on time for the CHAN tourney. Gambo, who has been out with a harmstring problem, recovered last week but there was a relapse in the course of the week which forced him out of Thursday morning’s training. “He should be back and better”, Amokachi assured of the highly regarded striker.

  • CHAN 2014 warm-up match: Eagles hit Port Harcourt today

    CHAN 2014 warm-up match: Eagles hit Port Harcourt today

    Members of the Super Eagles currently in camp for next year’s African Nations Championship (CHAN) in South Africa will today leave their Abuja camp for a trip to Port-Harcourt to keep a date with a Garden City selected side on Saturday.

    Super Eagles Media officer, Ben Alaiya revealed that that the Stephen Keshi-tutored side will use the encounter to continue preparation for the forthcoming championship in South Africa.

    “The team will leave Abuja for Port-Harcourt at about 7.30am on Friday (today) so that we can honour the friendly,” Alaiya told Lagos-based Brila FM on Boxing Day.

    The CHAN-bound team is also scheduled to tackle Glo Nigeria Premier League champions, Kano Pillars in a two-legged warm-up match that will commence on Monday December 30.

    The match is being put together by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in its effort to ensure that the team is ready for the CHAN tournament next year.

    Nigeria is grouped in Group A alongside hosts South Africa, Mozambique and Mali.

  • CHAN 2014: Keshi worried about Eagles’ preparation

    CHAN 2014: Keshi worried about Eagles’ preparation

    Stephen Keshi, the Head Coach of the Super Eagles, on Friday expressed worry about the preparation of the home-based Eagles, ahead of the Championship of African Nations (CHAN).

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 2014 CHAN is scheduled to take place in South Africa between Jan. 11 and Feb. 1, next year.

    Keshi told newsmen after the Eagles first practise match since the opening of the camp that time was the biggest problem the team faced in preparation for the championship.

    “My worry is that we don’t have enough time to prepare these boys; there is a lot of talent in them but there is no time to nurture it. There are prospects in the players’ style of play but we still need to do a lot of work in terms of tactical and positional play,” he said.

    The `Big boss’, as Keshi is popularly called, said that the only way out would be for the team to engage itself in more practise matches, just like the one against Prisons F.C., which the Eagles won 4-1.

    The Super Eagles coach noted that the move of his key defender, Godfrey Obaobona, and few others to foreign clubs also added to the problem of preparing the team.

    According to Keshi, ‘’I am missing them but at the same time I am happy for them because if they do not leave, other players will not come in to take their places.”

    “The only problem is that we now have extra jobs to do because we have to go back to the basics and start from the scratch. Otherwise, there is nothing wrong in them going for greener pastures,’’ he added.

    On the 2014 World Cup draw, Keshi pointed out that the group was a difficult one as Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Iranian national football teams would be `tough nuts to crack’.

    “It is not an easy draw. Our group is very complicated because Bosnia- Herzegovina has a very good team. Iran is also good. Everybody is saying Argentina, but we have to be very careful about Bosnia- Herzegovina and Iran. We need good preparation and full concentration in all the games, to be able to excel in that group,” Keshi said.

    NAN reports that Keshi joined the Home-Eagles camp on Thursday, following his return from Brazil after the 2014 World Cup draws which paired Nigeria in Group F, with Argentina, Iran and Bosnia- Herzegovina.

    30 players are currently in the team’s camp which opened on Dec. 9. The team currently trains at the artificial turf of the FIFA Goal Project in package `B’ of the Abuja National Stadium.

  • CHAN 2014: Medics assure on Eagles health

    CHAN 2014: Medics assure on Eagles health

    The medical team of the Super Eagles, who are currently in camp ahead of the African Nations Championships, have given assurances that they are up to the task of keeping the team fit for the event.

    They gave the assurances following a minor medical scare for Gbolahan Salami, which the medics alluded to a change in weather.

    Barnabas Imenger and Sunday Mba all had slight knocks that were not too serious, as the battle for shirts among the 30 players in camp heat up.

    The duo of Dr Ibrahim Gyarang and team physiotherapist, Wale Oladejo, assured that there were no worries as they are on top of the situation regarding the health of the entire team.

    The training, which runs from now till the end of the Youth Games in Abuja, continues on Thursday at the FIFA Goal Project site of the Abuja National Stadium.

  • CHAN 2014 DRAW: It will be tough against Nigeria —SAFA

    CHAN 2014 DRAW: It will be tough against Nigeria —SAFA

    Kirsten Nematandani, President of the South Africa Football Association (SAFA), has tagged the group as the toughest, and is hoping the Bafana Bafana will go farthest in yet another tournament on home soil.

    Earlier in the year, South Africa exited the quarters at the Orange Africa Cup of Nations as hosts. Three years ago, they failed to go past the group stage during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the only time the Mundial has been held on African soil.

    “It will be a very exciting tournament particularly with home-based players. The presence of Nigeria and Mali coupled with Mozambique makes it the ‘group of death’.

    “We expect a tough opposition from all the teams and every participant at the tournament.”

    In the other Group A match on the opening day, Mali will clash Nigeria at the same stadium.

    Four days later, South Africa will battle Mali whilst Nigeria slugs it out with Mozambique, both at the Cape Town Stadium.

    While on January 19, Nigeria will rekindle their rivalry with the hosts at the Cape Town Stadium, where as debutants Mozambique battles it out with Mali at the Athlone Stadium, also in Cape Town.