The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Confederations Cup

  • Confederations Cup: Don’t blame Eagles if … – Onigbinde

    Confederations Cup: Don’t blame Eagles if … – Onigbinde

    Former Super Eagles coach, Adegboyega Onigbinde, has declared that the players should not be held culpable if the team fails at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil.

    Nigeria is in group B of the Confederations Cup alongside Spain, Uruguay and Tahiti but preparations of the West African have been rocked by a row over bonuses between the players and officials of the Nigeria Football Federation.

    Supersport.com reports things escalated badly on Thursday with the players refusing to travel following Wednesday’s FIFA World Cup qualifying game against Namibia in Windhoek.

    Onigbinde has now voiced his sentiments on the issue explaining that the players cannot exclusively be made to share the blame in the face of failure in Brazil.

    “When a team does not do well, we all (blame) the players and the coaches, whereas the causes of some of these things might be administrative,” Onigbinde told Supersport.com on Friday in a thinly-veiled attack on the NFF.

    Onigbinde, a former member of the NFF’s technical committee further stated that he was “sidelined” by the current NFF chiefs “for always standing for the truth.”

    “I was sidelined for always standing for the truth. Anyway, they (NFF) are in charge and they should sort out this issue (over bonus disagreements) but like I said earlier, if the team fails in Brazil, people should understand that these failures could be as a result of administrative negligence and not put the blame squarely on the doorstep of the players and coaches,” he concluded.

    Nigeria will face Tahiti in its opening game at the Confederations Cup on June 17 at the Estádio Mineirao, Belo Horizonte.

     

     

  • Keshi unveils Confederations Cup squad

    Keshi unveils Confederations Cup squad

    … Picks eight local players

    Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi has picked eight players from the domestic league for the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil, MTNFootball.com reports.

    The players from the local league include five who made the final squad to the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa, where Nigeria won a third continental trophy.

    Enugu Rangers supply three of these players, Sunday Mba, Chigozie Agbim and Emeka Eze, while Sunshine Stars had two players – Godfrey Oboabona and Solomon Kwambe.

    The other players are Gambo Mohammed (Kano Pillars), Benjamin Francis (Heartland) and Azubuike Egwuekwe (Warri Wolves).

    Heartland left winger Obinna Nwachukwu and Sunshine defender Odunlami Kunle were dropped.

    14 members of the Confederations Cup squad led by Chelsea midfielder MIkel Obi were also in AFCON.

    Nigeria opens its Confederations Cup campaign on June 17 against Tahiti. Other teams in the group are Spain and Uruguay.

     

    Eagles Full squad:

    Goalkeeper: Chigozie Agbim (Warri Wolves), Austin Ejide (Hapoel Beer Sheva), Vincent Enyeama (Lille)

    Defenders: Azubuike Egwuekwe (Warri Wolves),Efe Ambrose (Celtic Glasgow), Elderson Uwa Echiéjilé (Sporting de Braga), Kenneth Omeruo (ADO Den Haag), Godfrey Oboabona, Solomon Kwambe, Francis Benjamin (Heartland FC)

    Midfielders: John Mikel Obi (Chelsea), Ogenyi Onazi (SS Lazio), John Ogu (Academica de Coimbra), Sunday Mba, Emeka Eze (Enugu Rangers), Babatunde Michael (Kryvbas), Fegor Ogude (Valerenga)

    Forwards: Joseph Akpala (SV Werder Bremen), Brown Ideye (Dynamo Kiev), Anthony Ujah (FC Cologne), Nnamdi Oduamadi (Varese), Gambo Mohammed (Kano Pillars), Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow)

     

  • Mikel ‘ready’ for Eagles games

    Mikel ‘ready’ for Eagles games

    Super Eagles midfielder, John Mikel , Obi has confirmed his availability for Nigeria’s 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Kenya and Namibia as well as the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil next month, Supersport.com reports.

    The Chelsea ace, who was influential in Super Eagles triumph at the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa in February, said he has an appointment with the Brazilian Embassy in London on Monday.

    “I always love to turn out for my country. I wish to confirm that I’ll be in Kenya and Namibia for the World Cup qualifying games and will also be in Brazil for the Confederations Cup.

    “It’s also true that I would have loved to play in the friendly match against Mexico in Houston, United States of America but circumstances and logistics have made this impossible. I love to represent my country,” Supersport.com quoted the midfield maestro as saying in a chat with Eagles’ Team Secretary, Enebi Achor.

    Mikel will join the Eagles in Frankfurt, Germany on their return from U.S and fly with the contingent to Nairobi aboard a Lufthansa Airline flight in the early hours of Tuesday, June 4.

     

  • Mikel may not make World Cup qualifiers – Keshi

    Mikel may not make World Cup qualifiers – Keshi

    … Rules out replacements for injured players

    Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, has expressed doubt about the availability of John Mikel Obi for the two World Cup qualifiers against Kenya and Namibia in June.

    Speaking exclusively with The Nationsport from Nuremberg, Germany, on Thursday, the “Big Boss” said although the Chelsea midfielder has asked to be excused for the friendly match against Mexico in the United States, he would stay back in England to process his visa to Brazil.

    Nigeria will participate in the FIFA Confederations Cup starting June 15 in Brazil.

    “Mikel has asked that he be excused for the friendly match against Mexico, but he would travel with his team for their pre season tour. But he would later return back to England to process his Brazilian visa. The implication of that is that he may not be available for the two World Cup qualifiers against Kenya and Namibia. So we would have to make do with the players in camp.”

    On Victor Moses, the former International said, “Victor sent me a text message that he would not be available until July 6 when he is expected to begin training. He said that he played the final phases of Chelsea’s league matches with recurring injury, and would need to use this period to treat it properly. We have to excuse him, because this is his career, and he needs to be fit to play for his club and the country. We are not thinking of replacing any of the injured players,” Keshi said.

    The former Togo and Mali National team coach expressed optimism that the players in camp would surely put smiles on the faces of all Nigerians in the forthcoming matches.

     

  • Moses, Uche opt out of Eagles’ June schedule

    Moses, Uche opt out of Eagles’ June schedule

    Chelsea ace Victor Moses will miss next month’s World Cup qualifiers and the Confederations Cup due to injury, MTNFootball.com reports.

    Nigeria travel to Kenya and Namibia in June in continuation of the qualifying series for Brazil 2014 and will also be in Brazil next month for the Confederations Cup.

    Chelsea has informed the Nigeria Football Federation that Moses, one of the best players of the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa, has withdrawn from the Super Eagles matches so as to treat a recurring injury.

    He will therefore not be fit in time for the World Cup qualifiers and the Confederations Cup in Brazil next month.

    However, the London club said he will be with the team during the pre-season tour of United States to be monitored closely by doctors, but would not participate in the tour.

    Also opting out of the squad due to injury is Turkey-based Kalu Uche.

    In a message to coach Stephen Keshi, Uche claimed to have been playing with injury for some time now in the Turkish League, and on the advice of his doctor, will be using the opportunity of the off-season to undergo treatment.

    Keshi said he was disappointed both players did not inform him earlier about this development, but maintained on Monday night: “We have the players to deliver the World Cup ticket and to make Nigerians proud in Brazil.”

     

  • Keshi lists 25 for Mexico tie

    Keshi lists 25 for Mexico tie

    Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, has invited Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Vincent Enyeama and Chelsea’s Victor Moses to lead 23 others for an international friendly match against Mexico.

    The Media Officer of the Nigeria Football Federation, Ademola Olajire, in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja said the friendly would hold on May 31 in Houston, United States.

    The statement said the friendly was to prepare the team for its busy schedule in June.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Super Eagles will play against Kenya on June 5 and Namibia on June 12 before proceeding to Brazil for the FIFA Confederations Cup from June 15 to June 30.

    The invited goalkeepers alongside Enyeama were Chigozie Agbim of Warri Wolves and Austin Ejide of Hapoel FC.

    Defenders – Efe Ambrose (Celtic), Elderson Echiejile (Sporting de Braga), Kenneth Omeruo (ADO Den Haag), Godfrey Oboabona (Sunshine Stars), Solomon Kwambe (Sunshine Stars), Francis Benjamin (Heartland), Odunlami Kunle (Sunshine Stars) and Azubuike Egwuekwe ( Warri Wolves).

    Midfielders – John Mikel Obi (Chelsea), Ogenyi Onazi (Lazio), Sunday Mba (Enugu Rangers), Reuben Gabriel (Kilmarnock), John Ogu (Academia de Coimbra), Obinna Nwachukwu (Heartland) and Michael Babatunde ( Kryvbas Kryvyi ).

    Forwards – Joseph Akpala ( SV Werder Bremen), Brown Ideye ( FC Dynamo Kyiv), Kalu Uche ( Kasımpaşa Spor Kulübü), Anthony Ujah ( FC Koln), Nnamdi Oduamadi ( Varese) and Gambo Muhammad ( Kano Pillars).

     

  • Sao Paulo World Cup venue to miss FIFA deadline

    Sao Paulo World Cup venue to miss FIFA deadline

    The building firm responsible for Sao Paulo’s new World Cup stadium has admitted that the venue would not be ready until March, next year.

    This is more than two months after the deadline set by the world football’s governing body FIFA.

    Frederico Barbosa, chief engineer for construction company Odebrecht, said a contractual obligation to fit the stadium with 48,000 permanent seats would be met by December 31.

    But the installation of temporary stands that increase the venue’s capacity to 68,000 is expected to take at least another two months.

    “We have to finish construction of the roof and this prevents us from starting work on the temporary stands,” Barbosa said.

    “We can try to bring this forward but it still won’t be finished until after (the deadline). It will take another two or three months.”

    Known in Brazil as the “Itaquerao”, the stadium’s redevelopment is the least advanced of any of the 12 World Cup venues.

    Odebrecht is still awaiting a promised $200 million (about N314 million) loan from state-run banks and has threatened to stop work if an imminent deal is not struck.

    It is not just Sao Paulo’s World Cup stadium that has caused concern for FIFA.

    Each of Brazil’s six venues for June’s Confederations Cup – considered an organisational warm-up for the World Cup – long overshot their original deadlines of December 2012.

    Brasilia’s Estadio Nacional was yet to be reopened despite being scheduled to host the Confederations Cup opener between Brazil and Japan on June 15.

    Last week FIFA Secretary General, Jerome Valcke reiterated delays would no longer be tolerated.

    “I repeat again: the completion of work at the remaining World Cup stadiums has a strict deadline, which is December 2013,” he said.