The Nation Newspaper

Tag: draw

  • U-23 Nations cup: Nigeria to battle Zambia South Africa in Group B

     

    The Nation’s Under 23 side will face Zambia, South Africa and Cote d Ivoire in Group B of this year U-23 Nations Cup holding in Egypt.

    Draw for the championship was held in Wednesday in Alexandria with host country Egypt pitched against Mali, Cameroon and Ghana in Group A. The championship proper which will hold from November 8 and 22 will begin with opening match on the 8th between hosts Egypt and Mali at the Cairo international stadium.

    The Total U-23 Africa Cup of Nations is held every four years and showcases some of African football’s emerging talents while also acting as a qualifier for the Summer Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

    Former Egyptian forward Emad Meteab assisted CAF Director of Competitions, Samson Adamu to conduct the draw that pitted the eight qualified teams into two groups of four teams each.

    Zambia under 23 side

    Group A games will be played at Cairo international Stadium while Group B matches will be played at the Al Salam Stadium.

    The top three teams of the Total U-23 Africa Cup of Nations will qualify to represent Africa at the Summer Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

    Nigeria has made three appearances in the tournament emerging as champions in the 2015 edition.

    Cameroon and Ghana are debutants of the championship .

    Group A – Egypt, Mali, Cameroon, Ghana

    Group B – Nigeria, Cote d’ivoire, South Africa, Zambia

     

     

     

     

  • Western Lotto plans second mega draw

    Ahead of the October 5 draw to pick winners in the Mega Upgrade Promo, Western Lotto has paid winnings to 6000 players on its platform since its July launch.

    Winnings include those of players on the many games, ranging from N500 to a jackpot of N15 million.  A young entrepreneur, Dorcas Nwagbara, 27, who hails from Obingwa Local Government in Abia State, won the N15million jackpot in the PowerBall game with just N100 on September 13.

    Earlier, an Ibadan-based undergraduate of the Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, Qadim Soyombo, won N500, 000 in the EuroJackpot draw held on the 25th of August, 2017.  He played with N100 to earn his winning.

    Managing Director of Western Lotto, YomiOgunfowora, said the number of winners on the platform continues to increase by the day.

    “We keep having a huge number of winners daily. Personally, I am glad that someone has won a jackpot of N15million and that is what Western Lotto is all about: to change lives for good.

    “We expect more and more winners on our platform because we maintain our promise of empowering Nigerians economically and our word is our bond at Western Lotto, as we have paid over 6000 winners already. “The next draw for the Mega Upgrade Promo holds on October 5, and to qualify; each player is required to spend a minimum N3000 on any of our array of games at westernlotto.com.”

  • Plateau Utd’s Port Harcourt draw thrilled Golbe

    Plateau Utd’s Port Harcourt draw thrilled Golbe

    Elisha Golbe has expressed his happiness at lateau United goalless draw against Rivers United which cut the gap between them and MFM to just a point in the race for the league title.

    He said they came with focused minds and resolve to turn Port Harcourt to a hunting ground and that they were delighted that they achieved their objective even though it meant conceding the top of the league spot to the Olukoya Boys for the mean time.

    Golbe hailed the fans at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Port Harcourt for their sportsmanship throughout the encounter while adding that they are going back home to start preparation ahead of their Sunday tie with Wikki Tourists.

    Plateau United are now second on the log with 29 points from 16 games after the road draw with MFM defeating Abia Warriors 2-1 in Lagos yesterday to return to the top of the table.

  • Madu: We are lucky to draw Rivers United

    Madu: We are lucky to draw Rivers United

    Wikki Tourists attacking midfielder, Harrison Madu has said his side had a horrible day against top-flights, Rivers United.

    The Bauchi Elephants were held to a barren draw by the Pride of Rivers in Wednesday’s top-flight matchday 11 clash at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium (ATBS) in Bauchi.

    Madu said his side were somehow happy with the draw as it would have been worst losing the entire points to the Port Harcourt side.

    “It’s really a bad day for us we did our very best to win the clash against Rivers United but it appeared our best was not enough to win the day for us.

    “We had clear chances at goal but could not make it count positively, I must confess that things have not been smooth going for us in the on-going top-flight.

    “Although we remain quite hopeful that things will change for the better in the shortest time so that we can take our pride of place in the league.

    “I must say we are lucky to get a draw against Rivers United as they, too have better chances at winning the match.

    “So we have taken the result in good fate to continue the fight for relevance as it would have been worst if we lost the whole three points.

    “We are still hopeful to hit a turnaround so all hopes are not lost we just witnessed matchday 11 games.

    “We have learnt our mistakes and certain to profit from it in subsequent matches on the league calendar,” said Madu to supersport.com.

    The draw against the Garden City side takes Wikki Tourists total points to 11 from possible 33 in the 11-week old top-flight with two matches at hand against Kano Pillars and MFM FC.

  • Imenger relishes Lobi Stars away draw

    Imenger relishes Lobi Stars away draw

    Lobi Stars Team Manager, Barnabas Imenger has attributed his side’s 1-1 draw against Rangers international to God’s unfailing love on the team.

    Ocheme Edoh scored his first goal for Rangers, but the home team’s joy was cut short when Kingsley Eduwo equalised for Lobi Stars. The game ended 1-1 despite Lobi finishing with 10 men after Sunday Akleche was sent off for a second yellow card offence.

    In a chat with SportingLife, Imenger said the technical crew led by Godwin Uwua got the team’s selection right while he heaped praises on the players for playing according to match plan.

    “Before the match, we prayed to God to deliver us from conceding last minute goals and God answered our prayers. The boys played according to the  plans. The teamwork gave us the game and the coaches got the selection right and I pray it continues as we push for glory in the remaining matches,” Imenger told SportingLife.

  • Wikki back on top after draw at Warri Wolves

    Wikki back on top after draw at Warri Wolves

    Wikki Tourists are  back on top of the Nigeria league table after they forced hosts, Warri Wolves to a 1-1 draw on Sunday.

    They now have 43 points from 25 matches, same as Enugu Rangers, but enjoy a far better goals difference.

    Rivers United remain in third place with 41 points after a 1-0 home win against Niger Tornadoes, while Kano Pillars are now fourth on the back of a 3-0 win against Lobi Stars.

    Wikki looked like they had suffered yet another slip in the title chase as they were losing 1-0 at Wolves after a 32nd minute goal by Ewenike Achibi, but on the stroke of full time Idris Guda drew them level.

    In the 88th minute, Wolves were reduced to 10 men after Shedrack Oghali was given his second booking.

  • Rangers top again after home draw with 3SC

    Rangers top again after home draw with 3SC

    Rangers are back on top of the Nigeria league despite dropping their first points at home this season on the back of a 1-1 draw with shooting Stars on yesterday.

    Rangers now have 28 points from 15 matches, a point ahead of second-placed Kano Pillars with Abia Warriors a close third.

    Chisom Egbuchulam put Rangers ahead from the penalty spot after 80 minutes after he was upended inside the box.

    However, Tope Orelope, who came close to signing for Rangers in the close season, drew Shooting Stars level in stoppage time also from the penalty spot after Matthew Etim handled the ball inside his own box.

    In other matches,  Plateau United were held to a goalless draw by Sunshine Stars and Lobi Stars pipped MFM FC 1-0 at home.

  • Olujoungbe bemoans ‘poor’ draw

    Olujoungbe bemoans ‘poor’ draw

    Sunshine Stars caretaker coach, Kayode Olujoungbe has called his side’s draw against FC IfeanyiUbah a ‘poor result’.

    The Owena Waves held the Nnewi-based side to a 1-1 draw in Sunday’s NPFL match-day 5 clash at the Akure Township Stadium.

    Okereke Maduabuchi scored the match opener for FC IfeanyiUbah while central defender, Kunle Odunlami scored the equaliser to extend the Akure side’s search for a win to five matches.

    Olujoungbe said the new players in their fold are yet to fully learn the top-flight ropes.

    “The 1-1 draw against visiting FC IfeanyiUbah is a poor result playing on our home ground.

    “My thinking is that we should have picked up all three points at stake in the encounter.

    “However, the draw is not a totallly bad result as it would have been worse to lose all three points.

    “I think the team has not yet blended with the newcomers among them. They are yet to fit into the game.

    “I believe with time they will come good and deliver the goods.

    “FC IfeanyiUbah played wonderfully well and I’m sure if the team is to play at the continent they will certainly go far in the competition.

    “The Nnewi side gave us a lot to worry about throughout the crunch encounter,” said the Sunshine Queens and Stars caretaker coach to supersport.com.

    The point against FC IfeanyiUbah adds to the Akure side’s points haul. They now have two points out of 15 in the five-week-old top flight.

  • World Cup qualifiers: Nigeria may draw Ghana, Cameroon

    World Cup qualifiers: Nigeria may draw Ghana, Cameroon

    Five-time World Cup finalists, Nigeria could well draw arch-rivals Ghana and Cameroon in the group phase of the qualifying tournament for the 2018 World Cup should the FIFA rankings be mainly used to seed teams.

    No date has been fixed yet for the draw for this final round of the World Cup qualifiers, which will be played on league basis, but speculations are rife that it could be before the end of the year.

    Currently, Nigeria are the 59th ranked team in the world and on this count, they will fall in pot 3 of seeds along with Egypt (57), Mali (63), Uganda (68) and Zambia (71).

    Pot 1 will have the continent’s top teams Cote d’Ivoire (22), Algeria (26), Ghana (30), Cape Verde (32) and Senegal (39).

    Pot 2 will be made up of Tunisia (41), Cameroon (51), Congo Brazzaville (52), Guinea (53) and DR Congo (55).

    The last pot of 20 qualifiers could then be Gabon (73), South Africa (75), Morocco (79), Burkina Faso (93) and Libya (113).

    A team from each pot will be picked out to form a qualifying group of five teams with the overall winners advancing to the World Cup in Russia.

  • BATTLE OF PORT HARCOURT: Swazis target score draw result

    BATTLE OF PORT HARCOURT: Swazis target score draw result

    Swaziland coach Harris Bulunga is optimistic that his less experienced but determined players can upset Nigeria with a score draw result on Tuesday in Port Harcourt to shock the World and move on to the Third Round of the FIFA 2018 World Cup qualification group.

    Bulunga informed  exclusively in a post-match conference in Lobamba when he stated that: “It’s going to be a tough away game with different conditions but we got a very good away record. So, that is what is giving us hope.”

    The coach was impressed with the first leg’s barren draw result pointing out that: “Well, I think my boys applied themselves very well. Our defensive organisation was superb, we limited the Super Eagles to almost no chances. The only chance they got was only from a set piece. That was the only save the goalkeeper made.

    “So, defensively, we were okay but my players were not sharp enough going forward. And it’s going to be tough going away because we couldn’t score but we still believe.”

    Interestingly, Coach Harris revealed that they were surprised that the much more experienced Nigerians hesitated from the start and this gave them the confidence they needed in the first leg tie.

    “Yes, of course we were playing at home, the first half we wanted to see how they came to meet us but we discovered that  they were not that aggressive. So, we decided to take the game to them because we are at home and we need to score at least a goal that we can take to Nigeria. But unfortunately we couldn’t utilise the situation we got. But I still believe the boys played well despite the goalless  scoreline.

    “It is not about them in their home because a score draw can put us through. But we are going there to work hard as we did today. The result will take care of itself. If the players who got some knocks and had to be substituted will be available, then I will give my team a 40 per cent chance of getting an upset result in Nigeria.”