The Nation Newspaper

Tag: goalkeeper

  • Eagles unsure of starting goalkeeper

    Eagles unsure of starting goalkeeper

    Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr will wait until the last moment before making a decision on goalkeeper Carl Ikeme ahead of today’s 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Tanzania in Uyo.

    Ikeme only arrived at the team’s camp on Thursday, raising concerns as to whether he will be handed a start today ahead of the two other goalkeepers, Emmanuel Daniel and Ikechukwu Ezenwa [below]who have both been with the side all week.

    Rohr says that he will wait until the last moment before making a decision on who starts in goal for the Super Eagles against the Taifa Stars in the Afcon dead-rubber.

    “We will see with Carl arriving (on Thursday). He played the last games with his club (Wolverhampton Wanderers) so he didn’t miss any (competitive games).

    “It is true that he has not trained with us for some days, so we will assess him to know if he is fit physically and mentally. It will be interesting to have him ready because this is a game I want us to win. It is (a dead rubber), but I really want us to win this game against Tanzania,” Rohr said.

    Ikeme had been capped four times by Nigeria at senior level, and was simply outstanding in the first game between the two sides in Dar-es-Salaam, foiling the Stars’ attack on numerous occasions, helping Nigeria to escape with a 0-0 draw.

  • Nigeria U-23s drop 3SC goalkeeper Akande

    Nigeria U-23s drop 3SC goalkeeper Akande

    AfricanFootball.com can report that Shooting Stars first-choice goalkeeper Abiodun Akande has been dropped for the All Africa Games football event and his place taken by Jimoh Lucky Abdullahi from amateur club 36 Lion of Lagos.

    Akande has for several months been the cover for Rangers shot stopper Emmanuel Daniel, but he has now been asked to leave the team’s training camp in Abuja.

    AfricanFootball.com also scooped that Lucky Abdullahi, who joined the team four days ago, will now be the third goalkeeper for the AAG.

    “There is going to be one big surprise when the list of players to the All Africa Games is made public – Shooting Stars goalkeeper Abiodun Akande has been dropped to the surprise of everyone in camp. The other players couldn’t believe their eyes when he left the camp,” the source told AfricanFootball.com.

    The goalkeepers for the AAG are Emmanuel Daniel (Rangers), Yusuf Mohammed (Pillars) and Jimoh Lucky Abdullahi (36 Lion Lagos).

    Akande is back in Ibadan now but wasn’t available for selection for a Nigeria league Week 26 game on Sunday.

  • Enyimba goalkeeper disappointed to drop points at Akwa

    Enyimba goalkeeper disappointed to drop points at Akwa

    Enyimba goalkeeper Femi Thomas has told AfricanFootball.com his side deserved to beat hosts Akwa United on Wednesday in a Week 21 game of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).

    He said the 2-2 draw is not the true reflection of the play but admits a point is better than nothing. The result also means Enyimba lost the leadership of the Nigeria league to closest rivals Sunshine Stars.

    “It was a good game for both sides, but in my opinion, we deserved to win the game,” Thomas told AfricanFootball.com.

    “The 2-2 draw was not the true reflection of the game because we created chances and couldn’t convert them. The draw was better than losing anyway. And I must praise the officials for good officiating of the game.”

  • Goalkeeper Fabiyi has quit Pillars

    Goalkeeper Fabiyi has quit Pillars

    The former Sunshine Stars goalkeeper said coach Okey Emordi has not given him a chance to prove himself.

    “I have terminated my contract with Kano Pillars,” Fabiyi told AfricanFootball.com

    “It is high time I moved to another team where they want me, the club management and the fans have shown me lot of love, but coach Okey Emordi is not ready to give me a chance at all, which is not good for me.

    “I have met the management and told them my mind and they have accepted my decision. The club invited me over because they know my capability and qualities as a goalkeeper. I have played against Pillars with four different clubs six times and we lost only twice.

    “I let them know that since the coach is not interested in playing me in games, it means I am not wanted in Pillars, so I want to go to where I am wanted and will make impact on the team and my career.

    “Not playing league games will affect my national team career, I need not stay where a coach doesn’t want me.”

    Fabiyi has played for Abia Warriors, Sunshine Stars, Bayelsa United, Enyimba, Niger Tornadoes and Gateway.

  • Dolphins land ex-Rangers goalkeeper, Anyalogu

    Dolphins land ex-Rangers goalkeeper, Anyalogu

    Last season’s Federation Cup finalists, Dolphins FC, have completed the signing of goalkeeper Godwin Anyalogu for the NPFL season, supersport.com has been informed.

    The Port Harcourt club moved to acquire the goalkeeper as back up for first-choice and captain, Sunday Rotimi and also bolster their goalkeeping ranks.

    Dolphins also have two other goalkeepers in Adejare Adeniyi and Joseph Onwuga, who joined from Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) champions, Kano Pillars, in the off-season.

    “We have tidied up papers to add goalkeeper Godwin Anyalogu to our team. The coach (Stanley Eguma) believes this is one area that needs to be fortified and that is why we have brought in Anyalogu, who is very experienced having played in the top division for a number of season with Rangers and most recently Sunshine Stars.

    “He will be part of the squad for the league and the Federation Cup, and hopefully if we make it to the group stage of the (CAF) Confederation Cup, may be he could be registered for that competition too,” said an official of Dolphins to supersport.com.

    Anyalogu featured for Sunshine Stars last term and had to face limited playing time as Ikechukwu Ezenwa was preferred ahead of him.

    The former Enugu Rangers man now faces competition from three other Dolphins goalkeeper – Rotimi, Adeniyi and Onwuga- for first-team as the club prepare to start their NPFL campaign at home to Kwara United next month.

  • Taraba keeper gets Eagles call up

    Taraba keeper gets Eagles call up

    • Team set for Pillars’ test

    As the Super Eagles technical crew continues to juggle with players in camp ahead of the CHAN 2014 African Nations Tourney in South Africa, newly recruited Taraba United goalkeeper, Ibrahim Pius has earned himself a call up to battle for a short alongside the three goalkeepers still in camp.

    Skipper, Chigozie Agbim, Daniel Akpeyi of Heartland and Golden Eaglets’ Dele Alampasu are the three keepers fighting for shirts ahead of the CHAN tourney. Pius, was recently signed from Rangers International of Enugu by Taraba United ahead of the new football season.

    Meanwhile, the Super Eagles will this Friday tackle reigning Nigerian league champions, Kano Pillars of Kano in one of its last practice matches before the CHAN tourney.

    The match has been scheduled for the mainbowl of the Abuja National Stadium on Friday morning. The Pillars’game is expected to be the toughest for the national team which has so far played three practice games.

    In the first game the Eagles defeated newly promoted NNL side, Prisons FC of Abuja 4-1, won 2-0 against Niger Tornadoes of Minna in the second and at the weekend, Plateau United were beaten 2-0. Assistant Coach, Dan ‘The Bull’ Amokachi, said the continued invitation of players and playing of practice matches will enable the coaches come up with a team that will do Nigeria proud at the CHAN tourney.

  • Benin goalkeeper relishing FC Taraba challenge

    Republic of Benin goalkeeper, Olaniyi Fabiyi, is delighted to have a chance to play for newly-promoted, FC Taraba.

    Supersport.com learnt that another newly-promoted side, Abia Warriors, also wanted the Benin international.

    “I’m looking forward to a pleasant time at FC Taraba when I arrive on Thursday. It’s a fresh challenge and I’m ready to achieve success with the club. My international experience will be useful to the club and I’m confident Taraba will challenge the old order,” Fabiyi said to supersport.com.

    Fabiyi believes it is a chance for him to return to duty with the Squirrels. The experienced Fabiyi has played top flight football with Gateway FC, Niger Tornadoes, Enyimba and Bayelsa United.

    However, he went down with Bayelsa United and helped the club back to the top flight only to lose his position.

  • 3SC declare U-20 goalkeeper AWOL

    3SC declare U-20 goalkeeper AWOL

    Shooting Stars have maintained Nigeria U20 goalkeeper Emmanuel Daniel has gone AWOL as he has yet to be cleared by Enugu Rangers.

    3SC media officer Jubril Arowolo told MTNFootball.com that Daniel remains their player even though he has been training with Rangers since the close season and has even been registered for the CAF Champions League by the Enugu club.

    “Our attention has been drawn to stories and news that refer to Emmanuel Daniel as Rangers goalkeeper. He is not, he remains a 3SC player, and as it is, he has gone AWOL. He has not been cleared, they informed us they need his service but they have not negotiated anything not to talk of paying us,” Arowolo said.

    “We don’t want to go into any confrontation with Rangers and that is why we are saying this. We own Emmanuel Daniel, we have his clearance and his licence. He told us he was going to see his family in December and he was paid salary for that month, up till now we have not seen or heard from him. We are advising Rangers not to try to use him because he is our player. We still believe he is coming back.”

    Shooting Stars technical and media committee chairman Ade Somefun added: “Emmanuel is our player and as a matter of fact, he went AWOL because he was not properly cleared from 3SC.

    “There is no way he can feature in the CAF Champions League. As far as we are concerned, Rangers didn’t go through the proper channel before Emmanuel joined them. We need to sit down and sort out this issue. We don’t want it to be like Sunday Mba’s case as we are ready to listen to them and make things work accordingly.”

    Daniel was part of the squad to the recent African ayouth Championship in Algeria, where the Flying Eagles finished third and qualified for the U20 World Cup in Turkey in June.

  • Eaglets dedicate win to late goalkeeper’s mother

    Eaglets dedicate win to late goalkeeper’s mother

    THE National Under-17 team has dedicated yesterday’s 6-0 win recorded against Junior Menas of Niger to the memory of late Mrs. Iyabo Sarah Adewale.

    The mother of the team’s goalkeeper, Adeyinka Adewale, died on the eve of the Golden Eaglets’ 4-1 away win in Niamey, penultimate Saturday where the lad gave a good account of himself.

    Though he did not make the 18-man list for yesterday’s game in Calabar, his teammates said they resolved to beat Niger as a mark of solidarity to their teammate.

    “We are one big family in this team,” Wilfred Ndidi, the assistant captain of the team said. “We really felt bad for Adeyinka when we heard about the death of his mum which was very painful because she was still very young.

    “We have been praying for Adeyinka and his family members since we learnt about the unfortunate incident, and we told ourselves that we must win this game for him because he contributed greatly to our first leg away win in Niamey,” noted Ndidi.A visibly happy Adeyinka said he was happy about the honour done to his family by his colleagues even as he asked Nigerians to continue praying for the team.