The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Lille

  • Lille vs Bastia Return to winning ways

    Lille vs Bastia Return to winning ways

    • Lille boss charges Enyeama, mates

    Super Eagles and Lille shot-stopper, Vincent Enyeama and mates have been charged by club boss, Rene Girard to bounce back to winning ways against Bastia after they suffered their first league defeat in almost three months last weekend.

    Enyeama conceeded his first goal in 11 matches as Lille lost 1-0 to Bordeaux last Sunday to end an unbeaten run during which Lille did not concede a goal.

    The result saw Lille slip to third in the Ligue 1 table and are seven points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain by the time they kick off today with the defending champions claiming all points against Rennes Saturday afternoon.

    But Girard is refusing to panic affter seeing the long run come to an end and has urged his players to just carry on doing the good things that have got them into the upper echelons of the table.

    “We knew that we would lose one time or another, but I have no particular worry,” he said.

    “It was a collective defeat. I still have a lot of confidence in my group and I know what the boys can do.

    “No match is easy, we will have to react against Bastia on Sunday (today).

    “Playing at home again is very important. We have the chance to recover in a great stadium with extraordinary football fans.”

    He added: “I hope that we keep the mindset that we have today no matter what the results.

    “We must remain vigilant, not slack off and continue working.

    “Today, we can have a respectful and humble ambition. I want the players to believe in themselves and be aware that we can really achieve something good.”

    Meanwhile, Bastia are coming off a loss of their own having been beaten 3-1 by Lyon last weekend to end their four-match unbeaten run.

  • Enyeama happy with Lille contract extension

    Enyeama happy with Lille contract extension

    Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama has said it was an easy decision to extend his contract with French club Lille till 2017.

    Lille announced that the Super Eagles goalkeeper has agreed on the extension on Friday.

    Enyeama was loaned to Maccabi Tel Aviv last season where he was crowned champion of Israel.

    The Eagles stand-in captain managed only three appearances in his first season with Lille in the 2011/2013 season.

    MTNFootball.com reports that the contract extension was the reward for his outstanding display so far this term where he has kept clean sheet for 1,035 minutes.

    “I’m really happy to be part of this team and very happy to have signed this contract extension. I just want to continue to help the team this season, but also to those that follow, “Enyeama told MTNFootball.com.

    “Yes. When officials called me to offer me an extension, I immediately said that I agreed because I love the LOSC, the players, the fans, as well as the coach and his staff. So, it was very easy for me to accept. I just said a big yes.

    “I am happy here, I like Lille and the people who live here. That is why at first it was easy for me to return to the club after my loan.

    “This contract extension is then made quite naturally. I waited, I dreamed, I wished with all my heart because I want to be part of this project. I have full confidence in this team.”

     

     

  • Enyeama signs new deal at Lille

    Enyeama signs new deal at Lille

    Super Eagles and Lille goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama has extended his stay with the Ligue 1 side until 2017.

    The Eagles’ goal tender moved to the Stade Pierre-Mauroy from Hapoel Tel Aviv in 2011, but only made his league debut at the start of the current season after spending last season on loan at Maccabi Tel Aviv.

    His form since return has been nothing sort of stunning, however, since his return from the loan spell in Israel as he has not conceded a single goal in his last 11 games, a run that stretches back to September 15 and encompasses 1,035 minutes of football.

    Former Bordeaux keeper Gaetan Huard set the current benchmark of 1,176 minutes in the 1992-93 season, which Enyeama can surpass in his next two outings.

    The 31-year-old’s showings have helped Lille record a run of 11 league games without defeat, a streak that has seen them move into second spot in Ligue 1.

    Rene Girard’s side now sit just a point behind defending champions and money bags Paris Saint-Germain.

  • Enyeama gets new coach at Lille

    Enyeama gets new coach at Lille

    •Girard inks three-year deal

    SUPER EAGLES shot-stopper, Vincent Enyeama, will face a new man in-charge of Lille when he returns for pre-season from the ongoing FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil.

    Reports coming out of France revealed that the Ligue 1 campaigners have unveiled Rene Girard as new boss after signing a three-year contract on Saturday.

    “The length of the contract is three years,” said Girard, a day after his appointment.

    “I am very happy to be here today. I know the club. What attracted me was the meeting with the president (Michel Seydoux). Lille are in the top five. Leaving Montpellier, I don’t think I could have a better opportunity,” he added.

    Girard, who steered Montpellier to the league title in 2011/12, also said that his son Nicolas would serve as an assistant on his staff.

    “It’s a resounding yes,” said Lille president Seydoux. “I knew the talent of the player, the talent of the coach and the results both as a player and a coach. What really pleased me at our first meeting was Rene’s intelligence. I have great confidence in his ability to adapt.”

    The 59-year-old Girard, who was in line for the post with Borussia Moenchengladbach’s Swiss coach Lucien Favre, takes over at Lille from Rudi Garcia, who has left for AS Roma.

  • Enyeama returns to Lille

    Enyeama returns to Lille

    Super Eagles goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, has confirmed that he will return to French club, Lille in July.

    The 30-year-old, who joined the Ligue 1 club for free in the summer of 2011 from Hapoel Tel Aviv was loaned out to another Israeli club, Maccabi Tel Aviv at the start f the 2012/13 season, Supersport.com reports.

    He impressed for The Yellows, leading them to the 2012/13 Ligat ha’Al (Israeli League) title after making 27 league appearances for the club.

    Enyeama, who was part of the 2013 African Nations Cup-winning Nigerian side, has now confirmed that he will be returning to France in July for pre-season training with Lille.

    “I have two years left on my contract so it is obligatory that I go back to France. I was only on loan at Maccabi Tel Aviv so logically, I have to return to France,” he told Supersport.com.

    The former Enyimba shot-stopper endured a torrid time while in France as he did not play a single league game for Lille in the 2011/12 season with the club’s Manager, Rudi Garcia preferring to play former France international goalkeeper, Mikael Landreau instead.

    Enyeama said he never had any problems with Garcia’s decision at the time.

    “I don’t think it is proper t start talking about whether Landreau was better than me at the time but the fact remains that two goalkeepers cannot play in goal simultaneously. He (Landreau) was there at the club before I arrived so I respect the fact that the manager chose him ahead of me,” he explained.

    Landreau left Lille in 2012 but Enyeama does not believe the first team shirt at the Metropole club will be a shoo-in in the coming season especially with 32-year-old Steve Elana impressing last term.

     

  • MACCABI TEL AVIV LOAN DEAL ENYEAMA CONFIRMS LILLE RETURN

    MACCABI TEL AVIV LOAN DEAL ENYEAMA CONFIRMS LILLE RETURN

    NIGERIA custodian Vincent Enyeama has once again stated that he will return to Lille when his loan deal with Israeli champions Maccabi Tel Aviv expires.

    Enyeama is being paid 900,000 euros per season at Lille and has two more years before his contract runs out. In his first season with the French team, he was relegated to the bench and had to look for a new team to enable him play on a continuous basis this campaign.

    ”I have a signed contract for another two years with Lille and it is perfectly normal I would have to honour the contract and return there immediately after the season here in Israel. In Europe, it is not acceptable to talk to a trainer and ask him if I’ll be number 1 or number 2. I hope the coach believes in me and let me play with Lille ,” Enyeama told one.co.il.

    Enyeama will fight for a starting shirt with Steve Elana and Barel Mouko.

  • Sunshine to Lille Pay N416m, get Oboabona

    Sunshine to Lille Pay N416m, get Oboabona

    •French club’s 208m bid rejected 

    Sunshine Stars have asked Lille to pay two million Euros (about N416m ) for Eagles defender Godfrey Oboabona after the French club tabled half that sum.

    MTNFootball.com can specially reveal that Lille have put on the table a million Euros (about N208m ) for 22-year-old Oboabona, who shone at the recent Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

    Lille thus met the million Euros valuation of the Nigeria club for the player, but Sunshine have now demanded double that amount.

    “Lille have through an agent made a bid of a million Euros for Oboabona, but Sunshine Stars say they now want them to double that figure. Sunshine through a top official wrote directly to Lille and not through the agents demanding for two million Euros,” a top source informed MTNFootball.com.

    Efforts to reach Sunshine Stars general manager Mike Idoko were not successful.

    The versatile Oboabona, who could play as a right back, central defender or defensive midfielder, has attracted a rash of interests from across the big leagues in Europe after he shone at the 2013 AFCON, which Nigeria won.

    He was recently reported to be on his way to trials with top English Premier League side Arsenal, but Sunshine officials have since dismissed this. The player himself has said God will decide where he moves to in the summer.

    He told MTNFootball.com: “There are speculations and inquiries from many clubs, but I don’t know where I will end up. God will decide and chose the best for me.”