The Nation Newspaper

Tag: matches

  • INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY  MATCHES

    INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY  MATCHES

    Cayman Islands vs. Moldova 

    Uganda            vs. Ghana     

    Finland            vs. Estonia    

    Latvia vs. Liechtenstein         

    Hungary vs. Kosovo  

    Malta vs. Belarus       

    Norway            vs. Slovakia  

    Czech Republic           vs. Armenia  

    Denmark vs. Faroe Islands    

    Colombia vs. Romania          

    Cote d’Ivoire vs. Uruguay     

    Senegal            vs. Benin    

    Read Also: FEC approves fund to bridge $878bn national infrastructure deficit  

    Austria vs. Turkey     

    England vs. Belgium  

    Germany vs. Holland 

    Luxembourg vs. Kazakhstan 

    Ireland vs. Switzerland          

    Scotland vs. Northern Ireland

    Slovenia vs. Portugal 

    Egypt vs. Croatia       

    France vs. Chile         

    Mali vs. Nigeria         

    New Zealand vs. Tunisia       

    Spain vs. Brazil          

    Algeria vs. South Africa         

    Morocco vs. Mauritania         

  • ‘We will win all our home matches’

    ‘We will win all our home matches’

    Remo Stars coach Daniel Ogunmodede has said that his side are determined to prove their top-flight home win against Abia Warriors as more than just a fluke.

    The Sky Blue Stars will host El Kanemi Warriors in Sunday’s Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) matchday 5 clash at the Gateway International Stadium in Sagamu.

    Ogunmodede said his side have decided to make their home matches a-must-win while they fight hard for points on the road.

    “There will not be any compromise on the whole three points at stake in the clash against El Kanemi Warriors.

    “In fact, we have vowed to claim the whole three points in all our home matches on the calendar while we strive hard to win some points on the road.

    “The last home match win against Abia Warriors was the tonic we needed to bring the lofty dream to reality so the winning aura has come to stay.

    “We are impressed with the responses of the players to the demands of the top-flight.

    “Though it has been truly tough, especially the travelling schedule, but they are coping quite well,” said Ogunmodede to supersport.com.

    Ogunmodede said the absence of their key players, Victor Mbaoma and Oche Salefu was a huge blow in the midweek loss at Nasarawa United.

    “Our top striker and captain, Victor Mbaoma picked injury before the match at Nasarawa United same as Salefu and it was a big blow to us as the duo were quite key to our match plan to earn a decent result in Lafia.

    “We are positive that the two will be part of the squad to confront El Kanemi Warriors to ensure we earn the whole points,” said Ogunmodede.

    The newcomers have claimed three points from a possible 12 in the four-week old top-flight.

  • Lafia stadium ready for league matches

    Lafia stadium ready for league matches

    Nasarawa United chairman, Isaac Danladi has confirmed to SportingLife that his team will play all its Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) matches at the Lafia Township Stadium this season.

    Danladi said all the necessary things needed for the stadium have been done and it only remains minor finishing touches that does not affect the turf.

    The chairman, Clubs Owners said the Solid Miners will host Rangers International in their first home game at the Lafia Township Stadium.

    “Lafia stadium is ready for league action now and we are happy that our fans will now have the chance to see their players again. Its only remains minor finishing touches that does not affect the pitch. We are playing our first league game against Wikki Tourists in Bauchi which will give us the chance to finish everything at the stadium before we host Rangers International in our first home game in Lafia,” Danladi disclosed to SportingLife.

    Danladi has, however, said his side is ready for the league opener against Wikki Tourists.

    “The preparation for the league opener is in top gear and the players are all ready. We have every player on ground after returning from their Christmas break. Both old and new players who joined us during our training tour have all resumed in preparation for the first game against Wikki Tourists. We are hopeful to start the league on a high note,” he said.

  • LMC reschedules five NPFL matches

    LMC reschedules five NPFL matches

    The League Management Company (LMC) has rescheduled five matches in this season’s Nigeria Professional Football League.

    The match day 29 fixture involving Rivers United and Ikorodu United which should have been played on July 31 will now come up on August 11 at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Port Harcourt.

    An auto crash involving Rivers United on Thursday necessitated the change in date for the fixture which could have seen the Port Harcourt club go level on points with Wikki Tourists at the summit of the NPFL standings if they defeat Ikorodu United.

    Meanwhile, four outstanding fixtures involving the champions, Enyimba, have also been rescheduled.

    The Peoples Elephant will now face Sunshine Stars in Port Harcourt on August 3 while their outstanding game against Wikki Tourists will now be played on September 7.

  • Amapakabo: Goals win matches

    Amapakabo: Goals win matches

    Enugu Rangers head coach, Imama Amapakabo is unapologetic for conceding two goals in the five-goal feast at hosts, Akwa United.

    The Flying Antelopes stunned the Promise Keepers 3-2 in Saturday’s Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) matchday 27 clash at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo.

    “Goal scoring is  key in a match and actually wins matches and we benefited immensely from our ability to score goals. I’m an attack minded coach, I usually go for attack and it has been yielding the desired result.

    “We conceded goals as well as scored goals in today’s (Saturday) encounter and our superior goals offset the goals we conceded. The defence has been an issue not only in today’s match but I’m working very hard to correct the lapses.

    “I’m happy with the emphatic away win over Akwa United, at least it has once again put us on top of the league log. We will continue to work hard on our achievements in subsequent matches on the calendar until the dream of champions is realised. Of course, I will greatly love to win the league title with Enugu Rangers in this term,” said the former Sharks and Enyimba coach to supersport.com.

  • Results of local league matches

    The following are the results of Match Day 7 fixtures in the 2015/2016 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), played on Sunday and Saturday:

    Ikorodu United FC 1-2 Giwa FC

    El-Kanemi Warriors FC 2-1 FC IfeanyiUbah

    Heartland FC 1-0 MFM FC

    Plateau United 2-1 Lobi Stars

    Rangers International FC 3-0 Akwa United

    Wikki Tourists 2-1 Niger Tornadoes

    Shooting Stars FC 1-0 Rivers United(NAN)

  • Siasia wants Nigeria league midweek matches off

    Siasia wants Nigeria league midweek matches off

    Coach Samson Siasia has said he wants Nigeria league midweek matches suspended for him to work fully with the home-based players from Monday.

    Siasia has called up 22 players from the domestic league for a training camp in Abuja beginning on Monday ahead of AFCON qualifiers against Egypt later this month.

    “I have spoken with the federation and I would want midweek league matches suspended, that will help with my preparation,” Siasia told reporters at a press briefing.

    The selected players from this training camp will move to Kaduna on March 21 to be joined by the foreign pros.

    Siasia also raised concerns over the sharply different weather conditions the country’s Europe-based stars will battle when they fly in the AFCON qualifiers.

    “It’s cold in Europe and it will be hot in Kaduna, so I am very concerned about this,” he admitted.

  • Ekeji urges NFF to prioritise its activities, matches

    Ekeji urges NFF to prioritise its activities, matches

    Patrick Ekeji, former Director-General, National Sports Commission (NSC) has urged the leadership of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to prioritise its activities if it hopes to survive with its 2016 budget allocation. Ekeji gave the advice on Tuesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

    He said that prioritising its activities; especially the national teams’ matches would enable the NFF make lot of achievements.

    Ekeji added that the present economic challenge in the country should serve as parameter for the football house to re-strategise and decide the number of competitions it would take part in.

    The former Green Eagles defender also urged the NFF to readjust and x-ray the realities on ground. This, he said, would save the country the type of embarrassment it experienced in Rwanda during the 2016 Championship of African Nations (CHAN) tournament. The team’s coach claimed that he fed players with his money during the CHAN tournament.

    According to Ekeji, participating in almost every football competition organised by FIFA and CAF during this period of economic downturn will only put the football house in a more difficult situation.

    “It is wrong to believe that we might be sanctioned if we don’t participate in all FIFA competitions. FIFA does not force any member country to take part in its competitions,” he opined.

  • UAE Friendlies: Home Eagles want more matches

    UAE Friendlies: Home Eagles want more matches

    •Team returns to Nigeria
    •Yemen’s coach concedes defeat

    After two exciting friendly games against Cote d’ Ivoire In Abu Dhabi and Yemen in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), losing the former 1-0 and winning the latter by 2-0, the Super Eagles made up entirely of professional players from the Glo Nigeria Premier League have commended the leadership of the NFF under  Amaju Pinnick, for the friendlies even and asked for the sustenance of the friendly games culture.

    Speaking on behalf of his teammates, skipper of the side, Chigozie Agbim, said all the players were very happy that they were not redundant in January, following the mishap of non-qualification for the ongoing Africa Nations Cup (AFCON) championship in Equatorial Guinea.

    He said he was speaking the minds of his teammates, who made the same remarks after the friendly against Yemen on Saturday in Dubai. “All the players were unanimous in saying that playing friendly games is a way of making the team jell and building the unity of the team, the coaching staff and ensuring that the players are active throughout the year.

    “What we want to demand is that this laudable development should not be a one-off thing. We want a sustenance of the culture of friendly matches in the Nigerian soccer system, so that we will get to know ourselves better and we will not have the problem of blending when we have crucial qualifying games like it happened in the AFCON qualifiers”.

    The team returned home on Sunday, with Assistant Coach, Dan ‘The Bull’ Amokachi, like Stephen Keshi admonishing the players to keep the same level of discipline and focus at their various club sides if they hope to receive future invitations to the national team. He praised the team’s level of concentration during the friendlies and said it must be sustained at their various clubs in the course of building a more virile national team.

    Yemen Coach, Miroslav Skopp, who is a Czech, also had kind words for the Nigerian side, even as he conceded defeat to the reigning African champions. “Your team played tactically and technically well, as expected they were hard on the ball and they deserved to win” he said in Dubai on Saturday night.

  • NFF: No suspension of Premier League matches

    The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has urged all stakeholders to discountenance a statement from the League Management Company that matches of the Nigeria Premier League are being suspended.

    “It has come to our notice that the League Management Company has been issuing notices to clubs in the Premier League that matches are being suspended from this weekend.

    “This is totally untrue. If the LMC received a notice from the Nigeria Referees Association about purported withdrawal of referees, the LMC should have brought this to the notice of the NFF and not to take a decision to suspend the League on its own,” NFF President, Ambassador Chris Giwa, said in Abuja on Thursday.

    Giwa expressed his unhappiness with the Nigeria Referees Association for the threat to withdraw referees from the Premier League, and said the NFF would not take the matter lightly.

    “As the owners of the League, the Nigeria Football Federation is hereby making it clear that Premier League matches are not being suspended. Matches scheduled for this weekend will definitely take place,” Giwa affirmed.

    The NFF has therefore called on all referees appointed for this weekend’s matches to go for their matches.