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Tag: ready

  • Amuneke ready for tough CAN U-17 Draw

    Amuneke ready for tough CAN U-17 Draw

    Golden Eaglets coach, Emmanuel Amuneke has stated categorically that all the teams that qualified for the African Under-17 Championship (CAN), Niger 2015 are strong, insisting that the draw for the tournament won’t be an easy ride.

    Speaking ahead of the competition draws to be held at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt on Sunday, Amuneke said the groups would be evenly balanced with the calibre of teams that have qualified for what would be the 16th edition of the continental cadet championship which holds from February 15 to March 1, 2015.

    The eight qualifiers include defending champions, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger (hosts), Cameroon, Guinea, Mali, South Africa, Zambia and 2013 runners-up, Nigeria and they would be drawn into two halves of four teams each.

    “We can’t begin to say this is the team that we want in our group in Niger and whatever we get would depend on the luck of the draw,” Amuneke, the former Barcelona winger said.

    “I have taken a closer look at the list of the teams that are going to Niger and I think we have a strong pool of eight teams from the continent.

    “Most of the teams are from West Africa which is a very strong zone at age-grade competitions and it is interesting that there is no team from North Africa, whereas we had Morocco and Tunisia as semi-finalists in 2013,” he added.

    He further reiterated that his primary objective in Niger was to qualify the Golden Eaglets for next year’s FIFA Under-17 World Cup to be hosted in Chile.

    “We know what to expect in Niger and our objective remains the same; we have to reach the semi-finals to secure one of the four tickets for the World Cup in Chile,” he noted.

    “I’m waiting to see the teams that we are going to get from the draws on Sunday and that would also give us an idea of what to do,” Amuneke stated.

    Meanwhile, screening of new players continues at the NFF/FIFA Goal Project in Abuja and the former African Footballer of the Year remains upbeat that the process would throw up new talents to fortify the squad for Niger 2015.

  • I’m ready for Eagles -Dike

    I’m ready for Eagles -Dike

    Nigeria international Bright Dike has said he is ready to return to the pitch after a long-term Achilles tendon injury.

    Dike tore his Achilles tendon back in February and has been out of commission the entire 2014 season.

    “Whenever the coach is ready for me,” Dike said, when asked how long he had before returning to the pitch.

    “Right now, honestly, I feel good to go so whenever they give me the go-ahead, I’m ready.”

    On his return to full fitness and training, Dike said: “It feels great. I’ve been waiting so long.

    “I was so anxious to get back on the pitch. It feels like Christmas for me.”

    The Nigeria international said he was most grateful to the Toronto FC staff in his comeback.

    “Unfortunately, I’ve been through it before,” Dike said, when asked about his injury troubles in the past.

    “That just makes me know exactly what I have to do beforehand. This time, I’m going to be that much more mobile coming back. The staff has been really great in pushing me to get back, in fitness, mobility and strength.”

    He said he is looking forward to playing alongside some of his side’s new players for the first time.

    “You get so excited to play with quality players,” Dike said. “I’m itching to get back on the field and play up top with [Jermain] Defoe. Any time you play with good guys like that, it’s very exciting.”

  • WOMEN FED CUP: Delta Queens ready for Rivers Angels

    Delta Queens head coach Zannas Pele Eleta has said that his side are focused and well prepared ahead of the Women Federation Cup semi final clash against Rivers Angels in Abuja on Friday.

    Delta Queens booked their semi final ticket after defeating Pelican Stars 5-4 on penalties in the quarter final last week.

    Eleta, in an interview, heaped praises on his players for their resilience so far in the competition as he expressed confidence of reaching the final.

    “I was not with the team last year when we played Pelican Stars but I was told we lost to them at the quarter final stage. I told the players to go all out against Pelican and that they can do it. I thank God that they played according to our game plan and we made it to the next stage,”Eleta said.

  • National Sports Festival: We are ready-Ugbe

    •Implores states to come with open mind

    Cross River State commissioner for Youths and Sports Development, Hon. Patrick Ugbe yesterday said that Nigerians should expect a spectacular opening ceremony in the forthcoming national sports festival holding in calabar.

    The commissioner also implored participating states to come to the festival with open minds, as nobody will be allow to manipulate results.

    Ugbe said calabar is a home of entertainment adding that the festival will toll the line of London 2012 Olympics.

    “It’s going to be a wonderful experience.We are ready for November 23rd. The track is ready, we have also re-grassed the field.

    “As you go round the facilities, they are on different levels of completion, some higher than others, but the most important thing is that, they will be ready before 23rd of November, 2014. The indoor hall is under construction and will be delivered to us by the contractor in October.

    “We want to assure Nigerians that the festival date will not be postponed because we are ready. Postponement happened in Rivers and Lagos states because of unforeseen circumstances, even at the global stage, we had issues in the World Cup in Brazil, the facilities were not ready untill the last time, but that did not stop the World Cup from holding.

    “The facilities, the  structural design of the indoor sports hall and the finishing will be the last to be delivered to us in October. What is left now, is for the pillars to go up and the roofing. We have fixed November 23rd and we stand by it .

    “All the facilities needed for the festival are being worked on right now, tennis is going to take place at the Calabar Sports Club, if you go there today, work has gone to seventy percent, all contractors have their time limits to deliver.

    ” “Why should states complain, look at the coastal regions, it spread from here in Calabar to Lagos, many states along it, you want to tell me canoeing, for goodness sake, we are taking part in canoeing in All Africa games and what did our festival suppose to do? Our festival suppose to produce the athletes that will represent this country in All Africa games, and the Olympics, in our festival, we did not take part in the sport, where are we going to get the athletes that will represents us internationally. Our festival is an opportunity for us to fish out  the athletes. Do you know the number of medals that we are losing from all those sports by not taking them seriously, those simple sports we participate in are not our key areas .

  • Federation Cup: Crown FC ready to pummel Nasarawa

    Federation Cup: Crown FC ready to pummel Nasarawa

    Crown FC striker, Bode Daniel, is certain his side will not suffer any backlash against Nasarawa United following the Federation Cup round of 32 tie walk-over against amateur side, Leopard FC.

    The Ogbomoso-based side will engage Nasarawa United in a tussle for a quarterfinal spot in today’s round of 16 duel at the Enyimba International Stadium, Aba.

    Daniel said the fact that the crucial encounter involves two Premier League sides makes the tie interesting and preferable compared with lower league sides.

    “Of course, I won’t go out of my way to demand for a walk-over as I’ll always insist on victory on the field of play but Leopard FC won’t have troubled us from booking passage to the round of 16 even if they had showed up for the clash.

    “Ordinarily, we would’ve been in disadvantage but we know what we want and equally know in knock-out game positive result is key to progression in the competition.

    “Thus, instead of relaxing we actually doubled our preparations so the walk-over we picked against Leopard FC won’t count against us when we face Nasarawa United on Thursday (today) in Aba.

    “I’m excited we’re paired against a Premier League side unlike lower league side, we understand ourselves and should be able to come up with the best performance.

    “Knowing and understanding your opponents in a knockout match helps a lot and I believe we’ll leverage on it to stun Nasarawa United.

    “We’ve our eyes on the podium, two or three matches we’re right there and we’re determined not to leave any stone unturned to ensure we achieve our goal,” said the Glo Premier League newcomers hitman to supersport.com.

    Crown FC left Ogbomoso on Wednesday for the match venue, Aba for the all important clash against the Lafia-based side.

  • Plateau United ready for FC Taraba

    Plateau United have reiterated their determination to go as far as possible in the Federation Cup as a way of showing their appreciation to Governor  Jonah Jang for his financial support to the team.

    The Jos based side scaled through to the Round of 32 after beating their opponents on penalties but they have a fresh battle at hand with FC Taraba on Thursday in Katsina Ala and a top source in the club has hinted that Plateau United have stepped up  the build up to the encounter.

    The Jos team defeated Nationwide Division 2 side, Vom Vet Rovers in a warm up tie played at the Rwang Pam Stadium, Jos on Tuesday. The game was used to test the readiness and fitness level of the players ahead of the crunch tie.

    The former premier league sides are also using the Federation Cup tie with FC Taraba to gauge their readiness for the start of the National League which kicks off next Wednesday across the country. Plateau United have a home tie with Jigawa Golden Stars that same day.

  • Eagles ready to run over Iran

    Eagles ready to run over Iran

    President of Nigeria Football Federation, Aminu Maigari declared on Sunday that the Super Eagles are well prepared to run over Iran and earn three points when both teams clash in the second match of Group F at the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals on Monday.

    Setting is the 42,000 –capacity Arena da Baixada in Curitiba – a venue originally built in the 90s to replace the older Estadio Jaoquim Americo Guimaraes and which is the home ground of Atletico Paranaense FC.

    It is the first time both countries are meeting at the FIFA World Cup finals.

    “Our boys are ready for this task. I have been with the team all the way from London (friendly with Scotland) to their final camping in the USA and now here in Brazil.

    “The spirit is good and I believe they will go all out on Monday,” said Maigari, who flew with the team to Curitiba on Saturday morning.

    Nigeria is the lowest –ranked team in Group F, but that will count for nothing when the African champions set sail at the Arena da Baixada.

    Goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, rated as one of the best stoppers in world football at the moment, defender and skipper Joseph Yobo and striker Osaze Odemwingie have all tasted FIFA World Cup action previously, while midfielder John Mikel Obi and strikers Victor Moses and Emmanuel Emenike all shone at the Africa Cup of Nations and are rated highly to dazzle here in South America.

    Defenders Godfrey Oboabona, Efe Ambrose and Kenneth Omeruo, midfielder Ogenyi Onazi and pacy winger Ahmed Musa were also in the Africa –conquering team in South Africa and have tremendous quality and play with gusto.

    The 11 –day final camping in the United States of America was spangled with two quality friendly matches against Greece and USA, and few would have forgotten that the Super Eagles were actually held to a 2-2 draw by four –time world champions Italy in a friendly in London late last year.

    Shola Ameobi, who like Moses played for England at junior levels before opting to represent fatherland at senior cadre, youthful Michael Babatunde, former junior internationals Ramon Azeez and Uche Nwofor and CHAN 2014 MVP Ejike Uzoenyi provide strength – in – depth for Coach Stephen Keshi for today’s clash.

  • Itodo ready for Abia Warriors debut

    Itodo ready for Abia Warriors debut

    Experienced campaigner Cletus Itodo could feature for his new club, Abia Warriors, during the match day two road trip at El-Kanemi.

    The dead-ball specialist was initially expected to be in Ladan Bosso’s match-day squad for the league opener against Kaduna United, but watched the match from the stands.

    “The paper work should be completed before the trip to El-Kanemi so I’m waiting patiently to make my debut. We have a great team here and there are signs of improvement as the league progresses,” he told supersport.com.

    Bosso will bank on Itodo’s magic and experience in the midfield. Itodo has been a perennial campaigner on the continent with Enyimba and Sunshine Stars. A move to Dolphins didn’t last long and he eventually returned to Sunshine Stars.

  • ‘Nigeria Machine Tools ready for business’

    Nigeria Machine Tools Limited (NMTL), a pioneer machine tools manufacturing company, has made known its readiness to begin full production aimed at delivering value to critical sectors of the economy.

    Speaking in Lagos at the weekend, the Managing Director, Mr. Norbert Chukwumah, said since the official handover of the moribund company by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), investments have gone into transforming NMTL into a modern manufacturing company with the capacity to produce industrial products and services of international standard.

    He said: “We have upgraded our facility, acquired state-of-the-art equipment and developed the highest level of competence in the manufacture of products, including stud bolts, flanges, machine tools, agricultural implements, municipal castings and technical training, corrosion protection and machining services.

    “NMTL is open for business. We are ready and committed to playing our part in the country’s industrialisation.”

    Chukwumah said the company’s short term objective is to become West Africa’s leading manufacturer of its range of products.

    “We intend to assume leadership of the West African market in the next three years. We shall achieve this by focussing on the needs of the markets and delivery of un-compromised quality in every item, which rolls out of the plant, backed by projected technical staff strength of 350 by the end of the year.”

     

    He said NMTL produces flanges and stud bolts for the oil and gas industry, assembles and manufactures machine tools, possesses extensive machining capability (utilising its numerous advanced CNC and conventional machines), assembles tractors for the agricultural sector and manufactures ancillary tractor implements.

    According to him, the foundry produces municipal castings, gratings and manhole covers, brake blocks for the railways, machine spares, ball crushers for the cement industry and quarry operators and a range of other foundry products as determined by the needs of the client.

    “There is also a newly-installed state-of-the-art PTFE coating plant and hot dip galvanising shop to ensure products are finished to clients’ specification. The company has a flourishing fully- equipped training school, which is open to the public as well as for industries, which require training for their technical manpower in a wide range of technical skill sets.”

    Chukwumah decried the abundance of low quality goods in the market, saying most of the inferior products are imported from Asian countries, even as Nigerian manufacturing companies go to great lengths, in a very challenging environment, to manufacture products of high quality.

    He described as unfortunate, a situation where the buying public still patronised the less durable, low quality products, dumped in the country at relatively much cheaper prices.

    According to him, the high bank lending rate of around 23 per cent per annum, power, security and infrastructure challenges are damaging to manufacturers with long term manufacturing goals and objectives.

     

     

     

  • Tejuosho Market ready December

    The second phase of the Tejuosho Market in Yaba, Lagos, will be completed in December, the developers, Tejuosho Property Development Company (TPDC), said yesterday.

    Speaking with reporters at the market, the company’s Head of Sales and Marketing, Ms. Comfort Oluwadairo, said the sale of shops was ongoing.

    She said the market, which has over 1,660 shops in various sizes, key clamps, underground parking and technology-assisted security, would be opened in December.

    Ms. Oluwadairo said: “In Phase II, We are putting finishing touches to the property and work is proceeding at a steady pace. We are satisfied with the progress. We are an independent real estate development company and our agreement with the government is clear: ‘Develop this property into a market’ and we have kept faith with the contract.

    “TPDC does not have any connection with the Phase I or its developers. This project is exclusively financed by Zenith Bank and we have a great relationship with them. Even as the price of building materials, fuel and labour went up, Zenith Bank provided more financing so that the project would proceed without glitches.”

    Wayne Bushell, special consultant on the project, said: “Having worked on similar projects across Africa, I believe both shoppers and traders will be exceptionally thrilled when they discover what has been built here, more importantly because it is at the heart of Lagos. It will make shopping a truly fantastic experience.”