The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Russia

  • Russia 2018: Fans want Super Eagles to rise above defeat

    Football fans in Lagos have urged the Super Eagles to rise above the 0-2 defeat to Croatia in their opening match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

    They told our reporters on Monday in Lagos that though the loss was a tough one to bear but that they should not allow it to weigh them down.

    They said that ever since the World Cup started, thousands of fans had been trooping in to support their teams at the Eagles Club, Adeniran Ogunsanya Street, Surulere Lagos.

    Kunle Arowolo said that the Eagles needed to be sharper in the attack, adding that all other departments were okay, but that the attack led by Odion Ighalo was not effective enough.

    “The team played well but did not do well at the attack, but it is not time to apportion blames to anybody but for the attack led by Ighalo to raise their game.

    Read Also: Russia 2018: Nigerians react to Super Eagles lost against Croatia

    “We must approach our next game against Iceland with all manner of consciousness and get all three points or the alternative could be devastating,’’ Arowolo said.

    Another fan, Stanley Okwonkwo said that that Super Eagles needed to be business minded up front as the last game showed their weakness in the midfield and attack.

    “It was a great game but the better team won at the end, we have to support our team regardless of the loss because it is important for them to believe in themselves.

    “I am hopeful that their performance in the next game against Iceland would be better, so let us support them to do well,’’ Okwonkwo said.
    Steve Bamijoko, on his part, said that the team needed to work harder in their two remaining matches which were crucial to their progress to round of 16.

    “It is obvious that there are no pushovers in the World Cup; everybody is good enough if you strive hard and play as a team.

    “A clear example is Mexico handing a 1-0 defeat to Germany, the defending champions, in their opening match and Switzerland holding five times champions Brazil to a 1-1 draw.

    “No team should see themselves as small, so the Super Eagles in their coming matches should have the clear chance to progress to the next round,’’ Bamijoko said.

    Abayomi Abidakun, Senior Brand Manager, Star Lager Beer, Nigerian Breweries Plc., said that supporting Super Eagles to excel was very crucial at this point as he was confident they would bounce back.

    He urged football fans not to feel bad about the result and that no matter what, we must get behind the team and hopefully the right results would come their way.

    “Getting things right sometimes doesn’t come easy, Super Eagles went into the match with the hope of getting the right result for them but it did not come that way.

    “We have to move on as Eagles face Iceland on June 22 which is very crucial to their success at the World Cup.

    “The Super Eagles Dome by Nigerian Breweries is our way of supporting the Super Eagles of Nigeria as they represent our nation in Russia and also creating an atmosphere of fun.

    “With one voice, we can cheer on with `One United’ voice.

    “As a brand, we are proud of this opportunity, given to Star Lager beer, to create an atmosphere where passionate fans can come and support the Super Eagles,’’ Abidakun said.

    The venue showcased High-tech, multi-media technology, giving a 360 degree experience where fans rallied support for the Eagles as they faced Croatia in their first match in Russia.

    Football supporters also experienced a `beer village’, where fans were treated to refreshing premium lager beer all through the night.

    One of the main attractions of the Super Eagles Dome was the exquisite Star Lager tunnel, which featured a LED screen that takes fans down memory lane of historic Super Eagles moments.

    Nigeria face Iceland on June 22 who had forced a 1-1 draw against two times world champions, Argentina in their opening match.

     

    NAN

  • NFF, FIFA celebrate Ighalo on 29th birthday

    The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and World football governing body, FIFA, have sent birthday wishes to Super Eagles striker, Odion Ighalo, who clocked 29 on Saturday.

    Ighalo, poised to lead Nigeria’s attack when they take on Croatia in their opening group game at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia on Saturday, was born on June 16, 1989, in Lagos.

    The NNFF wished the Chinese-based striker, on its official Twitter handle, “a happy birthday will love to see him get a goal or two in Kaliningrad this evening.

    Read Also: Ighalo, Echiejile thank Nigerians

    “Happy birthday to @NGSuperEagles forward @ighalojude. We wish you a great day full of goals and goodies,” it said.

    Similarly, FIFA said to the birthday boy on its official handle, “Happy Birthday @ighalojude! He’ll be hoping for a good result in #CRONGA.”

    Since making his debut in 2015, Ighalo has scored four goals in 17 games for Nigeria. He is currently on a six-game goal drought.

    He began his career with the defunct Julius Berger FC, Lagos, before joining Lyn Oslo in Norway.

    He also played for Udinese in the Italian Serie A where he was loaned out to Cesena and Granada before he made a switch to Watford.

    Currently he plays in the Chinese Super League with Changchun Yatai.

    NAN

  • Russia 2018: Brazilian referee for Croatia/Nigeria match

    Brazilian referee, Sandro Ricci, will alongside two compatriots and two Spaniards, handle Nigeria’s opening Group D game against Croatia at Kaliningrad on Saturday in World Cup in Russia.

    Ricci will have Emerson de Carvalho as his First Assistant Referee (AR1) and Marcelo van Gasse as Second Assistant Referee (AR2), both Brazilians.

    Antonio Mateu and Pao Cebrian, both Spaniards, will be the Fourth Official and Reserve Assistant Referee (RAR), respectively.

    The Nigeria-Croatia match is one of four matches slated for Saturday at the World Cup which got underway on Thursday, with Argentina facing Croatia in the other Group D match.\

    Read Also: Russia 2018: Calabar fans express confidence in Super Eagles against Croatia

    Five African referees have also been listed for Saturday’s Group C game between Peru and Denmark at Saransk, with Gambia’s Papa Gassama as the centre referee.

    His assistants are Jean-Claude Birumushanu from Burundi and Abdelhak Etchiali of Algeria as AR1 and AR2, respectively.

    Mehdi Abid Charef of Algeria and Amouar Hmila of Tunisia are the Fourth Official and RAR.

    Four other African referees were named in the five-man officiating team for Sunday’s Group E match between Costa Rica and Serbia at Samara.

    While Senegalese referee, Malang Diedhiou, will be at the centre, his compatriots Djibril Camara and El-Hadji Samba will be the AR1 and AR2.

    Ethiopia’s Bamlaku Weyesa will be the Fourth Oficial and Russia’s Tikhon Kalugin completing the team.

  • Russia wallop Saudi Arabia 5-0 as 2018 World Cup begins

    Host Russia is currently 2-0 up against Saudi Arabia in the opening match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

    Yuri Gazinskiy  scored the first goal of the 2018 FIFA World Cup after 12’minutes, with Denis Cheryshev getting  the second in 43’minutes

    Earlier, Russian president Vladimir Putin  gave a speech at the Luzhniki Stadium, welcoming the World to Russia.

    “We are sincerely happy to host the World Cup in our country,” he said.

    “Football is truly loved here. Russia is an open, hospitable and friendly country.”

  • Nigeria will be ready for World Cup in 2022 – Odegbami

    Adeyinka Akintunde

     

    Former Nigerian international, Chief Segun Odegbami has advised Nigerians to be humble, and not expect much from the Super Eagles as they go into the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which kicks off in Russia today.

    The 1980 Africa Cup of Nations winner gave this advice in Channel Televison’s Sunrise Daily”.

    Odegbami expressed joy in the fact that for the first time, the players have no problems as regards finance, which suggests a possibility of a good outing in Russia. But, he cautioned that it would be too much for Nigerians to expect the Super Eagles to win the World Cup in this edition.

    Odegbami analysed: “They had a good outing, defeating Argentina in a friendly match, and I think that is the best preparation we can have going to the World Cup, because the odds tip them as one of the favourites to win the World Cup.

    “But looking at their recent friendly results can stir up some worries. I think those results should be a wake-up call to the coaches, not to allow what happened against Argentina to dominate their thoughts. They should realise that they are going into the most difficult football competition and should be prepared for it.

    “As we go, I want Nigerians to be humble. We should enjoy the World Cup and show respect to our opponents. Those of us that will be watching on television should enjoy the tournament, and not hope that Nigeria will win the World Cup because we cannot win it. We don’t have the team that can win on July 15, but we can go a bit far at the tournament.”

    Odegbami believed that tagging the Super Eagles as underdogs, even against their first opponents Croatia is a good thing. For him, Nigeria could spring surprises during the tournament.

    “The Super Eagles can sometimes be like Arsenal, who play like potential world champions today and then play like secondary school students tomorrow. That is why I said they cannot win the World Cup because to be champions require consistency,” he said.

    Read Also: Odegbami sends Goodwill Message

    The former national team captain said that the current Super Eagles squad was a team for the future and not the current World Cup. He said the team should be ready to explode in the 2022 World Cup.

    Odegbami explained: “For the first time, we have a team that is playing like a team, but we don’t have any exceptional player in the mould of a Jay-Jay Okocha or Nwankwo Kanu or Muda Lawal, people who can on their own take up responsibility and do exceptional things for the team. The only person that comes close in our current team is Victor Moses.  So we are going to the World Cup with a future team. Thanks to Coach Gernot Rohr, there is much more understanding in this team than our previous Super Eagles.”

    Speaking on the issue of the goalkeepers, Odegbami observed that the Super Eagles do not have problem with the goalkeepers, but with the defence line. “We have a tall and good-statured Francis Uzoho, and we have an energetic Ikechukwu Ezenwa, who is like the Best Ogedengbe of those days, but they depend on the defence line, which is where I think we have problems.  I think we have good goalkeepers that will do well.”

    The FIFA World Cup begins on Thursday, June 14, 2018 in Moscow, and Nigeria kick off their campaign two days later against Croatia, in a match Odegbami thinks the Super Eagles will perform poorly “but will pick up against Iceland, and will be in the form of their lives against Argentina. I see Nigeria progressing to the second round.”

  • W/ Cup kicks off today as Russia battles Saudi Arabia

     

    Finally, today’s here!

    The much awaited 2018 World cup in Russia kicks off today with Host country Russia taking on Saudi Arabia at the 81,000 capacity Luzhniki Stadium. The opener is expected to be watched by millions of spectators across the globe and will be coming after a planned breath taking opening ceremony in which English singer Robbie Williams will be performing.

    The pressure no doubt will be on Russia who had automatic qualification as hosts and who will be playing in front of their home fans and expected to begin their campaign on a winning note.

    The Coach Stanislav Cherchesov’s tutored side has not been in good form ahead of this summer’s finals, with defeats to Brazil and France in March forcing the hosts to double effort in preparation and whatever they have been able to do after those defeats will be showcased today in Moscow.

    Permutations ahead of the opening match indicate that Russia stand 67% chance of winning while Saudi Arabia have 11% chance of pulling surprise a win with 22% chance of the tie ending in a draw.

    A win against Saudi Arabia’s Green Eagles will be a huge ginger ahead of tough group clashes against Egypt and Uruguay. Many believe the cheapest tie the hosts can have is today’s opener.

    In 1993 when the this two teams met in an international friendly played at the Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Sport City Stadium, Al Khobar, the  Saudis ran away with a 4-2 victory

    Interestingly both teams go into the opener with not so impressive pre-world cup runs. Russia have not been able to pull a win in their friendly ties leading the opener and Saudi Arabia on the other hand lost three matches against Italy, Peru and Germany. Formidable opponents you may say, likely to ginger them to want to fight to the finish to tell their countrymen that the friendly matches really don’t matter much but it is performance in the real championship that matters.

    The second match for both teams will not be a tea party and it does appear that win for either side will be a good way to start as it may turn out to be the only victory they can record in the Group.

    Russia may have massive home support but they will be sure to have strong challenge from the Saudis.

    Interestingly it will be the first World cup where the goal-line technology or VAR system will be put into use, aside from that the Referees at the World Cup will wear specifically developed Hublot watches, designed to assist them with VAR.

    The unique edition – that is limited to 2018 pieces and features 32 dials inspired by the flags of the participating countries in this summer’s tournament – will be connected to goal-line technology and an electronic video assistance

    The newly-developed watch will be in use for the first time when hosts Russia kick-off the World Cup in their Group A game against Saudi Arabia on Thursday so the issue of officiating may not be a problem.

    Thirty two countries qualified for the Russian showdown and five African countries Nigeria, Egypt, Senegal, Morocco and Tunisia. Many expect Nigeria and Senegal to rise to the occasion building on their pedigree and experience.  The game has started it is only naturally to sit tight enjoy battle royal as it unfolds, let the war begin!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Football showpiece begins in Russia

    The 2018 FIFA World Cup gets underway today when hosts Russia face Saudi Arabia following an opening ceremony at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.

    Football’s showpiece event features 32 teams, including holders Germany, competing in 64 games over 32 days.

    The 21st edition will be played out in 12 stadiums, across 11 cities, spread over 1,800 miles.

    England, winners in 1966, are the only team from the home nations to qualify and start against Tunisia on June 18.

    Germany, which defeated Argentina in 2014 final, is looking to become the first team to win back-to-back World Cups since 1962, while Brazil seeks a record-extending sixth world title.

    The month-long tournament is expected to attract one and a half million fans to Russia and an estimated global television audience of over three billion viewers.

    There are eight groups, each containing four teams, with the top two advancing to the last 16. The final takes place at the 81,000-capacity Luzhniki Stadium on July 15 (16:00 BST).

    World Cup holders Germany, five-time winners Brazil, Euro 2016 winners Portugal, 2014 runners-up Argentina, Belgium, Poland and 1998 winners France are among the eight seeded teams.

    Hosts Russia is also seeded, even though they are the tournament’s lowest-placed team – 70th – in FIFA’s world rankings.

    England, which has won only one of their past eight World Cup matches, is unseeded, as are 2010 champions Spain.

    Germany has reached at least the semi-finals in each of the past four editions of the competition and after being the only team to progress through European qualifying matches with a 100 percent record, are expected to be in the shake-up again. They are in Group F with Mexico, Sweden and South Korea.

    “Germany will be hunted like never before,” said head coach Joachim Low. “Only we, as world champions, have anything to lose.”

    Brazil is the only nation to have featured at every single World Cup but they have not won the tournament since 2002, while you have to go back to 1958 to the last time they won it on European soil.

    Yet the Brazilians will fancy their chances, particularly as Neymar, who cost a world record £200m when he moved from Barcelona to Paris St-Germain in August 2017, has returned to action after a broken foot.

    Spain features several Champions League winners from Real Madrid in their squad as they look to recapture the magic that saw them crowned world champions eight years ago and European champions in 2008 and 2012.

  • Glo promo winners fly to Russia

    Seven lucky winners of the ongoing World Cup romo sponsored by telecom giants Globacom, yesterday flew to Russia to watch the matches.

    They are the first batch  from a total number of 22 expected winners in the subsscuibers consumer-reward offer, tagged ‘GO Russia.’

    The lucky subscribers, who were accompanied by a Globacom official on the trip, are: Agbede Temidayo Bayodele (Ekiti state), Adeoye Adefisoye Simon (Oyo State) Olugbokiki Mukail Omolola (Ogun State), Orewa Edwin Ehi (Rivers State), Aghaegbunem Marvel Chukwufumnaya (FCT) Oladunjoye Joseph Babatunde (Ogun State) and Kome Sunny Ikpeba (Delta State).

    The winners briefly visited Globacom’s head office on Victoria Island, Lagos yesterday before departure. They are billed to visit different tourist attractions, historical sites and monuments while in Russia.

    Some of the winners spoke of their excitement, winning the slots.

    Kome Sunny Ikpeba, a 45-year-old gym owner, said,”I never won anything before. So when I got a call from Globacom, I was really happy.”

    AAgbede Temidayo Bayodele, a final year Mechanical Engineering student of Ekiti State University, said the Russian trip was his first overseas trip. He called on Glo subscribers who are skeptical of the offer to embrace it as “it is for real!”

    Oladunjoye Joseph Babatunde, a Lagos cinematographer, said: “I feel good. It is going to be a very good experience for me”. H

    The Go Russia promo will run from May 16 to July 8 and is open to all new and existing Prepaid/Postpaid customers on the Glo network nationwide.

  • Lawmaker cautions against sex with foreigners

     

    Russian women have been told to resist the temptation to enter intimate relationship with foreign players and fans alike during the month long display of soccer artistry.

    A senior law maker in Russia Tamara Pletnyova who gave the charge on Wednesday said sex with foreigners while the competition lasted could result into pregnancy later leading to single motherhood.

    More than half a million fans from across the world are expected in 11 Russian cities that will host the football championship between June 14 and July 15.

    Pletnyova who is head of state Duma’s Family, Women and Children Committee said it is necessary to avoid a repeat of what happened when country hosted the 1980 Olympics.

    “Bearing the children of non-Russians could lead to broken families, Tamara Pletnyova said, adding   “These children will later suffer and have suffered in the Soviet era,”

    Russia’s birth rate hit its lowest level in a decade last year despite government efforts to encourage Russians to reverse the demographic trend.

    “We should be giving birth to our own children. I’m not a nationalist, but still,” said Pletnyova.

    A recent independent Levada Center survey indicate that Russians prefer watching TV to sex, but expected influx of soccer fans from accross the globe it is suspected in some quarters, could trigger off  interest among those who may have been shied away from stating exactly which one the prefer.  The poll was conducted among 1,600 respondents in 52 Russian regions between April 20 and April 24.

    The much awaited World cup will kick off Thursday with host country Russia taking on Saudi Arabia at the 81 thousand capacities Luzhniki Stadium. Forecast for the opening match gave hosts as much as 67% chance of winning the tie while Saudi Arabia is given 11% chance of winning with 22% of the game ending in a score or goalless draw.

     

     

     

     

     

  • World Cup: Super Eagles arrive in Russia

    The Super Eagles of Nigeria have touched down in Russia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

    According to reports on the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) official Twitter handle, the players and their officials landed in their Essentuki base in the early hours of Tuesday.

    The Super Eagles flew out of their Avita Resort in Bad Tatzmannsdorf, Austria, to Russia on Monday for the 21st FIFA World Cup finals – Nigeria’s sixth appearance in seven finals since making a memorable debut in the U.S. in 1994.

    A picture of the players alighting from aircraft in a unique traditional outfit was also posted on the NFF Twitter page with a short tweet which read: “@FIFA World Cup. Welcome, NGA!”

    Read Also: Nigeria should excel in Russia, says ANN

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Gernot Rohr’s men are expected to have their first training session following their arrival on Tuesday.

    They are the last team in Group D to arrive in Russia for the tournament, with Argentina and Iceland jetting in on Saturday.
    Croatia arrived in Russia on Monday.

    Nigeria will take on Croatia on Saturday in their opening Group D fixture at the Kaliningrad Stadium.
    The 2018 FIFA World Cup will take place from June 14 to July 15.

    NAN