The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Spain

  • NBBF sacks D’Tigress coach, Vincent

    The Nigeria Basketball Federation ( NBBF ) has ended its relationship with the Head Coach of the Senior Women’s Basketball team, Sam Vincent.

    NBBF Media Officer, Afolabi Oni, in a statement on Friday said the decision was taken after extensive consultations and assessment of the team’s progress in camp ahead of the 2018 FIBA Women World Cup in Tenerife, Spain.

    A a letter signed by the NBBF President, Engr Musa Kida, said the decision was taken in the best interest of all parties involved and the long term interest of the D’Tigress.

    NBBF stated that the numerous conflicting commitments of the 55-year-old coach had affected his duties as the coach of the women national team.

    It quoted the letter stating in part that, “The NBBF has been monitoring the situation in Atlanta closely and we are not satisfied with a lot of things.

    ”You left the National Women’s Team Camp in Atlanta since Friday July 27, 2018, without permission from anybody and you have continuously remained absent.

    ”Following investigations, the 2017 Afrobasket winning coach was found guilty of abandoning the team due to other conflicting professional engagements within the United States of America where the team is currently camped.

    ”In view of the importance of giving the team the best of preparation for the World Cup as to make a mark in Spain, the NBBF decided it needed a coach who will spend more time in camp preparing the team.

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    “Be informed that you are hereby relieved of your appointment as our National Women’s Coach, to allow you concentrate better on your other activities.”

    The NBBF thanked Vincent for qualifying the team for the World Cup by winning the 2017 Afrobasket Championship in Atlanta and wished him all the best in his future endeavors.

    The board has promised to compensate him for the services rendered while with the team.

    In the meantime, D’Tigress assistant coach, Peter Ahmedu will take charge of team’s preparation for the World Cup to be assisted by Sola Shomala until a new coach is appointed.

  • Spain boosts round of 16 chances after Iran defeat

     

    2010 World cup champions spain Wednesday improved their chances of hitting the round of 16 after defeating Iran by a loan goal at the Akazani Arena in Russia.

    It took a 54 minute goal credited on a rebound Diego Costa boost the chances of Spain who are not on four points same with Portugal who earlier defeated Morocco by a lone goal. Iran put up a good fight which failed to yield the needed goal.  A 62nd minute goal by Iran’s Ezetolahi Afagh was disallowed following an offside call. It was despair  for Iran as following the disallowed goal as many of the fans had jumped for joy thinking the much needed goal had finally come.

    Spain will next take on Morocco who have already booked their exit from the world cup after losing two matches to Iran and Portugal respectively, while Portugal will confront Iran in their last group game

    Costa  who scored twice in Friday’s pulsating 3-3 draw with Portugal was again the decider in Wednesday’s encounter.

    Spain handed a 100th cap to Gerard Pique, with Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vazquez the only new faces from the side that drew against Portugal.

  • World Cup: IRAN 0-1 SPAIN (Costa, 54)

    IRAN 0-1 SPAIN (Costa, 54)

    Costa scored Spain’s only goal of the encounter in the 54th minute to hand Fernando Hierro’s side their first win of the tournament after their opening 3-3 draw with Portugal last Friday.

    After the win, Costa’s goals tally has increased to three in two games

    Spain will face Morocco in their next game on Monda

    The formidable Spanish front line proved that they have goals in them, with Diego Costa spearheading the attack in the No. 9 role.

    Real call that Costa scored two goals in the 3-3 blockbuster against Portugal in one of the games of the tournament so far, Spain now turn their attention to Iran.

    A rare David De Gea mistake, combined with some CR7 brilliance, kept Portugal within touching distance of the 2010 world champs.

    His fantastic solo effort turned the Portuguese defenders inside out, as he buried his shot past a helpless Rui Patricio.

    Now that he has settled into his new role, Spain coach Fernando Hierro will encourage his players to take valuable points from the likes Iran and Morocco.

    Against top quality opposition, he looked class, so how will he fare against the lower ranked Iran?

    Goal Costa 54th minute

  • Spain rescues more than 900 boat migrants

    •Four bodies found

    SPAIN’S coast guard rescued 933 migrants and found four dead bodies in the Mediterranean at the weekend, as the country prepares for the arrival of a charity rescue ship that was denied port by Italy and Malta.

    The number of people fleeing poverty and conflict by boat to Spain doubled in 2017.

    According to the European Union border agency, it is likely to rise again in 2018, potentially pushing migration up the national political agenda.

    Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has already made migrant-friendly moves in his first two weeks in the job, offering to take in the rescue ship Aquarius with 629 people on board.

    Sanchez, however, pledged free healthcare to undocumented migrants.

    The coast guard said on Twitter it had rescued 507 people from 59 small dinghies in the Gibraltar strait, where it also found the four bodies.

    The EU border agency noted that all the other rescues happened in the Alboran Sea, between northeastern Morocco and southeastern Spain.

  • Portugal, Spain good to go, says Onigbinde

    Coach Akinade Onigbinde of FRSC FC of Abujasays Portugal and Spain are teams to watch in the ongoing FIFA World Cup, tagged Russia 2018.

    Onigbinde made the assertion on Saturday while reacting to the Group B match between the duo that ended 3-3 on Friday.

    Onigbinde saluted the mastery of the game by the two countries which, he said, was exciting and very entertaining for Sochi spectators.

    “The two countries have proved that they are good to go, definitely, I see them qualifying from that Group.

    “We saw two teams that were very good in all faculties, the defence, midfield and attack,” he said.

    The coach particularly lauded the efforts of Cristiano Ronaldo whose spectacular contributions gave Portugal a draw.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in the match at the age of 33.

    His opening goal came in the fourth minute having converted a penalty into goal.

    The world’s reigning Footballer of the Year scored again in the 44th minute giving his country a lead after Spain’s Diego Costa’s goal to level up.

    However, Diego Costa scored the second goal for Spain in the 55th minute, while Nacho overlapped to make up his mistake at the third minute with a goal.

    Portugal will be slugging it out against Morocco on Wednesday, while Spain pits against Iran. (NAN)

  • Spain’s Costa first player to be awarded World Cup goal through VAR

    Diego Costa’s equaliser for Spain against Portugal on Friday was the first time a World Cup goal was awarded after a review from the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

    The striker’s goal was allowed to stand in spite of a collision with defender Pepe.

    Costa ran into the Portuguese centre back in the build-up to his equaliser in the 24th minute to cancel out Cristiano Ronaldo’s fourth minute penalty.

    Italian referee Gianluca Rocchi gave the goal after consulting the VAR team.

    The system, which was trialled in Germany’s Bundesliga and Italy’s Serie A last season, allows the video assistant to review decisions where a “clear and obvious” error is spotted.

    Later in the first half Spain midfielder Isco asked Rocchi to consult the video assistant again when a shot from Andres Iniesta came flying off the underside of the bar.

    However, the Italian indicated he would have received a signal on his watch from the goal line technology being used had the ball crossed the line. (Reuters/NAN)

  • Full Time: Portugal 3-3 Spain

    • Portugal 3-3 Spain

    key points

    • Cristiano Ronaldo scores opening goal from the spot
    • Ronaldo grabs slice of World Cup history
    • Diego Costa scores equaliser after VAR review
    • Ronaldo restores Portugal’s lead with low strike
    • Costa scores second equaliser after half-time
    • Nacho then gives Spain lead with wonder goal
    • But Ronaldo scores stunning late free-kick

    Statistics

     

    Starting line-ups for the World Cup Group B game between Portugal and Spain at the Fisht Stadium in Sochi on Friday at 7pm Nigerian time:

    Portugal (4-2-3-1)

    Rui Patricio; Cedric Soares, Pepe, Jose Fonte, Raphael Guerreiro; Joao Moutinho, William Carvalho; Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Goncalo Guedes; Cristiano Ronaldo (capt)

    Coach: Fernando Santos (POR)

    Spain (4-2-3-1)

    David De Gea; Nacho, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos (capt), Jordi Alba; Sergio Busquets, Koke; David Silva, Isco, Andres Iniesta; Diego Costa

    Coach: Fernando Hierro (ESP)

    Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)

  • Breaking! Spain Fires Coach on Eve of World Cup

    Spain has sacked coach Julen Lopetegui on the eve of the World Cup.

    The news broke mid-day of Wednesday.

    The country’s soccer federation fired Lopetegui for agreeing to join Real Madrid after the Russia mundial.

    The federation claimed they learned of Lopetegui’s appointment five minutes before it was announced on Tuesday.

    Former team captain Fernando Hierro, already in Russia as Sporting Director, has been directed to take over as coach for the tournament, the federation said on its website.

    “You cannot do these things two to three days before a World Cup. We had to take this decision,” Spanish Football President, Luis Rubiales said in the statement posted online.

    Lopetegui agreed to join the Champions League winners this week following the resignation of Zinedine Zidane in May.

    Spain, the 2010 winners, are third favorites to win this year’s competition, according to bookmaker SkyBet. Their first game is against Euro 2016 winners Portugal on Friday and they will also play Morocco and Iran during the group stage.

    The national team is seeking to rebuild after a disappointing defense of the trophy in 2014, combining a new generation of players with the last of its world champions.

    “Maybe I get a call up now!” joked Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who created the winning goal in 2010 but wasn’t included in this year’s squad.

  • Stopping the menace of Human Trafficking

    Human Trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the traffickers or others.

    This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extraction of organs or tissues, including for surrogacy and ova removal; it’s occurs within a country or trans-nationally.

    The recent repatriation of the denizens of our dear nation from countries like Libya, Spain, Italy etc., is a pointer to the fact that human trafficking have eaten deep into the moral, social and economic fabric of our country.

    There is an urgent need to curb this menace.

    Human Trafficking is a crime against the person because of the violation of the victims rights of movement through coercion and because of their commercial exploitation.

     According to the research made by the International Labour Organization ( ILO ) in 2012 was about 21million victims are trapped in modern day slavery, that 14.2 million (68%) were exploited for labor,4.5 million (22%) were sexually exploited and 2.2 million (10%) were exploited in state imposed forced labour.

    National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons ( NAPTIP ) as an agency is saddled with the onerous responsibility to bolster its tracking and monitoring apparatus in order to sanitise not only our physical space, but also the squalid mentality that breeds and encourages human trafficking and exploitation especially amongst the youths.

     

    TYPES OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

    1. Children Trafficking
    2. Sex Trafficking
    3. Forced Marriage
    4. Labour Trafficking
    5. Trafficking for organ trade

       

    STRUCTURAL FACTOR

    1. Poverty & globalization
    2. Political & institution challenges
    3. Commercial demand for sex

     

    EFFECT ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING

    1. Psychological
    2. Health
    3. Societal
    4. Economic effect

    Below are some of the ways in which human trafficking can be prevented in our society:

    1. Pray
    2. Learn
    3. Read good books
    4. Express your concern to your political representatives
    5. Support local law enforcement
    6. Be responsible to consumers
    7. Be alert when traveling
    8. Trust your gut instincts
    9. Man up!
    10. Woman up!
    11. Speak up!
    12. Host a dinner
    13. Sponsor a child
    14. Get involved
    15. Protect by prevention
    16. Give
    17. Use your talents
    18. Set an example
    19. Think outside the box

    It is imperative we join forces and resources together as a people to stop human trafficking in our society. Governments should encourage and collaborate with private and nongovernmental organisations to educate and enlighten our citizens on the dangers of trying to cut corners in order to travel out of the country.

  • Nadal back from injury for Davis Cup quarter-finals

     World number two Rafael Nadal has been named in Spain’s squad for their Davis Cup World Group quarter-final against Germany in Valencia next month.

    The 31-year-old has not played in the competition since helping five-time winners Spain return to the top tier of world tennis with victory in India in 2016.

    Nadal was named in Captain Sergi Bruguera’s team alongside Pablo Busta, Bautista Agut, David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez.

    Read Also: Injured Rafael Nadal retires in fifth set

    Nadal, 16-times Grand Slam champion, withdrew from the Australian Open in January after reaching the last eight due to an upper quad problem.

    He had been expected to return at the Mexican Open at the end of February, but missed his fifth tournament in a row.

    The Davis Cup quarter-finals take place over the weekend of April 6 to April 8.

    NAN