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Tag: Sunday Mba

  • Sunday Mba grabs brace for Yeni Malatyaspor

    Sunday Mba grabs brace for Yeni Malatyaspor

    Out–of-favour Nigeria national-teamer ,Sunday Mba bagged a brace as Yeni Malatyaspor thrashed Elazigspor in the Turkish First League yesterday.

    The former Enugu Rangers and Warri Wolves star has now entered double-digits goal tally since transferring to Europe in January 2014, with five of those strikes coming in the colours of CA Bastia.

    The attacking midfielder gave Yeni Malatyaspor a two-goal lead two minutes out of intermission before grabbing his second goal in the 67th minute.

    In Portugal, the lanky striker, Simeon Tochukwu Nwankwo assisted Gil Vicente beat Benfica B 3-2, scoring in the 10th and 60th minutes at the Estádio Cidade de Barcelos.

    Nwankwo has netted 11 goals ( three assists)  in the Portuguese Ledman Liga Pro in the ongoing season.

  • Sunday Mba hints at CA Bastia exit

    Sunday Mba hints at CA Bastia exit

    Former Rangers and Warri Wolves midfielder Sunday Mba has hinted on a possible departure from French side CA Bastia at the end of the current season.

    The 26-year-old signed for Les Noirs in December 2013 but couldn’t save the club from Ligue 2 relegation despite scoring four goals in 16 appearances.

    However, Mba’s performances in the National Ligue has caught the eyes of top European teams who are currently in talks with his agent about a likely switch at the end of the season.

    “I am set to move for bigger things, which means that at the end of this season I am going to join a big club in another country. I have done my best for CA Bastia,” Mba informed footballnaija247.

    “They have been good to me and I have contributed my quota to helping them in the League. But big clubs have started talking to my agent and that means it is time to go.

    “I am preparing for a new adventure and hopefully, everything will work out well when the time comes,” Mba said.

    Mba was surprisingly dropped from Nigeria’s 2014 FIFA World Cup squad just a year after scoring the decisive goal that helped the Super Eagles win the 2013 African Cup of Nations in South Africa.

  • Mba tips Algeria for AFCON glory

    Mba tips Algeria for AFCON glory

    Super Eagles midfielder, Sunday Mba, has tipped Algeria to win the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea, supersport.com reports.

    The Fennecs started the competition in solid fashion with a 3-1 dismantling of South Africa’s Bafana Bafana, thanks to goals from Faouzi Ghoulam, Islam Slimani and a Thulani Hlatshwayo own goal.

    Mba, who scored the winner at the 2013 AFCON final between Nigeria and Burkina Faso, said the North Africans will prove to be too strong for every opposition in the tournament.

    “I think Algeria will win the title in Equatorial Guinea because the team is very strong.

    “The North Africans did not play so well in their first game against South Africa but I expect them to get better,” Mba told supersport.com.

    The CA Bastia man then tipped FC Porto winger, Yacine Brahimi to emerge as one of the best performers at the tournament.

    “Brahimi has improved a lot and his performances in the (UEFA) Champions League this season have been impressive.

    “They also have other good players like (Sofiane) Feghouli and (Nabil) Bentaleb.

    “Another team that impressed me is Senegal and I really enjoyed watching the team performance against Ghana,” he said.

  • No emotions, sentiments in team selection – Keshi

    No emotions, sentiments in team selection – Keshi

    Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, has revealed that he had to “take away emotions” before selecting his 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

    Keshi dropped seven players from his final squad and revealed that it was not an easy decision.

    “It’s always tough when you have a relationship going on with your players. I had to take away emotions. You have been together with the players for several weeks and some have to go, it’s tough,” supersport.com quoted Keshi as saying to journalists in the team’s training camp in Pennsylvania.

    The Nigeria trainer eventually dropped Daniel Akpeyi, Sunday Mba, Nnamdi Oduamadi, Nosa Igiebor, Joel Obi, Obinna Nsofor and Ejike Uzoenyi from his World Cup squad and revealed that he “removed sentiments” before arriving at his decision.

    “You can’t bring emotions into this. I removed sentiments from this because I knew I had to be pure in my selection.

    “I was realistic and knew I had to do what I had to do. It’s not about me; it’s not even about Nigeria but about Africa because we are flying the flag of the continent in Brazil.

    “It’s a shame that I could not take the 30 of them (named in the provisional squad to Brazil) because if I could, I would have done it but some had to go,” he said.

    Nigeria begins its World Cup campaign against Iran at Arena da Baixada, Curitiba on June 16.

    The Super Eagles will then face Bosnia-Herzegovina at Arena Pantanal, Cuiabá on June 21 before rounding off the preliminary campaign against Argentina at Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre on June 25.

     

  • World Cup: Rangers ‘unhappy’ with Uzoenyi, Mba’s exclusion

    World Cup: Rangers ‘unhappy’ with Uzoenyi, Mba’s exclusion

    Enugu Rangers has expressed disappointment at the exclusion of Ejike Uzoenyi from Nigeria’s 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil.

    The Flying Antelopes’ media officer, Foster Chime, told KickOffNigeria.com that he was surprised by the exclusion of Uzoenyi, who was voted the Most Valuable Player at the African Nations Championship (CHAN) held earlier in the year in South Africa, as well as Sunday Mba, the team’s ex-player, who was the hero of Nigeria’s 2013 Nations Cup winning side.

    “I just heard this morning. I won’t say it’s unfortunate because Stephen Keshi has said before now that he knows by heart the squad he will take to Brazil. So maybe before now he had already made up his mind that both Ejike and Mba will not make the team,” Chime told KickOffNigeria.com on Tuesday morning.

    He, however, cited the inclusion of Uche Nwofor and Michael Uchebo as a moral victory for the club, who had always produced players for the various national teams over the years.

    “But it’s ok since Uchebo and Nwofor have made the team. Both of them are ex-Rangers players, and they went to Europe from here,” he added.

    Chime insisted that he would have preferred if both Uzoenyi and Mba in the team as they would have added a creative flair to the team, which is seemingly lacking in the current selection.

    He, however, stated that Keshi “knows how to succeed” and must have chosen a squad that fits his plans.

    “The Chief Coach knows what he wants, and he knows how to succeed. So if he feels this is the squad that will give us success, then it’s ok. He’s the coach, he’s in charge.”

  • CHAN Fall out: League players measuring up – Anyansi

    By Julius Okorie

    Enyimba Chairman Felix Anyansi Agwu has given league players in the country a pat on the back for rising to the occasion despite constraints. He made his feelings known while assessing the player’s performance at the just ended African Nations Championship in South Africa.

    Anyansi, who described the home Eagles achievement in the championship as good enough, said the result achieved is an indication that the team has the potentials to perform better. He however expressed desire that the home based Eagles be handled by Nigerian league coach.

    “I would love to see a current league coach handle the home based Eagles so that the Chief Coach can focus on his job of handling the national team,” he noted.

    Just like Sunday Mba made a huge impact at the Nations Cup in South Africa last year, Ejike Uzoenyi also proved a point at the CHAN level with Stephen Keshi confirming his readiness to take him and three others to the World Cup in Brazil in June.

  • Late goal sinks Mba’s Bastia

    Late goal sinks Mba’s Bastia

    By Uchenna Ajah

    Super Eagles midfielder, Sunday Mba suffered a painful defeat with CA Bastia courtesy of a late goal as the French Ligue 2 side lost 1-0 away to promotion-chasing Angers to further complicate their situation in Ligue 2 relegation battle.

    Mba, who netted late equalizers for Bastia in their last two matches, could not produce the magic wand this time.

    Despite a slight improvement in Bastia’s results, third-placed Angers were clear favourites, especially playing the game at their stadium.

    However, Mba and his Bastia pals managed to defend well, though, letting the hosts have their most dangerous opportunities at the very end of both halves.

    Bastia were lucky just before the half-time break, when Romain Thomas’ headed shot after a corner met the crossbar, but Angers eventually scored in the 87th minute through Mohamed Yattara’s solo run.

    Meanwhile, Bastia’s neighbours in the table – Nimes and Chateauroux – won their respective games to further Mba’s woes at Bastia.

    The French club are now 9 points from the last safe place and might need a miracle to stay up in the French second division.

  • Mba pleased with form

    Mba pleased with form

    Nigerian midfielder, Sunday Mba, is pleased with his rich vein of form for French Ligue 2 club, CA Bastia.
    The 25-year-old netted in the 81st minute of Bastia’s 2-2 draw against Istres in a Ligue 2 game decided on Friday night at the Stade Armand Césari as the competition entered match day 21.
    Mba, who also scored for Bastia in a Coupe de France game against Niort on January 21, expressed delight at his potency in front of goal while also acknowledging that he would have been happier if Les Noirs had amassed maximum points on Friday.
    “Every professional footballer is happy when he scores (goals) but for me, I always put the interest of the team first. I would have been happier if we won that game,” Mba exclusively told supersport.com.
    Mba’s arrival at the Stade Armand Césari has coincided with a change in fortunes for CA Bastia as the club had lost just once since the Nigerian pulled on the shirt.
    CA Bastia remarkably had not lost in any game that Mba featured from start to finish, with the club amassing four out of a possible nine points since the Nigerian arrived from Warri Wolves.
    The Super Eagles midfielder had also helped his club progress to the last 16 of the Coupe de France.
    Mba said the most important priority remains helping Bastia escape relegation at the end of the season.
    “I am not a messiah but I will give a hundred percent to help the club escape relegation.
    “A few weeks ago, we (CA Bastia) look doomed for relegation but things are changing. We just have to keep fighting for every game and in the end, I am sure we will achieve our set objectives.
    “The season is not over yet so I don’t understand why people are writing off our chances of survival. There are still 17 league matches to play and a lot of things can happen between now and then,” he said.
    CA Bastia currently sits bottom of the 20-team Ligue 2 with 13 points from 21 matches.

  • ESCAPE FROM RELEGATION: Mba banks on first Bastia goal

    ESCAPE FROM RELEGATION: Mba banks on first Bastia goal

    Nigeria’s Sunday Mba is eager to help CA Bastia avoid relegation after scoring his first goal for French Ligue 2 campaigners in their French Cup.

    The former Warri Wolves ace is confident the win will help the Corsican club avoid the drop.

    “The victory will help us. It will also motivate us to give our best to make sure that we escape relegation at the end of the season,” the former Enugu Rangers player told CA Bastia’s official website.

    Interestingly, it was Mba’s goal that equaled the score and pushed the game into extra time before the team won on penalties.

    Bastia are currently 7 points behind a safe place in Ligue 2 table.

  • Mba scores first Bastia goal

    Mba scores first Bastia goal

    Nigeria’s Sunday Mba scored his debut goal for CA Bastia in the team victory over Niort in the Coupe de France round of 32 match played at the Stade Armand Césari on Tuesday night, Goal reports.

    The two teams settled for 2-2 draw before Bastia prevailed 5-4 on penalties.

    Mba’s goal in the 89th minute ensured Les Noirs forced Niort into extra time of the tension-soaked encounter.

    Mamadou Camara had put CA Bastia ahead in the 35th minute before Niort took the lead through Jerome Lafourcade and Yohan Oswald’s own goal.

    The former Warri Wolves player converted his own penalty kick during the penalty shoot-out that ensued after both teams failed to grab the winner after extra-time.

    Mba made his Ligue 2 debut against the same team but was on the losing side in a 3-0 home defeat.