The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Sunday Mba

  • Mba, Agbim out of Confederation Cup tie

    Mba, Agbim out of Confederation Cup tie

    Sunday Mba and Chigozie Agbim will miss Sunday’s CAF Confederation Cup tie against Tunisia’s CS Sfaxien as they are away with the Super Eagles.

    Both players were among the nine home-based players who flew into Germany Friday morning ahead of a training camp to prepare for a Super Eagles friendly against Mexico in the United States of America.

    Rangers coach Okey Emordi informed MTNFootball.com the team will cope in the absence of the duo.

    “It would have been lovely to have both Agbim and Mba in the team to tackle CS Sfaxien, but we have to make do with what we have. There are capable players to take their place and their absence will not be felt too much in the game,” he said.

    “I expect to see a very tactical game from the Tunisians but if we get it right from the blast of the referee’s whistle, victory is certain.”

    Media officer Foster Chime added:“With or without both players, Rangers will reign supreme over the Tunisians.

    “They are a tough side, but I strongly believe that we have all it takes to make victory a certainty so as to make the return leg a mere formality.”

    Rangers has been boosted by the return of defence strong man Cyril Oriaku, who has returned from an ankle sprain, while Ekene Iwuorie and Senegalese import Pape Ousmane Sane are all available for selection after injury lay-offs.

    Sunday’s third round, first leg match is slated for 3.30pm Nigerian time with Kenyan match officials handling proceedings inside the main bowl of the 18,000-capacity Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu.

     

  • CAF Champions League: Mba’s goal fails to save Rangers

    CAF Champions League: Mba’s goal fails to save Rangers

    Recreativo Libolo 3-1 Enugu Rangers

    Flying Antelopes go down to Confed. Cup

    Sunday Mba’s 56th minute goal was not enough to stop Enugu Rangers from suffering a 3-1 defeat by Angola’s Recreativo Libolo in Libolo on Saturday evening and also failed to reach the lucrative stage of the CAF Champions League.

    The first leg ended goalless in Enugu a fortnight ago meaning that Rangers needed at least a score draw to go through.

    However, it was the Angolans who looked better prepared that won the day. They scored early through Camara in the 16th minute before Dario added another in the 32nd to go into the break with a two-goal cushion.

    Rangers fought back in the second half as new boy Mba scored in the 56th minute. The Flying Antelopes kept fighting to get another goal but were finally undone when they conceeded a penalty which Dario converted in the 74th minute.

    Rangers will now go down to the Confederation Cup as they remain the only Nigerian team in CAF competition, three months after Nigeria won the Africa Cup of Nations with six players from the local league in their ranks.

  • FIFA ranking: Mba sad over Nigeria’s slide

    FIFA ranking: Mba sad over Nigeria’s slide

     

    Super Eagles midfielder, Sunday Mba has voiced his displeasure at the latest monthly rankings released by world football governing body, FIFA.

    Supersport.com reports that Nigeria dropped one place in the classification for March as their 757 ranking points saw the African champions slip to 31st in the world and fourth in Africa behind the Ivory Coast, Ghana and Mali.

    Nigeria was previously ranked 30th after racking up 775 points but slipped a solitary place after a less-than-fruitful month following a 1-1 draw against Kenya in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying game in Calabar.

    Mba, who impressed for the Super Eagles at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, however does not believe the draw against the Kenyans is enough to see Nigeria drop in the rankings.

    “I am not happy with the rankings but FIFA knows best. We must respect their decision but I don’t think we played too badly against Kenya. We dominated the game against the Harambee Stars but just couldn’t score more than one goal,” Mba exclusively told supersport.com.

    The attacking midfielder then expressed his desire to help Nigeria move up the rankings in the coming days.

    “I always give my best when I play for my country. We at the national team will give our best in the upcoming matches and try to win so we can help Nigeria rise in the rankings,” he said.

    Nigeria averaged 107.11 ranking points in 2010 and a lowly 56 points in 2011.

     

  • Sunday Mba not in a hurry to make European move

    Sunday Mba not in a hurry to make European move

    Super Eagles’ midfielder, Sunday Mba has discolsed that he is not in a hurry to make just any European move.

    Mba who is at the center of a tussle between Warri Wolves and Rangers, scored the winning goal for the Super Eagles in the final of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

    He told Goal.com that he wants to concentrate on playing in the Nigeria Professional Football League and for the Super Eagles.

    “I am not in a hurry to join any European club. If I continue to bother myself with moving abroad, I will get distracted. I need to start training again and play in the Nigeria Professional Football League.

    “I cannot allow the search for clubs to deprive me of the gains of focussing on playing in Nigeria. Coach Stephen Keshi has done so much for me while playing in Nigeria.

    “He is one coach that believes in local players and I have decided that I will rather concentrate on training and playing matches instead of thinking of which of the clubs to sign for abroad.

    “If I must keep fit and ready for any Super Eagles’ game, then I must play in the League and forget any hope of travelling abroad for now.

    “The Super Eagles will play a lot of games in June and the Confederations Cup is also on the cards, so I have to be serious for now,” Mba concluded.

    Chike Onyeacho who manages the player also informed Goal.com that Mba has decided to fully concentrate on his career at home.

    “He needs to play matches and he can only do that if he starts participating in the local league. The only way he will get into shape is to train and play matches regularly.

    “Very soon, Sunday Mba will start playing regular football,” Onyeacho said.

  • Mba to break NPFL transfer record

    Mba to break NPFL transfer record

    African Nations Cup star, Sunday Mba could break the Nigeria league transfer record as Warri Wolves want Rangers to pay them 12 million ($75,000) for him.

    Izu Azuka is believed to have commanded the biggest transfer fee in the domestic league thus far when he joined Sunshine Stars as a free agent two seasons ago for about nine million naira.

    MTNFootball.com reports that a committee set up by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has ruled that Mba is a player of Warri Wolves and Rangers would have to pay a transfer fee on the player to have him.

    Both clubs have Thursday deadline to agree on a fee transfer fee for the player who has made known his wish to move to Rangers.

    “Wolves asking price is reasonable because we all know he would go for far more to a club in Europe in the summer and so Rangers could make a huge profit from this transaction,” a top official informed MTNFootball.com

    Several European clubs including Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga have indicated interest in the 24-year-old attacking midfielder, who shone at last month’s AFCON in South Africa.

    The former Nigeria schoolboy international scored a tournament-defining winner against favourites Cote d’Ivoire in the quarterfinal of the tournament and followed it up with the championship winner against Burkina Faso in the final.

     

  • WCQ: Mba ready for Kenya tie

    WCQ: Mba ready for Kenya tie

    Super Eagles midfielder, Sunday Mba, is pleased to have made the 24-man list of the Super Eagles for Saturday’s 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against the Harambee Stars of Kenya.

    Mba, a subject of an intense transfer battle between two Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) sides, Enugu Rangers and Warri Wolves, had risked been dropped from the squad following declarations by the national team head coach, Stephen Keshi.

    Keshi had threatened to drop the player as he had not yet resumed playing competitively despite the domestic season already in full bloom.

    However, Mba has now been included in Keshi’s final squad alongside eight other stars from the NPFL and 15 overseas-based players.

    “I am pleased and relieved to have made the list. As always I will give 200 percent. Now the next step is to work hard in training and hope I get selected by the coach to play on Saturday,” Mba told Supersport.com.

     

    Nigeria’s 24-man squad for Kenya

     

    Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama (Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel); Austin Ejide (Hapoel Be’er Sheva, Israel), Chigozie Agbim (Warri Wolves).

    Defenders: Efe Ambrose (Celtic FC, Scotland); Elderson Echiejile (FC Braga, Portugal); Kenneth Omeruo (ADO Den Haag, The Netherlands), Azubuike Egwuekwe (Warri Wolves), Godfrey Oboabona (Sunshine Stars); Benjamin Francis (Heartland); Solomon Kwambe (Sunshine Stars).

    Midfielders: John Obi Mikel (Chelsea FC, England); Ogenyi Onazi (SS Lazio, Italy); Fegor Ogude (Valerenga FC, Norway); Gabriel Reuben (Kano Pillars); Sunday Mba (unattached); John Ogu (Academica de Coimbra, Portugal).

    Forwards: Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow, Russia); Brown Ideye (Dynamo Kyiv,Ukraine); Victor Moses (Chelsea FC, England); Babatunde Michael (Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine); Nnamdi Oduamadi (A.S Varese 1910 FC, Italy); Obafemi Martins (Seattle Sounders, USA); Gambo Mohammed (Kano Pillars); Obinna Nwachukwu (Heartland).

     

  • Warri Wolves ‘offers’ Mba to Euro clubs

    Warri Wolves ‘offers’ Mba to Euro clubs

    Warri Wolves are “hawking” African Nations Cup hero Sunday Mba to clubs in Europe even though the ownership row with Rangers has yet to be resolved.

    Wolves was the club Mba played for in the last domestic season in Nigeria before the player went ahead to negotiate a return to former team Rangers few weeks before the AFCON in South Africa.

    At the end of the tournament, where Mba gained cult hero status by scoring the goal that won Nigeria the trophy, the 24-year-old midfielder became hot cake in the international transfer market.

    And MTNFootball.com has now gathered that Wolves has gone ahead to open communication with one of the clubs who have indicated interest in the player.

    An agent, at the instance of the eastern European club, had got in touch with the chairman of Wolves, Pinnick Amaju, who referred him to Emmanuel Ibru, who apparently is a consultant to the club on international transfers.

    After discussions, the agent could not continue with the transaction because Wolves refused to issue him an official mandate to broker the deal.

    Few days later, the ownership of Mba became contentious, with Rangers claiming he is their player.

    However, Wolves would go ahead to contact the eastern European club to negotiate the transfer of the player.

     

  • Wolves, Rangers to agree on Mba

    Wolves, Rangers to agree on Mba

    The Nigeria Football Federation has asked Warri Wolves and Rangers to agree on the ownership of African Nations Cup star, Sunday Mba.

    Both Nigeria Professional Football League clubs claim the 24-year-old Nigeria international, who shone at the recent AFCON in South Africa, belongs to them, MTNFootball.com reports.

    After two days of deliberations, the Sanusi Mohammed-led committee charged both clubs to find a meeting point.

    “We have asked both clubs to go and resolve the issues surrounding the ownership of the player,” Sanusi said.

    “We have given them until next week to reach a gentleman agreement, but if they fail to sort it out the federation would make a pronouncement.”

    Rangers spokesman Foster Chime while confirming the directive of the NFF, noted, “Our lawyers and those of Warri Wolves are already meeting to find the best ways to resolve the issue.”

    Last week, the Nigeria league ruled that Mba belongs to Warri Wolves, but the player himself has declared he is a Rangers player when he was presented to the media at a brief ceremony in Enugu along with other Rangers new signings.

     

  • Wolves want ‘free lunch’ from Mba – Kujah

    Wolves want ‘free lunch’ from Mba – Kujah

    Football agent Friday Kujah has said Warri Wolves has no claim on African Nations Cup star, Sunday Mba.

    He insisted that the club wants “a free lunch” off the player.

    A verdict on who owns Mba between Enugu Rangers and Warri Wolves was not announced on Wednesday by the Nigeria Football Federation, but officials said a decision will be taken later Thursday.

    Nwankwo aka “Soccer Ambassador” told MTNFootball.com after Wednesday’s sitting on the stormy transfer case: “Warri Wolves is looking for free lunch, the club officials should be on their knees and beg for this. And the player has said no,” blasted Kujah.

    “Is it his fault that Nigerians do not know how to run their clubs? We should educate these people how to move a player. If a player wants to go, you cannot stop him.

    “We will go to FIFA if need be.”

    Rangers case on the Mba saga is being argued by one of the country’s foremost lawyers, Femi Falana.

    “We wasted the funds of two states, Delta and Enugu States, to come here (to Abuja on the transfer matter), when it is clear that without any iota of doubt that Sunday Mba is a Warri Wolves player,” said Amanju Pinnick.

    “He has been at Wolves for over 24 months, earning salaries and sign-on fees. He was not on loan (from Dolphin). The document is there that he is a Warri Wolves player and Rangers officials did not argue with the document.

    “Provisional (clearance) in Nigeria context is as a good as permanent (transfer).”

     

  • Mba inspired NPL stars – Ayo Saka

    Mba inspired NPL stars – Ayo Saka

    Super Eagles invitee, Ayo Saka, has said Sunday Mba’s African Nations Cup heroics have given “fresh hopes” to players in the domestic league.

    Mba from the Nigeria league scored championship-defining goals including the championship winner against Burkina Faso.

    “What Mba achieved in South Africa has given players in the local league fresh hope,” Saka told MTNFootball.com

    “’Big Boss’ Stephen Keshi has given us a chance in his team and we will not disappoint him.”

    Enyimba midfielder Saka has already been capped at full international and Olympic levels and he said he will make the squad for the 2014 World Cup qualifier against Kenya on March 23.

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