The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Super 4

  • NNL Super 4 postponed till further notice

    NNL Super 4 postponed till further notice

    The Nigeria National League (NNL) Super 4 to determine champions of the country’s second-tier league will no longer be staged from November 22 in Gombe due to “unexpected state of affairs beyond control”.

    The  Super 4 playoffs were billed from November 22 to  26 at the Pantami International Stadium in Gombe.

    Secretary of the second-tier League body, Lawrence Katken, said the postponement followed the unexpected state of affairs  beyond its control.

    However, Katken added that the Super 4 will still hold in Gombe on a yet to be fixed date, which will not be too long away.

    Champions in the Nigeria National League’s abridged four divisions during the regular season which featured 32 teams, Katsina United in group A1, Gombe United A2 ,Remo Stars of Remo and B1 and Abubakar Saraki Football Club (ABS) of Ilorin will contest for honours in the Super 4 competition.

  • ‘Enyimba not superb at Super 4’

    ‘Enyimba not superb at Super 4’

    Enyimba head coach, Paul Aigbogun says his side were not 100 percent convincing at the just concluded 2016 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Super 4 tournament.

    The NPFL regular season champions were pegged to the second spot behind winners Akwa United at the conclusion of football hostilities on Friday at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo.

    The Aba outfit were held to a goalless draw by the home side in the last day clash to end their campaign on eight points, one point behind winners Akwa United.

    Aigbogun said the Nigerian champions basically contested the two-legged NPFL Super 4 in Kaduna and Uyo with an entirely new set of players.

    “Enyimba performed below par in the just concluded NPFL Super 4 because we played with a completely changed team.

    “However, we still achieved our goal of trying out new players and we hope to excel in the league and continental assignments.

    “I think it’s still okay as we finished the tournament strongly in second spot with a point separating us from the winners.

    “I know it will not be easy managing the quality in our fold, but we will strive to get results, which is quite important,” said the former Warri Wolves coach to supersport.com.

    Aigbogun said the key for him at the moment is to win the Caf Champions League preliminary clash against Ugandan side Vipers in Kampala next weekend.

    “Right now our attention has shifted towards getting past our Caf Champions League first round opponents,” said Aigbogun.

    Enyimba will be the guests of Vipers at the weekend in the first leg clash of the Caf Champions League.

  • Super 4 ‘ll prepare us for Champions League-Okpodu

    Super 4 ‘ll prepare us for Champions League-Okpodu

    Warri Wolves handler, Sam Okpodu has described the ongoing 2015/2016 Glo Premier League Super 4 as a preparatory tournament for his team which didn’t have the benefit of any pre-season friendly games. He said aside preparing the team for the CAF Champions League, the players are also being primed for the 2015/16 Nigeria Professional Football League season.

    Addressing the post-match press conference after losing 1-0 to Nasarawa United FC, Okpodu said that the tournament should not be considered a yardstick to measure the capacity of the 2015/2016 Glo Premier League runners-up. Okpodu said the tournament is offering the team an opportunity to appraise how ready they are for the coming season.

    Okpodu, whose captain Goodluck Onamandu bagged red card in the game for two card offenses, noted that his team needed to double their effort and work harder to be in top shape ahead of the coming season.

    “This Glo Super 4- is a good pre-season test for us, it is a good opportunity for us to further prepare for the coming season for the fact that we will be playing this preseason here in Kaduna and another one in Uyo. The tournament is good but it not a yardstick to measure how good we are but how ready we are for the coming season.”

    Speaking about their loss to Nasarawa United, Okpodu lamented the team’s inability to convert their chances. He said that the team played well against Nasarawa United but failed to make good use of their opportunities.

    “The opportunities we had we didn’t capitalise. If we scored our goals there would be no challenge for us. It showed that our team still need work, we would develop and work hard. We would go back sleep over the performance and prepare for our last match.

    “This is the preparation for us going into the continent. This is only a week and half since resumed from the Christmas break and I am confident that by next week we would be much ready. These boys will play anybody, anytime because physical or not our opponents would have to play football.”

    Warri Wolves are tied on three points with Akwa United after two matches and would play League defending champions, Enyimba FC of Aba in their last match of the pre-season tournament today.

  • Stifling defence wins Enyimba Super 4

    Stifling defence wins Enyimba Super 4

    Two-time African champions, Enyimba, have won the 2013/14 Glo Premier League Pre-season Tournament in Abuja after defeating Kano Pillars 1-0 on Tuesday.

    The People’s Elephant finished the tournament with three wins in the four-team event and conceded no goals. Enyimba captain, Chinedu Udoji, returned to the side since leading them to finish second behind Kano Pillars in the league last season.

    This time Udoji and his troops will, however, not allow Kano Pillars spoil their start to the season after a goalless first half. It was Sibi Gwar’s goal in the 76th minute from two yards out that gave the Aba club their first trophy of the season.

    But Pillars faithful will feel the absence of several key players like injured Gambo Muhammad and Mannir Ubale as well as Rabiu Ali, Abdullahi Shehu and Umar Zango all away on international duty with Nigeria’s Super Eagles. Caretaker coach of Kano Pillars, Abdu Maikabi, totally disagrees with that.

    “I don’t think that’s true. At some point last season we played a few matches without our key players but still won the league. The truth is we have always never done well in pre-season tournaments like this. We lost the Super Cup to Enyimba at the end of last season and even last year we didn’t do well in the pre-season tournament in Kano.

    “We are always more better with the league because it’s a marathon. However, this is a good tournament for us to prepare for our CAF Champions League game (against AS Vita). We will go back and work on improving our team before the season starts,” said Maikaba to supersport.com.

    Udoji told supersport.com that opening the season on a winning note is “a good omen” for Enyimba.

    He is also happy that the club continued with their meanness at the back by not conceding any goal in their three matches against Bayelsa United (3-0), Warri Wolves (2-0) and Kano Pillars (1-0).

    “It’s a good omen for me and the club to start the season by winning a trophy. We will play in three competitions (the CAF Champions League, the Glo Premier League and the Federation Cup) this season and we are optimistic of doing well by God’s grace. But winning this shows we are hungry to win trophies. I’m also happy we proved a point here by not conceding any goal to show that what we did last season was not a fluke in our home games,” he said.

    Enyimba finished last season without conceding a goal in their 19 home games. However, the Aba club will pocket N1.5 million as the champions of the 2013/14 Glo Premier League pre-season tournament.

    Earlier on the final day of the tournament, Warri Wolves edged Bayelsa United 2-1 to finish second behind Enyimba. But Wolves had to come from a goal down to win through goals from Freedom Omofoman and Oghenekaro Etebo to cancel Ebitimi Agogu’s strike.