The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Super Eagles

  • AFCON: Moses, Yobo doubtful for Ethiopia tie

    AFCON: Moses, Yobo doubtful for Ethiopia tie

    The Nigerian duo of Victor Moses and Joseph Yobo could be left out of their African Nations Cup Group C clash with Ethiopia in Rustenburg on Tuesday.

    Moses, 22, made his debut at the AFCON against Zambia but showed signs of still struggling with his hamstring, Supersport.com reports.

    The Chelsea attacking winger played for 78 minutes in the game against Zambia before he was substituted for Brown Ideye and is yet to recover from the injury, according to head coach, Stephen Keshi.

    Captain of the Super Eagles, Yobo is also a huge doubt owing to an ankle injury after missing the 1-1 draw with Zambia in Nelspruit on Friday.

    “Victor Moses is still under observation. He’s been training but not at 100 percent right now. Same goes for Joseph Yobo who missed the last game,” said Keshi.

    But the Nigerian manager is not ruling out both players from the crucial game against Ethiopia.

    “They still have a good chance of making the squad for the game as they have been training with the team. But if they are not healthy enough we will seek other options,” he added.

    Supersport.com was also informed that Warri Wolves’ defender, Azubuike Egwuekwe, has recovered from illness that has kept him out of the Nigerian squad.

     

  • NFF protests poor officiating to CAF

    NFF protests poor officiating to CAF

    The Nigeria Football Federation has officially written to the Confederation of African Football over the refereeing in Friday’s game against Zambia at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

    NFF had earlier complained about the officiating during Super Eagles’ opening game against Burkina Faso on January 21.

    The Nigerians also felt they were victims of controversial refereeing in Friday’s game against African champions, Zambia in Nelspruit, Supersport.com reports.

    Egyptian referee, Gehad Grisha penalised SS Lazio man, Ogenyi Onazi for a perceived foul on Emmanuel Mayuka with television replays showing that there was little contact from the Nigerian midfielder.

    The replays also showed that the foul also happened outside the box.

     

  • AFCON: We are ready for Super Eagles – B’Faso coach

    AFCON: We are ready for Super Eagles – B’Faso coach

    After seeing his charges crush Swaziland 3-0 in a practice match at Nelspruit’s rugby Stadium on Thursday night, Burkina Faso coach Paul Put has declared his “Stallions” ready to trample on the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

    The Super Eagles landed in Nelspruit on Thursday and had set up camp at the Ngwenyama Resort.

    “I was happy with the way we circulated the ball around and we created lots of chances and could have scored more goals against Swaziland. We were patient and did not give away the ball,” Put told MTNFootball.com.

    He said he is happy with the goal scoring conversion ratio of his strikers ahead of the clash against the Super Eagles and the fact that no player picked up any injuries.

    “It’s a tough game yes, but we are now ready to play Nigeria. We will play to our best, to our full potential,” Put said.

    He admitted they are in a very tough group but if they win the first match, anything is possible.

    “We need to win the first match at all cost to give us confidence going forward,” Put told MTNFootball.com.

     

  • AFCON: NFF rules out ‘huge bonuses’ for Super Eagles

    AFCON: NFF rules out ‘huge bonuses’ for Super Eagles

    The Nigeria Football Federation has been forced to put aside proposed enhanced win bonuses for the Super Eagles at the African Cup of Nations in South Africa.

    Head of NFF finance committee Shehu Adamu informed MTNFootball.com that there would be no added incentives for the Super Eagles to win the Nations Cup.

    Adamu told MTNFootball.com that the football house would maintain the regular win bonus of $10,000 and $5,000 for draw in South Africa

    “We are not preparing anything special as incentives for the Eagles. It’s the regular bonus they would get,” Adamu disclosed.

    The NFF had proposed huge bonuses that would have gone for as much as $30,000-a-man for a win in the AFCON final.

    Such is the financial constraints facing the NFF that the body has been forced to borrow cash for the country’s AFCON campaign after a Lagos court froze its accounts over a contractual dispute with Minaj Television.

    The budget approved by the government for the Nations Cup has yet to be released to the NFF two days to the big AFCON kick-off in Johannesburg despite assurances from top sports ministry officials.

    “We are yet to receive the money for the Nations Cup and this has slowed down a lot of plans for the tournament,” a top official lamented.

    “We are not even sure when the money would be released. We are only hopeful that it would come in on time to avoid hiccups at the games in South Africa.”

     

  • Super Eagles arrives South Africa, heads to Nelspruit

    The Super Eagles of Nigeria arrived South Africa on Thursday and will now head straight to Nelspruit where the team will play its first two games at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations.

    Futaa.com reports that the Stephen Keshi tutored side left Lisbon, Portugal, on Wednesday night and touched down at the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg mid-day on Thursday, and will leave for Nelspruit where Group C is hosted.

    The team spent two weeks in Portugal to intensify preparation for the continent’s biggest soccer fiesta.

    Nigeria, the two-time African champions last won the tournament in 1994.

    The team played four friendly games in Portugal, with two victories and two draws.

    Super Eagles will play in Group C alongside the defending champions Zambia, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia.

     

  • AFCON: We will shame critics in South Africa – Echejile

    AFCON: We will shame critics in South Africa – Echejile

     

    Super Eagles defender, Elderson Echiejile, said the team has resolved to do more in South Africa so as to shame critics.

    National expectations have lowered after the Eagles two less-than-convincing displays against Catalonia and Cape Verde.

    Sporting Braga left back Elderson told MTNFootball.com the team is aware of some of the criticisms they have been subjected back home after they forced Catalonia to a 1-1 and then were held to a goalless by Nations Cup debutants Cape Verde on Wednesday.

    “We have been told about the disappointment in our performances back home and what we need to do is simply to do more so as to live up to expectations,” Elderson told MTNFootball.com

    “We have a big task ahead of us because the country deserves the best from us.”

    The Portugal-based defender has already put words to action as he was one of several players who stayed behind after Friday’s training in Faro to work on set pieces, shooting and crossings.

    The others in this extra training were Nosa Igiebor, Obiorah Nwankwo and Kenneth Omeruo, who has really come into his own after two assured performances against Catalonia and Cape Verde.

    An appreciative assistant coach Sylvanus Okpala later joined the players in this additional session.

    “We just want to get better for the Nations Cup, nothing special,” Igiebor said after the session that lasted over 20 minutes.

     

  • We won’t underrate Cape Verde – Musa

    We won’t underrate Cape Verde – Musa

    Super Eagles striker, Ahmed Musa has said they will not underrate giant killers Cape Verde in Wednesday’s African Cup of Nations warm-up in Portugal.

    Cape Verde will make their AFCON debut in South Africa after they eliminated four-time winners Cameroon in the qualifying tournament.

    MTNFootball.com reports that Nigeria and Cape Verde will be meeting for the first time on Wednesday in Faro, Portugal, and the West African islanders will rely on a 10-man Portugal-based contingent led by Heldon, Ze Luis and Djaniny to put to sword another big-name scalp.

    Cape Verde is ranked 69th in the world, while Nigeria is seven places ahead.

    The Blue Shark will play in Group A along with hosts South Africa, Angola and Morocco, while the Eagles will slug it out with Zambia, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia in group D.

    However, CSKA Moscow forward Musa has told MTNFootball.com the Eagles are fully prepared for Cape Verde, who remains largely a closed book.

    “We are ready for the game. I can’t say whether the game will be easy or tough because we know little or nothing about Cape Verde, but we are aware they stopped Cameroon from reaching AFCON 2013 but they should know we are the Super Eagles of Nigeria and not Cameroon,” Musa warned.

    “It is going to be a good test for us as Cape Verde will also play at the AFCON,” added Portland Timbers of USA striker Bright Dike, who scored Nigeria’s goal in last Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Catalonia.

    “I am looking forward to a good game and victory for the team, but getting another goal in this will be great for me, but I want victory,” he added.

     

  • Taiwo fears Eagles’ AFCON crash

    Taiwo fears Eagles’ AFCON crash

    Super Eagles defender, Taye Taiwo, has warned that the team will fail at next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa if the players do not play together.

    “If we can’t play as a team, work for each other, we can’t win anything in South Africa.

    “We must sacrifice for each other and then we stand a good chance of winning the competition,” MTNFootball.com quoted the former Olympique Marseille defender as saying in an interview on Wednesday.

    The Eagles, who had won the AFCON twice, will play in Group C alongside the defending champions Zambia, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia.

    Taiwo also said he would be delighted to return to the Super Eagles in time for the AFCON.

    The Dynamo Kiev wing back has not been considered by Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi since a shambolic performance against Rwanda in Kigali in February.

    However, there are now strong indications Keshi will give him another chance with the Eagles and Taiwo said he would be delighted to take it.

     

  • CAF National Team of the year award Super Eagles missing

    CAF National Team of the year award Super Eagles missing

    • Chipolopolo lead nominations
    • Afcon debutants Cape verde make list

    Super Eagles’ group opponents in the AFCON 2013 in South Africa, the Chipolopolo of Zambia, have been nominated for this year’s CAF National Team of the year award.

    Not surprisingly, Stephen Keshi’s boys were not named. Other national teams that did make the list include Nations Cup finalists Cote d’ Ivoire, Central African Republic (CAR) and AFCON debutants Cape Verde who are scheduled to face host South Africa in the opener on January 19.

    The nominees released by the Confederation of African football (CAF) for the award billed for December 20th in Accra Ghana, is coming just a few days after a shortlist for the African Footballer of the Year was released with Eagles trio Mikel Obi, Victor Moses and John Utaka missing.

    In the Women’s National Team of the Year, recently crowned African Women’s Champions, Equatorial Guinea will slug it out with Ghana’s U-17 side that finished third in this year’s FIFA World Cup and Nigeria’s Super Falcons for the honours.

    Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, Senegalese young striker, Pape Moussa Konate and Kenyan midfielder Victor Wanyama have been nominated for the Most Promising Talent.

    CAF will announce the top three nominees in each category of the Year and by late December after the voting by CAF relevant Standing Committees, namely the Media, Technical and Football committees.

  • Super Eagles to get $100, 000 each for AFCON victory

    Super Eagles to get $100, 000 each for AFCON victory

    Each Super Eagles player could earn as much as $100,000 should they win next year’s African Cup of Nations in South Africa, MTNFootball.com reports.

    “Incentives will not be the Super Eagles problem at the Nations Cup.

    “If they go all the way and win the competition, they will each take away about $95,000 and when you add that to their daily allowances of around $5,000, you will have about $100,000.

    “And the chief coach (Stephen Keshi) will get double this amount,” a top official told MTNFootball.com at the weekend.

    In the proposed budget for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations, each Super Eagle player will earn $10,000 for a win in the first round, where they are drawn against defending champions Zambia, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia.

    This would translate to $30,000 each if they win all three first round matches, the same amount they also received when they qualified for the quarterfinal of the 2010 tournament in Angola.

    However in Angola, the bonus was a winner-take-all one in the sense that the players were paid $30,000 each for going past the first round rather than being paid per game.

    The team’s win bonus will then be reviewed upwards as they move up in the knockout stage of the biennial competition.

    Victory in the quarterfinal will fetch each player $15,000, while victory in the semi-final will see them $20,000-a-man richer.

    And should the Eagles clinch Nigeria’s third Nations Cup trophy inside the magnificent Soccer City in Johannesburg on February 10, each player will pocket a win bonus of $30,000.

    Each player to the Nations Cup in Angola two years ago earned about $80,000 when they placed third.