The Nation Newspaper

Tag: team

  • 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.

  • AFCON 2013: Odibe calls for team work

    AFCON 2013: Odibe calls for team work

    Nigeria’s Arsenal Kyiv Central defence ace, Micheal Odibe is confident the Super Eagles will excel at South Africa 2013 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).

    The big defender who is on loan to Dnipropetrovsk from Arsenal Kyiv in the Ukrainian topflight told SportingLife from his base that the Stephen Keshi side will be a delight to watch if Nigeria’s best players are put on parade at Africa’s football fiesta.

    “I’m really happy that Nigeria will be among the countries that will be in South Africa after we missed the last edition. It’s a thing of joy for all Nigerians but Keshi should be given a free hand to select players who he feels can make the country proud and should be based on merit and current form and not by God-fatherism,” he warned.

    On Nigeria’s chances of qualification from their group C which also have the Stallions of Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and the reigning AFCON champions, Zambia’s Chipolopolo, Odibe said: “Nigeria is a great country and is well known in football, every other African country will be looking at Nigeria in South Africa, but I’m very optimistic that Nigeria will qualify from the group.

    Odibe called for the NFF and football administrators to give the Big Boss and the team all the support needed to excel.

    “Nigeria has always been a football loving nation, all that needs to be done now is for the NFF to ensure that the players and officials are called to camp on time. We must also give them moral support. If this is done, I expect Nigerians to smile again in 2013.

    Lagos-born Odibe, it would be recalled was invited for the Super Eagles friendly against Sierra Leone in February 2011.