The Nation Newspaper

Tag: WAFU Cup

  • WAFU Cup: 22-goal Falcons strike fear in Black Queens

    Nigeria and Ghana go toe-to-toe in the semi-finals of the WAFU Women’s Cup tournament for the second year running and the Black Queens are truly in awe after watching the African champions knock 22 goals past opponents in three group phase matches in the Ivorian capital, Abidjan.

    Both teams are in the top drawer of African women football, and last year, the Queens got the better of the Super Falcons to reach the final of the WAFU Cup.

    However, this year has been a different ball game, with World Cup-bound Nigeria bashing their counterparts from Burkina Faso 5-1 and defeating Mali 2-0, either side of a record 15-0 mauling of the dames from the Niger Republic.

    Both teams avoided each other at the Women Africa Cup of Nations hosted by Ghana towards the end of last year, as the host nation headed Group A and the Cup holders headed Group B. The Black Queens fell by the wayside at the group stage as the Falcons successfully defended their title.

    Thursday is a huge opportunity to rekindle the famed Nigeria/Ghana rivalry, at the Stade Robert Champroux, as both teams seek a place in the WAFU Cup final.

    The Queens are sure to pay the most attention to USA –based student Uchenna Grace Kanu, who has increased her tournament goal haul to nine, after scoring one of the two goals in the defeat of Mali on Tuesday night. The other semi-final match is between host nation Cote d’Ivoire and Mali.

  • Flying Eagles whip Ghana 4-2 to reach WAFU Cup semi-finals

     

    The Flying Eagles on Wednesday rallied from behind to beat the Black Satellites of Ghana 4-2 and reach the semi-finals of the ongoing WAFU Under-20 Championship in Togo.

    After drawing goalless with Niger Republic on Sunday, the result took the seven-time African champions into the semi-finals as Group B winners on goals advantage.

    Niger Republic’s Junior Mena qualified in second place, also with four points as Nigeria, following their earlier 1-0 defeat of Ghana’s Black Satellites.

    The Ghanaians were eliminated without a point.

    The semi-finals come up on Friday, with the final match billed for Sunday.

    Emmanuel Toku had opened scoring for the Ghanaians on the half hour before Effiom Maxwell drew Nigeria level with a minute left to interval.

    Ibrahim Abubakar then coverted a penalty kick in the 80th minute to put Nigeria in the lead before Wasiu Alalade made it 3-1 two minutes later.

    Maxwell, who was later selected “Man of the Match’’, scored Nigeria’s fourth in added time.

    There was still time for Toku to score another goal and Ghana’s second in the same added time.

    The WAFU Under-20 Championship is a preparatory tournament for next year’s Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Niger Republic.

    It will hold from Feb. 2 to Feb. 17.(NAN)

     

  • WAFU Final: Dalung leads Pinnick, others to watch Eagles play Ghana

    WAFU Final: Dalung leads Pinnick, others to watch Eagles play Ghana

    Minister of Youth and Sports Solomon Dalung will lead a delegation of top officials to cheer on the Super Eagles when they clash with Ghana’s Black Stars in Sunday’s WAFU Cup of Nations final.

    A statement from the Nigeria Football Federation ( NFF ) on Saturday said Dalung would be accompanied by the NFF President Amaju Pinnick.

    “Also in the delegation to the Cape Coast Stadium is NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, who arrived in the Ghanaian capital on Friday.

    “Super Eagles’ Technical Adviser Gernot Rohr also flew into Accra on Saturday and will be in the stands.

    “Head Coach of Super Eagles B, Salisu Yusuf is Chief Coach of the A team where Rohr is technical adviser,’’ it said.

    The statement also noted that Dalung has been an ever-present guest in Super Eagles’ most crucial matches in the past year.

    “He undisputable brings a rich vein of fortune around the team with the Eagles now only one win away from a sixth appearance in the FIFA World Cup finals,’’ it said.

    The minister led the Nigerian delegation to the 2-1 win over Zambia in Ndola at the start of the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.

    He was equally in Uyo for the 3-1 thrashing of Algeria.

    He was there in Uyo when the Eagles bashed African champions Cameroon 4-0 and also arrived in Yaounde in time to see the 1-1 draw three days later.

    To reach the championship match, the Super Eagles B, who qualified for the 5th African Nations Championship finals after a 2-1 aggregate win over Benin Republic in August, ejected Sierra Leone with a 2-0 win in the first knock-out phase.

    They also drew 0-0 with Mali and Guinea before seeing off hosts Ghana 2-0 in last group phase attrition.

    In the semi finals, CHAN qualifying victims Benin Republic were turned back 1-0, meaning Nigeria has yet to concede a goal in the sub-regional football fiesta.

    Sunday’s match will kick off at 6 p.m. Ghana time (7 p.m. Nigeria time), and victory for the Super Eagles will mean a seventh major trophy for the Pinnick-led administration.

    The administration’s first trophy was the Women Africa Cup of Nations title won by the Super Falcons in Namibia in Oct. 2014.

    It was followed by the Supers and Eagles’ triumph in the COPA Lagos International Invitational Tournament (December 2014) and the Flying Eagles’ Africa U-20 title in Senegal (March 2015).

    The latest being the Golden Eaglets’ FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile (November 2015), the U-23 team’s Africa U-23 title in Senegal (December 2015) and the Super Falcons’ Women Africa Cup of Nations title in Cameroon (December 2016).

  • WAFU Cup: Nigeria Face Mali in Group Stage Opener

    WAFU Cup: Nigeria Face Mali in Group Stage Opener

    The home based Super Eagles will on Thursday play Mali for their first group stage match in the ongoing West African Football Union (WAFU) Cup.

    A new group stage fixtures was announced on Tuesday by WAFU and Nigeria will no longer play Ghana but Mali on Thursday.

    WAFU Nations Cup is an association football competition that is contested by representative teams of the West African Football Union.

     

    As gathered the match between Mali and Nigeria will now open Group A fixtures in Cape Coast by 4pm Nigerian.

    The home Eagles match will be followed by the game between Ghana and Guinea.

    Coach Yusuf Salisu boys will on Saturday, square up against Guinea for their second fixtures, while Ghana faces Mali.

    The final round of Group A matches will be played on Monday, September 18, with Nigeria battling home team Ghana, while Guinea square up against Mali.

    The top two teams will advance to the knockout semi-finals of the sub-regional competition, which has been revived with new sponsors Fox Sports.

    The final is fixed for Sunday, September 24.

    • Thursday

    Mali vs Nigeria 4pm

    • Saturday, Sept 16

    Nigeria vs Guinea 4pm

    • Monday, Sept 18

    Nigeria vs Ghana 6pm

    Recall that Nigeria progressed to the group stages of the tournament after winning Sierra Leone 2-0.

  • CHAN Eagles to call up Okpotu for WAFU Cup

    CHAN Eagles to call up Okpotu for WAFU Cup

    SCORENigeria has yet again scooped that Lobi Stars striker Anthony Okpotu, who has now scored 17 goals in the NPFL this season, will be one of several fresh call-ups by the home-based Eagles for next month’s WAFU Cup in Ghana.

    “Okpotu is one of the players who will be called up for the WAFU Cup. He has continued to score goals in the NPFL and deserves his chance,” a top team official told  SCORENigeria.

    SCORENigeria has first reported that there will be a major shake-up of squad for the CHAN qualifiers with several new call-ups to strengthen the team for the WAFU Cup.

    Okpotu scored his third hat-trick this season as Lobi Stars edged past El Kanemi Warriors 3-2 on Sunday at home.

    He is now just a goal shy of leading scorer Stephen Odey of MFM FC.

    He was overlooked for the CHAN 2018 final playoff against Benin, which Nigeria won 2-1 on aggregate to qualify for a third straight CHAN.

    He has previously played in Libya.

    The sub-regional WAFU Cup in Ghana will kick off on September 9.