THE Minister of Sports, Senator John Enoh, has assured Nigerian football fans that the senior men’s national team, the Super Eagles, would have a new coach in the next one or two weeks. The Super Eagles have been without a substantive coach following the expiration of the contract of Jose Peseiro after the Africa Cup of Nations in February where the team finished as runners up. Finidi George, who was one of the assistants to Peseiro coached the team in the last two friendly matches they played against Ghana and Mali, but the Minister said the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)…
Author: Peter Noah KC
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NIGERIA Premier Football League leaders, Enugu Rangers, retained top spot on the log after edging Abia Warriors 3-2 in Tuesday’s match-day 30 Oriental derby at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu. The Flying Antelopes stormed to an early lead through Saviour Isaac, but the visitors responded on the stroke of halftime through Ojonugwa Adejoh. Kareem Ogunleye and Chiedozie Okorie added two more goals for the Rangers in the second half as they prevented a late surge from the Abia Warriors, who pulled one back in stoppage time through Pascal Nwabueze. By that result, the seven-time Nigerian champions, who have 54 points,…
CONFEDERATION of African Football and former Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh, have both lauded Nigerian striker, Victor Boniface, after playing a starring role in Bayer Leverkusen’s historical Bundesliga triumph. Leverkusen emerged champions of Germany for the first time in their 120-year history, ending Bayern Munich’s stranglehold on the league after 11 title wins in a row. Xabi Alonso’s side wrapped up the title with five games to spare after a crushing 5-0 win over Werder Bremen on Sunday with Boniface opening the floodgate. Despite missing close to three months of action due to injury, the 22-year-old remains the club’s top…
BAYER Leverkusen won their first Bundesliga title and got there with five games to spare thanks to a 5-0 victory over Werder Bremen. Bayern Munich beat Cologne on Saturday to keep Leverkusen’s title celebrations on hold for at least a day. But there were scenes of jubilation for Xabi Alonso’s team when the final whistle blew at BayArena on Sunday. Super Eagles’ Victor Boniface’s 25th-minute penalty set Leverkusen on their way before Granit Xhaka and Florian Wirtz scored stunning goals in quick succession. Supporters stormed on to the pitch in mid-match when star man Wirtz added a fourth in the…
GHANA star Mohammed Kudus has named Nigerian legend Austin ‘Jay-Jay’ Okocha as his greatest African footballer of all time, drawing parallels between Okocha’s style of play and his own. Kudus, currently plying his trade with West Ham United, praised Okocha for his exceptional skills and entertainment value on the pitch. Okocha’s illustrious career includes numerous achievements such as winning the Goal of the Year award in Germany in 1993, multiple Nigerian Footballer of the Year titles, and being named the BBC African Footballer of the Year twice. Speaking to Sky Sports, Kudus expressed his admiration for Okocha, emphasising the lasting…
BAYER Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface says he is looking forward to helping his team record a win against Werder Bremen at home, which will see them crowned Bundesliga champions for the first time in the club’s history. The 23-year-old striker came off the bench late on to score with a trademark header in stoppage time for Bayer Leverkusen, who beat West Ham 2-0 in a UEFA Europa League quarter-final first leg in Leverkusen on Thursday. The goal was his first in 2024 and his 17th in 26 games across all competition, following a four-month injury layoff. Boniface goal-scoring prowess is…
THE Nigeria Football Federation on Friday appointed Manu Garba as the Head Coach of the Under-17 team, Golden Eaglets. “The former Nigeria international will now immediately resume the role and take charge of the team’s preparations for next month’s WAFU B U17 Championship, taking place in Ghana,” a message posted on the NFF website read. Garba led the Golden Eaglets to win the FIFA U17 World Cup for Nigeria in the United Arab Emirates in 2013 – Nigeria’s fourth triumph at that stage. In that squad were Super Eagles stars, Kelechi Iheanacho and Taiwo Awoniyi. The team finished as runners-up…
THE Nigeria Premier Football League club owners association says “there are no complaints or problems” following reports that clubs were set for a showdown with the NPFL board over financial differences. The club owners were said to have planned a boycott of match-day 30 games billed for this weekend, over the non-disclosure of broadcast deals the NPFL signed with StarTimes and Propel Sports, as well as the fulfillment of financial commitments made at the start of the season. Secretary of the body and Chairman, Sporting Lagos, Godwin Enakhena, informed this newspaper that they were negotiating with the board and also…
FORMER president of the Nigeria Football Federation and FIFA Council member, Amaju Pinnick, has thrown his weight behind ex-international, FInidi George, to become the next coach of the Super Eagles. Finidi is among the frontrunners for the vacant position left by Portuguese Coach Jose Peseiro, following the expiration of his contract at the end of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast. The Nigeria Football Federation is expected to name a new coach for the team in no distant time, and the former NFF boss believes Finidi fits the bill. “A player that was once regarded as one…
THE Super Falcons have qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Nigeria beat South Africa 1-0 on aggregate to reach the Summer Olympics. Rasheedat Ajibade scored from the spot in the first leg of the qualifiers in Abuja on Friday. That goal was enough for the Super Falcons to pick one of Africa’s tickets for the women’s football event of the Paris Olympics as the second leg tie ended goaless in South Africa. The last time Nigeria’s Super Falcons reached the Olympics was 16 years ago. More details shortly…
BILLIONAIRE banker and philanthropist, Tony Elumelu, says he is evaluating viability of owning a Nigerian Premier Football League club as part of his Coporate Social Responsibility. Elumelu made this known on Monday via his X handle after reacting to a post from another user Adebayo Mustapha, who suggested that the President and Ministry of Sports should woo top companies in the country to own clubs in the NPFL. Mustapha believes it will improve the NPFL. Mustapha whose X handle is @LawyerDayo, wrote, “Can we get the President and Ministry of Sport to weigh in on the big corporations in Nigeria…
IN the wake of the incident during a Nigeria National League match-day 17 game between Jigawa Golden Stars and Sporting Supreme FC in Dutse on Saturday, the league body has placed a one-year ban on an unidentified player of Jigawa Golden Stars for apparently pushing the ball into the net with both hands to deny their visitors a point. Chairman of the NNL, George Aluo, stated this in an interview with this newspaper on Sunday. The two referees who were involved in the game, Zaharadeen Nasiru (Katsina State) and his assistant, Usman Auwalu (Borno State), were expelled by the Refereeing…
ENYIMBA technical adviser Finidi George said he expects fair officiating in their Nigeria Premier Football League clash against Lobi Stars, PUNCH Sports Extra reports. Lobi Stars will host the People’s Elephant in a matchday 29 fixture at the Lafia City Stadium on Sunday. Finidi expressed his team’s desire to secure a good result in the game saying, “We want to go to Lafia and get the victory, no doubt about that. I hope everything (will) be normal in the game, I hope we have that fairness in the game against Lobi Stars. “We are here to play as if we…
THE Super Falcons of Nigeria have moved a step closer to securing the ticket to the football event of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after seeing off South Africa 1-0 in a first-leg match in the final round of qualifiers. Rasheedat Ajibade converted a 43rd-minute penalty to hand the Nigerians victory in the encounter in Abuja on Friday. The Super Falcons began the game well, pressing the South Africans at the MKO Abiola Stadium. But the team could not convert. However, following sustained pressure, South Africa’s Noko Matlou hacked down Chinwendu Ihezuo in the box. Rasheedat stepped up to the…
THE Super Eagles of Nigeria ranked 30th in the 2024 Men’s World ranking, dropping two places from the previous 28th position. The ranking, as released by the Federation of International Football Association on Thursday, revealed that the Eagles topped the 2023 CAF African Cup of Nations winner, Cote d’Ivoire, and seven-time AFCON winner, Egypt. Having participated in two friendly matches after the AFCON tourney, the Eagles earned a 2-1 win against neighbouring rivals, Ghana, and fell to a 2-0 defeat against Mali. As observed by this newspaper, the Eagles rank third in African football, falling only behind the Atlas Lions…
NIGERIA Premier Football League giants, Enyimba and Kano Pillars, will meet for the 24th time since 2010, in a high-profile 2023/24 match-day 28 game in Aba on Wednesday (today). With 13 titles between them (Enyimba with nine and Pillars four), the meeting of both sides usually comes with intensity, thanks to their respective regional supremacy, which has fuelled their rivalry as two of the biggest sides in the NPFL. In their previous 23 games, Enyimba won 10 while Pillars triumphed in 11, including the first leg this season, while two other games have ended in draws. Coming into today’s encounter,…
NIGERIA’s sole representative in the Caf Confederation Cup Rivers United edged defending champions USM Alger of Algeria 1-0 in the first leg of their quarter-final clash at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on Sunday. Augustine Okejepha got the opener from Sadiq Adamu’s cross from the corner in the 10th minute of the first half. Rivers United wasted several other chances to double their lead in the game. The reigning champions will host the Nigerian side in the return leg on Sunday next week in Algiers, Algeria.
SUPER Falcons goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie is desperate to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as Nigeria gears up for their crucial final qualifiers game against their familiar foes, South Africa. Both sides have forged an intense rivalry over the years and are seen as the toast of Africa following successes on the continent, but it’s been the South Africans who have won recent battles. Banyana beat Nigeria in their last two meetings, the 2022 Women’s Afcon in Morocco and 2021 Aisha Buhari Cup in their own backyard, tournaments that Banyana went on to win. For Nnadozie, qualifying for the…
FINIDI George, head coach of the Nigeria Premier Football Leagues side, Enyimba, has stated that he is not losing any sleep over getting the Super Eagles job on a permanent basis. Early this month, the Nigeria Football Federation declared the position of the Super Eagles’ head coach vacant, following the exit of Portuguese Jose Peseiro, who led the side to a second-place finish at the 2023 Africa Cup Nations in Ivory Coast in February. In an advertisement on its website calling for applications with a March 13 deadline, the football governing body stated that the prospective Eagles coach “must have…
THE Eagles of Mali beat the Super Eagles of Nigeria 2-0 on Tuesday night. In the clash with the Eagles, Nigeria suffered the loss courtesy of one goal in each half of the game. E. Toure gave Mali the lead in the 18th minute and the runners-up in the recently concluded African Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast could not severe a draw in the first half. K. Doumbia sealed the victory for the Malians with an 84th-minute strike from the centre of the box. This loss was the interim coach, George Finidi’s first loss at the helms of affairs…