Sports
Super Eagles And The ‘If’ Permutation
Football-loving Nigerians at home and in diaspora are sad again, for the umpteenth time. The country’s senior national team, the Super Eagles, have disappointed them again by their unimpressive performance and consequent ouster at the on-going South Africa 2010 world cup.
Like it was in the country’s last appearance at the mumdial in Japan/Korea 2002, the Eagles could only get a draw in three group matches. While the only draw was 2-2 against Korea Republic at South Africa, it was 0-0 against England in 2002.
By their last Group B match against Korea, the Eagles had no point, having lost to Argentina (0-1) and Greece (1-2) in their first two matches.
However, there was the mathematical chance that if they could defeat Korea Republic, and Argentina could do same to Greece, Nigeria could quality.
The scenario reminded close watches of the one on the final day of qualifiers for the on-going World Cup: if the Eagles could defeat Kenya in Nairobi, and Mozambique could do same to Tunisia on home soil, the if permutation.
Luckily, the permutation favoured the Eagles, and they proceeded to South Africa, only to find themselves in the same if permutation scenario again.
Blames have long started pouring in from all angles. As expected, most of the blame is on the players. Yakubu Ayegbeni seen to be the number one culprits for missing that vital goal with an open net staring at him against Korea.
Sani Keita is another culprit. He can hardly be forgotten for attracting the red card that distabilised the already wobbling Eagles team that saw them lose 1-2 to Greece.
Another set of people are also blaming the Eagles’ coach, Lars Lagerback, for not presenting good team at South Africa 2010. Only quite a few people seem to have paused and pondered to view the entire scenario concerning the Nigerian team to South Africa. Only these few seem to have appreciated the fact that the performance of the Super Eagles is only a reflection of their ill preparedness and unfitness.
Surely, if the truth must be told, it would have been a great injustice to the game if the Eagles had gone beyond the first round going by the performances of all the teams that qualified for the last 16 stage.
This has nothing to do with patriotism. In fact, if patriotism should be mentioned in this issue without questioning the patriots in those who manage Nigeria’s football, particularly regarding preparation of teams for major championships, it would amount to a display of high level of ignorance in what it takes to do well at that level of the game.
Sincerely, to have expected the Eagles to do more than they did in South Africa is natural and can only be done out of patriotism considerations, because they really did not merit it.
Not that on a good day the players, individually, are not good, but rather because Nigeria, not the players in isolation, was not prepared for this world cup.
The picture painted here is a parent sending his child to a major examination, knowing that he did not create an enabling environment for the child to study real hard for the exam, but relying on the child’s previous knowledge.
Meanwhile, the parent decides to provide every other thing in abundance to encourage the child on the day of the examination, with high expectation of the child excelling at the end of the day.
For those in this picture, they seem to have forgotten how times have changed even in the football world. So much so that from being a means of entertainment, football has in addition become a huge business.
Also, that world football governing body, FIFA, almost on daily basis does everything possible to make the game more technical and difficult for any unserious country to reap from its benefits, while also making the game more interesting.
In the process, FIFA has gradually changed the game from being more physical, as it was in the early days, to being more scientific. It thus requires more mental work than physical work.
Consequently, the displays we watch on the turf, by which we judge teams, only constitute about 40 per- cent (Probably less) of total work required to enhance success in a championship in the fold of the world cup. A lot of other factors make up the remaining 60 percent.
These factors include such things as the coach/technical adviser of the team, whether he is the right choice, his strategy and how long he has to achieve set goals; the quality of players and their psyche before and during each match; as well as how long members of the team has to function as a team, different from individual performance.
Also, how best these factors turn out is to a large extent a function of how committed the managers of football in a country or team are the extent to which they are committed to ensuring success, and sustaining same.
Again, all of these factors could be in place, and a team can still fail without the element of luck, which is another factor. However, a team can also have only some of these factors and can still succeed with luck.
But it amounts to a misnomer to depend solely on luck because luck thrives better when all other factors are in place.
In the case of the Super Eagles to the South Africa 2010 World Cup, the country, better still, managers of the country’s football, relied on luck because every other factor were either not in place, or there was not enough time for such factors to mature. Lars Lagerback, the Eagles helmsman, may be one of such factors.
To do better in future world cups, therefore, Nigeria must first seek to put that 60 per cent in proper perspective. It will be easier for the 40 per- cent to fall in place after then.
It is what the French did from the mid-eighties that saw them produce a solid team that gave them the world cup tile in 1998. A little painstaking research can do the trick for Nigeria.
Sports
African Games: Nigerian Women Athletes Make Country Proud Again
Before, the saying that ‘what a man can do, a woman can do better’ is usually met with resistance.
In sports, that saying has been validated over and over again with the performances of female athletes in comparison to their male counterparts, especially when it comes to quantifying their contributions to their country’s success at multi-sports events like the Olympic, Commonwealth and African Games.
For Nigeria, the women have once again proven to be the most consistent and reliable by winning the most medals for the country at the just-concluded 13th African Games in Ghana. Nigeria finished second behind Egypt in the overall medals table with a total of 121 medals comprising 47 gold, 34 silver and 40 bronze.
The women’s contribution to Team Nigeria’s haul is 71 compared to the male athletes’ 47, while three were won in mixed events. That number makes up 58.67 per cent of Nigeria’s total medals.
Significantly, the women also won 35 out of Team Nigeria’s 47 gold, leaving 11 to the male, while the other one was won in the mixed 4x400m relay, which was inspired by one of the two women in the quartet, Omolara Ogunmakinju.
The women’s gold medal haul is a whopping 74 per cent of Nigeria’s total gold.
Interestingly, the women’s 35 gold would have been enough to see Nigeria top the overall medals table, if it was an all-female affair as Egypt, who won the Games recorded 33 gold, 22 silver and 22 bronze medals from their female athletes.
On the other hand, the men’s 11 gold would mean Nigeria would finish joint third with Tunisia, who’s men also won 11 gold medals while Egypt will retain their number one spot with 66 gold from their men and Algeria second with 19.
There were also 18 silver medals from the women, two more than the 16 won by the men. In terms of bronze medals, the men had the upper hand with 20 medals, two more than the women’s 18 while two medals were won in mixed games for a total of 40.
Notably, there were stellar performances from Nigeria’s female wrestlers at the Games as the six of them (Blessing Oborududu, Odunayo Adekuoroye, Hannah Reuben, Christiana Ogunsanya, Mercy Genesis and Esther Kolawole) had a clean sweep of the wrestling event.
Also, four among the five weightlifters who won three gold medals each are women (Eze Joy, Ayodele Ruth, Lawal Rafiatu, and Olarinoye Adijat).
All the seven female boxers for Nigeria also won medals – five gold (Joy Ojo, Patricia Mbata, Cynthia Ogunsemilore, Blessing Oraekwe, Jacinta Umunnakwe) and two silver (Zainab Adeshina, Kareem Shukura).
In athletics, world record holder in the women’s 100m hurdles, Tobi Amusan, retained her African Games title by winning a third consecutive crown while long jumper Ese Brume also successfully defended her title by winning a second African Games gold in the event.
According to the 2023 African Games website, in terms of representation, Nigeria’s 437 contingent also had more women (221) than the men (216).
Beyond the 2023 African Games, female Nigeria athletes have shown greater prospects than their male counterparts.
At the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the women won all the gold for Team Nigeria as the country put up their best outing ever, snatching a record 12 gold, nine silver and 14 bronze medals to erase their previous best performance at the Games, 11 gold, 13 silver and 13 bronze medals in 1994 in Victoria, Canada.
The men took the back seat, managing just three silver and six bronze medals out of a total haul of 35 medals.
At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Nigeria’s only two medals were won by two female athletes, Blessing Oborududu (silver in wrestling) while Brume won bronze in long jump.
Amusan (gold) and Brume (silver) were also the only two medallists for Nigeria at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon, USA, where the former stormed to the current women’s 100m hurdles record (12.12s) and also became the first ever world champion from Nigeria.
Sports
African Games: Minister Promises Swift Preparation For Egypt 2027
Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Enoh, has declared that the preparations for the 2027 African Games which will be held in Egypt will begin immediately, as the contingent to the just concluded 13th edition of the Games in Ghana arrived on Sunday.
Team Nigeria arrived in the country’s capital Abuja and Lagos in batches on Sunday via chartered flights provided by the Ministry of Sports Development.
In Ghana, Team Nigeria had an impressive outing and finished second in the overall medals table with a total number of 121 medals comprising 47 gold, 34 silver and 40 bronze medals.
Although the foreign-based athletes who were part of Nigeria’s success at the Games have also returned directly to their bases, Enoh believes a head start ahead of the 2027 Games will give the country an edge in their quest to claim top spot for the first time since hosting the Games in 2003.
“On behalf of His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, I welcome you back to our dear country. I congratulate you for your outstanding performance in the just concluded 13th African Games that held in the Ghana,” the minister said in a statement obtained by our correspondent last Sunday.
“While you bask in the euphoria of your exploits and worthy sense of achievement, let me quickly remind you that preparations for the 14th African Games built to hold in Egypt starts now. As your Sports development minister, dubbed Nigeria’s Games Master General, I sure will be with you all the way.
“Without prejudice to the comprehensive audit and thorough evaluation of our overall performance at the games which will soon be carried out under my guidance and leadership, the time has come for our country to spend as much, if not more, as it does for competitions in development and preparation, if we ever hope to get atop the medals table which we have only achieved once in 2003 when the country hosted the Games.”
Sports
NWFL: Rivers Angels Striker Targets Women CAF Champions League
Rivers Angels FC of Port Harcourt striker, Blessing Okpe has said that her target was to keep working hard and ensure her team seals the CAF Women’s champion’s league ticket this season.
According to her, no game comes easy but what is important is the approach towards each of the games, adding that she is playing for Rivers Angels to give her best in the round leather game.
Okpe said this recently in a chat with the team media officer, Faith Meremegbunam and made available to Tidesports even as she expressed happiness for scoring her first goal against FC Robo that gave her team a draw.
The stand-in captain also expressed joy as she captained the team to an impressive performance, saying that she would do her best to ensure the team move forward.
“I feel so great and so happy to lead the team and scoring the first goal against our opponents.
“After the 1 -1 in Ikenne, we came back home and gave ourselves the target of beating them here in Port Harcourt.”
“We never wanted to lose two straight home matches because the two home matches are an advantage to us.
“After we drew with Robo, we had to fight hard to win matches.”
“We will keep working hard, my target this season is to qualify for CAF women’s Champions’ League,” Okpe said.
Rivers Angels’ next game is against Edo Queens in Benin on February 28.
By: Kiadum Edookor
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