Sports

Mouloungui, Leading Gabons Black Pathner’s Charge For 2012 AFCON

Published

13 years ago

October 10, 2011

Expectation is building in

Gabon as the country continues its preparations for co-hosting the 2012 CAF African Cup of Nations. Through his monthly progress reports, Gabonese Football Association President Placide Engandzas has been keeping the fans appraised of developments, though the fact is they can barely wait for next January, when the big event finally gets under way.

Coached by Gernot Rohr, who took over from French legend Alain Giresse in February last year, the Black Panthers have six warm-up matches ahead of them, including a date this Friday with joint-hosts Equatorial Guinea in Cannes, and appetising run-outs against Brazil and Morocco next month.

The Franco-German tactician claims he is 80% of the way to putting his squad together, though with the continental finals only a matter of weeks away and the team still going through a transitional phase, question marks remain about Gabon’s ability to mix it with Africa’s finest.

One man hoping to calm the fraying nerves of the home fans is striker Eric Mouloungui. “It’s a new team with a lot of young and inexperienced players,” said the Nice forward in conversation with Tidesports source “Obviously there’s uncertainty, but I don’t see any point in creating unnecessary pressure.”

That pressure has grown since the Black Panthers made a frustrating first-round exit at the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola, with a recent 1-0 win over Niger doing little to silence the doubters in the run-up to next year’s date with destiny.

“That tournament is the only one some of us have played in, which needs to be remembered,” said Mouloungui by way of mitigation. “We’ve got many new players who don’t have any international experience at all, and they’re not used to playing qualifying games or big competitions. No one knows how they’re going to react.

“There’s uncertainty there, and with the changes the new coach has made we’ve had to learn things all over again,” continued the 25-year-old, whose place in the Gabonese front line is undisputed. “Obviously the coach is expecting more from the boys who play in Europe, me more than anyone, and I’ve got to lead the way.”

Rohr’s squad for this week’s game against Henri Michel’s Nzalang Nacional contains four men who play their club football in France’s Ligue 1, with a further nine running out in the Gabonese championship, which kicks off this very weekend. Missing from the list, however, is former Hull City and Glasgow Rangers forward Daniel Cousin, who is currently unattached and has subsequently been discarded by Rohr.

“Players like Daniel or Stephane Nguema still have the chance to come back home, play for a couple of months, and get themselves back in the frame for the African Cup of Nations,” said Rohr. “It goes without saying that it’s a big shop window for African internationals. Daniel’s taking his time to think it over.”

A hard taskmaster, Rohr has also dispensed with the services of national team captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the star striker’s punishment for skipping the last get-together.

President Engandzas has been talking about “making progress” in his monthly bulletins, a process Mouloungui believes his side can continue when the time for talking stops.

“Expectation among the fans is high, and we’re going to tap into that passion when the tournament starts,” he said. “The first objective is to get through the first round and build our confidence. Then, with the fans behind us, anything is possible in the knockout rounds. There have been some surprises in the qualifiers and we’ve seen a few big teams fall by the wayside. That gives us hope.”

The Black Panthers will need to make a solid start at next year’s finals if they are to push into the last eight and beyond. “That’s essential if we want to stop negative pressure from building,” acknowledged Mouloungui. “If we get off on the wrong foot, the mood will change. And with the team we’ve got we need to avoid that.

“We have to fight as one for the same objective and with everyone doing their bit,” he concluded, setting out the Gabonese battleplan. The older players will bring their experience to the table, and the younger ones their enthusiasm.”

Sports

Expert Wants Parents To Enroll Children In Vector Programme

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

In a bid to have more young talented Nigerians to play professional football abroad, Johnny Ogbah, a sports lawyer and football intermediary, has called on parents to enroll their children in Vector Programme.
He stated that the programme is in conjunction with Conventry Football Club in United Kingdom (UK), saying that the programme includes academics where a child can acquire a degree.
Ogbah, made the call while addressing sports journalists recently in Port Harcourt, as the programme will admit students into Brooke College between the age of 11 and 18 Football Academy.
The major objective of Vector Programme is to give the young ones a career through sports and good education. The programme does not train people on football only but also other things that is related to sporting environment, he said.
According to him, more than 20 Nigerians have benefited from the programme on scholarship and most of them are now playing football in top clubs in Europe.
“Vector programme was poised to create an avenue to give people to play football to the highest level.
Apart from football the child can also have quality education. It will interest you to know that those in Vector programme play friendly games that attracts scouts from different countries and football clubs.
The programme doesn’t train you on only football but also train people on everything that is associated to sports”, Ogbah said.
The former Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) player further disclosed Vector programme pathways provides the practice opportunities that players need if they are to successfully graduate as a professional player.

By: Tonye Orabere

Sports

NLO: Khana FC Coach Blames Players For Missing Chances

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

The Head Coach of Khana FC in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, Sam Ledor, has blamed his players as they were unable to convert scoring chances.
According to him, if those chances created in their opening match against Jet Bomber FC at the ongoing Nation wide League One (NLO), in Omoku centre were converted, it would have given them victory.
Ledor, said this on Saturday in a chat with Tidesports shortly after they played goalless draw against Jet Bomber FC in their opening match in 2024 NLO Division in Omoku, Rivers State.
“ We created a lot of scoring chances but could not find the net”, he said.
He explained that playing goalless draw is not a bad result in football but in a competition like this, they need to score goals and win matches.
“ My brother, we missed a lot of scoring chances which is not good. I trainned my players on how to create chances and to convert them.
“ What is important in a competition is winning but as we did not lose the game, we will look forward for our next game.
“We will go back to the drawing board and correct the grey areas in our game and ensure we get better results in our next outing.
“Today’s game is gone, what we need to do is to make sure we win our next game,” he stated.
He pointed out that no game comes easy but the effort you put in will give good result. They tried their best today and the result was good for both teams but we need to win our next game.
“My opponents were also a good side; they tried all what they could but didn’t score also. It was a good game but my team needs to win games,” he added.

By: Kiadum Edookor

Sports

Wilkins Backs Rivers Hoopers To Spring Surprises At 2024 BAL

Published

3 days ago

April 22, 2024

The Tide

A French-American, John Walter Wilkins is confident Rivers Hoopers can make it to the playoff round of the 2024 Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Wilkins, who is the son of former NBA player Jeff Wilkins, linked up with his Hoopers teammates at the team’s training camp in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, ahead of the 2024 BAL Savannah Conference games, which tip off on Saturday, 4th May, 2024, in Dakar, Senegal.
Wilkins is no stranger to African basketball, having played for Moroccan sides AS Salé (2015-2016) and Ittihad Tanger (2017-2019), before leading Stade Malien to a third-place finish at BAL 2023.
Looking ahead to the 2024 BAL, Wilkins says the quality of basketball across Africa has improved, with the BAL requiring a high level of competitiveness, but backed Rivers Hoopers to spring a surprise at the tournament.
“It’s a really high level, a great competition; [it’s] one of the best I’ve played in since I’ve been in Africa. But we don’t need to be scared. We need to just attack the moment, be there, be present, and I think if we are confident in our abilities, we can surprise people,” he said.
Since its inaugural season in 2021, Nigerian teams have appeared twice at the BAL, with Rivers Hoopers playing in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2021 and Kwara Falcons featuring at BAL 2023.
Despite failing to reach the playoffs on both previous occasions, Wilkins is optimistic that with the quality of players in the Hoopers squad as well as the recruitment done ahead of the BAL, Rivers Hoopers will be more competitive in this season’s BAL.
“I’m really optimistic. I know that those past years the teams from Nigeria didn’t do well, but I think with me, Kelvin [Amayo], Will [Perry], and the other guys, I think we can show the way, have some wins, and be more competitive,” he stated.
The Nigerian Champions were drawn in the Savannah Conference alongside former BAL Champions US Monastir (Tunisia), last year’s runners-up AS Douanes (Senegal), and APR (Rwanda).