Sports

Africans In Europe: Asamoah On Target For Juve

Published

13 years ago

November 14, 2012

It was a solitary goal for African strikers in the English Premier League as Arouna Kone scored for Wigan in their 1-2 home loss to West Brom.

However, 28 other strikers from the continent registered their names in the scors sheet across Europe at the weekend to indicate bumper return for African strikers in Europe.

Italy

Kwadwo Asamoah scored one of the goals for Juventus as they crushed Pescara 6-1 to stay at the top of the table with a four-point margin. The Ghana striker scored his side’s third goal in the 30th minute, his first in two months after 12 games.

Mounir El Hamdaoui made sure of the points for Fiorentina who won their fourth straight game by defeating AC Milan 3-1. The Morocco striker secured the points with three minutes remaining after coming on as a substitute in the 56th minute.

Spain

Equatorial Guinea striker Rodolfo Bodipo found the back of the net in added time for Deportivo la Coruna, but his side lost a two-goal lead to lose 5-3 away at Real Zaragoza. Bodipo came on as a substitute in the last eight minutes to score his second goal this season for Depor who lie in the bottom three of the table.

France

Nancy are stuck at the bottom of the table after losing their third consecutive game 3-1 to visiting side Rennes. Nancy had equalised through Nigeria striker Simon Zenke, scoring for the first time this season, in the 50th minute, but Burkina Faso’s Jonathan Pitroipa sealed the game for Rennes with six minutes remaining as he netted in his fourth goal of the season. Cameroon striker Paul Efoulou , failed to reduce the deficit after he missed a penalty in the 82nd minute, four minutes after coming on as a substitute.

A goal by Ivory Coast striker Salomon Kalou just before half-time secured the points for Lille who defeated Brest at home.

Gabon striker Pierre Aubameyang continued his fine form as he scored two minutes to time for Saint Etienne who defeated Troyes 2-0. Aubameyang has scored eight goals in 12 games for Saint Etienne. He is the league’s second top scorer with two goals short of Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Paris Saint-Germain.

A goal in each half by the Algeria midfielder Foued Kadir helped Valenciennes to a 3-2 away win at Bastia. It was Kadir’s fifth Ligue 1 goal and helped lift Valenciennes to fifth position.

Tunisia defender Aymen Abdennour was on the score sheet for Toulouse who were beaten 4-2 at home by Ajaccio. Mali striker Sigamary Diarra was among the scorers for Ajaccio with his first goal of the league.

Ghana’s Andre Ayew gave Marseille the lead in the 40th minute as his side drew 2-2 at home with Nice. However, Marseille have a game in hand and are equal on points with leaders Paris Saint-Germain.

Turkey

Two African goals, both from the penalty spot, ensured that the encounter between Kasimpasa and league leaders Antalyaspor finished with the two sides sharing the points. Nigeria striker Kalu Uche rescued the home side Kasimpasa by converting from the spot in the very last minute after Morocco’s Ismail Aissati had given Antalyaspor the lead 13 minutes earlier.

DR Congo striker Lomana Lua Lua came on mid-way into the second-half to seal victory for Karabukspor who came from behind to beat Istanbul BB 3-1. The Cameroon striker Pierre Webo had given Istanbul the lead after just four minutes of play.

Fenerbahce moved up to third position after a 2-1 victory over Orduspor with Senegal striker Moussa Sow scoring the opening goal in the 11th minute.

Portugal

Nacional played the last two minutes at Vitoria Guimaraes with 10 men but they had already secured the points mid way in the second-half to win 3-1 after coming from behind. Ladji Keita from Senegal and the Angola substitute Mateus were both on target for Nacional.

Somalia striker Liban Abdi accounted for the only goal of the game in the 29th minute as his side Olhanense defeated Beira Mar. Abdi has now scored four goals in the league.

Belgium

Hamdi Harbaoui broke the deadlock after 42 minutes to give Lokeren the lead in their 2-1 victory over Standard Liege. After the Tunisia striker celebrated his fourth goal of the league, the South Africa midfielder Ayanda Patosi scored Lokeren’s second in the 65th minute to take his tally to six goals.

Senegal striker Mbaye Leye equalised for second-placed Zulte-Waregem in the 73rd minute as they drew 1-1 at home with 10-man Mechelen.

Anderlecht triumphed 6-1 over rivals Club Bruges to remain at the top of the table with the DR Congo striker Dieudonne Mbokani scoring one of the goals in the 33rd minute.

Russia

Nigeria striker Ahmed Musa made sure that CSKA Moscow maintained top position after scoring twice as his side beat Kuban Krasnodar 3-1.

Anzhi Makhachkala are in second position despite drawing 1-1 at Locomotiv Moscow. Morocco midfielder Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez gave Anzhi the lead in the 72nd minute but Senegal striker Dame N’doye equalised six minute later to salvage a point.

Greece

Two giants of Greek football, both on extreme opposite ends of the Super League table, met on Sunday for a chance to win some bragging rights. And it was the league leaders Olympiakos who triumphed emphatically with a 4-0 win over rivals AEK Athens, who are languishing at the bottom of the table.

Algeria midfielder Djamel Abdoun scored from the penalty spot to give the visitors the lead in the 23rd minute, and with only 10 men to continue, it was all downhill afterwards for AEK Athens.

Netherlands

Waalwijk won only their third game in 12 league matches after beating Utrecht by a resounding 4-0 score line to climb up to 11th position. Morocco defender Imad Najah was on target for Waalwijk, whose previous victory was back in August.

Ukraine

Ideye Brown scored twice at the weekend for Dynamo Kyiv who crushed Metalurh Zaporizhya 5-0. The Nigeria striker has taken his tally to 10 goals so far to become second-top scorer in the league.

England

Ivory Coast striker Arouna Kone scored for Wigan but could not prevent them from going down 2-1 to West Brom. Kone got o0n the end of a Jean Beausejour cross to finish from six yards.

Sports

IAUE VC Football Cup Final Holds In PH, Wed

Published

4 days ago

September 13, 2025

The Tide

Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, in Rivers State, will be at the centre stage on Wednesday as the VC Cup final, both male and female categories will be played at the prestigious Stadium in the school.

The both final matches promises to be exciting, as arrangements have been concluded to watch one of the best VC football Cup finals in the history.

VC Cup tournament is an annual sporting event that involves all students in various facilities.

According to the Chief coach of the University football team, David Egbiri, the female will final will kick off 2pm between faculty of Human Kinetics and Management Sciences, while the male will kick off by 4pm between Social Science and Natural Applied Science

Egbiri, who was former coach of Abiola Babe FC and Concord FC, lauded the Vice Chancellor. Prof. Okechukwu Onuchukwu for releasing funds on sports development, saying that he has never also failed the School in terms of infrastructural development.

“The VC who is also a sports personality has not failed to release funds for this tournament, apart from that he has not also disappointed in terms of developing the school in all ramifications.

“I want to say that my major reason for accepting to coach the school football team is to develop the youth through sports”, Coach Egbiri said.

The former Eagle Cement Coach, explained that he was not encouraged the way and manner the young ones are going about sports because there is no discipline and so much quest for quick money.

” Honestly, the way young players are looking money was just too much. Looking for short cuts always to make money that is more reason some of them don’t go far and end up badly

” In our days we first of all think about how to make name and we are passionate about it. I went to school and saw myself in sports, while my initial intention was to read electrical engineering” he stated.

Tonye Orabere

Sports

Gov. Decries Delta’s Poor Performance At 2025 NYG

Published

5 days ago

September 12, 2025

The Tide

Pix: Team Delta State

The Delta State Sports Commission has come under scrutiny following the state’s disappointing performance at the just-concluded National Youth Games (NYG) in Asaba, where Lagos dethroned Delta to clinch top spot.

Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, visibly displeased with both the poor outing of Team Delta and the organizational lapses witnessed during the Games, summoned an emergency meeting with the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) immediately after the closing ceremony.

Delta, which had dominated the NYG by finishing first in the last eight editions, only managed second place this time — a result the governor described as “totally unacceptable,” especially given the state’s significant investment in the event.

According to a reliable source privy to the meeting, Governor Oborevwori expressed deep disappointment, stressing that his administration had provided all necessary support to the Sports Commission and the LOC to ensure Delta retained its traditional top position.

In a decisive move, the governor demoted his Executive Assistant on Sports and former Director-General of the Sports Commission, Festus Owhojero, under whose leadership the Games were organized. Owhojero was reassigned from Executive Assistant (EA) to Senior Special Assistant (SSA) with immediate effect.

The governor’s action, our source revealed, reflects his zero-tolerance stance on incompetence and underperformance within his administration. Mr. Owhojero thus becomes the first high-profile casualty of the governor’s resolve to reposition sports in Delta State.

Furthermore, Oborevwori directed the Sports Commission and LOC officials to submit a detailed report on the Games, outlining what went wrong and providing recommendations for improvement. The governor emphasized the need for urgent reforms to restore Delta’s dominance, especially as the state is set to host the next edition of the Games under an existing memorandum of understanding (MoU).

Sports

WCQ: NFF Denies Post Match Statement

Published

5 days ago

September 12, 2025

The Tide

Pix: Super Eagles players in celebration mood.

The Nigeria Football Federation has distanced itself from a post-match statement that criticised some Super Eagles players following the team’s 1-1 draw with South Africa in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

The statement, issued by the NFF’s Director of Communications, Ademola Olajire, singled out forward Cyriel Dessers and captain William Troost-Ekong for criticism.

It accused Dessers of being sluggish and faulted Ekong for the own goal that gave Bafana Bafana the lead.

However, NFF General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi, said on Wednesday that the statement did not represent the official position of the Federation.

“I saw the release just like everyone else did. Nobody in the Federation is happy with it,” Sanusi said.

“The NFF did not authorise that statement. We have great respect for all the players. Blaming an individual for a team result is unfair.”

He added that the Federation regards the South Africa match as a collective effort and will not support attempts to scapegoat any player.

“When we win, it’s a team victory. When we lose, it’s also collective. No player should be singled out,” Sanusi said.

He described the targeted criticism of Troost-Ekong as unjustified, noting that the defender had previously been celebrated as the Most Valuable Player at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Côte d’Ivoire.

“It was an unfortunate own goal. His intention was to clear the ball. Anyone who knows football understands that such things happen,” he said..

Sanusi also expressed confidence in the team’s unity, revealing that efforts were ongoing to regroup and refocus ahead of the remaining qualifiers and AFCON.

“Our house is in order. We’re preparing for the rest of the qualifiers and the AFCON in Morocco,” he said.

“There’s no problem with our players or coaching crew. Our relationship remains cordial. The government and the NFF are proud of the players’ efforts.”

The Federation had initially praised Calvin Bassey for his equalising goal and lamented the team’s failure to convert second-half chances.

But Sanusi made it clear that internal disciplinary action would be taken over the unauthorised release.

“I can assure you the NFF will take action on the matter,” he said.

Nigeria currently sit third in Group C of the CAF World Cup qualifiers with 11 points from eight matches. South Africa lead the group with 17 points.

The Super Eagles must now win their remaining games against Lesotho and Benin Republic and hope other results go their way to secure qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.