Sports
Mixed Reactions Trail Super Eagles Draw With Kenya
Mixed reactions trailed the Super Eagles 1-1 draw with the Harambee Stars of Kenya in Calabar at weekend.
The Super Eagles forced the Harambee Stars to a draw in the World Cup qualifier at the UJ Esuene Stadium in Calabar.
Some soccer stakeholders and fans in Abuja told Tidesports that they were disappointment over the outcome of the match.
Mr Moroof Oluwa, the Secretary-General of Nigeria Football Referees Association (NFRA), expressed concern over the ability of the Super Eagles to take their chances in front of goal.
“The boys really need to wake up from their slumber and put the victory of the Nations Cup behind them.
“The World Cup is the biggest stage of the game and it will really be a shame if we don’t qualify,” Oluwa said.
Mr Godwin Bamigboye, the Chairman of the Nigeria Coaches Association (NCA), FCT chapter, said that the game was tough because the Kenyans came to defend.
“Well, the Kenyans came to defend but were caught napping in the final minute of the game.
“There is a likelihood that when the Eagles’ go for the return leg in Kenya, the Harambee Stars will come out to play; then the Eagles’ could create more scoring opportunities.
“I really do hope we can convert more of our chances to goals in our next match because our strikers were really wasteful today,” he said.
Dimeji Salami, a business man, said that the Super Eagles were lucky to have escaped defeat after throwing away many scoring chances.
“They missed a lot of scoring opportunities and could have paid dearly for it today but for a last gasp effort from Nnamdi,” he said.
Another soccer enthusiast, Audu Yisa, said the last minute goal was a big relief.
“The draw was bad enough. A defeat would have been worse.
“The boys need to put more effort into their next match because the Kenyans will be tougher to beat at home,” he said.
Mr Chidi Nwogwugwu, an estate surveyor, however, said that although the Eagles drew the game, hope was not lost.
“We are still on course; we have a very good chance of qualifying,” he said.
And from Lagos, Fatai Amao, a former Head Coach of 3SC, expressed gratitude to God for the draw and said that the shock given by the the Harambee Stars was an indication that no team should be underrated.
“The game of football is not predictable at all but we thank God that the game ended in a draw because Kenya came here to surprise us.
“I want to salute the courage of our boys not giving up until the end of the game, this is highly commendable,’’ he said.
Joe Erico, a former Assistant Head Coach of Super Eagles, said that he was taken aback by the result of the game.
Erico said that the Harambee Stars would have succeeded in beating the Eagles had they given up.
“I was apprehensive but thank God for the draw. I believe the team will convert all their missed opportunities to goals in Nairobi,’’ he said.
Erico said that there was no complacency on the Eagles side as the team played well.
He expressed optimism that the Eagles would convert all the missed chances to goals in the return leg to enable them to qualify for the World Cup.
But Ali Reham , the Kenyan Team manager, accused the referee of assisting the Eagles to equalise the game.
“The referee from Bostwana did not do well, he added extra time to enable Nigeria equalise.
“We played well and likewise Nigeria played like Africa Champions and kept the pressure until they equalised.
Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has said that criticism that he and other players chased money by moving to Saudi Arabia is wide of the mark.
The 33-year-old left Chelsea for Al-Ahli in a £16m ($21.4m) deal in 2023, and in May the Africa Cup of Nations winner helped his Saudi club win the Asian Champions League, making him one of the few players to win both that competition and its European equivalent.
But, like many others, Mendy has been criticised for playing for money rather than prestige in the lucrative Saudi Pro League.
When asked about such criticism, Mendy told a Tidesports source, “Al-Ahli’s project came along and they made me feel I had a big role to play.
“Two years later, we won the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. So yes, that validates my choice. And I hope the coming years will validate it even more.”
He added: “Some people will quickly jump to conclusions and say the only reason is money. From the start, I always said that when I left Chelsea, I knew I was joining another team where I could win everything , which was no longer the case at Chelsea.”
The Blues have since won the Conference League, Europe’s third-tier club competition, under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
But it comes after the regime’s trophyless first two years, a period which has frustrated some supporters after the success enjoyed under Roman Abramovich’s stewardship in the previous 19 years.
Mendy has also been celebrating what he describes as a historical win with Senegal against England at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, but days earlier he had been in Dakar delivering a different kind of win.
He is the sponsor of Yakaar, a school in Keur Massar, which seeks to improve funding and access to digital learning tools for local children from underprivileged backgrounds.
Famously, as Mendy grew up in France, he was unemployed, aged 22, while struggling to find a club, with members of his family still living on the outskirts of Dakar.
That is why Yakaar, a word meaning “hope”, was chosen, a word Mendy has carried with him in his career.
“Hope is what kept me going. When I was without a club, it was the hope of getting that first professional contract.
“Then the hope of playing for the national team. The hope of making my family proud by doing the job I had always dreamed of.
“Indeed, hope is the best word to describe my career.”
Mendy was also asked whether the responsibility of being an African goalkeeper had weighed heavily on him.
“Of course. When I was in England, there weren’t many African goalkeepers in top clubs,” he admitted.
“Whether nationally or internationally, I had that responsibility. It’s the same for other African goalkeepers like Andre Onana [Manchester United] or Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal).”
The entire refereeing committee has been fired by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), with structural reforms soon set to follow.
According to sources, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has dismissed the entire refereeing committee in response to mounting pressure from clubs demanding structural reform. A major shake-up aimed at modernising Spanish refereeing from top to bottom has now been set in motion.
Head of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Luis Medina Cantalejo and Head of VAR, Carlos Clos Gomez, have been removed from their positions. They are joined by several senior officials, including Antonio Rubinos Perez and three vice presidents, who are also stepping down. A new leadership model will be introduced, led by a CEO and a sporting director, aiming to overhaul how refereeing is managed covering assessments, promotions, and daily operations. While the leadership changes are sweeping, the current pool of referees in La Liga and the second tier will remain, ensuring continuity on the field during the transition.
Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a new two-year contract with Al-Nassr that means he will stay with the Saudi Pro League club until beyond his 42nd birthday.
The Portugal captain, 40, joined the Riyadh-based team in December 2022 after leaving Manchester United in acrimonious circumstances, having criticised the club and said he had no respect for manager Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr deal had been due to expire at the end of June and there was speculation he could leave, but that has now been quashed.
In a post on X, Ronaldo wrote: “A new chapter begins. Same passion, same dream. Let’s make history together.”
Although Al-Nassr have not added to their nine domestic titles during Ronaldo’s time at the club, they have benefited from a flood of goals from the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Ronaldo scored 35 times in 41 matches across all competitions last term and was the league’s top scorer for a second consecutive season.
He has managed 99 goals in appearances overall for Al-Nassr and is well on his way to reaching 1,000 senior goals in his career, with a current tally of 938 for club and country.
Having helped Portugal win the Uefa Nations League a little over two weeks ago, the former Manchester United, Real Madrid, Sporting and Juventus forward will almost certainly now be targeting a sixth World Cup appearance next summer.
Only a month ago, Ronaldo posted on social media to say “the chapter is over”.
That came after the Saudi Pro League wrapped up with Al-Nassr finishing third and trophyless once again.
The comment fuelled rumours that Ronaldo was ready to leave the league where he reportedly became the best-paid player in football history with an annual salary of £177m when he joined.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino raised the prospect of Ronaldo joining a team involved in the Club World Cup after Al-Nassr failed to qualify for the extended tournament which is being held in the United States.
Ronaldo said he had received offers from participating teams but had turned them down.
The decision to stay until at least 2027, which is certain to be highly lucrative, appears to rule out any future prospect of Ronaldo returning to play at the highest level in Europe.