Sports
Nasarawa Stakeholders Label Eagles Late Bloomers
Some Stakeholders and
football fans in Nigeria have expressed confidence in the Nigerian Super Eagles but label them as ‘late bloomers’ who always leave it late before getting the desired result.
They aired their opinions in separate interviews last week.
Football teams across the continent, including the Nigerian Super Eagles are presently engaged in a series of qualifiers for a slot at the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) competition to be held in Morocco.
The Super Eagles, who are grouped in Group A with South Africa, Congo and Sudan, beat the Sudanese 3 goals to 1 to climb to third position on the log with four points.
Former Commissioner for Youth and Sports, in Nasarawa State Mr Godwin Mbatav, said he was optimistic the Super Eagles would win their remaining matches.
He, however, frowned at the manner in which the national side often achieve its desired results.
“The Super Eagles will make it. You saw what they played in Abuja against Sudan. You know they normally wake up at the last minute.
“That is what we are facing in the country right now. We are always used to blooming late, that is the problem.
“You will notice that, at the beginning, they won’t give the competition the seriousness it deserves until when it gets to a situation when they have to win at all costs, then they wake up.
Special Adviser to Governor Umaru Al-Makura on Youth and Sports Development, Mr Silas Agara also expressed confidence in the Eagles.
Agara, however, blamed the football authorities and management of the team for the current situation the Eagles find themselves.
“If we can beat Congo and South Africa, we will qualify, but honestly, I am not happy with the way we do things in the country.
“At this stage, we should have qualified and be using the remaining games as friendlies for our boys but that is not the case.
“Honestly, I blame those handling the boys for the situation we are in. but I have not written the team off in as much as we are coming up late.
“I have not written the team off yet. But, we need to stop this tradition of having the knife on our neck before performing,” he said.
Public Relations Officer of Nasarawa Amazons Football Club, Alhaji Salisu Adamu, expressed disappointment in the Super Eagles inability to demoralise their opponents with early goals.
Adamu, however, expressed confidence that they would qualify for the AFCON 2015.
“The Super Eagles are supposed to go for early goals so as to demoralise their opponents. Look at what happened in Namibia with our girls.
“Almost three minutes, they scored three goals. If they act like that, no matter how strong their opponents are, they will be demoralised.
“See what happened yesterday, because, after the Sudanese equalised, they began to grow in confidence.
“But if we had scored early goals, they would have lost confidence even before the start of the second half.
Lafia resident, Miss Taiwo Ojetaye, said it would take a miracle for the national team side to qualify for the AFCON tournament, blaming the situation on poor preparation and bad start.
“We started very poorly and now it has affected us seriously. If we don’t win our remaining games, I seriously doubt we will make it.
“Now we are left to be playing with very serious pressure on us. All our remaining matches must be won.” she said.
a football enthusiast in Lafia, Mr Abdul Ahmed, queried the attitude of the team and called for its total reshuffle for optimal results.
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.