Sports
Stakeholders Hail D’Tigers Victory At Four-Nation Tourney
Some Nigerian basketball
stakeholders have commended the performance of the senior national men’s team at a four-nation challenge event which ended on Sunday in South Africa.
The D’Tigers emerged victorious at the maiden edition of the Four-Nation Invitational Tournament after defeating Kenya, Mozambique and hosts South Africa.
Led by coach Sani Ahmed, D’Tigers defeated South Africa 97-58 in their first game on Friday, Kenya, 83-52 and Mozambique 51-42 on Saturday.
In the final match on Sunday, D’Tigers outclassed Mozambique in their second meeting by recording a 72-59 win to lift the trophy.
The stakeholders told newsmen in separate interviews that more of such competitions would help the team’s home-based talents garner experience.
The Akofa Ivy Junior League Co-ordinator, Abimbola Faniran, said the victory by the D’Tigers which featured mostly players from the DStv Premier League was a good development for Nigerian basketball.
“I’m pleased with the outing of our players. They showed good quality and proved their capabilities.
“The competition will contribute a lot to our ratings and also earn a lot of respect for our national league.
“We also have to praise the leadership of Olumide Oyedeji, the team captain, who was outstanding in the tournament and who led the team with his vast experience to win the trophy.
“We hope for more of such tournaments, because it will go far to help our players and help the domestic league to be recognised on the continent,” Faniran said.
The Assistant Coach of Mark Mentors of Abuja, Dauda Adeka, said it was a great achievement for the D’Tigers and a victory for the entire basketball family in Nigeria.
“We are very excited about this. Our boys did well and once again put our name in a position to be seen as a force to reckon with on the continent.
“We want more competitions of this nature, so that we can showcase the quality of our league,” Adeka said.
The Head Coach of Police Baton, Mark Balogun, in his reaction, said the D’Tigers performance was a good development in the right direction of rebuilding the national team.
“It’s a great development for our basketball, especially our home-based league players. We need to give them more of this exposure to build their confidence.
“When they are involved in numerous invitational tournaments, they will be able to master their acts and several techniques properly.
“Because this is the essential ingredient to developing players into world-class status, we urge the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) to look out for more tournaments of this nature.
“Because if players are involved in more playing games, they will have more time to practise and perfect strategies and the necessary skills to become world-class players,” Balogun said.
Sports
CAA Wants Ghana To Host 2026 Athletics Champions
The Confederation of African Athletics has invited Ghana to bid for the hosting rights of the 2026 African Athletics Championships, following a successful athletics event at the just concluded 2023 African Games.
President of Ghana Athletics, Bawa Fuseini, stated this and expressed confidence in the transformative potential of the Legon Stadium for athletes and Ghana’s bid to host international competitions.
With a capacity of 11,000, the Legon Stadium played a pivotal role in the recent African Games, hosting both the opening and closing ceremonies as well as various sporting events including athletics, football, and rugby.
Fuseini highlighted the success of the athletics events held at the stadium, which contributed to Ghana winning six medals.
“We have already started getting requests from the Confederation of African Athletics to bid for the 2026 African Athletics Championships.
“When they came and saw what we have put in place and the level of organisation, they told me that for the last 20 years, they’ve never seen any organisation like this before. We did three official courses. And the last one, we had 110, all of them passed. We had a lot of officials and equipment.”
Since its establishment in 1979, Ghana has never hosted the African Athletics Championships, with Nigeria being the host country twice, in 1989 and 2018.
This year, Cameroon will take the reins as the host nation, with the event set to be held at the Olembe Stadium.
Sports
‘I’m Not Under Pressure To Coach Eagles’
Finidi George, head coach of the Nigeria Premier Football Leagues side, Enyimba, has stated that he is not losing any sleep over getting the Super Eagles job on a permanent basis.
Early this month, the Nigeria Football Federation declared the position of the Super Eagles’ head coach vacant, following the exit of Portuguese Jose Peseiro, who led the side to a second-place finish at the 2023 Africa Cup Nations in Ivory Coast in February.
In an advertisement on its website calling for applications with a March 13 deadline, the football governing body stated that the prospective Eagles coach “must have proven experience at the elite level of football.”
The former Ajax man, who also applied for the job, was appointed Eagles interim coach for the international window with the former winger picking a win and suffering a defeat.
In an interview with Tidesports source, the 52-year-old tactician said he was not desperate for the job permanently.
“I felt really good when I was told to take charge of the team. I have been with the team for almost two years, I know all the players, their strengths, and their weaknesses but I am only here to serve Nigeria the way I know how to do stuff.
“I will just take these two games and go back to my club. Whatever the decision is taken after, so be it. I’m not under pressure to say I must get the role permanently.”
Sports
‘Reasons Why Eagles Lost To Mali’
The friendly games against Ghana and Mali were to serve as an audition for George Finidi, who was in charge of the team on an interim basis, but the Eagles’ lacklustre display in those friendlies has called for his further evaluation.
Finidi kept faith with ex-coach Jose Peseiro’s defensive formation against Mali on the back of his first win (against Ghana) in charge of the team four days earlier.
But this time, his defence was punished following a combination of defensive errors and poor passes.
The Eagles struggled to play out of defence due to the high pressing of the Malians and it was no surprise that the first goal by Les Aigles was a direct result of their aggression.
Chidozie Awaziem, who started on the right of the back three alongside Kenneth Omeruo and Semi Ajayi, lacked composure and was pressured into making a pass across his box straight at Bilal Toure, who made no mistake in getting the ball past Stanley Nwabali. They missed the calming presence of injured William Troost-Ekong.
Vice captain, Kenneth Omeruo, was also culpable of misplaced passes and was beaten for pace when Kamory Doumbia ran past him to seal Mali’s first win in over four decades, firing his shot past a helpless Nwabali, who stood no chance.
Eagles wing backs, Bright Osayi-Samuel and Jamilu Collins also did not do enough to support the team in attack when they had the chance to.
Lack of creativity
Finidi paired Raphael Onyedika and Wilfred Ndidi in a double pivot in midfield. Both players are naturally anchor men and neither is a box-to-box midfielder.
They both do not possess the offensive capability to drive the team’s attack forward, which left the Eagles once again craving for a natural creative midfielder.
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