Sports
Why Nigeria Can’t Talk Tough On W/Cup Qualifiers
Even at the peak of their
powers Nigeria’s Super Eagles would have had to be very much apprehensive of their chances of topping a World Cup ‘Group of Death’ that has Algeria, Cameroon and Zambia.
And now without a permanent coach, a directionless and broke Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) as well as public confidence in the team at an all-time low, the signs are even more disturbing that the Eagles will fail to qualify for Russia 2018.
Algeria has for some time now been ranked as Africa’s No 1 team and for good reason too, while Cameroon has proved that despite their internal problems, they know how to qualify for the World Cup having done so on nine occasions.
Surprise African champions in 2012, Zambia may no longer be the force they were a few years ago, but the results the other teams in this group record against them could well determine the team on the flight to Russia in 2018.
It was not luck or that Nigeria accidentally found themselves in the toughest qualifying group for the 2018 World Cup, but the failure to qualify for two straight AFCONs sealed the country’s fate.
So, while Egypt were battling Tunisia to get into Pot 1 of the seedings for the qualifying tournament draw, the Eagles already knew their chances of making it to a sixth World Cup had already been hugely compromised by their FIFA ranking.
Brave players and officials have won my admiration for their tough talk soon after the draw, but we all know that football matches are not won on the pages of the newspapers or in the airwaves.
Self delusion and deception only leads to only one thing – FAILURE.
It is what you do on the pitch after all the painstaking preparations outside it that will count on the day, tough talk and brave faces notwithstanding.
One could safely say that for this year, Nigeria has two “manageable” qualifiers – away to Zambia on October 3 and at home to Algeria on November 7 – before the tournament restarts in August 2017 with a home game versus Cameroon.
To stand any chance of qualifying for the next World Cup, both games against Zambia and Algeria are must-win.
And so the build-up for these two games will be first the Rio Olympics in August as well as the final AFCON 2017 qualifier at home against Tanzania.
Nigeria Olympic coach Samson Siasia has listed as many as 19 full internationals on his provisional squad for the summer games and that should be the core of the team for the matches against Zambia and Algeria.
The AFCON qualifier at home to Tanzania in September has now assumed a greater importance as this will serve as the final warm-up before the trip to Zambia the following month.
This match can no longer be played by players from the domestic league as the Eagles will use it to get ready for the clash against The Chipolopolos.
In previous qualifying campaigns, Nigeria has banked on a perfect home record added to a couple of away results to go through, more like Kano Pillars in the league.
But this can no longer be the case as teams have been known to come and get a result in Nigeria these days – For the 2015 AFCON qualifiers, Congo Brazzaville beat Eagles 3-2 in Calabar before South Africa achieved a 2-2 draw in Uyo, while Nigeria failed to beat Egypt in Kaduna before they lost to the Pharaohs to exit the 2017 AFCON.
Then comes the vexed issue of who should coach the Eagles.
Pinnick has made it abundantly clear that Nigeria football salvation is in the hands of a foreign coach, but he also knows he will have to get the cash to pay for such a coach.
Indications still point to Frenchman Paul Le Guen, who has previously worked with Cameroon, as the man the NFF will soon appoint for the top Eagles post.
But is the Frenchman the most suitable man for the job and how do his employers hope to bankroll his contract even if it were just for the qualifiers?
One only hopes that the $1.5m touted to have been made available by an unknown sponsor would not develop into another ‘tale by moonlight.’
The NFF executives were voted to take the best decisions on behalf of a country of 180 million fans and should they fail again in the discharge of this mandate, they ought to take the honourable path of resigning without being told, and not just tell us they have taken responsibility and then fall short of doing the needful.
Audu writes for African football.com
Samm Audu
Francisco Conceicao and Lois Openda ended their goal droughts as Juventus beat Roma to move within a point of the Serie A top four.
Conceicao finished off a slick move to put Juventus ahead just before half-time, before Openda tapped into an empty net in the 70th minute, but Tommaso Baldanzi halved the deficit to set up a nervy final 15 minutes.
Roma began the day with the best defensive record in Serie A having conceded just eight goals in 15 games, but there was nothing goalkeeper Mile Svilar could do about either Juventus goal.
Conceicao ended his nine-game goalless streak when he ran on to Andrea Cambiaso’s clever flick-on and drilled a low shot into the far corner.
Openda was on hand to convert from Weston McKennie’s selfless ball across the face of goal for his first strike in Serie A since joining Juventus on loan from RB Leipzig in the summer.
Roma finally found their cutting edge in the 76th minute when Baldanzi pounced after Michele di Gregorio had palmed Evan Ferguson’s low strike into danger.
Juventus forward Kenan Yildiz sought an instant response but saw his vicious strike cannon back off the post.
Roma have scored just 17 goals in 16 league games this season, so it came as no surprise that Gian Piero Gasperini’s side could not find a second goal.
Juventus remain fifth in the table but are just a point behind Roma in fourth, and have now won six of their past seven games in all competitions under Luciano Spalletti.
Roma would have gone joint-top of the table with Inter Milan had they won, but remain three points behind the leaders having played one game more.
In Germany, Bayer Leverkusen came from behind to beat RB Leipzig and leapfrog their opponents into third place in the Bundesliga table.
Goals from Martin Terrier and Patrik Schick cancelled out Xaver Schlager’s opener as an entertaining first half ended with three goals in nine minutes, before Montrell Culbreath wrapped up victory in second half injury-time.
The Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) will be held every four years from 2028, Confederation of African Football president Patrice Motsepe has announced.
The tournament has taken place every two years since 1968, with a one-year gap between the 2012 and 2013 editions.
But it will switch to a four-year cycle after the 2027 Afcon in East Africa and a 2028 edition.
Motsepe has instead announced the creation of an African Nations League which will take place annually from 2029.
“We have the most exciting new structure for African football,” Motsepe said.
“I do what is in the interests of Africa. The global calendar has to be significantly more synchronised and harmonised.”
Meanwhile, Caf has increased the prize money for the winners of Afcon from $7m (£5.2m) to $10m (£7.5m).
The surprise announcement about the future of Afcon was made by Motsepe after a meeting of Caf’s executive committee in Morocco before the start of the 2025 finals in Rabat yesterday.
The biennial hosting of Afcon has long caused issues with the football calendar, with the vast majority of recent tournaments held midway through the European club season.
However, Caf remained committed to scheduling the tournament every two years, not least as it needs the revenue raised from the finals to reinvest in the game on the continent.
Caf had made a resolution for Afcon to be held in a June-July slot from 2019 onwards and began its new plan in Egypt that year.
But the Covid-19 pandemic and weather conditions in host nations in Central and West Africa meant the 2021 and 2023 editions in Cameroon and Ivory Coast respectively were staged in January and February instead.
Fifa’s expanded 32-team Club World Cup was held in June and July this year, forcing Caf to opt for mid-season dates once again.
As a result this year’s Afcon in Morocco is taking place over Christmas and the New Year for the first time, with the final on 18 January.
The dates for the finals in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in 2027 are yet to be announced, and that will be swiftly followed by another Afcon in 2028, with the hosts of that edition yet to be decided.
After that, the continent’s biggest tournament will become a quadrennial tournament taking place in the same year as the European Championships.
Motsepe said the decision had been made in conjunction with Fifa president Gianni Infantino and the world governing body’s general secretary Mattias Grafstrom, and that Caf “have to compromise”.
Motsepe also announced the creation of the African Nations League, which will take place in September, October and November every year from 2029.
The competition will see all 54 member associates split into four zones, with six nations in the Northern zone and 16 nations in the Eastern, Western and Central and Southern zones.
Matches will be played in September and October, with the champions from each region meeting in November to then decide an overall winner.
Motsepe said the new competition will be “the equivalent of an Afcon every year” and will be held in partnership with Fifa in order to attract top-class sponsors.
“Every year in Africa, the best African players who play in Europe will be with us on the continent,” Motsepe added.
“Every year we will have a competition with 54 African nations with all the best players coming here to play.
“We are going to have a world-class competition every year.”
Anthony Joshua did what he was meant to do on Friday night in Miami: he lay waste to Jake Paul’s bravest and most controversial experiment in boxing with a destructive victory that felt less like a sporting result than the restoration of sanity.
In their scheduled eight-round heavyweight bout at the Kaseya Center, streamed globally to Netflix’s roughly 300 million subscribers, the former twice unified heavyweight champion scored four knockdowns before stopping the YouTuber-turned-boxer in the sixth round of a mismatch that had prompted weeks of safety fears and moral hand-wringing. Joshua’s triumph, on a night purpose-built as much for memes as for punches, served as a reminder that boxing still adheres to its elemental laws and that power and pedigree eventually reassert themselves.
From the opening bell, the shape of the fight was unmistakable. Joshua took the centre of the ring uncontested while Paul circled him, moving laterally from left to right and back again. The first round was extremely low volume, punctuated by a smattering of boos from the audience. Paul landed a brief double jab to the body before darting back to safety. Joshua threw an overhand right that appeared to glance off a retreating target making full use of the 22ft ring. It was tentative, but Joshua’s control of space earned him the round.
The second followed a similar pattern. Joshua swung and missed early as Paul continued to run, using lateral movement to frustrate the bigger man. Joshua began to cut off the ring more effectively, but Paul clinched whenever distance closed, drawing louder boos from the near-capacity crowd. A brief clash of heads halted momentum, and though Joshua hinted at body work, he continued to headhunt. It was a round defined by inertia: Joshua doing little, Paul doing less.
By the third, Joshua’s patience began to pay off. Paul briefly stepped into the pocket and attempted an uppercut, catching only leather. Joshua responded by throwing more power shots, narrowly missing but drawing audible gasps from the crowd. Late in the round, a right hand to the ribs appeared to buckle Paul, the first clear sign of damage. Again, Joshua did not land much cleanly, but he was the only fighter attempting to win rather than merely survive.
The fight deteriorated toward farce in the fourth. Paul went into full retreat as Joshua struggled to corner him, wrapping up at every opportunity. The crowd grew increasingly hostile. Matters continued southward when Paul went down claiming a low blow, prompting a prolonged stoppage by the referee Chris Young that gave him valuable recovery time. It did little to help. Paul went down again, then again, clearly exhausted and buying time. Despite the repeated delays, the referee issued no point deduction, drawing sustained jeers from the stands.
By the fifth, the contest had crossed from mismatch into embarrassment. Paul flopped once more before finally being dropped by a clean right hand. He beat the count but looked close to collapsing. A second knockdown followed moments later, again from a right, and Joshua closed the round trapping Paul in the corner and unloading unanswered shots. Somehow Paul survived to the bell, though the proceedings had ceased to resemble a competitive sporting event.
The end came early in the sixth. Paul went down almost immediately, dragged himself upright, then fell again under sustained pressure. This time he could not beat the count. Young waved it off at the 1:31 mark, finally ending a bout that had long outlived its threadbare justification.
