Sports
Ghana Thrilled By Historic Title
Ghana coach, Sellas Tetteh said it meant “everything to see his side become the first African team to win the under-20 World cup. The Black Satellites beat Brazil in a penalty shoot-out after Friday’s game in Cairo finished goalless at the end of extra time. Ghana had a player sent off in the first half but held on and then secured victory in the shoot-out. Tetteh said: “It’s something people have to speak about, it’s everything”. And he praised his side for the way they dealt with Brazil’s attacking force. “We were tactically strong, we frustrated the Brazillians when we were one man down. “We were well composed, we made less mistakes and when it went to penalty kicks we were determined because we have we have come from far, and well motivated to win”. What is more, the coach claimed that when the shoot-out was on, he knew his side were going to take the title, even though they initially went behind. Talking about his opposite numbers on the Brazil bench Tetteh said they seemed more concerned by the spot-kicks than Ghana. “One side were more worried than the other side. We knew we were going through.”
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.