Sports
DR Congo Secures Quarter-Final Ticket
Title holders Democratic Republic of Congo left it late to secure an African Nations Championship quarter-finals place in Sudan on Monday.
Striker Mulota Kabangu, one of 11 stars from FIFA Club World Cup runners-up TP Mazembe in the Congolese squad, equalised eight minutes before full-time against lowly Mali and a 1-1 draw proved just enough.
But the 2009 champions and competition favourites owe a debt of gratitude to Cameroon, whose 2-0 victory over the Ivorians condemned the losers to an early exit from Group C in a biennial tournament for home-based footballers. Had the Ivorians won they would have reached the knockout phase this weekend while DR Congo licked their wounds and headed home from a tournament that has already seen fancied Ghana depart without securing a single point.
Cameroon became the second team after shock Group B winners South Africa to finish the three-match mini-league schedule boasting a one 100 per cent record and a maximum nine points. DR Congo collected four, the Ivorians three and Mali one. Hosts Sudan dropped two points when winning Group A from Algeria while none of the candidates to top Group D — Angola, Senegal, Tunisia — have perfect records going into their final fixtures Tuesday.
Cameroon will face the Group D runners-up in Omdurman Saturday and DR Congo confront the Group D winners three hours later in Khartoum, across the river Nile from the other match venue.
The Congolese were rocked with 10 minutes left in cooler-than-usual Omdurman as striker Alou Bagayoko from the Djoliba club in Bamako scored the first Mali goal of the tournament and broke the deadlock. Falling behind stung the Congolese and they levelled just 120 seconds later through Kabangu and Mali had to settle for a point following solitary-goal defeats by the Ivorians and Cameroonians last week.
Midfielder Arnaud Monkam from perennial Cameroon club champions Cotonsport Garoua put his team ahead on 58 minutes, but they did not clinch victory until one minute into stoppage time when defender Jean-Paul Ngah added a second goal. While neutral football followers enjoyed the thrilling group climax, DR Congo coach Muntubile Santos must be concerned at the failure of his Mazembe-bolstered squad to get going in Sudan.
Outplayed by Cameroon in their first outing, the Central Africans needed to come from behind to edge Ivory Coast and hopes that the corner had been turned were dashed as they struggled against Mali. Officials close to the defending champions blame fatigue with continuous national team and club commitments taking their toll on Mazembe stars like goalkeeper Muteba Kidiaba and frequent-scoring midfielder Dioko Kaluyituka.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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