Sports
Bell Rates African Goalkeepers Average
Along with a long professional career in France, Joseph-Antoine Bell was a member of three Cameroon teams that played at the FIFA World Cup, and he is considered among the greatest goalkeepers to come from Africa. Despite the Lions failure to qualify, the outspoken 57-year-old was at the recent CAF Africa Cup of Nations, which was co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, and he had some interesting observations about African goalkeeping in general and at the Nations Cup in particular.
He said that the standard between the sticks on the continent was a mixed bag. “You have had some good and some not-good-enough goalkeepers at the tournament, but this is something that you can see everywhere in the world. It is really a very special position, where coming from the good to the bad can be just one game. It is a hard position,” he said. “I think most of the performances have been average. I don’t remember seeing any excellent goalkeeping, but I have seen good goalkeeping.”
Not surprisingly, Bell believes Côte d’Ivoire’s impressive Boubacar Barry was the best goalkeeper at the tournament as the Elephants became the first side to fail to win the tournament despite not conceding even a single goal. Bell believes that Barry, who played in five of his side’s six matches, is a better netminder because of his attitude and mentality. “He understands that you need to be focused. He saved Ivory Coast a few times because he was serious, and maybe because he was so serious, his team became serious too. This is a very important quality you have to have,” he said.
Bell, who started playing in Europe at a late age, when he was already 31, believes that the best African goalkeeper at the moment is Nigerian Vincent Enyeama. “He had a very good World Cup, but now he is not playing regularly [with Lille], and Nigeria were not at the nations Cup. That will make it difficult,” he said.
“To be the best, you need to play hard and good matches, tough matches to show what you are capable of. To be considered among the best goalkeepers, you need to play consistently well. If you watch him this week, you will see him to be good, and if you see him in two months, he will still be a good goalkeeper. I am not sure if we have somebody like that in Africa.”
Bell, who did not play as a member of Cameroon’s 1982 and 1990 FIFA World Cup squads and had to wait until he was 39 at USA 94 before playing his first game at the finals, says that African goalkeeping at the moment is overall far away from the standards set by world-class players like Iker Casillas or Gianluigi Buffon.
“Goalkeepers like that are real personalities, but that is not what is wanted in Africa,” he explained. “We fight against personalities. We don’t need charismatic people, we don’t need those who can really be leaders. But to be a good goalkeeper, you need to be a real leader. This is the way that I see it: You need to think as a leader, you need to act as a leader and you need to be a leader.”
The former goalkeeper says he thinks that if he had gone to Europe at a younger age, he would have been an even better goalkeeper. “Yes, I would have had enough time to show what I was capable of. But this is the problem: if we don’t upgrade our competitions in Africa, it is going to be hard to compete. And this is why our players are going to Europe at a younger and younger age, and this may not help Africa. The way we put things together is the most important issue.”
In a bid to make the Pillar of Associations Rivers state football tournament to become a permanent annual feature in Rivers state football calendar and a veritable platform for alternative career opportunity for Pillar members and members of Rivers football community, the Chairman of the tournament’s Organising Committee, Comrade Franklin Obute has stated that they were open to welcoming sponsorships from corporate entities and well meaning individuals.
Comrade Obute in an interview with news men on a match day at the ongoing competition at the Rivers State University’s ground said that the Pillar of Associations were ready to partner interested parties, who would be willing to invest in the competition through sponsorship towards elevating the quality and standard of the tournament.
According to him, “The Pillar of Associations tournament, due to the opportunities available, owing to the sheer number of businesses and members obtainable in the Pillar, would be a very attractive opportunity to exploit through sponsorship”.
He stated that there would be a conscious efforts toward sensitising the corporate and private environments to buy into the vision and objectives of the tournament. He explained that due to the open nature of the competition, whereby members of the association are allowed to engage any footballer from across the country, whether a business man or not, any sponsor would be able to enjoy unimaginable mileage.
“Every multinational company, private businesses should aspire to be part of the sponsorship of this tournament because there are so much benefits derivable therein, the coverage is very wide. You know that organising a football tournament of this nature is capital intensive, so, any sponsorship to add more value is welcomed”, he said.
The 2025 edition is currently ongoing and has reached the second round stage where matches are now being played on knockout basis, beginning from Friday.
By: Gabriel Nwanetanya
Some of the best golfers across Africa are expected to converge on the Ikoyi Club 1938 Golf Section for the three-day Ikoyi Ladies Golf Tournament holding from November 11 to 13.
The star-studded amateur open tournament is part of the activities lined up by the leadership of the club to celebrate the ladies’ tournament’s 50th anniversary.
Speaking at a world press conference at the Club’s headquarters in Ikoyi, the Ladies Club Captain, Mrs Peggy Onwu, explained that the tournament will offer opportunity for leading amateur golfers across 11 countries of the world to showcase their skills on the green lawn.
According to her, over 150 golfers have already registered for the open tournament, which will attract mouth-watering prizes, including a trophy, a premium ticket to the United States of America, among others.
The event will be preceded by ‘Twilight evening,’ which will see the participants play the golf game towards dawn, in a relaxed atmosphere with cocktails, networking and good music.
She thanked the various sponsors of tournament, including PWC, Delta Airline, Western Star, First EGP, among others, for identifying and keying into the Club’s goals and aspirations as part of their corporate social responsibilities.
Mrs. Onwu added that the event was not only a celebration of resilience, commitment, dedication and sacrifice, but a rare display of exemplary team spirit by all members of the Ladies Golf Section.
Thrilled by the presence of a Nigerian-born Italy- based golfer and fashion icon, Bali Lawal, as well as other professionals expected to grace the tournament, she promised that the tournament will be a memorable outing aimed at mentoring ladies keen on honing their golfing skills.
Speaking in the same vein, Vice Lady Captain, Annie Eimiakhena, explained that the tournament will entail three days of competitive outing showing skills, professional dexterity.
She added that participants and golfers will use the opportunity of the event to network among themselves, while a Masterclass will be held to educate would-be golfers on the dynamics of the game.
The Technical Manager of Rivers United FC of Port Harcourt, Finidi George has praised his boys (players) as they ran away with a point in the rescheduled match day nine of the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) against Bendel Insurance.
According to him, before the game, he told his boys that they have to put up a good fighting spirit in the game, knowing that it will not be easy at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, Benin City.
Finidi said this last Thursday in his post match interview with sports journalists and made available to Tidesports after they secured a goalless draw against Insurance.
He explained that in the first half, the game was 50-50 but in the second half after 15 to 20 minutes, my players pushed them back, looking for goal but they were able to hold them and got the draw.
“ From onset, I knew it was going to be a difficult game. Yes, we have to defend deep and get something. Kudos to my boys, they put up a good fighting spirit.
“ Despite the host creating good number of chances even hitting the crossbar but I must say that the draw is not a bad result.
“ Wasiu Falolu came closer in the second half but his long ranged shot just went over the bar.
“It was not a bad result but we have to move on and see how we can get good results from other matches” Finidi said.
By: Kiadum Edookor