Sports
Muamba’s Progress Excites Adebayor
Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor has revealed Fabrice Muamba is “acting normal” in his hospital bed as he continues to recover from the cardiac arrest he suffered recently at White Hart Lane.
The Bolton midfielder has had various visitors from within football since his collapse at White Hart Lane in the FA Cup quarter-final, which led to the match being abandoned.
The condition of the 23-year-old has improved significantly, to the point where he has been able to speak some words, in both French and English.
Adebayor, who saw Muamba at the London Chest Hospital, is hopeful the positive signs will lead to a full recovery.
“He’s a strong guy and I think he has been through a lot of things in the last two days but he’s back to normal and he’s trying to talk normal and he’s acting normal which is very important,” Adebayor said.
The Spurs frontman, on loan from Manchester City, added of Muamba: “At the moment it’s looking good. As a brother, as a friend, it’s a big relief.”
Like others, Adebayor is waiting to see how Muamba copes when he is allowed to leave his bed in the intensive care unit.
Adebayor said on Sky Sports News: “We are very happy the medics from Bolton and Tottenham did a great job – and we have to thank the almighty God as well.
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.
