Sports
Sustain Performance At AFCON 2013, Fans Urge Eagles
Some football fans on Saturday advised the Super Eagles to sustain their current level of performance at the 2013 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in South Africa.
The Eagles beat Liberia’s Lone Star 6-1 at the U.J. Esuene Stadium in Calabar on Saturday to qualify for the competition.
Some of the fans spoke in separate interviews in reaction to the win. Secretary of Nigerian Women Professional League (NWPL), Danlami Alanana, said the players did Nigerians proud with their performance which gave them an 8-3 aggregate win.
He however advised that they should further convince many football followers that they did not qualify on a platter of gold.
“They did Nigerians proud and I hope they will sustain their performance in the course of the competition in South Africa.
“This is because it is not just about playing Liberia and qualifying for the competition.
“All we want now is for the players to show the world that they did not qualify on a platter of gold.
“They should improve on their performance so that we can be a force to reckon with, once again, in football,’’ Alanana said.
He however commended the efforts of the team’s overseas-based players and advised the technical crew to be more tactical and help the players to remain focused.
“The foreign-based players really proved their worth and you will discover that they really brought about some difference in the game.
“I will say their call-up was justified to a large extent, because the level of the game was high and they showed a high level of seriousness.
“I want to advise the technical crew that they should not relax in their work, because this is just the beginning and the crew has to be more tactical,’’ Alanana, who is a staff of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), said.
A football coach in the FCT, who matched the match Maruf Adeyemo, said the Eagles should always show more seriousness and determination during any game.
He said he would be expecting the team to display such quality at the AFCON finals in South Africa next year.
“They (the Eagles) played a good game. But based on what they played, they were too confident of winning and I think we should not toy with this kind of game next time.
“I commend coach Stephen Keshi’s effort of blending the home-based players with their overseas-based counterparts.
“If you look back at the first leg game in Liberia which had ended 2-2 last month, it was basically a team of the home-based, while today’s is a blend of the two.
“A Sunshine Stars player and a Warri Wolves defender also played in the defence, and this shows that the coach has confidence in the Nigerian League.
“As for me, a Nigerian player is a Nigerian player as long as you can restore the lost glory for this country and be able to justify being called to play,’’ Adeyemo said.
A youth corps member, Felix Nwagwu, said the Eagles should improve on converting their scoring chances to goals.
“They missed a lot of scoring chances, even though they won. But they played a very good game and they were composed.
“But they should have scored more goals than they did. They should be more focused.
“They also need to change the attitude we saw in somebody like Victor Moses, who in spite of playing well was complacent towards the end of the match.
“He was no longer serious as the game went towards its end, because he felt his side was winning. But no matter how small a team is, they should never be underrated.
“Our players should play all games to the best of their ability and not take any chances at all.
“However, I commend the other players, especially the overseas-based ones. It appears that when they are invited to play crucial matches like this one, they will give their best performance,’’ he said.
The 2013 African Cup of Nations in South Africa will hold from January 19 to February 10.
Sports
NPFL: 3SC End Winless Run …As Insurance Settle For Draw
Coach Gbenga Ogunbote and 3SC can heave a sigh of relief after ending their four-game winless run in the 2022/23 Nigeria Professional Football League with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Plateau United in Ibadan on Wednesday, Tidesports source reports.
The Oluyole Warriors have struggled to get results at home this season, and they found themselves behind after 29 minutes against their visitors in the match-day 11 encounter.
Samuel Ayanrinde, however, stepped up for Ogunbote’s side again, equalising before halftime, before putting them ahead minutes into the second half.
Defender Ghali Falke added the third for 3SC in the 59th minute, but there was still enough time for Plateau United to pull one back as the game ended 3-2. The result saw Plateau United drop to fourth on the table while 3SC moved up to seventh.
Meanwhile, there will be no change in the top-two as Group A leaders Bendel Insurance were also forced to a 1-1 draw by second-place Akwa United in Benin City.
In-form striker Osarenkhoe Imade was in the right place at the right time to poke home the lead for the Benin Arsenal and his eighth goal of the season inside two minutes, but the Promise Keepers levelled matters on the half hour mark through Cyril Olisema.
Elsewhere in Aba, Enyimba failed to close the gap on the top two teams as they dropped points at home for the second game running in their 1-1 draw against Nasarawa United.
League top scorer Emeka Obioma found the back of the net from the spot again to give Enyimba the lead and take his tally to nine, but the Elephants were undone by an Emmanuel Ogbole’s 76th minute equaliser. They, however, managed to leapfrog into third place, thanks to 3SC’s defeat of Plateau United in Ibadan.
Sports
NDSS Holds Inter-House Sports Competition …As Green House Emerge Winners
Director of Niger Delta Science School, Rumuola Port Harcourt, Emmanuel Egbuchiem has stated that the essence of organising an Inter-House Sports competition among students was not basically about winning laurels but to ensure that students develop the spirit of sportsmanship that will help them excel in all their endeavors.
Mr. Egbuchiem who made this remark at the 23rd Annual Inter-House Sports Athletic Competition of NDSS held recently at Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic Football field firstly thanked God for his mercy towards making the hosting of the Inter-House Sports Competition a recently despite the prevailing situation in the country, especially the challenge posed by the Naira design and the ongoing general election exercise.
Though, this years edition of the competition was held on a low key as a result of the liquidity of cash in the country, nevertheless, I must not fail to express my profound thanks to the Rector Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic Rumuola Dr. Sam Kalagbor for his approval and willingness at all time in supporting the NDSS in all her endeavours to host the competition which according to him was not easy to organize.
The School Director also commend parents for their untiringly efforts and sacrifices made to ensure that their children continued to attend the NDSS consistently even in the face of the current financial difficulties, not minding other skeptics and discouraging words from the mischievous ones in the society.
While commending the students of NDSS for being punctual in school irrespective of the long distance they covered in trekking down to the college, the Director equally reminded all the participants in the competition that what is paramount in the competition is the zeal and energy each of them put in the practice
On his part, the Chairman of the occasion Dr. Bobo Moses noted that it was not a contestable fact that the inter-house athletic sports being parts of the sporting activities organised every year in schools will not only help to bring the students together to work as a team but will also help to enhance their mental development to excel in their endeavours in life.
Sports
Eguma Pledges To Work On Players Fitness
The Technical Manager of Rivers United FC of Port Harcourt, Stanley Eguma has said that he will work on the players fatigue before next League game.
He stated that fatigue adversely affected his players performance in the Nigeria Professional Football League, (NPFL) particularly the game against Abia Warriors in the match day 10 last Sunday.
Eguma said this on Sunday in a chat with Sports journalists shortly after his side forced the visitors to one all draw in the NPFL at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt.
He described the game as a difficult one but expressed joy for securing draw at the end of the day.
“ It is a game of football. It was a fair game but it was a difficult one for us.
“We missed a lot of chances in the first half but I thank God we were able to secure a draw.
“ We have managed the fatigue in the team, you can see the result of today’s game but we are going to improve on our games subsequently.
“ We will go back to the drawing board and see what we can do in our next outing.
“ You can never tell today’s result was very difficult but we are going to plan to improve in other games”, Eguma said.
By: Kiadum Edookor
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