Sports
… Visit Thrills Students
Students of Government College, Ikoyi, yesterday, expressed their enthusiasm at the visit of international tennis stars, Venus and Serena Williams, saying they would be inspired by the visit.
The Williams sisters’ visit to the school was part of a three-day tour tagged, “Breaking the mould”, aimed at empowering young girls.
Speaking with newsmen, the students said they were thrilled by the visit, stressing that they learned a lot from the experiences shared by the sisters.
Olademi Odunayo, a student, said:
“I learned a lot today because I’m very happy meeting the Williams sisters, I’m very happy.
“They really talked to us, expressed their emotions to us, told us lots of things about how they made it in life, how they became champions, their role models and everything.’’
Another student, Sunday Esther, said she was inspired by the challenges they overcame to become champions, adding that determination was crucial to success.
“I’m very happy to receive them and one of the things about them is that, I learned that they started from nowhere, from no background and today they are stars.
“So no matter what you are, you don’t have to take your background or who you are as an excuse, you just have to believe in yourself and with determination you will get there.”
Also, Ramatu Abdullahi, a student, quoted Venus as saying: “in those moments we have lost we learnt so much from the defeat, which is what has made us who we are”.
Damilola Adeyemi, also a pupil, said the visit of the Williams sisters gave her some sense of renewed hope to be among the best in what she was doing.
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.