Sports
Countdown Begins For FIFA Club W/Cup
The FIFA Club World Cup will be held on African soil for the first time in December 2013 when Morocco hosts the august tournament in Aghadir Marrakech. With just over two months to go before the tenth edition of FIFA Club World Cup kicks off in the city of Agadir with an opening match between Raja Casablanca and Auckland on 11 December, the countdown is well underway. The Local Organising Committee (LOC) unveiled the official Emblem earlier in the month.
So far, five clubs have qualified for tournament and these are Bayern Munich, the reigning UEFA Champions League winners, Oceania champions, Auckland City FC, CONCACAF Champions League winners CF Monterrey while South America champions, Atletico Mineiro and the first of the two African clubs Raja Casablanca who will be representing Morocco, the host nation. The CAF Champions League winners will be known by the second week in November and will join Raja Casablanca as the two African sides in the competition.
The launch of the official Emblem took place during a glittering ceremony held recently in Casablanca. The unveiling coincided with the 100 days before the tournament kick-off.
According to Tidesports source, the official Emblem was revealed to guests at the end of a colourful show in which famous models wearing fabulous traditional kaftans inspired by the colours of the seven qualified teams paraded across the stage, accompanied by children who were also dressed in the participating teams’ colours and wearing each of the teams’ pennants.
The emblem for this tenth edition of the competition has the characteristic shape of the FIFA Club World Cup trophy, decorated with patterns influenced by the ancient Moroccan art of zellige (ceramic mosaics), thereby combining the spirit of the competition with the visual imagery of the host country. This Official Emblem evokes Morocco that is open, welcoming and multicultural.
The delicacy of the patterns, which are dominated by the colours of the national flag, reflects the high quality of play to be expected in this magical competition, which will see the best clubs from each of the six confederations, plus Raja Casablanca, battle it out on Moroccan turf.
The unveiling of the official Emblem marked the one hundred days before kick-off and the gorgeous ceremony and celebratory mood showed that the countdown is truly underway.
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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