Sports
W/Cup High Goals Due To Quality Striker – Akpokona
The Technical Adviser, Crown
FC of Ogbomosho, Lawrence Akpokona, has attributed the high number of goals scored so far at the ongoing World Cup in Brazil to team’s hunger to win.
Akpokona told newsmen in Lagos in an interview that, it was also an indication of the quality strikers paraded by the teams.
Over 136 goals were scored in the group stage as against 101 scored during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
As at June 29, 145 goals were scored in Brazil which were the entire goals scored in South Africa 2010.
James Rodriguez of Colombia leads the score chart with five goals while a host of other players have four goals.
Nigerian, Ahmed Musa, has two goals to his credit.
“ It goes to show that most teams are laying emphasis on attack, you can see that most teams attack with pace and power.
“Teams do not defend as much because they want to win and it is also an improvement in the teams attack lines.
“If you look at the highest goal scorer you’ll see it is five showing that there is a spread of goals in the competition.
“And not just strikers are having their names on the score sheet but defenders, which shows an improvement in team work as a whole,” he said.
Akpokona, who was a former assistant coach of the Super Eagles, also commented on the fact that for the first time in the history of the World Cup, two Africa countries made it to the round of 16.
“ This is good for development of football in Africa and I think the continent is just being unlucky not having three to four African teams in the round of 16.
“Cote d’voire narrowly missed moving to the next round from the group stage, Ghana also was unlucky.
“I think it is a general improvement in the quality of play in the continent and there is no other way you can see it
“ I hope both teams move on to the quarter-finals stage,” Akpokona said.
Nigeria and Algeria are the two countries that made history as the only two African teams to qualify to the round of 16.
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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