Sports
Int’l Friendly: S’Eagles Plot Cranes’ Demolition In Uyo
A basketball action between Nigeria’s male team and their women counterparts in a previous contienental tourney.
Nigeria’s senior national team, the Super Eagles will today in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State begin a rebuilding process towards ensuring qualification for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nation and 2018 World Cup, as they confront the Cranes of Uganda in an international friendly game.
Returning to the venue of their massive disappointment last time out, when they failed to beat South Africa and qualify for the recent 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, the Super Eagles will be hard pressed to impress
Apart from the need to return to winning ways today’s friendly, one of the two for this month’s FIFA window will afford many returnee and new players in the Eagles the opportunity to show what they can do and convince the national team handlers of their relevance as the team seeks to turn a new page.
Already, the Ugandans despite leading on head –to-head contest, having won three to Nigeria two of the previous six meeting between the sides, see themselves as the underdogs. According to their coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic, this game will test our character because the Super Eagles are a high profile team and facing them at home even makes it the best stage for my players. This friendly will help us test so many things ahead of the 2017 AFCON and 2018 World Cup qualifiers
Thus, the Super Eagles must, apart from trying to improve their records against the Cranes, go to show hunger and ability to reclaim their pride of place in African football.
Meanwhile, skipper Vincent Enyeama is set to win his 100th cap in the game if fielded. The Lille of France safest hands has been regular between the stacks and the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF recently confirmed that the keeper is on 99 caps and would reach the century milestone today.
Conven intly, the fixture will take place in Enyeama home state of Akwa Ibom and he would not wish better than to cap the milestone with victory. It will e recalled that Uganda took the place of Bolivia for the friendly after the South Americans withdrew, citing safety concerns.
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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