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2015 Glo-CAF Award: Mixed Reactions Trail Nigeria’s Outing

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Mixed reactions have
trailed the performance of Nigerian players, national teams, coaches and clubs at the 2015 Glo-CAF award ceremony held last Thursday in Abuja.
Some stakeholders who spoke in interview  in Abuja blamed the incessant crises that rocked the football house for the failure of Nigerians to pick major awards at the event.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Sports, Sen. Obinna Ogba, told newsmen  that Nigeria must revive its past glory in football because the current development called for a sober reflection.
“It calls for sober reflection; we need to go back to the drawing and find out what is the problem.
“It not just that we didn’t win any award, look at that list of CAF first eleven, Nigerian names are missing there, not even one.
“You only find Nigerian names on the reserve bench; that is if any player is weak or got injury before you talk about the reserve.
“It’s a challenge both to the managers of the game and also to the players.’’
A former Super Eagles’ Captain, Austin Okocha, said that the dwindling performance of the team at international competitions had made  it difficult for any Nigerian player to be named the “African Player of the Year”
“We have to call a spade a spade; I don’t think any of our players at this moment deserve to be there.
“We have been struggling recently and I think it should be a challenge to us to make sure that next time we should have one of us there.’’
In his own reaction, the 1st Vice President of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Seyi Akinwunmi, said the football house was not disappointed with the outcome of the award.
“We are not disappointed rather we are hopeful for the best in future; when you set your target and they come too easy then, it means your target are not high enough.
“The new NFF is doing all it can for the future; there will be a time when all the nominees will be Nigerians and that time will come soon.
“This will be achieved because we are improving the league, doing our youth development programmes, capacity building and also educating people what they need to do.
“It’s not all about talent, it’s about mentality as well; so, these things will come together for good for Nigeria, I am sure that things will change sooner than we think.’’
Nigerian players, their national teams as well as clubs failed to win major awards at the 2015 Glo-CAF awards.
During the event, with 15 award categories, only two Nigerian players namely Victor Osimhen and Etebo Oghenekaro bagged the Youth Player of the Year and the Most Promising Talent of the Year awards respectively.

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Gyokeres Situation, Transfer Under Cloud At Sporting

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Sporting have not received an offer for striker Viktor Gyokeres and there is no gentleman’s agreement for him to leave for £59million, says club president Frederico Varandas.
Sweden international Gyokeres, 27, has been heavily linked with Manchester United and Arsenal after scoring 97 goals in 102 matches during two seasons in Portugal.
He has a 100m euro (£85m) release clause in his contract.
It has been widely reported that, after staying at Sporting last summer, Gyokeres and Sporting agreed he could leave for 70m euros (£59m) this summer.
However, Varandas said the club’s only promise to Gyokeres was that they would not demand his full release clause.
“I can guarantee that Viktor Gyokeres will not leave for 60m euros plus 10m euros because I never promised that,” Varandas said.
“To this day Sporting has not had an offer for Gyokeres, neither today nor last season.”
Gyokeres spent three seasons with Coventry City in the Championship before joining Sporting under Ruben Amorim.
Manchester City director of football Hugo Viana was sporting director at Sporting last summer, when Gyokeres’ agent sought assurances about his leaving if a suitable offer arrived.
“One of the agent’s biggest concerns was whether we would demand the termination clause,” said Varandas.
“He wanted to guarantee certain things. And what was agreed? That Sporting would not demand a release clause now.
“For one reason: he was going to be 27 years old and no player leaves Portugal at 27 for 100m eurors or 90m euros.
“In that same meeting the agent wanted to anchor the exit to a value. I said this sentence: ‘It’s not worth us setting a value because I don’t know what will happen in a year’s time. I don’t know if it will be 40m euros, 60m euros or 80m euros. What I can guarantee is that I will not demand 100 million euros.’”

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Concacaf Opposes 64-Team W’Cup Plans

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Concacaf President Victor Montagliani has criticised a proposal to expand the 2030 men’s World Cup to 64 teams.
The plans, put forward by South American governing body Conmebol, have also drawn opposition from Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
The tournament will be hosted by Spain, Morocco and Portugal, after the opening matches are held in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The 2026 World Cup, which will take place across the United States, Mexico and Canada, has already been expanded from 32 to 48 teams.
But Conmebol said it wanted to add more participants to mark the competition’s 100-year anniversary.
“I don’t believe expanding the men’s World Cup to 64 teams is the right move for the tournament itself and the broader football ecosystem, from national teams to club competitions, leagues, and players,” Montagliani told Tidesports source
“We haven’t even kicked off the new 48-team World Cup yet, so personally, I don’t think that expanding to 64 teams should even be on the table.”
Concacaf is the governing body of football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
The decision to expand the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams was taken in 2017 following a unanimous vote at a Fifa congress.
Fifa’s 75th congress will be held in Paraguay on 15 May, when Conmebol’s proposal could be discussed.
If the proposal is accepted, the 2030 edition would consist of 128 matches, double the number played under the 64-game format used from 1998 and 2022.
In March, Ceferin described the proposal as a “bad idea” while AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa said it would cause “chaos”.
“If the issue remains open to change, then the door will not only be open to expanding the tournament to 64 teams,” said Salman.
“But someone might come along and demand raising the number to 132 teams. Where would we end up then? It would become chaos.”

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Brazil Edge Paraguay, Book W’Cup Spot

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Brazil qualified for the 2026 World Cup this week with a 1-0 win against Paraguay in South American qualifying to give Carlo Ancelotti his first win as manager.
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jnr scored from close range in the second half, finishing after fine work from Manchester United-bound playmaker Matheus Cunha.
The victory, Ancelotti’s first after a 0-0 draw against Ecuador on his debut last week, means Brazil has now qualified for every edition of the World Cup.
“We needed to win and qualify for the World Cup,” said Vinicius Jr.
“Now the coach will have more time to work. Of course today wasn’t one of our best performances, but the important thing is always to win.
“Now it’s time to celebrate qualifying.”
Elsewhere, World Cup holders Argentina played out an entertaining 1-1 draw with Colombia in Buenos Aires.
Liverpool winger Luis Diaz opened the scoring with a fine individual goal, dancing through three defenders before finishing past Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
Argentina was reduced to 10 men with 20 minutes remaining when Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez was sent off for a high-boot challenge on Colombia’s Kevin Castano.
But Lionel Messi’s side found an equaliser nine minutes from the end through Lyon’s Thiago Almada, leaving Colombia four points clear of seventh-placed Venezuela.
Ecuador, Argentina’s nearest challengers, booked their spot at next summer’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States after a 0-0 draw away at Peru.

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