Sports
Nigeria Handball Coach Sure To Win Nations Cup
Head Coach of the na
tional handball team, Fidelis Obi, on Thursday said the players at his disposal were fit and capable of excelling at the upcoming African Nations Cup.
Obi told newsmen in Abuja that he was going to have his final list of 18 male players for the competition by next week after playing two friendly matches.
The Tide source reports that the competition which is scheduled for January 20 to January 31 will hold in Cairo, Egypt.
“I rate my boys very high because at the last African Games, at Brazzaville in Congo, we finished fourth position, and I believe our performance shall improve at this championship.
“But we are looking forward to see if we can have the opportunity of playing at the World Championship in France and the Olympics.
“We initially had 26 players and two coaches, with some other members of the technical crew. But now we have 22 players after screening.
“We are going to pick our final list by next week when we are done with playing two friendly matches.
“Then we will cut it down to 18 players, and those are the ones that will travel for the competition,’’ the coach said.
Obi however pointed out that even though the fitness level of the players was high, they still needed to play foreign friendlies to ensure a better performance.
“We have achieved greatly, because the rate of the fitness level of the players has been improving day by day and we are trying to see how to coordinate this for better performance.
“But for the team to play as a team, we can only achieve that by playing all the friendly matches we can get.
“So, we are also looking forward to playing some friendly matches outside the country, either in Republic of Benin, Ghana or Togo, and maybe before January 18,’’ he said.
Though he expressed his disappointment at their failure to play competitions in 2015, Obi was however optimistic that 2016 would be better.
“2015 was not that good as we had very few championships in the country and the African Games was the only championship we had.
“We were given the opportunity to camp for one month and that was why we performed well by getting into the semi-finals.
“Though it was not an easy task but we were able to, with that performance, get the Confederation of African Handball (CAHB) to give us some spots to play in the Nations Cup and Olympics qualifier,’’ the coach said.
He was optimistic his team was capable of doing well in 2016 if the encouragement was there, especially from the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN). “Because motivation is very important for the team right now. In fact, with little motivation we will go places this year.
“This is the first championship for handball in the African level and we hope to do well.
“If this happens, it will pave way for the other national teams, especially the junior teams in the junior championships coming up in Africa,’’ Obi said.
Gialuigui Donnarumma (Italy and Man City)
One of the greatest strikers of the past 15 years, Poland’s Robert Lewandowski, is among the big names who will not be playing at the 2026 World Cup in Canada, the United States and Mexico.
The 37-year-old Barcelona striker, who has scored 89 goals for his country, was not able to inspire his side as they lost 3-2 in Stockholm against Sweden in Tuesday’s play-off final.
Lewandowski, who won the German Bundesliga title on 10 occasions, twice with Borussia Dortmund and then in eight successive seasons with Bayern Munich, before winning La Liga twice with Barca, may have played in his last major international tournament.
Lewandowski captained Poland at the World Cup in 2018, but did not score in Russia as his country came bottom of the group. He had a better tournament four years later in Qatar, scoring twice as Poland reached the last 16 before losing to France.
He netted four times in Group G in 2026 qualifying only for Poland to finish three points behind the Netherlands, before losing to Sweden on Tuesday.
Gialuigui Donnarumma (Italy and Man City)
Another star that will be missing in action at the mundial is Gialuigui Donnarumma of Italy.
Italy lost in the World Cup play-offs for a third successive qualifying tournament
Gianluigi Donnarumma has been one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League this season since he moved from Paris St-Germain for £26m in September, after helping the French club win the Champions League last season.
Despite being player of the tournament as Italy won the 2020 European Championship, he misses out on a World Cup again after Italy lost 4-1 on penalties to Bosnia-Herzegovina on Tuesday.
Serhou Guirassy (Borussia Dortmund and Guinea)
Serhou Guirassy is Fourth in the list of Bundesliga top scorers this season
Serhou Guirassy has established himself as one of most prolific strikers playing in Europe, with 62 goals in the German Bundesliga over the past three seasons, while no player scored more than his 13 goals in the Champions League in 2024-25.
But he will not be at the World Cup as his country Guinea went out in the first round of African qualifying, finishing fourth in their group, with only four wins and three draws from their 10 matches.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia and PSG)
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia helped Paris St-Germain become European champions last season, scoring in the 5-0 final win over Inter Milan, and he came 12th in the 2025 Ballon d’Or awards.
But Georgia had a miserable campaign in World Cup qualifying as they only picked up three points from a group that contained Spain, Turkey and Bulgaria.
Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray and Nigeria)
Victor Osimhen has scored 26 goals for club and country this season
Victor Osimhen helped Napoli win Serie A in 2023 before moving to Galatasaray, where he grabbed 26 goals in 30 games to take them to the Turkish title last season.
Nigeria drew five of their 10 matches in the first group phase as they finished one point behind winners South Africa, but then had a second chance in the following play-off.
With Osimhen already substituted, Nigeria lost on penalties to DR Congo to miss out on the World Cup.
Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool and Hungary)
Dominik Szoboszlai has scored 12 goals for Liverpool this season
Liverpool and Hungary midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai has impressed this season and scored some stunning long-range goals.
But he will not be at the World Cup after his country let a 2-1 lead slip in their final group game with the Republic of Ireland scoring twice in injury time to clinch a spot in the play-offs and eliminate Hungary.
Female wrestlers in action at Governor Diri Wrestling Classics.
Ondo State wrestlers dominated the women’s events on Day six of the fourth Governor Douye Diri Wrestling Classics in Yenagoa on Monday, claiming gold medals in two of the four women’s freestyle categories.
African champion Khadijat Idris of Ondo State led the charge in the 55kg division, defeating rising talent Mary Ayeloh of Bayelsa State by technical superiority to claim gold. Happiness Soso of Delta State and Augustine Rhoda of Lagos State took bronze medals in the category.
Damola Ojo also flew the Ondo flag proudly in the 76kg event, retaining her title after defeating all opponents in a round-robin format. Nigeria Army wrestler Laide Ojo settled for silver, while Juliet Ogo of Bayelsa State and Mercy Alison of Abia State each claimed bronze.
In the 62kg category, Patience Kakanda of Bayelsa State produced the upset of the day, defeating Nigeria Army’s Precious Tieberi 3-1 in the final to be crowned the new champion. Isioma Abojei of Delta State and Blessing Apah of Dynamite Club won bronze medals.
Rivers State’s Esther Asaolu also retained her title in the 59kg division, overcoming all her opponents in the round-robin format, with Patience Opuene of Bayelsa State finishing as runner-up.
In the men’s events, Solomon Ulabo of Bayelsa State claimed gold in the 79kg category, with Kpum Ayibasisei of Edo State taking silver and Rasheed Saliu of Ondo State and Ebisindei Okorie of Dynamite Club winning bronze. NewLife Ebikeme of Bayelsa State won the 92kg gold, ahead of Perezidei Obaze of Edo State in silver position, while Tobechukwu Udeh of the Nigeria Army and Timilehin Adekanmi of Ondo State claimed bronze medals.
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