Sports
Enyimba Vows To Secure Victory, Today
After a first leg 1-1 draw against Bidvest Wits in Milpark Stadium Johanessburg, Nigerian giants Enyimba are on the cusp of a group stage place in this year’s CAF Confederation Cup.
Diane Klate scored early to give Bidvest a surprise lead but Ibrahim Mustapha was on hand to stun the PSL champions minutes later, leaving the tie delicately balanced for the return leg on Wednesday in Calabar.
With victory needed to secure a last eight berth, club boss Felix Anyansi Agwu has demanded for a front-foot, hard-working and determined team. Citing famous turnarounds in European club football recently, he cautioned against complacency and a lack of desire as a result of the first leg draw.
“We cannot go into this game with our mind on the 1-1 result of the first leg, no. We must go into it ready to give everything, with no thought of the first leg. We must go in to win and win convincingly so we go into the group stage unbeaten.”
“This is a turning point in our season, we must decide whether to emerge as group stage players or the team that crashed out at home. In modern football, teams are no longer worried about results from the first leg because they know they can turn a tie around in the second leg, so we must not give in to over-confidence or errors or fear. We must rise to the moment and earn the victory we deserve, the victory Nigeria deserves.”
“We must be united in our belief, we must be united in our desire. We have the great support of our Abia State Governor, Okezie Victor Ikpeazu and he has demanded that the gates be thrown open on Wednesday, in appreciation of the good people of Cross River State and to encourage you, so the fans can turn out in large numbers to cheer you”, he declared.
“So on Wednesday you have to play with pride for the club, with pride for Nigeria and with pride for yourselves. We have a chance to rise to the next level and we must seize the opportunity. Ultimate victory is the objective in this competition and we must be ready to fight and achieve our dreams,” he concluded.
Anyansi Agwu further commended the efforts of the technical crew and reiterated his belief in their work.
Wednesday’s game is at 4 pm inside the UJ Esuene Stadium, Calabar.
Sports
CAA Wants Ghana To Host 2026 Athletics Champions
The Confederation of African Athletics has invited Ghana to bid for the hosting rights of the 2026 African Athletics Championships, following a successful athletics event at the just concluded 2023 African Games.
President of Ghana Athletics, Bawa Fuseini, stated this and expressed confidence in the transformative potential of the Legon Stadium for athletes and Ghana’s bid to host international competitions.
With a capacity of 11,000, the Legon Stadium played a pivotal role in the recent African Games, hosting both the opening and closing ceremonies as well as various sporting events including athletics, football, and rugby.
Fuseini highlighted the success of the athletics events held at the stadium, which contributed to Ghana winning six medals.
“We have already started getting requests from the Confederation of African Athletics to bid for the 2026 African Athletics Championships.
“When they came and saw what we have put in place and the level of organisation, they told me that for the last 20 years, they’ve never seen any organisation like this before. We did three official courses. And the last one, we had 110, all of them passed. We had a lot of officials and equipment.”
Since its establishment in 1979, Ghana has never hosted the African Athletics Championships, with Nigeria being the host country twice, in 1989 and 2018.
This year, Cameroon will take the reins as the host nation, with the event set to be held at the Olembe Stadium.
Sports
Onigbinde Not Sacked – Chairman
Chairman of Doma United, Suleiman Umar, has said head, coach Akinade Onigbinde was not relieved of his duties after the club announced former Kwara United, Niger Tornadoes and Katsina United coach, Abubakar Bala, as an addition to their technical crew.
Bala was announced as the technical adviser by the club on Wednesday.
According to the club, Bala’s appointment was necessitated by the dwindling fortunes of the team in the second stanza of the Nigeria Premier Football League, which has seen them drop to 13th in the table with 34 points after 27 matches.
“The appointment of Coach Bala is imperative given our recent challenges in the second half of the season. We believe his extensive experience in managing teams within the league will significantly contribute to our objective of maintaining our status,” Umar said in a statement.
“It’s worth noting that coach Bala will be collaborating closely with Coach Onigbinde and our dedicated coaching staff. The technical department is not open to all, and we caution against unwarranted meddling as we remain focused on our objectives.”
The Savannah Tigers are winless in eight matches since the start of the second stanza with their last win in the league being their 2-0 win over Katsina United in January.
Their performance is a stark contrast to the first half of the campaign, when they ranked in the top three.
With 11 matches to the end of the season, Bala and Onigbinde must find a way to rescue the club as they sit just three points above the relegation zone.
Sports
‘I’m Not Under Pressure To Coach Eagles’
Finidi George, head coach of the Nigeria Premier Football Leagues side, Enyimba, has stated that he is not losing any sleep over getting the Super Eagles job on a permanent basis.
Early this month, the Nigeria Football Federation declared the position of the Super Eagles’ head coach vacant, following the exit of Portuguese Jose Peseiro, who led the side to a second-place finish at the 2023 Africa Cup Nations in Ivory Coast in February.
In an advertisement on its website calling for applications with a March 13 deadline, the football governing body stated that the prospective Eagles coach “must have proven experience at the elite level of football.”
The former Ajax man, who also applied for the job, was appointed Eagles interim coach for the international window with the former winger picking a win and suffering a defeat.
In an interview with Tidesports source, the 52-year-old tactician said he was not desperate for the job permanently.
“I felt really good when I was told to take charge of the team. I have been with the team for almost two years, I know all the players, their strengths, and their weaknesses but I am only here to serve Nigeria the way I know how to do stuff.
“I will just take these two games and go back to my club. Whatever the decision is taken after, so be it. I’m not under pressure to say I must get the role permanently.”
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