Sports
‘Enyimba Cannot Rush Onuwa’s Return’
Enyimba head coach, Usman Abd’Allah has spoken about the unavailability of his midfield maestro, Chukwuka Onuwa.
The People’s Elephant gaffer stated that the midfielder is returning from injury and that he will soon be back in the team
The midfielder has become a cult hero among the People’s Elephant fans because of his creativity but he has not featured in their recent matches.
This has made the fans and supporters curious about his whereabouts.
“Onuwa has a little bit of a knock and he is just recovering from it,” Abd’Allah told the media.
“It is too early for him to be in the team and that is why he is left out. He is doing his best to ensure that he regains match fitness and be available for us. We are watching him and how his body is responding to the training sessions.
“We do not want to rush him to action because of the type of knock he had. We will gradually return him to the team in a way that it won’t harm his long term stay with us. I feel the pain of the fans who will like him to play but the technical crew is doing everything for his overall interest.”
Abd’Allah is still revelling in his players’ five-star performance against group leaders, Enugu Rangers last weekend. He cautioned the team against complacency as they prepare for the midweek battle with Rivers United in Port Harcourt.
“We still have to be careful with the way we play against Rivers United because they won’t like to drop a point at this point of the season,” Abd’Allah told Tidesports source.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.