Sports
‘Nigeria To Play Offensive Football In Egypt’
Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr has revealed that his side is aiming to score more goals and will play offensive football at the Africa Cup of Nations finals.
The three-time African champions have included nine forwards in their 23-man squad list for the biennial showpiece.
Changchun Yatai’s Odion Ighalo leads the frontline with Ahmed Musa, Samuel Chukwueze, Moses Simon, Henry Onyekuru, Alex Iwobi, Samuel Kalu, Paul Onuachu and Victor Osimhen all included.
Despite settling for a goalless draw in their build-up game against Zimbabwe last Saturday, Rohr sees the available options upfront as an opportunity for the team to switch tactics during play and also give chance for fresh legs.
“We have a lot of strikers which means we want to score more goals and play offensive football, we also have good defenders,” Rohr said.
“Some of our strikers could play in the midfield or in the plan 3-5-2 on the side, so it is good to have the opportunity to change in our offensive methods.
“We have quickness and ability to change in the offensive department, We can also give them the chance to rest.”
Leicester City star Kelechi Iheanacho was a notable exclusion from the team that travelled to Egypt for the tournament.
The German tactician faulted the 22-year-old’s goal drought and lack of playing time at the King Power Stadium as reasons for his exclusion.
“It is what happened in his club, he did not play at Leicester City, only few minutes and since September he scored one goal,” Rohr continued.
“He has something missing, a little bit in confidence and also professionalism, he is a young player and can come back again but also we have better options.
“The choice was not easy but we have objectives, we do not choose the names we choose the best one.”
After yesterday’s friendly match against Senegal at Ismailia Stadium, the Super Eagles will depart for Alexandria, where they will play all their Group B games.
Nigeria will play Burundi on June 22 followed by fixtures against Guinea and Madagascar, on June 26 and June 30 respectively.
Sports
Bundesliga: Kane Scores Hat-Trick As Bayern End Winless Streak
England captain Harry Kane netted a hat-trick to guide Bayern Munich to an impressive victory against Stuttgart.
Kane’s goals, plus one from Kingsley Coman, helped Bayern end a three-game winless run in all competitions.
They faced a tough task against a Stuttgart side who sat back and limited their chances, leading Vincent Kompany’s side to enter the break frustrated and with the deadlock unbroken.
Bayern eventually found a way past Stuttgart’s steely defence when Kane drilled a low effort into the bottom corner from around 30 yards out after Joshua Kimmich overturned possession.
Sports
Dosu Survives Ghastly Accident, Again
Former Nigeria goalkeeper, Dosu Joseph, is full of thanks to God after he miraculously survived another life-threatening automobile accident recent at Kara, along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, where a heavy-duty truck ran into his SUV.
Narrating his ordeal, the 51-year-old, who guided Nigeria to gold in the Men’s Football Tournament of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, broke the news in a statement on his social media handles on Friday.
“To God be the glory, another death escaped by Grace and Mercy of God. Me and my friend SM were at Enyo Filling Station after Ojodu Berger bus stop to get fuel on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, around 6 p.m. when this MACK truck fully loaded with iron, with registration number LND 470 XX, left the road and crushed my car beyond repairs. Thank God for life,” he stated.
This is the second time the soft-spoken club proprietor will cheat death by a whisker, having been involved in an accident in 1997 that ended his career at 23 and left his spinal cord in bad shape.
He helped Julius Berger win the Nigeria FA Cup in November 1997 shortly a memorable Olympic outing by keeping a clean sheet in the finals against Katsina United. The following year, he was involved in the auto along Ikorodu Road, Lagos, which not only cut his career short but also left him almost paralysed, ending his spell at Serie A club Reggiana.
The former Nigeria international, who also kept goal for Julius Berger FC, said the case has been reported to Isheri Police Station, Ogun State, where the driver is currently detained and the truck also seized.
According to him, the owner of the truck said he can’t fix the badly damaged SUV until after a year.
Sports
Sports Development Going Down In Nigeria – Ex-International
Ex – Super Eagles of Nigeria, Okwuchukwu Waobikeze has observed that sports development in Nigeria is going down.
According to him, grassroots sports is very important, without it, the administrators cannot get it right. So everybody should key into grassroots sports development, he said.
Waobikeze said this last Wednesday in an interview with sports journalists shortly after the Port Harcourt All Stars Independence football festival (OCTOBERFEST) at the Port Harcourt club, Rivers State.
He explained that for sports administrators to get it right, grassroots development is key. “They should be organising competition at the grassroots level to fish out the young ones for different sporting activities.
“Grassroots sports is very important so the administrators have to go back to the grassroots.
” Sports Development in Nigeria is going down we need to go back to the basics.
“Look at the just concluded Paris Olympics, Nigeria did not win any medal.
” Our football team did not even qualify for the Olympics. We are going down.
” If they should go back to the grassroots, they will get young ones in the games and talents will be developed.
” I started from school games, to youth games before playing for the national team. Now everybody wants to fly board to play professional football and a lot do not know the basics of the game.
” A lot of people did not know the little things about the game, they just want to play. It is not done so,” Waobikeze stated.
Kiadum Edookor