Sports
New Contract Excites Obuh
Former Nigerian U17 Coach, John Obuh, has expressed his satisfaction joining two-times federation cup champions, Akwa United Football Club after signing one year contract with the Promise Keepers ahead of the 2019/2020 NPFL season.
The former Kwara United coach was officially unveiled at the press conference room of the Godswill Apkabio International Stadium on Monday, hailing the management of the club as they have a better structure than the last club he managed.
“There is comparison with clubs in Nigeria because they almost have the same character, in Europe where the highest spenders are expected to always top the league, the other ones are always trying to come and feed the highest spenders.
“The comparison between my last club and Akwa United is very wide in the sense that the managerial ability of the two sides are not same, financial ability are not same, quality of players purchased by both teams are not the same so it is already an advantage to me who have taken up this job, as I took this job with passion because I have been hunting to coach this club for about six seasons, as my name always appear on the list of potential coaches to lead Akwa United, and I am happy it has come to pass”.
Also joining Akwa United’s technical crew for the new season is former Super Eagles, Grasshopper of Switzerland and Akwa United defender Duke Udi as the Assistant Coach.
Obuh last assignment in the NPFL was with Kwara United in 2018 after guiding the team to gain promotion from the NNL, but was sacked due to bad run of results in the top flight.
The Abia State born coach, who started his coaching career in 1994/1995 season as a coach-player with Enyimba of Aba, has however set his sights on winning the NPFL title with the Uyo based side.
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.