Sports

Osimhen, Ziyech’s Stocks Rise In Champions League

Published

6 years ago

November 8, 2019

Their sides may both have failed to win in the process of conceding four goals on the road, but Hakim Ziyech and Victor Osimhen’s stocks continued to rise after their Group H performances last Tuesday.
For Ajax Amsterdam, Ziyech was given a relatively rare opportunity to play centrally against Chelsea. After assisting Donny van de Beek’s goal in a 1-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur last season, the Morocco star again delivered on the big stage with plenty of wealthy Premier League clubs watching.
In the first half, Ziyech’s sublime in-swinging cross from the right was turned home by Quincy Promes. Having seen his deflected shot finished from an offside position against Chelsea in Amsterdam two weeks ago, the pair had combined for a lovely goal in London.
Whilst Opta did not give Ziyech an official assist for Ajax’s third goal, it was undoubtedly again down to his superb delivery. Swinging in a freekick from the right touchline, the ball hit the post and deflected in off Kepa Arrizabalaga’s head.
In the second half, he provided van de Beek with a second goal in the English capital, rifling a pass into his teammate, who controlled instantly and fired in the bottom corner.
Playing centrally is nothing new to Ziyech, but he is not often untrusted with that role in these big Champions League ties. Most often, he is used on the right flank with some freedom to move inside.
For Premier League clubs scouting him, they will no doubt have pored over dozens of his games in league and continental action, and such is his consistent excellence in the Eredivisie, there is now little to learn from watching him rack up the goal contributions in an obviously inferior league.
Therefore, it’s only natural that most importance will be placed on his Champions League displays. Seeing him as a creative operator, but ultimately still from a wide role has seemingly not convinced any suitors of the highest calibre.
Bayern Munich seemed to sound out his agent for a move as something of Plan C after moves for Callum Hudson-Odoi and Leroy Sane fell through – owing partly to ill-timed injuries – but he could not be much more different than those wide players.
Ziyech is more in the mould of Mesut Ozil, James Rodriguez or Juan Mata, all previously pure, left-footed number tens who have had to play on the sides to be accommodated at times, but were ultimately pushed to the side of their clubs’ plans for the biggest matches.
Not all of the big clubs want genuine wingers, but many do at least want a vertical player who can make runs in-behind defence exactly like Quincy Promes does for Ajax.
If Ziyech is to receive genuine transfer interest from a club which he doesn’t consider to be a step-down, maybe he needs to play centrally again and look to reinvent himself as more of a Bernardo Silva or Angel Di Maria circa 2014. A player who could be awkwardly identified as a half-space number eight or ten.
He still has some way to go to change the perception of himself as a luxury player, though.
It is telling that when Ajax went down to nine men at Stamford Bridge, all of Promes, van de Beek and Dusan Tadic remained on the pitch (despite the latter’s ineffectual display thoughout), but Ziyech was immediately withdrawn.

Sports

New W.W. Whyte Tournament Focuses On Talent Discovery – Engr. Alabere

Published

4 days ago

November 19, 2025

The Tide

The Chairman of Grassroots Initiative, Engr. Promise Alabere has reiterated that the New W.W. Whyte Secondary Football Tournament was to discover hidden players from the grassroots and groom them to stardom.

He stated that the his organisation is partnering with the Niger Delta Development Commission ( NDDC) for the football tournament, adding that in the first edition 32 players were discovered and NDDC, and his organisation are to fixing them into various clubs.

Engr. Alabere said this while briefing sports journalists last Tuesday, in Port Harcourt, and expressed optimism that the second edition which have 22 secondary schools participating would be exciting and impressive.

” The essence of this tournament is to catch them young because in the 1980s and 1990s most of the players that played for NNPC, Sharks and other big clubs in the country were discovered through this competition.

” Even me I was a product of the W.W. Whyte tournament, as I started playing for the Nigerian Police football club when I was in class four. But this competition stopped about 20 years when two schools resort to bloody clash during one of their games.

According to him the second edition expanded to schools in six Local Government Areas, saying that it will be better than the previous in terms of organisation and others.

“We want to make this edition more exciting and beneficial to all participating schools because the first edition was on experiment but this edition is no longer an experiment” he stated.

The Chairman of Grassroots Initiative,used the forum to advice all participating schools to conduct themselves in a good manner and adhere to rules of the competition.

He equally thanked NDDC for being its major sponsor of the tournament.

Tonye Orabere

Sports

Hoopers Ready For NPBL Title Defence – Captain

Published

4 days ago

November 18, 2025

The Tide

Rivers Hoopers captain Victor Anthony Koko has said that his team is mentally ready for the challenge of retaining their Nigeria Premier Basketball League title when the 2025 season Final Four phase holds from November 21 – 23 in Port Harcourt, Tidesports source reports.
The Kings Men, who won back-to-back NPBL titles in 2023 and 2024 unbeaten, are chasing their seventh title.
They will be up against Lagos Legends, Gboko City Chiefs, and Nigeria Customs, as they hope to retain the title they won last year and also pick the ticket to next year’s Basketball Africa League.
Following the conclusion of the Final Eight earlier this month, the KingsMen have had time to fine-tune preparations ahead of their title defence at the Final Four, with the skipper stating that he and his teammates are fully prepared to retain the championship.
“This time around, everyone is ready; everyone is mentally ready. We understand what is at stake, so we need to go all out. And right now, with the level of energy I’ve seen from my team during practice, I don’t think we’re going to be a team that just wants to have fun [on the court]. We’re a championship-winning team, and we want to retain that championship,” he stressed.
Koko has won the league seven times in his career, and he is looking to help the Port Harcourt club reach its height.
“I want us to win the 2025 NPBL title. It’s on my mind, day and night: Hoopers Champions. And I’m assuring our fans that we’re not going to let them down. It’s happening here in Port Harcourt, and we’re going to make them proud.”

Sports

Barau Beat Rangers To Move Out Of Relegation Zone

Published

4 days ago

November 18, 2025

The Tide

Nigeria Premier Football League newcomers, Barau FC have zoomed out of the drop zone after they defeated Rangers International FC 2-0 on Sunday in a rescheduled tie played in Kano.
The Maliya Boys got their goals through Muhammed Umar and Joseph Kemin in the 26th and 76th minutes to record their third win of the season
They have moved to the 16th spot with 13 points from 12 games but the loss by the Flying Antelopes see them slid to the seventh spot with 19 points from 13 games.
The home win is no doubt a relief to Barau FC head coach, Ladan Bosso who has seen his job brought under scrutiny following the Maliya Boys impressive start to the season.