Sports
I Am Still In Contention To Play Again -Enyeama
Former Nigeria captain, Vincent Enyeama has denied reports that he has hung up his playing boots.
According to local media outlets, the 37-year-old, who has not played a competitive fixture since April 2017, has called time on his career, but Enyeama insists that is not the case.
Speaking to newsmen at the weekend, he said that he still wants to play football and that he is not pursuing a career in golf: “I enjoy playing golf so I understand the confusion. I have been staying in shape.”
“It is not secret that I love football and I am still in contention to play again,” the former Super Eagles shot-stopper added.
Enyeama is one of Nigeria’s most decorated players and after winning back-to-back CAF Champions League titles with Enyimba he forged a successful club career in Israel and France.
The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations winner was capped 101 times by his country and played in three FIFA World Cup tournaments.
Meanwhile, Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr has lifted the lid on the invitation of Heracles Almelo striker Cyriel Dessers and FC Koln right-back Kingsley Ehizibue to the Nigeria national team.
The pair were among the 24-man list released by the coach for their Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sierra Leone this month.
Dessers has been turning heads in the Dutch top-flight, scoring 15 goals and providing five assists in 26 appearances amid other dazzling displays.
Ehizibue, meanwhile, has been a consistent performer for FC Koln in Germany, helping his side to 10th spot in the league table, with his solid defensive showings.
Rohr revealed the eye-catching form of the duo ensured they were handed their first call-ups to the Super Eagles and praised his scouting crew for their efforts.
“We try to build a good list and we could approach these two players [Cyriel and Kingsley],” Rohr told Tidesports Source.
“We met them, we spoke to them and explained how the spirit in the team was, how we play and they were okay with it.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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