Sports
NPFL Title Race Still Open – Enyimba Boss
Coach Fatai Osho has declared that his players were on the right track after picking up a point against Plateau United at the New Jos Stadium at the weekend.
The People’s Elephants held the home side to a goalless draw to continue their good run of form on the road.
In a chat with the media after the game, Fatai Osho hailed his players for putting up such a massive shift against a very solid Plateau United side in Jos.
“A lot of discipline on their part, we know what we need to do, we know what we want and we tabled that before the game and the players played strictly to what they were told. “
“You can see the shape was fantastic all through, despite the fact that Plateau United were so good. But for the fact that we were able to get a draw in this fixture, I commend the team”.
The points moved Enyimba to 5th on the log with 49 points from 23games, with a game in hand.
“To me, the table had been open all along, I mean, if you played in a league with about 10 matches to go and the leader is just four points ahead of you, a whole lot can still happen. The NPFL is a league where there are about six or four teams that are capable of winning it. So there is still all to play for”. He said.
Enyimba will host Warri Wolves in their next outing at the Enyimba Stadium in Aba today.
Meanwhile, League leaders, Akwa United suffered their first defeat since February 14 when they bowed to Katsina United in week 29th game last Sunday.
The Promise Keepers were far from their best at the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium and struggled to hit top gear.
A first half penalty from fit again Samuel Kalu was enough to secure the maximum three points for the Changi Boys.
The 1-0 defeat brought an end to the Akwa United’s 18-game unbeaten streak in the Nigeria Professional Football League last Sunday.
Akwa United still remain on top of the league table despite Sunday’s setback, they have 53 points after 29 matches.
They are followed by Nasarawa United and Kano Pillars in the second and third spots, respectively with 52 points each.
Sports
Iwobi Optimistic On S’Eagles Qualification
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.
Sports
ATLANTICBELL CEO ADVICE SPORTS WRITERS ON SPECIALIZATION
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.
Sports
DEPUTY PRESIDENT EXPRESSES COMMITMENT TO SUPPORT SPORTS DEV, SWAN
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.
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