Sports
Osimhen’s Absence: Five Quality Alternatives To Transform Rohr’s S’Eagles
It is no longer news that the Super Eagles’ biggest star at the moment, Victor Osimhen, is out of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in January.
The Napoli striker suffered a terrible injury last weekend that damaged his face and required surgery.
Even though the complicated surgical operation was a success, the surgeon who worked on the 22-year-old has confirmed that the youngster is not expected to take to a football pitch for another two months.
That dashes any hope any Super Eagles fan has of the Napoli lad miraculously making a quick recovery and being a part of the party to Cameroon less than six weeks from today.
Needless to say, Osimhen is a massive loss for the Nigerian national team. The former Lille star has shouldered the Super Eagles’ goalscoring burden almost effortlessly since Odion Ighalo first announced his retirement from the team.
Osimhen scored five goals in six games to help the Gernot Rohr-led side qualify for the AFCON with a game to spare. And he delivered four more goals during the World Cup qualifying campaign to power the Eagles to the playoff round.
His ten goals and six assists in his last 16 appearances across two years paint the picture of a striker who thrives, not only at club level but also in the green-and-white colours.
Rohr will struggle to replace Osimhen’s energy, industry, and quality in attack, especially with little time available for the Super Eagles to adapt to playing with a new number nine.
Nigerian attackers have hit a purple patch in Europe at the moment, and it appears every major club already has one or is targeting to sign one.
At a point in the summer, Genk had four Nigerian forwards on their payroll, while Watford had two. From Union Berlin in the German Bundesliga to Slovan Bratislava in the Slovakian Fortuna Liga, there is at least one Nigerian forward delivering the goods regularly.
There is, therefore, a long list of strikers, head coach Gernot Rohr can choose from to improve the Super Eagles’ forward line.
Bar any major surprises, Genk’s Paul Onuachu, Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho, and Al Shabab’s Odion Ighalo already make up the bulk of the attackers Rohr will take to Cameroon in January.
But Onuachu is not fast enough for the kind of football Rohr wants his team to play. The German gaffer does not trust Iheanacho to lead the attack all on his own, and it is evident that age and the Saudi Arabian Pro League have slowed down Ighalo more than a bit.
Rohr and his assistants, therefore, need to look further than their noses and give a chance to one or two of the strikers who are painting Europe red with goals.
One of which is Union Berlin’s Taiwo Awoniyi. It is so difficult to look past a striker who has been tested in the Belgian and Dutch leagues and is presently flourishing in the German top-flight.
The 24-year-old is not Osimhen, but he is also strong, fast, and troubles defenders with his tireless pressing and endless running. The former Liverpool signing recently became Union Berlin’s record goalscorer in the Bundesliga, and it still beggars belief that he has only one Super Eagles cap to his name.
Watford’s Emmanuel Dennis is another name that should catch Rohr’s attention. The 24-year-old has not played more than 11 minutes in each of the three times he has featured for the Super Eagles, but his talent is undeniable.
And he is currently displaying it on the most glamorous stage of all, the English Premier League. The former Club Brugge star has four goals and five assists in nine league games for the Hornets and was the architect of Manchester United’s 4-1 thrashing at the Vicarage Road last weekend.
He can play anywhere in the front three, but through the centre is where he could be most devastating for the Eagles.
There is also Umar Sadiq. The former U-23 star has been Nigeria’s brightest shining star in the Spanish second division, and there is a reason why he is linked to Barcelona, Newcastle, Sevilla, and some other notable clubs on the continent.
Sadiq has pace, holds the ball well, and scores goals for fun. His commitment to Almeria has made him snub a couple of Rohr’s invitations before, but who can say no to a chance to be at Africa’s biggest football festival?
And there is Cyriel Dessers. The Feyenoord man is an old-fashioned fox-in-the-box type of striker who is blessed with two good feet.
The Genk-owned forward is building a reputation in the Netherlands as a supersub, but he can certainly get the job done from kick-off, as he showed many times at Heracles.
And it is almost unforgivable that he has made just one appearance for the Super Eagles after committing to Nigeria ahead of Belgium.
Another forward whose form could pave the way for a maiden call-up is Slovan Bratislava’s Ezekiel Henty.
A powerful presence in the box and adept at sticking the ball in the back of the net, Henty is Nigeria’s most prolific striker in Europe at this point, with 14 goals across all competitions.
The 28-year-old attacker looks like a fine blend of a right-footed Iheanacho and a faster Ighalo. He may, however, not have the international experience required to keep Onuachu and Ighalo on the Eagles bench at a major tournament.
Other notable mentions include Venezia’s David Okereke, Randers’ Stephen Odey, Lorient’s Terem Moffi, Trabzonspor’s Anthony Nwakaeme, Slavia Prague’s Peter Olayinka, and, Sivasspor’s Olanrewaju Kayode. They have all shown their quality in recent times and should at least get a look-in from Rohr.
The Super Eagles and their fans should not give up the hopes of a fourth continental title charge because of Osimhen’s injury and expected absence. It is not over yet.
The introduction of a reliable striking replacement and adequate technical input from the coaching crew can make the 2013 Afcon champions the team to beat in Cameroon.
Sports
African Games: Nigerian Women Athletes Make Country Proud Again
Before, the saying that ‘what a man can do, a woman can do better’ is usually met with resistance.
In sports, that saying has been validated over and over again with the performances of female athletes in comparison to their male counterparts, especially when it comes to quantifying their contributions to their country’s success at multi-sports events like the Olympic, Commonwealth and African Games.
For Nigeria, the women have once again proven to be the most consistent and reliable by winning the most medals for the country at the just-concluded 13th African Games in Ghana. Nigeria finished second behind Egypt in the overall medals table with a total of 121 medals comprising 47 gold, 34 silver and 40 bronze.
The women’s contribution to Team Nigeria’s haul is 71 compared to the male athletes’ 47, while three were won in mixed events. That number makes up 58.67 per cent of Nigeria’s total medals.
Significantly, the women also won 35 out of Team Nigeria’s 47 gold, leaving 11 to the male, while the other one was won in the mixed 4x400m relay, which was inspired by one of the two women in the quartet, Omolara Ogunmakinju.
The women’s gold medal haul is a whopping 74 per cent of Nigeria’s total gold.
Interestingly, the women’s 35 gold would have been enough to see Nigeria top the overall medals table, if it was an all-female affair as Egypt, who won the Games recorded 33 gold, 22 silver and 22 bronze medals from their female athletes.
On the other hand, the men’s 11 gold would mean Nigeria would finish joint third with Tunisia, who’s men also won 11 gold medals while Egypt will retain their number one spot with 66 gold from their men and Algeria second with 19.
There were also 18 silver medals from the women, two more than the 16 won by the men. In terms of bronze medals, the men had the upper hand with 20 medals, two more than the women’s 18 while two medals were won in mixed games for a total of 40.
Notably, there were stellar performances from Nigeria’s female wrestlers at the Games as the six of them (Blessing Oborududu, Odunayo Adekuoroye, Hannah Reuben, Christiana Ogunsanya, Mercy Genesis and Esther Kolawole) had a clean sweep of the wrestling event.
Also, four among the five weightlifters who won three gold medals each are women (Eze Joy, Ayodele Ruth, Lawal Rafiatu, and Olarinoye Adijat).
All the seven female boxers for Nigeria also won medals – five gold (Joy Ojo, Patricia Mbata, Cynthia Ogunsemilore, Blessing Oraekwe, Jacinta Umunnakwe) and two silver (Zainab Adeshina, Kareem Shukura).
In athletics, world record holder in the women’s 100m hurdles, Tobi Amusan, retained her African Games title by winning a third consecutive crown while long jumper Ese Brume also successfully defended her title by winning a second African Games gold in the event.
According to the 2023 African Games website, in terms of representation, Nigeria’s 437 contingent also had more women (221) than the men (216).
Beyond the 2023 African Games, female Nigeria athletes have shown greater prospects than their male counterparts.
At the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the women won all the gold for Team Nigeria as the country put up their best outing ever, snatching a record 12 gold, nine silver and 14 bronze medals to erase their previous best performance at the Games, 11 gold, 13 silver and 13 bronze medals in 1994 in Victoria, Canada.
The men took the back seat, managing just three silver and six bronze medals out of a total haul of 35 medals.
At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Nigeria’s only two medals were won by two female athletes, Blessing Oborududu (silver in wrestling) while Brume won bronze in long jump.
Amusan (gold) and Brume (silver) were also the only two medallists for Nigeria at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon, USA, where the former stormed to the current women’s 100m hurdles record (12.12s) and also became the first ever world champion from Nigeria.
Sports
African Games: Minister Promises Swift Preparation For Egypt 2027
Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Enoh, has declared that the preparations for the 2027 African Games which will be held in Egypt will begin immediately, as the contingent to the just concluded 13th edition of the Games in Ghana arrived on Sunday.
Team Nigeria arrived in the country’s capital Abuja and Lagos in batches on Sunday via chartered flights provided by the Ministry of Sports Development.
In Ghana, Team Nigeria had an impressive outing and finished second in the overall medals table with a total number of 121 medals comprising 47 gold, 34 silver and 40 bronze medals.
Although the foreign-based athletes who were part of Nigeria’s success at the Games have also returned directly to their bases, Enoh believes a head start ahead of the 2027 Games will give the country an edge in their quest to claim top spot for the first time since hosting the Games in 2003.
“On behalf of His Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, I welcome you back to our dear country. I congratulate you for your outstanding performance in the just concluded 13th African Games that held in the Ghana,” the minister said in a statement obtained by our correspondent last Sunday.
“While you bask in the euphoria of your exploits and worthy sense of achievement, let me quickly remind you that preparations for the 14th African Games built to hold in Egypt starts now. As your Sports development minister, dubbed Nigeria’s Games Master General, I sure will be with you all the way.
“Without prejudice to the comprehensive audit and thorough evaluation of our overall performance at the games which will soon be carried out under my guidance and leadership, the time has come for our country to spend as much, if not more, as it does for competitions in development and preparation, if we ever hope to get atop the medals table which we have only achieved once in 2003 when the country hosted the Games.”
Sports
NWFL: Rivers Angels Striker Targets Women CAF Champions League
Rivers Angels FC of Port Harcourt striker, Blessing Okpe has said that her target was to keep working hard and ensure her team seals the CAF Women’s champion’s league ticket this season.
According to her, no game comes easy but what is important is the approach towards each of the games, adding that she is playing for Rivers Angels to give her best in the round leather game.
Okpe said this recently in a chat with the team media officer, Faith Meremegbunam and made available to Tidesports even as she expressed happiness for scoring her first goal against FC Robo that gave her team a draw.
The stand-in captain also expressed joy as she captained the team to an impressive performance, saying that she would do her best to ensure the team move forward.
“I feel so great and so happy to lead the team and scoring the first goal against our opponents.
“After the 1 -1 in Ikenne, we came back home and gave ourselves the target of beating them here in Port Harcourt.”
“We never wanted to lose two straight home matches because the two home matches are an advantage to us.
“After we drew with Robo, we had to fight hard to win matches.”
“We will keep working hard, my target this season is to qualify for CAF women’s Champions’ League,” Okpe said.
Rivers Angels’ next game is against Edo Queens in Benin on February 28.
By: Kiadum Edookor
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