Sports
We’re Eager To Resume New Season – Players, Coaches
Coaches and players have declared their readiness ahead of the kick-off of the 2021/22 Nigeria Professional Football League season Today.
Action begins in Lagos with a game between MFM and newly-promoted Remo Stars at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan.
Champions Akwa United will be hoping to retain their title but will face Kano Pillars in their opening game at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo.
In Aba, the Abia Derby will kick-start Enyimba’s campaign when they square off against neighbours Abia Warriors. The People’s Elephant on Tuesday showed their readiness for the league when they posted a video on Twitter showing players involved in serious workout sessions ahead of the new season.
Enyimba midfielder, Cyriel Olisema, says preparation is in top gear for the derby game.
“We are eager to see the league begin. We were preparing for our CAF Confederation Cup against Al Ittihad but we don’t know what is happening. So, our attention is focused on our opening match against Abia Warriors.”
Speaking on their readiness for the season, Gbenga Ogunbote, head coach of newly promoted Remo Stars says their aim is to ensure they avoid the drop at the end of the season.
“We are ready for the league, our first assignment is to ensure that we remain here at the end of the season and I know we have the players to make that happen. The boys are ready and we can’t wait to get started,” Ogunbote said.
Plateau United coach, Fidelis Illechukwu, also spoke of his team’s preparedness for the start of the campaign.
“We are ready for the league. We’ve played a lot of pre-season games and I know we are sharp and good to go.”
Veteran NPFL midfielder, Dayo Ojo, who is currently with Remo Stars, stated, “We’re set, we are good to go. We’ve been together for over two months, we’ve been playing several preseason and continental games.”
“The management has told us that what they want is to see us remain in the league next season, but for us as players, our aim is to get a continental ticket and we are ready.”
Kano Pillar’s forward, Ebuka David, said preparation for the start of the season had been smooth.
“We are expecting that it’s going to be a good season because we’ve put in a lot in terms of preparations, so we are hoping to put up a good performance,” David said.
Sports
Bundesliga: Kane Scores Hat-Trick As Bayern End Winless Streak
England captain Harry Kane netted a hat-trick to guide Bayern Munich to an impressive victory against Stuttgart.
Kane’s goals, plus one from Kingsley Coman, helped Bayern end a three-game winless run in all competitions.
They faced a tough task against a Stuttgart side who sat back and limited their chances, leading Vincent Kompany’s side to enter the break frustrated and with the deadlock unbroken.
Bayern eventually found a way past Stuttgart’s steely defence when Kane drilled a low effort into the bottom corner from around 30 yards out after Joshua Kimmich overturned possession.
Sports
Dosu Survives Ghastly Accident, Again
Former Nigeria goalkeeper, Dosu Joseph, is full of thanks to God after he miraculously survived another life-threatening automobile accident recent at Kara, along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, where a heavy-duty truck ran into his SUV.
Narrating his ordeal, the 51-year-old, who guided Nigeria to gold in the Men’s Football Tournament of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, broke the news in a statement on his social media handles on Friday.
“To God be the glory, another death escaped by Grace and Mercy of God. Me and my friend SM were at Enyo Filling Station after Ojodu Berger bus stop to get fuel on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, around 6 p.m. when this MACK truck fully loaded with iron, with registration number LND 470 XX, left the road and crushed my car beyond repairs. Thank God for life,” he stated.
This is the second time the soft-spoken club proprietor will cheat death by a whisker, having been involved in an accident in 1997 that ended his career at 23 and left his spinal cord in bad shape.
He helped Julius Berger win the Nigeria FA Cup in November 1997 shortly a memorable Olympic outing by keeping a clean sheet in the finals against Katsina United. The following year, he was involved in the auto along Ikorodu Road, Lagos, which not only cut his career short but also left him almost paralysed, ending his spell at Serie A club Reggiana.
The former Nigeria international, who also kept goal for Julius Berger FC, said the case has been reported to Isheri Police Station, Ogun State, where the driver is currently detained and the truck also seized.
According to him, the owner of the truck said he can’t fix the badly damaged SUV until after a year.
Sports
Sports Development Going Down In Nigeria – Ex-International
Ex – Super Eagles of Nigeria, Okwuchukwu Waobikeze has observed that sports development in Nigeria is going down.
According to him, grassroots sports is very important, without it, the administrators cannot get it right. So everybody should key into grassroots sports development, he said.
Waobikeze said this last Wednesday in an interview with sports journalists shortly after the Port Harcourt All Stars Independence football festival (OCTOBERFEST) at the Port Harcourt club, Rivers State.
He explained that for sports administrators to get it right, grassroots development is key. “They should be organising competition at the grassroots level to fish out the young ones for different sporting activities.
“Grassroots sports is very important so the administrators have to go back to the grassroots.
” Sports Development in Nigeria is going down we need to go back to the basics.
“Look at the just concluded Paris Olympics, Nigeria did not win any medal.
” Our football team did not even qualify for the Olympics. We are going down.
” If they should go back to the grassroots, they will get young ones in the games and talents will be developed.
” I started from school games, to youth games before playing for the national team. Now everybody wants to fly board to play professional football and a lot do not know the basics of the game.
” A lot of people did not know the little things about the game, they just want to play. It is not done so,” Waobikeze stated.
Kiadum Edookor