Sports
AFCON 2021: S’Eagles Target Perfect Record Against Motivated Guinea Bissau
Despite being assured of qualification and top position in Group D at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021, the Super Eagles of Nigeria, who are expected to ring some changes in the starting eleven, would still go for the kill and maximum points against the African Wild Dogs of Guinea Bissau in today’s last group match.
The Eagles, apart from chasing a 100 per cent haul of points would want to match a record of winning all group matches in the tournament, set on only two previous occasions while playing under the same Coach Austine Eguavoen.
Two wins in as many games have set the Eagles up for the round of 16 but today’s game with Guinea Bissau is an opportunity for Eguavoen, while keen on victory, to test run some players yet to be fully tested at the championship.
Interim Coach Augustine Eguavoen has already admitted that he will be rotating players for this match: “Everybody in this team has a chance to play in this tournament, so with qualification secured, we will be giving some players the opportunity to play in the next game.”
Though the coach would like to remain competitive in the game, players like Wilfried Ndidi and Joe Aribo are likely to be rested for Kelechi Nwakali and Frank Onyeka to prove their mettle. Also, Samuel Chukwueze and energetic Moses Simon may give way to Alex Iwobi and Chidera Ejuke to try to expresss themselves and provide confidence on squad depth going forward.
It remains to be seen if Umar Sadiq will come in for Taiwo Awoniyi, although you are inclined to give the Almeria frontman significant minutes despite the ongoing criticism over cameos against Egypt and Sudan.
Admittedly, making a glut of changes has its demerits, including a lack of rhythm for the incoming players owing to a dearth of game time, the risk of an incoherent display and preferred starters losing momentum.
The Super Eagles may have played themselves into reckoning with their performance in the two previous matches, Guinea Bissau, who drew their first match 0-0 with Sudan and lost narrowly 0-1 to seven time winners, Egypt in controversial circumstances may pose a potential banana peel for the Eagles.
According to one of their midfielders, Pele, “It is our ambition to qualify and we are not giving up on that, we must do everything to defeat Nigeria because it is very important for us,” said the Monaco player. “We will fight with everything we have and if we played as we did against Egypt, we will qualify. We want everyone at home proud of us.”
This is why the Eagles, their handlers and whoever gets the chance to play today must not take anything for granted. The team has evoked great expectations from Nigerians and their fans, they must not lower the standard already reached.
While today’s game does not change the Eagles’ fate, Eguavoen will hope that the stand-ins flourish as they look to end the group stage without a blemish. Nine points from a possible nine for the first time since 2006 has a nice ring to it.
Meanwhile, Sudan will seek an upset win over old rivals Egypt when the teams meet in the other Group D clash at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde today.
Sudan heads into this clash sitting bottom of the log after a 0-0 draw with Guinea-Bissau and 3-1 loss at the hands of Nigeria this past weekend.
The Falcons of Jediane are still in last 16 contention, but they must beat Egypt to have a chance of snatching second place or being one of the top-ranked third-place finishers.
By: Gabriel Nwanetanya
Nigeria was on Wednesday announced as winner of the International Cricket Council’s Cricket Initiative of The Year 2023 in Africa, with the PwC National U-17 Championship, which has ran for five years.
The country was among the 21 nations celebrated by the ICC following another ground-breaking effort on and off the field in the year under review.
“The ICC Development Initiative of the Year award recognises the outstanding development initiative delivered during the year and regional winners include Nigeria Cricket Federation, whose U-17 Cricket Championship continues to provide competitive playing opportunities for boys and girls across the country,” ICC said in a statement on Wednesday.
Nigeria and other regional winners from other continents will now be put forward for v NCF president, Uyi Akpata, said the award couldn’t have come at a better time.
“This is an award that celebrates the power of collaboration. PwC and several partners took a gamble on us and backed our developmental initiatives. It is gladdening that it is yielding results on a global dimension,” Akpata said.
“It has been encouraging to know that the ICC has been keeping tabs and particularly recognising the efforts of our team of passionate cricket development officers and the board of the federation. This will only spur us to go further.”
Country Senior Partner at PwC Nigeria, Sam Abu, said the award confirmed the potential they saw in the game.
“This global recognition for our joint initiative with the Nigeria Cricket Federation is one we are proud of, especially for the fact that it confirms that the game has the potential to galvanise, empower and equip the youths for global impact.”
It is the fourth honour Nigeria will be receiving in recognition of the country’s strides in cricket in recent times.
Despite being on top of the 2023/24 Nigeria Premier Football League table, Enugu Rangers Coach, Fidelis Ilechukwu, has said winning the title this season is not the primary target given to him by his employers.The seven-time champions are currently topping the table with 54 points after 31 matches, two points ahead of Enyimba, who are second in the chasing pack that also have Lobi Stars, Plateau United and Remo Stars.Ilechukwu’s team muscled their way to the top by displacing Lobi weeks back, but their gaffer insists they are not in the title race.
“I’m not thinking about title. Enyimba, Lobi Stars and Remo Stars are thinking about it,” Ilechukwu said via 54footballx.
“We have a very young team and structure is what we are thinking of. Maybe next season we will talk about the title. If I’m thinking about that, I will be under pressure and I don’t want to be under pressure because the management did not tell me about that.”
Rangers have the joint highest number of wins in the NPFL this season, having won 16 of their matches. They also went 10 games without a defeat before the run was halted by Katsina United and Ilechukwu.
Even with their descent run in the league, Ilechukwu maintained that they are not under pressure to outdo other teams.
“What we are doing is taking the game one at a time and we are positive.”
Ilechukwu was appointed head coach of the team before the start of the campaign. He worked with Plateau United last season and had previously managed MFM FC and Heartland.
In their last game on Sunday, Rangers were beaten 2-0 by Rivers United in Port Harcourt, which saw their four-point lead at the top of the table reduced to two.
Their next match is at home against Plateau United at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu.
The national U-17 men’s team, Golden Eaglets, forced Miracle Academy from Abia State to a 1-1 draw in a friendly at the FIFA Goal Project pitch inside the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja on Wednesday evening.
The game is one of the friendlies lined up to prepare the team for their WAFU B U-17 Cup of Nations title defence in Ghana next month.
The Eaglets will begin their campaign in Group B against Burkina Faso, Niger Republic and Togo.
The visitors scored against the run of play, but the Eaglets quickly rallied to restore parity a few minutes later to end the first half on equal terms.
Manu Garba’s team bossed the entire second half but failed to convert any of the several scoring chances they created.
The record five-time world champions have so far played three tune-up matches, winning one with two draws, plus six goals scored and four goals conceded.
They were forced to a 1-1 draw by Ikon Allah Academy, a Kaduna-based football team, on Tuesday evening.
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