Sports
Enyimba’s Return To Winning Ways Excites Finidi
Enyimba’s gaffer, Finidi George, had a beam of satisfaction all over his face after his side defeated visiting Wikki Tourists 2-0 in Aba last Sunday, their first win in four games in the domestic topflight.
A debut goal by defender Abel James and striker Victor Mbaoma’s seventh of the campaign steered the People’s Elephant to victory on match-day 20.
Enyimba’s poor run had fans calling for Finidi’s removal, with some of them urging Plateau United manager, Fidelis Ilechukwu, to replace him after the latter led his side to a 1-1 stalemate against the three-time African champions in the first stanza of the league in Aba.
Finidi told Tidesports source that his side would now focus on sustaining the momentum after the win in Aba.
“I’m quite satisfied because it was a difficult game but starting well is always important,” he said.
“This was how we started the first stanza but along the line something did not go right. We hope we can keep this momentum going.”
On his wingers creating assists for both goals, Finidi, himself an ex-winger, is hopeful they will do well.
“We had to make some rotations, others have been playing for some time and these two weeks (break) that we had, we worked on some players and we tried to give them the opportunity.
“They’ve used it well and we are quite happy, hopefully they will build on that and do better in the next match,” said Finidi.
Despite recording just one shot on target throughout the encounter, Wikki Tourists’ coach Kabiru Dogo, is satisfied with his team’s performance.
“I believe the two teams played very well. Although we didn’t score a goal I’m satisfied with the performance of my boys and I say congratulations to Enyimba,” he said.
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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