Sports
Heartland Can’t Go On Relegation – Coach
Following a nil all draw away to Wikki Tourists, Erasmus Onuh, the Coach of Heartland was emphatic in asserting that the club has recorded tremendous improvement over the course of the season and is on course to avoid relegation.
Heartland followed up an impressive 1-0 win against title contenders, Plateau United with the draw in Kaduna on Matchday 25 against Wikki Tourists and was clearly the better side.
Still mired in the relegation zone, the Owerri side had two great chances to score but could not make it happen, while the Kaura Boys could not muster a shot on goal even when Olawale Tolulope had an empty goal at his mercy inside the box. He skied his shot missing Wikki’s best chance to win the game.
Speaking after the match, Onuh , who bagged yellow card just before the match for dissent, said the attitude of the Owerri side has changed and their tactics is based on possessive football and being ready to die for the team.
“My team has improved tremendously; there is a big improvement from the way we used to play, that is why I did not make many changes. The few changes I made were not because someone was not doing well, but for tactical reasons.
“We will escape relegation. We are on course. It is work in progress and we would see what we can do as the season progresses. It is a difficult job to do, but we would do it. The people who gave me the job trusted me and I want to do my best not to betray that trust.
“There is a new mindset in our team, the game plan from me is that the team should possess the ball and get ready to die, we should play like soldiers, defend the team with our body, mind, everything. We want to leave that place (relegation zone) and we would do that by going for victory in our next match against Abia Warriors,” the gaffer said.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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