Sports
Coach Hails Players Over Victory In Tournament
The Head coach of De Kings International Football Academy of Port Harcourt, King Chike has hailed his players over their impressive performance at the ongoing Summer Football Competition for Under 14- 16s in Oyibo Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Chike expressed his excitement at the manner his side won their opening match with good goals, adding that with such performance his players have shown understanding of his teachings in training.
Chike said this, on Monday, in a telephone interview with Tidesports shortly after his boys saw off Anderson FC 3-0 in their opening match of the competition at Okoloma Community Secondary School, Afam, Oyibo LGA.
He pointed out that if only his players could keep the momentum, they would be favourites to win the competition, adding that it is a thing of joy when your see your team with such an impressive performance.
“ It was a good game for today but we still need to do better because in a competition like this, you see a lots of good teams.
“I believe in our next outing we are going to do better than what we have done today.
“No matter their good outing today, we still have some mistakes in our game.
“This is a way of encouraging the grassroots players” Chike said.
He explained that they are going to do everything possible to ensure they get to the final of the competition. He added that with their performance so far, his boys have made him happy in the the competition.
Also speaking, the brace scorer, Bright Kiadum thanked God for helping him score the goals.
“ I want to thank God for making me to score two goals for today and I am begging him also for more goals in the tournament” Bright added.
By: Kiadum Edookor
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.
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.
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.