Sports
Oliseh Applauds Senegal’s Last-16 Qualification
Former Super Eagles head coach and a member of the FIFA Technical Study Group for the 2022 World Cup, Sunday Oliseh, has praised the doggedness of Aliou Cisse’s Senegal side for their win over Ecuador in their last group stage match on Tuesday.
Kalidou Koulibaly’s strike sealed a 2-1 win at the Khalifa International Stadium and earned a knockout stage for the Lions of Teranga.
It is the first time the Teranga Lions have qualified for the round of 16 at a World Cup since 2002 under the guidance of Bruno Metsu and Cisse featured in four of their five matches at that tournament.
Senegal also set the record as the first African nation to beat a South American side at the World Cup since Cameroon overcame Colombia in 1990.
The former Eagles coach was ecstatic and took to his Twitter account to congratulate Cisse and his team for their team spirit.
“Wonder coach Cissé at work! Congratulations to Senegal. Well-deserved qualification to the World Cup.
“In spite of all the injuries to star players like Sadio Mane, Kouyaté,” the former Super Eagles star tweeted.
Cisse’s side went into the game a point adrift of their opponents, but a deserved victory saw them secure the second spot in Group A behind the Netherlands, who beat hosts Qatar in the group’s other game.
Cisse dedicated Senegal’s victory over Ecuador to injured Sadio Mane.
Mane was ruled out of Qatar 2022 after suffering an injury in the build-up to the tournament, but Cisse’s thoughts quickly turned to the forward in the aftermath of his side’s huge win.
“I would like to dedicate this victory to a man who is doing extraordinary things for the country, who is unfortunately not here today. This man is called Sadio Mane,” he said.
Senegal face England on Sunday in place for the quarterfinal spot.
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.