Sports
Mali, Morocco Suffer Defeats At U-17 W/Cup
It was a bad outing for african countries at the fifa u-17 world cup in indonesia as mali and morocco suffered defeat.
After beating Panama 2-0 in their opening match, Morocco fell 0-2 to Ecuador on Monday.
Michael Bermudez scored a match-winning brace as Ecuador surged to the summit of Group A.
In the sweltering heat of Surabaya, captain Michael Bermudez emerged as the South Americans’ hero with a well-taken second-half brace, settling a match that could have gone either way.
Chances were at a premium throughout but Morocco created the better of the few carved out in the first half, including an Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal header that crashed against the face of the bar.
Ecuador, though, improved after the break and won a spot-kick just after the hour-mark when Naoufel El Hannach was lured into a needless foul on Elkin Ruiz.
Bermudez stepped up and, despite Taha Benrhozil dancing on his line in an attempt at distraction, kept his cool to drill a firm and precise penalty into the bottom-left corner.
Morocco still had plenty of time to mount a comeback but created little in the time that followed, and Bermudez completed his brace in stoppage time after snatching on a slack back-pass before skipping past the keeper and slotting home.
Ecuador now look well placed to qualify for the knockout phase.
Their African opponents still remain second after hosts Indonesia and Panama played out a draw.
A 62nd-minute Juan Hernandez strike was enough for Spain to beat 10-man Mali in Surakarta and take a giant leap towards the FIFA U-17 World Cup knockout phase.
The African side played for more than half of the game with a numerical disadvantage after Mamadou Doumbia – hat-trick hero in their opening-game win over Uzbekistan – was sent off.
Ange Martial Tia thought he had given Mali the lead when he slotted home on the half-hour mark – the goal was chalked off, however, following a VAR review for a foul in the build-up by Sekou Kone.
The African side had looked the more likely to score, even before the disallowed goal, but game took a significant turn on 40 minutes when Doumbia was red-carded for a challenge on Pau Prim.
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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