Sports
All African Games: Nigeria Finishes Second On Medal Table
An eye-catching closing ceremony brought to an end the African Games in Ghana last Saturday after an eventful 16 days in Accra, Kumasi and Cape Coast.
The events ended with a parade of all the participating countries’ flags while music from Nigerian hip-hop star Tiwa Savage was played from the sound system much to the delight of the crowd.
On the final day of the competition, perennial champions, Egypt claimed two more gold to take their gold medal to 101 to once again claim the top spot at the continental sports showpiece event.
The 13th edition of the African Games, which officially began March 8, will be remembered for sporting excellence.
Egypt emerged winners of the event with 189 medals (101 gold, 46 silver and 42 bronze) while Nigeria finished in second position with 47 gold, 33 silver and 40 bronze to claim a total of 120 medals.
South Africa occupied the third spot with 106 medals (32 gold, 32 silver and 42 bronze) as Algeria ranked the fourth best country at the event in Ghana with 114 medals (29 gold, 38 silver and 47 bronze).
Tunisia completed the Top 4 with 87 medals (21 gold, 27 silver and 39 bronze), while Ghana, despite a poor start to the event, finished in sixth position with 19 gold, 29 silver and 20 bronze medals.
Morocco, Ethiopia, Mauritius and Kenya complete the Top 10 spots in that order.
Of the 54 countries in Africa, 53 were in attendance, with only Cape Verde absent from the 13th edition of the Games.
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.
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