Sports
United In League Title Race – Coach Eguma
Rivers United coach Stanley Eguma has said that his team is in strong contention for the Nigeria League championship after they beat Shooting Stars 2-0 at home at the weekend.
Rivers United moves to second on the table with 44 points, two points behind leaders Enugu Rangers, after Wikki Tourists could only draw 1-1 at Niger Tornadoas.
“We have a very good chance of winning the league,” declared Eguma, who led Dolphins to win the league five years ago.
“We won’t give up until the league is over.”
Rivers United enhanced their championship chances on Sunday after a comfortable home win against Shooting Stars.
“Our first-half goals boosted our confidence, but in the second half, 3SC upped their game,” said Eguma.
“The league is at the home stretch and it is now more difficult to win whether at home or away.
“We will keep working hard to get it right.”
United faces a tricky road trip to Sunshine on Sunday.Governor Wike Splashes Cash On Rivers United
The Executive Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike (CON) on Sunday matched words with action as he watched Rivers United in a competitive game for the first time.
Governor Wike was present at the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Port Harcourt as Rivers United beat Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) 2-0 in a Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) game.
United has impressed this season and are still in the running for glory in both the NPFL and the Federation Cup.
As part of plans to adequately motivate the club, the Governor outlined several incentives which should spur players and officials of the club as the season enters the home strait.
The Governor splashed the sum of seven million naira (N7 million) on the football club for the win over 3SC in Port Harcourt on Sunday with a further three point five million naira (N3.5 million) set as the financial carrot each time the football club earns a draw away from home in the NPFL this season.
For an away win in any of their remaining matches in this season’s NPFL, the sum of seven million naira (N7 million) has been earmarked as financial incentive.
The Rivers State Chief Executive also promised the sum of fifty thousand US dollars ($50,000 USD) if the team defeats either Julius Atete FC or Enyimba International FC in the quarter final of this year’s Federation Cup.
The Governor also revealed that a ‘special package’ awaits the football club if they reach the last four of the oldest football competition.
Rivers United is currently in second place on the NPFL standings with 44 points from 26 games, two points adrift of the leaders, Enugu Rangers.
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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