Sports
Yusuf’s Injury Not Serious
Nigeria’s Yusuf Mohammed will be available for Swiss side FC Sion from tomorrow.
It was feared that Yusuf had sustained a severely damaged left knee in Nigeria’s slim 1-0 World Cup qualifier victory over Mozambique on October 11.
The former Enyimba and Al-Hilal man was stretchered off in the first half of the tense match after a clash with a Mambas midfielder.
However, following a scan and analysis by his Swiss club, the injury was diagnosed as a minor knock.
That will come as relief, not only to FC Sion but also to Super Eagles coach Shaibu Amodu who had initially feared that he would be without the lively defender for the crucial World Cup qualifier against Kenya on November 14.
“I feel a sense of comfort now knowing that the injury is not as serious as first feared,” Yusuf Mohammed told our source from Sion in Switzerland.” I’ve started running today (Monday) and should start kicking football soon.
“Doctors told me I could have aggravated the injury but they are happy that it was just a knock and now am glad it is not so bad,” Yusuf added.
The defender, who got the nod ahead of Olubayo Adefemi in the Nigeria line-up against Mozambique, is however confident that a place in the World Cup is not impossible for the country.
In order to get to the finals in South Africa the Super Eagles must win their final game in Kenya and hope Tunisia draw or lose in Mozambique.
“We know everyone has given up hopes on us but we still have strong feeling that we can make it to the World Cup,” Yusuf explained.
“It is not going to be easy for us against Kenya just like Tunisia will also fight in Mozambique.
“I know many people have ruled us out already, rightly so because of the table, but strange things happen in football and that is why we want to fight hard for a win in Kenya.
“In the end we hope after taking care of our business, the rest will be down to the wire but I am confident we can still qualify.
“We have to say sorry to the fans for our performances so far and let them know that we need them to make what many have termed impossible to be very possible in the end.”
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.
-
Featured1 day agoWASSCE: RSG Distributes Science Materials To Secondary Schools
-
News2 days ago
Xenophobic Attacks: Nigerian Lives More Important Than Foreign Investment – Oshiomhole
-
Rivers2 days ago
MBA Forex Trial Adjourn To June 3, Amid Bereavement … As Court Declines Cost Application
-
News2 days ago
ActionAid Demands Probe Of Govs Using Public Funds For Campaign
-
Aviation2 days ago
Passengers Stranded As Delta Airline From Atlanta Route Back Eight Hours After
-
Business2 days ago
Customs Impound N2.35bn Cocaine, 15 Trailers of Rice
-
Politics2 days ago
2027: Bayelsa Senator Gets Critical Endorsement For Second Term
-
Politics2 days agoINEC Sets Rivers South-East Senatorial By-Election For June 20