Assistant Coach of Enyimba, Olanrewaju Yemi, has expressed delight over the victory against Shooting Stars Club of Ibadan in the NPFL. Yemi, who has been in charge of the team following the unavailability of Coach Finidi George owing to AFCON duties, said he can’t wait to have his boss back in the dugout. While commending the players for their response and tenacity in the game, Yemi extended his appreciation to fans, the club’s chairman, Nwankwo Kanu, and the team’s head coach for their support. He said: “Important three points against Shooting Stars at home. I am happy for the boys…
Author: ROSEMARY UGIOMOH
Evans Ogenyi, the coach of Rivers United, has urged Nigerians to be hopeful about the team as they return to the continent this weekend. The Pride of Rivers will face APC Lobito of Angola in a game they must win. The coach stated that the game would be different in Angola but remained optimistic about the game. “The game in Angola will be different, I want Nigerians to have hope in the team because we are not just representing Rivers State but a Nigeria entity. “Be hopeful, pray for us and wish the team well and we won’t disappoint”, he…
The road towards qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco will start today (Tuesday) as the 52 countries jostling to qualify and join the North African hosts in the 35th edition of the AFCON will know the route to Morocco 2025. The draw will hold in Cairo, Egypt at 1pm Nigerian time and 12h00 GMT. Twenty three countries will go through the qualifying stages to join automatic qualifier, Morocco as hosts. The bulk of the contesting teams will have to wait to later in the year before they take to the fields. However, based on the current FIFA…
Sanusi was stretchered off the pitch during Porto’s 2-0 victory against Estrella da Amadora on Saturday night. It was the left-back’s first game for the Dragons since his return from the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. The defender was replaced by Jorge Sanchez in the 37th minute. According to reports, Sanusi is expected to be sidelined for an extended period. The 26-year-old has struggled to stay on his feet this season. Sanusi spent around three months on the sidelines in the first half of the season. He has made just five league appearances for Porto this season with one goal…
At a time when all the men’s teams from Africa were yet to record a win at the ongoing ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships, the Egyptian women’s team recorded the continent’s first win after a convincing 3-1 win over Czech Republic. It was Dina Meshref who led the onslaught for Egypt after taking down Zdena Blaskova 3-0. Hana Goda fought from behind against Hana Matelova but her efforts could not prevent her from going down to the Czech at 3-2. Mariam Alhodaby restored Egypt’s lead with a 3-1 win over Katerina Tomanovska while Meshref returned to finish up what…
Spectators in Asaba got what they sought for, as they witnessed one of the races that made news during the week. That was the 100m showdown between world leader, Emmanuel Consider Ekanem, and Enoch Adegoke, one race anyone won’t like to miss following the athIetes antecedents in the past. Ekanem recently achieved a world lead in the 100m, returning a 10:10 secs in Lagos. It was expected that Adegoke, with 10:28 seconds this year, will not let things slips off him in the race that promisedto be explosive. However, the big 100m battle in Asaba never came to pass…
Nse Udofot Essien, an executive board member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has revealed why the Sports Ministry would pay Coach Jose Peseiro and not the NFF. Essien said the NFF did not shift their responsibility in any way but that the Ministry of Sports insisted on taking over the payment. In his submission during an interview on a Whatsapp platform, Sports World, he said the erroneous belief that the NFF dodged its responsibility, shifting same to the supervising ministry was false. “The NFF has not shifted its responsibilities as far as the remuneration of the coaches are concerned.…
South Africa will beat Nigeria to the sole Group C ticket of for the 2026 World Cup. This is the submission of Doctor Khumalo, the Bafana Bafana legend. Khumalo said given what he saw between the two sides at the recently ended 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa would pick the sole ticket as both countries are housed in Group C of the CAF qualifiers alongside Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Rwanda and Benin Republic. The Super Eagles drew their first two matches against Lesotho and Zimbabwe, while South Africa defeated the Cheetahs of Benin Republic and lost to…
There is no doubt that Nigeria is out of contention for a place in the knockout stage of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships taking place in Busan, South Korea, but handler of the team, Segun Toriola, has attributed the team’s early exit to the absence of their talisman Quadri Aruna. Aruna withdrew from the tournament following the illness he had few days to the competition and his absence might have affected the fortunes of Nigeria in the Asian city of Busan. “It is obvious that the absence of Aruna affected the team’s performance because being a top player, his…
Olympian Yusuf Alli, the executive chairman of Edo State Sports Commission, has confirmed the readiness of Edo State Government to host the maiden Nigeria Premier Football Youth League finals in Benin, beginning from February 24. The Edo Sports Commission boss, in a release signed by the media officer, Kehinde Osagiede, said the nation’s youth league finals would be staged in Benin City,the Edo State capital, in confirmation of the announcement earlier made by the chairman of the NPFL Youth league Committee, Pastor Emeka Inyama, on Tuesday. Alli said; “Benin has been announced as the host city for the finals of…