Nigerian Football
VAT Wonder Goal 10: Bashir, Chidume, Jimoh Jostle For Honours
The Match Day 29 goals by Abdulrahman Bashir of Nasarawa United, Victor Chidume of Remo Stars and Wasiu Jimoh of Shooting Stars Sports Club have been shortlisted for the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season’s VAT Wonder Goal 10.
Out of the 16 goals recorded on Match Day 29, the strikes by the trio were adjudged to have been outstanding.
Bashir’s goal helped Nasarawa United claim a 1-0 success in match with Sunshine Stars which eventually proved to be their first away victory of the campaign.
It was a goal that started from the back when Nasarawa United goalkeeper, Suraj Ayeleso, served out the ball to Ocheme Edoh who did well to cushion the ball and pass it to Aminu Kadir who in turn passed it over the Sunshine Stars defence and set up Bashir who calmly lobbed the ball over a despairing Sunshine Stars goalkeeper, Henry Ayodele for his goal.
In a see-saw match at the Aper Aku Stadium in Makurdi that produced five goals, Chidume scored a gem of a goal for Remo Stars who eventually lost 2-3 to Lobi Stars.
The Sky Blue Stars picked the pocket of Lobi Stars in midfield and immediately the ball fell to the feet of Chidume, he instinctively aimed his attempt at goal from the centre circle leaving eggs in the face of Lobi goalkeeper Okiemute Odah when the ball nestled in the net.
Jimoh’s goal for Shooting Stars in a 1-0 win over Katsina United at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan was from a free kick. The ball was touched for the midfielder, who rifled the ball into the top right corner of Katsina United goalkeeper, Danjuma Dami Paul.
Match Day 29 VAT Wonder Goal is now open for voting till 11.59pm of Friday, 4 August. Voting will take place via the Twitter handle @LMCNPFL and on the website, www.npfl.ng.
Nigerian Football
Nigeria face tough defence as Burkina Faso lie in wait at U17 WAFU B AFCON qualifiers
Defending champions Nigeria have been handed a difficult path to the 2025 U17 Africa Cup of Nations finals after being drawn in the same group as Burkina Faso for next month’s WAFU B qualifying tournament in Ghana.
The Golden Eaglets, who won the last edition of the regional championship in 2022, will also face Togo and Niger in Group B of the competition which runs from 15-28 May.
Hosts Ghana find themselves in Group A alongside Cote d’Ivoire and Benin in a tough-looking section of the competition to be played in Accra.
The draw was conducted by 1970s Ivorian football legends Kobenan Kouman and Die Foneye at the Ivorian FA headquarters in Abidjan on Friday.
Nigeria claimed their WAFU B U17 AFCON title by defeating Burkina Faso 2-1 in the regional final in Ghana two years ago.
However, they will need to overcome some familiar foes if they are to defend their crown and with the Burkina Faso finishing third at the last TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations, some exciting matches are expected.
Arch-rivals Nigeria and Ghana are among the two favourites and could meet in the final in Accra on 28 May, should they top their respective groups and make it through the semi-finals.
Ghana also have pedigree at this level, having the World Cup in 1991 and 1995 as they bid to reach the U17 AFCON finals on home soil.
The top two teams from the WAFU B tournament will qualify for next year’s U17 Africa Cup of Nations.
Groups:
Group A: Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin
Group B: Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Togo, Niger.
Nigerian Football
Former Nigeria international, Onye recommends Amuneke-Siasia combo for Super Eagles
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Kingsley Onye, the left sided defender who was a member of the first Flying Eagles side to have a podium finish at the U-20 World Cup has suggested the employment of Emmanuel Amuneke as the coach of the Super Eagles.
He wants him to be assisted by Samson Siasia when the ban on the latter lapses in August. Alternatively, Onye pointed to Sylvanus Okpala as alternative to Siasia.
The Super Eagles are in dare need for a head coach as the clock ticks down to the Match day 4 and 5 of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in which the team is trailing at the third position.
The two matches in early June are crucial for the Super Eagles to bounce back into reckoning as the team can not afford to drop any of the available six points in the duels with South Africa at home and away to Benin.
From this Monday, it is 41 days to the potentially challenging tie with South Africa, but the Nigerian national team has been without a coach since the expiration of the contract of Portugal’s Jose Peseiro shortly after the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire.
Without mincing words, Onye remarked: “Emmanuel Amuneke is the right man for the job of the coach of Super Eagles. He has been there before.
“He tasted it and had been fantastic with the Nigeria youth team, the U-17 by assisting Manu Garba to win the U17 World Cup in 2013 and as head coach, led the Golden Eaglets to win the cup again in 2015.”
Onye who played for the Enugu Rangers in Nigeria before venturing to the UK but had his career scuppered by freak injury pointed out that the solution to Super Eagles’ technical deficiency is the appointment of an indigenous coach and that Amuneke is the man.
In buttressing his assertion, he declared: “As a senior team coach, Amuneke qualified a long standing absentee team, Tanzania for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
“His record as a player is also very impressive. He played and won with the Super Eagles, the AFCON 1994. He played at the Olympic Games and was also the first Nigerian to score two goals at the World Cup.
“He has played at the African Games and also for top clubs in the continent as he was a member of the Egyptian giants, Zamalek. In Europe, he played for Sporting Clube de Portugal and then Barcelona before injury ended his playing career.”
Onye also looked at the personality of Amuneke in recommending him for the Super Eagles job.
His record as a player is also very impressive. He played and won with the Super Eagles, the AFCON 1994. He played at the Olympic Games and was also the first Nigerian to score two goals at the World Cup.
He has played at the African Games and also for top clubs in the continent as he was a member of the Egyptian giants, Zamalek. In Europe, he played for Sporting Clube de Portugal and then Barcelona before injury ended his playing career.
Nigerian Football
GTI enlarges coast…spreads from League fund-raising to Federation Cup
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Strategic partners of the Nigeria Football Federation, GTI Asset Management and Trust Ltd has expanded their scope of operations from fund sourcing for the Nigeria Premier League to adding the responsibility of getting the national cup competition back into its glamorous days.
The MD of the company, Abubakar Lawal at the unveiling a revamped Federation Cup which has been renamed President Federation Cup remarked that his company decided to take a bold step to support the national cup.
“I am the happiest man today, he said in the opening remark of the rebranding of the national cup through signing of Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Sports and the NFF.
“Our company is also strategically involved in ensuring that the President Federation Cup is given necessary attention to thrive using The Nigeria Football Fund (TNFF) as our vehicle to actualise this dream.
“Therefore, it is our vision that the oldest domestic football event becomes one of the best organised football events in the world in no distant future.”
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