International Football
THIRTY TWO PLAYERS DELIVER NIGERIA’S WORLD CUP TICKET
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
In Nigeria’s march to Russia 2018 World Cup, a total of 32 players tasted action in the seven matches played so far.
In the opening game with Swaziland on November 13, 2015, 14 of the players played, (including three substitute players) in the encounter that ended goalless.
In the reversed fixture which Nigeria won 2-0 at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt, five other players not featured in the earlier match entered the fray.
They are: Bassey Ezekiel, Chima Akas, Austin Oboroakpo, Paul Onobi and Sylvester Igbonu. It was at this match that Obafemi Martins last played for Nigeria and the last Nigeria played under Sunday Oliseh as the coach.
Franco –German tactician Gernot Rohr took over and in the next World Cup qualifying game against Zambia in Ndola. He gave opportunity to six players that did not feature in the previous round encounter with Swaziland. Alex Iwobi made his debut. Central defender, Ekong William-Troost who had made his Nigerian debut in Stephen Keshi’s last match in charge of the Super Eagles on 13 June 2015 returned to squad with Rohr in charge.
Kenneth Omeruo and Brown Ideye, members of the old brigade, made their first entry into the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in the match with Zambia. Also, Winfred Onyinye who made his Nigerian debut under Oliseh in an October 8, 2015 duel with DR Congo in Belgium played his first World Cup qualifying game in the away game with Zambia. Anderson Esiti also played in the match.
When the Super Eagles beat Algeria 3-1 last year, another set of four hitherto unused players in the World Cup qualifying matches were fielded. They were: Daniel Akpeyi who took the place of ill Carl Ikeme, Victor Moses Kelechi Iheanacho and Etebo Oghenekaro. In the next game against Cameroon last month, Ikechukwu Ezenwa made his debut for the main stream Super Eagles. Ndubuisi Agu was another hitherto unused player. Ola Aina became the 32nd player to prosecute the World Cup project when he came in as a substitute for Uwa Echiejile in the 1-0 defeat of Zambia last Saturday.
Rohr speaking on TVC remarked that more players will be will be employed in the trial matches ahead of the World Cup to ensure that virtually every player has a key substitute. In a media release by the NFF Rohr revealed he is elated working with the Super Eagles, after the three –time African champions became the first African country to qualify for the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup on Saturday.
“I am very excited to be working with this team: a blend of the experienced and the young and ambitious ones. They are a delight to be with at all times, and I believe we are onto great things.
“At the beginning of the qualifying series, many people said we were going to be chasing it. But we sat down together and we promised ourselves that we would go all out and get the ticket.”
The 64 –year old, who was employed by the Nigeria Football Federation 15 months ago, has played 10 matches, winning six and losing only one. The only loss was against South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in Uyo, at the start of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in June 2017.
“That match was a big wake –up call for us. Now that we have the World Cup ticket, we will go all out for the AFCON ticket and get it.
“When you have a team that has so much self –belief, a lot of things are possible. Age is but a number. I feel young and able and willing to go on working with this group.”
THOSE WHO FOUGHT FOR THE
RUSSIA 2018 WORLD CUP TICKET
13 Nov. 2015 (WCq- Lobamba) SWAZILAND 0-0 NIGERIA.
Ikeme Carl – Oboabona Godfrey, Echiejile Elderson, Ambrose Efe, Ahmed Musa, Ighalo Odion, Obi Mikel/Martins Obafemi, Simon Moses, Abdulahi Suleiman, Igboun Sylvester/Ibrahim Rabiu/Ihenacho Kelechi, Onazi Ogenyi.
17 Nov. 2015 (WCq- Port Harcourt) NIGERIA 2-0 SWAZILAND.
Ikeme Carl – Abdullahi Shehu/Bassey Ezekiel, Akas Chima/ Echiejile Elderson, Onazi Ogenyi, Oboroakpo Austin, Ambrose Efe, Onobi Paul, Igbonu Sylvester, Simon Moses, Ighalo Odion, Musa Ahmed/Martins Obafemi.
{Scorers: Simon Moses, Ambrose Efe}
9 Oct. 2016 (WCq -Ndola) ZAMBIA 1-2 NIGERIA.
Ikeme Carl – Echiejile Elderson, Omeruo Kenneth, Ekong William Troost, Ideye Brown/Esiti Anderson, Moses Simon/Musa Ahmed, Obi Mikel, Iheanacho Kelechi, Onazi Ogenyi/Shehu Abdulahi, Iwobi Alex, Onyinye Winfred Ndidi.
{Scorers: Iwobi Alex, Iheanacho Kelechi}.
12 Nov. 2016 (WCq -Uyo) NIGERIA 3-1 ALGERIA.
Akpeyi Daniel – Echiejile Elderson, Omeruo Kenneth/ Shehu Abdulahi, Ekong William Troost, Balogun Leon, Obi Mikel/ Onyinye Winfred Ndidi, Moses Victor, Iheanacho Kelechi, Onazi Ogenyi, Etebo Oghenekaro, Iwobi Alex/ Musa Ahmed.
{Scorers: Moses Victor -2, Obi Mikel}.
1 Sep. 2017 (WCq -Uyo) NIGERIA 4-0 CAMEROON
Ezenwa Ikechukwu – Echiejile Elderson, Onyinye Winfred Ndidi, Ekong William Troost, Balogun Leon, Ighalo Odion/ Iheanacho Kelechi, Obi Mikel/Agu Ndubuisi, Moses Victor/Musa Ahmed, Shehu Abdulahi, Simon Moses, Onazi Ogenyi.
{Scorers: Ighalo Odion, Obi Mikel, Moses Victor, Iheanacho Kelechi}.
4 Sep. 2017 (WCq -Yaounde) CAMEROON 1-1 NIGERIA
Ezenwa Ikechukwu – Echiejile Elderson, Onyinye Winfred Ndidi, Ekong William Troost, Balogun Leon, Ighalo Odion, Obi Mikel, Moses Victor, Shehu Abdulahi, Simon Moses, Onazi Ogenyi.
{Scorer: Simon Moses}.
7 Oct. 2017 (WCq -Uyo) NIGERIA 1-0 ZAMBIA
Ezenwa Ikechukwu – Echiejile Elderson/Aina Ola, Onyinye Winfred Ndidi, Ekong William Troost, Balogun Leon, Ighalo Odion, Obi Mikel, Moses Victor, Shehu Abdulahi, Simon Moses/Iwobi Alex, Onazi Ogenyi/Agu Ndubuisi.
{Scorers: Iwobi Alex}.
International Football
Portugal call up same player named in England Under-18 squad
Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Mateus Mane has become hot property after Portugal named the 17-year-old in their Under-18 squad on Friday, one day after England included him in their squad.
Mane was called up for a second successive England youth camp by coach Liam Bramley before the team travel to Marbella for a four-team tournament this month.
Mane is eligible for both teams having played for the Portugal Under-17 side last season. As the Under-18 team is a non-UEFA age group, both nations are entitled to call the player up.
He made his England international debut last month against the Portugal Under-18 side who have named Mane in their squad for a four-nation tournament this month.
With both tournaments running concurrently, Mane can only play for one team and Wolves and England confirmed he would feature in Bramley’s side.
Reuters has contacted Portugal’s football association for clarification.
While players with multiple nationalities have played for more than one country if they are eligible, they are not allowed to switch allegiances at senior level – unless they have played only in friendly matches for the first country.
-Reuters
International Football
Soon Cisse ceases to be Senegal’s Coach
After 107 matches spanning nine years, Aliou Cisse will not have his contract renewed as Senegal coach, officials confirmed on Wednesday. Of the 107 matches, Cisse’s team won 70, drew 24 and lost 13.
But the impressive scorecard is not enough to impress his employers.
Thus, the end beckons for Cisse’s successful nine-year spell in charge of the side that included a first Africa Cup of Nations title and two World Cup qualifications.
He had been under increasing pressure after Senegal’s surprise last 16 exit at the 2023 Cup of Nations when they lost on penalties to hosts Cote d’Ivoire.
Senegal are unbeaten in six matches since then, but home draws with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burkina Faso, and criticism from certain quarters over their style of play, made up the mind of the country’s sports ministry, who fund the salary of the national team coach, that a change was needed.
“The FSF would like to thank Aliou Cisse for his good collaboration and his brilliant results at the head of the various national selections that he has managed since his arrival in 2011 and wish him every success for the future,” the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) said in a statement.
FSF added Cisse’s exit stemmed from a failure to fulfil the targets in his last contract, which expired at the end of August, which included victory at the 2023 Cup of Nations and reaching the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup.
They also said the “regression of our national team in the FIFA rankings and the risk of disaffection between our national team and the Senegalese (public)” had played a role.
The FSF will appoint an interim technical team to lead the side in Cup of Nations qualifiers against Malawi at home on Oct. 11 and away four days later.
Cisse, 48, was captain of Senegal when they reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup with what is heralded as a golden generation of players.
He briefly had a spell as caretaker coach of the national team in 2012, but took over full time three years later.
He led Senegal to 2018 and 2022 World Cup qualification, making the last 16 in the latter before losing to England. They were beaten in the final of the 2019 Cup of Nations by Algeria.
The side made up for that disappointment when they beat Egypt in the final two years later to be crowned African champions for the first time.
International Football
Why FIFA banned Samuel Eto’o
Always in the news for bad reasons, Samuel Eto’o has again made global headlines. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has banned the former striker and the current president of the Cameroon Football Federation.
He is banned from attending Cameroon’s matches for the next six months for violating conduct rules during the recent U-20 Women’s World Cup, where his national team faced Brazil in the round of 16.
According to FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee, Eto’o was found to have breached articles 13 (“Offensive behaviour and violations of fair play principles”) and 14 (“Misconduct of players and officials”) of FIFA’s Disciplinary Code.
The sanction stems specifically from the match between Brazil and Cameroon, held on September 11 in Bogotá, Colombia. As a result, Eto’o will be prohibited from attending any matches involving Cameroon’s national teams, both male and female, across all age groups.
“Mr Eto’o has been notified today, the date on which the sanction comes into force,” stated the FIFA press release.
This is not the first time Eto’o has faced controversy. He previously drew attention for his behavior towards players and national team coach Marc Brys, whom he allegedly threatened in front of cameras if his directives were not followed.
During the Qatar World Cup, the former Real Madrid, Mallorca, and Barcelona player made headlines again after assaulting a fan who filmed him outside a stadium after a match.
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