International Football
SUPER EAGLES BEGIN BUILD-UP FOR CHAN WITH SUPER SIX
The home –based Super Eagles contingent arrived the ancient city of Kano on Saturday afternoon as Head Coach Salisu Yusuf and his crew countenance the beginning of preparations for the 5th African Nations Championship scheduled for Morocco 13th January – 4th February 2018.
Yusuf, also Chief Coach of the Russia-bound A squad, has called up 30 players for the first phase of the preparations, in which the 2014 CHAN bronze medallists would test strength with the nation’s leading domestic clubs in the annual Super Six Tournament.
Super Eagles A team’s goalkeeper, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, defenders Stephen Eze, Osas Okoro and Adeleye Olamilekan, midfielders Afeez Aremu, Rabiu Ali and Ifeanyi Ifeanyi as well as forwards Kingsley Eduwo, Sikiru Olatubosun and Anthony Okpotu are among those who will battle for shirts.
The glamour Super Six Tournament, traditionally organized to set Nigeria’s flag-bearers in continental competitions in battle mood after the lull and inactivity of the post –season break, will this year welcome NPFL reigning champions Plateau United, MFM FC, Akwa United FC, homers Kano Pillars and Enyimba FC, as well as the Super Eagles B.
The first matches are slated for Monday at the Sani Abacha Stadium, where the Eagles overpowered their counterparts from Benin Republic 2-0 on 19th August to qualify for the 5th African Nations Championship.
Nigeria will tackle 2014 champions Libya, Rwanda and Equatorial Guinea in the group stage at the 5th African Nations Championship. The matches of Group C will be played in Tangier.
Libya shocked the African football family by winning the 2014 edition in South Africa at the expense of Ghana, despite the North African nation being embroiled in political turmoil at the time.
Rwanda was the last team to qualify for the finals, after edging Ethiopia 3-2 on aggregate in a play –off that was necessitated by Egypt’s decision to forfeit her slot at the championship. Equatorial Guinea qualified for the finals following the withdrawal of Gabon.
Hosts Morocco, Guinea, Sudan and Mauritania are in Group A, in the event pitting the Atlas Lions against Mauritania in the opening match of the competition, at the Mohamed V Stadium in Casablanca on January 13.
Hosts of the inaugural edition of the competition in 2009, Cote d’Ivoire head Group B that will be based in Marrakech, and have Zambia, Uganda and Namibia as group mates.
Group D, based in Agadir, has 2011 runners-up Angola, Cameroon, Congo and Burkina Faso.
GROUP A (CASABLANCA)
Morocco
Guinea
Sudan
Mauritania
GROUP B (MARRAKECH)
Cote d’Ivoire
Zambia
Uganda
Namibia
GROUP C (TANGIER)
Libya
Nigeria
Rwanda
Equatorial Guinea
GROUP D (AGADIR)
Angola
Cameroon
Congo
Burkina Faso
30 CHAN EAGLES FOR SUPER SIX
Goalkeepers: Ikechukwu Ezenwa; Dele Ajiboye; Theophilus Afelokhai
Defenders: Stephen Eze; Osas Okoro; Daniel Itodo; Adeleye Olamilekan; Kalu Orji Okogbue; Ifeanyi Nweke; Nasiru Sani; Timothy Danladi
Midfielders: Afeez Aremu; Raphael Ayagwa; Ifeanyi Ifeanyi; Rabiu Ali; Destiny Ashadi; Dayo Ojo; Emeka Atuloma; Douglas Achiv; Austine Oladapo; Abdulkadir Zango
Forwards: Sikiru Olatubosun; Kingsley Eduwo; Peter Eneji; Anthony Okpotu; Joseph Osadiaye; Sunday Faleye; Victor Mbaoma; Mustapha Ibrahim; Gabriel Okechukwu
International Football
Grudgingly, Eto’o accepts new Cameroon coach Brys, but fails to attend ceremony
Cameroon’s new coach Marc Brys penned a contract on Monday but the Belgian’s appointment by the government remains contentious as the football federation did not attend the signing ceremony.
Brys has been handed a 2-1/2-year contract by Cameroon’s sports ministry but the federation (FECAFOOT) was conspicuous by its absence at the event in Yaounde.
Last week, FECAFOOT criticised the unilateral decision of sports minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombito to appoint the 61-year-old Brys, who has no prior experience as a national team coach and has not previously worked on the African continent.
FECAFOOT president Samuel Eto’o issued a statement on Monday, excusing himself from the unveiling event.
“We thank you for inviting us to the ceremony. Following this, we inform you of the fact that we received the letter two hours before the said ceremony,” wrote Eto’o.
“Unfortunately, we are busy organising the funeral of our late Dad, and for this reason we will not be able to attend presence at the ceremony.”
His father’s funeral is to be held at the weekend.
Eto’o balked at Brys’ appointment and is now in a deepening standoff with the minister.
In Cameroon, the government has long paid the salary of the national team coach and therefore held powerful sway over FECAFOOT’s affairs, even if such state interference is frowned upon by world football’s governing body FIFA.
Any heightened dispute risks a potential ban from international competition for Cameroon, one of the heavyweights of African football.
FECAFOOT held an emergency meeting on Saturday and asked Eto’o to propose an alternative coach for the national team.
Earlier on the weekend, the minister had defended the appointment, saying he had acted in accordance with national and international regulations.
In a letter to FECAFOOT, Kombi said his ministry’s appointment of coaching staff “in no way affects the autonomy of FECAFOOT and does not violate any of the ‘supranational regulations”.
He said FECAFOOT had suggested three candidates to the ministry but their salary demands ranged between 1.5 million euros and 2.5 million euros ($1.63 million and $2.71 million) per year.
“These are excessive amounts never paid to any coach in the history of the Indomitable Lions,” Kombi said.
-Reuters
Cameroon’s football federation (FECAFOOT) held an emergency meeting on Saturday and asked its president to propose an alternative coach for the national team, deepening a standoff with the sports ministry.
FECAFOOT on Wednesday accused the ministry of unilaterally appointing Belgian Marc Brys as coach and other staff to manage the Indomitable Lions, who are five-times African champions.
The dispute risks a potential ban from international competition as world soccer’s governing body FIFA has strict rules against government interference in national federations.
In a statement, FECAFOOT said its emergency committee had met on Saturday and unanimously confirmed that the federation had not been involved in the appointments in alleged contravention of regulations.
As a result, it asked its president Samuel Eto’o to propose a national coach and other management staff for the national side within 72 hours.
Responding to a request for comment, a spokesperson for the ministry said the result of the FECAFOOT meeting was “an appeal. It is not yet a decision.”
On Friday, Sports Minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi wrote to FECAFOOT to defend the coaching appointments, which he said were in accordance with national and international rules.
In a letter seen by Reuters, Kombi said the ministry’s move “in no way affects the autonomy of FECAFOOT and does not violate any of the ‘supranational regulations’.”
A spokesperson for the ministry confirmed the authenticity of the letter.
Kombi’s letter also said the salaries requested by three candidates earlier proposed by the federation for the position of coach ranged between 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million) and 2.5 million euros per year.
“These are excessive amounts never paid to any coach in the history of the Indomitable Lions,” Kombi said.
FECAFOOT did not respond to a request for comment on the letter.
-Reuters
RELATED STORIES:
BREAKING! Turmoil in Cameroon federation over naming of new national coach Brys. https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/2024/04/03/breaking-turmoil-in-cameroon-federation-over-naming-of-new-national-coach-brys/
Soccer Cameroon appoint Brys as new head coach https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/2024/04/03/soccer-cameroon-appoint-brys-as-new-head-coach/
International Football
National team and club-mate Owolabi commiserates with grief-stricken Odegbami –
Powerful left-wing back in his playing days, Felix Owolabi has expressed great grief over the loss of a son of former teammate, Segun Odegbami.
Both Felix Owolabi and Odegbami share common traits as the earliest tertiary institution footballers featuring for clubs and the national team.
While Odegbami was a mechanical engineering student at The Ibadan Polytechnic, Owolabi was an undergraduate at the University of Lagos.
Both were players of the then rampaging IICC Shooting Stars and the Africa Cup of Nations winning team of 1980. The crucial goals that won the cup for Nigeria were scored by the duo.
While Owolabi’s goal against Morocco sent Nigeria to the Africa Cup of Nations final match for the first time, Odegbami’s two goals in the final against Algeria put a stamp of definity to Nigeria’s victory before another club-mate Muda Lawal put in the third.
“We have come a long way”, remarked Owolabi in a message to the Sports Village Square Thursday morning.
“I have just arrived from Morocco on a national assignment trying to adjust and deal with the extreme and gruelling hot weather here in Nigeria when I got the sad news of the sudden death of the son of my dear brother and senior colleague Dr Olusegun Odegbami.
“Hearing the death of Oluwagbeminiyi Omo Odegbami, I paused for a moment and did not know what to say.
“All the media both print and electronics carried it as a breaking news.
“And that was when it dawned on me that I had to call ‘Big Sheg’ as he is fondly called by me.
“His authoritative confirmation about it dealt a blow on me and put me total darkness.What would have happened to this our vibrant and such an enterprising Oluwagbeminiyi?
“Why would death be so so wicked to suddenly take this gentleman away from us without notice. Going on a journey that he will need not to look at anybody, an eternal journey till Christ come.
“My heart and that of my entire family are with you and the rest of the family”, remarked Owolabi.
“It is well. I pray that God grant him eternal rest. I pray also that the almighty God grant you the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. Today the death of Oluwagbeminiyi has made me to believe and conclude that death is real and it is universal
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Grudgingly, Eto’o accepts new Cameroon coach Brys, but fails to attend ceremony
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