Sports
Nigerians Blame Ill-Luck For Eaglets Loss To Coted ‘Ivoire
Rivers State fans of the Nigerian Golden Eaglets have reacted to the Eaglets 1-0 defeat by the Young Elephants of Coted’Ivoire on Wednesday in the ongoing Under 17 African Youth Championship in Morocco.
Reacting in an interview with The Tidesports in Port Harcourt yesterday, Coach Simeon Ojoko said he is optimistic that the Eaglets would qualify from group B of the championship inspite of the loss to the Young Elephants.
He attributed the defeat to ill-luck, stressing that the Eaglets were in total control of the match hoping that they would improve in their subsequent matches.
“I know that the Eaglets will qualify, because they have skills and technical know how of the game” he said.
The coach, further advised the players to take all matches serious because in football there are no more under dogs.
Jim Odede-Opiki, a sports analyst, in his opinion, suggested that the technical crew should talk to the players and work on their psychology, asking them to improve their game in next outing with Congo.
“As for me, is good they lost at this early stage, so that they will learn lesson”.
According to him, the Congolese players did not do anything at stake as it is, adding that a draw will quality to the next stage.
“I believe that Eaglets will qualify, but they should take their game serious because anything can happen in the game of football”.
Bassey John, a grassroots coach expressed sadness over the defeat, saying that Nigerians like putting themselve into tight corner.
He noted that the players did not take the game serious and they underrated their opponents.
“I still have the believe and hopes that Eaglets will qualify for the next round, but they should not left any stone unturn against Congo.
England captain Harry Kane netted a hat-trick to guide Bayern Munich to an impressive victory against Stuttgart.
Kane’s goals, plus one from Kingsley Coman, helped Bayern end a three-game winless run in all competitions.
They faced a tough task against a Stuttgart side who sat back and limited their chances, leading Vincent Kompany’s side to enter the break frustrated and with the deadlock unbroken.
Bayern eventually found a way past Stuttgart’s steely defence when Kane drilled a low effort into the bottom corner from around 30 yards out after Joshua Kimmich overturned possession.
Former Nigeria goalkeeper, Dosu Joseph, is full of thanks to God after he miraculously survived another life-threatening automobile accident recent at Kara, along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, where a heavy-duty truck ran into his SUV.
Narrating his ordeal, the 51-year-old, who guided Nigeria to gold in the Men’s Football Tournament of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, broke the news in a statement on his social media handles on Friday.
“To God be the glory, another death escaped by Grace and Mercy of God. Me and my friend SM were at Enyo Filling Station after Ojodu Berger bus stop to get fuel on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, around 6 p.m. when this MACK truck fully loaded with iron, with registration number LND 470 XX, left the road and crushed my car beyond repairs. Thank God for life,” he stated.
This is the second time the soft-spoken club proprietor will cheat death by a whisker, having been involved in an accident in 1997 that ended his career at 23 and left his spinal cord in bad shape.
He helped Julius Berger win the Nigeria FA Cup in November 1997 shortly a memorable Olympic outing by keeping a clean sheet in the finals against Katsina United. The following year, he was involved in the auto along Ikorodu Road, Lagos, which not only cut his career short but also left him almost paralysed, ending his spell at Serie A club Reggiana.
The former Nigeria international, who also kept goal for Julius Berger FC, said the case has been reported to Isheri Police Station, Ogun State, where the driver is currently detained and the truck also seized.
According to him, the owner of the truck said he can’t fix the badly damaged SUV until after a year.
Ex – Super Eagles of Nigeria, Okwuchukwu Waobikeze has observed that sports development in Nigeria is going down.
According to him, grassroots sports is very important, without it, the administrators cannot get it right. So everybody should key into grassroots sports development, he said.
Waobikeze said this last Wednesday in an interview with sports journalists shortly after the Port Harcourt All Stars Independence football festival (OCTOBERFEST) at the Port Harcourt club, Rivers State.
He explained that for sports administrators to get it right, grassroots development is key. “They should be organising competition at the grassroots level to fish out the young ones for different sporting activities.
“Grassroots sports is very important so the administrators have to go back to the grassroots.
” Sports Development in Nigeria is going down we need to go back to the basics.
“Look at the just concluded Paris Olympics, Nigeria did not win any medal.
” Our football team did not even qualify for the Olympics. We are going down.
” If they should go back to the grassroots, they will get young ones in the games and talents will be developed.
” I started from school games, to youth games before playing for the national team. Now everybody wants to fly board to play professional football and a lot do not know the basics of the game.
” A lot of people did not know the little things about the game, they just want to play. It is not done so,” Waobikeze stated.
Kiadum Edookor