Sports
Ogunmodede, Ilechukwu Battle For NPFL Title
Remo Stars coach Daniel Ogunmodede seems to be playing along with the mind games of his Enugu Rangers counterpart, Fidelis Ilechukwu, as both teams contend for the 2023/24 Nigeria Premier Football League title.
Rangers hold a tiny one-point lead at the top of the table with 57 points, followed by Remo with 56 points.
Remo were previously four points behind Rangers but cut the gap to one on Monday after beating Rivers United 2-1 in their rescheduled game.
The win boosted Remo’s charge for their first NPFL title and while Ogunmodede admitted their title dream, he also hinged it on Ilechukwu’s position of not chasing the title despite Rangers top of the table.
“I think it (the title) is in view because my friend (Fidelis Ilechukwu) said they are still building, so, we are trying to capitalise on the fact that they are building and we are trying to get the trophy,” Ogunmodede told the club’s media team after the game.
Rangers coach Ilechukwu has severally said winning the title this season is not the primary target given to him by his employers.
“I’m not thinking about the title. Enyimba, Lobi Stars and Remo Stars are thinking about it,” Ilechukwu said via 54footballx.
“We have a very young team and structure is what we are thinking of. Maybe next season we will talk about the title. If I’m thinking about that, I will be under pressure and I don’t want to be under pressure because the management did not tell me about that.”
On their hard-fought win against Rivers United, Ogunmodede praised Togolese striker, Fracnk Mawuena, who inspired the game and marked his return from a five-month injury with a goal and assist.
“Mawuena is a very important player for us. He got injured during our game against Akwa United in Uyo last November and after that we’ve had a lot of goal droughts. Sikiru (Alimi) was struggling and almost all the attackers were struggling. This is a player that creates space for other players, a very selfless player. Look at the assist he made for Haruna Hadi too, on a very good day, another striker could have played the shot,” Ogunmodede said.
“We played a very good team and it was like a final game because there was no game at other centres and the attention was here. They made it difficult for us in the first half by scoring first. Nevertheless, we fought back in the second half knowing how important the points were.”
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