Sports
Rivers United Gives Finidi Two Years Contract
Former Super Eagles Coach Finidi George , on Wednesday signed two years contract as technical manager with Rivers United Football Club of Port Harcourt, at Real Madrid Conference Hall, in Port Harcourt.
The management of the club officially unveiled the new technical manager to fans, supporters and Rivers people yesterday at the Sharks Football Stadium.
It was a funfare at the Sharks Stadium as at the unveiling ceremony attracted old Sharks players, Ex-Internationals, Rivers Angels players and people from all walks of life.
Speaking shortly after George put pen on paper, the General Manager of the Club, Okey Kpalukwu expressed joy for the newly signed technical manager.
“ We all know that Finidi George grew up in Port Harcourt , also started his football career from Port Harcourt and today we have grabbed him back to Port Harcourt as a coach.
“Today is a very glorious day in our team because last season it was difficult for us and a lot of questions were asked. We are happy to tell you that we have taken corrections and we are trying to do our best to see that the people of Rivers state will be proud of the team” he said.
In his reaction, Finidi George promised to bring back the lost glory of Rivers United, also pledges to bring back fans to Stadium to watch good football.
“ First and foremost I am very happy to be here as the technical manager of the pride of Rivers. I grew up in Port Harcourt, where I started my football career and today I am back as a coach. I played for Sharks Football Club back then and went to Europe.
“It impressed me to come back home and give back to them, to where I started. As a Port Harcourt guy I want to see how I can impact a little bit, I have been away in Abia State for some time, I think this is an opportunity for me to give back to where I started from.
“ I am not here for fun, I am here for a purpose, I know there is hunger for success of the team but we must have patience for the team”, George said.
Tonye Orabere/Kiadum Edookor
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