Sports
Adepoju Charges Super Eagles On Seychelles Match
Ex-Nigeria international, Mutiu Adepoju has urged the Super Eagles to take their inconsequential 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Seychelles seriously.
The three-time African champions currently lead Group E with 10 points from five games and have already booked their spot in the continental competition but they still have the first spot to fight for as they are a point adrift of second-placed South Africa.
They welcome Gavin Jeanne’s men who are rooted to the bottom of the group to the Stephen Keshi Stadium on Friday.
And Adepoju who scored six goals in 42 international outings for the Super Eagles advised Gernot Rohr’s men to see the encounter as part of preparation for the Afcon finals in Egypt.
“It is a dead rubber encounter and we have qualified already but that does not mean we should forget the importance of the game because it is a qualifier which we have to play as if we have not qualified,” Adepoju told newsmen.
“We have to take it seriously because if we have qualified and we’re looking forward to going to the tournament which is the Africa Cup of Nations, we have to play with all seriousness and field the available key players.
Rohr resorted to a familiar 23-man squad for the clash with Midtjylland’s Paul Onuachu and Enymba’s duo of Valentine Ozornwafor and Ikouwem Utin the only players handed debut call ups.
While many insisted that German tactician should have added more new faces to his squad this month, the former Real Madrid midfielder reckoned that time for preparation is of vital importance.
“The AFCON is barely three months away and there’s not enough time to prepare so most of the players that are going to go should be among the players to play against Seychelles,” he added.
“Leaving all those [regular] players could amount to waste of time. All the matches from now on should be in preparation for the tournament we have ahead.”
On his expectation from the Super Eagles who are bound to return to the AFCON stage after a six-year absence, Adepoju said: “I expect a very serious game and playing the game as if we have not qualified and I expect to see how the players can play together.
“Definitely, expecting a win because no game is small and you have to play every game to win.”
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
