Sports
Zimbabwe, Tough Test For S’Eagles – Rohr
Super Eagles Coach, Gernot Rohr has described the match against the Brave Warriors of Zimbawe
as a tough test ahead of the 2019 African Cup of Nations slated for Egypt later in the month
According to Rohr, though the Eagles failed to find the net in the pre -Nations Cup friendly game
at the Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba on Saturday, the Zimbabweans really tested Super Eagles’ resolve and spirit, which bodes well for the expected task of challenging for glory at the Nations Cup proper.
It was a send forth game organised for the Eagles before they get out to Egypt and one the home team and indeed the fans expected a win from, but it proved to be a sterner test than the script had promised. In a game played under heavy rain and wet conditions, the visitors proved very stubborn as they demonstrated great determination and resilience.
They defended resolutely and snuffed out any threat the Eagles tried to engineer. With a compact midfield with robust tackles and impressive team cohesion, they were able to deny Nigeria space and time to express themselves. However, few Nigerian players, particularly, Samuel Chukwueze, Samuel Kalu, Leon Balogun and Oghenekaro Etebo were able to show some glimpses of brilliance and promise.
The Eagles were unable to take advantage of the rare and few opportunities that came their way, especially in the first half when leggy forward, Paul Onuachu was released by Alex Iwobi only for him to side net. Same tale continued in the second half when substitute Henry Onyekuru and Ahmed Musa’s crosses begged for connection to no avail.
In the end, it resulted in a scoreless stalemate, which was probably a fair result considering the industry of the visitors. The game also showed that Zimbabwe is certainly a dark horse that should not be taken for granted at the Nations Cup.
Coach Rohr, however expressed satisfaction with the performance of his players. He said that considering the difficult conditions the match was played in, all of the players deserved commendation for their performances, especially, their ability to try to play good football under extreme cold, wet and soggy conditions. He promised to continue to work to improve on lapses and performance of the team.
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
