Sports
NPFL: Enyimba still favourites despite surprise home draw
With almost a third of the NPFL season gone, patterns are starting to emerge. The title contenders are setting their stalls in the top echelon of the table, while the battle for survival at the other end is also brewing.
Kano Pillars lead the way with 23 points from 12 matches, with Enyimba and Kwara United in second and third respectively with 22 points each.
However, Enyimba have played two matches less than both Pillars and Kwara United.
Despite having games in hand over most of their closest rivals, Enyimba will be slightly disappointed that they are not leading the NPFL after the latest round of midweek matches.
Given their previously unblemished home form, they would have expected to take care of business when Akwa United visited Aba on matchday 12.
The two-time African champions were a perfect five from five at home, but they suffered a rare blip on Wednesday, drawing 1-1 with The Promise Keepers.
Perhaps their involvement in the continent had a role to play in the below par performance and result.
The league game against Akwa United came just three days after Enyimba’s penalty shootout victory over Rivers United in the CAF Confederation Cup.
Yes, most teams in the NPFL play weekends and midweek, but a high-power continental game with arguably a lot more on the line takes a bit more out of the players, especially emotionally.
With Enyimba now set to play six round-robin matches in the Confederation Cup, including trips to Algeria, Libya and South Africa, Fatai Osho’s men have got a tough balancing act to perform as they juggle their quests for domestic and continental glory.
If Enyimba do not find that balance, there are quite a few teams that are very capable of taking advantage.
Kano Pillars currently sit on top of the table and definitely know how to manage a title challenge, while Rangers International, in fifth, are only three points off the lead.
Like Pillars, seven-time champions, Rangers are also traditional superpowers in Nigeria, and will have their sights set on regaining a title they last won in 2016.
Also, look out for Rivers United, who are now out of the continent, and can fully focus on the NPFL. Rivers are five points behind leaders Pillars, with two games in hand.
The Nigeria Professional Football League has traditionally been very unpredictable, and this year is no different. These are exciting times for NPFL fans.
Unfortunately, fans are not allowed at match venues at the moment, but we can stream the matches via the NPFL’s streaming service.
Adding to the excitement is the fact that we can now bet on NPFL matches online. The very best betting sites in Nigeria all have the Nigerian league in their portfolios.
At the other end of the table are Adamawa United, who have managed a miserly three points from 11 matches. They are 10 points from safety and barring a monumental reversal of fortunes, they will be playing in Nigerian National League next season. Adamawa United are winless, and have scored just three goals all season. That’s proper relegation form.
So much was expected from teams like Plateau United and Abia Warriors, but they haven’t really got going this season and are loitering in the bottom half of the table. The great news for these clubs is that there is still time to rectify their season and get their campaigns back on track.
As is always the case with the NPFL, two or three wins on the bounce can do wonders to a team’s league position.
For now, Enyimba, Kano Pillars, Rivers United and Rangers are looking like the main contenders. They have the squad and know-how to put together a title bid.
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