Sports
Egypt 2009: Spirit, Grit Key To Ghana’s Triumph
They play with a free spirit” – that was England coach Brian Eastick’s assessment of Ghana ahead of the group game between the two teams here at the Under-20 World Cup in Egypt.
At the time, having not seen the Black Satellites play in person, many thought this was very possibly so much cliche.
But after watching them live six times, one had to agree with him, although there is much more to this team than attack.
The truth is this Ghana side, World Champions now of course, is massively entertaining to watch, they certainly keep you on the edge of your seat.
Their style captured the imagination of the local fans as Dominic Adiyiah, ably supported by fellow striker Ransford Osei and captain Dede Ayew, raced to the Golden Shoe award for the tournament’s top scorer.
With Samuel Inkoom and David Addy flying down the flanks to provide service, the Black Satellites had the perfect attacking formula.
But if you devote yourself to attack, then your defence frequently suffers, and that problem persisted for Ghana.
They were at their most vulnerable having just scored themselves, seemingly relaxing too much and allowing the opposition opportunities they should not have had.
This happened in their quarter final and their semi, both of which finished in 3-2 wins for the Black Satellites.
And their attitude, although they would deny this, often seemed to be “if they can score two, we can score three!”
And of course they could, but an alternative approach was needed in the final against Brazil.
Those of us who had talked about a high scoring match were proved wrong, as Ghana showed a very different side to their game in the Cairo International Stadium on Friday night.
A lesser team would have wilted at some stage, physically and emotionally exhausted, but Ghana knew they could stay with the South Americans and overcome them.
And so they did, thanks to the most dramatic device of the penalty shoot-out.
So in Africa, in the led up to Africa’s first World Cup, an African team has claimed the under-20 crown for the first time.
And Ghana fully deserve their title.
Nigeria’s Junior Female Yellow Greens ended the tournament as the sixth-best nation, creating huge upsets against test-playing nations New Zealand and Ireland.
The team’s historic performance drew more attention to the game in Nigeria, and Akpata believes the NCF can achieve more by fostering strategic partnerships with brands and relevant stakeholders ahead of subsequent tournaments.
Having started the year on a bright note with the Junior Female Yellow Greens outing, NCF presidents noted that it was in line with the board’s strategic plans for the year.
“We redefined expectations as we went along and these girls deserve all the accolades they are getting. Having said that, this is not just happening by chance, it is four years in the making,” Akpata said at the reception organised by the NCF for the team last Friday.
“We have six targets. For the female team, we want to break into the top 20 in the world and the top 25 in the world for the male so that we can go and play in the Challenge League where we can play the ODI, that’s a different status.”
According to Akpata, the U-19 women’s team performance has aided the NCF’s plan to sell itself to potential partners.
“One of the key things again is that we now have a brand we can sell so we are going commercial. Let people also recognise that they can invest in the cricket brand. Before the World Cup, we got two requests from international companies including one in Costa Rica saying they want to have their names on our outfit. But I paused and thought I’d rather prefer a Nigerian brand. That’s what these girls have done. Hopefully, we will launch the Nigerian Super League this year as well.”
Other Nigerian national teams will also be in the mix to qualify for more World Cups this year, beginning with the men’s U-19 team, which will host other countries in Lagos by April. The men’s senior team are billed for the final phase of the men’s T20 World Cup qualifiers in November.
The International Boxing Federation has cancelled its scheduled Thursday purse bid hearing for the heavyweight title elimination bout between Nigeria’s Efe Ajagba and Congo’s Martin Bakole.
The fight, which was previously announced by Riyadh Season head Turki Alalshikh for a May 2 Ring Magazine show in New York City, will now likely proceed through private negotiations between the fighters’ promoters.
The scrapping of the purse bid indicates that the IBF has removed the fight from its usual bidding process, where different promoters would compete for the rights to stage the bout.
This suggests that sufficient evidence was presented to the governing body to allow the promoters to negotiate terms privately.
This development doesn’t necessarily affect the status of the fight itself but rather changes how the financial aspects will be determined. Instead of promoters submitting sealed bids to the IBF, BOXXER and Top Rank can now directly negotiate the terms for their respective fighters.
There is also a chance that this means that the fight will be cancelled or indefinitely postponed.
Both heavyweights feature in The Ring’s top 10 rankings, with BOXXER-promoted Bakole at No.6 and Top Rank’s Ajagba at No.10.
The winner of the bout will become the mandatory challenger for IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois, who defends his title against former WBO champion Joseph Parker on February 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs) enhanced his reputation with a stunning fifth-round knockout of previously unbeaten American prospect Jared Anderson last August at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. The victory marked his 10th consecutive win since his October 2018 stoppage loss to Michael Hunter.
The 33-year-old Congolese knockout artist, now based in Scotland, has been seeking major opportunities since his impressive victory over Anderson on Riyadh Season’s first venture into the US market.
Ajagba (20-1, 14 KOs), a 2016 Rio Olympics super heavyweight representative, has won his last five fights since suffering his lone professional defeat to Frank Sanchez in October 2021.
The Nigerian pugilist, who now trains in Houston, Texas, secured the biggest win of his career in his last outing, earning a split decision victory over Guido Vianello in Corpus Christi, Texas last April.
Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs), ranked No.2 by The Ring, awaits the winner of the elimination bout, as he prepares to defend his title against third-ranked Parker (35-3, 24 KOs) in Saudi Arabia.
Quadri Aruna
The intense rivalry between Nigeria and Brazil in table tennis will be reignited as two of the best players from these nations, Quadri Aruna and Hugo Calderano, clash in the second round of the Men’s Singles at the WTT Singapore Smash 2025.
Exactly one year after their last encounter at the 2024 WTT Finals in Doha, the Nigerian star will face off against the Brazilian sensation in what promises to be an explosive match between continental champions.
Calderano holds a slight edge, having won two of their three previous meetings. However, Aruna has the psychological advantage, having triumphed in their most recent match in Doha.
Aruna began his campaign at the Singapore Smash 2025 with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over South Korea’s Oh Jungsun.
Despite losing the first game 8-11, the Nigerian turned the tide with an 11-8 win in the second game. The third game was closely contested, but Aruna’s fast-paced shots during the rally secured an 11-9 win.
On his part, Calderano dominated Portugal’s Marcos Freitas with a swift 3-0 win in the first round, securing his spot in the second round, where he will battle the African champion today.
With the exits of Egypt’s trio Omar Assar, Mohamed El-Beiali, and Youssef Abdelaziz, Aruna remains the only surviving African in the Men’s Singles.
In the Women’s Singles, Egypt’s Hana Goda celebrated her 17th birthday with a first-round win over Spain’s Maria Xiao.
Competing in her fifth WTT Grand Smash event, Goda aimed for her first-ever singles win on this prestigious stage. Facing Xiao for the first time, the Spaniard took the early lead, but Goda fought back to win 7-11, 13-11, 11-5, 12-10, marking another milestone in her budding career.
However, her compatriots Dina Meshref and Mariam Alhodaby were eliminated in the first round, leaving Goda as the only surviving African in the Women’s Singles. Goda will face China’s Ma Kuai in the second round, aiming to extend her stay in Doha.
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