Sports
Travelling On Train Excites Femi, Dakolo
Two Nigerian music stars, Oritse Femi and Timi Dakolo, yesterday in Russia, said they were happy the Super Eagles’ 2-0 defeat of Iceland on Friday made their sacrifice worthwhile.
The two artistes said they had no complaints after embarking on a 20-hour travel from St Petersburg to Volgograd to watch the team’s second Group D match.
Tidesports source reports that the Super Eagles’ second match at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia was played at the Volgograd Arena.
“Nothing is too much to sacrifice to cheer the Super Eagles. I am so excited to be a Nigerian. It was a great game. The Super Eagles on Friday made us proud Nigerians here in Russia.
“I had to travel for 20 hours on a train from St Petersburg to Volgograd to watch the match. All flights were fully booked. I could not get a flight ticket and I didn’t want to miss the match.
“But I was determined to be at the stadium to cheer the Super Eagles in the must-win match against Iceland. So, the only option was to travel by train.
“I am very happy with the outcome of the match. I’m a proud Nigerian. I am green, I’m bleeding green,” Dakolo, a 37-year-old singer, said.
Oritse Femi, full name Oritsefemi Majemite Ekele, said on his part that the 2-0 win has returned the smile to the faces of Nigerians.
“I was very happy just like millions of other Nigerians all over the world to see the Super Eagles beat Iceland 2-0.
“The Eagles have put smiles on the faces of Nigerians. I’m so excited that the Super Eagles on Friday showed the never-die spirit Nigerians are known for.
“It was amazing. It is `do-able Naija’ for life,” the 33-year-old singer-songwriter and performer said.
Meanwhile, some other Nigerian football fans have however urged the Super Eagles to quickly put the 2-0 victory against Iceland behind them and focus on the last group game against Argentina.
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