Sports
ICAN Set For Return Match, Suffers 2-1 Loss
The institute of Charter Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Port Harcourt District, has promised a return match to their professional counterpart, Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), after suffering a 2-1 defeat in a novelty match between the female wings of the bodies in Port Harcourt.
The chairman of ICAN, Princewill U. Elendu in his address shortly after the match said the defeat was due to the short notice of the invitation and to compensate their friends on their programme “South-south zonal Human Resources conference,” hosted by the Rivers State branch of CIPM.
“The notice was very short, our ladies tried to have played like this without training. We will go home, train and come back for a return match”, he said, adding the need for other professional bodies to borrow a leaf from CIPM.
The match which kicked off at about 4:30pm at Shell residential area football pitch saw the two teams showcasing strength which paid-off for the host team as Mrs Helen Ofor initiated a pass from Chinenye Ezeji to launch the first goal for CIPM, five minutes into the match.
The host maintained the pressure which resulted into an own goal increasing CIPM score line to 2-0 till the end of the first half.
In the second half, the ICAN team regained their confidence and fought like a wounded lion which paid off as Helen Irobuise launched the 1st goal for ICAN 15 minutes into the 2nd Half bringing the score line to 2-1 till the end of the match.
Speaking in an interview with Tidesports, the first goal scorer for CIPM, Mrs Helen Ofor said the match was very eventful and fun, stating that the match has provided a professional bond and friendship network between the two groups.
ICAN team coach, who is the Vice chairman of Port Harcourt & District Society, Mr Philips Ezeh commended his team for a good outing, adding that with this type of performance the ladies can go places when fully prepared.
In his address, the chairman of CIPM, Rivers State branch, Mr Henry Unuakpor commended ICAN for honouring their invitation and releasing their women to play the novelty match, adding that the match marked the beginning of their programme themed; “HR: inside-out”
CIPM chain noted that the programme which has a week-long activities would climax on September 6th in Port Harcourt, adding that the football match between the two professional bodies was a good take-off.
The highlight of the event was the decoration of the players with medals and the participation award to ICAN.
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