Sports
We Can Identify Who Has No Business In This Team-Bosso
Flying Eagles head coach, Ladan Bosso, has revealed that the preparatory games will give him an idea of the players to be named on the finalized roster for the upcoming WAFU B U20 Championship taking place in Niamey, Niger Republic.
Bosso said this shortly after the team’s friendly match against Cosmos FC on Sunday.
Fifteen years after coaching the likes of Brown Ideye, Elderson Echiejile, Ezekiel Bala and Bentley at the 2007 FIFA U20 World Cup, Bosso has been reappointed coach of the Flying Eagles and his first brief is to ensure Nigeria qualify for the 2023 U20 AFCON.
“We can now identify who will definitely make the team to the next stage, we can now identify who has no business in this team,” Bosso said.
“We have less than one week to leave Nigeria, so between now and that time we have two friendly matches and we are good to go. We are going to finish the friendly matches in Niger.
“I have seen the boys in action. Preparation is all about competition, the match was a competition-like situation and those that showed themselves they are good to go.
“Those that did not measure to what we are looking for, we still have time to look at them but the issue is everybody knows that we don’t have much time, so the little time we have we have to use it wisely.”
Bosso invited several defenders and a goalkeeper with Nigerian Professional Football League experience on a 40-man training camp roster, headlined by Enyimba talent Adegbite Emmanuel and Lobi Stars glovesman Orya Joseph.
Tidesports source reports that the Flying Eagles manager has explained his thinking behind calling up NPFL stars and is pleased with the quality of goalkeepers at his disposal.
“We need matured people in that defence line and that helped us today.
“What caused the two goals against us was lack of understanding, and that misunderstanding is something we have to work on.
“More friendly matches they will be able to understand themselves and that is coaching.
“As far as I’m concerned now, with what I saw and goalkeepers on the bench, I think we have more matured goalkeepers than what we took to Republic of Benin the last time,” Bosso concluded.
Seven–time African champions, Nigeria will play in Group B of the WAFU B Championship alongside Ghana and Burkina Faso, with the tournament scheduled for 7th – 20th May.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.