Sports
AFCON 2023: Super Eagles To Face Indomitable Lions In Round Of 16
The Super Eagles have a tough test ahead of them in the knockout phase of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations.
The Nigerians, who are aiming for a fourth AFCON title in Cote d’Ivoire, are billed to face the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon in the Round of 16.
Both Nigeria and Cameroon finished as the runners-up in their groups with the Lions needing a thrilling 3-2 win over Gambia yesterday to leapfrog Guinea into second position.
The thrilling encounter between Nigeria and Cameroon will come up on Saturday at the FHB Stadium in Abidjan.
It was Cameroon that denied Nigeria the AFCON trophy the last time Cote D’Ivoire hosted the Africa Cup of Nations 30 years ago.
Many wait to see if the Super Eagles will get an act of revenge against their fierce rivals or if the Lions will confirm their superiority over Nigeria
Already, Super Eagles midfielder, Moses Simon who was named Man of the Match in the hard-fought 1-0 win against Guinea-Bissau has declared their readiness to embrace any challenge on their path to glory.
“We’re not losing sleep over who we’ll face next,” Simon confidently told reporters in Abidjan after the match. “We have no preference; we have to be ready for all opposition if we want to win the title. Any team we draw, we’re ready for them and everyone else.”
Meanwhile, Super Eagles winger, Samuel Chukwueze has urged his teammates to keep fighting and focus on their next 2203 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, Round of 16 clash this weekend.
The AC Milan star spoke following Nigeria’s AFCON 1-0 win over Guinea-Bissau on Monday night.
Speaking to reporters in the mixed zone after Jose Peseiro’s men won Guinea-Bissau, Chukwueze said: “I’m so happy that we won today but it wasn’t easy.
“We wanted to take the first position in the table but it didn’t happen. We have to keep fighting and now it’s the knockout stage we have to keep focusing.
“At the moment we just focus on the knockout stage.”
Super Eagles of Nigeria’s Coach, Jose Peseiro, has said that his team was keeping the goals for the next round of the ongoing 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire.
The Portuguese said this on Monday in Abidjan during his post-match news conference after a scrappy 1-0 win over Guinea Bissau in the last group A match.
The Super Eagles coach said he was happy with the 1-0 win while congratulating Equatorial Guinea for topping the table.
He said his team wasted many scoring chances but claimed that they were keeping the goals for the next stage of the competition. Peseiro explained that he was not afraid, or even cared, about Nigeria’s next opponent in the round of 16 as he was focused on every game.
“Today, we played very good football but we missed scoring chances which is not good for us.
“Our striker, Victor Osimhen, was not at his best but I’m happy we are through to the next stage.
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