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A Nigerian coach (Augustine Eguavoen) led a technical team that included three other Nigerian assistant coaches from the domestic league without any previous national team experience, to play two extremely crucial qualification matches for the 2025 African Cup of Nations against Benin Republic in Uyo, Nigeria, and Rwanda in Kigali, Rwanda. The matches were very ‘dangerous’ for the hapless Augustine Eguavoen who had no choice but to accept the ‘poisoned chalice’ and to hope for the best. Following a spate of recent poor performances, little or no time to prepare the team well, crisis with recruiting a foreign coach, the match…
By Kayode John Coach Juliana Ojoshogu Negedu has expressed excitement and gratitude after J’Tigresses beat Egypt on Wednesday to qualify for the semi-finals of the ongoing FIBA Women’s U-18 Afrobasket in Pretoria, South Africa. The Nigerian junior female basketball team had lost 72-60 in the opening group phase to the Egyptians, but they got their pound of flesh at a crucial stage of the competition to record a 66-51 victory. Abigail Isaac was the top performer for the Nigerian girls with a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds. “I feel excited and grateful that we have made it this…
The Chairman of the Nigeria Premier Football League, Honourable Gbenga Elegbeleye, speaks to Nurudeen Obalola on a variety of issues, including the progress the elite league has made during his tenure, the challenges, the desire to attract big investors, players’ and referees’ welfare etc… The new NPFL season kicks off fully this weekend, how prepared are you for the campaign? Any hitches, problems? We’re fully ready. That’s why we were able to start last Saturday with the match at the Cathedral in Enugu. If we weren’t ready we wouldn’t have been able to start. Asking about hitches, yes there will…
There were away victories for Enyimba, Remo Stars and Niger Tornadoes all on Sunday as the Nigeria Premier Football League resumed with a full set of fixtures. Rivers United, in former Super Eagles head coach Finidi George’s first competitive match in charge, secured a draw at Bendel Insurance. Finidi’s former club Enyimba got a big away win at neighbours Heartland, who were playing their first official match under the guidance of former Super Eagles forward Emmanuel Amuneke. Suraj Lawal opened scoring for the hosts eight minutes into the second half, but Enyimba responded with a brace from Clinton Jephta and…
Team Nigeria captain Folashade Oluwafemiayo put the icing on the cake at the Paris 2024 Paralympics for the country with a world record and gold in powerlifting on Sunday. Oluwafemiayo lifted 167kg to break her own world record in women’s over 86kg powerlifting. She had already improved on her 165kg world record to guarantee gold, but still went ahead to take it even further with 167kg . With the final day gold, Nigeria finished the Games 40th in the medal table with two gold, three silver and two bronze medals. The day before, Team Nigeria made it a Saturday full…
Super Eagles caretaker head coach Austin Eguavoen has declared that his squad is capable of coming out victorious against any opponents. The three-time African champions defeated Benin Republic 3-0 on Saturday at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo in their opening 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture, taking them to the top of their group. “We have quality players to beat any team but we respect the teams anyway. Any coach can come in and do the same job with the Super Eagles,” the former Nigeria captain said in his post-match interview. “It is a mindset, we have the…
The Falconets of Nigeria have booked their spot in the round of 16 of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia after a 4-0 rout of Venezuela in Cali on Saturday night. Amina Bello, Chiamaka Okwuchukwu, Flourish Sabastine and Joy Igbokwe all netted in the one-sided encounter against the South Americans. The two-time U-20 Women’s World Cup finalists advanced into the round of 16 of the competition with six points from a possible nine in the group phase. Bello slotted home a cut-back by Okwuchukwu for the first goal against the South Americans in the 16th minute. Okwuchukwu went…
The Super Eagles of Nigeria ended their winless streak on Saturday with a 3-0 victory over Benin Republic in their opening 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture. The three-time African champions had not won a competitive match since the Africa Cup of Nations in February but Ademola Lookman scored twice while Victor Osimhen came off the bench to also get on the scoresheet as they got the qualifying campaign off to a great start. It was not all smooth-sailing though as the Super Eagles struggled to break down a well-drilled Benin side, handled by former Super Eagles head coach…
Italian top seed Jannik Sinner defeated Briton Jack Draper 7-5, 7-6, 6-2 to progress to the US Open men’s singles final in the early hours of Saturday, overcoming rough weather in New York. World No.1 Sinner will be joined in the final by Taylor Fritz, who defeated Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to reach a first Grand Slam final. Sinner appeared to have suffered a wrist injury when he fell over in the second set but recovered to reach his second major final after winning the Australian Open earlier this year. Draper dealt with health issues, vomitting three…
Cote d’Ivoire left it late but still made a winning start to the defence of their AFCON title by beating Zambia 2-0 at home on Friday in their opening qualifier for the 2025 final. The Ivorians won the last edition on home soil in February and are heavily fancied to be one of the top two finishers in Group G and book a place at the next tournament. But they had to turn to substitute striker Jean-Philippe Krasso to ensure success, as he came off the bench in Bouake to net twice in the final 16 minutes. Friday’s round of…