USWNT coach speaks on what he expects to get from playing Nigeria

 

I asked USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski what he expects to take away from playing Nigeria, a team that the USA have never lost to and beat 4-0 just recently 

BALOGUN: BEATING CAMEROON MAKES UP FOR MADAGASCAR LOSS

WE MOVED MOUNTAINS, SAYS MADAGASCAR PLAYER

ROHR SAYS MADAGASCAR HAS TAUGHT SUPER EAGLES HUMILITY

ONE GAME AT A TIME, SAYS ROHR

For Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr, it is always one game at a time

FLYING EAGLES PLAYER RATINGS: SEE WHO CLAIMED MAN OF THE MATCH AS NIGERIA OPEN CAMPAIGN WITH QATAR ROUT

Goalscorer Okechukwu Offia gets a double high five from Jamil Muhammad/FIFA.com

Captain Ikouwem Utin led from the back - and front - as Nigeria’s Flying Eagles opened their FIFA Under 20 World Cup campaign with a 4-0 rout of Qatar.

Maxwell Effiom reacted quickest when Utin’s shot was parried by goalkeeper Shehab Mamdouh. The defender then sliced through four opposing players before cutting back for Okechukwu Offia to guide home on the back foot.

Manchester City youngster Tomiwa Dele-Bashiru extinguished Qatari hopes with a curling ball from a slide rule pass before Aliu Salawudeen put the cherry on the cake with a sweeping effort from a corner kick.

Man of the Match honours go to Utin, but how did the others fare?

OLAWALE OREMADE 7

Big, confident but largely untested. Only really serious threat he had to deal with was a low cross early in the first half and he cut it out - like everything else - with  ease. 

ZULKIFILU RABIU 8

Made two great direct contributions to the win. Peeled off to receive a great cross field ball from Kingsley Michael, then returned the ball with a looping cross to Michael from where Utin drove in to set up the first goal.

And then made to excellent quick fire blocks to deny Qatar’s Yusuf who was through on goal after the Nigeria defence had been sliced open with a one-two on a quick counter attack.

IKOUWEM UTIN 9 

Such a dangerous attacking threat all through the game, it was hard to know if he was playing left back or left wing. Set up the first two goals and provided a constant stacking outlet on the right while keeping his defensive duties.

Man of the Match

ALIU SALAWUDEEN 8

Showed great striker’s awareness to turn and shoot inside the box from a corner kick, but his most telling contributions were of course at his place of primary assignment, cenreback where his combination with Valentine Ozornwafor denied the Qatari much of a sniff at goal

VALENTINE OZORNWAFOR 8

Strong and aware at the back and was always available to quickly cut off any balls to feet, especially to the lone foraging Yusuf. With Utin spending so much time upfront, covered a lot of ground on the left side of defence.

KINGSLEY MICHAEL 8

Very involved on the left side of midfield. Started the move that led to the opening goal with that cross field ball, and constantly tried to link up with Utin to create further opportunities.

Setup Dele-Bashiru for the third goal with a visionary slide rule ball

JAMIL MUHAMMAD 7

Sat deep - when he could - to cover both an adventurous defence and his midfield partner. But like the others, ranged forward on plenty of occasion.

TOM DELE-BASHIRU 8

Neat and tidy with excellent ball-playing skills. Dele-Bashiru was the engine that kept the team’s movement going in midfield. Always available for a pass and made the right decisions each time. Great run to receive the pass for his goal, polished touch to keep it in front of him and an even better finish with the outside of his foot. Stung the goalkeeper with a shot late on

MAXWELL EFFIOM 8

Great awareness and reaction to open the scoring from the saved shot. Never stopped running and taking life uncomfortable for the Qatari defence.

OKECHUKWU OFFIA 8

Like Effiom, showed quick reflexes to get a touch on Utin’s cutback and dried it past the goalkeeper for the second goal. Could have had a second goal after interception a pass but rushed his shot with time and space

MUHAMED TIJANI 6

Put a lot of effort into running, but was mostly motion without real movement. Dropped deep to receive passes, and ended up getting lost in the crowd. No surprise he was hooked with 20 to go.

SUBS

AKOR ADAMS 7

Brought a much stronger presence into the central striking position, and it was his cushioned header into the box from a corner kick that Salawudeen swept in for the fourth goal. Offered good link up play with Effiom

NATHAN OFOBORH

Not quite the same smooth effect as Dele-Bashiru whom he replaced, but provided stability as the Flying Eagles closed out the win. Even had time to set Adams away with a long raking ball that needed a desperate clearance for a cornerkick

SUCCESS MAKANJUOLA 6

Even coming on with just under 10 minutes to go, Makanjuola was always looking to take over the game and had an excellent chance to get on he scoresheet that he bent into oblivion 

Total become new CAF Nations Cup sponsors

CAF have announced multinational oil and gas company TOTAL will take over from Orange as the new sponsors of its ten principal competitions.

The new partnership will run for the next eight years, starting with the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon, which will now be renamed the Total Africa Cup of Nations.

“This partnership is a major milestone in our ongoing search for additional resources to accelerate African football’s development, bring its governance up to date, upgrade its sports infrastructure and advance its performance globally,” Issa Hayatou, President of the Confederation of African Football said in a statement released by the body. “As a leading multinational in its field, with strong ties to Africa, Total will make a significant contribution to CAF’s initiatives to foster personal and professional growth for young Africans.”

“We are delighted to partner with CAF, because Africa is part of Total’s makeup,” commented Patrick Pouyanné, President and Chief Executive Officer of Total. “Through this commitment, we hope to strengthen ties to our stakeholders and customers through exciting, celebratory events that are always popular, including within our own teams.”

As the title sponsor of 10 CAF competitions, Total will be seen during:

·         The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). 

·         The African Nations Championship (CHAN). 

·         The CAF inter-club competitions (CAF Champions League, CAF Confederation Cup and CAF Super Cup).

·         The Youth competitions (U-23, U-20 and U-17 Africa Cup of Nations).

·         The Women Africa Cup of Nations.

·         The Futsal Africa Cup of Nations.

No details of the financials involved have been released

Keshi Tribute. Football's alchemist

Keshi has a knack for making ordinary players play above their level

It is debatable whether or not Stephen Keshi could have achieved this level of greatness if it were not for the convergence of circumstances early in his career.

Called up to the national team by Chris Udemezue, Keshi led a group of players who infuriated officialdom by refusing to turn up. And their reasons were simple. Players were expected to spend upwards of two months at the national camp at the peak of the season, and with decisive league and FA Cup games looming.

NFA Chairman Anthony Ikhazoboh slammed a 6-month ban on the players, forcing Keshi to move to Ivory Coast, where he joined Stade Abidjan and then Africa Sport, captaining both clubs before leaving for Belgium to join Lokeren.

His leadership qualities stood him out and he made the big move go giants Anderlecht and later Strasbourg in France.

Keshi was not the first African player to move to Europe. But he was the one who ensured he opened the floodgates for others. Recommending this player to that club, another to a different club.

And as his teammates would say, Keshi kept in touch with every player, sometimes even calling a player's coach to find out why he was not playing his teammate.

It was easy to see why he held such control over the national team, which he captained for 11 years. Players found Keshi easy to gravitate to, but he was as good a friend as he Was formidable an opponent.

Getting on his wrong side was never a good idea.

His force of character drove the Super Eagles to Nations Cup victory in 1994, and World Cup qualification not long after. And while his waning powers meant he was not guaranteed minutes at the World Cup, his leadership and long service guaranteed he would be on the plane. And he was.

Not many great players turn out to be good managers. Keshi was among the few who carried in their greatness from the pitch to the bench.

Drifting into coaching in error rather than design, he worked as assistant to Dutchman Jo Bonfrere, who himself was assistant to Clemens Westerhof when Keshi lifted that Nations Cup in 94.

He returned as assistant to Shuaibu Amodu and helped guide Nigeria to World Cup qualification in 2002, before war broke out between the team and the media leading to the sack of the coaching crew, and some of the senior players in the squad.

Keshi took his talents to Togo, and stunned the world by qualifying the tiny nation for the 2006 World Cup. He was not allowed to lead them there however, after a rift with star player Emmanuel Adebayor meant he was cut loose.

His next stop was Mali, but their Nations Cup adventure did not quite go as planned and Keshi was called to take up the Nigeria job when Samson Siasia was fired.

If his exploits with Togo were considered a fluke, with Nigeria he proved he was football's alchemist, turning base players into golden boys.

In talent, his 2013 Super Eagles team would rank well outside the top 10 of previous iterations, but he instilled self belief and tactical ingenuity to guide them to the title and become only the second man to win the title as player and coach.

Controversial he may have been. Political he most certainly was. But Keshi was as great a coach as he was a player. And unlike others, he proved himself with three different countries.

His constant battles with the federation would ultimately cost him his job with Nigeria. But he remained loved by the fans and the players he led, both serving and retired.

Colin's World Cup Diary Ep 2

Watch the highlights of the Nigeria team training camp in the USA

Video: Stephen Keshi speaks on the 23 Man final list

Watch an exclusive interview with Coach Stephen Keshi on the Super Eagles final 23-Man list for the Brazil World Cup.


                            

It will be hard to cut players - Keshi

Super Eagles head coach, Stephen Keshi has said that it will be hard to cut players because everybody is talented but must do what he has to do.

"It is hard because it is a very good group, everybody is talented. It's very difficult for us now to pick 23 man Team but we have to do what we have to do," he said.

Watch the full video below.

VIDEO: Ghana remembers 2001 Accra Stadium disaster victims

Ghana is today remembering the worst stadium disaster is Africa which occurred at the Accra Sports Stadium in 2001.

The lives of 126 football fans were lost during the Ghana Premier League derby between rivals Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko.

Kotoko fans threw plastic seats and bottles onto the pitch after Hearts struck late to beat them 2-1 in a Ghana Premier League game.

Police fired tear gas into the crowd which caused panic and resulted in a stampede in the Ade Coker stand which now christened May 9 stand.

The Ministry of Sports has lined up activities for fans and there will be a demonstration

It includes; Mass casualty preparedness at 8:30 am and wreath laying ceremony at the main entrance of the Accra Sports stadium by Sports Minister Hon. Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah at 10:00 am.

Watch the incident which led to the stampede inside the Accra Sports Stadium in 2001 which claimed the lives of more than 120 people

                           

Source: GhanaSoccerNet

Enyeama The Clown

Enyeama is just a clown, watch this video.