Nigerian Football
Akwa United Targets Away Win
BY MFON PATRICK.
The 2016/2017 Nigeria Professional Football League, NPFL, season is increasingly looking brighter for Akwa United FC following their impressive performances in recent league matches.
With five victories, four draws and four defeats in their opening 13 games of the season, the Promise Keepers who were bottom of the table after Match Day 5 have steadily moved up to 6th position on the league table and are six points behind leaders Plateau United.
Buoyed by their new found form, Akwa United arrived in Lokoja, Kogi State with renewed confidence to engage Niger Tornadoes of Minna in one of the Match Day 14 fixtures of the NPFL scheduled for Sunday 19th March, at the Lokoja Confluence Stadium.
Coach Abdu Maikaba has named 18- man strong squad for the match and the return of Alhassan Ibrahim from suspension will be seen as a big boost for the Uyo based side.
Alhassan has scored five goals in twelve matches for the Promise Keepers and much will be expected from the midfielder and his teammates when they face Niger Tornadoes on Sunday.
Coach Maikaba has revealed that his team is in Lokoja on a Special Mission which according to him will see them go for all three points.
“An away win here will be the turning points of our season.
We have established the understanding we needed and our ball play has improved greatly, so our mission is to pick as many points as possible away from home.”
“The league is very competitive and for us to stay in contention, we need to fight for every available point irrespective of the venue of the match”.
Akwa United is yet to win an away game this season and facing their host at a neutral venue presents a good opportunity for team to record their first win away from home this season.
In their previous six away matches, the Promise Keepers have drawn two and lost five, scoring two and conceding seven goals.
Niger Tornadoes who are placed 10th on the log will be hoping for a repeat of last season’s result which saw them humbled their visitors at the same venue but the new Akwa United under coach Maikaba looks more than capable of picking all three points at the end of 90 minutes on Sunday.
The Promise Keepers could further consolidate their position in the top six on the log if they avoid defeat in Lokoja.
The miserable run of Akwa United and Ikorodu City came to an end after six games in the Nigerian Premier League this season. Both teams were initially glued at the bottom of the league table.
They now got respite as Akwa United beat Kano Pillar by 2-0 while Ikorodu City even did what could be considered an upset, beating Bendel Insurance 3-0.
Remo Stars bounced back to the top of the log after a 3-0 defeat of Nasarawa United. Shooting Stars are yet to get their rhythm this season, playing a barren draw with Enyimba in Ibadan.
Kwara United who got their first full points of the season last week after a 1-0 defeat of Remo Stars could not consolidate as they were beaten 1-0 by Abia Warriors.
Heartland under Emmanuel Amuneke are gradually recovering as they got a valuable away draw against El-Kanemi Warriors.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
It is 75 years since Nigeria’s national football team first played an international match. That was on 8 October 1949 when the first set of Nigeria’s assembly on their return voyage stopped over in Freetown and engaged Sierra Leone in an international football match. Nigeria won 2-0, setting a chain of positive results on 8 October.
The country never lost any competitive duel on that date. More significantly, the Super Eagles first qualified for the World Cup on an 8 October date.
That was in 1993 when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Algeria in the quest for USA ‘94 World Cup.
Nigeria became the first English-speaking African country to qualify for the World Cup. Another significance of the October 8 match at the July 5 Stadium, Algiers is that Nigeria were unbeaten for the first time by Algeria at home.
The only deviation from the 8 October Magic was in 2015 when Nigeria lost 2-0 to Congo in a friendly match.
Twenty-six years after Nigeria’s debut international match, one of Africa’s biggest football nations, Egypt fell to the October 8 magic, losing 4-0 to Nigeria in the last stage of the triangular World Cup qualifying series for Argentina ’78.
Up till October 15, 2013, when Ghana beat Egypt 6-1 in Kumasi, the October 8, 1977 duel with Nigeria remained Egypt’s biggest loss in a World Cup qualifying match.
Before the 1977 duel, Nigeria in 1963 played a friendly match with Liberia in Monrovia. The October 8 magic was active, even in an away match. Nigeria drew 2-2 in their very first encounter with Liberia. It was shortly after the team had, through a protest, upturned a victory by Guinea to pick Nigeria’s very first African Nations’ Cup ticket.
Little wonder then that when FIFA suspended Nigeria in 2010, the world governing body provisionally lifted the ban on October 8!
Nigeria on 8 October
- 1949 – Freetown (Friendly) Sierra Leone 0-2 Nigeria
- 1963 – Monrovia (Friendly) Liberia 2-2 Nigeria
- 1977 – Lagos (World Cup qualifier) Nigeria 4-0 Egypt
- 1993 – Algiers (World Cup qualifier) Algeria 1-1 Nigeria… qualify for USA ‘94.
- 2005 – Abuja (World Cup qualifier) Nigeria 5-1 Zimbabwe
- 2010 – FIFA, in apparent respect to the 8 October magic, provisionally lifted a ban imposed on Nigeria.
- 2011 – Abuja (African Nations Cup qualifier) Nigeria 2-2 Guinea. Although undefeated, Nigeria failed to make it to the 2012 African Nations Cup.
- 2015 – D.R. Congo beat Nigeria 2-0 in Visé, Belgium. The ‘October 8 Magic’ is finally broken.
Rivers United have launched themselves to the top of the log at the end of the match day 5 of the Nigeria Premier League. The Port Harcourt side beat Akwa United 2-1 to go afloat after initial leaders, Remo Stars crumbled to a 1-0 defeat at Kwara United in Ilorin on Sunday.
It was Remo Stars’ first defeat in the season. Rivers United are now with 13 points. Stephen Mayo put Rivers United ahead after 31 minutes. But it turned a temporary lead as Akwa United bounced back almost at the blast of the referee’s whistle for the second half.
Friday Apollos levelled up for Akwa United before Ndifreke Effiong Udo scored the winner in the 85th minute.
Sunday Results
- Kwara United 1-0 Remo Stars
- Rangers International 1-0 Abia Warriors
- Heartland FC 2-0 Niger Tornadoes
- Kano Pillars 2-0 Sunshine Stars
- Plateau United 1-0 Ikorodu City
- Rivers United 2-1 Akwa United
- Enyimba 3-0 Katsina United* Suspended
- Nasarawa 0-0 Bayelsa United
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