Nigerian Football
NFF Adjusts AITEO Cup Format
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Penalty Shoot-out which was initially ousted in the national preliminaries of the maiden edition of the AITEO Cup has been restored.
According to a press release by the media department of the NFF, stalemated matches in the Round of 64 and the following Round of 32 will be decided by penalty shoot-out instead a replay on the home ground of the designated Team B.
Even though no reason was given, it may be a way of avoiding possible fixture congestion.
But from Round of 16, stalemated matches will be replayed on the home ground of teams designated as B. Further stalemate at the replay will then be decided by penalty shootout.
The NFF also revealed that quarter final matches and those of the semi-finals will be played on home and away bases.
According to earlier media release, the quarter final matches will be played on September 20 and 23 meaning that the eight teams will play two matches within three days.
The semi finals are slated for September and October 4. With 18 of the current premier league football clubs in the race, at least five of them will be eliminated after Wednesday’s matches.
There are five fixtures featuring head-to-head clashes of top division sides. They are the Lobi Stars versus Katsina United in Makurdi; Niger Tornadoes hosting El Kanemi Warriors in Abuja; Nasarawa United hosting MFM in Lafia; Wikki Tourists versus Plateau United in Bauchi and ABS hosting Enyimba in Ilorin.
Two top division sides – Remo Stars and Gombe United – are not in the race.
Meanwhile, venues for the Round of 64 matches have been released. They run thus:
Round of 64 Matches & Venues
• Ngwa FC (Ebonyi) VS FC Galadima (Kebbi) – Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu (4pm)
• Heartland FC (Imo) VS Insurance FC (Edo) – Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri (4pm)
• Lobi Stars (Benue) VS Katsina United (Katsina) – Aper Aku Stadium, Makurdi (4pm)
• Katsina United Feeders (Katsina) VS Aklosendi FC (Nasarawa) – Muhammadu Dikko Stadium, Katsina (4pm)
• AITEL FC (Taraba) VS Unicem Rovers (Cross River) – Jalingo Township Stadium (4pm)
• Mighty Jets FC (Plateau) VS Sunshine Stars (Ondo) – Rwang Pam Stadium (4pm)
• Bayelsa United (Bayelsa) VS FC Zamfara (Zamfara) – Sharks Stadium, Port Harcourt (4pm)
• Adamawa United (Adamawa) VS Cynosure FC (Rivers) – Fufure Township Stadium (4pm)
• Ede United (Osun) VS Sakaba United FC (Kebbi) – Oshogbo Township Stadium (2pm)
• FC IfeanyiUbah Feeders (Anambra) VS Jigawa Golden Stars (Jigawa) – FC IfeanyiUbah Stadium, Nnewi-Ozubulu (4pm)
• Samba Kurna (Kano) VS Wikki Tourists Feeders (Bauchi) – Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano (4pm)
• Ekiti United (Ekiti) VS Dolphins FC (Kaduna) – Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, Ado-Ekiti (4pm)
• Niger Tornadoes (Niger) VS El-Kanemi Warriors (Borno) – Area 3 Stadium, Abuja (4pm)
• Rivers United (Rivers) VS FC Atete (Delta) – Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Port Harcourt (4pm)
• Delta Warriors (Delta) VS Ayade Babes (Cross River) – Warri City Stadium (4pm)
• FC Yarma Light (Gombe) VS FC IfeanyiUbah (Anambra) – Patami Stadium, Gombe (4pm)
• Halfa FC (Jigawa) VS Akwa United FC (Akwa Ibom) – Dutse Township Stadium (4pm)
• Shooting Stars (Oyo) VS Dynamite FC (Edo) – Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan (4pm)
• Kogi United (Kogi) VS Rangers International (Enugu) – Confluence Stadium, Lokoja (4pm)
• Nasarawa United (Nasarawa) VS MFM FC (Lagos) – Lafia City Stadium (4pm)
• Niger Tornadoes Feeders (Niger) VS FC Abuja (FCT) – FIFA Goal Project, Abuja (4pm)
• Doma United (Gombe) VS Adamawa United (Adamawa) – Patami Stadium, Gombe (2pm)
• Osun United (Osun) VS Coal City Youths (Enugu) – Oshogbo Township Stadium (4pm)
• FC Lokoja (Kogi) VS El-Kanemi Babes (Borno) – Confluence Stadium, Lokoja (2pm)
• Kwara United (Kwara) VS Sokoto United (Sokoto) – Kwara Sports Stadium (2pm)
• Wikki Tourists (Bauchi) VS Plateau United (Plateau) – Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi (4pm)
• ABS FC (Kwara) VS Enyimba FC (Abia) – Kwara Sports Stadium (4pm)
• Yobe Desert Stars (Yobe) VS Kano Pillars (Kano) – Damaturu Township Stadium (4pm)
• Abia Warriors FC (Abia) VS Crown FC (Oyo) – Umuahia Township Stadium (4pm)
• FRSC FC (FCT) VS Potiskum Academy (Yobe) – Area 3 Stadium, Abuja (2pm)
• Almar (Ogun) VS Spartan FC (Lagos) – Dipo Dina Stadium, Ijebu-Ode (4pm)
• Moyero FC (Ondo) VS Akwa Starlets (Akwa Ibom) – Akure Township Stadium (4pm)
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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