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Don’t Be Intimidated, Eguavoen Urges Super Eagles

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BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

Former Super Eagles’ player and chief coach, Austin Eguavoen has urged the current class of the team to be focused as they face perhaps their toughest challenge since Coach Gernot Rohr got to the saddle. The Super Eagles face Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions on Friday in the first leg of a back-to-back fixture in 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
“They should expect a tough encounter”, remarked Eguavoen who had in the past been involved in blood and sweat –spilling encounters with Cameroon. “Fixtures involving Nigeria and Cameroon or Ghana and Nigeria as well as Cameroon and Ghana are always classic encounters”, Eguavoen said. Therefore, no one should expect a mere stroll in the pack.
“Don’t be deceived by the paltry two points Cameroon currently have. They are African champions and they take a match with Nigeria very serious”, Equavoen told Sports Village Square.
He said it is good that Nigeria are currently on the drivers’ seat but the Super Eagles have to do a lot to sustain the momentum. The players should realise that they should not just rely on financial reward as motivation for the match, but look forward to qualifying for the World Cup as that will be more fulfilling for their career.
“Their market values will rise should they qualify for the World Cup”, Eguavoen who was the on-field skipper when Nigeria won the Africa Cup of Nations at Tunisia ’94 counselled.
He also pointed out that as Nigeria have respect for the Cameroonian Lions so also are the Cameroonians to Nigeria.
“Cameroon will natural not want to seat back and allow Nigeria to further widen the point gap as the race to Russia 2018 gathers momentum. “They will put a lot of intimidating pressure on us and we have to react well too”, said Eguavoen, a veteran of the 1994 and 1998 World Cup.
He pointed out the fact that Cameroon don’t play fanciful football and that they are often very physical. “Please tell the boys, they should not be intimidated”.
He recalled some of the matches he played for Nigeria against Cameroon. “They play robust football. He recalled the World Cup qualifying encounter Cameroon played with Nigeria at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan in June 1989.
“They have huge players like Emmanuel Kunde and others. I remember Louis Mfede trying to intimidate me. I reacted and told him this is Ibadan, not Yaoundé, I will ‘kill’ you here!
“He chickened out and moved away from me to the right side of their attack”, recalled Eguavoen. He further said it was an attempt to always intimidate the opposition that informed their controversial sleeveless shirts of the early 2000 which FIFA had to ban.
“They wanted opposing players to see their biceps and feel intimidated. I want the Super Eagles to take a full advantage of the home match because the Yaoundé crowd are also very intimidating. “If we get our results here, the return leg becomes less important to Cameroon”, he reasoned.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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Portugal call up same player named in England Under-18 squad

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Mateus Mane in England's colour

Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Mateus Mane has become hot property after Portugal named the 17-year-old in their Under-18 squad on Friday, one day after England included him in their squad.

Mane was called up for a second successive England youth camp by coach Liam Bramley before the team travel to Marbella for a four-team tournament this month.

Mane is eligible for both teams having played for the Portugal Under-17 side last season. As the Under-18 team is a non-UEFA age group, both nations are entitled to call the player up.

He made his England international debut last month against the Portugal Under-18 side who have named Mane in their squad for a four-nation tournament this month.

With both tournaments running concurrently, Mane can only play for one team and Wolves and England confirmed he would feature in Bramley’s side.

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Reuters has contacted Portugal’s football association for clarification.

While players with multiple nationalities have played for more than one country if they are eligible, they are not allowed to switch allegiances at senior level – unless they have played only in friendly matches for the first country.

-Reuters

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Soon Cisse ceases to be Senegal’s Coach

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After 107 matches spanning nine years, Aliou Cisse will not have his contract renewed as Senegal coach, officials confirmed on Wednesday. Of the 107 matches, Cisse’s team won 70, drew 24 and lost 13.

But the impressive scorecard is not enough to impress his employers.

Thus, the end beckons for Cisse’s successful nine-year spell in charge of the side that included a first Africa Cup of Nations title and two World Cup qualifications.

He had been under increasing pressure after Senegal’s surprise last 16 exit at the 2023 Cup of Nations when they lost on penalties to hosts Cote d’Ivoire.

Senegal are unbeaten in six matches since then, but home draws with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burkina Faso, and criticism from certain quarters over their style of play, made up the mind of the country’s sports ministry, who fund the salary of the national team coach, that a change was needed.

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“The FSF would like to thank Aliou Cisse for his good collaboration and his brilliant results at the head of the various national selections that he has managed since his arrival in 2011 and wish him every success for the future,” the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) said in a statement.

FSF added Cisse’s exit stemmed from a failure to fulfil the targets in his last contract, which expired at the end of August, which included victory at the 2023 Cup of Nations and reaching the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup.

They also said the “regression of our national team in the FIFA rankings and the risk of disaffection between our national team and the Senegalese (public)” had played a role.

The FSF will appoint an interim technical team to lead the side in Cup of Nations qualifiers against Malawi at home on Oct. 11 and away four days later.

Cisse, 48, was captain of Senegal when they reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup with what is heralded as a golden generation of players.

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He briefly had a spell as caretaker coach of the national team in 2012, but took over full time three years later.

He led Senegal to 2018 and 2022 World Cup qualification, making the last 16 in the latter before losing to England. They were beaten in the final of the 2019 Cup of Nations by Algeria.

The side made up for that disappointment when they beat Egypt in the final two years later to be crowned African champions for the first time.

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Why  FIFA banned Samuel Eto’o

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Always in the news for bad reasons, Samuel Eto’o has again made global headlines. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has banned the former striker and the current president of the Cameroon Football Federation.

He is banned from attending Cameroon’s matches for the next six months for violating conduct rules during the recent U-20 Women’s World Cup, where his national team faced Brazil in the round of 16.

According to FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee, Eto’o was found to have breached articles 13 (“Offensive behaviour and violations of fair play principles”) and 14 (“Misconduct of players and officials”) of FIFA’s Disciplinary Code.

The sanction stems specifically from the match between Brazil and Cameroon, held on September 11 in Bogotá, Colombia. As a result, Eto’o will be prohibited from attending any matches involving Cameroon’s national teams, both male and femaleacross all age groups.

“Mr Eto’o has been notified today, the date on which the sanction comes into force,” stated the FIFA press release.

This is not the first time Eto’o has faced controversy. He previously drew attention for his behavior towards players and national team coach Marc Brys, whom he allegedly threatened in front of cameras if his directives were not followed.

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During the Qatar World Cup, the former Real Madrid, Mallorca, and Barcelona player made headlines again after assaulting a fan who filmed him outside a stadium after a match.

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