Nigerian Football

Shooting Stars Crash out of Aiteo Cup

Published

7 years ago

September 13, 2017

BY BOLAJI OKUNOLA.

It gets from bad to worse for Shooting Stars as Akwa United unleashed the fury of missing out on the top three of the just concluded Nigerian premier league on the Ibadan side.

Akwa United unleashed a 5-1 defeat on the Ibadan team that last won the national cup 22 years ago. Playing on home soil at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, it is also a sort of revenge by Akwa United whose initial quest for a CAF Confederation Cup ticket was thwarted by Shooting Stars following a 0-1 loss in Ibadan in an NPFL match penultimate Sunday.

But for that setback, Akwa United could have placed third and get a ticket for the Confederation Cup. The ambition could still be realised should they win the Aiteo Cup which quarter finals they have now qualified for.

AITEO Cup Round of 16 Results

MEN

FC Abuja 0-0 Niger Tornadoes
Akwa Starlets 1-2 Plateau United
Ngwa FC 1-3 Sunshine Stars
Osun United 2-1 El-Kanemi Babes
Unicem Rovers 0-1 ABS FC
Akwa United 5-1 Shooting Stars
Ekiti United 1-1 Katsina United Feeders
FC IfeanyiUbah 3-1 Heartland FC

TEAMS QUALIFIED FOR QUARTER FINALS: Plateau United, Sunshine Stars, Osun United, ABS FC, Akwa United, FC IfeanyiUbah

MATCHES TO BE REPLAYED ON SATURDAY:

Niger Tornadoes Vs FC Abuja – Confluence Stadium, Lokoja
Katsina United Feeders Vs Ekiti United – Muhammadu Dikko Stadium, Katsina

WOMEN

Pelican Stars 1-1 FC Robo Queens
Confluence Queens 3-0 Sure Babes
Bayelsa Queens Feeders 1-3 Edo Queens
Rivers Angels 9-0 Ben Women FC
Sunshine Queens 0-0 Bayelsa Queens
Beautiful Tours 0-10 Nasarawa Amazons
Jokodolu Babes 0-0 Abia Angels
Osun Babes 1-1 Ibom Angels

TEAMS QUALIFIED FOR QUARTER FINALS

WOMEN: Confluence Queens, Edo Queens, Rivers Angels, Nasarawa Amazons

MATCHES TO BE REPLAYED ON SATURDAY:

FC Robo Queens Vs Pelican Stars – Legacy Pitch, Surulere, Lagos
Bayelsa Queens Vs Sunshine Queens – Nembe Stadium
Abia Angels Vs Jokodolu Babes – Umuahia Township Stadium
Ibom Angels Vs Osun Babes – Uyo Township Stadium

Nigerian Football

Behold! Nigeria Football’s October 8 Magic

Published

9 hours ago

October 8, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Nigeria’s Godwin Iwelumo terrorising Egypt’s goalmouth 47 years ago in an October 8 match. Nigeria won 4-0 inflicting the worst ever defeat on Egypt in a World Cup qualifier.

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.

Nigerian Football

Rivers flow to the top!

Published

2 days ago

October 6, 2024

Kunle Solaja

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 85^th minute.

Sunday Results