International Football
THIRTY TWO PLAYERS DELIVER NIGERIA’S WORLD CUP TICKET
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
In Nigeria’s march to Russia 2018 World Cup, a total of 32 players tasted action in the seven matches played so far.
In the opening game with Swaziland on November 13, 2015, 14 of the players played, (including three substitute players) in the encounter that ended goalless.
In the reversed fixture which Nigeria won 2-0 at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt, five other players not featured in the earlier match entered the fray.
They are: Bassey Ezekiel, Chima Akas, Austin Oboroakpo, Paul Onobi and Sylvester Igbonu. It was at this match that Obafemi Martins last played for Nigeria and the last Nigeria played under Sunday Oliseh as the coach.
Franco –German tactician Gernot Rohr took over and in the next World Cup qualifying game against Zambia in Ndola. He gave opportunity to six players that did not feature in the previous round encounter with Swaziland. Alex Iwobi made his debut. Central defender, Ekong William-Troost who had made his Nigerian debut in Stephen Keshi’s last match in charge of the Super Eagles on 13 June 2015 returned to squad with Rohr in charge.
Kenneth Omeruo and Brown Ideye, members of the old brigade, made their first entry into the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in the match with Zambia. Also, Winfred Onyinye who made his Nigerian debut under Oliseh in an October 8, 2015 duel with DR Congo in Belgium played his first World Cup qualifying game in the away game with Zambia. Anderson Esiti also played in the match.
When the Super Eagles beat Algeria 3-1 last year, another set of four hitherto unused players in the World Cup qualifying matches were fielded. They were: Daniel Akpeyi who took the place of ill Carl Ikeme, Victor Moses Kelechi Iheanacho and Etebo Oghenekaro. In the next game against Cameroon last month, Ikechukwu Ezenwa made his debut for the main stream Super Eagles. Ndubuisi Agu was another hitherto unused player. Ola Aina became the 32nd player to prosecute the World Cup project when he came in as a substitute for Uwa Echiejile in the 1-0 defeat of Zambia last Saturday.
Rohr speaking on TVC remarked that more players will be will be employed in the trial matches ahead of the World Cup to ensure that virtually every player has a key substitute. In a media release by the NFF Rohr revealed he is elated working with the Super Eagles, after the three –time African champions became the first African country to qualify for the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup on Saturday.
“I am very excited to be working with this team: a blend of the experienced and the young and ambitious ones. They are a delight to be with at all times, and I believe we are onto great things.
“At the beginning of the qualifying series, many people said we were going to be chasing it. But we sat down together and we promised ourselves that we would go all out and get the ticket.”
The 64 –year old, who was employed by the Nigeria Football Federation 15 months ago, has played 10 matches, winning six and losing only one. The only loss was against South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in Uyo, at the start of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in June 2017.
“That match was a big wake –up call for us. Now that we have the World Cup ticket, we will go all out for the AFCON ticket and get it.
“When you have a team that has so much self –belief, a lot of things are possible. Age is but a number. I feel young and able and willing to go on working with this group.”
THOSE WHO FOUGHT FOR THE
RUSSIA 2018 WORLD CUP TICKET
13 Nov. 2015 (WCq- Lobamba) SWAZILAND 0-0 NIGERIA.
Ikeme Carl – Oboabona Godfrey, Echiejile Elderson, Ambrose Efe, Ahmed Musa, Ighalo Odion, Obi Mikel/Martins Obafemi, Simon Moses, Abdulahi Suleiman, Igboun Sylvester/Ibrahim Rabiu/Ihenacho Kelechi, Onazi Ogenyi.
17 Nov. 2015 (WCq- Port Harcourt) NIGERIA 2-0 SWAZILAND.
Ikeme Carl – Abdullahi Shehu/Bassey Ezekiel, Akas Chima/ Echiejile Elderson, Onazi Ogenyi, Oboroakpo Austin, Ambrose Efe, Onobi Paul, Igbonu Sylvester, Simon Moses, Ighalo Odion, Musa Ahmed/Martins Obafemi.
{Scorers: Simon Moses, Ambrose Efe}
9 Oct. 2016 (WCq -Ndola) ZAMBIA 1-2 NIGERIA.
Ikeme Carl – Echiejile Elderson, Omeruo Kenneth, Ekong William Troost, Ideye Brown/Esiti Anderson, Moses Simon/Musa Ahmed, Obi Mikel, Iheanacho Kelechi, Onazi Ogenyi/Shehu Abdulahi, Iwobi Alex, Onyinye Winfred Ndidi.
{Scorers: Iwobi Alex, Iheanacho Kelechi}.
12 Nov. 2016 (WCq -Uyo) NIGERIA 3-1 ALGERIA.
Akpeyi Daniel – Echiejile Elderson, Omeruo Kenneth/ Shehu Abdulahi, Ekong William Troost, Balogun Leon, Obi Mikel/ Onyinye Winfred Ndidi, Moses Victor, Iheanacho Kelechi, Onazi Ogenyi, Etebo Oghenekaro, Iwobi Alex/ Musa Ahmed.
{Scorers: Moses Victor -2, Obi Mikel}.
1 Sep. 2017 (WCq -Uyo) NIGERIA 4-0 CAMEROON
Ezenwa Ikechukwu – Echiejile Elderson, Onyinye Winfred Ndidi, Ekong William Troost, Balogun Leon, Ighalo Odion/ Iheanacho Kelechi, Obi Mikel/Agu Ndubuisi, Moses Victor/Musa Ahmed, Shehu Abdulahi, Simon Moses, Onazi Ogenyi.
{Scorers: Ighalo Odion, Obi Mikel, Moses Victor, Iheanacho Kelechi}.
4 Sep. 2017 (WCq -Yaounde) CAMEROON 1-1 NIGERIA
Ezenwa Ikechukwu – Echiejile Elderson, Onyinye Winfred Ndidi, Ekong William Troost, Balogun Leon, Ighalo Odion, Obi Mikel, Moses Victor, Shehu Abdulahi, Simon Moses, Onazi Ogenyi.
{Scorer: Simon Moses}.
7 Oct. 2017 (WCq -Uyo) NIGERIA 1-0 ZAMBIA
Ezenwa Ikechukwu – Echiejile Elderson/Aina Ola, Onyinye Winfred Ndidi, Ekong William Troost, Balogun Leon, Ighalo Odion, Obi Mikel, Moses Victor, Shehu Abdulahi, Simon Moses/Iwobi Alex, Onazi Ogenyi/Agu Ndubuisi.
{Scorers: Iwobi Alex}.
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
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A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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