Nigerian Football

OGUN FA GRIEVES OVER THE DEATH OF RAYMOND KING

Published

7 years ago

January 1, 2018

The Ogun State Football Association is in a state of grief and shock over the death of Nigeria ex-international, Raymond King.

According to a media release sent to www.sportsvillagesquare.com by the association’s media officer, Sanusi Lateef, the Ogun FA therefore joins the entire football family in Nigeria to mourn the death of the former Nigeria’s goalkeeper.
“The association sympathises with his family and pray to God to be with his family and give them fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
“The ex-international will be greatly missed in Ogun State and by the FA, as he had part of his glorious career in the state, while playing for Abiola babes”, the statement from the Ogun FA read.
Raymond King also lived in Abeokuta for several years. He had been on hospital bed, with partial stroke, since last week.
He was initially admitted at the Ogun State General hospital Ijaye, Abeokuta, before he was taken to the General Hospital in Ikorodu, Lagos State.
From there, he was transferred to Lagos State University Teaching hospital (LASUTH), when Lagos State stepped in and came to his rescue.
Efforts were on to transfer him to the University of Lagos Teaching hospital, before he gave up the ghost.
He was part of the Nigeria Flying Eagles between 1979 and 1980.
He made his mark with Shooting Stars football club of Ibadan, particularly being in goal for the club during the then CAF African Cup Championship, in 1984, where Shooting Stars were runners-up to Zamalek of Egypt.
He moved from the Ibadan club to Abiola babes and won 1987 Challenge Cup with Abiola babes.
He was at some point the goalkeeper trainer of Gateway Football Club of Abeokuta.

Nigerian Football

Behold! Nigeria Football’s October 8 Magic

Published

8 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