Nigerian Football

OLATUNBOSUN BEATS IFEANYI TO MATCH DAY 18 VAT WONDER GOAL

Published

6 years ago

May 5, 2018

Sikiru Olatunbosun has emerged the winner of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Match Day 18 VAT Wonder Goal award, adding to his accomplishment of winning the Cable News Network (CNN) global Wonder Goal award in February 2017.

Goals by Akwa United’s Ifeanyi, Go Round FC Chidi Nwachukwu and that of Olatunbosun were shortlisted for voting but it was the MFM football club forward that received the highest number of votes from fans in the weekly online poll for goals scored on a match day with 260 of the total 428 votes in favour of his goal against Rivers United at the Agege Stadium on Monday, April 23.

Ifeanyi came second with 149 votes and Nwachukwu ended with 19 votes.

In the build up to the first half goal that gave his side the lead, Monsuru Olawale had dispossessed a Rivers United player and pushed the ball to Chukwuka Onuwa who side-stepped his marker to release Olatunbosun.

The striker paced forward and arriving close to the edge of the 18 yard box, unleashed a right footed grounder that left veteran goalkeeper, Rotimi Sunday with no response. The fixture would go on to end 1-1 but Olatunbosun’s goal would also catch the attention of the VAT Wonder Goal panellists.

The player joins the list of the season’s winners that include Emeka Ogbugh and Somachi Elum, both of Rivers United and Sikiru Alimi of Sunshine Stars.

He will be presented the ceremonial award plaque during the MFM versus Niger Tornadoes match day 20 fixture at the Agege Stadium on Sunday.

The prize money of N150, 000 will be shared equally between the player and a charity he will nominate.

The VAT Wonder Goal was introduced in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) by the League Management Company (LMC) and is supported by the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) to strengthen club and community engagement and also create awareness for tax payment within the football community.

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