Nigerian Football
NIGERIA PITCH AWARDS ROLL OUT 2018 NOMINEES
Super Eagles and Super Falcons stars topped the list as Match Makers Consults and its auditing partners, SIAO rolled out 60 possible winners in 20 categories of the sixth edition of the annual awards.
The unveiling was done on Thursday by the organisers at a press conference at Ibis Hotel in Lagos.
Top on the contenders’ list for the main title is the Super Eagles’ lead striker, Odion Ighalo who is expected to have stiff challenge from the duo of English Premiership stars Alex Iwobi of Arsenal, Wilfred Ndidi of Leicester City and Ahmed Musa who previously played for Leicester City before moving o Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia.
The trio will slug it out for the lead prize, The King of the Pitch 2018/2019. Ighalo, the top scorer in the qualifying event for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations and Ahmed Musa, Nigeria’s all-time top scorer at the World Cup are also in contention for the Striker of the Year Award along with Junior Lokosa who was previously with Kano Pillars before moving to Tunisia.
Lokosa is also in contention for the Most Valuable Player (MVP Award in the Nigeria Professional Football League. He will have to outpoll Godwin Aguda of Enugu Rangers and Mfom Udoh who played for Enyimba before moving to Akwa United.
The ladies’ category feature the usual suspects – Asisat Oshoala who moved from China’s Dalian Quanjian to Bacelona; Francisca Ordega previously with Atletic Madrid and Rasheedat Ajibada. The trio are nominated for the Queen of the Pitch Award.
The sixth edition of the Nigeria Pitch Awards is seeing the introduction of the online edition of the Football Journalist of the Year Award. The nominees are: Tobi Adepoju of www.naijafootballplus.com, Kunle Solaja of the www.sportsvillagesquare.com and Samuel Ahamadu of www.goal.com
The full nominations run thus:
Goalkeeper of the Year 2018/19
| Name | Club |
| Ikechukwu Ezenwa | Enyimba International FC/Katsina United |
| Theophilus Afelokhai | Enyimba International F.C. |
| Francis O Uzoho | Deportivo La Coruna/Anorthosis Famagusta |
Defender of the Year 2018/19
| Name | Club |
| Leon Balogun | Brighton & Hove Albion FC |
| William Troost-Ekong | Udinese Calcio FC |
| Kenneth Omeruo | Leganés FC |
Midfielder of the Year 2018/19
| Name | Club |
| Wilfred Ndidi | Leicester City FC |
| Alex Iwobi | Arsenal FC |
| Oghenekaro Etebo | Stoke City FC |
Striker of the Year 2018/19
| Name | Club |
| Junior Lokosa | Kano Pillars |
| Odion Ighalo | Changchun Yatai/Shanghai Shenhua |
| Ahmed Musa | Leicester City FC/Al-Nassr |
MVP in NPFL 2018/19
| Name | Club |
| Godwin Aguda | Enugu Rangers |
| Junior Lokosa | Kano Pillars |
| Mfom Udoh | Enyimba F.C/ Akwa United |
MVP in the NWFL 2018/19
| Name | Club |
| Anam Imo | Nasarawa Amazons |
| Evelyn Nwabuoku | Rivers Angels |
| Rasheedat Ajibade | FC Robo |
Queen of the Pitch 2018/19
| Name | Club |
| Asisat Oshoala | Dalian Quanjian/Barcelona W |
| Francisca Ordega | Atlético Madrid W/Shanghai shengli |
| Rasheedat Ajibade | FC Robo/Avaldsnes IL |
King of the Pitch 2018/19
| Name | Club |
| Odion Ighalo | Changchun Yatai/ Shanghai Shenhua |
| Ahmed Musa | Leicester City FC/Al-Nassr |
| Wilfred Ndidi | Leicester City FC |
Coach of the Year 2018/19
| Name | Club |
| Thomas Dennerby | Super Falcons |
| Gbenga Ogunbote | Enugu Rangers |
| Solomon Ogbeide | Lobi Stars |
Club of the Year 2018/19
| Name | State |
| Akwa United | Akwa Ibom |
| Enugu Rangers | Enugu |
| Lobi Stars | Kogi |
National Team of the Year 2018/19
| Name | Level |
| Super Sand Eagles | Men/Senior |
| Super Falcons | Women/Senior |
| Super Eagles | Men/Senior |
Referee of the Year 2018/19
| Name |
| Ogabor Joseph Odey |
| Adebimpe Quadri |
| Ferdinand Udoh |
Sam Okwaraji Awards 2018/19
| Name | Position |
| Kunle Somane | Chairman, BET9JA |
| Amaju Pinnick | President, NFF |
| Seyi Akinwunmi | 1st Vice President, NFF |
State with the Best Grassroots Football Development Programme 2018/19
| Name |
| Delta State |
| Rivers State |
| Lagos State |
Football Friendly Governor of the Year 2018/19
| Name | State |
| HE Udom Emmanuel | Akwa Ibom |
| HE Nyesom Wike | Rivers |
| HE Ifeanyi Okowa | Delta |
Football Journalist of the Year (Print) 2018/19
| Name | Newspaper |
| Tunde Liadi | The Nation |
| Johnny Edwards | Complete Sport |
| Tana Aiyejina | Punch |
Football Journalist of the Year (Radio) 2018/19
| Name | Radio Station |
| George Iniabasi Essien | Comfort 95.1 FM |
| Tony Bekederemo | Sports Radio 88.9 Brila FM |
| Olawale Adigun | Top Radio 90.9FM |
Football Journalist of the Year (TV) 2018/19
| Name | Radio Station |
| Cecilia Omoregbe | Channels TV |
| Mozez Praiz | Supersport |
| Austin 0kon-Akpan | Channels TV |
Football Journalist of the Year (Online) 2018/19
| Name | Online Medium |
| Tobi Adepoju | naijafootballplus.com |
| Kunle Solaja | sportsvillagesquare.com |
| Samuel Ahmadu | Goal.com |
Corporate Sponsor of Football 2018/19
| Name |
| Coca Cola |
| AITEO Group |
| Nigerian Breweries plc |
Shina Philips, President of the Nigeria Pitch Awards, expressed the gratitude of the organizers and award partners to all sport journalists, the Nigeria Football Federation and SIAO Partners for their support for the awards since 2013.
Mr. Philips stated that organizers were working on a plan to overhaul the organization specifically with a view to reducing the number of categories. ‘We are planning a major reorganization with respect to the number of categories we have. By next edition, we will certainly have fewer categories. We believe this will make it easier for our voters to complete their votes,’ Philips said.
Nneka Eneli, Head of Corporate Services who represented Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, the Managing Partner of SIAO Partners said the shortlist of potential winners was drawn from the votes cast by sport journalists across the country between February and March 2019.
Voting for the 6th edition of the awards took place between 1st February and 1st March 2019. We assure all voters of the Nigeria Pitch Awards that their votes have been adequately captured and the results you will get today are the wishes of all who voted. Let me stress again that the entire process was professionally handled by our team of accountants and auditors without any form of interference from the organizers or sponsors.’ Eneli said.
Nigerian champions, Enugu Rangers have been beaten 4-3 by visiting Kano Pillars in the Match Day 7 of the Nigeria Premier Football League.
The visitors went into the lead in 15th minute when Rabiu Ali converted a penalty kick. They doubled the lead in the 28th minute through Zulkifilu Rabiu before Rabiu Ali extended the lead to 3-0 in the 37th minute after converting another penalty kick.
The game turned into a nightmare for Rangers as Ahmed Musa made it 4-0 in the first minute of the added time.
Rangers began a fight back in the opening minutes of the second half as Isaac Saviour pulled a goal back in the 47th minute. Twelve minute later he scored a second goal to reduce the tally to 4-2. Emmanuel Silas Nenrot made the score line a more respectable for Rangers when he scored a third goal in the added time.
The miserable run of Akwa United and Ikorodu City came to an end after six games in the Nigerian Premier League this season. Both teams were initially glued at the bottom of the league table.
They now got respite as Akwa United beat Kano Pillar by 2-0 while Ikorodu City even did what could be considered an upset, beating Bendel Insurance 3-0.
Remo Stars bounced back to the top of the log after a 3-0 defeat of Nasarawa United. Shooting Stars are yet to get their rhythm this season, playing a barren draw with Enyimba in Ibadan.
Kwara United who got their first full points of the season last week after a 1-0 defeat of Remo Stars could not consolidate as they were beaten 1-0 by Abia Warriors.
Heartland under Emmanuel Amuneke are gradually recovering as they got a valuable away draw against El-Kanemi Warriors.
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.
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