Nigerian Football
AKWA UNITED’S BRAZILIAN COACH, DREAMS NIGERIAN LEAGUE TITLE
Brazilian Rafael Everton believes that his Akwa United’s hard won victory against FC IfeanyiUbah represents a turning point that has re-positioned the club as possible title winner.
Everton had seen his side come from behind to beat FC IfeanyiUbah, his first club as a coach in Nigeria, 2-1 in a game the opponents ran his squad ragged but failed to convert their chances.
The Brazilian would admit afterwards that though they had a match plan of containing the younger players from Nnewi, scoring first against his side stunned him to rethink the plan.
“We have seen other results and now Akwa United are fully incontention with a win and a draw from the two games played so far.
“That is four points and we have to see other results”, Everton said at the post match briefing before Rangers saw off Lobi Stars 2-1 and Pillars defeated Enyimba 2-0.
He said FC IfeanyiUbah players stretched his players to their limits taken advantage of their relative younger age but insisted that their tactics worked.
“It was a very tactical match in which I had to replace my captain, Mfon Udoh and the other striker before halftime.
“We needed players who can contain the very fast and younger players on the other side. We allowed them to run but also tried to keep the ball”
“FC IfeanyiUbah are a very good side, it was never going to be easy playing such bunch of young players.
“So, we are happy with the three points and though it was my former club, there are no sentiments, the three points was very important to me”, the Brazilian who also had a brief stint at Abia Warriors ended on a jocular note.
Akwa United plays Rangers International in their next fixture at 7pm Saturday night in the last game of MatchDay 3. The Uyo club are joint tops with Kano Pillars on four points.
In other games, FC IfeanyiUbah will play Kano Pillars while Enyimba and Lobi Stars meet in the second fixture of the day. Both teams aew on three points with Rangers while FC IfeanyiUbah are yet to pick a point.
Nigerian Football
Enugu Rangers crumble at home in seven-goal thriller with Kano Pillars
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.
Nigerian Football
Season’s first win for Akwa United and Ikorodu City
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.
Nigerian Football
Behold! Nigeria Football’s October 8 Magic
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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