Nigerian Football

RIVERS UNITED COMMENCE 2019 AITEO CUP CAMPAIGN

Published

5 years ago

June 14, 2019

BY SAMMY WEJINYA

Rivers United FC will face FC TimberLoader in her opening game of the 2019 AITEO Cup on Saturday.

The round of 64 clash will be played at the Lafia City Stadium on Saturday, June 15, 2019.

United will be looking to make a strong start to this year’s edition of Nigeria’s oldest football competition following a Nigeria Professional Football League campaign that failed to hit expected heights.

Azunda Stanley Eguma is the technical manager of United and he says the ‘Pride of Rivers’ will be taking nothing for granted when they face the unheralded FC TimberLoader at the Lafia City Stadium.

“This is the AITEO Cup where underdogs do not exist so we cannot underrate any opponents,” Eguma told the official Rivers United FC website, www.riversunited.com.ng.

“We have come to Lafia to approach the game with a serious mindset because we want to win.

“We will not play against the name of any club but will show respect to the 11 players that represent the club we are facing.

“We are battle ready and we know that we must win this match if we must achieve our objective of winning the trophy.

“We are battle ready for the game on Saturday,” he concluded.

Rivers United reached the group stages of the 2018 AITEO Cup.

Nigerian Football

Behold! Nigeria Football’s October 8 Magic

Published

4 days 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

6 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