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VIDEO: TODAY IN HISTORY: IT’S 31 YEARS SINCE CAMEROON LAST BEAT SUPER EAGLES
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Perhaps, it is one of the longest unbeaten streaks between two rivals in football. The football rivalry of the national teams of Nigeria and Cameroon is never doubted as both have mutual respect for each other.
But despite the fears that Nigerian football followers of have in Super Eagles’ fixtures against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, the Super Eagles have most times been dominant, making the tag ‘Indomitable Lions’ a mere paradox.
It is 31 years today since Cameroon last beat the Super Eagles in either regulation or even after extra time. The Africa Cup of Nations final match of 2000 in Lagos ended 2-2 at both regulation time and after extra time. The penalty shootout was just a tie-breaker, making the last time Cameroon beat Nigeria in regular play to be 1989.
That was in Yaoundé on 27 August 1989 in Group C World Cup qualifiers for Italia ’90.
The encounter is packed with memorable incidents for eternal storage. First it was Dutchman Clemens Westerhof debut for Nigeria. It was the first players’ open mutiny against the national football governing body, the then NFA.
Not all, it was the first time a coach insisted on boarding a plane should a particular player be allowed in, even if the player in question would be a mere spectator.
Also, it was the last match Waidi Akanni played for the Super Eagles before he ventured to the United States for studies at the Howard University.
Lastly, the nation was at the brink of another on-field tragedy as goalkeeper David Ngodigha passed out after 12 minutes of the epic match and had to be replaced by Aloysius Agu.
After watching from the stands, the Super Eagles previous two World Cup qualifying matches with Gabon in Libreville on 25 June 1989 and Angola on 12 July 1989 in Lagos, Dutchman, Clemens Westerhof on this date 27 August 1989 made his debut for the Super Eagles as they lined out for their last Group C World Cup Italia ’90 match against Cameroon in Yaoundé.
Nigeria, in need of a draw to advance to the last qualifying and knockout stage lost 1-0 and crashed out. Significantly, that was the last time Cameroon beat Nigeria in regulation time till date.
On the eve of the match, drama unfolded at the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport as the players refused to come out of their Durbar Hotel (now Golden Tulip) in Lagos to the Airport.
Samson Siasia was later sent to lay their grievances which were money-related. Grievances over allowances and match bonuses had always existed, but that was the first time it was brought up in the open.
Since the players feared the potentially volatile match could be their last in the World Cup qualifying series they wanted all outstanding allowances paid.
At the time, the NFA officials, the supporters’ club members and the press crew were all waiting at the presidential wing for the early flight aboard the Nigerian Air force Hercules C-130 aircraft.
Later, a car pulled up and Siasia emerged to inform the gathering that the players would not leave their hotel until their allowances were paid. Officials had to dash to the players for lengthy rounds of negotiations.
With the players’ mutiny resolved, then began another drama as the new coach, Westerhof insisted that first choice goalkeeper, Peter Rufai must be dropped from the trip. He had his way.
The two of them obviously had a feud even before Westerhof’s arrival in Nigeria. There were 25 matches before Westerhof decided to field Rufai in goal.
The Dutchman said he was glad that the man who later became Nigeria’s on field captain at the USA ’94 World Cup was among his former players who came to honour him at his 74th birthday celebration in Lagos in 2014.
Back to the Yaoundé match, David Ngodigha started the match as the goalkeeper but had to be substituted by Aloysius Agu after just 12 minutes when he passed out after a collision with a Cameroon attacker.
Memories of the previous match involving Samuel Okwaraji started flooding.
He was later revived. In the 31st minute of the match, Francois Omam-Biyik with a header, scored the only goal that knocked out Nigeria and made Cameroon to advance to the last knockout two-legged qualifying encounter for Italia ‘90.
He was to also repeat the feat in the opening match of Italia ’90 when his glancing header in the 66th minute enabled Cameroon beat Argentina.
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All’s well that ends well at Lagos International Badminton Classic
BY JOSEPH ODOEKWU
As the curtain fell on the 7th edition of the Lagos International Badminton Classic, Vietnam’s Le Duc Phat won the topmost prize, the men’s single final after beating India’s Samarveer in a thrilling clash.
He becomes the only non-Indian that clinched gold in the classic, the biggest and best in Africa.
The allure of the Vietnamese is the fact he was just one of the trio from his country and featured at the tournament without a coach.
He lived up to his calling as the number one seed, beating Samarveer 2-1 even though the Indian had two coaches behind him providing him with technical support.
The game started with the Vietnamese winning the first game by 21-10, but things turned around in the second game as the Indian won by 21-18 to drag the Vietnamese into a third game which was filled with thriller as there was tension packed rising and falling of both players.
Though Le Duc Phat took a lead by 21-20, he could still not be declared winner by the umpire because he needed to win by two point’s difference just as the rule states.
A masterly final stroke from the Vietnamese did the magic after he added the final point to win the third game at 22-20.
The victory did not just deny the Indians an opportunity to cart away all the other gold medals available at the tournament, but it also made Le Duc Phat the second Vietnamese to win the men’s single of the Lagos Badminton Classic since Nguyen Tien Minh first won the championship in the 2019 edition.
In the women singles, women doubles, men doubles and mixed doubles, it was an all India affair, as the Asians who are the only foreign country to come to the championship with the highest number of players cleared all gold available in those categories.
In the women’s singles final, Indian’s Shreya Lele feasted on her fellow compatriot Kavipriya Selvam with two straight wins, to become women’s champion from wins of 21-11 and 21-16.
The women’s doubles and men doubles was also an all Indian affair, as a combination of Kavipriya Selvam and Simran Singhi beat the duo of Vaishnavi Khadkekar and Alisha Khan 2-0 (21-11, 21-16 ) to emerge women double champions.
In the men double final, Pruthvi Krishnamurthy Roy and Vishnuvardhan Goud PANJALA beat the duo of P.S Ravikrishna and Akshan Shetty with 2-0 (21-17,21-19) to win the gold, while the host, Nigeria’s duo of Alhaji Aliyu Shehu and Uchechukwu Deborah Ukeh, who lost in the final of the mixed doubles bowed to Indians duo of Sathwik Reddy Kanapururam and Vaishnavi Khadkehar by 2-0 (21-12,21-14).
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Amusan lost to conservation of strength, says Falilat Ogunkoya
Nigeria’s first athlete to win an individual track and field medal at the Olympic Games, Falilat Ogunkoya has offered explanations on why Nigeria’s biggest hope for a medal at Paris 2024, Tobi Amusan failed to make the mark.
Falilat who was Nigeria’s first medallist at the Atlanta ‘96 Games won a bronze medal in the women’s 400 m and a silver in the 4x400m.
“I think Tobi Amusan was tensed up. She was restless. I don’t know what really happened to her. She probably was trying to conserve her energy for the medal race and overdid it”, remarked Falilat while trying to explain the third position that the Nigerian brightest prospect had in the Heat 1 of the women’s 100m hurdles race.
Her chance of qualifying was hit a decisive blow when the third and fourth place in the last heat returned better time than the 12.55 seconds of Amusan.
For most of the Nigerian athletes, Falilat is of the opinion that they were probably over confident and in some instances failed to heed to instructions from their Team Nigeria coaches.
“Most prefer to listen only to their foreign coaches. I am not saying they should discard them, but when they come to Team Nigeria, the coaches should be listened to.”
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Next federations’ elections will change the face of Nigerian sports, says minister, Enoh
Nigeria’s sports minister, John Owan Enoh has stated that a scrutiny of the sports’ federations’ constitution will be conducted, ostensibly to ensure round pegs in round holes.
This is coming on the heels of the glaring zero medal outing Nigeria is about to record as the curtain falls on Paris 2024.
“There will be stiffer scrutiny of the constitutions governing Nigeria’s sporting federations in advance of the forthcoming elections”, the minister remarked in a press statement issued by Diana-Mary Nsan, his special assistant on media.
“We did everything as a Ministry to prepare the athletes adequately and provide them with every financial support but unfortunately the performance has not produced any podium finish.”
He continued, “As we go back home we must do everything to prevent future occurrence of the Paris disaster and if this will entail the review of how people are elected to lead our sporting Federations, it will be done.”
Emphasizing the importance of upcoming federations’ elections, Senator Enoh noted, “I know that elections into the Federations are coming and it will be the perfect platform to get only those who have something to offer to lead the various sports.”
Reflecting on the complexity of these elections, he added, “I am aware that the Sports Federations Elections in Nigeria are even tougher than our National Elections and you will begin to ask yourself why is it so.”
The Minister concluded, “So for me as a Minister it is important I supervise an Elections where only the best hands will lead the various Federations and I also understand that in some of the Federations their constitutions will need to be reviewed for better inclusion.”
This call for reform aims to enhance the leadership and effectiveness of Nigeria’s sports federations, paving the way for improved performance on the global stage.
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