Nigerian Football
Club with highest number of Super Eagles becomes first Premier League side to sack coach this season
Watford, which parades six Nigerian players, has become the first English Premier League club to sack its manager.
Among the Nigerian players in Watford are Oghenekaro Etebo, William Ekong, Emmanuel Dennis and former junior internationals Isaac Success and Tom Dele-Bashir
The manager, Xisco Munoz was on Sunday sacked after just 10 months in charge following Saturday’s defeat to Leeds United.
The newly-promoted side are currently sat 14th in the table after recording two wins from their opening seven games.
But the club’s hierarchy have moved to remove Munoz from his post less than 24 hours after the 1-0 defeat to Leeds.
A club statement read: “Watford FC confirms Xisco Muñoz has left his post as the club’s Head Coach.
“The Board feels recent performances strongly indicate a negative trend at a time when team cohesion should be visibly improving.
“The Hornets will always be grateful to Xisco for the part he played in securing last season’s promotion and wish him well for his future career in football.
“No further club comment will be available until the imminent announcement of a new Head Coach.”Munoz only led Watford back to the Premier League via automatic promotion back in May and his team started the campaign superbly with a 3-2 win over Aston Villa.
However, three successive league defeats followed, to Brighton, Tottenham and Wolves respectively, with their only other victory coming against rock bottom Norwich City.
They did manage to earn a point at home to Newcastle, but the loss to Leeds – who were yet to record a top-flight victory this season – was seemingly the final straw.
Watford were also dumped out of the Carabao Cup last month to Championship side Stoke, having beaten Crystal Palace to progress to the third round.
Munoz becomes the latest short-term casualty by the club, who have developed a reputation for sacking their managers harshly and abruptly.
He was only appointed in December 2020 as a replacement for Vladimir Ivic and became Watford’s seventh manager in only three-and-a-half years.
Watford were somewhat unfortunate to be on the losing side against Leeds after having a goal controversially ruled out by the VAR.
But goalkeeper Ben Foster feels a draw would only have been hiding the shortcomings of their otherwise dismal performance.
“I thought if we would have [equalised] it would have been papering over the cracks,” said Foster. “We were very poor today. We didn’t have a shot on target, so can’t expect to come away with anything.
“They were very sharp and worked their socks off but if you allow them to do that it’s going to be a long day. If that goal had been given it would have been very unjust to the overall picture.
“I think we’re a better team than what we are showing. We were very poor today – miles away from it. We haven’t had a shot on target and didn’t lay a glove on them.”
The international break now gives the club time to find and appoint a successor, with Watford’s next fixture against Liverpool on October 16.
But it seems they have already got someone lined up, after stating there would be an “imminent” announcement.
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.
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 85th minute.
Sunday Results
- Kwara United 1-0 Remo Stars
- Rangers International 1-0 Abia Warriors
- Heartland FC 2-0 Niger Tornadoes
- Kano Pillars 2-0 Sunshine Stars
- Plateau United 1-0 Ikorodu City
- Rivers United 2-1 Akwa United
- Enyimba 3-0 Katsina United* Suspended
- Nasarawa 0-0 Bayelsa United
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