International Football
Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets set for final training camp in Germany
Nigeria’s U17 boys under the tutelage of FIFA Cadet World Cup-winning captain Nduka Ugbade are gearing up for a final training camp in Germany ahead of the Africa U17 Cup of Nations due in Algeria between 29 April – 19 May.
Last summer, the Golden Eaglets swept aside all before them to win the WAFU B U17 Championship in Cape Coast, Ghana which made them eligible for a spot at the continental finals.
In February, the Eaglets had an extended training camp in Abuja, where the technical crew seized the opportunity to evaluate more players, and then went on break. Since resuming camp in Abuja a fortnight ago, following the country’s general elections, the team has played nine friendly matches, winning eight and drawing one.
The five-time world champions have also scored 50 goals and conceded 11 goals. The latest friendly games were against Galadima FC on Easter Sunday, whom they defeated 3-1, and against V.P. Sports which they pounded 10-2 on Tuesday.
Ugbade, who captained Nigeria’s U16 team to FIFA World Cup victory in China in 1985, and was a key player for the U20 team that finished as runners-up at the FIFA U20 World Cup in Saudi Arabia four years later, insists that the technical crew is not resting on its oars as they get set to pick the team that will go on the final training camp and onwards to Algeria.
“We continue to work hard as we look forward to the championship in Algeria. Our objective has not changed: we go hard for the World Cup ticket and then we aim for the trophy. First target is a ticket to the World Cup finals, and then we take things from there.
“I have confidence in the squad we have been able to build, even as we are still utilizing every minute, every hour to tinker with what we have and see how it can get better.
“We have a tough act to follow in that Nigeria has won the World Cup five times in this category, and nothing we do will be seen as special.
“However, we know that if we can win the Africa Cup, it will be a stepping stone to joining the great squads that have won the World Cup for Nigeria,” said Ugbade who was also part of the Super Eagles’ squad that qualified Nigeria for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 1993, and won the Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia in 1994.
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
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A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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