Nigerian Football
32 Teams, 19 Countries Jostle at CAF Inter-Clubs Draw
And now there are 16! The initial field of 52 clubs from 40 countries and another 16 CAF Champions League drop-outs have been narrowed to a manageable number for a league-styled competition for the 2017 Confederation Cup. The CAF Champions League is similarly narrowed.
According to CAF website, ahead of the draw of the group phase of the CAF Champions League 2017 and CAF Confederation Cup on Wednesday, in Cairo, Egypt, the qualified clubs are drawn from 19 countries.
Tunisia leads the pack with the maximum representation in the two competitions, two each and four in all.
Since 1997, Tunisian clubs have won seven continental club championships (two CAF Champions League and five CAF Confederation Cup), and have been a constant feature at this stage.
Their representatives are Esperance and Etoile du Sahel for the CAF Champions League, and the pair of Club Africain and CS Sfaxien in the CAF Confederation Cup.
Despite security concerns compelling clubs to play behind closed doors since 2011, Egyptian clubs continue to be a force to reckon with.
Egypt has three clubs, after El Masry failed in their bid to become the fourth. Since the launch of the group phase in 1997, Egypt has seven CAF Champions League title, six for Al Ahly and one for rivals, Zamalek.
Ahly also won the CAF Confederation Cup in 2014. Alexandria-based Smouha complete the Egyptian trio.
Also with three clubs each is South Africa, with African champions, Mamelodi Sundowns looking set to defend their title in the CAF Champions League. Platinum Stars and SuperSport United are the others and will play in the second-tier continental club championship.
Sudan equally has three clubs with debutants and rising force Hilal Obeid, the surprise packets in the CAF Confederation Cup. Traditional giants, El Merreikh and El Hilal are in the CAF Champions League.
Algeria, DR Congo, Morocco and Zambia have a club each in the two competitions.
One-club countries include Swaziland, who for the time has representation at the mini-league stage of a major continental championship in Mbabane Swallows in the CAF Confederation Cup.
Other countries represented are Algeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Libya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
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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