Nigerian Football
Abia Warriors Tame Nasarawa United
BY ADAMS JESSE.
The Solid Miners were put to the cleaners by a more clinical Abia Warriors side at the Umuahia Township Stadium.
The game busted into life right from the very first minute as the Ochendo Boys as Abia Warriors are popularly known made their intentions known with series of attacking forays to put Nasarawa United on the back foot.
On the 13th minute Suraj Ayeleso in goal for Nasarawa United denied Shedrack Asiegbu with a spectacular save.
The pressure became much for the Solid Miners to contain and on the 20th minutes Abia Warriors went ahead when Effiong dribbled past Ayeleso before he tried locating Sunday Adetunji but Emmanuel Makama’s attempted clearance diverted the ball into the net.
Nasarawa United came to life after the goal with Thomas Zenke and Abdulrahman Bashir threatening but were unable to get past the Abia Warriors defenders.
Both teams kept pressing on with some silky interchanging of passes but none was able to score and on the 79th minutes Suraj Ayeleso came to the rescue as he pull off an Isaac Emeka’s goal bound freekick.
When all thought the game will end the way it was then a defining moment to seal the game came for Abia Warriors when Effiong was fouled by Nasarawa United’s Suraj Ayeleso in the danger area which left the referee with no choice than to point to the spot.
On the 85th minute after much delay due to Effiong been attended to by the medical assistants, Sunday Adetunji steps up to convert from the penalty spot putting the game to bed.
Reacting after the game Nasarawa United’s gaffer Kabiru Dogo commended the match officials before moving on to attribute his team’s loss to their profligacy in front of goal.
“It was a good game and I’ll like to congratulate Abia Warriors for a well deserved victor.
“My players lost a lot of goal scoring chances but we will head back home to correct some of these lapses.
“The struggle continues. No one is guaranteed to end at any position. The league is remaining ten games and anything can still happen”, he responded when asked about the chances of his team finishing at the top four.
Coach Abdullahi Biffo commended the efforts of his boys after the game with Nasarawa United.
“The victory came at the right time coupled with the fact that we lost our last two games on the road.
“We were under immense pressure from those two games to deliver today and boys stepped up to win against a good side like Nasarawa United, This will ease the pressure heading into the next game”, he concluded.
Nasarawa United will temporarily occupy the Ninth position on the NPFL log with 38 points from 28 games while Abia Warriors moves up a place having acquired the same points with Nasarawa United from the same number of games.
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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