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AFRICA FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Gusau hails Nigeria’s big win at 2023 CAF Awards

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President of Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau was a very happy man on Monday night, as Nigeria swept important honours at this year’s CAF Football Awards .

The NFF supremo was personally present at the Hotel Movenpick and collected the first honour that came Nigeria’s way – Women’s National Team of the Year<span.

He dedicated the award to all women football teams on the African continent.

Chiamaka Nnadozie, who shone brightly at the FIFA World Cup finals in Down Under this year summer as the Super Falcons reached the Round of 16, was the undoubted winner of the honour of Goalkeeper of the Year (Women).The Paris FC of France safe hands made a moving speech: “To all the young girls growing up in Africa, dreaming of becoming a footballer one day, believe me dreams do come true. My dad didn’t want me to play football but I’m sure he’s gonna see this and be happy. So, keep dreaming, keep working and I believe that one day you’ll get to this stage.”

After Asisat Oshoala won a record-extending sixth award as Player of the Year (Women)<span;>, the auditorium went silent as it was time to present the men’s version. Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen, Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah were the final three.

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Osimhen was crowned, becoming the first Nigeria player in 24 years to take the gong. The last person was Nwankwo Kanu, back in 1999. Kanu also won in 1996, after Rashidi Yekini in 1993 and Emmanuel Amuneke in 1994. Victor Ikpeba took the crown in 1997.

Gusau said: “I am very excited tonight. This has been hugely rewarding for our football and for our country as a whole. I congratulate Osimhen, Oshoala and Nnadozie, and I congratulate the Super Falcons as a team for bringing us this honour.

My charge would be that they all keep doing what they know how to do best, keep improving and keep winning. The sky will be the beginning for them.”

Osimhen became the first player in the history of the African Football Awards to have been crowned Player of the Year (Men) after having pocketed the Young Player of the Year (Men) in an earlier year. Only last Monday, the 24-year-old was crowned the 2022/2023 Player of the Year in Italy’s Serie A, after having won the Young Player of the Year in the same league in the 2021/2022 season.

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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AFRICA FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Tobi Amusan in nervy wait

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World record holder in women’s 100m hurdles will have to wait till all the semifinals are concluded to know if she is qualified for the final.

She finished third in her race when she clocked 12.55 seconds. She will have to wait to find out if any third placed person will not have a better time.

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AFRICA FOOTBALL LEAGUE

All eyes on Ofili in Women’s 200m final race

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Nigeria’s Favour Ofili will be the centre of attraction tonight as she attempts to show the world what they could have seen if she had taken part in the 100m women’s race at the Paris 2024.

She has the winner of the race, Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia to beat and make a bold statement.  Both clashed in the first semi-finals of the race on Monday night where Alfred took first over Ofili. The time difference between the two was just 0.07 seconds. Alfred ran 21.98 seconds while Ofili returned after 22.05.

But a semi-final race is not the same as the final race as both may have just ran the earlier one for qualification reserving energy for the big race.

Also lined up are McKenzie Long, Brittany Brown and Gabrielle Thomas of the United States,  Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita (both British), Jessika Gbai of Cote d’Ivoire,

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AFRICA FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Neugebauer maintains decathlon lead

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Decathlete Leo Neugebauer at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (© Getty Images)

MIKE ROWBOTTOM,  FOR WORLD ATHLETICS

The morning session on Saturday (Day 3 of Athletics) ended with drama in the decathlon as Canada’s defending champion Damian Warner and Norway’s Sander Skotheim were both unable to register a mark in the pole vault.

An Olympic decathlon best of 53.91m in the discus had lifted Grenada’s Lindon Victor to within one place of a medal after seven events, with Germany’s overnight leader Leo Neugebauer remaining in pole position ahead of Warner and Skotheim after that discipline.

But the medal dreams of Warner and Skotheim were dashed following the pole vault, as they failed to clear their opening heights.

US sprinters Kenny Bednarek, the Tokyo 200m silver medallist, and Fred Kerley, the 2022 world champion, were top qualifiers in the men’s 100m heats as they both clocked 9.97.

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The key challengers, including Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson who leads this year’s 100m world list with 9.77, plus USA’s world champion Noah Lyles and defending champion Marcell Jacobs of Italy, also all progressed.

Meanwhile, the first of the newly created repechage rounds, in the women’s 800m, created races of huge excitement, with home athlete Anais Bourgoin generating ear-splitting noise from another packed morning session crowd as she progressed to tomorrow’s semifinals.

Warner, Canada’s defending champion in the decathlon, got his second day of competition off to a successful start as he produced the fastest 110m hurdles time of 13.62, with Ken Mullings of The Bahamas registering 13.70 and France’s Makenson Gletty, massively encouraged by the buzzing crowd, clocking the third best effort of 13.96.

That bunch of 1024 points moved Warner, fourth at the end of the first day, into the lead on 5585, 14 points clear of Puerto Rico’s Ayden Owens-Delerme, with Neugebauer, who leads this year’s world list with 8961, staying in touch in third place on 5560, one place ahead of Norway’s European silver medallist Skotheim on 5543.

Victor’s was the winning flourish in the discus. But Neugebauer, who holds the decathlon world best in the discus of 57.70m, did enough with a second-place 53.33 to retain gold-medal position with 6500 points, 72 ahead of Warner, with Skotheim third on 6326 and Victor fourth on 6311.

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But it was all change after the pole vault, as first Skotheim failed all his three attempts at his opening height of 4.50m and then Warner did the same at his opening height of 4.60m. Neugebauer cleared 5.00m and Victor 4.90m, but there were PBs for Estonia’s Janek Oiglane and Norway’s Markus Rooth, who both managed 5.30m.

That took Rooth to 7271 points and he finished the session in second place, behind Neugebauer on 7410 and ahead of Victor on 7191, with only the javelin and 1500m to go.

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