Nigerian Football
FRANK LAMPARD HAILS HIS RETURNING HEROES AS CHELSEA HAMMER EVERTON 4-0
Chelsea coach Frank Lampard turned a selection crisis into a golden opportunity for half a dozen players who have struggled to make Premier League appearances this season but starred in the 4-0 thrashing of Everton on Sunday (March 8).
Lining up at kick-off were three veterans who have failed to even make the substitutes’ bench at times recently – Spaniards Pedro and Marcos Alonso and France striker Olivier Giroud.
They were joined by midfielder Ross Barkley and goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who have recently languished on the sidelines after struggling to live up to their big-money moves to Chelsea.
Giroud, standing in for injured first-choice striker Tammy Abraham, scored Chelsea’s fourth goal while Barkley provided passes for two other strikes.
Lampard also gave a first Premier League start to 18-year-old anchor Billy Gilmour in the absence of experienced midfielders N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic, who were both injured, and Jorginho who was suspended.
Two more teenagers who joined Chelsea as youngsters – Faustino Anjorin and Armando Broja – came on in the second half to make their league debuts, following on the heels of other young prospects who have broken into the team this season.
But Lampard paid particular tribute to the returning former stalwarts who had endured frustrations earlier in the season.
“That is what we need. That’s football, whether you’re four months from the end of your contract, no matter if you were out of the team for a month,” he said.
“You have to train every day, full pelt. You have to be a brilliant team-mate and when you come in, you have to try and contribute.”
The Chelsea coach praised 33-year-old Giroud for focusing on the job even when a move away from Stamford Bridge was blocked by Chelsea’s failure to sign another striker in January.
“I’ve got complete respect for him for that and now he’s playing really well on the pitch,” he said.
Lampard added that he was not getting carried away by Chelsea’s recent return to form, including a 2-0 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup fifth round on Tuesday which featured many of the players involved in Sunday’s thumping of Everton.
He warned his players that the battle for the fourth Champions League spot – which Chelsea currently occupy – remained alive.
“I don’t think we are there yet,” he said. “To think that we are there and to think that we are over the issues that we have had here at home… would be over-confident.”
-Reuters
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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