Nigerian Football
HOTSPORTS WELCOME IBITOYE BACK TO THE BEAT
After a five-and-a-half-year hiatus from active sports journalism, Toyin Ibitoye returned to the beat last week following the completion of an acclaimed and highly successful tour of duty as the Media Officer of the Super Eagles.
And leading sports production and marketing company, HotSports Nigeria Limited has finalised plans to formally welcome back to the beat the brilliant and resourceful purveyor of sports news and information whose experience cuts across the print and broadcast media.
The event slated for Studio 2 inside the Company’s sprawling television production complex in Ikeja, Lagos takes place on Sunday, 8th November 2020 from 4 pm.
Leading the welcome party will be Taye Ige, President/CEO assisted by top officials of the Company.
Expected to grace the event will be Ibitoye’s friends and family members, top officials of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) and other leading lights of the football confraternity in Nigeria, sports editors and managers of Nigerian newspapers and programmes on radio and television.
In a release he personally signed on Sunday, Ige said: ‘On behalf of the teams at both HotSports Nigeria Limited and HS Studios, Nigeria’s leading sports marketing company and owners of the largest television production complex in the west coast of Africa, I wish to extend my heartfelt salutation and congratulations to our colleague, Toyin Ibitoye on the successful completion of his tour of duty.
‘The HotSports team would like to recall, with immense gratitude, how pleasurable it was working with Toyin in the last five-and-a-half years, especially during our several activations in furtherance of our roles as both the official media partner as well as marketing consultant to the Nigeria Football Federation.
“We all know how difficult access to the national team camp can sometimes be.
“This became significantly easy for us to achieve under Toyin’s watch, making both our editorial and marketing activation responsibilities much easier to carry out.
“It has thus been a privilege working with Toyin and now it’s an honour to celebrate the legacy of hard work and exceptional dedication to duty he has left behind for his successor’.
Ige further said: ‘Secondly, that the Super Eagles largely delighted us with good results on the field of play during Toyin’s tenure, qualifying for both the Africa Cup of Nations and the FIFA World Cup finals in grand style (in some cases two matches ahead) is also evidently traceable to the quality of “technical assistance” Toyin afforded the Team’s chief coach, Mr Gernot Rorh.
“It is not for nothing that, in informed circles, Toyin was regarded as the de facto assistant to the national coach as he was reputed to put at Rohr’s disposal his awesomely rich knowledge of Nigerian players, their current status in their various clubs both home and abroad as well as advise the coach on the best formations to adopt based on options of players available at any given time.
The HotSports CEO further said: ‘It is for these services to our Company and to our dear country that we wish to thank you and formally welcome you back to the profession we know you have always loved. We know your passion for sports journalism and we are almost certain that you can’t wait to get back to it’.
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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