Nigerian Football
WOMEN LEAGUE PLAYERS IN EDO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Some women footballers at the ongoing Nigerian Women Football League Super 4 contest in Benin, Edo State took a break this Wednesday to embark on community development.
The initiative of Aisha Falode was meant encourage young Nigerians that they can effectively combine education with sports.
The players paid a visit to the Emotan Secondary School, Wire Road. The Nigerian Women Football League Vice Chairman, Icheem Margaret, led other board members to join the players.
They are Joe Amene, Mustapha Tahir, Kemisola Adesanya, Hussein Suleiman, Henrietta Ukaigwe, Abdullahi Mustapha, Matilda Otuene and the NWFL Chief Operating Officer, Ayo Abdulrahman.
The players’ representatives from the four clubs in the Super 4 that participated are Tochi Oluehi, Catherine A Kenneth, Charity John and Arit Itu, from Rivers Angels.
Others are Chioma Nwankwo, Nnodim Sarah, Mariah Ibrahim and Igboamalu Chinyere from Nasarawa Amazons.
The urged the female students to embrace sports as they study hard to achieve greatness in their education.
The players, who were introduced one after the other by Ayo Rahalman, told the students numbering over two thousand that their various personal experiences, how playing football and focusing on their education have helped them become the bread winners in their various families.
The players urged the students to go the extra mile in ensuring that they engage in one sport or the other, as this will go a long way in aiding their easy assimilation of studies as sports will enable them to be mentally alert at all times.
The students asked questions on how they can become successful female footballers. The majority of the students of Emotan praised the Aisha Falode-led board and appealed to the leadership of the NWFL to speak to the school authority to detail a sports master that would start teaching them how to play football and compete in other sports as soon as possible.
The NWFL Vice Chairman, Icheem Margaret, promised to take the students’ message to the NWFL Chairperson, who she assured would take urgent steps to make the dreams of the students at Emotan Secondary School come true.
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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