Naija Lo Wa » football

Osaze Odemwingie, My choice for the best naija player in ANC

donne4real — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:20:13 +0000

Osaze Odemwingie is my choice for Nigeria’s best player in the Nation’s Cup. He was exceptional in the game against Ghana.Danny Shittu, Yobo and Ike Uche too tried.

Vogts. Hmmm…..

donne4real — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:12:46 +0000

Here is a great article about Vogts. I second the writer’s opinion

Nigeria’s Nations Cup Team List

donne4real — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 13:47:10 +0000

Here is the list of Nigeria’s team to the Nations Cup in 2008:

Goalkeepers:
Austin Ejide (Bastia/FRA)
Dele Aiyenugba (Bnei Yehuda/ISR)
Vincent Enyeama (Hapoel Tel Aviv/ISR)

Defenders:
Rabiu Afolabi (Sochaux/FRA)
Danny Shittu (Watford/ENG)
Onyekachi Apam (OGC Nice/FRA)
Obinna Nwaneri (FC Sion/SWI)
Joseph Yobo (Everton/ENG)
Ifeanyi Emeghara (Steaua Bucharest/ROM)
Kingsley Udoh (Akwa United)
Efe Ambrose (Kaduna United)
Taye Taiwo (Marseille/FRA)

Midfielders:
Seyi Olofinjana (Wolves/ENG)
Dickson Etuhu (Sunderland/ENG)
Richard Eromoigbe (Levski Sofia/BUL)
John Mikel Obi (Chelsea/ENG)
Sani Kaita (Sparta Rotterdam/NED)
Onyekachi Okonkwo (FC Zurich/SWI)
Yusuf Ayila (Dynamo Kyiv/UKR)
Lukman Haruna (Crystal Academy)
Rabiu Ibrahim (Sporting Lisbon/POR)
Oladapo Olufemi (Boavista/POR)

Strikers:
Nwankwo Kanu
John Utaka (Portsmouth/ENG)
Osaze Odemwingie (Lokomotiv Moscow/RUS)
Mannaseh Ishiaku (MSV Duisburg/GER), Ikechukwu Uche (CF Getafe/SPA)
Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Everton/ENG)
Ayodele Makinwa (SS Lazio/ITA)
Obinna Nsofor (Chievo Verona/ITA)
Obafemi Martins (Newcastle/ENG)

U-23 Team Keeps The Dream Alive

donne4real — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 00:47:36 +0000

The U-23 was spectacular as they held on to play a draw with the Ghanian Black Meteors. That is despite the fact that 2 prominent players, Mikel Obi and Taiye Taiwo were missing and that Gyan Asamaoh was in the Ghanian team.
We now have to win the next game against South Africa to ensure that we qualify and I just pray that they win this game and dont mess up.
Kudos to Samson Siasia and team.

Nations Cup Draw

donne4real — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 19:18:16 +0000

Group A (Accra)
Ghana
Namibia
Guinea
Morocco

Group B (Sekondi)
Nigeria
Benin
Mali
Ivory Coast

Group C (Kumasi)
Egypt
Sudan
Zambia
Cameroon

GROUP D (Tamale)
Tunisia
Angola
South Africa
Senegal

Video of U17 Finals

donne4real — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 22:24:53 +0000

Here is the video of the U-17 final between Nigeria and Spain

Kudos to the Falcons

donne4real — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:09:46 +0000

Although the Falcons did not go past the first round, they deserve a lot of commendation for their efforts. They were grouped with the first, third and fifth ranked nations in the competition. Despite that, they drew with Sweden and lost narrowly to North Korea and the US. Yet, they were treated shamefully by the NFA. Their bonuses and allowances (which had been slashed) were not paid and they had to go on a protest before they could get anything.

They are truly great players and I commend them for their hardwork.

Proof That Nigerians Are Capable

donne4real — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 16:29:43 +0000

Coach Yemi Tella is a great proof that Nigerians, when provided with the adequate resources are extremely capable. After all the uproar over the appointment of Coach Tella, he has won the U-17 cup for Nigeria. The Nigerian team was the only team to win all their games scoring great goals and conceding just 3 goals in total. That was remarkable. They played against the best teams in the world and proved their worth.

And sadly, I read on the FIFA site and in the Vanguard Newspapers that he was battling cancer. Here is the quote from the Vanguard article on his cancer:

“I congratulate all those who said that I appointed an illegal coach in Tella. Please, tell them that Amun’s illegal coach has won the World Cup”, the coach cum administrator who has gone into hibernation after his reign as Scribe of NFA said.

The Uromi-born coach who described himself as ‘Transformer of Talents’ after his ’93 feat was one of the students of Yemi Tella at the National Institute for Sports, NIS. Apparently wanting to repay his lecturer for teaching him well, Amun appointed Tella as Coach of the U-17 and has been vindicated by his appointment with the magical feat of the Coach who has been suffering from cancer.

His ailment, perhaps, contributed to his ‘Siddon-look attitude’ on the bench even when the Eagles scored glorious goals or were subjected to serious onslaughts.

Coachie, we are praying for your full recovery. You have indeed made Nigerians proud.

The Glorious Golden Eaglets

donne4real — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 15:03:06 +0000

The glorious Golden Eaglets have won the U-17 competition. For those of you who have been reading this blog, you will know by now that I am a big fan of this team and that their progress has been monitored and reported continuously. The heroic keeper, Ajiboye saved the first 2 penalties and we have now won the tournament 3 times.

Videos of U17 games

donne4real — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 14:19:07 +0000

Here are the videos of the Nigerian U17 team’s games.
Vs. Colombia:

Vs. Japan:

Vs. Haiti:

U-17′s Impressive Run Continues

donne4real — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 20:23:10 +0000

The U-17 continued their impressive run in the U-17 world cup with another win against Japan. Watch the video of their latest win HERE. They have their last game against Haiti tomorrow and I believe that they should do well.

Their is a very good piece on FIFA’s website about the team. I hope they continue the good run.

And in other football news, it seems that it has now been confirmed that Yaks will be going leaving Middlesbro. That will be 3 teams in 3 years. He will become one of the most expensive Nigerian players.

U-17 wins in Korea

donne4real — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 15:06:35 +0000

The Nigerian U-17 team have started well in the U-17 championship by winning their first game against France who are one of the tournament favorites. That is a good thing. I just hope that they steadily improve throughout the tournament and win.
Watch the highlights of the game HERE.

New Football season, how are Nigerian players doing?

donne4real — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:21:28 +0000

Odemwingie who recently signed for Locomotiv Moscow is already scoring for his new team. The debate continues whether Yakubu Aiyegbeni will remain in Middlesbrough or not. Everton has reportedly offered up E11million to buy him. Who knows if he will stay or not. After weeks of uncertainty, Kanu has signed a new contract at Portsmouth. The major stumbling block was his request for at least 2 years contract while Pompey were only willing to offer a one year contract. The solution – a 2nd year clause will be triggered once he has played up to 20 games. And Martins will be competing with Michael Owen for the same position all season. I guess for now, his position is safe since Owens is not fully recovered from injury.

I have to admit, I wont say that this has been a very active season for Nigerian footballers. I just hope that they do well in the new season.