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We want to emulate Maradona-Messi

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We want to emulate Maradona-Messi

Argentina’s captain is sure that nothing can ruin his country’s aim of winning the 2022 World Cup

 

 

Left: France’s Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann celebrate after winning a World Cup semifinal match on Wednesday, Dec. 14, in Al Khor, Qatar. Right: Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Julián Álvarez celebrate after scoring during a World Cup semifinal match with Croatia on Tuesday, Dec. 13, in Lusail, Qatar. Francisco Seco/AP; Martin Meissner/AP

 

 

By Rasheed Adewuyi 

 

 

Argentina captain Lionel Messi says it is amazing that his country qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup final in Qatar after the embarrassing 2-1 defeat of Argentina by Saudi Arabia in their opening group match.

 

Argentina beat Croatia 3 –0 in the first semi-final on Tuesday and will take on France in Sunday’s epic final match of the 2022 FIFA World cup.

 

In a post-match interview with Futbol Picante on Fox Sports, Messi explained that many things were going on in his mind after the match against Saudi Arabia, adding that the victory against Poland gave him hope that Argentina could still qualify from the group.

 

” It was a shocker to me because we did all we could to break the Saudis, but they defended very well to stop us from getting at least a point to save us from a global embarrassment,” he said.

 

On how he feels about playing in the world cup final, Messi said he was delighted to be part of history and would be ready to give his best in ensuring that Argentina lifts the cup on Sunday.

 

He added: “The likes of Diego Maradona, Gabriel Batistuta, Mario Kempes, and other great players have written Argentina’s name in the history books, and we also aim to follow their footsteps.”

 

 

It would be recalled that Argentina lost their opening match against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon at the FIFA World cup held in Italy in 1990 but lost to Germany in the final. Andre Bremen scored the only goal of the match through a penalty.

 

Frace beat Morocco 2-0 on Wednesday in the second semi-final. Morocco will take on Croatia in the third-place match on Saturday.

 

Gareth Southgate to quit England job

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Gareth Southgate to quit England job

England boss eyes a return to club management

 

 

 

AL KHOR, QATAR - DECEMBER 10: Harry Kane of England misses a penalty against Hugo Lloris of France during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 quarter final match between England and France at Al Bayt Stadium on December 10, 2022 in Al Khor, Qatar. (Photo by Hector Vivas - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images) The Harry Kane miss: England forward blazes his penalty kick against France over-the-bar

 

 

 

 

By  Rasheed  Adewuyi 

 

 

 
Gareth Southgate, England manager, may step down as the coach of the Three Lions after his team was beaten  2-1 by France in the quarter-final of the FIFA 2022 world cup in Qatar yesterday.
 
 
 
During a post-match interview with Fox Sports, Southgate said he needs time to consider continuing as England’s manager.
 
 
 
“After the tournament, I’ll need to meet with the Football Association’s technical crew members to reflect on the good, the bad, and the ugly side of the competition and present my report for them to review, after which I’ll know the next step to take,” he said.
 
 
 
The former Middlesbrough FC of England manager, who showed encomiums on his players, said he was happy with the performance of his players, adding that they gave the defending champions a  good fight from the start to the end of the game.
 
 
 
Reports from England indicate that Gareth Southgate’ is interested in going back to club management, and that’s one of the reasons he’s considering quitting the England managerial position after the world cup in Qatar.
 
 
 
Sports Joust reliably gathered that the former  Crystal Palace FC of London captain had told his players that this world cup would be his last official assignment for England.
 
 
 
On Harry Kane’s penalty miss, Southgate’s said there’s no need to blame anyone for England’s outer from the world cup because “We win as a team, and we also lose as a team,” he added.
 
 
 
“Harry has scored many times for us through penalty, and I don’t think it is right to blame anybody for our defeat,” he continued.
 
 
 
Southgate, who made 57 appearances for England between 1995 and 2004, also guided the Three Lions to the 2018 world cup semi-final in Russia and the Euro 2020  final in London.
 
 
 
Southgate’s contract with England ends in 2024.

NFF must believe in local coaches- Paul Okoku

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NFF must believe in local coaches- Paul Okoku

Former Super Eagles midfielder is proud of local African coaches  in Qatar 2022

SPORTSFLAKES: OKOKU REMEMBERS RABAT RUSH - The Next Edition

                 Former Nigeria International Paul Okoku

By  Rasheed   Adewuyi 

 
Former Super Eagles midfielder Paul Okoku says the Nigeria Football Federation  NFF) must believe in the indigenous coaches, respect them and give them equal treatment with their foreign counterparts for the betterment of the round leather game in Nigeria.
 
 
 
Okoku, reacting to Morocco’s victory over Portugal in the  2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-final in Qatar today,  explained that he was proud of the brilliant performances of all the indigenous coaches in charge of African teams in this world cup, especially the Moroccon technical crew.
 
 
 
“From what I’ve seen, Moroccan coaches know what they’re doing.  You can see from the sideline how they were dishing out instructions, and their abilities to read the game is fantastic,”  he said.
 
 
 
The former Abiola Babes FC  of Abeokuta and Leventis United of Ibadan player said that for the Super Eagles of Nigeria to reach the semi-final of the world cup like their Moroccan counterparts,  the NFF must give our local coaches the nod to be in charge of the team without mounting pressure on them to win at all cost.
 
 
 
He added, “we have to encourage our coaches.  Please give them the same opportunity and make them sign the same contract as their foreign colleagues.  The NFF should stop giving unrealistic demands to Nigerian coaches.  Everybody is aware of how much we pay the foreign technical adviser, but we keep mute on the paltry salaries of our local managers,” he added.
 
 
” It is discriminatory to pay a foreign coach in dollars and pay your coaches in Naira.  As long as they’re doing the same job, they should be treated equally,” he continued.
 
 
 
Okoku,  however, believes that Morocco can qualify for the final of the world cup because, in football,  anything can happen.
 
 
 
The Atlas Lions will take on the winner of the England and France game in the semi-final.
 

Belief helped Croatia overcome mighty Brazil

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Belief helped Croatia overcome mighty Brazil

Dejan Loveren says Croatia has better character, discipline, and dedication than Brazil

 

 

 

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Quarter Final - Croatia v Brazil

Soccer-Croatia ousts favorites Brazil 4-2 on penalties to reach the semi-final

 

 

               By Rasheed  Adewuyi 
 
 
 
 
Dejan Loveren,  Croatia and  Zenit Saint Petersburg  FC  defender, says his team’s ability to complete a task and achieve a goal helped them to beat Brazil in one of the Quarterfinals matches played yesterday at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
 
 
 
Loveren told Fox sports that discipline, dedication, and good character helped  Croatia subdue the five times world cup champions and number one FIFA-ranked nation via penalties (4-3).
 
 
 
“We told ourselves in the last half of the extra time that we should continue to believe that we can do it. Before the penalties, I was calm  because I knew that Dominik Livakovic was going to save some penalties”, he said.
 
 
 
The former Liverpool defender praised his teammates for surviving the grueling pressure from their opponents in the energy-sapping encounter.
 
 
 
He added, ” We are really special today. This is our best performance so far in the competition. When we were one goal down,  we knew we would come back no matter how difficult it is.”
 
 
 
Loveren believes today’s victory will further boost the team’s confidence against Argentina, Brazil’s arch-rival, in the semi-final, adding that if Brazil could be beaten, there’s nothing in the soccer book that says Argentina can not fall.
 
 
 
Argentina and Croatia have met at the world cup twice before 2018. Croatia beat Argentina 3–0 in the group stage, with Luka Modric scoring a brilliant goal, and in 1998, Argentina beat Croatia 1-0 in the group stage.
 
 
 
The  2022  FIFA  World Cup semi-final match between Croatia and Argentina is slated for next Tuesday.

Imo deputy speaker, commisioner arrive Asaba for dead boxer

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Imo deputy speaker, commisioner arrive Asaba for dead boxer

A fatal TKO punch is the likely cause of the boxer’s death

 

 

Boxer

 

 
Monitored by Rasheed Adewuyi
 
 
 
Director of Sports Imo State, Ferdinand Emeana, has informed BSN Sports that the Deputy Speaker Imo State House of Assembly, Chyna Iwuanyanwu, Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Dan Chike Ogu, other stakeholders and some family members of the Chukwuemeka Igboanugo, the dead boxer of Team Imo, are now in Asaba, venue of the 21st National Sports Festival.
 
 
 
Emeana, while reacting to the unfortunate incident via a chat, said: “I want to thank all for their concern over the demise of one of our athletes.
 
 
 
“We’ve contacted the late boxer’s family, and they may probably be in Asaba today (Wednesday).
 
 
 
“The Honourable Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Deputy Speaker Imo State House of Assembly, the House Committee Chairman on Sports, and the Special Assistant to the Governor on Youth are in Asaba.
 
 
 
“They’re in Asaba to see the Team Imo contingent and especially to know how to handle the situation about the sad incident.”
 
 
 
Tragedy struck in Asaba following Igboanugo’s demise after losing his 86 kg category fight via a technical knockout to his opponent from Anambra State.
 
 
 
The deceased was said to have received a punch in the chin, forcing the referee to stop the fight when Igboanuga failed to recover, leading to his TKO loss.
 
 
 
Igboanugo immediately left the ring for medical treatment and was later rushed to the hospital, ultimately succumbing to his injury.

Bayelsa, Edo jump up the medals table

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Bayelsa, Edo jump up the medals table

As goldrush gathers steam 

 

 

Ukpeseraye, winner of the female 28km Elimination race. Credit: Vanguard Newspaper

 

 

By  Rasheed  Adewuyi

 

 
Bayelsa State and Edo State are leaving no stone unturned as both states push forward on the medal table.
 
 
 
Ogun and Oyo have been consistent with a second and third position on the medal table from day one till day 5, only for Bayelsa and Edo state to turn around the table on day six and move to second and third on the log.
 
 
 
An impressive display in aquatic sports, wrestling, and weightlifting has seen a turnaround in the fortune of perennial achievers at the national sports festival.
 
 
 
Presently, Delta remains untouchable as they still occupy the 1st position on the log. At the same time, Bayelsa is in 2nd and Edo 3rd position. Ogun and Oyo are presently in the 4th and 6th positions, respectively. Katsina, Jigawa, Ekiti, Taraba, Sokoto, Cross River, and Borno states are yet to pick a gold medal in the ongoing National Sports Festival.
 
 
 
The National Sports Festival 2022 is living up to its billing, and boys are being separated from the men on the medal table.

England, good enough to beat France-Saka

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England, good enough to beat France-Saka

England forward says no need to change tactics against France

 

 

Harry Kane, England’s star forward. Credit: GettyImages

 

 

By  Rasheed  Adewuyi 

 
 
England and Arsenal  FC forward  Bukayo Saka says England will not change its tactics when they take on France in one of the 2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-finals in Qatar on Saturday.
 
 
 
Bukayo told Journalists at a press conference that the Thre Lions have been playing good football since the world cup started, and there’s no need to change their pattern against the defending champions.
 
 
Saka added: “I am not a manager but a player. Sticking with the pattern that has been giving you victory is always very good. We trust our manager because he knows what to do before and during the match.
 
 
The players will also play their part to ensure we win the match. We’ve played well and scored the most goals in the competition.”.
 
 
Saka, who admitted that the French side is one of the favorites to win the world cup, explained that France fantastic run so far in this world would motivate England to beat them because they’re in Qatar to beat the best in the world.
 
 
He added: “We played in the semi-final four years ago. We know what it takes to play at this level of competition. The team will approach every game individually, but at the moment,  the France game is our main concern.
 
 
France and England have faced each other 31 times,   17 of which England won. France has gotten the better of their counterparts nine times compared to five draws.
 
 
Argentina will take on the Netherlands, and Brazil will lock horns with Croatia in other quarter-final matches this weekend.
 

Why Otto Addo relinquished Black Stars role?

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Why Otto Addo relinquished Black Stars role?

As the GFF shortlists Chris Houghton and Herve Renard as his replacement

 

 

CAPTAIN FINALLY SPEAKS ON PENALTY MISSED-CHRIS HUGHTON OR HERVÉ RENARD TO REPLACE OTTO ADDO ??? - YouTube

Ghana captain Andre Ayew could find himself being coached by either Chris Houghton (Middle) or Herve Renard (Far right) in the new dispensation of the Black Stars

 

 

By Rasheed Adewuyi 

 

The inquest into why Otto Addo stepped down as the head coach of the Black Stars of Ghana after the team’s exit at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar has turned up a medley of reasons.

 

 

A report from Accra, Ghana, says Otto Addo did not sign any contract with the Ghana Football Federation (GFF) because he knew he was returning to Dortmund FC of Germany, where he is still employed as an assistant coach after the ongoing FIFA World Cup.

 

Sports Joust reliably gathered that Dortmund’s management respects Addo, who is nursing the ambition of becoming the first Black coach in the German Bundesliga, and would do anything to achieve this goal.

 

Sports Joust further gathered that Otto Addo had to get clearance from the Board of the German club before he could accept to be in charge of Ghana’s World cup play-off against Nigeria.

 

 

The clearance was necessary because the Ghanaian coach, Dortmund board, and the GFF were under the agreement that Addo’s role with the Black Stars was temporary and would lapse at the end of Ghana’s 2022 World Cup pursuits.

 

 

Our sources revealed that Dortmund accepted this agreement based on their Board’s ambition to record the first Dortmund manager to have a world cup coaching history and Addo’s ambition to become the first Dortmund coach to do so.

 

 

This ultimately forced Addo to accept a far lower wage than he earned at Dortmund to coach and lead Ghana to the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.

 

 

Also, though Chris Houghton, former Brighton of England boss, was favored by the Ghanaian government to lead the Ghana national side in their final World Cup qualifiers against Nigeria and the future, the GFF supported the hiring of the Dortmund assistant coach on a brief term that would end with Ghana’s 2022 World Cup quests.

 

 

This led to an initial major fallout between the Ghana FA and Ghana sports ministry before the double header World Cup qualifiers with arch-rivals Nigeria earlier this year, forcing the warring parties to agree on the compromise of engaging both Houghton and Addo to prosecute the two-legged joust with Nigeria jointly.

 

 

Addo and Houghton jointly prosecuted the World Cup qualifiers against Nigeria and helped the Black Stars to the world cup ticket to Qatar 2022.

 

 

This paved the way for Addo to lead the team to Qatar, where Ghana eventually crashed out at the Group stage after losing to both Portugal and Uruguay, despite beating South Korea.

 

Houghton and Saudi Arabia coach to Qatar, Herve Renard, are the two coaches currently shortlisted by the GFF to coach the Black Stars as Addo heads back to Dortmund.

Divine Oduduru burns the tracks again

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Divine Oduduru burns the tracks again

After taking a two-season break

 

 

Oduduru is a Texas Tech University Alma-mater

 

 

By Rasheed Adewuyi 

 

 

One of Nigeria’s top Athletes, Divine Oduduru, will return to track and field after taking a break for two seasons.

 

Former Junior Champion in 100 m and 200 meters became a bundle of talent at the senior level after moving to Texas in the United States of America for educational purposes.

 

Born on 7 October 1996, Oduduru holds personal bests of 9.86secs for the 100m and 19.73 seconds for the 200m.
The 200m feats are Nigeria’s national record.

 

 

Having left the scene for some time, missing several competitions such as the WA Championships in Oregon US, Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, and Africa Senior Athletics Championships in Mauritius, NCAA prodigy said, ” I suffered a lot of injuries which kept me out of track&field, I missed track&Field.

 

“I hurt my hamstring and was told to go off track. I came back and started training by myself. Now I’m back at the National Sports Festival in Asaba to do what I know how to do best” My fans should expect great talents which God has given to me.”

 

He, however, would major in two events, 200m and 4×100m relay, when the athletics competition begins on Sunday.
He was confident when he. ” I would do what I know best to do.”

 

 

Oduduru, who warned up on the newly laid tartan tracks in Asaba on Friday evening, thought that his injuries may have gone. Still, he insisted fitness could be a problem as he has yet to run competitively.

‘leave your best performance behind in Asaba’

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‘leave your best performance behind in Asaba’

Ahmadu Kida tasks athletes at national sports games to eschew win-at-all-cost syndrome 

 

 

Ahmadu Musa Kida (@ahmusakida) / Twitter

Ahmadu Musa Kida

 

 

By Rasheed Adewuyi 

 

 

The President of Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Engr. Ahmadu Musa Kida has tasked all the athletes and officials participating in the 21st National Sports Festival in Asaba, Delta State, to give their best performances at the games.

 

 

In a message to the athletes and officials, Kida advised them to eschew the win-at-all-costs syndrome that might push them into taking performance-enhancing drugs and cheating during the games.

 

 

Kida adds: “I want to charge all athletes and officials representing the various states at the National Sports Festival in Asaba to perform their best performances. This is our own Olympic Games and another opportunity for them to shine and get national recognition ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

 

“As athletes, you should also avoid taking performance-enhancing drugs. It is dangerous to your health and career. You might win today with it. But it might fail you, as you’d get caught on the day of glory.

 

“I also want to plead with all States sports administrators and officials not to encourage drugs and cheating by their athletes, as these acts are damaging to the development of the athletes and sports. It also negates the ideals of the sports festival,” the amiable sports administrator admonishes.

 

 

The NBBF boss went on to praise the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development for encouraging the host state while also thanking the Delta State Government for hosting the sports festival and providing the enabling environment and facilities for the athletes to showcase their talents for their benefits and the betterment.

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