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NIGERIA QUALIFIES FOR AFCON 2023

    The Nigeria under-20 national team has qualified for the U-20 African Cup of Nations billed to take place in Egypt in 2023. The Flying Eagles needed an extra time penalty to be Ivory Coast 2-1 in the semi-finals of the WAFU B U20 AFCOn Qualifying Tournament in Niger   The keenly contested match between Group B winner Nigeria and Group A runners-up Ivory Coast ended at 1-1 at full time from the two classy goals scored in the first half.   The Flying Eagles were the first to draw the first blood, after Daniel Daga headed the coach Ladan Bosso-tutored side in front from a corner kick within the opening five minutes.   Despite creating several chances, the Nigerians were wasteful in front of goal, and the Ivorians soon made them pay.   On the stroke of halftime, the Elephants converted a beautifully taken free-kick that had the goalkeeper rooted to the spot just at the edge of the penalty box to make it 1-1.   The second half saw, the Flying Eagles firing from a
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OSIMHEN SHADES IKPEBA OVER BICYCLE KICK COMMENTS

Super Eagles and Napoli striker, Victor Osimhen has thrown shades at ex-Super Eagles striker and former African footballer of the year, Victor Ikpeba for saying he would have scored against Ghana at the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against their West African rivals in Abuja The Super Eagles of Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar after playing 1-1 against Ghana in Abuja on Tuesday, 29 th March, 2022. The former Borussia Dortmund and Monaco striker believed that Osimhen would have scored, if he had controlled a chance that fell to him on one of the occasions he decided on bicycle kick which went wide. In reaction, Osimhen had taken to his Twitter and Instagram page to shade “the Prince of Monaco” by saying in Yoruba “adie funfun ko mo ara re lagba” which indicates Ikpeba does not know his respectable position. On Osimhen’s instagram handle, the Super Falcons’ Barcelona Femenine striker responded to join in the shading, by jokingly telling Osimhen that “Werey dem
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UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE: WHAT IS THAT THING?

EXPLAINING UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE -= Abiodun Samuel Sonaike Since the Uefa Nations League commenced, I have been inundated with questions as to what the League connotes, how it works and the essence of the league itself. In this article we will try within a short space to explain how the Uefa Nations League work and then do a small opinion on the propriety or otherwise of same. What materialized today as the Uefa Nations League was a result of the 2013 decision made by the UEFA members to create another International competition apart from the FIFA World Cup and European Championships (Euro). The argument was that member nations engage in friendlies which “fail to deliver meaningful football” and that small soccer nations find it difficult to organize matches that could help grow soccer in their countries. FORMAT The 55 Uefa member nations were divided into four leagues A, B, C and D based on their ranking and results from recent matches and competitions prior to the groupings.
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ESCOBAR: IT WAS SIX SHOTS FOR ONE GOAL

ESCOBAR: IT WAS SIX SHOTS FOR ONE GOAL Growing up you must have heard about a certain Escobar who scored an own goal and was killed for doing that. This story tells us as much crazy as the FIFA World Cup can be, but wait was it just about a football match or there is another undertone to it? Let’s go find out what caused the death of “El Caballero del Futbol” (The gentleman of football). Coming to the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, the Colombian team had been built to one of the strongest team in the World. They were so strong that the legendary Pele tipped them to make at least the Semifinal at the mundial. This was not an overstatement because in 26 matches leading to the 1994 World Cup, Colombia only lost a match out of 26. To prove further that they were contenders in the real sense of it, in the South America’s last World Cup qualifiers at Buenos Aires, the 1990 finalist and the host, Argentina needed a win against Colombia to qualify but were walloped 5-0 by th
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1978 WORLD CUP: THE POLITICAL ACCORD

ARGENTINA v. PERU: THE POLITICAL ACCORD Yesterday we brought you the conspiracy that did not work but today, we are bringing you the conspiracy that worked and only discovered after a very long while, when it is too late. Although it was a World Cup qualifier yesterday, today we are taking you to the second round of the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina To appreciate what we are talking about, we need to explain the format of the FIFA World Cup those days. The World Cup did not have a clearly established format as it is today; the format is based on each World Cup as decided by the organizers. The 1978 World Cup format was such that the 16 qualified teams would be divided into four groups of four teams each. The winners and the runners up of all the groups would proceed to two groups of four teams. The winners of the Second round groups would proceed to the final. A winner of any match would be awarded 2 points while a draw attracts 3 points. Where there was a tie in points teams
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THE FAILED CONSPIRACY

THE FAILED CONSPIRACY As much as FIFA World Cup finals have unforgettable matches, the qualifiers sure have games that would leave your mouth open. A Selecao of Brazil is the only team in the World to participate in all 21 FIFA World Cup finals. There were times they were at the brink of missing out of the party but none can really be scary like the conspiracy that would have kept the Samba boys out of the 1990 FIFA World Cup finals in Italy. Brazil was hosting Chile on the last day of the CONMEBOL Qualifiers for the Italia 1990 FIFA Wolrd Cup at the Maracana. A draw would take Brazil through and Chile could only make it by winning in Brazil. You would say that’s almost impossible? Yes, so I thought but the Chileans had another plan. On the day, the whole stadium was filled, the Argentine referee, Juan Carlos Loustou commenced the match and it was tough between both sides but you know Brazil was the home team who only needs a draw to qualify. The first half ended goalless.
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AHN JUNG HWAN: WHEN COUNTRY ALLEGIANCE COSTs YOU A JOB Telling the 2002 FIFA World Cup stories, you will be telling no stories without talking about the underdogs who shocked the world and made it to the Semifinals, South Korea. Someone would say they were one of the hosts but Japan was the co-host and they could not go past the second round in spite of easier opponents. From the Coach Guus Hiddink, to goalkeeper Lee Woon Jae, Captain Hong Myung Bo, World Cup revelation Ji Sung Park and the whole South Korean team, none other became popular like the former Perugia star. Ahn was an attacking midfielder who also played as a supporting striker. When Ahn was going to represent his country at the 2002 South Korea/Japan FIFA World Cup, he could not imagine that he would never play for Perugia again due to a goal he would score in the tournament. Ahn Jung Hwan joined Perugia on loan from Busan Daewoo Royals in his native South Korea in the 2000/2001 Season. He had always had racism
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