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Tag: Dream Team

  • Paris 2024 Race: U23 Head Coach, Yusuf, calls up 16 overseas-based players

    Paris 2024 Race: U23 Head Coach, Yusuf, calls up 16 overseas-based players

    Head Coach Salisu Yusuf has invited 16 overseas-based players to the team’s camp in preparation for this month’s U23 AFCON final qualifying fixture against Guinea.

    The Olympic Eagles trade tackles with their Guinean counterparts in a first leg encounter scheduled for the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja from 4pm on Wednesday, 22nd March, with the return set for the Complexe Sportif Prince Heritier Moulay Al Hassan from 7pm Morocco time on Tuesday, 28th March. Guinea does not have any venue approved in the country for international matches.

    Yusuf’s list of invitees is headed by team captain Success Makanjuola, whose two converted spot kicks against Tanzania earned the 1996 Olympic gold-medallists passage to this final round. There are also midfielder Abiodun Ogunniyi and Bello Babatunde, as well as Belgium-based new headline-grabber Gift Emmanuel Orban.

    As happened against the Tanzanians in Dar es Salaam and Ibadan in October last year, Makanjuola is expected to lead the charge against the Guineans in Abuja on Wednesday, perhaps alongside Orban, with Babatunde and Ogunniyi (nicknamed Omo-Jesu) pulling the strings from the middle.

    The winner on aggregate will qualify for the Africa U23 Cup of Nations scheduled for Morocco later this year, at which Africa’s flag bearers at next year’s Men’s Olympic Football Tournament will emerge.

    Guinea’s delegation for the encounter in Abuja is expected to arrive in Nigeria on Saturday evening.

    ALL THE INVITED PLAYERS:

     

    Success Makanjuola (FK Liepaja, Latvia); Bello Babatunde (Future FC, Egypt); Isaiah Ejeh (Mjallby Alf, Sweden); Abiodun Ogunniyi (FK Auda, Latvia); Monsuru Opeyemi Abdullahi (FC Vizela, Portugal); Omole Akinyinka Olaoluwakitan (Athletic Newham, UK); Owen Tega Udoh (UD San Sebastian Reyes, Spain); Azeez Temitope Yusuf (Mjallby Alf, Sweden); Charles Uba (Lillestrom FC, Norway); Simon Omon (Clube Operation Desportivo, Portugal); Ihekuna Maximillian Ugochukwu (FC Sfintul Gheorghe Suruceni, Moldova); Chukwudi Goodluck Igbokwe (KAA Gent, Belgium); Abass Saidi (Zagalata FC, Azerbaijan); Ibrahim Buhari (IF Elfsborg, Sweden); Gift Emmanuel Orban (KAA Gent, Belgium); Samuel Amadi (Eramica Cleopatra, Egypt)

  • Government yet to fulfil promises made after Atlanta 1996 success – Kingsley Obiekwu

    Government yet to fulfil promises made after Atlanta 1996 success – Kingsley Obiekwu

     

    A member of the Atlanta ’96 Olympics Nigerian Golden Dream Team, Kingsley Obiekwu, has said that some state governments have failed to fulfil the promises they made to the team after their record-breaking win 26 years ago.

    The veteran footballer stated that the rewards included the plots of land promised by the Delta and Niger governments.

    Obiekwu, a Member of the Order of Nigeria, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Awka.

    He added that he now used his only car for commercial transport to sustain his family.

    The veteran, who played for Rangers International FC, Enugu and Udoji United in his days, said he went into the transport business to sustain his family.

    The former defender noted that things had not been rosy since he returned to Nigeria in 2008, in spite of his contributions to the development of Nigeria’s football.

    According to Obiekwu, who now coaches INGAS FC, Enugu, he has to combine the coaching job with the commercial transport business to make ends meet.

    He stated that his former employers were owing him over N6 million cumulatively.

    “Yes, I am a commercial transporter; there is nothing to hide about it. Man has to do what is legal to pay his family bills.

    “I have four children at the Enugu State University of Technology and my last child is in primary five.

    “I have coached Rangers International FC, Ifeanyi Ubah FC, Delta Force FC, Asaba, Giant Brila and also Union Sportif, Krake, Republic of Benin. All of them are owing me,” Obiekwu said.

    He expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which some employers were owing their workers a backlog of salaries in the country.

    Obiekwu said, “I am disappointed with the setup in Nigeria. How can employers be owing you and nobody is saying or doing anything about it? It’s frustrating. Even my home state, Delta, has refused to pay me.

    “I can’t steal; I can’t do fraud; I can’t do money rituals. So, I have to do what is legal and possible, for me to take care of my family.

    “If I can get this N6 million, I won’t be in this mess. I also go to Lagos to bring in new cars for people and they pay me. You know in Nigeria, when you retire, there’s no pension, no gratuity.”

    Obiekwu said that he was unable to secure an NPFL coaching job with the pro- licence certificate he obtained in the United Kingdom “because they demanded CAF Grade A or Grade B certificate.”

    (NAN)