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Tag: World cup

  • CAF offers $500,000 to each African representative for 2018 World Cup preparations

    CAF offers $500,000 to each African representative for 2018 World Cup preparations

    The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has said it would grant financial subsidy of $500,000 (about N175 million) to all five African representatives at the forthcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup.

    The continental football governing body said the decision was taken by its Executive Committee and other stakeholders on the sidelines of the 2018 FIFA World Cup draws in Moscow on Friday.

    “At its last meeting held on Nov. 16 in Rabat, Morocco the CAF Executive Committee decided to set up an ad hoc committee chaired by the CAF First Vice President, Kwesi Nyantakyi.

    “The committee was told to map out a kind of support to be provided to African representatives to the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018.

    “The committee, which has CAF Executive Committee member Kalusha Bwalya and presidents of the Football Associations of the five qualified countries as members, met in Moscow, Russia on the sidelines of Friday’s draw for the FIFA World Cup finals.

    “At the meeting, it was decided that CAF will grant a financial subsidy of $500,000 to each of the five African teams.

    “The financial package will be used mainly to strengthen and improve the technical supervision of each team.

    “In addition, CAF will provide each African representative with `fieldwiz’ equipment, a technological device and physical performance measuring tool for outdoor team sports players,” the continental football body said in a statement on Friday.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the five African representatives at the FIFA World Cup in Russia are Nigeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Senegal.

  • All facts you need to know as Nigeria battles Argentina at Russia 2018 World Cup

    All facts you need to know as Nigeria battles Argentina at Russia 2018 World Cup

    The Super Eagles of Nigeria were, on Friday, drawn in Group D to play against Iceland, Croatia and nemesis, Argentina in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup scheduled to hold in Russia.

    After going through their World Cup qualifying phase unbeaten (amassing a total of 14 points from a possible 18), the Eagles will again face a recurring historic war of battling Argentina, one of the terrifying team in group D for the fifth time, three times in a row.

    Ahead of the clash between Argentina and Nigeria in Russia come 2018, here are the necessary facts you need to know about …

    CLEAN SHEETS

    The Super Eagles of Nigeria have kept only one clean sheet in seven encounters with Argentina. That clean sheet was in 1995 FIFA Confederations Cup. Argentina on their part have kept three clean sheets. In 1995 at the Confederations Cup, and at the 2002 and 2010 FIFA World Cups in South Korea /Japan and South Africa.

    BRACE HEROES

    Only three players have bagged braces in the seven meetings between both teams. At the 1994 FIFA World Cup Claudio Caniggia scored a brace as the Diego Maradona-inspired side came back to win 2-1 after Samson Siasia’s sublime opener at the Foxboro, Boston. Ahmed Musa also scored a brace in Nigeria’s 3-2 loss to Argentina at the Estadio Beira-Rio stadium, in Brazil.

    GOAL DIFFERENCES

    Nigeria have conceded 11 goals in seven meetings, scoring eight against Argentina. Samson Siasia was the first player to score a goal at the FIFA World Cup level between both teams while Marcos Rojo was the last player to find the back of the net.

    Musa also became the first Nigerian player to score a brace in a World Cup finals match. That same encounter also saw Lionel Messi score a brace to help Argentina finish top of Group F with three wins from three games.

     

    Other relevant facts…

    —Nigeria’s Super Eagles is youngest team at Russia 2018 world cup with an average age of (24.9) years

    —Nigeria meet Argentina at a World Cup for the fifth time. They lost all previous meetings, all in the group phase (1994, 2002, 2010 and 2014) WorldCupDraw

  • 2018 World Cup: Nigerians react as Super Eagles meet Argentina again

    2018 World Cup: Nigerians react as Super Eagles meet Argentina again

    The wait for the 2018 World Cup final draws is now over as the Super Eagles of Nigeria today have been drawn in Leo Messi’s Argentina group again.

    Nigeria is, therefore, set to play La Albiceleste for the fifth time, three times in a row in the group stage.

    https://twitter.com/olywal/status/936624867784445953

    https://twitter.com/officialdaddymo/status/936631340044230656

    https://twitter.com/I_Big_King/status/936634951633686528

    https://twitter.com/mrokike/status/936625941870206977

    With the tournament set to kick off on June 14, 2018, there are still over six months to wait, but the preparation can begin in earnest.

    We bring you all eight groups as it stands below:

    Group A Group B
    Russia Portugal
    Saudi Arabia Spain
    Egypt Morocco
    Uruguay Iran

     

    Group C Group D
    France Argentina
    Australia Iceland
    Peru Croatia
    Denmark Nigeria

     

    Group E Group F
    Brazil Germany
    Switzerland Mexico
    Costa Rica Sweden
    Serbia South Korea

     

    Group G Group H
    Belgium Poland
    Panama Senegal
    Tunisia Colombia
    England Japan

     

    Which teams do you think will qualify from the group stage!? Drop comments below.

     

  • JUST IN: France manager Didier Deschamps, extends contract till 2020

    Didier Deschamps has extended his contract as manager of France until 2020, the president of the French Football Federation, FFF, has announced.

     

    The former France captain, who won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, began his tenure in charge of Les Bleus in 2012 and was contracted to stay in charge until 2018 but will now remain in his post until Euro 2020.

     

    Deschamps has already enjoyed success with France since replacing Laurent Blanc, leading them to the final of Euro 2016 on home soil.

     

    Deschamps led his country to automatic qualification for the 2018 World Cup in Russia by topping their qualifying group and his contract extension means the 49-year-old will remain in charge for eight years.

     

    FFF president, Noel Le Graet, justified the decision by saying “With Deschamps, France is once again a country that counts,”

     

    “This contract extension is the reward and ends any false doubt that could have troubled France in their preparation for the World Cup next June.”

  • Nobody goes to Abuja stadium, every of its brick is stained with corruption – Odegbami

    Retired Nigerian footballer, Olusegun Odegbami, says the Abuja Stadium [National], which he described as one of the costliest to build in the world is now abandoned because every brick of the structure is stained with corruption.

    Odegbami made this statement while speaking on Monday at The Platform, a program organised by Covenant Christian Centre in Iganmu, Lagos.

    “There’s another world aside from football, it is powered by football but it is not football. It is very interesting that not many people have discovered that world,” Odegbami said while speaking on the topic,’With Sports, we can change Nigeria’.

    He said, hosting World Sports events unlocks Tourism, Infrastructure Development, Medicine, unlimited growth while urging the youth to begin to prepare themselves in order to better enjoy the opportunities.

    “That was where we were heading when we did KOJA, when Nigeria built the Abuja Stadium, one of the most beautiful stadium edifices in the world, state of the art, a masterpiece of architecture.

    “When you enter Abuja, it is sitting majestically and it is the thing that welcomes you. Unfortunately, unlike the Amsterdam arena, nobody goes there.

    “I worked there for two years and I don’t think I had more than 10 or so visitors. It is desolate, it is desolate because it is a reflection of who we are.

    “The tears, sweat, blood of ordinary Nigerians whose resources were used to build that stadium the way that stadium was built; one of the costliest stadium in the world to build, every brick, every block is stained with corruption.

    “We organised the most reckless, blatantly and brazenly we saw Nigerians from top to bottom looting our treasury and calling it KOJA. You see it is not cursed but it is the commonwealth of all of us and people went there and performed their squandermania.

    “How can such a thing thrive? It cannot thrive that’s why it’s desolate. That Abuja stadium is a constant reminder of who we.”

     

  • European 2018 World Cup qualifying results

    World Cup 2018 qualifying results in the European zone on Saturday:

    Group D

    At Tbilisi

    Georgia 1 (Kazaishvili 34) Republic of Ireland 1 (Duffy 4)

    At Belgrade

    Serbia 3 (Gacinovic 20, Kolarov 30, Mitrovic 81) Moldova 0

    Playing later

    At Cardiff

    Wales v Austria (1845 GMT)

    Group G

    At Elbasan, Albania

    Albania 2 (Roshi 54, Agolli 78) Liechtenstein 0

    Playing later

    At Madrid

    Spain v Italy (1845 GMT)

    At Haifa, Israel

    Israel v Macedonia (1845 GMT)

    Group I

    At Tampere, Finland

    Finland 1 (Ring 8) Iceland 0

    Playing later

    At Zagreb

    Croatia v Kosovo (1845 GMT)

    At Kharkiv, Ukraine

    Ukraine v Turkey (1845 GMT)

    Played Friday

    Group C

    At Serravalle, San Marino

    San Marino 0 Northern Ireland 3 (Magennis 70, 75, Davis 77-pen)

    At Oslo

    Norway 2 (King 32-pen, Sadygov 60-og) Azerbaijan 0

    At Prague

    Czech Republic 1 (Darida 78) Germany 2 (Werner 4, Hummels 88)

    Group E

    At Astana

    Kazakhstan 0 Montenegro 3 (Vesovic 31, Beciraj 53, Simic 63)

    At Copenhagen

    Denmark 4 (Delaney 15, Cornelius 42, Jorgensen 59, Eriksen 80) Poland 0

    At Bucharest

    Romania 1 (Maxim 90+1) Armenia 0

    Group F

    At Trnava, Slovakia

    Slovakia 1 (Nemec 81) Slovenia 0

    At Vilnius

    Lithuania 0 Scotland 3 (Armstrong 25, Robertson 30, McArthur 73)

    At Ta’Qali, Malta

    Malta 0 England 4 (Kane 52, 90+2, Bertrand 86, Welbeck 90+1)

    Played Thursday

    Group A

    At Paris

    France 4 (Griezmann 14, Lemar 73, 88, Mbappe 90+1) Netherlands 0

    At Luxembourg

    Luxembourg 1 (Da Mota 60) Belarus 0

    At Sofia

    Bulgaria 3 (Manolev 12, Kostadinov 33, Chochev 79) Sweden 2 (Lustig 29, Berg 44)

    Group B

    At Budapest

    Hungary 3 (Kadar 6, Szalai 26, Dzsudzsak 68) Latvia 1 (Freimanis 40)

    At St Gallen, Switzerland

    Switzerland 3 (Seferovic 43, 63, Lichtsteiner 67) Andorra 0

    At Porto, Portugal

    Portugal 5 (Ronaldo 3, 29-pen, 64, William Carvalho 58, Nelson Oliveira 84) Faroe Islands 1 (Baldvinsson 38)

    Group H

    At Piraeus, Greece

    Greece 0 Estonia 0

    At Nicosia

    Cyprus 3 (Christofi 65, Laban 67, Sotiriou 76) Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 (Sunjic 33, Visca 44)

    At Liege, Belgium

    Belgium 9 (Mertens 15, Meunier 18, 60, 67, Lukaku 21, 38, 84-pen, Witsel 27, Hazard 45) Gibraltar 0

  • FIFA honours Kanu with U17 World Cup draw role

    FIFA honours Kanu with U17 World Cup draw role

    World football governing body FIFA has honoured former Nigeria captain Nwankwo Kanu as one of the star players to participate in tomorrow’s draw for this year’s U17 World Cup in India.

    The draw ceremony will be staged at the Mumbai Sahara Star Hotel.

    Kanu scored five goals as Nigeria won the 1993 U17 World Cup in Japan.

    However, the Golden Eaglets, who won the last edition of the tournament in Chile two years ago, will not be in India to defend their crown after they failed to qualify for this year’s African championship.

    Africa will be represented by Mali, Ghana, Guinea and Niger.

    Six Indian cities will play host to the competition with the final to be played in Kolkata on October 28.

  • Dalung meets Buhari, updates him on World Cup qualification, others

    Dalung meets Buhari, updates him on World Cup qualification, others

    The Minister of Sports, Mr Solomon Dalung, on Thursday updated President Muhammadu Buhari on the efforts of the Super Eagles to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

    Dalung, after a closed door meeting with Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said he also briefed him on other developments in sports.

    The Minister said that the president was informed of the election of a Nigerian into the board of Confederation of African Football (CAF).

    Amaju Pinnick, President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), defeated the President of the Football Association of Benin Republic, Anjorin Moucharafou, to secure a seat on CAF Executive Committee for the 2017 to 2021 cycle.

    Pinnick’s election makes him the third Nigerian ever to sit on the CAF Executive Committee.

    “I updated hm on the need for us to intensify our mobilisation efforts for the World Cup qualifier. Although we are topping the group, it is not Uhuru for us. We need to do more.

    “I drew his attention to the fact that we have received the Queen’s Relay baton which kick-starts the mobilisation for Commonwealth Games in Queensland, Australia in 2018.

    “The baton is a Commonwealth tradition which is always flagged off by the Queen and she did that in March and it has been to six African countries with Nigeria being the seventh and it will proceed from here.

    “The significance of the baton is its wake up call to countries to begin to prepare for the games.

    “And we as a country had always performed very well in the games. There is a need for us to try and surpass our records in the next Commonwealth games.’’

    The minister disclosed that the president appreciated the briefing and congratulated Pinnick for clinching the seat of the executive member of CAF and the progress so far made in sports.

    According to him, the president promised to do everything possible to support sports generally.

     

  • Iran denies American wrestlers visas for World Cup event

    Iran denies American wrestlers visas for World Cup event

    Iran has banned American wrestlers from competing in a World Cup competition by denying them visas in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order from last week on immigration, the IRNA news agency reported on Friday.

    The report quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi as saying the case was looked into by a special committee but that “unfortunately we were forced to take this step, based on the latest developments’’.

    Under Trump’s executive order citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Iran, are banned from entering the U.S.

    Iran said it would retaliate and the American wrestlers were now banned although several Iran media had called for their planned presence at the freestyle World Cup meet Feb. 16 and 17 in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah.

    Wrestling is very popular in both countries. American wrestlers have regularly competed in Iran, and Iranian wrestlers in the U.S., over the past two decades.

     

    NAN