Samuel Eto’o Fils is backing Barcelona to sign Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah who is currently playing in the Africa Cup of Nations, where Egypt kicked the tournament off with a 1-0 victory against Zimbabwe.
There’s a positive vibe in the Super Eagles camp, more of optimism than a brash conceited feeling that they will cruise steady in the first round of the 2019 AFCON.
NFF Technical director Bitrus Bewerang has urged the Super Eagles to up the stake ahead of the team’s next AFCON tie against the Syli national of Guinea following the team’s 1-0 opening win against debutant Burundi over the course of the weekend.
Former coach of Nigeria’s women national team Eucharia Uche has called for an overhauling of the Super Falcons team in favour of a much younger set of players not because the old legs are not good enough but because the younger legs are hungrier to play and are able to give more.
Coach of Nigeria’s women national team Thomas Dennerby has stated that there are obvious signs of improvement by the Nigeria women national team despite been knocked out by their German counterpart 3-0 over the course of the weekend in the round of 16 at the ongoing FIFA women’s world cup in France.
Kano Pillars basketball player Abdul Yahaya has stated that Nigeria basketball league players are happy with the return of the 2019 basketball league season after having been out for a long time.
An excited Yahaya speaking in a chat with www.brila.net said basketball league players have mostly been out of jobs for so long with a short hurriedly organised one week window organised last season just to pick continental representative unlike now that they have a more longer season to look forward to.
He added that this will gladden the heart of many basketball players in Nigeria.
“I’m very happy that basketball is alive in Nigeria. For the players, the players have been out of job for a very long time but I am very happy right now, everybody have something they can look forward to with the league about to start. Now we have a job again.”
Former Nigeria international, Mutiu Adepoju, Says the Super Eaglesled by Gernot Rohr must have the ability to surprise opponents, if they are to go far in the ongoing African Cup of Nations in Egypt.
The Super Eagles began their 2019 AFCON campaign with a slim 1-0 win over debutants Burundi in Alexandria on Saturday , with substitute Odion Ighalo scoring with a cool finish from Olaoluwa Aina’s glorious assist, after Daniel Akpeyi made two crucial saves to stop Burundi from going ahead.
Adepoju who believes that there were no more minnows in African football anymore, added the Eagles are predictable with the style of play.
“You know there are no longer minnows in African football, so we have to respect the Burundi team and others.
“I commend the boys for a job well done. But going forward I think we need faster transition from defence to midfield and attack.
“We need to have the ability to surprise our opponents and not to be very predictable,” he said.
The Super Eagles will take on West African counterparts Guinea on Wednesday in their next match in the group.
Nigeria is sitting on top of Group B with three points, Guinea and Madagascar are second and third respectively after settling for a 2 -2 , while Burundi are fourth with no point.
Super Falcons Captain Desire Oparanozie has opened up on the performance of the Super Falcons ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.
The Nigerians were eliminated by Germany at the round of 16 on Saturday and the Captain revealed Super Falcons failed to reach their last eight or four targets.
The French based defender , however admitted that the German ladies are the better side and deserved their victory.
“I must confess the German ladies are very good and they deserve to win . They really studied our style of play and cut us from the wing which is our strength.“
“Also we were equally unsettled due to long delay in knowing our qualification to the knockout stage. Really our target is quarter final or semi final” she said.
Meanwhile, African second representative in the round , the Indomitable Lioness of Cameroon were eliminated from the tournament, after suffering 3-0 defeat to England on Sunday.
Super Eagles manager Gernot th as heap praises on Daniel Akpeyi for his outstanding performance in their AFCON Group B opener against Swallows of Burundi on Saturday.
The Super Eagles laboured to a 1-0 over the debutant in Alexandria on Saturday, but Akpeyi made two good saves to prevent Saido Berahino and his colleagues from going ahead, before Nigeriascored the winner in the 76th minutes , courtesy of Odion Ighalo.
While reflecting on the win, Rohr said , keeping a clean sheet is good for the confidence of the South African based goalkeeper who started ahead of regular first choice Francis Uzoho, before praising him for his match winning saves.
“The goalkeeper did not concede a goal which is good for him and for the team, and he stopped a wonderful opportunity in the first half and as you know that the first goal is the most important, so in that situation, he was really very good.” Rohr stated.
Akpeyi is expected keep his place as the new number one goalkeeper, when Super Eagles take on Guinea for the second Group game on Wednesday.
Nigeria female beach volleyball team beat Mauritius 2-0 (21-17, 21-12) to finish fifth place at the inaugural Africa Beach Games in Cape Verde.
The Nigerian team lost to Kenya in the Women’s elimination 1-8 by 2-0 (21-13, 21-15).
The head coach of the team, Francis Imoudu praised the duo of Isa Laju and Tochukwu Nnoruga for their resilience at the first ever Africa Beach Games.
He said the girls gave their best against Kenya in the build up to the Semifinals but lost due to reasons beyond him.
Imoudu said the standard of Beach Volleyball in Africa is improving drastically.
“Despite placing fifth at the beach volleyball at the inaugural Africa Beach Games, I must commend my players for giving their opponents good fights. All we have to do is make sure the players continue playing whether there is a championship or not.
“Few months ago, Nigeria hosted the Africa Beach Volleyball Cup Seniors in Abuja and we saw upset. This time around in Cape Verde, teams most people never thought could enter the finals did; this shows the game is improving in Africa”.
Reacting to the performance of the team, President of Nigeria Volleyball Federation, Engineer Musa Nimrod told the players not to be discouraged but ensure they work on themselves.
Nimord said the federation is committed to ensure indoor/beach volleyball are taken to the nooks and cranny of the country.
He said, “The girls put up a wonderful show in Cape Verde and I am sure the volleyball family are excited. This is just the first edition and the federation is optimistic that Nigeria will excel at the next edition”.