Senate President, Ahmad Lawan has departed Abuja this morning to lead a presidential delegation to cheer Super Eagles in their today’s match against Algeria in the ongoing 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt.
This is contained in a statement by Mohammed Isa, the Special Assistant to the Senate President on Media and Publicity.
Speaking before his departure, Lawan, according to the statement said the presence of the delegation would boost the morale of the Nigerian players and spur them to win the match.
“I am confident that our boys will today reenact their winning streak in their determination to win the trophy, and they need all of our support including our physical presence,” he added.
Also on the 11-man delegation are the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.
Governors Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta and Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos States, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Habu Gumel, and a Representative of the Presidency; Captain Hosa Okunbo are also part of the delegation.
Others were, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Olusade Adesola, and Muhammad Gambo, the ministry’s Director of Facilities and former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung.
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Super Eagles’ left back, Jamilu Collins has called on his teammates to play to the instructions of the coaches, as they wrap up final preparation for their semi-final clash with Algeria later today.
Collins was handed a starting shirt against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa by Gernot Rohr, after missing all the team’s group games and round of 16 clash with Cameron due to injury.
The player however, helped the team to the semi-final , where they will slug it out with Algeria at the Cairo international stadium for a place in the final.
Collins who making his Afcon debut with Nigeria, however believes the team can overcome the Desert Foxes, but must play to the manager’s instructions.
“It is possible to win it if we play better on that day,” Collins.
“It is difficult to predict the results of matches in this tournament, the more you play to the instruction of the coaches the more result you get.“
“We are ready to play any team in the tournament but if you want to go far in the tournament you have to play according to the coach instructions.” He said.
Collins is likely to start ahead of Ola Aina against the Algeria Sunday evening and he will hoping to help the team achieve another important victory.
Algerian head coach Djamel Belmadi says his side must be at their best , if they are to reach the final of the 2019 African Cup of Nations in Egypt.
The Desert Foxes defeated Ivory Coast in the quarter final to set up another mouthwatering clash with the Super Eagles, and Belmadi has tagged the Nigerians bigger threat to his country‘s ambition of lifting the trophy for the first time since 1990.
“We played against Ivory Coast, but we have tried to recover in time for our semifinal game against Nigeria, “Belmadi told a news conference in Cairo on Saturday.
“It is a semifinal game and we must be well prepared much more than normal. Defensively, we have to be on top of our game against a difficult Nigerian side with good players. We will not divulge our tactical plans here.”
Belmadi dismissed Nigerian Coach Gernot Rohr statement, who tagged Desert Foxes the favourites ahead of the game, the tactician added that it’s a level playing ground for four teams.
“The semifinal is an equal stage for the four teams remaining in the competition. There are no favourites for now in the competition. Algeria, Nigeria, Tunisia and Senegal all have equal chances of winning,” he added.
Algeria defeated Nigeria 1-0 in the final of the 1990 edition , but the country has not moved close to winning the competition again, however, Belmadi admitted that his boys are thinking of writing their own history back home.
“We won the AFCON title at home in 1990 and it has become more difficult to win it since then. We had great players who won it then.“
“The players here want to create their own history too. It will be great to do that, but we have to beat Nigeria first and then win the final.” he concluded.
Nigerian defender Kenneth Omeruo is delighted to part of the current Super Eagles team and has tipped them to achieve more success in the future.
The Nigerians are one of the youngest sides in the competition, with most of the players appearing in their first African Cup of Nations, except for captain john Mikel Obi, Ahmed Musa and Kenneth Omeruo who were part of the team that won the tournament in South Africa back in 2013.
Speaking ahead of the semi-final clash with the Desert Foxes of Algeria , Omeruo who has been present in the heart of Gernot Rohr’men defense , said the present Nigerian side, is a team for the future.
“Back then, we had some of Nigeria’s best players, older players but now we have talents that in the next two to three years will become great players.
“But I think we have a solid technical crew that are solid and can go extra miles to get us everything we need to know about our opponents even before we face them which is an advantage to us.“
Omeruo who scored Nigeria‘s winning goal against Guinea in the second group game, added that three time African champions are leaving no stone unturned, as they continue preparations for the crunch game with Algerians.
“All efforts are being put into the Algerian game and hopefully wewill be ready tomorrow.”
“We are approaching this game with all seriousness because Nigeria are a very difficult team as well,” he told the media.
“We’ve been recovering for the last two days to ensure that everyone is ready and fit for this game and we are looking forward to it.“
Nigeria will take on Algeria at the Cairo international stadium, for a place in the final of the 2019 African Cup of Nations .
Former Super Eagles Goalkeeper, Emmanuel Okala has highlighted the goalkeeping department as the weak link of the current Super Eagles side.
The Gernot Rohr‘men are set to take on the Desert Foxes of Algeria in the semi-final of the ongoing African Cup of Nations at the Cairo international stadium on Sunday, and Okala believes the team is solid enough to reach the final, but raised alarm over lack of good goalkeepers in the team.
“We still have some worries in the goalkeeping area. It is not about sounding as an alarmist, but that’s a fact,” Okala said.
However, the Former Super Eagles trainer tipped the three time African champions to reach the final of the African biggest football competition at the expense of the Algerians.
Nigeria and Algeria has met on six occasions, with both sides winning three of the encounters.
Super Eagles Boss Gernot Rohr , says he hope to have all his players fit for the semi-final clash with Algeria at the ongoing African Cup of Nations.
The Nigerians side will take on the Desert Foxes of Algeria later today with a place in the final of the competition at stake.
Nigeria beat holders Cameroon and Bafana Bafana in the round of 16 and 8 respectfully, but a clash with Djamel Belmadi’s men presented the Gernot Rohr’men with another difficult challenge.
“When you beat the favourites, you are also one of the favourites. That was my opinion and it is still my opinion,” Rohr told the media.“
“Now we have beaten one of the favourites, but we have to play a team which everybody here believes were the best in the group stage.“
“So they are still favourites while we are the second favourites.“
The Franco-German tactician added , that any of the four left in the competition can emerge as champions.
“The four teams remaining are the best teams of the tournament Senegal are number one in Africa, Tunisia are number two and we are number three. We are all here and Algeria is playing so well.“
“All is open but it’s reflecting that there are two countries from Morth Africa and two countries from West Africa.”
Algeria and Nigeria will trade tackles for the ninth time in Afcon history, and Rohr is confident his side will be fit for the crunch tie.
“After the difficult match against South Africa, we had to recover at first and during our training the next morning, we saw that some of our players had small injuries and we tried to give them the best treatments,” he continued.
“We will have our last training this evening(Saturday) and hopefully all my players would be very fit.” he concluded.
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Talented left-back Ferland Mendy and star midfielder Tanguy Ndombele don waka go Real Madrid and Tottenham respectively, while the club dey plan to enter the chacha 2019-20 season with chacha head coachee Sylvinho.
Juninho Pernambucano just dey settle as director of football and the Brazilian dey determined to prevent any comotting of talent.
That one mean say Memphis Depay, Moussa Dembele and Houssem Aouar go keep their load and stay but captain and World Cup winner wey Fekir fit still find new club as e don enter the final 12 months of im contract.