Williams sisters teach tennis at Ikoyi club

Venus and Serena with the kids at the clinic

Venus plays against the youngsters

Serena returns a backhand shot at the clinic

Williams sisters, Venus and Serena on Wednesday taught tennis basics to youngsters at a clinic held at the Ikoyi Club 1938.

The sisters who arrived in the country on Tuesday were accompanied by their mother Oracene and other relatives.

The sisters had some interesting rallies with some of the youngsters who put up great efforts against the tennis icons. 

Some of the kids expressed their delight at the opportunity to play the tennis stars. One youngster that did exceedingly well against Serena got a hug from the newly crowned WTA Paribas champion.

The youngster, incidentally named Serena Teluwo, was delighted at her performance and expressed her readiness to play at the highest level.

"I feel great playing Serena. I would love to play tennis when I grow up," she said. 

Serena also handed Teluwo her cap for her outstanding performance.The sisters' tour of Lagos continues today, Thursday, November 1 with a visit to Osbourne Government College and a gala dinner at the Federal Palace Hotel.

Beach Eagles beats Switzerland in Dubai

National beach soccer team, Super Sand Eagles on Wednesday defeated Switzerland 7-6 at the ongoing Beach Soccer Invitational tourney in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The deciding goal was produced by Abu Azeez to give the team its first victory of the tourney.
The Eagles had earlier lost 3-6 to Brazil on Tuesday in its first match. Thus, the victory over the Swiss was a highly welcome development.
The eight-nation tournament that began on Tuesday will end on Saturday, November 3.
The countries taking part are Nigeria, Russia, USA, Tahiti, Japan, Switzerland, Brazil and hosts U.A.E.

CAS throws out Odegbami’s petition against FIFA, NFF

Segun Odegbami

The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) has terminated legendary Nigerian footballer, Segun Odegbami's petition against Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), we have gathered.

The petition that Odegbami filed with the Court over the August 2010 NFF elections was thrown out by the court for reasons that were unclear as at the time of filing this report.

It would be recalled that the former Green Eagles captain filed the petition after several irregularities forced him out of the race for the post of President of the NFF in 2010.

He decided to file a case with CAS following FIFA's approval for the election to proceed despite numerous calls, including court orders for it to be stopped.

Odegbami had said his petition was to address the issue of FIFA's incessant interference in the internal affairs of its members.

The former Eagles captain who wanted to contest for the post of President of NFF withdrew from the race after citing several irregularities and filed a case in CAS following FIFA's approval for the election to proceed as scheduled despite calls to stop it including court orders.

Odegbami had refused an appointment into the Appeal Committee of NFF as compensation on the grounds that "It is an insult for a group whose legality I am vigorously challenging to appoint me into a committee of their 'illegal' NFF board."

He was also quoted as saying in 2010: "The petition aims to test the system and challenge the extent of the powers of FIFA to interfere in the internal affairs of its members and the member of its members. It is going to be landmark and very interesting.”

Keshi invites 24 players for Venezuela tie

Opens camp November 4 

Keshi

Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi has named 24 home-based players for the friendly match against Venezuela, La Vinotinto (The Burgundy) on Wednesday, November 14.  

The invited players are goalkeepers Agbim Chigozie and Akpeyi Daniel; defenders are Oboabona Godfrey, Kwambe Solomon, Egwuekwe Azubuike, Zango Umar, Papa Idris, Benjamin Francis, Udoh Kingsley, Solomon Yaya and Ugwu Uwadiegu.

Others are midfielders and forwards; Uzoenyi Ejike, Emeka Eze, Mba Sunday, Henry Uche, Onduku Gomo, Ubale Mannir, Ruben Gabriel, Gambo Mohammed, Sani Sanusi, Anthony Okputu, Emmanuel Ajia, Azubuike Okey and Nwanchukwu Obinna.

The players will begin camping on Sunday, November 4 in preparation for the Grade ‘A’ international friendly match.

All invited players are to resume at the Bolton White Apartment unfailingly on Sunday. They are to report with their international passports and two passport photographs each.

Although the match against Venezuela was decided upon by the NFF before the team defeated Liberia 6-1 to qualify for the 2013 Nations Cup, it will serve as one of the team’s preparatory matches towards the continental championship slated to kick off in South Africa in January.

The NFF has also confirmed that the Super Eagles would get another international friendly match against the Palancres Negras (Black Panthers) of Angola on a yet to be decided date.

Austin Elumelu, a member of the executive committee of the NFF, noted recently that the Angola friendly could take place once agreements are reached by NFF and the Angolan FA.

“Angola is a very strong team and we will not mind playing them in one of our warm up matches, it is now left for them to make the contact but I know we will play a lot of warm up matches,” he said.

Venus arrives in Lagos!

Venus arrives in Lagos. Courtesy: Adenekan Moruff, Chain Reactions Nigeria

Venus gets ready to depart the Airport for Federal Palace Hotel where she will be staying on Lagos Island.  Photo by: Kunle Ajayi

American tennis star, Venus Williams has arrived in Lagos, Nigeria for a four-day tour of the metropolitan African city with her sister.

The several-time grand slam touched ground at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in the afternoon before she was whisked away by her manager and the organisers.

She will be joined later in the day by her sister Serena, who had been earlier scheduled to arrive at around 3pm Nigerian time but will now touch down later tonight.

Serena is coming to Lagos from Turkey where she defeated Russia's Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-3 to win the 2012 Paribas Championship on Sunday. 

FIFA shortlists Drogba, Toure for Ballon d’Or

Drogba in action for Shangai Shenhua

World football governing body, FIFA, on Monday released the names of 23 players shortlisted for the 2012 FIFA Balon d' Or with two Ivoriens, Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure make the list. 

The list dominated by Spaniards, seven in all, also has three Italians, two Argentines, two Germans, one each from Portugal, brazil, Holland, France, Sweden and Colombia.

The shortlisted Spaniards are Xabi Alonso, Sergio Busquets, Iker Casillas, Andrés Iniesta,Gerard Piqué, Xavi and Sergio Ramos. The three Italians are Mario Balotelli, Gianluigi Buffon and Andrea Pirlo. The two Germans that made the list are Manuel Neuer and Mesut Özil, while Sergio Agüero and Lionel Messi were the two Argentines that made the list. Others are Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Radamel Falcao (Colombia), Karim Benzema (France), Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden), Wayne Rooney (England), Robin van Persie (Netherlands), and Neymar (Brazil).

According to FIFA, the list would be reduced to three on November 29, 2012. The three will be those who have received the highest votes from coaches and national football team captains all over the world. FIFA said that the winners of all of the awards would be revealed at the FIFA Ballon d’Or gala at the Zurich Kongresshaus on 7 January 2013, during which the FIFA FIFPro World XI, the FIFA Puskás Award – for the most beautiful goal of the year – the FIFA Presidential Award and the FIFA Fair Play Award will also be presented.

"The list of 23 male candidates has been drawn up by football experts from the FIFA Football Committee and by a group of experts from France Football. The list of 10 coaches has been drawn up by the Committee for Women’s Football and FIFA Women’s World Cup and by the FIFA Football Committee, as well as by a group of experts from France Football,"

FIFA noted in the statement. The coaches listed are Vicente del Bosque (Spain/Spain national team), Roberto Di Matteo (Italy/Chelsea FC), Alex Ferguson (Scotland/Manchester United FC), Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Barcelona former coach), Jupp Heynckes (Germany/FC Bayern München), Jürgen Klopp (Germany/Borussia Dortmund), Joachim Löw (Germany/Germany national team), Roberto Mancini (Italy/Manchester City FC), José Mourinho (Portugal/Real Madrid CF), Cesare Prandelli (Italy/Italy national team). 

Super Falcons defeats Cameroun in African Women Championship

NFF commends team 

Perpetual Nkwocha won it for Falcons

Lagos Super Falcons on Monday started the defence of its Africa Women Championship (AWC) title on a winning note by beating Cameroon's Indomitable Lionesses 2-1 in Equatorial Guinea. 

The Nigerians would have won with a higher margin but for the wet Nkoantoma stadium pitch in Bata that denied the team the opportunity to score more goals.

Despite the wet pitch Onyinyechi Ohagugha put the team through only for Cameroon to equalise early in the second half through a well taken penalty by Christiana Patience Mani. Perpetua Nkwocha got the winning goal for Nigeria with two minutes left to play.

Falcons players however attributed the low score-line to the wet pitch which withheld the ball from rolling, they however assured that the next match against Cote d’ Ivorire would witness more goals. Match winner, Nkwocha is however optimistic of scoring more goals in subsequent matches.

“I’m an optimist, I know the goals will come, the game against Cameroon was a bit difficult for me, the wet pitch and defenders trying to stop me by all means were the reasons, especially the wet pitch.” Coach Khadiri Ikhana was happy on the performance of the team, saying that the first game was just for the girls to loosen up. The wet pitch he said affected the game but would not use it as an excuse for the low score-line, insisting that first games don’t normally produce much goals.

He assured that the second match on Thursday against Cote d’ Ivoire would produce a high goal margin.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation on Monday praised the Golden Eaglets and the Super Falcons for excellent performances in the past 24 hours.

Speaking in Abuja on Monday, Chairman of the NFF Media and Publicity Committee, Emeka Inyama said: "The NFF is delighted that our National Teams are now giving their all in important games and we will continue to ensure the teams prepare well for major championships within the limits of our resources.

“Falcons have now paid the Cameroonians back for that penalty shoot-out blot that stopped our girls from the London 2012 Olympics.”

NFF General Secretary, Barrister Musa Amadu assured that the Federation will give every support to the Falcons in their next match against Ethiopia on Thursday and for the Eaglets in their final round of qualifiers against Mali.

“We are already putting arrangements in place for the Eaglets to return to Calabar immediately they come back from Guinea on Tuesday, in order that they can start preparation for their first leg match against Mali, which comes up on 18th November. Governor Liyel Imoke (CON) and the wonderful people of Cross River State have been very supportive and we appreciate them. “As for the Falcons, we are putting heads together to see how we can further motivate them to fire from all cylinders against Ethiopia, as a win in that match will guarantee our semi final place even before the clash with Cote d’Ivoire on Sunday.” 

Gabriel wins LBA Player of the Year

Reuben Gabriel poses with his LBA award on Sunday night. Courtesy: LBA

Kano Pillars' midfielder, Reuben Gabriel, emerged winner of the Player of the Year category at the 2012 League Bloggers Awards (LBA) in Lagos on Sunday. 

The Nigerian midfielder edged three others, Godfrey Oboabona (Sunshine Stars), Sibi Gwar (Niger Tornadoes) and David Tyavkase (Lobi Stars) to the prestigious award in the season under review in the Nigeria Premier League.

The 22-year-old capped the evening on a high by also scooping the Best National Team Player. The other nominees for this category were Ejike Uzoenyi (Enugu Rangers), Chigozie Agbim (Warri Wolves) and Azubuike Egwuekwe (Warri Wolves).

A delighted Gabriel said afterwards: "I'm honoured to be the winner of the Player of the Year and also Best National Team Player. I want to thank my teammates at Kano Pillars and in the Super Eagles for this, my coaches too and fans as well as the organisers of this awards.

"This will only encourage me to do well in future for my club and country whenever I represent both teams in any competition."

There were other winners on the night at the LBA. These includes Sibi Gwar of Niger Tornadoes (Highest Goal Scorer), Andrew Abalogu of ABS (Rookie of the Year), Theophilus Afelokhai of Kano Pillars (Best Goalkeeper), Tamen Medrano of Sunshine Stars and Cameroon (Best Foreigner/Joetex Frimpong Award) and Kano Pillars (Club of the Year).

Other winners are 3SC of Owu (Best Designed Club Jersey), Dominic Iorfa of Lobi Stars (Manager of the Year (NPL)), Gbenga Ogunbote of Sunshine Stars (Manager of the Year (Africa)) and Gabriel Adigwe (Best Referee).

Golden Eaglets thrashes Guinea 4 -0 in Conakry

As NFF hails team

Eaglets' skipper Musa Mohammed and team mate, Ifeanyi Matthew block Guinea's Sylla Katty's path during the match on Sunday.  Courtesy: Morakinyo Abodunrin, Eaglet's media officer

The Golden Eaglets on Sunday confirmed its superiority over the Junior Syli Stars of Guinea with a  4-0 victory at the Stade du 28 Septembre in Conakry to qualify for the final round of the 2003 Under-17 Championship on a 7-0 aggregate.  

Eaglets' performance was an improvement on its 3-0 win at home in Calabar a fortnight ago as it virtually dominated the home team throughout the duration of the match.

Success Isaac, Alhassan Ibrahim and Kelechi Iheanacho and Musa Yahaya were the goals scorers as the Nigerian youngsters proved that the last victory at home was not a fluke.  

Attacking midfielder, Bernard Bulbwa was the hero of the day when he created the three first half goals much to the delight of the technical crew.

In the 23rd minute, Bulbwa broke free from the right wing and evaded his markers before sending a pin-point pass to Isaac to score the opening goal of the match. Bulbwa was also the originator of the second goal in the 37th minute when he set up Ibrahim on the right wing.

Ibrahim surprisingly shot straight into the net to the bewilderment of the usually adventurous Guinean goalkeeper, Gandeka Ibrahima who was anticipating a pull out. The two goals took the fire off from the Guineans but the Eaglets was not through yet. 

Bulbwa was again the architect of the third goal when he exchanged passes with Success, who finally gave Kelechi Iheanacho the last ball to tap into the net in the 40th minute. The Eaglets continued with its excellent ball distribution in the second half and could have scored more than it did but for some glaring misses.  

The Guineans were reduced to 10 players after Keita Malick was shown the red card after a rough tackle on Chidera Eze. The last goal did not come until the stroke of regulation time when two second half substitutes, Chidera Eze and Musa Yahaya worked their way into the box with the ball to Success who delivered an inch-perfect pass to Yahaya for the final goal.

“We thank Almighty Allah for this win,” Eaglets Head coach, Manu Garba said afterwards. “Though we made few mistakes but the most important thing today is that we have shown what we are capable of doing any time.

“We won’t rest on our oars until we secure our qualification ticket to the Under-17 tournament in Morocco,” he added.

Meanwhile, the head of the Nigerian delegation to Conakry, Nigeria Football Federation's (NFF) Muazu Suleiman and Emmanuel Ikpeme, Director, Technical at the Glass House has saluted the wonderful performance of the Eaglets on Sunday.  

“No matter what anybody would say, you can’t take away the quality in this team and they have proved it once again,” stated a visibly happy Alhaji Suleiman who was also the team’s leader of delegation when they defeated Niger 4-1 in Niamey.  

“This is about the only team in Nigeria today that anybody that watches them would agree that they are very good, so I was not surprised about their excellent performance.

“Sometimes, we are playing well and we are getting the results and we really have to thank Almighty God.  

“I think the only difficult game for them so far was the 3-0 win against Guinea in Calabar because of the pressure of the Super Eagles that had beaten Liberia 6-1 a day earlier but they have shown today how good they are happy and we are so happy with this great performance.”

Speaking in the same vein, Ikpeme, noted that team has again demonstrated its strength as a quality team that can beat any other team anywhere. He added that the 4-0 margin win against Guinea is another indication that Nigerian football on the right course.

“I’m so happy with your performance today because of the way you have played and beat Guinea right here on their home ground,” he said.

“You won convincingly today but the artistry that you guys displayed today has given us confidence that the future of Nigerian football is bright indeed if you can keep your heads.

Lady golfers tee up for Ikeja Open

About 200 lady golfers today, Wednesday October 24 will tee off at the 2012 edition of Ikeja Golf Club Ladies Championship in Lagos.

Lady Captain of the section, Ruth Oluwatosin while unveiling the plans for this year’s championship over the weekend, said the event would be featuring top lady players from Ikoyi, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Shagamu and Dolphin Golf Clubs.

“It is our delight to host these golfers during this championship and in our bid to make this year’s event bigger we have kept the course at the best possible condition for this season and we believe they will have a very exciting time at the Championship.”

Chinyere Alamu would be gunning for a record fifteenth title, but not without stiff contest from Pamela Wu, Alaba Olatunji, Bunmi Atekoja among others on the ten-hole course.

The championship will begin with a kitty for the ladies while an auction evening is scheduled for Thursday October 25th. The 36-hole contest will follow on Friday, October 26 and Saturday, 27th. “Our event has always been a breeding ground for some of the finest lady players in the country and this event will not miss any of that quality.” She added. The event is supported by GTI Capital, Mutual Benefit, Litramed, Meristem among others.

Ex-South African captain tips Super Eagles for Nations Cup glory

Tovey

Bafana Bafana captain, Neil Tovey has tipped Super Eagles as favourites to win the 2013 edition of the Nations Cup. 

Speaking in an interview with AFP on Wednesday, Tovey, who spoke on myriad of issues concerning the Nations Cup including his country’s chances of winning the championship, singled out the Super Eagles for high praises.

He noted that Nigeria has evolved under Keshi and will not make the same mistake it has made in the past. Tovey further noted that the Super Eagles could be invincible at the tourney, if it does not ‘shoot itself in the foot’.

"They (Eagles) possess an abundance of talent and my good friend Stephen Keshi is settling down nicely as coach and getting them well-organised. He has so many good footballers to choose from. "However, Nigerian teams sometimes shoot themselves in the foot. They can be their own worst enemies. I do not see that occurring under Keshi, but they must learn from previous mistakes."

About hosts Bafana Bafana, Tovet who led the country to a Nations Cup victory in 1996, had this to say.

"Playing at home can be a tremendous advantage and everyone rallied behind the team 16 years ago, driving us on to some great victories and the trophy," recalled Tovey. "South Africa could go all the way again."

Bafana Bafana is ranked 19th in Africa and is only top seeded alongside Cote D’Ivoire, Zambia and Ghana by virtue of being hosts of the three-week championship that kicks off in January at the 90,000-seat Soccer City stadium in Soweto.

Nations Cup: Super Eagles knows foes tomorrow

Gets friendly against Angola

Super Eagles will today know its opponents in the group stage of the 2013 Africa Ciupof Nations slated for South Africa when the draws are held in Durban this evening.

Nigeria qualified for the tournament after defeating Liberia Lone Star 6-1 in Calabar in the second leg of the last round of qualifying matches. The first leg in Monrovia ended 2-2.

According to earlier seedings released by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Super Eagles is placed in Pot Two alongside Mali, Tunisia and Angola. Given the rules, the team will meet any of the four top seeded teams placed in Pot One. These are hosts South Africa, defending champions, Zambia, last year’s runners-up Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.

According to the regulations of the competition, the host country, South Africa is the top seeded team of group A, while the title holders, Zambia is the top seeded team of group C. Following seedings due to participation in last three editions of the championship, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire are the other teams in Pot 1 and each of them, according to the regulations, will be the top seed in either Groups B or D depending on the outcome of the first stage of the draws.

Stage two of the draws will repartition the four teams in Pot 4 (DR Congo, Togo, Cape Verde and Ethiopia) in the four groups, while stage three of the draw shall involve the partition of the 4 teams in Pot 3 (Algeria, Burkina Faso, Morocco and Niger) and stage four for the partition of the 4 teams in Pot 2(Mali, Tunisia, Angola and Nigeria). 

But Keshi has restated that he is not worried about the teams that the draws would pit the team against tonight.

According to him, Super Eagles is strong enough to scare any team on its own.

"I have said it a lot of people and will say it again that I am not afraid of any team. You do not win a championship by being afraid of your opponents and that is the spirit I am taking to the draw.

"Let them bring on any team and the 'Super Eagles' will give their all. We have a team that all opponents - not just those in Africa - should be afraid of," Keshi said to pressmen recently.

Meanwhile, the Super Eagles will play Palancres Negras (Black Panthers) of Angola in an international friendly match before the Nations Cup takes place in January, we have gathered.

Angola FA boss, Pedro Neto, who recently saluted the team for qualifying for the Nations Cup, confirmed this much. The NFF is yet to officially confirm the friendly while the date and venue of the match has not been announced too. 

Sunshine departs for Egypt

Sunshine Stars, Nigeria’s representative in the ongoing 2011/2012 CAF Champions League, will leave for Cairo, Egypt on Wednesday to play Al Ahly in the second leg of the semifinal tie.The match is slated for Sunday.

We gathered that the team, which has been camping in Ota, Ogun State, will depart from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. The name of the flight and its departure time could however not be confirmed as at press time.

In preparation for the match, the team moved the venue of its camp from Ijebu Ode to Ota where on Monday it defeated a local club 2 – 0 in a friendly match. Having drawn 3-3 in the first leg against Ahly the previous week, the team is aiming to defeat the Egyptian team on home soil.

The Egyptians are not taking things easy either. Ahly boss, Hossam El-Badry was quoted as saying that his team is focused ahead of the anticipated Nigerian test despite the recent decision to postpone the start of a new Egyptian Premier League season.

"The decision was expected, especially with the current unstable circumstances that surround Egyptian football," El-Badry told Ahly's official website late on Monday.

The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) decided to delay the domestic League season indefinitely on Monday because they had not yet received security guarantees from the ministry of interior.

Ahly defeated Dakhlya 1-0 in a friendly on Monday in preparation for the match.

"For sure it would be a great benefit for us if the League games would start, but, anyway, we have to go on," explained the Red Devils head coach.  

"Now we are totally focused on the coming match with Sunshine Stars. "We had a good test against Dakhlya and we get more confident as injured players like Emad Meteb, Sherif Abdel-Fadil and Mahmoud Abou El-Saoud recover completely and ready themselves for the match," he said. 

Heartland manager, Ndubuoke writes off Nigeria's Super Eagles

Super Eagles squad that faced Lone Star of Liberia on Saturday in Calabar

Heartland of Owerri football Club General Manager, Fan Ndubuoke has written off the Super Eagles despite thrashing Liberia Lone Star 6-1 in Calabar on Saturday to qualify for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations starting next January in South Africa. 

Super Eagles thus qualified for the tournament on 8-3 goals aggregate having played 2-2 in the first leg of the qualifiers last September.

Speaking on a live sports programme monitored on Tuesday, Ndubuoke said that the team had little class and would have problems in South Africa.

Although he was happy with the result of the game, Ndubuoke argued that the Golden Eaglets team that defeated Junior Syli Stars of Guinea 3 – 0 in Calabar on Sunday played better football than the Super Eagles. 

“It was a nice game. But I have my reservations. This concerns the quality of players in the Super Eagles. The time has come for us to fashion a playing pattern for the team. The playing level of the U-17’s game was far better than what the Super Eagles played.

“What I want to see (before 2013 Nations Cup) is the real Nigerian style of play and not just scoring of goals alone,” Ndubuoke said.

He also lamented the treatment meted out to local players by the technical crew led by Coach Stephen Keshi. According to him, the local players played better than some foreign players in the game.

“I am not happy with the number of homebased players in the team. I stand to be corrected, but I believe that some home-based players were by far better than some of the foreign ones. There were some quality players that could have made the team.

“Let’s play a homebased versus foreign-based round robin game and the team be chosen from there and you will see what I mean,” Nduboke concluded.

Rufai out of coma

Peter Rufai

Former Super Eagles captain and goalkeeper, Peter Rufai who collapsed on Monday night has regained consciousness after he was resuscitated at a private hospital. 

Rufai opened his eyes for the first time on Tuesday after he slumped at his Adeniran Ogunsanya office in Lagos.

Rufai reportedly slumped at his office in the presence of some close pals and his younger brother Bruce. He was immediately taken to Toki Hospital off Adeniran Ogunsanya where he is presently recuperating after emerging from coma.

Bruce confirmed the incident on Tuesday and admitted that Rufai had not been himself lately.

“He is out of coma and he can now eat and he recognises everyone around. He is fine,” Bruce said. Rufai is now making efforts to communicate, the brother added.

According to him, the legendary goalkeeper had been showing signs of stress before he collapsed. "He had not been eating well and had become unnaturally withdrawn," he noted.

Bruce also believed that his brother must have been suffering from depression after their mother died last week. He noted further that Rufai had been working hard on his football clinic for the past couple of weeks and has had to travel to Calabar and Owerri among other places.

"The death of their mother only burdened him the more," he said. “I was with him when he collapsed on Monday. We just noticed that he was quiet and he could not eat. So, we tried to get him pepper soup which he loves dearly. We thought the spice in it would shake him out of the state. But as he got up, he slumped and I caught him because I was standing next to him. We took him to the hospital, where he is currently recuperating,” Bruce said.

Rufai’s mother died last week and it is strongly believed that this could be responsible for his deteriorating state of health. As at the time of filing this report, Rufai is responding to treatment. According to Bruce, he is awake and able to move some parts of his body. 

Liberians slam FA for defeat to Eagles

Musa Bility

Kaetu Smith

Liberian soccer fans have blamed the country’s football association, LFA for the scandalous 6-1 defeat to the Super Eagles of Nigeria on Saturday.

In reactions that poured in after the match, Liberian stakeholders accused the LFA of poor planning which they argued, left the team incapable of delivering on its promises to the citizens of the West African country.

According to a top-rated analyst in the country, Wleh Bedell, the LFA did not plan properly for the all-important tie. Bedell also tackled Coach Kaetu Smith, noting that he was disrespectful to the Nigerian team by adopting a formation (4-4-2) that his team was not traditionally known for. He noted that Smith tactical sloppiness was responsible for the team being torn apart by what he called a ‘star-saturated’ Nigerian side.

“It was quite disheartening to note that despite huge support from the likes of the team sponsor, GSM company, Cellcom, the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company, National Oil Company, National Port Authority, Central Bank of Liberia and other institutions that raised more than US$250,00.00 for the Lone Star through the mobilization committee, things were not put in place adequately as the entire team waited for days in Ghana for the contingent from Liberia to move to Nigeria, something that took two days due to the authorities inability to get a plane in time for the trip.

“However, from a tactical standpoint, Coach Keatu Smith showed no respect to the Nigerians as he opted for a 4-4-2 formation where he threw men forward as if he had the better of the two sides,” Bedell said.

He concluded that “October 13, will go down as another hate to remember date from a Liberian football perspective, football-wise as a disjointed Lone Star under tactically maladroit Coach Joseph Kaetu Smith were hammered, walloped and humiliated by a disgraceful 6-1margin at the UJ Eseune stadium in Calabar, Nigeria.”

Agreeing with Bedell, Liberiansoccer.com, posted criticism of the LFA by Football Mirror, a Liberian publication on its website. The publication also attacked the LFA and its president, Musa Bility over what it called poor planning, especially over the issue of landing permits for the chartered flight and the camping of the team.

But Coach Kaetu Smith disagrees. He believes that the Eagles were just tougher than he and his boys had expected.

"We struggled much in the game, lost the battle in the middle, our attacks could not combine well and those early goals caused us damage,” said Smith.
"Many things went wrong for us, but I don't think the travel plans were the reasons why we played badly. Our preparation was good but we play against a better and stronger side than us. They (Nigeria) prepared well for the game and got quality in their squad,” he added. 

Super Eagles of Nigeria unseeded for 2013 Nations Cup

May face Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana

Super Eagles' Victor Moses battles with Lone Star captain Gebro Duncan in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier played in Calabar. The Eagles won 6-1

The Super Eagles of Nigeria was not one of the top-seeded teams by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in the seeding for the 2013 Nations Cup draw released on Monday.

The Eagles failed to make Pot 1 that contained the top seeded teams which will not have to face each other when the draws are carried out on Wednesday, October 24 in Durban, South Africa.

South Africa, Zambia and Ghana are the other top seeds in Pot 1 while Mali, Tunisia, Angola and Nigeria will be in Pot 2, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Morocco and Niger in Pot 3 and Togo, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia in Pot 4.

CAF explained that the seeding ‘is based on results from the past three Cup of Nations tournaments in Ghana, Angola and Gabon and Equatorial Guinea and, theoretically, keeps the "big guns" apart.’ 

Given this arrangement, the Super Eagles that was once always rated as a top team, could end up facing one of the four ‘big guns’ in Pot 1. A battle against the biggest team on the continent; Cote d’Ivoire’s Elephants, eternal African rivals; Black Stars of Ghana or defending champions; Chipolopolo of Zambia might be in the works for Coach Stephen Keshi’s Eagles that romped to an outstanding 6-1 victory a boastful Lone Star of Liberia side on Saturday.