Ighalo And Ozil Battle Over BPL Player Of The Month

Nigeria striker Odion Ighalo and his manager Sanchez Flores have been chosen for the Barclays Premier League Manager and Player of the Month awards for December.

This was announced on Thursday on Watford's official website.

Flores guided the Hornets to three important wins in a busy festive schedule, including a memorable 3-0 triumph over Liverpool at Vicarage Road, as well as victories over Sunderland and Norwich, and a 2-2 draw against Chelsea.

Involved in those games was Ighalo, who struck five times for the Hornets, with a brace against Liverpool, and goals against Norwich, Sunderland and Tottenham Hotspur.

Ighalo will be up for the award against Mesut Ozil, Marko Arnautovic and Riyad Mahrez, Romelu Lukaku and Dele Alli
Nominated alongside Flores are Arsene Wenger, Claudio Ranieri and Alan Pardew

The winner will be announced this morning by 6am.

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Nigerian U23 Match Today!!!

African U23 Championship

Nigeria Vs Egypt

Time: 10:00 PM

Enjoy!!!!

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Kano Pillars To Add 10 Players To Their Squad

Former Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) champions, Kano Pillars, are looking to add 10 players to their squad, before the start of the 2015/2016 season.

The Sai Masu Gida will retain 20 players from the current squad, but are keen to beef up ahead of the new campaign.

 “We have identified seven players that we will like to bring to the club, but we will recruit 10 eventually,”

Pillars won the league for three consecutive years, before they finished 8th in the just concluded season.

“Our target is to bring in quality players to improve the team and we won’t go back on that.

“Everything will be decided soon as we want to have a formidable team next season.”

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Happy Moment As Nigerian Footballer Proposes To His Fiance On Field After Match (photo)

A notable Nigerian footballer, John Ogu, who plays as a Central Midfielder for Israeli Premier League side Hapoel Be’er Sheva proposed to his girlfriend on the pitch after a match yesterday Saturday, Oct 3rd….and it was so romantic. His team mates were so happy for him.

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NFF Assures Super Eagles Coach Of Total Support

The Nigeria Football Federation's president, Amanju Pinnick has said that the federation is in total support of the new Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh saying the former Nigerian international knows what's best for the country.

Pinnick also said that the ex-Eagles captain does his job with a touch of professionalism and explains the rationale behind every of the decisions he's taken since assuming the job of the National team coach in mid July.

"We support everything Oliseh is doing. He knows what's best for his team and I can tell you that Oliseh has been working since he left the country.

"I am particularly impressed at his work ethics and professionalism. There is no action he takes that he does not first inform us (NFF) on the rationale behind the decision and the motive he intends to achieve with such a decision."

The NFF boss further stated, "We need to give him time because everything he does is in the best interest of the country. We don't have a problem with his change of position."

Sunday Oliseh is expected to announce his list of call-ups for the 2017 AFCON qualifier against Tanzania in the coming week.

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Carlos Bacca's Mother Hits Shoe On Football Star Neymar

Eloisa Ahumada, mother of Colombian Striker, Carlos Bacca, was shocked by the Brazilian’s behaviour and affirmed she gave her son a good telling off for his part in the quarrel.

She has slammed Brazil captain Neymar for his behaviour after her son’s side beat Brazil 1-0 on Wednesday, insisting she would have hit the Barcelona star with one of her high heels.

Neymar was handed a red card and a four-match suspension after giving out ugly scenes at the end Wednesday’s Copa America clash in Santiago, first firing the ball at Pablo Armero before aiming a head-butt at Jeison Murillo.

Bacca was also dismissed after confronting and shoving Neymar but the Sevilla forward’s mother says the Brazilian deserved everything he got.

“If I’d been in the stadium I would have taken off my high heel and hit Neymar. I know many women in the stadium would have joined me,” said Eloisa.

“I felt anger and helplessness, as I wanted to be there to push [my son] away so they couldn’t hit him because it could have been serious.”

Bacca has been handed a two-match suspension from Conmebol for his role in the fracas and Mrs. Ahumada went on to condemn her son’s behaviour, saying she taught him better.

“I was really annoyed because I’ve never seen this attitude of Carlos in the game before,” she said.

“I sent him a message telling him off because he didn’t need to react that way.

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Neymar Will Replace Messi As World Best

Barca Midfielder Xavi has tipped Barcelona teammate Neymar to replace Lionel Messi as the world’s best player once the Argentine No. 10’s career has run its course.

The 23-year-old Neymar, who Barcelona bought for a disputable fee from Santos and other investors in the summer of 2013, has been a revelation for Barcelona this season.

Along with South American teammates Messi and Luis Suarez, he has helped fire Luis Enrique’s men into a treble-winning position with many decisive performances for the club during the campaign. And the Barcelona captain sees the brightest of futures ahead for the Brazilian, which is a testament to his ability and his demeanor.

“He has an incredible personality. I knew that he was famous in Brazil, but he remains so humble and is a good influence in our dressing room,” the 2010 World Cup winner said in an interview with UEFA, before raving about the Barca No. 11’s talent.

“He is so good that, when Messi stops, he will be his replacement. He will be the best player in the world, I have no doubt,” he concluded.

Neymar has scored 38 goals and provided 11 assists in 50 games this season. And he’ll be looking to increase his totals on Saturday, when Barcelona face Juventus in the Champions League final in Berlin.

Neymar, who is the Brazilian national team’s seventh-leading scorer all time, is one goal behind Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the Champions League goal-scoring race this season.

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Chelsea To Sign Radamel Falcao

Radamel Falcao had a disappointing loan spell with Manchester United last season, scoring four goals in 26 appearances.

The Old Trafford outfit opted against making permanent the Colombian striker’s deal.

Chelsea released Didier Drogba at the end of the 2014-15 season and have been in talks with the principality outfit since last week when Sky Sports first broke the news.

Falcao is currently on international duty at the Copa America.

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Blessing Okagbare Wins Silver In Diamond League

Africa's fastest woman, Blessing Okagbare won silver medal at the IAAF Diamond League in New York on Saturday.

Okagbare finished her 200m meet finished 22.67 seconds behind USA’s Tori Bowie, who clocked her season's best of 22.23 seconds.

The absence of the likes of Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Allyson Felix made Okagbare a favorite along with Bowie for the first position.

The starting list paraded Jamaica’s former Olympic champion, Simpson Sherone, USA’s Duncan Kimberlyn, Townsend Tiffany, Mcgrone Candyce and Williams Charonda and Ecuador’s Tenorio Angela-Gabriela.

Bowie had run against Okagbare in Shanghai and had been beaten by the Nigerian, New York was her chance to earn her revenge and she produced a season best of 22.23secs to win the race and ensure the Nigerian produced her season best.

In the men’s triple jump, Tosin Oke finished fifth with a jump of 16.47m behind Cuba’s Pichardo Pedro Pablo with 17.56m, the USA duo of Claye Will with 16.96m and Craddock Omar with 16.55m and Cuba’s Reve Ernesto who jumped 16.53m.

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Vincent Enyeama And Asisat Oshoala Emerge King And Queen At Pitch Awards

Super Eagles captain, Vincent Enyeama, and new Super Falcons sensation, Asisat Oshoala, emerged King and Queen of the Pitch respectively at the second edition of the Nigeria Pitch Awards held shortly after Nigeria’s 2-0 victory over Chad in Kaduna on Saturday.

The award ceremony drew eminent personalities in the Nigerian football community including Amaju Pinnick, the NFF President; Shehu Dikko, second vice President; Mohammed Sanusi, General Secretary; Chris Green; Emeka Inyanma, Shehu Kawu and other top brass of the NFF.

Dan Abia, the MD/CEO of the NDDC; Ituah Ighodalo Managing Partner of SIAO Partners, Bassey Eyo of Payporte.com; Ebi Egbe and Big Brother Africa runner up, Tayo Faniran topped the list of special guests who graced the occasion.

Addressing the large crowd at the ceremony, Mr. Pinnick, restated the federation’s commitment to giving the organizers all the support that is needed to grow the Nigeria Pitch Awards into a world class football event.

While speaking on the award process, Mr. Ighodalo, whose audit firm coordinated the voting process, stated that the process was transparent and credible as it reflected the wish of the voters. He said the breakdown of the results would be published after the results were announced.

In the players’ category, Enyeama clinched the Best Goalkeeper Award while Kenneth Omeruo and Ogenyi Onazi emerged Best Defender and Midfielder respectively. Ahmed Musa beat Ike Uche and Mfon Udoh to the Striker of the Year Award.

Kano Pillars again emerged the Club of the Year; Okey Emordi, the Coach of the Year; Ferdinand Udoh, Best Referee, Felix Anyansi-Agwu of Enyimba FC the Manager of the Year and John Shittu, the Players’ Agent of the Year.

In other categories, Liyel Imoke, former Governor of Cross River State picked up the Football Friendly Governor for 2014 and Lagos State, for the second time running, won the State with the Best Grassroots Football Development Programme.

The media category saw Tana Aiyejina of Punch emerge as the Football Journalist of the Year in the Print Category. Toyin Ibitoye of Channels TV and Bimbo Adeola of Star FM won the TV and Radio categories.

The chairman of Channels TV, John Momoh was honoured with the Special Recognition in Football Award for his contributions to the development of football through the National Channels Kids Competition while Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, who attended the ceremony along with all his backroom staff, received the Football Achievement Award.

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Nigerian Player, David Oniya Dies On Field While Playing For Club In Malaysia

A Nigerian defender, David Faramola Oniya has been declared dead today, Saturday, June 13 after collapsing on the pitch during a friendly match between his club, T-Team and Kelantan in faraway Malaysia.

Local media reports say 30-year-old Oniya, who was T-Team captain, collapsed just three minutes into the match in Kota Bharu and was immediately rushed to the hospital. The match was abandoned after 60 minutes when a message was received from the hospital that Oniya had died.

The deceased defender had only just joined the Malaysian club this season. Yet another sad news hitting the Nigerian football circle, Oniya is not the first Nigerian to have died abroad in recent times. Bobsam Elejiko died while playing for his club in Belgium about 3 years ago.

Like Oniya, Elejiko who was also 30 years old at the time of his death, collapsed and died while playing for his Belgian side, Merksem SC in a fifth-tier game against FC Kaart.

Attempts to resuscitate the defender, who previously played for Westerlo and Antwerp among other teams, were unsuccessful and his club, Merksem released a statement after the match was abandoned.... 

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Nigeria Vs USA (Women's World Cup)

NIGERIA VS USA (WOMEN WORLD CUP)

After playing Sweden to a nil-nil draw — a score salvaged because of a brilliant play by Meghan Klingenberg — the USA looks to cement their Group D supremacy in the Women's World Cup against Nigeria.

The two teams, first and last in the Group D standings respectively, play on Tuesday, June 16 in Vancouver.

Though the USA hasn't played its best soccer thus far, there still exist many reasons to believe they remain one of the top contenders.

As their last game in group play approaches, several story lines beyond soccer surround the USA. Hope Solo's off-pitch resume now includes a letter from an angry Senator Richard Blumenthal.

The U.S. Soccer Federation is defending the embattled goalie. Alex Morgan's knee injury continues to limit her minutes. And ESPN's resident foot-in-mouth, First Take anti-feminist Stephen A. Smith made a lame joke about the players' hair.

But on Tuesday, all eyes will be on the beautiful game itself, so here's all you need to know about the match between the USA and Nigeria.

INFORMATION ON HOW TO WATCH THE MATCH

The match takes place at 8:00pm E.T.

FOX will air the match between Nigeria and USA.

You can stream the match live on FOX Sports Online.

In Nigeria, you can listen to the commentary on Brilla FM while in other countries on Sirius XM.

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Fallen Legends Of Football Seek Return To African Nations Cup

Fallen giants Egypt and Nigeria begin their bids to return to the African Nations Cup finals with potentially easy assignments on the opening weekend of qualifying for the 2017 tournament.

Record winners Egypt, with seven previous triumphs including three in a row from 2006 to 2010, have missed out on the last three finals, but hope the appointment of Hector Cupper as coach will help provide a change of fortune.

The former Valencia and Inter Milan boss has selected a strong squad for Sunday's Group G match against Tanzania in Alexandria, which will be played behind closed doors due to a ban on football crowds in the country.

Egypt share the same group as Nigeria, who were 2013 Nations Cup winners, but did not qualify for the 2015 finals.

Stephen Keshi has returned as Nigeria coach and begins his new tenure at home to Chad on Saturday in Kaduna.

His decision to leave out Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel, after telling local reporters he wanted to give an opportunity to other players, maintains his reputation for making disputable decisions.

MOROCCO REPRIEVE

Morocco were supposed to organize the last Nations Cup but pulled out because of fears over the Ebola virus and were handed a ban from the next two editions.

In nearby Casablanca, Guinea, who are banned from competing at home because of the threat of Ebola in their country, play against Swaziland on Friday in Group L.?

That was overturned, however, by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and Morocco host Libya in Agadir on Friday in Group F.

Former France international Luis Fernandez has taken over as Guinea coach and is among 23 managerial appointments at African national teams in recent months.

All but two countries, Eritrea and Somalia, have entered the beginning of the competition in a record turnout for the Nations Cup, with 26 qualifiers taking place this weekend.

The winner of each of the 13 groups will qualify for the finals plus the two best runners-up and 2017 hosts Gabon.

Holders Ivory Coast play in Libreville on Sunday against Gabon, who are part of the qualifying process, but matches involving them in Group I will not count towards the final standings.

Five months after winning the 2015 finals in Equatorial Guinea, the Ivoirians are without a permanent coach after Herve Renard quit to join French Ligue 1 club Lille, while midfielder Yaya Toure will also be absent.

Ghana, runners-up to the Ivoirians in February, are expected to notch up a sizeable score line against Mauritius in Accra on Sunday in coach Avram Grant's first competitive home match in charge. 

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Nigerian Judo Federarion Plans For Championship In Abuja

The Nigerian Judo Federation has declared plans to stage a national junior judo championship in Abuja as part of efforts to discover more talents for the country.

President of the Federation, Musa Osodi, who disclosed this in Abuja yesterday, said the championship has been tentatively fixed for October this year.

Osodi, who said the coming event was key to the judo federation, explained that grooming of budding talents to take over from the aging ones would form the priority of any good administration that wishes to develop the game. 

While commending the choice the Director General of the National Sports Commission, Al-Hassan Yakmut, Mr Osodi said there was need to begin to appoint professionals to administer the various sports federations in the country.

“Nigeria should begin to elect or appoint professionals in certain areas just like the ex-President did recently by doing away with politicians to appoint Al-Hasan Yakmut, This should be replicated at all levels of Nigeria’s sports administration.

We should not continue to discriminate even when we are still learning from the foreign countries like Japan and Korea in the game because these countries build their sports industries on expertise,” Osodi stated.

He blamed Nigeria’s wavering fortunes in sports on the attitude of sports administrators, who indulge in the use and encircling of old and worn out athletes that have nothing to offer.

“What we see here is a re-circling of old athletes, who have been there since 2008 and have not won any international championships with no international ratings. They keep on re-circling them and we are tired of them.

“What we are about to do now is to adopt a system where the retiring judokas will be given the opportunity to administer the game and impart knowledge into the upcoming ones,” he concluded.

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Nigeria Score Late And Lucky Goal To Draw With Sweden

Francisca Ordega scored a late equalizer for Nigeria to earn a 3-3 draw with Sweden in their Group D Women's World Cup opener on Monday, signalling that Africa will be heard from during the month-long tournament.

A day after Germany crushed the Ivory Coast 10-0, the Super Falcons restored African pride with an all-out attacking style that won over the fans and shocked the fifth-ranked Swedes.

With Sweden hanging on for the win, Ordega ran onto a perfect pass from Ngozi Okobi and confidently fired the ball past charging goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl in the 87th minute.

Nigeria had Sweden on the back foot for much of the match but found themselves 2-0 down at halftime after an own goal by Desire Oparanozie and a tap-in from Nilla Fischer, both scores coming off Sweden corners and the product of loose defending.

But the speedy Nigerians continued to press forward in the second half and were rewarded for their enterprise as they scored twice in a three-minute burst from forwards Okobi and Asisat Oshoala, who out-muscled Fischer for the ball at the top of the penalty area and then coolly slotted home.

The reeling Swedes were quick to respond, regaining the lead at 3-2 when substitute Linda Sembrant kneed a cross past Nigeria's goalkeeper Precious Dede.

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