Rivers United FC unveil squad ahead of 2019-20 #NPFL season

Rivers United have unveiled its new players ahead of the commencement of the 2019-20 Nigeria Professional League season.

The players were unveiled at an elaborate ceremony at the club’s home ground, the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Port Harcourt on Tuesday, October 29, 2019.

Addressing the team during the ceremony, General manager of the club, Chief Okey Kpalukwu urged them to give their all in the pursuit of laurels this season.

Responding, club captain, Festus Austine promised that the players would give a hundred percent in all competitions in the coming season.

Rivers United will face Kano Pillars in their opening league game of the season at the Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano in November 3, 2019.

Youth Development – ABS FC promotes 2 youth players as they signed 1st professional contracts

Two of Abubakar Bukola Saraki (ABS) Ilorin FC youth players, Sufian Bello and Muri Dagbo have signed their first professional contracts thus promoted to the senior team.

Dagbo, a central Defender and Bello, a midfielder signed their long term contract on Monday in Ilorin in the presence of the club’s Director of Football, Alloy Chukwuemeka and their coach, Yomi Elijah.

Chukwuemeka said he is delighted to see the two boys developed to merit a place in the senior team.

“Our policy is to help young boys grow into adult in football and become super stars, that is the vision of our proprietor, Dr Bukola Saraki.

“Year in, year out, we have managed to develop one player or two, as we speak, Shola Abdulraheem is now one of the big revelations in the Nigeria National League (NNL).

“Don’t forget Olakunle Olusegun who is currently with the Golden Eaglets in Brazil and a product of first edition of LMC\LaLiga U-15 Promises” Chukwuemeka said.

Also speaking, Coach Yomi Elijah, said the two players are ones that have proven to him they can challenge the big boys in the team.

“No matter how small you are, if you can convince us you can do it at the highest level, we will take the risk and give you the opportunity to grow.

“They are two lads to watch out for, they have proven to us they ready and they are working well and hard in training” Elijah said.

Dagbo told the club’s media after signing his contract, that today is one of the best days of his life.

“It is a dream come through for me to play for this team at the senior level, have always dreamt about it.

“I will work hard to pay the club the confidence they reposed in me” Dagbo said.

To Bello, to be promoted to the senior team is what he has always been looking forward to.

“Signing my first professional contract with ABS is a dream come through for me.

“This is a huge step forward for me in my career, I’m sure my parents will be proud about this because I promised them to play my way into the senior team” Bello said.

Dagbo was one of the players ABS put forward for the maiden edition of the LMC\LaLiga U-15 Promises but couldn’t make the final list but Bello was an integral part of the squad that won the trophy.

I feel honoured to be Named Head Coach for Remo Stars’ U17 side” Olumide Ajibolade.

The New Coach of Remo Stars Football Club (RSFC) Under-17 side, Olumide Ajibolade has said he feels honoured to be in charge of the Sky Blue Stars Youth Team.

Olumide Ajibolade was appointed to continue the club’s legacy to develop future stars and prepare them for challenges ahead.

Speaking with RSFC Media, the new coach says he had played against Remo Stars FC in Ijebu Ode back in 2018 and also watched them play while he was still the coach of Clique Sports Club.

“I feel honoured to be the new Head Coach for the U17s, it is a club I have admired from afar so it is a big privilege to be part of the club.”

“In all honesty, I haven’t heard much about the guys but I have seen and watch them play while I was at clique sports academy. We played against Remo Stars in Ijebu Ode back in 2018, I watched the team play. I have found myself to be a very detailed coach, I saw they were organised unlike most teams we played across the country.”

“The first impression I had was they (Remo) were an organised unit, so getting to work with these set of players now is more exciting.”

“For me I have to understand that the model of the club is to be self sustaining in the future and the assets of the club are the players so my priority is to develop the individual to become exceptional so that they can become valuable to the club.”

“It’s ideally really not about winning matches but making sure that the players can stand on their own to be the best around the world and those are part of the things I want to add to the club.”

“The objective of playing in the Nigeria League One (NLO) for the team is to give competitive edge to their developments, there is no development that is complete without competition so we cannot identify a proper path way without competition so the target for us is to make sure that all the players have a very high competitive edge which for us is the key to their development.”

“We don’t have an objective to win but of course we don’t want to relegate but the objective is to compete at the highest level.”

“Personally, traveling is not an achievement, it’s about what they do when they go to Europe, I have been to a lot of countries in Europe and in this summer I was in Portugal, I saw a lot of players (Nigeria Descent) roaming the streets club less because maybe we (Nigerians) are in a hurry to export the players and are not ready or equipped to deal with the expectations in Europe.”

“The reason I travel to Europe a lot is to market, you have to study the market to determine how to market your product (players) when it is ready so I have to ensure that players from the youth system get to play in the first team of the club, go to Europe and make a mark in the Champions League in Europe, represent the country and also the National team and that’s when I can say we are successful.”

“One thing that is constant in coaching is that you get to meet new players all the time and it’s always exciting to meet new players. Personally, it is an opportunity to start a new project because every new player is a new project. Now that we are starting, I am a new coach and they are new players so it is a perfect opportunity to rewrite the direction of our careers because the coaches are also made by the players, these players are going to bring in different personalities, different level of demands from me, they are going to push me and I am going to push them.”

“We are both going to develop ultimately to the benefits of the club, how soon I don’t know because they learn at different paces, how soon they will develop is dependent on their career but of course we are going to use every resource available to us to world class standards to bring the best out of them as quickly as possible.”

“I am going to tell every prospective player out there that is looking forward to becoming a top player in the world that this is the best place to be, it’s the best place if you want to become top because we are setting a new standard in player development.”

“We are setting a new standard for talent identification and talent development so we are preparing to showcase to the Country, to Africa and the rest of the world that football development can be done in a different way here in Nigeria.

We have invested in a lot of equipments, 4k video cameras, a drone, Mannequins, and construction of our own state of the art 4G pitches and a lot of other stuffs

“We have also planned a lot of local and international tournaments to help and develop these players, so we are excited to be in this moment and any player that has the opportunity to be part of us would enjoy the moment that they will spend with us, so I look forward to whoever it is that makes the court but we will be fair in our assessments and we will give everybody the best chance to succeed.”

ABD’ALLAH HAILS ‘VERY GOOD’ SOUTH AFRICAN FOOTBALL SYSTEM AHEAD OF GALAXY CLASH

Usman Abd’Allah has praised the South African football system and suggests that TS Galaxy can now be seen in same light as the country’s big teams.

The Enyimba technical adviser was speaking ahead Sunday’s CAF Confederation Cup playoff fixture against South Africa’s Cup Champions at the Enyimba Stadium.

Sunday’s fixture in Aba will mark the second time in less than two years that the People’s Elephant will be met by a South African opposition at this stage of the Confederation Cup.

While Premier Soccer League side Bidvist Wits were the opponents in 2018, Galaxy, a second division side, shot into prominence when they defied odds to become the first lower tier team to clinch the Nedbank Cup, thereby earning a place in the CAF Confederation Cup.

The Rockets have taken that form to their debut appearance in the Confederation Cup, winning all of their first four matches in the competition.

And having beaten reputable Premier Soccer League sides en route their domestic Cup triumph, Abd’Allah believes the Rockets should now be rated at the level of South Africa’s big teams.

“They (South African teams) are teams with very good techniques and tactics and you know they have a very good youth development over there, so you can see they have very good technical abilities and tactical abilities.

“We are not taking anything for granted. We are expecting the team to be a very, very good team.

“They win their matches away and they are a goal scoring team at away. So we’re all aware of that, that is why you can see how we’ve been preparing a lot so that we can work on our technical and tactical ability that can match this team.”

Zenith Bank Women League National Final 8: Competition for National title hots up as QF games take Centre stage.

Quarter finals of the 2019 Zenith Bank Women League National Final 8 will be decided tomorrow- Tuesday as competition for the National title and two continental tickets hots up.

The curtain raiser will be between group A winner- First Bank and BlackGold of Abuja who finished bottom of Group B at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos by 10:00am.

Current champions-First Bank on the back of their unbeaten run which dates back to 2016 will hope to take a step towards winning their 10th National title against new entrant- BlackGold.

Team of the moment and one of the early title favorites, Air Warriors having finished top of Group B will tackle Plateau Rocks who have failed to win a game at the National Final 8 phase.

The newly formed Air Warriors bankrolled by the Nigerian AirForce will again depend on the trio of double-double Queen, Murjanatu Musa, veteran player Blessing Kasham and Chinwe Okah in their quest to qualify for their first ever semifinal.

The third game of the day will be between Dolphins and Delta Force.

Having last won the title in 2015 and losing to First Bank in the 2018 finals, all eyes will be on the Coach Peter Ahmedu tutored side when they file out against Delta Force.

Last quarter finals game promises to be explosive between two evenly matched sides, Customs and MFM Queen.

It will be a grudge match for MFM who were denied a podium finish in 2018 when they lost to Customs in the third placed game.

Semi finals will be played on Wednesday.

Remo Stars FC retains Ogunmodede appoints youth coaches.

Remo Stars FC have confirmed that Coach Daniel Ogunmodede will be in-charge of the team going into the 2019/2020 Nigeria National League (NNL) season.

The former Chief Coach replaces Kennedy Boboye, whose contract with the club expired at the end of the 2018/2019 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season and also remains the Director of Youth Football to oversee the activities of the youth team.

In the light of this development, Coach Daniel Ogunmodede will be assisted by Coach Olayinka Sokabi and Coach Babatunde Adeniyi as Assistant Coach one and two respectively while Dahiru Ilu retains his position as the Goalkeeper Coach.

Meanwhile, the Sky Blue Stars youth team legacy to develop future stars continues with the appointment of Coach Olumide Ajibolade as the new Under-17s head coach.

Former assistants to the Director of Youth Football, Coach Olawale Olowookere and Coach Oluwaseun Ogunmoyero have now been deployed to take full responsibility of the Under-15s and Under-13s respectively.

Speaking with RSFC Media, General Secretary of the club, Michael Onikute says the latest development is a good step in the right direction.

“It’s a good step in the right direction because the club believes in Coach Daniel Ogunmodede’s philosophy, he has been with the team for a while now and he already understand the terrain of the club. We hope his experience and satisfactory work with the junior team will be translated to the senior team to return the team to the elite division.”

“With the appointment of the youth team coaches, full responsibility of each youth cadre at the club will be fully utilized as they will have a good execution of the developmental programs while they also report to the Director of Youth Football, Daniel Ogunmodede.

“I also want to use this opportunity to wish the Technical Crew at all levels the best going forward in all their different activities in ensuring the best for the team.”

Justin Smart ready for the Go Round FC challenge

Justin Smart was handed the mandate to lead Go Round FC in the Nigeria National League this season and he has said he is ready for the challenge.

Smart was assistant to Willy Udube in the 2018/ 19 NPFL season that saw the team relegated to the lower division, but has now been moved up to head coach following the departure of his former boss to Abia Warriors.

After two weeks of intensive pre-season training, Smart has spoken up regarding what he has done so far and what is left to do before the season kicks off.

“The last two weeks have been intensive for us because the club decided to embark on open screening exercise, first for people of Ogba Egbema Ndoni origin and another one open for anyone that wanted to try out.

“After the first one week, I was able to pick a couple of players form the area that I think are good enough. I was supposed to pick five but from what I have seen of them I am very sure at least two of them will be good enough for the first-team next season,” Smart said.

“In the general screening session I also saw a couple of players I can bank on for the league so it has been all well and good for us within the last two weeks.”

On Thursday, October 17, 2019, returning players and those invited by the coaches from other clubs will begin to arrive in Omoku as the team will begin their final lap of preparations for the new season.

“I have a lot of prospects that I invited from other clubs. Then there are the returning players and then those we got during the screening, so I believe we will get a players we need for the league,” Smart insists.

WRESTLING: Onyebuchi Wins Gold, Genesis Settles For Silver At World Beach Games

African champion Blessing Onyebuchi (+70kg) capped a memorable outing for Nigeria at the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games in Doha, Qatar with a gold medal in beach wrestling.

On the last day of competition in the sport, Onyebuchi overpowered Ecuador’s Rosangela Reasco Valdez 3-0 in a one-sided final in the over 70kg category to land a historic gold for Nigeria at the famous Katara beach.

The Edo State-born wrestler had earlier defeated Iryna Pasichnyk of Ukraine 3-2 in the semi-finals to book a place in the gold medal bout. She also demolished Aysegul Ozbege of Turkey 4-0 and outclassed Brazilian Aline Ferraira 3-0 in the previous rounds.

Earlier on Monday, Nigeria’s other representative at the competition Mercy Genesis narrowly lost 3-2 to Brazilian Kamila Barbosa Vito Da Silva to settle for silver in the 50kg class. Multiple African champion Genesis had already defeated Da Silva 4-2 in the group stage, but fell short in the final.

Their performance in Doha is a testament of Nigeria’s growing prowess in wrestling globally.

CAF CONFEDERATION CUP – IT WILL BE TOUGH BUT WE SHALL SCALE THROUGH –UGWU

Head coach of Total/CAF Confederation cup 2019/2020 hopefuls, Rangers International F.C, Benedict Ugwu has assured the teaming fans of the club that he and his wards have all the motivation and hunger to scale
through to the group stage of the competition ahead of their Togolese opponents, A.S.C Kara in the two legged playoff round.

Surugede as the coach was fondly called in his active playing days for club and country told StarSports exclusively that with the draws made midweek in Cairo that pitched the ‘Flying Antelopes’ against reigning Togolese league champions, Association Sportive Des Conducteurs De Kara (A.S.C.K), he strongly believe that his team can make the group
stage even when he agrees that it would be tough.

“I agree perfectly that there is no small team any longer in African football hence, we respect our opponent as champions of Togo league but we have what it takes to overcome them and cruise into the group stage of the competition. Surely, it would be a tough encounter but we shall be in the group stage by God’ grace,” stated the one time third best African footballer.

Ugwu, who agreed that the non start of the NPFL to a large extent, contributed to the ouster of two of the country’ representatives on the continent, further said, “Yes, I believe that the delay in the start of our league contributed to the elimination of some of our
teams from the continent but our management foresaw this situation and moved towards overcoming it with series of friendly matches that has helped us a lot in understanding while playing. There is nothing like underrating our opponent. They earned their place to contest in this round and we shall approach both legs with all the attention it deserves.”

Recall that the seven time Nigeria league champions earned a place in this round of the competition after a 4-3 aggregate win over Gabonese side, A.S Pelican while the Togolese league champions, dropped down to the second tier of the continental competition after failing to make the CAF Champions league group stage after a 1-0 aggregate loss to D.R Congo side, A.S Vita in the second qualifying round.

Rangers will be flying into Lome to trade tackles with the Togolese side at Stade de Kegue, Lome on October 27, 2019 with the return leg scheduled for ‘The Cathedral’, Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium, Enugu a week
later, November 3, 2019.

Adekuoroye, Oborududu Move Up In World Rankings

Commonwealth champion Odunayo Adekuoroye (57kg) has moved one step up in the latest rankings, and is now the second-best wrestler in the world in her weight class, while 9-time African champion Blessing Oborududu climbed to number four in the 68kg category.

In the latest rankings released by the United World Wrestling, Adekouroye, who won a bronze medal at last month’s World Championships in Kazakhstan, is now second with 73 points, three points behind 2018 world champion Ningning Rong of China, while Norwegian Grace Bullen is placed third with 66points.

Oborududu, a Commonwealth gold medalist herself, is in 4^th place with 48pts, behind top-rated Swede, Anna Fransson (56pts), Alla Cherkasova (52pts) of Ukraine and Battsetseg Soronzonbold (51pts) of Mongolia.

Nigeria’s duo of Blessing Onyebuchi (76kg) and Mercy Genesis (50kg), who are currently in Doha, Qatar for the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games, are ranked 15^th and 18^th respectively, while Commonwealth champion Aminat Adeniyi (62kg) is rated 20^th in the world.

African champion Sunmisola Balogun is also ranked 12^th in the 65kg class with 18 points.

In the men’s freestyle category, Emmanuel Ogbonna John is placed 14^th in the 74kg weight class with 18 points. The 3-time African champion is the only Nigerian male wrestler in the top 20 across the 10 weight classes.

No Nigerian made it to the top 20 in the Greco Roman style