NaijaWire

Archive for the ‘Sport’ Category

Tianjin (China) - Nigeria’s U-23 soccer team files out against Holland in a crunch group tie of the football event as underdogs but coach Samson Siasia is sure his players can stand the big challenge.

He said his team had all it takes to match the star-studded Dutch team on Thursday in Tianjin. As one of its confidence-boosters ahead of today’s match, the Olympic Eagles won a four-nation tourney in Malaysia shortly before moving over to South Korea for the final phase of its preparation for the Games. But despite the fine form the boys displayed at the competition, one of the usually unplanned for sides of competitive football has visited the team.

Korea - The Nigerian Olympic soccer team, the Flying Eagles, in pursuit of the Olympic football gold medal,  yesterday thrashed a Republic of Korea Premier League club 4-1.

The match, one of the games that coach Samson Siasia has lined up to fine-tune his armory for the Beijing Games, saw the Eagles scoring through Victor Obinna Nsofor, Bernard Okorowanta, Victor Anichebe and Solomon Okoronkwo. The victory comes just three days before the team takes the short flight into Beijing, onwards to Tianjin, where it plays in the group phase of the Games at the quadrennial showpiece.

London - Super Eagles skipper and English FA winning striker, Nwankwo Kanu, has rejected several tempting offers to move to the less fancied American Major League Soccer (MLS), for a less lucrative 1 year continued stay at English Premier League side, Portsmouth Football Club.

The 31-year-old, whose current contract expired at the end of last season, will sign for a further 12 months with Pompe, with an option of an extra 12 months if he plays an undisclosed number of games in the regular season. Kanu is currently touring with Portsmouth in South Africa, for pre-season games.

UK - Manchester United defender and skipper, Rio Ferdinand is planning to launch a soccer school in Nigeria.

Ferdinand will return to Nigeria for the second time this summer when the premiership and European club champions, Manchester United, plays Portsmouth FC, at the Abuja Stadium on July 28.

Two weeks after lifting the Champions League trophy in Moscow, Ferdinand was a guest of the Lagos State governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, and his first engagement was launching the Lagos Street Soccer Championships, an initiative that aims to empower young children through sports, while also helping unearth Nigerian footballing prodigies.

Port Harcourt- Police and family members have officially confirmed the irresponsible kidnapping of the elder brother of Nigerian and Everton football star and skipper, Joseph Yobo.

Norum Yobo, who plays for Dolphins of Port Harcourt, was seized at a hotel in Port Harcourt, a spokeswoman said. No group has yet claimed responsibility and no ransom has been demanded.

Everton football club said it would do all it could to help Joseph Yobo, who is on holiday in Lagos.

Kidnappings, frequent in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of the country, have mostly ended with a ransom payment.