Sport
Wednesday, 10 April 2024 04:49
Nigeria’s Super Falcons qualify for 2024 Olympics at South Africa’s expense
Super Falcons of Nigeria have qualified for the women’s football event of the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Nigeria defeated South Africa 1-0 on aggregate in the final round of qualifiers to book a place at the Games for the first time since 2008. Rasheedat Ajibade’s 43rd-minute penalty in the first leg proved historic as the Falcons held on to a pragmatic goalless draw at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Tuesday. Randy Waldrum kept faith in the same line-up that clinched the vital home win on Friday. The Falcons dominated the match in the early stages. They held on to the…
Saturday, 09 March 2024 04:42
Nigeria-born Joshua defeats Cameroon’s Ngannou with second-round knockout
Two-time world champion Anthony Joshua knocked out mixed martial arts star Francis Ngannou in just the second round of their heavyweight clash in the early hours of Saturday. Joshua had his Cameroonian opponent on the canvas in the first round and twice more in the second in a brutal and brief exhibition of punching power. Ngannou, 37, a former UFC heavyweight champion, was taking part in only his second professional boxing match, having lost a split decision to Tyson Fury in an October fight that saw him put the WBC champion on the canvas in the third round. “I thought…
Saturday, 02 March 2024 04:35
Super Eagles coach Peseiro leaves at end of contract
Nigeria's Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro said on Friday he had left the job only weeks after taking the team to the Africa Cup of Nations final. He made the announcement on X, formerly Twitter, confirming the end of his contract with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). “Yesterday, we concluded our contract with the NFF. It was a pride and honor to coach the Super Eagles. It has been 22 months of immense dedication, sacrifice, emotion, and enormous enthusiasm. We feel a sense of fulfilment,” he wrote. Peseiro took Nigeria to the Cup of Nations final for the first time since…
Monday, 12 February 2024 04:48
Super Eagles fail to lift AFCON cup, lose to Elephants of Côte d’Ivoire
The Super Eagles of Nigeria have lost 2-1 to the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire in the final of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON). The Eagles surrendered a goal lead to the Ivorians at the Olympic stadium, Ebimpe, Abidjan, on Sunday. Nigeria conceded only two goals en route to the final but let in just as many goals against a rejuvenated Cote d’Ivoire side. The Elephants were a different team from the earlier side that lost to the Eagles in the group stage and needed to wait till the final match of the group stage to qualify for the second…
Sunday, 11 February 2024 04:55
AFCON: South Africa win third place
South Africa took third place at the Africa Cup of Nations finals in the Ivory Coast when they edged the Democratic Republic of Congo 6-5 on penalties after a goalless draw at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium on Saturday. South Africa midfielder Teboho Mokoena hit the outside of the post with the first kick after which the next eight efforts were all successful, leaving DR Congo captain Chancel Mbemba needing to score to win the contest. But South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams saved Mbemba's effort was saved, taking the shootout into sudden death. Williams then saved again from Meschak Elia to…
Thursday, 08 February 2024 04:44
Nigeria beat South Africa to secure AFCON final
Super Eagles of Nigeria have qualified for the final of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Ivory Coast. Nigeria defeated Bafana Bafana of South Africa on penalties in the semi-final at the Stade de la Paix in Bouake on Wednesday. Both teams played out a one-all draw through the regular period and extra time before the Eagles triumphed 4-2 in the penalty shootout. The match was a record 15th semi-final AFCON semi-final appearance for the Super Eagles, and it was a nervy encounter that pushed them to the breaking point. Victor Osimhen was only announced fit on the eve…
Saturday, 03 February 2024 04:47
Nigeria’s Super Eagles soar into 2023 AFCON semifinal at Angola’s expense. This is how it happened
The Super Eagles put up a professional performance to eke out a 1-0 win over surprise quarterfinalists Angola. A first half goal from Ademola Lookman, his third in the tournament, was all the Nigerians needed to book their place in the semi-final for the 16th time, where they will take on DR Congo or Guinea, who play the second quarterfinal later on Friday night. Stanley Nwabali was fit enough to start in goal, and coach Jose Peseiro went with the same team that defeated Cameroon. Nwabali kept his fourth consecutive clean sheet to become the third Nigerian goalkeeper to keep…
Sunday, 28 January 2024 04:42
Nigeria’s Super Eagles beat Cameroon to qualify for AFCON quarter-final
Super Eagles of Nigeria have qualified for the quarter-final of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Ivory Coast. Nigeria booked a place in the next phase of the competition after defeating Cameroon 2-0 at the Stade Félix Houphouet-Boigny, Abidjan, on Saturday. Ademola Lookman scored a brace as the Eagles outclassed the Indomitable Lions in the nerve-racking encounter. Nigeria qualified for the second round after finishing second in Group A behind Equatorial Guinea. The team had failed to score more than one goal in their previous six matches. But against the Lions, the Eagles broke the jinx with a…
Sunday, 28 January 2024 04:41
Tobi Amusan smashes 25-year-old record in indoor 60m hurdles
It is just January 2024, but Tobi Amusan has picked up where she left off in 2023, breaking Gloria Alozie’s 25-year-old 60m hurdles indoor record on Saturday. Amusan set an African record as she dipped under 7.8 seconds in the 60m hurdles at the Astana Indoor Meet in Kazakhstan. Her record of 7.77 seconds smashed Alozie’s 25-year-old record of 7.82 seconds, set in 1999 during the Madrid Championship. Amusan, 26, finished ahead of close competitors from the USA and Ireland, respectively. Amusan finished first in the event’s final, ahead of Nia Ali of the US and Ireland’s Sarah Lavin, who…
Tuesday, 23 January 2024 04:52
Afcon 2023: Nigeria beat Guinea-Bissau to secure second round spot
Nigeria beat Guinea-Bissau 1-0 to progress to the last 16 of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations at Stade Felix Houphouet Boigny yesterday. Nantes winger Moses Simon powered down the left flank before playing a cross in search of Victor Osimhen, but the pass was intercepted by Opa Sangante, who then sent the ball into the roof of his own goal to give Nigeria a 1-0 win. Nigeria had the ball in the back of the net a second time through Osimhen, but the goal was ruled out for a handball after the Napoli striker appeared to handle the ball…
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Sunday, 24 December 2023 04:31
‘I’m back, I’m back’, Anthony Joshua chants as Nigeria-born champion closes the year with TKO of Wallin
Anthony Joshua has won his third fight of 2023 with a TKO victory over Otto Wallin in the main event of the “Day of Reckoning” card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After securing consecutive victories over Jermaine Franklin in April and Robert Helenius with a seventh-round knockout in August, Joshua cruised to a fifth-round technical knockout win over Wallin, who had been expected to be a formidable opponent, especially with his southpaw stance. The only defeat on Wallin’s record before Joshua came in 2019 against Tyson Fury, in between the Gypsy King’s first and second meetings with Wilder. Fury won by…
Tuesday, 12 December 2023 04:35
Osimhen, Oshoala, Nnadozie shine as Nigeria sweeps CAF awards
Twenty-Four years after Nwankwo Kanu’s triumph as the continent’s best soccer star, Victor Osimhen, was, yesterday, in Marrakech, Morocco, named African Footballer of the Year for his exploits for his club, Napoli and country, Nigeria, in the 2022/23 season. Osimhen, who led Napoli to their first Italian title 33 years after the great Diego Amando Maradona achieved that feat for the Italian side, beat Morocco’s Achraf Hakim and Egypt’s Mohammed Salah to take the crown. To make it a double sweep for Nigeria, Super Falcons’ Asisat Oshoala, a serial winner of the award, was once again declared the African Women’s…
Monday, 20 November 2023 04:31
Lackluster Nigeria held to 1-1 draw by Zimbabwe in World Cup qualifiers
Nigeria continued their stumbling start to the African 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign on Sunday when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Zimbabwe, but there were wins for Egypt and Algeria as the continent's top sides flexed their muscles. Nigeria could only manage a point in neutral Butare, Rwanda after starting their bid to reach the global finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada with a desperately disappointing 1-1 draw at home to lowly Lesotho on Thursday. The Super Eagles have therefore taken two points from their opening two games in the six-team Group C, with only…
Monday, 18 September 2023 04:37
Tobi Amusan bounces back, wins Diamond League trophy again in USA
Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan has emerged winner of the Diamond League trophy for an astonishing third consecutive time. On Sunday night in Oregon, Amusan with a time of 12.33s emerged winner of the fiercely contested 100m hurdles event to shut her critics after a disappointing outing in Budapest. Amusan with Sunday’s remarkable performance made history as the second woman in Diamond League history after Dawn Nelson-Harper to win a hat-trick of 100m hurdles titles. Interestingly, it was in Oregon where Amusan won the world title last year and also set a world record in the process. For Sunday’s race, the hard-charging…