Sport
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…
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…
Friday, 18 August 2023 04:54
Tobi Amusan cleared to compete at Budapest 2023 World Athletics Championships
Tobi Amusan, the reigning World 100m hurdles champion and record holder, has been given the green light to compete at the upcoming World Athletics Championships set to begin on Saturday in Budapest, Hungary. Previously, the 26-year-old athlete faced charges of three whereabouts failures, which constitutes an anti-doping rule violation for missing three out-of-competition tests within a 12-month period. Amusan had contested this charge. Recent news from the Athletics Federation of Nigeria has confirmed that Tobi Amusan, the world record holder in the 100m hurdles, has been cleared of the charges. Consequently, she will now proceed to Budapest to defend the…
Sunday, 13 August 2023 04:30
Anthony Joshua knocks out Helenius in heavyweight boxing bout in London
Anthony Joshua, the British boxer of Nigerian heritage, defeated Robert Helenius, his opponent, via knockout in their heavyweight boxing bout at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday night. The former heavyweight champion won the fight after he handed his opponent from Finland a brutal punch in the seventh round. With the triumph, Joshua scores his first knockout win since December 2020 when he defeated Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev in a WBA, IBO, IBF and WBO title defence. Helenius, the Finnish boxer who replaced banned Dylian White one week before this bout, required oxygen but recovered to congratulate a slim-looking Joshua…
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Tuesday, 08 August 2023 04:10
Nigeria’s Super Falcons crash out of World Cup after penalty loss to England’s Lionesses
Nigeria’s women football team have crashed out of the ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The Super Falcons, despite their gallant display holding the Lionesses to a barren draw after 120 minutes, lost out 4-2 on penalty kicks Missed kicks by Desire Oparonize and Michelle Alozie proved costly as England held their nerve to win their first penalty shoot-out game in the World Cup. Super Falcons were handed a numerical advantage late in the second half when England’s star player Lauren James was given a red card. Unfortunately, the Super Falcons did not make their numerical…
Friday, 28 July 2023 04:34
Nigeria shock hosts Australia 3-2 at Women's World Cup
Nigeria produced the first major shock of the Women's World Cup as they stunned Australia 3-2 on Thursday to leave the co-hosts' tournament hopes on thin ice and home fans reeling. Asisat Oshoala volleyed into an open goal in the 72nd minute to seal a deserved win for the Africans after Uchenna Kanu cancelled out Emily van Egmond's opener on the cusp of halftime and Osinachi Ohale nudged Nigeria ahead after the break. Australia cut the deficit to one goal when Alanna Kennedy nodded home a header in the 10th minute of stoppage time but Nigeria rode out the final…
Thursday, 20 July 2023 03:34
Tobi Amusan charged with anti-doping violation
Women’s hurdles world record-holder, Tobi Amusan, on Wednesday said she has been charged with an alleged anti-doping rule violation, casting doubt on her participation in next month’s world championships. “Today the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has charged me with an alleged rule violation for having 3 missed tests in 12 months,” she said in a post on Instagram. The Nigerian athlete set the current world record for the women’s 100m hurdles of 12.12 seconds at last year’s World Athletics Championships. Amusan, 26, vowed to resolve the charges against her before this year’s competition, set to be held next month in…
Monday, 17 July 2023 04:39
Tobi Amusan sets another record in Poland
Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan has set a new record to win the women’s 100 meters hurdle at the Silesia Diamond League in Poland. On Sunday evening, the current world record holder dusted America’s duo of Kendra Harrison and Ali Nia to equal the meeting record. The reigning Commonwealth Games champion clocked 12.34 seconds to outrace Harrison (12.35) and 2019 world champion Ali (12.38). She equalled the meeting record at the Silesia Stadium, Chorzó as well as a season’s best. A fortnight ago, the Nigerian athlete won her first Diamond League title of the year in Stockholm, Sweden. She is expected to…