[b]Birmingham City Running The Rule Over Tobi Coker

English Championship outfit Birmingham City look set to beat Fulham and Charlton Athletic to the
signature of Tobi Coker after inviting him for trials.

The Academy coaches at St Andrew's have been watching the 16-year-old midfielder at close quarters for the past few days.

The ex Millwall youth - teamer is relishing the prospect of signing a contract with the Blues, and has pointed out that the club give young players first team opportunities.

''The trials have been good, and I do hope to get signed. They just need me to get fitter, they say, so I'm working on it,'' Tobi Coker said to SL10.ng.

''I know Birmingham City always promote youth team players, and they have very good facilities, so if I could, I think it would be a great place.

''My teammates have all been nice, I am well treated here. I train with the Under 18s in the morning and Under 16 squad in the evening.''

Before Tobi Coker started testing with Birmingham City, the likes of Leyton Orient, Hull City and Cardiff City had considered inviting him for trials.

He could be traveling to Nigeria in two months time for the friendly between Team Nigeria United Kingdom and the Golden Eaglets. [/b]

[b]Barca Will Not Recall PSV's Adekanye


SL10.ng can exclusively report that Barcelona loanee Bobby Adekanye will be staying put at PSV Eindhoven for at least the next twelve months.

Reports that emanated from the Spanish press on Wednesday had suggested that the winger will cut short his loan spell at the Dutch club, and make a return to La Masia academy in February 2015.

But Ademola Adekanye, who can act as agent for his son according to FIFA rules, has put to bed those arguments, insisting that a deal has already been struck for the player to remain in Holland until the end of this calender year.

''Bobby is not going back to Barcelona yet, and he is happy with PSV Eindhoven for now,'' Ademola Adekanye said to SL10.ng.

''Yes, I can confirm that he is not returning to Barcelona next month.''

The highly rated starlet was allowed to leave Barcelona last year after Fifa sanctioned the club for violating the regulations on international transfers and registration of foreign players under the age of 18.

Bobby Adekanye will celebrate his 16th birthday on February 14, 2015. [/b]

[b]I warned my boys about 'dangerous' Eaglets - Lions owner

The Golden Eaglets under the watch of Emmanuel Amuneke, 1994 African Footballer of the Year, have been tipped to go places at the 11th African Championship in Niger.

This much was the opinion of Alhaji Shehu Abdulkadir, the proprietor of Super Lion Football Academy after the Golden Eagles put his Suleja-based side to the sword s in a 10-goal thriller mid week.

Pulsating
In a pulsating match at the NFF/FIFA Goal Project Pitch in Abuja on Wednesday, the Super Lion fell like a pack of cards as the Golden Eaglets turned on the style scoring some breathtaking goals.

- I'm highly impressed about the standard displayed by the national Under-17 team, said. Abdulkadir, the chair of Haidar Oil & Gas Nig. Ltd.

Battering ram
- I forewarned my team that the least they can do is to contain the Golden Eaglets but I never knew they could batter us like this.

- But despite the high-margin loss by my team, I'm so happy that the Golden Eaglets can put up such a wonderful performance and we shall be supporting them all the way in their coming competition in Niger, he added.[/b]

I hope MRI scans are conducted regularly so we don't lose key players at a bad time.

[b] Golden Eaglets Held By Ace Academy

Kaduna based team, Ace Academy for the second time have held the Golden Eagles to a 1-1 draw at the NFF/FIFA Goal Project Pitch in Abuja.

Having met thrice, the Eaglets won by a lone goal in their first meeting courtesy of lone strike by Promise Orji but the last two meeting has been a tough one for both sides, the Kaduna based side have shared the spoils with an identical 1-1 score line in their last two matches with the Golden Eaglets.

This time Kelechi Nwakali gave the Golden Eaglets a first half lead only for Taiye Balogun to fetch Ace Academy a much-needed extra time equalizer.

Murtala Muhammed, the hard working General manager of Ace Academy,said he was impressed with the Golden Eaglets despite recording another draw.

"This is the third time we are playing Eaglets but I think this was our best and we really wanted to win this particular match. But the result notwithstanding, I really want to thank the coaching crew of the Golden Eaglets for given us the opportunity and we want to wish them the best in Niger."Murtala Muhammed said graciously.

Ace dominated the first quarter but went behind in the 22nd minute when Golden Eaglets' Samuel Chukwueze's shot hit an opposing defender in the periphery of the box; and the resultant free kick was converted by Kelechi Nwakali.

Ace nearly got the equaliser in the 26th minute through gifted Hassan Usman but his shot went delicately over the bar. Goalkeeper Akpan Udoh came to the rescue of the Golden Eaglets again in the 44th minute when he stopped Onyeka in a one-on-one situation to end the first half.

In the second half, it was a ding-dong affair with little separating the two sides. But in the 66th minute, Mbuotidem Anietie dribbled his way into the ACE box but saw his lively shot wide. Coach Amuneke then brought in striker Victor Osimhen for Ebere Osinachi to add pep to the Eaglets attack against the resilient ACE defence.

The game was going on forever and ACE finally got their equalizer in added time when Taiye Balogun fired a volley behind Udoh who had virtually been on holidays.

Coach Idris Musa of ACE afterwards stated that the Golden Eaglets would do well at the forthcoming 11th African U-17 Championship.

"The Golden Eaglets are a strong side and I want to believe they would do us proud in Niger."
[/b]

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[b]Amuneke Charges Eaglets To Be Focused

With the 2015 CAF U17 championship just around the corner, Golden Eaglets coach Emmanuel Amuneke has warned his players they must remain focused if they are to win the competition.

The Eaglets arrived Sokoto on Friday afternoon, where they are expected to camp before leaving for Niger, where the cadet tournament is holding.

And Amuneke, a member of the coaching staff of the U17 team that came second in 2013, says if they are to meet their target of winning the competition, his players must have all their focus on the tournament.

“It is easy to say you want to win the competition but the effort you put matters a lot and as a result, I have told my players that they must focus on the tournament and nothing else.

“This is the most important task for us now and thinking about something else will be a distraction for us. We want to do better than we did the last time and the players understand the only way of doing that is to remain focused on the task at hand.”

But despite his dedication to winning the championship, Amuneke further reiterated that he must also develop players that are good enough to represent the Super Eagles In the nearest future.

“We must also understand that we have to build a team that can withstand the pressures of the game after the U17’s. This is not the end of football, but rather, it is the start and we are building these players so they can play for the Super Eagles in the future.” [/b]

[b]Fasbir FA To Face Golden Eaglets

The technical crew of the national U17 team, the Golden Eaglets will have one last chance to see their wards in a real match situation before they leave for the Africa U-17 Championship, they'll face Fasbir Football Academy at the Giginya Memorial Stadium in Sokoto on Wednesday.

Eaglets head coach, Emmanuel Amuneke, has stated that it was imperative to play a local club partly as a token of appreciation for their hospitality to the team by fans and football stakeholders since their arrival on Friday.

"We are going to give our best against Fasbir FC on Wednesday and apart from the fact that this match would be an opportunity for us to see the readiness of the players, we want to also appreciate the people of Sokoto for their support to us since we arrive here," said Amuneke.

On the road to Niger 2015, the Golden Eaglets did not lose any of their 25 domestic friendly matches and recently defeated Nigeria National League side, Sokoto United 2-0 at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna on January 17.

Therefore, prestige would be at stake when the two teams confront each other for obvious reasons. Fasbir FC which is owned by Mallam Mohammed Nasir Saidu, the Assistant Director, Legislative Budget at the National Assembly and chairman of Sokoto Football Association , is a strong side having lost just three times after 30 matches and were recently forced to a 2-2 draw by Sokoto United.

Yet Speaking ahead of the eagerly awaited match by Sokoto fans, Fasbir FC Team Manager, Abdullahi Isah Ilyasu said the match would be an opportunity for his young team to learn few things from the Golden Eaglets: " We are really looking forward to the match against the Golden Eaglets since it would expose our players to what is expected at this level, I mean playing for the national team.

"Fasbir FC is a young team formed about two years ago but we have been impressive too even against teams from Niger and we are going to do our best again on Wednesday," he noted. [/b]