₦airaland Forum

I completely agree with you on this. Anything above 3 months is disaster

KillIgbohoN0W:
Not more than 3 months' salary.
Anything more and you're living beyond your means.

So who come be the first or second wife

slawormiir:
Damnnn niggar
Ain't got nothing to say about that c300....

Just go for voltron or lexus es 350.....although I prefer the lexu rx 350 anyday anytime twice on Monday

Still cruising my low budget ass voltron and venza though ....I know am gonna get that lexus rx350 soon...i just love that ride

I have been seeing the Lexus more frequently these days. Seems people are buying the car more. That means there is something unique about the car. My only problem is just the see through boot

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has reduced the life ban slammed on former international, Samson Siasia to five years following his appeal against the decision rendered by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) on 11 April 2019.

It will be recalled the former Super Eagles coach was found guilty of infringement of article 1 (bribery) of the 2009 FIFA Code of Ethics and sanctioned with a life ban from taking part in any kind of football-related activity at national and international level (administrative, sports or any other) and a fine of CHF 50,000 (N22.3m) was imposed on him.

In 2010, a match fixer tried to involve Mr Siasia as a coach of a club under his strict instructions. With the promise of employment benefits, Mr Siasia would have had to always field several players under the control of the match fixer.

The negotiations between the match fixer and Mr Siasia in relation to the conditions of employment were conducted by email over a period of two months.

Read more at https://thesportsbay.com/cas-reduces-samson-siasias-life-ban/.html

It is the dream of every young, aspiring footballer to make it to the top in his or her chosen career and it’s important to know exactly what professional football scouts is looking for.

Almost every established club in the world with good structures usually employ scouts, either on part-time or full time basis to help search for talents that can potentially take over the baton when the older ones leave the stage.

Football scouts attend football matches on the behalf of clubs to collect intelligence. Primarily, there are two types of scouts: player scouts and tactical scouts. Player scouts or physical scouts evaluate the talent of footballers with a view to signing them on a professional contract for their employers.

As such, these scouts go round the globe to fulfil their mandate where they organize football trials to carefully pick the kind of talents they need.

So as young, budding footballer, there are certain traits these scouts search for beyond the raw talents you have.
In as much the raw talents and natural abilities a young footballer has play a huge role, they are not enough to get him or her that platform to develop. It is an open secret that most football scouts hate nothing more than unfulfilled talent.

So what other attributes are these football scouts looking for beyond raw talents and natural ability.

TECHNICAL ABILITY

Technical abilities are the skills and knowledge needed to perform specific tasks, in this case, football.
Having these skills doesn’t mean you need to be performing fancy flicks and tricks like Neymar.

Rather, the scouts will assess you on your physical attributes, your dribbling, tackling, shooting, heading, passing and first touch will be assessed in the context of the game.

So, as a young footballer, you will need to demonstrate a good first touch and ease on the ball regardless of your position. If you lose the balls too much, your chances of being picked fades away.

Basically, having all the skills but you don’t know how to use them will not in any way give you that space. It will count for nothing if these skills are not used positively on the field.

Take for example, Cristiano Ronaldo is a talented player but he worked his ass off to get to level he is now. Talent didn’t just take him to the top but using the talents well.

TACTICAL ABILITY

This refers to your tactical awareness to read the game well and identify the spaces that can be exploited during the game. We can call this ‘football IQ’ where the scouts will be watching every move you make with and without the ball. A lot of scouts spend more time looking at players without the ball than with it.

A players like Andres Iniesta, Xavi are regarded as one of the most intelligent players because of his abilities to read a game well and orchestrate proceedings on the field of play.

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES

In the modern football, size and appearance are not as important as they used to be but the player must demonstrate an element of strength, balance and poise on and off the ball.

Football is a physical game and it is very important the players have the stamina to complete a game.

Let’s take for example, N’Golo Kante who has a small body but is a work horse. The Chelsea man has so much stamina despite his small frame.

A lot of scouts will simply want to make sure that your physique and other physical attributes don’t put you at a disadvantage.

A player’s ability to take a knock and still stay on your feet while keeping up with the pace of the game is a major plus for the scouts.

[b]Read more at [/b]https://thesportsbay.com/how-to-win-the-hearts-of-football-scouts/.html

Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr has listed four Nigeria Professinal Football League players for the friendly game against Cameroon in Austria on Friday, 4th June 2021.

The players are among the 31 others listed for the game which will take place at the Wiener Neustadt in the Austrian capital, Vienna starting from 8.30pm Austria time.

Headlining the list unveiled on Friday is Captain Ahmed Musa, with deputy captain William Ekong, goalkeeper Maduka Okoye, defenders Kenneth Omeruo and Chidozie Awaziem, midfielders Wilfred Ndidi and Oghenekaro Etebo and forwards Victor Osimhen, Kelechi Iheanacho and Samuel Chukwueze also called.

Portugal-based Abraham Marcus is called for the first time and Enyimba FC’s energetic forward Anayo Iwuala, whose tenacity and drive has helped the People’s Elephant to the quarter finals of the CAF Confederation Cup, has opportuntity to fight for a place and continue on his international footprints, following cameo appearances against Benin Republic and Lesotho in AFCON qualifiers in March.

The provisional list of 31 will be whittled down to 23 before the Super Eagles fly to Vienna for the clash with perennial rivals Indomitable Lions.

Cameroon wrestled down the Eagles for three of their five AFCON titles (1984, 1988, 2000) but have not beaten Nigeria in regulation time since a 1-0 triumph in a 1990 FIFA World Cup qualifying match at the Stade Omnisports in Yaounde on 27th August 1989.

The Eagles lashed the Lions 4-0 in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Uyo in September 2017 and were forced to a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture in Yaounde, setting the stage for Nigeria’s qualification for the finals in Russia.

FOR THE THE FULL LIST, CHECK https://thesportsbay.com/41246-rohr-lists-four-npfl-players-for-cameroon-friendly-in-austria.html

To the Muslims in the house, pls why is baba sitting on a chair with a special mat for him?

Former Super Eagles goalkeeper Emmanuel Okocha has admitted that he was in the stand to watch his young brother Austin Jay Jay Okocha scored one of the best goals in the history of German Bundesliga.

Jay Jay Okocha stole the headline during his days in the Bundesliga after he dribbled about seven defenders, including Germany great Oliver Kahn and scored the iconic goal for his Eintracht Frankfurt in 1993.

Emmanuel who is the older brother of the former Bolton Wanderers captain told Nigeria Football Federation media team in a live Instagram session that he cried while watching his brother in Germany.

“I was at the stadium with my brother, Okocha was playing for Frankfurt he had the ball facing Oliver Khan, when he started dribbling, I put my hands on my head and I was saying if you miss this goal, everyone was in awe, even players stopped moving and when he scored I buried my head in tears. I could not hold it.”

Emmanuel who was part of the Super Eagles silver medal-winning squad to the 1990 African cup of Nations in Algeria, admitted that his younger brother exceeded his expectations in the game.

“He was better when he was younger. I could not see him much because I was always away playing for my club. He highly exceeded my expectations, sometimes I go back to YouTube to watch him.”

“He knew what he wanted. He knew his background and took hard decisions to achieve his goal, he was really wise”, he said.

Austin Okocha is regarded as the greatest Nigerian player ever and was the first African player to command a 24 million dollar transfer fee following his move from Fenerbahce to French side Paris Saint-German.

Source: https://www.brila.net/i-cried-watching-jay-jay-play-in-germany-emmanuel-okocha/

Nigeria international and Paris FC goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie has revealed that her career in becoming a goalkeeper was orchestrated by her brothers, the SportsBay.com reports.

Nnadozie shone brightly as the Falconets reached the U20 Women’s World Cup quarter-finals in France – the same country where she inspired the Super Falcons to the Women’s World Cup Round of 16 for the first time since 1999 last year.

Her biggest achievement at her maiden senior World Cup was when she emerged as the youngest goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet at the tournament in Nigeria’s 2-0 win over South Korea – the country’s only triumph at the event.

Before the World Cup, she had put her brilliance on display in a penalty shootout as she helped the Super Falcons win the Wafu Women’s Cup in Cote d’Ivoire, and also replicated her goalkeeping heroics in Nigeria’s African Games triumph.

The former Rivers Angels star, who moved to the French top-flight outfit in January, shared how she started out in several positions before settling to be a goalkeeper according to Goal.

“I was told my father played football. My elder brothers and cousin’s sisters also play football but not as professionals,” Nnadozie said in an Instagram interview with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

“I got to train with my brothers and their friends. One them enrolled me into an Academy in Owerri named Nwudu Football Academy now Heartland Queen FC.

“I started as a right wing-back, then I switch to a striking role. But most times when there’s no space for me to play, my brothers send me between the posts to keep for them.

“At the Academy, I was a player until one faithful day when we are playing against Campus Academy also in Owerri, our goalkeeper looked so tired after conceding two goals. I turned to the coach and said – let me replace her, she looks tired already.”

The 19-year-old had starred for Nigeria at the U17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan, where they failed to progress from the group stage in 2016 and further disclosed how she was discovered.

“My coach looked at me and laughed with an unserious facial expression, he said ‘we are trailing two goals with a keeper and you want me to play without a keeper’,” she continued.

“He later agreed and made some fantastic saves in the first five minutes. After seeing my performance that day, he wanted me to switch to goalkeeping. We were preparing for the National Sports Festival when he approached me and said ‘we have senior and better players than you in the team.

“There’s no assurance you are going to make the team except as a goalkeeper.’ He promised to teach me the basics of goalkeeping and trained me to be a professional one. I started keeping with bare hands.

“He later bought me my first gloves and boots to encourage me.”

https://thesportsbay.com/36490-how-nnadozie-became-a-goalkeeper.html

Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) stakeholders and fans have been urged to descountence a fake news that suggested that the suspended 2019/20 season would be concluded in China.


The purveyors of the news which seem to have enjoyed viral circulation, claimed that Chairman of League Management Company (LMC), Shehu Dikko disclosed the decision to a Lagos based Radio Station.


But Dikko said he could not have said so after a recent online meeting of the LMC and Chairmen of the 20 NPFL Clubs which agreed on possible options to conclude the season.


"Why would I suggest that we will conclude the season in China with all the logistics nightmare and attendant cost this would entail", began Dikko in reaction to the story and declared, " this is an absurd attempt at fake news".


The LMC Chairman said the decision reached at the meeting with Club Owners still stand and "we will continue to liaise with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the Sports Ministry and relevant government agencies working on the COVID 19 pandemic for advise on when it is safe for football to return".

Former England coach, Sven-Göran Eriksson has revealed that the then Aminu Maigiri-led Nigeria Football Federation had given him a condition before he could be appointed Super Eagles in 2010.

In an interview with branschen.se, Eriksson said he was approached after the 2010 World Cup and he was told by an official of the NFF that his salary would be paid into two different bank accounts.

The 72-year-old was among the coaches shortlisted for the Eagles’ job after late Shaibu Amodu was relieved of his job despite a third-place finish at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola and qualifying the squad for the Mundial.

Asked if he ever applied for a job as a coach, Erikson said, “I’ve never applied for a job in my entire life.

“All my assignments have come about through the results I have achieved. I have never gone through any traditional job interviews, never sat down and conducted any tests or been analysed.

“The closest I have come to an interview is that I met the owner or chairman of the club or national team during a dinner or some other context. But then it was really just about meeting to talk about terms and contracts.”

Erikson added, “The only time I can remember having undergone any form that resembles an interview was when I was asked about the job of Nigeria’s national team coach in 2010 ahead of the World Cup in South Africa.

“I went down in the belief that I would meet the chairman of the national team association (NFF) and that it was really only contract formalities that we would go through. But when I arrived, several coaches had received the same invitation, including Lars Lagerbäck. I was very surprised but found myself quite quickly.

Read more at https://thesportsbay.com/36261-eriksson-nff-wanted-my-salary-divided.html

Nigerian track and field athlete, Blessing Okagbare has said she is no longer interested in dating and consequently, marriage but may reconsider her choice if she sees a man that will write her 500 words essay, the SportsBay.com reports.

Blessing Okagbare who took to her Instastories to declare that she has lost interest in dating, however gave conditions on what her next suitors must do to win her heart.

It will be recalled that she recently filed for divorce from her husband, Otegheri, after six years of marriage.

The Olympic and World Championships medalist stated that any man who might be interested in getting into a relationship with her should write an essay of 500 words on how he would not waste her time.

This coming following reports that Nigeria’s star athlete filed for a divorce suit to end her six-year marriage to husband, Mr. Igho Otegheri.

It was reported that Okagbare gave her all to the marriage but had to file for divorce following long-standing rows between her and her hubby, which led to a face-off between the families of the couple, with the ex-footballer’s parents reportedly asking for a refund of the bride price they paid during the traditional rites six years ago in Sapele.

https://thesportsbay.com/36242-im-no-longer-interested-in-dating-marriage-okagbare.html

Taribo made us pray for hours – Zanetti

Former Inter Milan defender, Javier Zanetti, has revealed how former Nerazzurri teammate, Taribo West, invited himself and other colleagues over for dinner but turned it into a prayer session, much to the frustration of the players.

Zanetti revealed the hilarious incident during an Instagram live session with Christian Vieri, another former Inter star.

The former Nerazzurri captain added that after Taribo made them pray for hours, they had to leave without waiting to have the dinner they came for.

He said, “A month disappeared in January. He returned after a month and said ‘I got married; a month of vacation is expected in my country’.

“Another time he invited us to dinner, we arrived at 8-9 and he prayed. An hour, two hours, three hours. We went away without dinner.”

Taribo and Zanetti both shared the same locker room between 1997 and 1999 at the San Siro, where the defender turned pastor made a total of 44 appearances and was able to find the back of the net on one occasion.

He won the 1997-98 UEFA Cup for Inter Milan in an all-Italian final against Lazio, being their third title in eight years in the competition.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/punchng.com/taribo-made-us-pray-for-hours-zanetti/%3famp=1

The Nigeria Football Federation president, Amaju Pinnick has opened up that the federation is at a loss on how the Super Falcons can be celebrated following their exploits in Africa, thesportsbay reports.

He stated this during a breakfast show on Arise TV on Monday while lamenting over the disruptions in the football calendar caused by the COVID 19 pandemic.

On the impact of the pandemic on the Nigeria football sector, with the game having been shut down since 19th March 2020, Pinnick stated: “We will sit down with our (official premium) partners AITEO with regards to the AITEO Cup competition, to see how we can still put this year’s edition together.

“There is also the AITEO/NFF Awards (in its third edition). This year’s edition is meant to celebrate the Super Falcons. We have plans to celebrate them but we don’t know how to go about it. So, we will sit down with our sponsors to figure things out, ” he said.

Speaking further, Pinnick expressed his displeasure with the family of late Nasarawa United defender, Chineme Martins over the delay in undertaking an autopsy to determine his death.

It will be recalled that the defender collapsed and later died during a recent Nigeria Professional Football League clashh.

“The committee has worked to an appreciable level; done with its report. The members have done a great job in a short time and I must commend them.

“I am however, worried that the family of the late player has so far refused to give the go-ahead for autopsy to be done on the corpse.” he said.

Meanwhile, he has lauded the efforts of the Federal Government in containing the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, describing measures taken so far as “effective and re-assuring”.

https://thesportsbay.com/35849-we-can-celebrate-super-falcons-pinnick.html

IbroSaunks:
sadly i didn't experience Balogun, though we heard Alot about him. when i entered, it was ojemuyiwa that was in charge. in my opinion, it was when they stopped making it compulsory for the pkc to be a kcob that things started getting wierd. i guess u have to go through kc life to understand it well. im sure Mr Balogun was a kcob.

No he wasnt

The first Nigeria Professional Football League game in 2020 between MFM FC and Nasarawa United ended goalless at the Agege Stadium, Lagos on Wednesday evening.

The Match Day 11 clash which is also the first game of the new decade saw a struggling Nasarawa United looking to secure its second league win against an average MFM.

The Olukoya Boys at the early stages of the game were in controlling possessions while pegging their visitors in their own half in search for an early goal.

In the 10th minute, the away side should have opened the scoring through Tayo Fabiyi but for the heroics of MFM goal tender, Abayomi Folarin.

As the game wore, the Olukoya Boys began to fashion out goal scoring chances but were wasteful in front of goal.

In the 16th minute, MFM’s Akanni Elijah picked out Oriyomi Lawal with a defence-splitting pass, who beats his marker to the ball but couldn’t get a shot on target to the agony of the coaching crew.

Interestingly, towards the end of the first half, the visitors had a good spell as they played some tiki-taka football which the Lagos fans acknowledged and applauded them for.

At the restart of the second half with both sides remaining unchanged in terms of playing personnel, MFM once again had one of the best chances in the game but just as they did in the first half, they failed to take them.

In the 60th minute, Elijah found Adeniji in space in the box who slided the ball with his right foot but it narrowly went off target.

Desperate to score, the home side were being kicked and got freekicks in the process which they failed again to utilize well.

In the 83rd minute, it was a major scare for home side as Nasarawa substitute Dauda rounded off Folarin but his effort was cleared off the line by defender Joshua Akpudje who injured himself in the process to help his team share the spoils.

Following this result, MFM dropped down to 10th position with 16 points while Nasarawa Utd overtook Enugu Rangers to take up the 19th position with 7 points.

https://thesportsbay.com/34372-first-game-of-the-decade-ends-goalless.html

The minister of Youths and Sports Development, Sunday Dare on Monday walked out on top Nigeria Football Federation officials for coming late to a crucial meeting.

The president of NFF, Amaju Pinnick who in company of the second vice president of the federation, Shehu Dikko, and the chairperson Nigeria Women’s League, Aisha Falode came 4:20pm for a meeting scheduled for 4:00pm at the MKO Abiola National Stadium office of the minister.

In what was a like drama, Dare who is a stickler to time was on his way out for another meeting when he was stopped by the Pinnick who made frantic efforts to explain why he came late, but was unable to have the minister stay back.
Shortly after the minister and his entourage had left the scene, it was alleged that Pinnick who was shell-shocked and asked ‘we are just 10 minutes late, how can the minister leave us like that’?

According to a reliable source, the minister had been tolerating the overbearing nature of the NFF who seemed were trying to undermine his authority as the head of the sports ministry.

It was also gathered from the source that the meeting was to discuss about the welfare of the national U23 team who are preparing to leave Nigeria for Egypt for 2019 U23 African Nations Cup.

The meeting will also give both parties the opportunity to discuss on the commencement of the Nigeria Professional Football League next Sunday.

At press time we could not ascertain if the minister rescheduled the meeting with the NFF officials, but journalists who witnessed the scenario claimed that the minister by his action has shown to the NFF he has no acceptance for “African Time” ideology.

Earlier, the sports minister started that no federation is bigger than it supervisory ministry as the ministry top agenda is to open a new page for sports development in the country.

https://thesportsbay.com/33109-sports-minister-walks-out-on-pinnick.html

The Minister of Youth and Sports Sunday Dare has approved the refund of the money International Association of Athletics Federations mistakenly sent to Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).

It will be recalled that the IAAF sent $150,000, in 2017, to the AFN, instead of the $15,000, which the world body was expected to contribute to the development of athletics in Nigeria.

Dare confirmed the approval via his social media handle on Wednesday evening and promised that the money will get to international body soon barring bank delay.

“I have approved the release of funds to refund the IAAF overpayment wrongly credited to the Athletics Federation of Nigeria. In a few days from now the funds should hit the account of the IAAF baring any interbank delays. With this Nigeria’s reputation is regained,” he wrote.

IAAF had warned Nigeria would incur sanctions if the $134,000 that was overpaid was not returned which the immediate former sports minister, Solomon Dalung had interpreted as a threat that the IAAF would ban Nigeria from international competition.

This was later categorically denied by the IAAF, which insisted it had “no intention” to suspend the AFN.

Few hours to his departure, Dalung returned 50% of the missing money to the IAAF.

It was gathered that Dalung in a phone call with the IAAF’s president, Sebastian Coe promised to return some money which he did before he left office.

The IAAF revealed at the time that it had received an unspecified “small amount” from the AFN.

https://thesportsbay.com/32866-nigeria-refunds-iaaf-missing-money.html

Another scandal is brewing from the Super Eagles camp following a revelation that the three-time African champions landed in Singapore without training kits.

The Super Eagles are in the Asian country for a blockbuster friendly match against the Samba Boys of Brazil on Sunday.

According to a member of the Nigeria Football Federation’s Reforms Committee, Osasu Obayiuwana on his verified twitter handle said the players were flown in Business Class while all the coaching staff except for Coach Gernot Rohr were put in Economy Class.

In a series of tweets, Obayiuwana revealed that the team trained in all kinds of gear, for their opening training session in Singapore.

Read more here https://thesportsbay.com/32063-eagles-train-in-singapore-without-kits.html

The Minister of Youths and Sports Development Hon. Sunday Dare has affirmed the presence of factions in the Nigeria Professional Football League.

He said this while speaking to journalists at the Moshood Abiola Stadium Abuja on Saturday.

He said, “Beyond just announcing that the league will start, there are some things we need to do and that’s been done already. While the league starts, the issues that have bedevilled the domestic league are under X-ray right now and we intend to attack them”.

The Minister further stated that he is in consultation with a lot of stakeholders and would still in bring people with past experiences and mean well for Nigerian football.

While also admitting there are factions in the league, he said, “I am trying reunite as many factions in the league, we are ready to work with them if only they are willing to improve”.



The Minister added that all interests would be weighed in the process, to separate national interests from personal interest. “If the interest is a national interest then we can move with those with national interests. Those who have personal interests, we will know.”

“The league is exceptionally critical, it is the strength of the young players who want to play professional outside the country.

“There are individuals who train young boys, who go straight out of the country and receive huge amounts of money which should have come to the league.

“We understand these dynamics and also understand that there are very divergent approaches and we are going to look at all the levels.”

The Honourable Minister concluded by saying, “we will do the hard talk and see what comes out.

https://thesportsbay.com/31864-dare-affirms-presence-of-cabals.html

Golden Eaglets coach, Manu Garba has passed a scathing assessment on the current crop of players under his tutelage.

According to him, the players he has at the moment cannot deliver for the country at the upcoming U-17 World Cup in Brazil.

He said that the UEFA/CAF tournament was a perfect ground to test the players and the three games the team played gave the technical crew to see some errors in the team.

Furthermore, he said that the loss against Senegal was avoidable having led 2-1 in the first half, before crumbling 2-4 to the same team at the end of 90mins.

He added that Senegal that defeated Nigeria had 8 players that featured at the football event of the 12th African Games in Rabat, Morocco and the same team travelled to France for another tournament before playing at the UEFA/CAF tournament in Turkey.



“The Senegalese prepared better than any other team. They had 8 players that played in the All Africa Games and they are in France for another competition before coming to Turkey.

“We were not supposed to lose the game to them but for the errors we noticed in the team.

“We went to Turkey to assess all the players that went there and to be candid those players cannot give us the desired results in the World Cup.

“Before we left, we have identified some players who if they pass the MRI tests will add value to the team.

Manu informed that the team will continue preparation with the training tour in Brazil with 30 players and everything working out fine,

The team will leave Nigeria on October 8 and will be training in Sao Paulo before making decision on the final 21 players that will represent Nigeria at the 2019 Brazil FIFA Under 17 World Cup.

https://thesportsbay.com/31533-my-players-are-not-good-manu-garba.html

Seventy-seven days after Madam Beauty Ogere, mother of former Super Eagles Chief Coach, Samson Siasia, was kidnapped from her Odoni community in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, the 76-year-old regained her freedom in the early hours of yesterday.

Spokesman for the Bayelsa State Police Command, Asinim Butswat, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) confirmed her release yesterday.

Shortly after her release, the family took Madam Ogere, who has a history of high blood pressure and was without her medication for over two months, for an immediate medical check-up.

It was the second time she was being kidnapped. The first time in November 2015, she was released after 12 days in captivity. Perhaps, those who did it then made a haul and returned or it is a new team seeking new avenue.

Around 2a.m on July 19, some armed men stormed her home in Odoni, Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

They took her away. They demanded ransom which her son did not have.

Madam Siasia said after whisking her away to an unknown place, her assailants fed her with garri and bought drugs for her.



Admitting that they “took care” of her by not beating her and sometimes preparing soup for everybody in their camp to eat

She said: “I was in my house when they came to kidnap me. They took me to their place. They took care of me. I was sick and they bought me drugs. They cooked and gave to me. They didn’t beat me. There were days that there was no food. Those days they drank garri and gave me garri to drink as well.

”Sometimes, they cooked soup, prepared garri and we ate. But on Sunday, they told me we had stayed for too long and they were tired of our problem. They carried us on a flying boat and dropped us in a village. I don’t know the name of the village.

”They carried us to their chairman’s place. I don’t know the man. But they called him Seifa. As I am talking to you, I am not well. Before they took me, I was ill. I wanted to go to the hospital”.

On the type of house where she was kept, Madam Siasia said: They put us in a small house and use tarpaulin to cover the top.”
Yesterday, Bayelsa State Police Commissioner Uche Anozia visited Madam Siasia at her residence. Police spokesman Asimni Buswait said

”The police command wishes to inform the general public that Mrs Beauty Siasia, who was kidnapped on 15 July, has been released in the early hours of Sunday, Sept. 29,” the statement said.

The statement added that the victim was in a stable condition and had volunteered useful information that would assist the police in their investigation.

https://thesportsbay.com/31456-siasias-mother-regains-freedom.html

Samuel Kalu is the best dribbler in Europe top five leagues, ahead of PSG’s Angel Di Maria, Arsenal’s Nicolas Pepe and Real Betis’ Nabil Fekir.

The 22-year-old winger, who is in his second season with Bordeaux, has the highest dribble percentage in Europe.

Kalu played a vital role in Bordeaux’ 2-0 victory over Metz in Saturday’s Ligue 1 clash at Matmut Atlantique.
A product of GBS Academy, he has been a regular in Paulo Sousa’s side following his move from Gent in 2018 – a team he joined from AS Trencin.

The Nigeria international has successfully executed 22 dribbles out of 47 attempted, putting him ahead of some of the world’s most talked-about players known for that.

Just behind Kalu is Arsenal’s Pepe, who has completed 19 dribbles despite his barren run at the Etihad Stadium.

The 2018 World Cup winner Fekir, who plays for Real Betis, is just behind that at 18 out of 25 with PSG’s Di Maria’s 18 over 41 dribbles rounding out the top four.

The Girondins are ninth in the French top-flight with eight points from five outings.

They host Brest in their next outing on September 21.

https://thesportsbay.com/30745-kalu-emerges-europes-best-dribbler.html

No fewer than 12 properties belonging to top officials of the Nigeria Football Federation have been seized by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.

Among the officials affected are President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick and 2nd vice president of the football body, Shehu Dikko.

Others newly indicted by the investigation are Head of NFF Technical Committee, Ahmed Yusuf, and NFF General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi.

According to Punch, Pinnick owned a majority of the properties, with one of them situated in the United Kingdom.

A breakdown of the properties seized, according to a document obtained by Sports Extra, shows that Pinnick owns six, Sanusi has three, and two belong to Yusuf.

Though details obtained on Dikko’s seized properties were sketchy, officials of the ICPC earlier seized one of his properties, located on 1, River Benue Close, Maitama, Abuja, on Friday morning.

Read more at https://thesportsbay.com/30718-icpc-seize-more-houses-owned-by-nff.html

The Minister of Youth and Sports Sunday Dare has expressed his desire to wade into the purported resignation of Super Falcons coach, Thomas Dennerby.

Dare who spoke via his twitter handle a while on Monday said, “I have personally stepped into the matter of Thomas Dennerby, the Coach of Super Falcons.

“I received a brief this morning and will proceed to seek a quick resolution to ensure he continues to Coach Nigeria’s female team.”

Dennerby reportedly resigned his appointment as Nigeria’s senior National women team coach few days ago.

It was learnt that Dennerby reportedly resigned from his post following the persistent interference in selecting players as well as non-payment of his accumulated salaries and allowances by the NFF.

Dennerby, who returned to his native country of Sweden two weeks ago, was said to have written to the NFF to step down while demanding for the payment of all his outstanding entitlements

Although there is no official confirmation, Dennerby has refused to come back to Nigeria and will likely not be in dugout against the Elephants of Ivory Coast in two weeks’ time for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games qualifiers.

The Swede left the country after leading the Super Falcons to the third round of the African Women’s Olympic qualifiers. This was after a 3-0 aggregate win over Algeria but has now left his post.

https://thesportsbay.com/30709-sports-minister-summons-nff-officials.html

Super Eagles forward, Samuel Chukwueze, has disclosed how his mother was initially against him playing football while revealing how much he loved former Nigeria captain, Jay-Jay Okocha while growing up.

“My big hero was Jay JayOkocha. I loved watching him, and whenever he played for Nigeria I would be so desperate to see him win. If they lost, I wouldn’t eat. I couldn’t take it,” Chukwueze told Goal.

“In my home town, we had a local centre and I would try to go there to watch Nigeria games. We didn’t have a TV, but there was one there. I would peep through the window to see Okocha and the rest.”

Chukwueze has been in great form since signing for the Yellow Submarines from Diamond Academy in Abuja.
He scored five goals and created two assists in 26 La Liga appearances last season. The young forward has also started the new 2019/20 season well, scoring one goal in three league appearances.

He also talked about how he started out as a footballer and the resistance he got from his mother.

According to him, his mother was eventually the same person who later encouraged him to follow his dreams.

Read more at https://thesportsbay.com/30387-chukwueze-speaks-on-his-career.html

Arsenal legend Ray Parlour has charged Chelsea star Tammy Abraham to disregard Nigeria’s attempt to make him play for the Super Eagles.

The 21-year-old, whose father is Nigerian, has featured at every youth level for England and already has two senior caps.

However, he has yet to make a competitive international appearance which allows him to switch allegiance, and Nigeria have reportedly made contact in an attempt to secure his services.

Despite an impressive start to the campaign, with four goals in his two most recent English Premier League games, the Blues striker was left out of Gareth Southgate’s squad for the upcoming Euro qualifiers against Bulgaria and Kosovo.

But former England international Parlour insists Abraham will get his chance if he stays patient.

“If he keeps scoring goals, he will definitely get into the England squad,” the ex-Arsenal midfielder told talkSPORT. “Jamie Vardy has retired and they’re lacking a little bit up front.

“He’s got an opportunity to be in the squad, but obviously he won’t be in front of Harry Kane.”

Read more at https://thesportsbay.com/30385-arsenal-legend-warns-tammy-abraham.html

Team Nigeria have yet to win a medal at the ongoing 12th All Africa Games in Rabat, Morocco.

According to the medal tables, four North African countries are leading the medals table.

Egypt as at the time of filing this report, tops the table with four gold and four bronze medals.

Host nation, Morocco is second with two gold, five silver, four bronze medals while Algeria is placed third with two gold, three silver, six bronze.

Tunisia is currently occupying the fourth position with two gold, three silver and three bronze medals.

However, Team Nigeria is yet to win a medal in the 22 sports entered for.
Over the weekend, the team had an opportunity to win medals in Judo but the judokas failed to win any of the 56 available medals.

It will be noted that Team Nigeria at the last All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville, Nigeria won 47 gold, 55 silver and 42 bronze medals to place second behind Egypt who amassed 85 gold, 64 silver and 68 bronze medals to win the games.

Meanwhile, Nigeria men and women teams have qualified for the quarterfinals of the Beach Volleyball event at the ongoing African Games in Rabat, Morocco.

Nigeria men’s team beat Egypt 2-1 (21-15, 13-21, 15-13) while the women’s team defeated Gambia 2-0 (21-12, 21-9) to book their places in respective quarterfinals.

Read more at https://thesportsbay.com/29962-team-nigeria-yet-to-win-a-medal.html

The August 12, 1989 Italia ’90 World Cup qualifying match with Angola could had just been another match day. But it is now ever recalled, not for the result, which was favourable to Nigeria at least in the short run, but for the bizarre happenings.

It was just a day to the 10th anniversary of a previous disaster that claimed 24 lives at the National Stadium, Lagos.

Nigeria desperately needed to win the tie against Angola to be in contention of leading a World Cup qualifying group that also had Gabon and Cameroon.

The result of the penultimate match in Gabon which Nigeria against formbooks had lost 1-2 made the August 12, 1989 match the more important.

Hon. Nduka Irabor and some members of the Nigerian Football Supporters’ Club helping the fainted fans into an ambulance.

Besides, it was to be the first match after a long closure of the National Stadium, Lagos which was undergoing upgrading for an anticipated hosting of the then World Youth Championship (now u-20 World Cup) in 1991.

Nigeria had had to play their home matches at the low-capacity Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan until the National Stadium, Lagos was reopened.

Read more at https://thesportsbay.com/29750-how-samuel-okwaraji-died-30-years-ago.html