Welcome to Sport News and Entertainment: 09/07/13

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Full Time: Nigeria 2-0 Malawi

Nigeria earned passage into the final round of Caf qualification for World Cup 2014 with a 2-0 victory over Malawi in Calabar on Saturday. The Super Eagles were helped by goals from returnee striker Emmanuel Emenika and a penalty from attacker Victor Moses.

The game began on a very competitive note with Liverpool loan signing Moses and Ahmed Musa tormenting the James Sangala-anchored Malawian defence. As early as the second minute, Limbikani Mzava was booked for a rough challenge on Moses who was on a goal-bound move. Despite gaining most of the ball possession, Nigeria failed to get the curtain raiser as they failed to create clear cut chances. The attack-minded Eagles did not relent as they challenged Tom Santifiet’s men for every ball.

In the 11th minute, Musa saw his opportunity declared offside after he got a well-tailored cross from John Obi Mikel. Few minutes later, Ogenyi Onazi's shot went just wide as Stephen Keshi's men continued their search of the early goal. Malawi shot-stopper, Simplex Nthara repaid the faith shown in him by Tom Saintfiet to start the game with a brilliant save off the boot of Efe Ambrose followed by another super effort in the 26th minute to deny Moses the opening goal.

A few minutes later, the visitors were reduced to 10 men after Limbikani Mzava was sent off for a second yellow to compound Malawi's misery. Musa's battle with the Malawi goalkeeper continued in the 68th minute as he was unable to score again in a one on one situation. Even with the introduction of Newcastle forward Shola Ameobi for his competitive debut, Nosa Igiebor and Uche Nwofor, Nigeria failed to get the third goal after missing several scoring chances.
With this result, Nigeria are now through to the final play-off round of World Cup 2014 qualification and will know their opponents when the draw is made in a few days.

The Adventures of Akpors - Akpors in I DON PORT (Episode 6)

Sunshine breaks over Calabar as Super Eagles-Malawi clash looms

The Eagles seem ready to quench the Flames of Malawi as the weather brightened on Friday morning following days of incessant rainfall. After about six days of continuous rainfall in Calabar, the sun has surprisingly shot out as the Super Eagles prepare to confirm their Group F ticket against Malawi.

The team had a slight training session on Friday morning as the coaches fined tune their strategies ahead of the game scheduled for the UJ Esuene Stadium on Saturday by 4pm.

From information gathered from those that surround the team, the players are ready to give their all to secure the ticket. The playing pitch looked lush on Friday and did not give way even with the amount of water that the pitch had soaked in. The players were sure-footed and in the shooting drills, all the players were in the most rambunctious manner.

The tickets also went on sale today as match officials have decided that tickets will not be sold near the stadium on match day especially. Now the hours are ticking down to the 4pm kick-off time. Wishing the Super Eagles the best of luck and lots of goals.

Benzema berated by French football chief

Karim Benzema has been slammed by France's football association (FFF) president Noel Le Graet after surpassing 20 hours without a goal for his country following their 0-0 draw with Georgia on Friday. The last time the Real Madrid striker scored for his country was June 5, 2012 against Estonia, when he netted a brace in a friendly leading up to that summer's European Championship.

It has since been 15 games without a goal for Benzema, and just three in the last 27 for les Bleus, prompting the French sporting chief to speak out against the forward. "There is a problem," he told reporters. "He is very disappointing. A starter at Real Madrid can’t be as bad as people say. We expect more."

Benzema, who was subbed off in the 62nd minute against Georgia in favour for Andre-Pierre Gignac, jumped to his own defence after the match, suggesting he isn’t the only player failing to find the back of the net amidst France’s five-game goalless drought. "I know when I am good or not," he told reporters. "Tonight I was not terrible. For me to do better in the next game, I will not dwell on my substitution.

"We had a lot of chances in the second half. We just didn’t score. We are disappointed tonight. We will get back to work and we will recover well because play again on Tuesday."We should not think we are already eliminated. If it is necessary to go through the play-offs, then we will. We will win and we will qualify for Brazil." France will travel to Belarus on Tuesday, where a draw would secure at least a second place finish in the group.