Nigeria Drop Again In Fifa Ranking
The Super Eagles saw their fortunes tumble after their hectic campaign in June saw them win two, lose two and draw one of their matches
The descend of the Super Eagles on the Fifa ranking continued as the team dropped four Spots to finish in 35th place in the new listing released on Thursday.
Nigeria had a hectic June playing two 2014 World Cup qualifiers before heading to Brazil to play in the Fifa Confederations Cup. Stephen Keshi’s side won two of their five matches last month, losing two with one draw.
The Super Eagles beat Kenya 1-0 in Nairobi and drew 1-1 with Namibia in Windhoek. They won 6-1 against Tahiti before losing 1-2 and 0-3 to Uruguay and Spain respectively. The team finished in 31st spot in the previous ranking released in June.
Cote D’Ivoire continue to be the top ranked African side staying in the 13th position while Ghana dropped three spots to 24th and Mali dropped five spots to 28th to remain the second and third ranked African sides.
Algeria overtook Nigeria in the fourth place in Africa as they climbed one place to finish in 34th position with the African champions being the fifth ranked side from the continent.
Despite losing the Confederations Cup final 0-3 to Brazil, Spain maintained their hold on the top spot as the Selecao climbed up 13 spots to finish in ninth position following their heroic run to the title on home soil.
Oriental War Continues In Aba, As
Heartland Lose Back-to Back Derby
As the second stanza of this year’s Nigeria Professional Football League resumed, Eastern Nigerian football lovers will for the second time in four days enjoy another Oriental derby as Enyimba host Rangers in Aba this Sunday.
The encounter will be the 4th Oriental derby of the season as Enyimba and Rangers will be locking horns for the first time this season in the 21 week old league.
Meanwhile, Heartland football club of Owerri on Wdnesday lost their third Oriental derby of the season losing 0-1to Enyimba of Aba. The cup holders had lost to Rangers in Enugu and Enyimba in Aba three weeks ago.
The Naze Millionaires were without their two top strikers Happy Okuoka and Isah Akor Umoruh in the derby due to illness and looked out of sort in front of goal. Also the absence of midfield maestro Ikechukwu Ibenegbu (Mosquito) was seriously felt as the team lacked the ability to make all their possessions count.
The game was however characterized with mixed fortunes as the center Referee was severally accused of biased officiating by Heartland fans even allowing what looked like an off-side goal to stand while turning deaf ears to several penalty calls from the home side especially when striker Bright Ejike was brought down inside the penalty box.
Enyimba players were lucky when Esom Tochukwu’s efforts at goal graced the cross bar and the post on two different occasions to keep the score line 0 1 in favor of the away team.
Savior Fidelis, wearing 29 jersey for Enyimba had put the Elephants in front at the 39th minute when he nodded home a loose ball after Yau Hassan had miscued what looked like a harmless pull-out from a counter attack by the away team some seconds after captain Chinedu Efugh missed a sitter at the other end.
The height of the heated week 20 encounter between the two sister clubs occurred at the 85th minute when the police who were assigned to maintain peace and order during the game decided to shoot teargas into the air causing panic and commotion as spectators scampered for safety.
The effects of the teargas went as far as disturbing the players especially Heartland players who were frantically looking for their way back into the game.
Heartland will this Sunday travel to Yenegoa, Bayelsa State to take on Nembe City in continuation of the league, but lots and lots of questions needs to be answered as the team may never get a continental ticket if things continue to go the way it’s going.
The non-payment of players sign-on fees, lack of proper motivation by the government, issue of un-fair officiating and the bickering between the Govt. And some members of the mgt. are issues that must be sorted out if the team must move forward.
NPFL WEEK 21 GAMES
Pillars — Wikki
Lobi — Bayelsa
Dolphins — Akwa Utd
Gombe — 3SC
Kwara Utd — ABS
Kaduna Utd — Sunshine
Wolves — Sharks
Nembe City — Heartland
Enyimba — Rangers
El Kanemi — Nasarawa Utd
Week 20 Results
Heartland 0 1 Enyimba
Bayelsa Utd 2 2 Dolphins
Sharks 1 0 Nembe City
Akwa Utd 3 — 2 Gombe Utd
Sunshine 1 1 Wolves
3SC 1 1 Kwara Utd
ABS FC 1 0 Kaduna Utd
Wikki 4 — 0 Lobi Stars
Rangers 2 0 Nasarawa Utd
El Kanemi — Kano Pillars
FIFA U-20 World Cup Results (Round Of 16)
2/7/13
Greece 1 3 Uzbekistan
Spain 2 1 Mexico
Nigeria 1 2 Uruguay
France 4 0 Turkey
3/7/13
Portugal 2 3 Ghana
Croatia — Chile
Colombia 1 (4) pen (5) 1 Korea Rep
Iraq 1 –0 Paraguay
AFRICAN TOP 10 COACHES WITH THEIR WORLD RATINGS
1. Bob Bradley, Egypt — 5 in the World
2. Michel Dussuyer, Guinea — 20 ………..
3. Harve Renard, Zambia— 22 ……….
4. Stephen Keshi, Nigeria— 27 ………..
5. Vahid Halilhozic, Algeria—41 ………..
6. Alain Giresse, Senegal (Mali) — 57 …..
7. Stanley Tshosuaue, Botswana —
