46 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2019 Okocha Okocha: Why I quit football at 34 Super Eagles midfield maestro, Austin Okocha said he was practically frustrated out football because he wasn’t getting enough playing time. Okocha quit the game in 2008 after an illustrious career across Europe. He started in Germany with Eintracht Frankfurt before going to Paris Saint Germain and Bolton Wanderers and then finally with Hull where he called it quits. “I must confess that [not getting a lot of playing time] was one of the main reasons why I retired from playing at a very young age. “I believe that it is not worth it to train from Monday to Friday just to have 20 minutes on the pitch or sit on the bench on Saturday. I am very competitive,” Okocha concluded. Chidera Eze looks beyond Dream Team One player who is plotting to make very good use of the opportunity provided <strong>by</strong> his Dream Team call up in today’s game <strong>against</strong> Li<strong>by</strong>a in the AFCON U-23 qualifier is Portugal based Chidera Eze. Eze who plies his soccer trade with Portimonense FC in Portugal wants to use the game to re launch his international career. Eze who was a member of the Golden Eaglet squad that won the 2013 FIFA U- 17 World Cup for Nigeria in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) believes a good showing <strong>against</strong> Li<strong>by</strong>a is all he needs to catch Gernot Rohr’s attention. A close pal of the 21-year old support striker said yesterday in Lagos that Eze has been praying for this opportunity which he has now gotten, courtesy of Coach Imama Amakapabo. “Should he (Eze) get to play <strong>against</strong> Li<strong>by</strong>a, then Nigerians would see that he remains a bundle of talent. Eze has personally vowed not to allow this opportunity slip...and I hope he matches word with action. His desire is to perform well with the Dream Team and eventually fight for a place in the Eagles,” Eze’s pal who pleaded anonymity said. Eze who last year was sidelined <strong>by</strong> injury for over six months has since fully recovered and rearing to go. Olympic Eagles set to overpower Li<strong>by</strong>a in Tunisia Awoniyi Former Super Eagles midfielder, Mutiu Adepoju said the team will be better off finishing their Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers without a loss and so they must beat visiting Seychelles on March 22 in Asaba. The 2015 African Champions have already booked their place in the AFCON tournament with a game to spare, but they still need to win top of the group E. South Africa and Li<strong>by</strong>a are in contention for the second spot. “It is a dead rubber encounter and we have qualified already but that does not mean we should forget the importance of the game because it is a qualifier which we have to play as if we have not qualified,” Adepoju told Goal. “We have to take it seriously because if we have qualified and we’re looking forward to going to the tournament which is the Africa Cup of Nations, we have to play with all seriousness and field the available key players. “The Afcon is barely in three months and there’s not enough time to prepare so most of the players that are going to go should be among the players to Cup holders Nigeria begin the race towards a successful defence of their Africa U23 title in Tunisia today when they take on their Li<strong>by</strong>an counterparts in a first round, first leg encounter of the qualification series. The encounter, which kicks off at 3pm Tunisia time (same as in Nigeria) on the artificial turf of the Ben Guerdane Stadium in the city of Ben Guerdane, will see Nigeria’s Head Coach, Imama Amapakabo throw in his best dice for a good result ahead of the return leg in Asaba on Monday. Amapakabo travelled with a good blend of home boys and overseas–based professionals. Lobi Stars’ trio of John Lazarus, Ugochukwu Anumudu and Ebube Duru are joined <strong>by</strong> Enyimba’s Dare Olatunji and Stephen Egbe, and Wikki Tourists’ goalie Adamu Abubakar, among others. Former U17 World Cup winners Taiwo Awoniyi, Kelechi Nwakali, Kingsley Michael, Orji Okonkwo, Chidera Ezeh and Samuel Chukwueze are among the Europe–based who teamed up with the delegation in Tunisia. Victory today would pave the way to the final round of qualifiers for the champions, which is due in June. CAF has appointed Ghanaian officials to take charge of proceedings, with Daniel Laryea as referee. Acheampong Brobbey is the assistant referee 1 while Emmanuel Allou is assistant referee 2 and Adaar Abdul Latif is the fourth official. Amir Osman Mohamed Amid from Sudan is the match commissioner. Nigeria is the only African country to have won gold, silver and bronze medals of the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament. Gold was the harvest at the Centennial Games in Atlanta, USA, and silver came in Beijing, China in 2008. The bronze medal won <strong>by</strong> the Olympic Eagles at the Games in Brazil in 2016 was the only medal won <strong>by</strong> the entire Team Nigeria at the fiesta. 2019 AFCON: Adepoju urges Eagles to finish off Seychelles in Asaba play <strong>against</strong> Seychelles,” he added. “Leaving all those [regular] players could amount to waste of Eagles time. All the matches from now on should be in preparation for the tournament we have ahead.” Seychelles’ Pirates land in Nigeria The delegation of Senior National Team of Seychelles, known as Pirates, has landed in Nigeria for Friday’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match <strong>against</strong> the Super Eagles. Group leaders Nigeria have already secured their place in the finals and will be in the pot for the draw on Friday, 12th April at CAF’s headquarters in Cairo, while the Pirates were long eliminated and have only come to fulfill the fixture. Rizespor star Azubuike Okechukwu will lead the Nigeria U23 players onto the Stade du 7 Mars, Ben Gardane pitch when they tackle Li<strong>by</strong>a in an U23 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Wednesday, allnigeriasoccer.com understands. The central midfielder has the most caps for the Olympic Squad and coach Imama Amapakabo didn’t think twice before selecting him as the captain of the squad. Okechukwu captained the Dream Team VI in every single game they played at the 2015 U23 AFCON, with the exception of the semifinal <strong>against</strong> Senegal which he missed as a result of accumulated bookings. Arsenal loanee Kelechi Nwakali has been named as assistant captain for the two internationals <strong>against</strong> Li<strong>by</strong>a. The Porto attacking midfielder is a player with excellent leadership Egypt prepare for Niger, Nigeria matches Egypt national football team won’t be calling a replacement for El-Entag El-Har<strong>by</strong> goalkeeper Amer Amer, who was injured in Monday’s training session, assistant coach Hany Ramzy revealed. The Pharaohs kicked off their preparatory camp in Alexandria on Sunday ahead of the 2019 AFCON qualifier <strong>against</strong> Niger and a subsequent friendly game <strong>against</strong> Nigeria. “Eighteen players were available in Monday’s training, but keeper Amer Amer left the session after picking up a knock in his knee,” the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) said in a statement via its official Facebook page. Amer was called up for the camp alongside Zamalek’s Mahmoud ‘Genesh’ Abdel- Rehim, Smouha’s Mohamed Abo Gabal and Ahmed El-Shennawy of Pyramids FC. “Initial tests revealed that the player has picked up an interior knee ligament injury. It is a heavy injury that needs a lot of time on the sidelines,” Egypt’s assistant coach Hany Ramzy told Al-Nahar TV Channel after the session. “The player will undergo further scans on Tuesday. If his departure from the camp is confirmed, we won’t call an alternative aside from the other goalkeeping trio,” he added. Kasimpasa’s Egyptian duo Mahmoud ‘Trezeguet’ Hassan and Karim Hafez were available in Monday’s training session, while the other foreign based-players are expected to join their Seychelles A 29 –man delegation of the Pirates arrived Abuja aboard an Ethiopian Airline flight on Tuesday afternoon, and would be flown to Asaba today. The Eagles are also at the same time preparing for a prestige friendly game <strong>against</strong> the Pharaohs of Egypt, who are seven – time champions and record winners of the continent’s most prestigious football diadem. This match comes up on Tuesday next week, also at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba. Amapakabo appoints Okechukwu U23 captain .Nwakali is assistant Captain teammates on Tuesday. The Pharaohs, who have already booked a place in Africa’s flagship tournament with one match to spare, are second with 12 points in their qualifying group, on level with leaders Tunisia, who enjoy a better goal difference. Egypt was granted the tournament’s hosting rights in January after Cameroon was stripped of hosting in December. On 26 February, Aguirre named a 25-man squad for the Niger and Nigeria tests, including 10 new faces, while dropping Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah, Aston Villa’s Ahmed Elmohamady and West Bromwich Albion’s centreback Ahmed Hegazi to allow them to rest. qualities, having captained the 2015 U17 World Cup-winning Golden Eaglets and the Flying Eagles team that failed to qualify for the 2017 U20 World Cup. Onuachu certain to make his Super Eagles debut FC Midtjylland striker Paul Onuachu is certain to make his international debut this month, according to Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr, who was reacting to a question on why some players invited to the national team never get to play. The German football tactician made it crystal clear that he was satisfied with the performance of the leading scorer in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Odion Ighalo but he’s excited that the lanky Onuachu will bring a new dimension to the Super Eagles attack. ‘’You know that we have possibility to see everybody because we have two games, even we have four games because the U23s are playing also. You will see a lot of players,’’ Rohr said at a media parley. ‘’Paul Onuachu, he will play for at least 45 minutes or even more. We are searching for a player with his profile, tall, he is more than two meters tall. ‘’We have Ighalo already and we are very satisfied with what he’s doing since the World Cup. ‘’We have Paul Onuachu, perhaps another possibility, he has a different profile. It is interesting to see him playing together with Ahmed Musa, Iwobi or Henry. Samuel Chukwueze is with the U23s.’’
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