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Falode Congratulates Nnadozie, extols Gusau’s Women Football Development Initiatives

The Chairperson of the Women’s Football Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation, Ms Aisha Falode, has congratulated Super Falcons of Nigeria and Paris Football Club goalkeeper, Chiamaka Nnadozie, for her consistent heroic displays for both club and country.

The former Rivers Angels goalkeeper made a penalty save to help her club Paris Football Club keep a clean sheet in a second leg match against Wolfsburg ladies of Germany at home having played a 3 all draw in Germany. Her performance earned her club qualification to the group stage of the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

Falode, a former Chairperson of the Nigerian Women Football League board who brought her expertise to the development and professionalism of the women’s league in Nigeria, while Chiamaka was still playing in the domestic league stated that: “Chiamaka’s courageous displays in the past can not be overlooked.

“It is no longer news that the same impeccable display by her, saving two penalties against a traditional Arsenal Ladies that ended their campaign in the Uefa Women’s Champions League in same qualifiers. This shows that she is a Worldclass goalkeeper and a good ambassador of the NWFL.”

Aisha Falode, who is a board member of the Nigeria Football Federation and was the Head of Delegation for the Nigeria team to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France 2019 inputted that the World Cup was the turning point for Chiamaka.

Falode explained further that, Nnadozie used that platform to set a record as the youngest goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet at that level , she was 18 years old then.

“Nigerians are yet to forget her heroic performance at the recently concluded FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand.
She not only started the journey of the ouster of the current Olympic Champions, Canada, out of the World Cup with her heroic penalty save and the player of the match award.“

The former member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Media Committee was emphatic that Chiamaka deserved to be among the top goalkeepers shortlisted by FIFA and top 3 nominees for the 2023 CAF Woman Player of The Year.

“She is arguably the best goalkeeper in Africa. Her composure, command in between the sticks, leadership qualities and sound judgement are attributes that distinguish her.

Ever since she took over from Tochukwu Oluehi in the Senior Women World Cup held in France 2019, it has been from one accolade to the other for her.

Her Rise can not be complete without the Nigeria Football Federation that gave her the platform for the world to see her and this she humbly acknowledged.”

Four years later Nnadozie proved her performance in France was not a fluke and showed how valuable she could be to the Super Falcons and Nigeria. She donned the captain’ band in Australia with a joyous consistent performance all through.

Chiamaka Nnadozie while speaking with Madam Aisha Falode popularly called ‘MamaSports’ beaming with smiles. ”I can only give God the Glory in my Football career.

“I want to make a huge difference in my career and also help Nigeria and my club at every level.
“I want to make Nigeria proud. Help me thank the NFF President, Gusau, for his consistent and incontestable support for the continued growth and development of all our national women’s teams since he came on board as the president of the NFF.

“I will also appreciate president Gusau for the opportunity I was given to serve and serve well.
I hope to consistently bring joy to my fans and Nigerians.“

Another Midfeild general of the Super Falcons, Christy Ucheibe,, also had a hand in SL Benfica’s progress to the group stage as they thrashed Apollon Limassol in the UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifiers.

Ucheibe was one of the two players that successfully scored their kick from the penalty spot against England in the round of 16 , a game Falcons lost despite a spirited and well appreciated applause from fans all over the world.

Aisha Falode who is an elite CAF Match Co-ordinator was full of praises and thankful to President Ibrahim Musa Gusau whom in strong terms she stated is a leader that is very patient and believes in anall inclusive leadership style.

“He gave women leadership positions in the women’s football community and would do anything to support the growth of women football.

It is no surprise that the Flamingos our U17 team was the third best nation at the World Cup in India in their category.
Gusau had lunch with the young ladies, very fatherly and quite inspiring.

He also gave total support to the Super Falcons before, during and after the World Cup in Australia.

He has resolved to give total support to the Super Falcons in their quest to qualify for the next Olympics come July 2024.

Gusau is also confident that the Super Falcons will complete La Decimal in the next African Women’s Cup of Nations in Morocco next year,“Falode rounded up.

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My son thinks Mbappe is better than me – Ronaldo

Mbappé: Would Have Been 'Fun' To Play With Cristiano Ronaldo

Al Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed that his five-year-old son, Mateo, favors Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé over him.

Ronaldo, who netted a brace over the weekend to climb to the top of the Saudi Pro League scoring charts, admitted the surprising preference during an interview with La Sexta.

“Mateo really likes Mbappé,” Ronaldo shared. “He sometimes tells me: ‘Hey dad, Mbappé is better than you,’ and I reply by saying: ‘No, I am better than him, I have scored more goals.'”

The humorous exchange highlights the influence of Mbappé, who famously idolized Ronaldo during his youth. Despite Mateo’s playful comments, the 39-year-old football legend continues to shine on the pitch.

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Dikko Hosts Olympians, Assures On Retired Athletes Welfare

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That the labours of the nation’s past heroes will not be in vain, the National Sports Commission (NSC) will prioritize the welfare of retired athletes and olympians who had excelled in the national colours. NSC Chairman Mallam Shehu Dikko gave this assurance while hosting the Nigeria Olympians Association (NOA) led by its President Olumide Oyedeji.

In Dikko’s opinion, one way to encourage the current athletes is by ensuring that the retired ones are not disregarded.

His words, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not toying with the welfare of our athletes generally, but particularly our ex-internationals. It is his mandate and we have keyed into it. There is a budget line for the welfare of retired athletes. It may not be much but that’s a good starting point. It means that every year, something will be mapped out for the upkeep of our retired athletes. That money will be judiciously used. But we have to be specific. Not just any retired athlete, we are referring to athletes who wore these green and white colours and we can vouch for them. We want you to feel that Nigeria cares for you.”

There is also good news for athletes with unfulfilled past promises from the government.

“There is also a budget line to fulfill past promises government made to athletes. We know that there had been situations in the past when athletes excelled, they were made financial promises and even some have passed on without those promises being fulfilled. We have a catalogue of those promises and Mr. President has graciously approved a budget line for that purpose. With this development, we will be redeeming those promises gradually. Every year there should be a block funding to sort that out.”

The association’s request for an ‘entourage commission’ which would see the olympians serve as mentors to athletes at major sporting events got a glowing endorsement from the NSC helmsman.

He said, “The issue of entourage commission is one that I am committed to. In fact, we will push to make it a bill so that it becomes a law to have these retired athletes who have seen it all accompany our athletes to Games. There is a huge psychological boost the presence of these great olympians will have on the athletes having them side by side at the Games.”

Dikko eulogized the olympians for their past exploits that brought honour to the nation and promised to engage them more in the Commission’s activities.

“The major reason why the President set up the Commission is for the professionalization of the sector. Who are the core professionals? It is people like you. We will look at the involvement of the olympians in our programs. If you have the right people on the table, you get quality representation”, he added.

He drummed up the Commission’s aggressive grassroots sports development drive in a bid to strengthen the conveyor belt for talents and replace the retired athletes.

“We are doing things differently now. We have set up the three Rs, reset, refocus and relaunch. We are moving our sports from the emphasis on competitions which is consumption to development which is production. This entails that we have to be deliberate in our grassroots development of sports, the schools sports, NUGA, NIPOGA, NACEGA Games. We have struggled to replace most of you retired athletes over the years because of this neglect for the grassroots. We are changing all that now”, he said.

He promised equal attention to all sports.

“We are not a football Commission. We are here for all sports. In this this commission we are working to advance all sports and even in the last week we have held meetings with baseball, motorsports, hockey, volleyball, taekwondo, armwrestling, polo all manner of sports you can think of. We are doing sports development and sports economy here and every sport has the potentials to be a huge revenue generator for the country. We want the Federations to be serious and show proof of development of the sport with domestic tournaments. We fully keyed into what the Cricket U-19 team is doing in Malaysia because even before that tournament you could see the visible efforts of the Federation to unearth and develop talents”, he concluded.

Dikko pledged his support for the upcoming Olympians reunion tagged “the labour of our heroes past.”

Highpoint of the meeting was the induction of the NSC Chairman as an olympian, an act which according to the association, accords him the full privileges and rights of an olympian.

The NOA delegation comprised of Olumide Oyedeji (President), Lawrence Iquaibom (1st Vice-president), Chief Falilat Ogunkoya-Osheku, Emmanuel Babayaro (Secretary), Hameed Adio, Emmanuel Oshoma and Olusegun Ajose. Also present at the event was SSA to the President on Grassroots Sports Development Adeyinka Adeboye ‘Zulu’.

 

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Adams eager to make impact at Sevilla

Akor Adams

Nigerian forward Jerome Adams is determined to make his mark at La Liga club Sevilla after completing his move from Ligue 1 side Montpellier.

The 25-year-old, who spent one-and-a-half seasons at Montpellier, scored three goals and provided one assist before joining Sevilla.

After signing his contract, Adams watched Sevilla’s 2-2 draw with Espanyol and expressed his excitement for the future.

“There is a lot of history at this club and I am here to be part of this history and also to try to write my own,” Adams told Sevilla’s official website.

“Both my family and I are very happy. It has been a great welcome and for me, it is a great (25th) birthday present.”

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