Chelsea Happy With Mikel’s Performance In Rio

Chelsea had only good things to say about the assured performance of their star midfielder, John Obi Mikel who is captain of the Nigerian Under-23 team at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Chelsea who had earlier granted Mikel permission to play with Nigeria at the competition said on their official webpage, “The 29-year-old influenced proceedings throughout a tense second half, when the experience of a player with a complete trophy cabinet in English football proved vital to reassure and reinvigorate a team of largely Under-23s.“

“Mikel and his team-mates displayed growing cohesion and confidence in comparison to their remarkable 5-4 win against Japan last Thursday, which took place only a few hours after the squad touched down in Brazil following a logistical nightmare.”

Obi Mikel, 29, has started the first two matches played by Nigeria at the Olympic Games, and Nigeria are guaranteed top spot in Group B after their 1-0 win over Sweden.

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Dalung Lied; He Never Visited Us In USA – Dream Team VI

Members of the Nigeria Olympic football team while accepting the apology of Solomon Dalung, the Youth and Sports Development Minister, however said he never visited the team in Atlanta.

“Where did he visit us? We never saw him while we were in Atlanta. I think they just issued a press release that he came to see us, we never saw him,” Vanguard quoted a source as saying.

“We have accepted his apology and are happy that they paid us our camp allowance for 11 days. We were in camp for more than a month in Nigeria and Atlanta, so they should pay us all the allowances as well as the bonus for the two matches we have played,” the team member that would not want his name mentioned added.

Pic of Dalung's alleged visit

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Three Nigerians Create Records At Rio Olympics

At least three Nigerian athletes in the ongoing Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games created records of sorts that will be cherished in a longtime to come.

The trio with records are two table tennis stars, Segun Toriola and Aruna Quadri as well as Rower, Chierika Ukogu .

The 41 year-old Toriola had his 7th appearance in the current Games, equaling the table tennis record. This has made him the most capped African Olympian.

Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri set another continental record after the 2014 ITTF star became the first African to reach the quarterfinals of men’s singles event at Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Ukogu on the other hand, qualified for top classification in the rowing event in Rio.

She is Nigeria’s first ever rower in the Olympics to have got that far, placing fifth in the third quarter final of the Women’s single sculls after clocking a time of 7:54.44 secs.

She will now participate in the semi finals C/D 1 event on Wednesday. This is the 23-year-old’s first ever appearance in the Olympics.

NAN

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Dalung Apologises To Dream Team, Calls Them ‘True Heroes’

Solomon Dalung, Minister of Youth and Sports, has earlier today apologised to Nigeria’s players and officials of the Olympic football team over issues surrounding the contingent’s late arrival in Brazil.

Dalung apologised to the dream team after they defeated and progressed to the quarter-finals at the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament in Rio 2016 with a 1-0 victory over Sweden.

His words “I want to apologise for all the circumstances that led to your late arrival here.

“I apologise because I am the head and as such I must take responsibility for anything that happen under my watch.

“I am happy you all have put the unfortunate incident behind you and have shown that you are true heroes by making the country proud with your qualification for the quarterfinals.

“This qualification is unique as you guys are the first team to do so in the football event. I want to assure you that we appreciate your efforts, and I want to say that it’s when a man faces challenges that his true ability is tested.

“I am sure we all have learnt our lessons and will take the lessons to heart going forward.”

Responding, team captain John Obi Mikel assured Dalung that the team will not lose focus, as their target is to win the gold medal.

The sports minister was in company of Adamu Emozozo, Nigerian ambassador to Brazil, and Chinyeaka Ohaa, permanent secretary in the ministry.

Dalung in a group picture with the team

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Beating Japan 5-4 Was Miracle Of Manaus – Siasia

Coach Samson Siasia, Nigeria's Olympic football team coach has described his side’s breathtaking 5-4 victory over Japan in their Rio 2016 Olympic Games opener in Manaus as a miracle.

Nigeria U-23 side put up a spirited performance on Thursday (Friday in Nigeria), as they overpowered a well-relaxed Japanese side in a nine-goal thriller to climb to top of Group B after Sweden and Colombia played out a 2-2 draw.

Oghenekaro Etebo netted four goals with AS Roma’s Sadiq Umar grabbing the opener as the latecomers cruised past their Asian opponents.

Siasia describing their triumph as a miracle, said: “I just can’t describe what happened today. My boys defied science to win this game; what gave us this game was the mental toughness of the boys. For a team not to train for two days and put up this type of performance is a miracle."

“When players are tired they tend to lose focus. That is why we conceded four goals. For now, all I can say is I just want to go and savour this victory with my players.”

He said, “We just won a game, we can’t and won’t allow this victory get into our heads. Our target here is to win the gold and this is just the first step of us achieving that aim. No two games are the same, for me this hurdle is over, when I wake up tomorrow I will then think of my next game.

“The team (Japan) we defeated are a good side; I respect them for pushing my boys to the limit. I knew that towards the end of the game my boys were tired and barely managed to hang on. I will not blame any one of them for the goals we conceded. We have put this match behind us. I hope my team sustain this great form and even step up a gear in our subsequent matches.”

Four-goal hero Oghenekaro Etebo has dedicated his goals to God after an amazing performance from the Feirense man. But he insists they still have to up better performances against their next group opponents Sweden, who they play on Sunday, and Colombia.

“I just want to thank God for the goals but we still have to play two games to qualify, so it’s not over yet,” the former Warri Wolves forward said.

Former captain of the team Okechukwu Azubuike said they will now have to work on their defensive lapses after conceding four goals against the Asians.

“We lost concentration and we paid for it; we gave away goals. So, we need to work on that.”

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NFF Picks German Rohr As Eagles Coach

The President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick has confirmed the selection of Gernot Rohr, a German, as the next manager of the Super Eagles.

The NFF boss confirmed that the German, who is currently working on development programmes for the German Football Federation, is expected to arrive in Nigeria on Saturday (today), PUNCH reports. He is also expected to be in Lagos on Sunday where he would be at the stands to watch the league match between Ikorodu United and Sunshine Stars.

Pinnick said, “We are just finalising the little details left. The work started quite a while ago but there was the need to wait until everything confirmed before making it public.”

It was also confirmed that he would be introduced to Nigerians in Abuja on Monday.

“The man is coming to live in Nigeria and work with our vision to develop Nigerian football. Qualifying for tournaments don’t really translate to proper development and so he is coming to stay here with his family and work with the federation and Nigerians,” Pinnick said.

The German coached Bordeaux to the UEFA Cup final in 1996, where they lost to Bayern Munich over two legs. Bordeaux’s run to the final included a famous 3-0 win over AC Milan in the quarter-finals, his records sourced by our correspondent showed. The German was also the Sports Director of Eintracht Frankfurt from October 1998 until April 1999.

Rohr has also worked with Étoile Sportive du Sahel and FC Nantes. He replaced French coach Alain Giresse as the coach of Gabon. He managed Niger from September 2012 to 2014 before taking up a job with Burkina Faso but was sacked by the West African country later. He was short-listed for the Guinea national team job in July 2016 before the Nigerian offer came up.

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