THE NIGERIAN VOICE NEWSPAPER SEPTEMBER 2013 | Page 12

The Nigerian V ce

SPORT
Malawi’s Saint?et
commends Nigeria
loss, his players did well and
deserved to be praised.
The Technical Adviser of the
F l a m e s o f M a l a w i , To m
Saint?et, has commended
Nigeria's Super Eagles for
qualifying for the last stage of
the 2014 World Cup quali?ers.
Saint?et told newsmen shortly
aft er his side lost 2-0 to Nigeria
in the World Cup match played
in Calabar.
He said, “We came with a game
plan to make the ?rst half
goalless. But when Nigeria
scored in the 45th minute, we
knew it was over. Our plan was
to come out and attack the
Eagles in the second half but
Nigeria took the game to us in
the second half.”
Saint?et said that in spite of the

“Actually as a coach, I came
here to win the match but
Nigeria carried the day
afterwards. I wish Nigeria well
in the ?nal qualifying matches
and pray that they qualify for
the World Cup,” he said.
The Flames Captain, Banda
Davie, said they were
disappointed at their loss to the
Eagles.
“We actually prepared very
well for this match. Nigeria
came out strongly to carry the
day,” he said.
E a g l e s r e t u r n e e s t r i k e r,
Emmanuel Emenike, scored
Nigeria's ?rst goal in the 45th
minute while Victor Moses
scored the second through a

penalty in the 51st minute.
Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi,
said that although his players
did not play well in the ?rst
half, they picked up in the
second half and won the game.
“It was a good game, mostly in
the second half. In ?rst half, my
team had no mobility but in the
second, we played high speed
game and won the match.
Malawi is a good team but we
did not allow them to play. My
players' ability to recover loose
balls quickly was good.
“I have no preference to play
any country in the ?nal round
of the quali?er, wherever we
?nd ourselves, we will play our
game,” Keshi said.

Culled from The Punch
Newspaper

Nigeria: World Cup Job Half
Done, Says Mikel Obi
Despite ?nishing as Group F
leaders at the weekend with 12
points, Super Eagles mid?eld
stalwart, John Mikel Obi has
warned that the task of
qualifying Nigeria for the 2014
World Cup in Brazil is just half
way done.
The Chelsea star is not carried
away by the 2-0 victory over
the Flames of Malawi in the
last group match the Eagles
played at the U.J. Esuene
Stadium in Calabar on
Saturday.
Instead, Mikel who emerged
TomTom's Man of the Match
of the weekend game, wants
full attention to remain focused
on the ?nal, two-legged playoff.
"We have done 50 per cent of
the job and hopefully we will
complete it by winning the
playoff to qualify for the World
Cup. The draw for the playoffs
will be conducted on
Wednesday, September 18, in
Cairo, Egypt.
The Super Eagles are most
likely to be among the ?ve
seeded teams in the draw and
so will avoid the likes of Cote
d'Ivoire, Ghana and Algeria.
"We will be ready for whoever
we will be drawn against. We
just have to remain focused and
we will be back in Brazil
again," he said referring to the

country's appearance at the
recent FIFA Confederations
Cup in the South American
nation.
The mid?elder even tipped the
Eagles to make history by
becoming the ?rst African
team to reach the last four of
the World Cup.
"We could get to the semi?nals (of the World Cup) and
then the ?nal," predicted
Mikel, who missed his ?rst
World Cup appearance in
South Africa in 2010 due to a
knee injury. The Super Eagles
?nished top of Group F with 12
points from six matches, while
Malawi ?nished on seven
points.
Fenerbache striker Emmanuel
Emenike shot Nigeria ahead in
?rst half stoppage time, when
he got to the end of a delightful
long ball from Lazio
mid?elder Ogenyi Onazi to
coolly chip past the diving
Malawi goalkeeper Charles
Swini.
Eagles increased their
advantage in the 51st minute
when Victor Moses ?red home
from the penalty spot after
goal-bound Oduamadi was
upended inside the box.
The Flames were reduced to 10
men in the 53rd minute when
Limbikani Mzava received his
second booking for a late

tackle on Ahmed Musa.
Nigeria created several other
chances but goalkeeper
Charles Swini was outstanding
for Malawi as he denied
Ahmed Musa twice and in the
dying minutes of the encounter
he again pulled off another
great save off substitute Shola
Ameobi.
Nigeria controlled the game
from the kick-off with Victor
Moses, Mikel Obi, Ahmed
Musa and Emenike on the
attack from the onset.
CSKA Moscow striker Musa
could have given the home
team the lead as early as the
third minute, but he dragged
his shot from inside the box
well off target. Onazi's two
efforts from distance were also
off target as Nigeria continued
to pile on the pressure in search
of the opening goal.

...Celebrating Nigerian Sports

Another Victory For
Super Eagles of Nigeria
James Popoola.
It was an outstanding
performance from the Super
Eagles of Nigeria against
Bafana Bafana of South Africa
on Wednesday 14 August 2013
at the Moses Mabhida stadium
in Durban during the Nelson
Mendela Challenge cup.
The Nigerian attacking trio of,
Uche Nwafor, Ahmed Musa
and Victor Moses tormented
the defense of Bafana Bafana
in the second half of the game.
Super Eagles head coach
Steven Keshi said he was
almost at 85 per cent
completion of building the
national team. Keshi said this
at the post match briefing after
the Super Eagles match against
the host Bafana Bafana in
Durban, South Africa. The
visitors beat their hosts 2-0
following goals in the second
half of the match scored by
U c h e N w o f o r. H e s a i d
although the process of team
building was still going on he
was satisfied with the attitude
of the players towards that.
The “Big Boss " as fondly
called said “he had to outsmart
Bafana head coach Gordon
Igesund by leaving out three of
his big stars Chelsea's Victor
Moses, CSKA Moscow striker
Ahmed Musa and Dutch based
attacker Uche Nwafor at the
start of the first half with the
score level on 0 - 0. Keshi
explained in an interview with
Super Sports. According to
News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN), Keshi stated that “I
reckon Bafana would have
expected those three players to
have started, so I decided to

leave them on the bench. I
knew I had to bring them on
and they helped win the game
as we looked better in the
second half.”
“The result of the match is not
important to me, but the
attitude of the players towards
team building. The most
important game to me is our
match against Malawi on Sept
7, the Nigerian coach added.
``This match is a happy
reunion t o the players; we need
to come back with our rhythm
before our World Cup qualifier
against Malawi in Calabar.
Keshi said some of the young
players were introduced in the
first half because he was not
sure of the pattern of game of
the host team. ``The game was
good and both teams played
entertaining football. ``There
are lots of potential in the
Bafana Bafana team and they
can do better.''
``We are ready for Malawi. The
whole nation is waiting, I am
waiting for the day, the players
too are waiting,'' Keshi said.
Coach Gordon Igesund of
Bafana said during his postmatch interview on Super
Sports that they accepted the
defeat and agreed that they
were beaten by a better side on
the night. He further added that
“the Nigerian team is not the
champions of Africa for
nothing and that they have
learnt from this experience”.
Gordon added, “we gave the
ball away too cheaply and lost
possession easily ". We have to

be prepared to lose a game to
learn and also we have learnt
some valuable lessons”. He
said that Super Eagles
deserved to win the game. ``I
must congratulate the Super
Eagles for winning
convincingly, they deserved
the victory. They took couples
of chances that came their way.
``Nigeria has a lot of
experienced players who are
playing overseas. They have
speed and played with space.
`` We have learnt a lot from
them today, this is the kind of
opposition we need for our
preparation against Botswana
in our last world cup qualifier,''
Igesund said.
He said his team was ready for
the World Cup qualifier against
Botswana at the Moses
Mabhida Stadium in Durban..
The match, which is an
international friendly, is to
celebrate former President
Nelson Mandela's birthday and
raise fund for his pet project,
The Nelson Mandela Children
Fund.
This is a warm-up game for
both countries and has helped
to prepare the Super Eagles
and Bafana Bafana teams for
tougher matches ahead. The
South-African football team
Bafana Bafana is looking
forward to a vital 2014 World
cup qualifier against Botswana
(in Durban on 7 September
2013), while the Nigerian side
is now focusing on the vital
2014 FIFA World cup qualifier
against Malawi at home on 7
September 2013 in a must win
match.

The Malawians, on the other
hand, were happy to soak in the
pressure from the home team.
They kept their defensive
shape and to their credit they
were able to trouble the
Nigerian defence on at least
three occasions on the counter
attack.

Culled from Thisday
Newspaper

Super Eagles of Nigeria celebrating their 2-0 victory against
Bafana Bafana of South Africa during Mandela Cup at Moses
Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Wednesday 14th August 2013