The Super Eagles suffered a surprising loss to Guinea-Bissau in their first defeat of the AFCON 2023 qualifying campaign. The game was held at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja, where Guinea-Bissau picked up a stunning 1-0 victory. Mama Samba Balde scored the lone goal in the first half, proving to be the decisive moment of the game despite Nigeria’s best efforts to equalize. The Super Eagles started the game with expected energy and enthusiasm, looking to please their home fans. In-form Victor Osimhen was presented with two opportunities early on, but failed to convert both chances. Nigeria continued to push and looked more likely to score until Guinea-Bissau took the lead against the run of play in the 29th minute. Despite Nigeria’s efforts to level the score, they were unable to find the back of the net. The Super Eagles will need to regroup and work on their strategy ahead of their next match. Meanwhile, Guinea-Bissau will take confidence from this impressive result and look to b...

Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly joined Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr on a two-year contract in a deal worth €200m per year with commercial benefits included. The 37-year-old Portugal captain is a free agent after leaving Manchester United following a controversial interview in which he criticised the club. Al Nassr, nine-time Saudi Pro League champions, described the signing of former Real Madrid star as “history in the making”. The club said it would “inspire our league, nation and future generations to be the best version of themselves.” In the summer, Ronaldo turned down a £305m deal to join another Saudi team — Al Hilal — because he was happy at United. Earlier in November, Ronaldo spoke out in an interview with Piers Morgan for TalkTV in which he said he felt “betrayed” by United, did not respect manager Erik ten Hag and was being forced out of the club. Ronaldo, who scored 145 goals in 346 appearances for United, left Juventus to rejoin the Old Trafford club in Augus...

Super Eagles striker Odion Ighalo has rounded off his season with Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal as the highest goal scorer of the 2021/2022 season of the Saudi Pro League. Ighalo scored a brace in Al-Hilal’s win against already relegated Al-Faisaly on Monday night with the fixture ending 2-1 at the King Fahd Stadium, Riyadh. The former Manchester United striker found the back of the net in the seventh and 64th minutes with two goals that sent the home crowd into a frenzy. The win sealed the 18th league title win for the home side who were closely being chased by fierce rivals, Al-Ittihad Ighalo joined Al Hilal in January 2022 after abruptly ending his stay at Al-Shabab, another Saudi Pro League side.  I can’t stop scoring, says Ighalo  Ighalo fires Ghana warning with hat-trick  Ighalo gives reasons for quitting Al Shabab, ready for EPL return The Ajegunle-born striker appeared in 31 matches in the Saudi league and found the back of the net 24 times. His tally comes from his...

  Super Eagles and Villarreal forward, Samuel Chukwueze, on Friday donated a coaster bus worth ₦30 million to Superstars Football Academy, Uyo, as part of his support to the development of football in Nigeria. During a presentation ceremony and a novelty match between team Chukwueze and another team led by ex U-23 Nigerian international Chukwuebuka Iroha, he acknowledged that his success story cannot be written without mentioning the President of Supertsars Football Academy, Hon. Victor Apugo, who discovered and nurtured him, hence his decision to support him in discovering more talents. He said: “I’m so glad and humbled to donate this bus to Superstars Academy and to my boss and mentor Hon. Apugo. He really played a key role in where I am today and there’s no better way to show appreciation to him and to God than to support him in helping other young talents reach their potentials like he helped me do.” It will be recalled that Apugo was the General Manager of Chukwueze’s former c...

Nigeria Football Federation on Monday announced the reconstitution of the technical crew of the Senior Men National Team, Super Eagles, with Augustine Eguavoen staying as Interim Technical Adviser while former Nigeria World Cup star and former U20 Boys’ Head Coach, Emmanuel Amuneke drafted in as immediate assistant to Eguavoen. One of the most garlanded footballers to have come out of Nigeria, Amuneke scored both goals that won Nigeria the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations final match against Zambia in Tunis, scored the goal that won Nigeria and Africa’s first Olympic football gold medal in 1996 and played in the 1994 and 1996 FIFA World Cup finals, scoring two goals in USA ’94. As coach, the electrifying winger qualified Tanzania for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt and led the Taifa Stars in the finals. He is a Member of both the FIFA and CAF Technical Study Groups. “The NFF Board has approved a recommendation of the Technical and Development Committee retaining Augustine Eguavoen as...

Nigeria has been dealt a double blow in the round of 16 match against Tunisia. The Nigerian team conceded a goal at the beginning of the second half as Msakni beat the Nigerian goalkeeper from outside the box. A few minutes later, Iwobi was handed a red card bringing the Nigerian team down to 10 men.