CHAN Qualifier: Salami on target as Nigeria beat Burkina Faso

The Home-based Super Eagles defeated Burkina Faso 2-0 in Saturday’s African Nations Championship final round qualifier, first leg played at the Adokiye Amiesiamaka Stadium, Port Harcourt. 

Goals from Bature Yaro and Gbolahan Salami were all the Eagles needed to breeze the visitors aside towards ensuring qualification for the competition billed for Rwanda in 2016.

The home team transformed their dominance right from kick-off to a well-deserved victory over their West African rivals whom they overcame to clinch the 2013 African Cup of Nations title. 

Despite earning his second consecutive victory as Nigeria coach, Sunday Oliseh has insisted that it is rather too early for any celebration - stressing that more work has to be done to secure qualification. 

“We have not won anything yet,” insisted Oliseh after the match in Port Harcourt.

“If we could score two goals here, nothing stops them from scoring the same number of goals in the return leg.

“It will be an interesting second leg,” he added.  

The two teams square-up in Ouagadougou next weekend.

Meanwhile, the Eagles will now face Swaziland in the second round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

The Swazis completed a 6-0 away romp over Djibouti with a 2-1 win at home on Saturday to advance. 

Both nations will be facing each other for the first time ever at full international level next month.

Moses rated fifth fastest player in the Premier League

Nigeria winger, Victor Moses, has been ranked among the fastest players in the Barclays Premier League thus far this season as he is placed in an unbelievable fifth position. 

Stats made available by EA SPORTS on Friday evening confirmed the West Ham attacker as the fifth fastest player in the League with a top speed of 35km/h. 

After failing to nail down a regular place at Chelsea, the 25-year-old moved to Upton Park on a season long loan in the summer.  

Now the former Crystal Palace man has been rewarded for an outstanding start to life in East London after his one goal and two assists helped pushed Slaven Bilic's team to sixth place on the log. 

Moses' record is only bettered by Leicester City duo Jamie Vardy and Jeffrey Schlupp, Sunderland defender Billy Jones and another Foxes player, Marc Albrighton. 

What this mean is that the Nigerian is rated above some of the very best players in the EPL such as Alexis Sanchez, Eden Hazard, Willian, Theo Walcott and Sergio Aguero. 

Moses who has already made 24 appearances for the Super Eagles, opted out of the last two international friendly games against DR Congo and Cameroon over precautionary move against injury.

Ten interesting facts about Nigeria at the FIFA U-17 Championships

All eyes will be on the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria who begin the quest to retaining their title at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile which will take place from October 17 to November 8.

Drawn against tournament host Chile, Croatia and USA in group A, the team will hope to better the performances of their predecessors at this competition.

Coach Emmanuel Amunike is optimistic of his team's chances as he believes his wards will surely retain the title they won two years ago.

"We are here to defend the trophy," Amuneke said after the team arrived Chile on Wednesday.

"We are here with new players who want to write their own history and we are looking forward to our first game against the United States of America," he added.

With the country boosting an unbelievable record at the cadre level, we take a look at some mind-blowing
stats and facts from Nigeria's participation at this competition over the years.


1. Nigeria is the most successful country in the tournament's history with four titles (1985, 1993, 2007, 2013) and three runners up (1987, 2001, 2009).

Followed by Brazil and Ghana with three and two titles respectively.

2. The Golden Ball award for the most valuable player at a particular tournament has been won thrice by Nigerians -  the highest by any nation.  Phillip Osundu in 1987, Sani Emmanuel in 2009, and Kelechi Iheanacho in 2013.

3. Wison Oruma at Japan 1993 and Macauley Chrisantus at Korea 2007 are the only two Nigerians to have won the Golden shoe award for most goals scored in a single tournament.

4. The country has failed to qualify for this competition only once in Italy 1991 and once failed to progress pass the group stage in Finland 2003 after the Eaglets were eliminated by drawing of lot - they were tied with Costa Rica on both points and goals.  

5. Dele Alampasu, Eaglets' goalkeeper to the 2013 edition of the competition is the first and only Nigerian to have won the Golden Glove award for the most outstanding keeper in a particular edition.

6. Despite winning the titles on four occasions, Nigeria has never successfully defended her title on each occasion.

7.1708 goals has been scored in the history of the tournament with Nigeria's Chidera Ezeh scoring 1700th goal in 2013.

8. Nigeria has successfully hosted this competition once in 2009 but couldn't capitalize on home support to win the title - they lost 1-0 to Switzerland in the finals. While Mexico is the first and only team to have hosted and won on home soil in 2011.

9. Nigeria holds the record for most goals scored by a team in a single tournament with 26 goals in the 2013 tournament hosted by United Arab Emirates. They are closely followed by Germany with a total of 24 goals in the 2011 edition hosted by Mexico.

10. With an average age of 16 years and 11 months, the current crop of Eaglets is the youngest in the history of the country's participation at the biennial event.

Nigeria play USA on Saturday in Santiago.

From Bad boy to Daddy's Boy: Gbolahan Salami's rising reputation in Nigerian Football

Football is probably the most followed sport in the world - the gladiators are viewed as role models by spectators as well as umpires without any perception of their contrasting lifestyle.

Many footballers though naturally gifted were not able to take their careers to the next level due to their personal lifestyle off and on the pitch. Gambling, drinking, smoking, abuse, molestation, arrogance and much more are the traits synonymous with these class of players.

This could be attributed to fame and immaturity - while some players outgrow such act with time, others live with it and the consequences could likely ruin their careers.

Enter Gbolahan Salami, a player loved and loathed in equal measure. Branded as the 'bad boy of Nigerian football',  he bared his mind to SuperSports about his controversial tag:

“People who say I am controversial don’t know me. I will always fight to defend my family and my team. If that makes me controversial, so be it.”

Salami has represented Nigeria at the U-20, U-23 and senior levels dating from 2008. Before joining his current team Warri Wolves, he kited for both Sunshine and Shooting Stars - but failed to secure deals abroad twice with Aston Villa and Red Star Balgrade.

A pacy-winger comfortable o n both feet, Salami hasn't been devoid of controversies in the league as he has been suspended on numerous occasions for his goal celebrations, altercation with fans and teammates and all-round conduct.

Despite all the troubles, he has constantly proven to be one of the best attackers in the Nigerian League hitting double figures almost every season.

His coach at Wolves Paul Aigbogun said about him after scoring a brace in 2014:

"He has been doing well for quite some time now and is an integral part of the team. We are happy with his input which has helped the team."

Turning Point

Salami has however taken a new lease of life since the turn of the year concentrating more on football than his shenanigan. And the Lagos-born winger has attributed his refinement to his wife, Olulade who he describes as his "pillar". The pair got married only last December and it is no surprise that the Wolves man has scored 14 goals in the league so far including four in his last two.

“She talks to me day and night about the need to create a better image for myself on and off the pitch especially in the national team. She has brought calmness into my life," Salami told New Telegragh about his wife.

He continued: “My wife is like a pillar to me right now. She made me realise many people look up to me to show example and that some of the things I do today will be reference point for our children.

“She has been doing well to shape my career. I now play with more confidence and don’t just allow anything to annoy me anymore because I have to make her proud at home."

“That I am scoring often now is a result of marriage because I am just a better person in all aspects including my job as a footballer. I play now with responsibility to make myself and my family proud. I also try to avoid any embarrassment,” a remorseful Salami added.

His level-headedness and form has finally paved way for a dream move to Europe as reports claim that the player has signed for a Norwegian side - and will move at the end of the current season.

Another major milestone in his career was when he was appointed captain of the home-based Eagles and will now lead his country for the first time on Saturday in an African Nations Championship qualifying match against Burkina Faso.

"The coaches has told me that I am the captain," Salami confirmed.

"I think everything will be fine against Burkina Faso, we are ready to play the game.

"Everybody knows what is at stake, we are all working hard for the country and we want to win the game," he added.

So who says hard-work doesn't pay? At 24, Salami is already a veteran in the domestic league and a mainstay in the national team.

He has 13 caps and scored thrice for the main Super Eagles team - which is a remarkable achievement for a home based player.

Ighalo nominated for Premier League Player of the Month

Nigeria striker, Odion Ighalo, has been short listed for the Barclays Premier League September Player of the Month award. 

The Watford front-man has been in blistering form this season - scoring five times in eight appearances and his exploits hasn't gone unnoticed by the Football Association. 

Ighalo scored three goals in three games for the Hornets last month, including a match-winning double during the excellent 2-1 away win over Newcastle United and an equalizer in the 1-1 draw at AFC Bournemouth.

His other goal was his memorable strike against Swansea City at Vicarage Road, which helped to secure the Golden Boys' first three points of the season.

Also on the shortlist are Jamie Vardy of Leicester City, Dimitri Payet of West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur’s Hugo Lloris and Manchester United duo Anthony Martial and Daley Blind.

Meanwhile for the Coach of the Month category, Manchester United's Loius Van Gaal, Roberto Martinez of Everton and West Ham's Slaven Bilic were shortlisted. 

The winner will be announced on Friday at 6am. 

Ahead of his club's clash with Arsenal on Saturday at home, Ighalo is looking forward to the prospect of facing Arsene Wenger's side for the first time in his career. 

"Our target is to try and play good football, defend well and take any opportunities that come our way to score goals. My target is to help my team play well and score goals," he told AfricanFootball.com

"Arsenal are doing well at the moment, so it won't be easy, but we hope for the three points.

"Yes we are ready to go, it's not going to be easy for us. Arsenal play the best football in England but we are going to try and do something in the game," he added. 

Ighalo was on the scoresheet on Sunday when the Super Eagles defeated Cameroon 3-0 in a friendly match in Brussels.

Asylum seekers: Eritrean players decline to return home after World Cup qualifier in Botswana

Ten members of the Eritrea national team known as 'Red Sea Boys' has refused to travel home after their World Cup qualifier with Botswana this week.

Eritrea is a small country in the Horn of Africa which gained Independence in 1991 from Ethiopia following a 30-year armed struggle. 

The nation which is south of Sudan, has been plagued by political instability, poverty and civil unrest in recent time. 

While Botswana is a mid-sized country with a population of just over 2 million, located in the South - boarded by South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. 

A non-governmental Eritrean organisation have said that 10 players did not board their plane home after the match because they were seeking political asylum.

Dick Bayford, a human rights lawyer representing the Pretoria-based Eritrean Movement for Democracy and Human Rights revealed that the players did not arrive at the airport.

He said: “I have been engaged by the movement to assist in keeping the football players in the country after they received reports that there was an attempt to forcibly remove the players from Botswana,” he said.

"About 10 football players from the country declined to board a plane home ... (Wednesday) morning, stating that they needed political asylum.

"They were then taken into custody for interviewing."

Botswana won the match 3-1, claiming a 5-1 aggregate win in the first stage of qualifying for the 2018 finals .

Eaglets land in Chile for FIFA U-17 World Cup

Nigeria Golden Eaglets have arrived Santiago, Chile for the FIFA U-17 World Cup billed for October 17 to November 8.

According to a press statement released by the Nigeria Football Federation, the young Eagles flew into Santiago from their pre-World Cup camp base in Buenos Aires at 8:20pm local time on Tuesday (which is early hours of Wednesday in Nigeria (12:20 am), aboard a Lan Airlines flight.

Nigeria go into this tournament as defending champions after winning the previous edition in United Arab Emirates in 2013, but has never successfully defended her title.

Coach Emmanuel Amuneke is eager to break that jinx by becoming the first gaffer to lead the country to back-to-back titles at the cadre level.

“We are here to defend the trophy,” he said.

"We are here with new players who want to write their own history and we are looking forward to our first game against the United States of America, which is very important for us."

Nigeria scored 23 en route to winning the 2013 edition - thereby smashing the record of most goals scored by a team in a single tournament.

And current Eaglets marksman, Victor Osimhen, believes the team is capable of surpassing the feat of their predecessor by going all out to win a record fifth title.

“We are here to win,” said Osimhen who is Golden Eaglets' top scorer with 39 goals in 71 cumulative international and local matches.
"Just as the coach said, we are here to write our own story as a team and players."

Nigeria with four titles and three Runners-up is the tournament's most successful nation followed by Brazil and Ghana.

They team is drawn in group A alongside host Chile, European giants Croatia and the USA.

Guess who's the fifth largest exporter of football talents in the world

A study by research outfit, CIES Football Observatory, has revealed that Nigeria is the fifth highest exporter of football talents in the world and the biggest in Africa.

The report, the eight in the CIES Football Observatory’s monthly report, which focuses on international migration in football, reveals that Nigeria’s figure of 596 players scattered in leagues across the world, is only lower to biggest exporter, Brazil (1,784), Argentina (929), France (758) and Serbia (607).

The analysis includes a record number of 6,135 clubs and 458 leagues of 183 countries worldwide.
While Brazil is the most represented origin among foreigners both in Europe (1,137 players) and in Asia (437 players), Argentina is the main exporting country at Latin American level (511 players compared to only 124 Brazilians).

The CIES Football Observatory report entitled “Exporting countries in world football” provide an overview of migration of footballer’s around the world.

It said the dataset was not precisely defined but included “6,135 clubs and 458 leagues of 183 countries.”
“18,660 foreign players of 194 origins,” representing 13 per cent of the total number of players included in the analysis, have been identified.

On regional basis, Brazil by far provides the largest foreign contingent in Asia, with Asian clubs tending to favour foreigners from outside the continent, including Africans, who are well represented in the AFC.

While Brazil dominates exports to other parts of the world, Argentina exports the highest number of players to South America, with about 30 per cent of the foreign players in the region’s leagues.

In Europe, Brazil has the largest foreign contingent (8.5 per cent), followed by France and Serbia. But the most foreigners (56.1 per cent) come from other European nations.

The body devotes a section of its report on the U.S., which shows a “marked diversification of international recruitment.
“The further development of football in the United States will, without doubt, be accompanied by an increase in transfers on a worldwide level. In the race for new talent, US teams will progressively become tougher rivals for European, Asian and South American clubs.”

Besiktas President declare interest in Mikel

Besiktas have confirmed they will make another attempt to sign Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel in January.

The Turkish club tried to purchase the Nigeria international last summer, but coach Senol Gunes had second thoughts about the deal.

Chelsea also decided to keep the 28-year-old after attempts to lure Juventus star Paul Pogba to Stamford Bridge failed.

The Blues could make a second bid for the France star at the end of the season and are also keen on Porto's talented youngster Ruben Neves.

That has encouraged Besiktas to plot another move for Mikel, who continues to be a fringe member of the squad under Jose Mourinho.

Besiktas president, Fikret Oman, confirmed his club's interest in the Nigerian - with a bid likely to be made in January.

“If Gunes had given the go-ahead we were going to sign Mikel (last summer), and we could enter the race again over the winter break,” he said.

Mikel who was in action for the Super Eagles against DR Congo and Cameroon during the International break, is currently Chelsea's second longest serving player behind skipper, John Terry.

Newcastle's Papiss Cisse involved in Juju to end goal drought - Report

The last has not been heard of African players taking part in a traditional ritual known as Voodoo.

Voodoo – “Great Spirit” – is a religion or practice synonymous to West Africa - with Ghana believed to be its ancestral home. It is often used to lift curses put in place by juju witchcraft.

Reports suggests many top African stars, both past and present has been involved in the fetish act to boost their careers above their contemporaries.

While in some other cases, Voodoo is used to wreck the career of players by aggrieved family members who fill cheated or not well taken care of by the player.

Notably is Ex-Spurs striker Emmanuel Adebayor, 31, who claimed his family in Togo used juju on him.

Another is Bournemouth winger Max Gradel, 27, who suffered ligament damage playing only his first game in the Premier League after his move from France.

In the case of Newcastle United striker, Papiss Cisse,  the player took part in the ritual to end a goal drought, fearing he had been cursed by a rival.

Cisse became worried when his run of sensational goals after joining Newcastle came to a sudden end.

Convinced a player from another club had cursed him, he begged teammate Cheick Tiote to help lift the blight.

According to the Chronicle, after the ceremony, said to have even involved bloodletting, Cisse, 30 – who comes from Senegal – returned to his winning ways.

 “It’s one of those things you really couldn’t believe at first," a Newcastle insider said.

“Papiss is very superstitious and became convinced he’d been cursed to stop scoring.”

Tiote, from Ivory Coast is said to have visited a “high priest” in Newcastle for help.

The insider added: “Cheick is Papiss’s good friend so he agreed to it, even though it apparently involved bloodletting and various bits of hocus pocus.”

Enyeama, Musa shortlisted for African Footballer of the Year Award

Nigeria duo Vincent Enyeama and Ahmed Musa has been shortlisted for the 2015 CAF African Footballer of the Year Award.

Current Super Eagles skipper, Musa is joined by his predecessor, Enyeama as the only two Nigerians to make the 37-man list released on Sunday by the continent’s soccer ruling body.

Musa continued from where he left out last season with seven goals in 13 appearances for Russian Champions, CSKA Moscow this term- making him the top goal-scorer in the League.

While Enyeama has built a reputation for himself as probably the best goalkeeper on the continent and one of the very best in the French Ligue 1.

The 33-year-old has kept five clean sheets thus far for Lille - conceding only once at home to defending champions, Paris Saint German in the League opener on August 7.

However, there were no place for record breaking Nigeria duo, Obafemi Martins and Odion Ighalo on the shortlist.

Martins finished the 2014/15 season with 17 goals and 13 assists, a joint-club record held with Mauro Rosales - as well being named in the MLS Best XI and winning the Goal of the Year.

Ighalo on the hand scored over 20 goals to earn Watford promotion to the Premier League - 22 goals in 2015 alone, making him the top scorer in all English top tier.

The list of nominees released by CAF is dominated by Algeria with six representatives followed by Ivory Coast with four, while Ghana has just two contigents.
Popular names such as Yaya Toure, Gervinho, Serge Aurrier (Ivory Coast), Andre Ayew, Christian Atsu  (Ghana),  Mame Biram Diouf, Sadio Mane (Senegal), Mehdi Benatia (Morocco) and Mohamed Salah (Egypt) were nominated.

Others are Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Yacine Brahimi, Riyad Mahrez (Algeria)
 Seydou Keita (Mali), Stephane Mbia (Cameroon), Yannick Bolasie (Congo DR) and Victor Wanyama (Kenya)

Meanwhile, the present 37-man list will be pruned down to 10 by next month before it is further reduced to five and then the final three before the award ceremony is held.

Toure has won the prestigious award four times including in the last three years consecutively.

Tottenham tracks Nigeria youngster, Moses Simon

Super Eagles newest kid on the block, Moses Simon, is being targeted by English Premier League side, Tottenham Hotspur.

Moses, 20, play his club football for Gent in Belgium - his seven goals last season led the club to the Belgian League success - a feat that saw him named in the Team of the Season.

According to the Mirror, Spurs have been a long time admirer of the youngster and are still monitoring his progress with a view of making a move for the player.

The North Londoners have been keen on Simon since he was a teenager, but he choose to train with Dutch side Ajax instead.

Simon, who is a product of the famed GBS Academy, same that produced current Eagles skipper, Ahmed Musa, joined Slovak side AS Trencin where he scored 13 goals in 33 games in the 2014/15 season.

The Jos-born winger is gradually becoming an integral part of Sunday Oliseh's new look Eagles team after scoring twice in his last three games for Nigeria against Niger Republic and Cameroon respectively.

NPFL Matchday 33 round-up- Enyimba open five-point lead with victory over 3SC, Sharks can dare to dream

Enyimba FC of Aba fought spiritedly to sustain their Glo Premier League title intent with a deserved 2-1 win over visiting Shooting Stars of Ibadan in Aba to move five points clear of closest rivals, Warri Wolves.

Captain, Chinedu Udoji's header, 15 minutes to time, made the difference between the sides, after Ajani Ibrahim had stunned the home fans in the 56th minute. The six-time champions had taken the lead earlier through Musa Najare on the 14th minute.

The victory takes the Aba side to 61 points, five and six points above second and third placed Warri Wolves and Wiki Tourist who dropped points away from home.

Nigeria ease pass rivals Cameroon in international friendly

Super Eagles put to sword fierce rivals Cameroon on Sunday in Brussels, Belgium in a much improved display from the loss to DR Congo.

After the shambolic showing against DRC on Thursday, the Super Eagles raised their game against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon to win this friendly and ease pressure on coach Sunday Oliseh after his major falling out with Lille goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama.

Second-half goals from the impressive Moses Simon and substitute Odion Ighalo put the result beyond doubt following Efe Ambrose's opener before the interval.

Any hopes of a Cameroon comeback were all but ended a minute into the second half when captain Stephane Mbia received his marching orders for a second bookable offence.

And Nigeria soon capitalised on their numerical advantage through Simon's strike, Ighalo rounding off the triumph in the 89th minute with a close-range header after Cameroon forward Vincent Aboubakar had a goal disallowed.

The loss was just the second of 2015 for Volker Finke's Cameroon, while the victory provides a timely morale boost for Nigeria ahead of their African Nations Championship qualifier against Burkina Faso next weekend.

Determined to make amends for their 2-0 defeat to DR Congo last time out, Oliseh's side came out strong this time round, with Cameroon goalkeeper Fabrice Ondoa on form to deny both Sylvester Igboun and Emmanuel Emenike.

But Nigeria made their dominance count shortly before half-time, Ambrose – who had gone close to scoring an own goal at the other end with an over-hit back pass a few moments earlier – heading home from John Obi Mikel's free-kick.

Things got worse for Cameroon a minute into the second half, Siani picking up his second yellow card after diving in on Igboun.

Nigeria duly extended their lead on the hour mark, Simon slaloming through Cameroon's defence before lashing a finish into the bottom-right corner.

 Aboubakar thought he had pulled Cameroon back into contention with 15 minutes remaining, but his strike was ruled out for offside.

It mattered little, however, with Watford forward Ighalo coming off the bench to nod in a third late on.

Nigeria Starting XI: Carl Ikeme – Elderson Echiejile, Shehu Abdullahi, Efe Ambrose, Leon 
Balogun – Ogenyi Onazi, John Mikel Obi (Wilfred Ndidi), Sylvester Igbonu (R.Ibrahim) – Moses Simon, Emmanuel Emenike (Odion Ighalo), Ahmed Musa (Alex Iwobi)

Cameroun Line up: Ondoa, Bassong, Chedjou, Nkoulou, Kombi, Siani, Mbia, Moukandjo, Aboubakar, Njie Clinton, Kweuke. Subs: Ndy Assembe (1) ; André Onana (23) ; Zoua Jacques (9) ; Loe Raoul (4) ; Ndi Dany (20) ; Fai Collins (12) ; Salli Edgar (11) ; Eboa Eboa (15).