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Nigeria’s U-20 women’s team made history on Thursday when they
beat Colombia 1-0 to book a final date with hosts, Germany on Sunday.

The Falconets, playing in white, got off the starting blocks
early and were quickly on the score sheet.

A long punt from captain, Joy Jegede, took a wicked bounce and
hit the cross bar leaving Ebere Orji with an open goal and Nigeria had scored
the fastest goal in Germany timed at 1:29 seconds. Thereafter, the Colombians
tried to play their passing game but most times were hassled by the duo of
Cecilia Nku and Amarachi Okoronkwo supported by Rebecca Orji who played the
perfect foil for her two attacking midfielders.

The Colombians had a chance to get the equaliser in the 17th
minute off a corner kick as Natalia Gaitan’s shot cum cross is finally cleared
by Okoronkwo. The South Americans were then left with the only option of
shooting from far and Yorely Rincon almost surprised Alaba Jonathan in goal for
the Falconets. The referee was forced to make a decision in favour of Colombia
in the 30th minute when Desire Oparanozie seemed to have been tripped on the
way to goal.

In attack, the Nigerian’s side’s forays were breaking down at
the feet of Esther Sunday, who was trying to forage for goals single-handedly.
She was removed from the action by Coach Adat Egan in the 37th minute and
replaced by Charity Adule.

Colombia pile on the
pressure

The second half started in the same way as the first half ended.
The Colombians were straight into the attack and won a corner kick fifty
seconds into the second stanza. Nigeria’s first chance in the second half
almost materialises when Desire Oparanozie bulldozed her way down the right
flank to earn a corner kick. The ensuing corner kick almost resulted in the second
goal as it causes panic in the Colombian box.

An excellent two-woman move between Charity Adule and Ebere Orji
opened up the Colombian defence to give Adule a chance to shoot on goal but she
shot wide. Yorely Rincon continued her shooting practise but she marginally
missed the mark. By the 65th minute, the Falconets were starting to show signs
of tiredness; may be because of the extra time and penalties they went through
before dislodging the might of the USA in the quarter finals.

Coach Egan made a change by bringing on Soo Adekwagh to replace Amarachi
Okoronkwo, who had apparently run herself into the ground. Katerin Castro had
come in for the Colombians and was a handful for the centre back duo of Joy
Jegede and Osinachi Ohale, who did a wonderful job of shackling the strapping
Colombian attacker. Jonathan made a diving save to her right in the 72nd minute
to preserve the fragile lead of the Nigerians.

Play was then concentrated in the Nigerian half as the Colombians went all
out in search of the equaliser. They almost had it in the 79th minute when
Rincon’s 25metre shot crashed against the cross-bar, letting off the Falconets
for the umpteenth time. Nigeria should have killed off the game as a contest in
the 85th minute saw Orji volleying her shot over the bar after being set up by
her strike partner, Oparanozie.

The Falconets were at the receiving end for the remainder of the match but
held on to claim a famous victory and send the Nigerians at home and in the
stadium into scenes of delirium.

The Falconets have landed in the finals and will face the might of the
Germans on Sunday.

Blessing Okagbare set a new Africa Championship record in the
100m after winning gold in a hotly contested final on Wednesday at the ongoing
17th edition of the Africa Athletics Championships taking place in Nairobi,
Kenya.

Okagbare ran a time of 11.03 seconds to erase the 11.05 mark set
by compatriot; Mary Onyali at the 1998 Dakar, Senegal edition.

“Whatever championships I have won this year, I have worked hard
for it. I have trained hard and am really grateful to God that everything is in
place for me,” an elated Okagbare told reporters after the race.

The Olympic Bronze medallist further revealed that she hopes to
even improve on her time in subsequent competitions with the Commonwealth her
major target.

“My goal this year is to break the African record at the
Commonwealth Games,” she said.

Perennes Pau Zang Milama of Gabon took the silver medal in 11.15
sec while former champion; Damola Osayomi of Nigeria came third.

Meanwhile, United States-based Seun Adigun also won another gold
medal for the country as she wrested back the 100m hurdles crown, which was
taken away from compatriot; Toyin Augustus at the last edition in Addis Ababa.
She won the race in a new personal best time of 13.14 seconds.

Gnima Faye of Senegal took the silver in 13.67 while Algeria’s
Amina Ferguen (13.87) won the bronze.

Metu fumbles

It was however not good news for the men as Nigerian men’s
champion Obinna Metu, finished seventh, way behind winner,

Ben Youssef Meite of the Ivory Coast, who timed 10.08sec.

Veteran Zakari Aziz of Ghana came second in 10.12 with Simon
Magakwe (10.14) in third spot.

Metu, who recently made history back home winning an
unprecedented three successive 100m title in the Mobil Track and field
Championships has consistently failed to hit form at the big stage as he has
consistently failed to make meaningful impact outside Nigeria.

The duo of Saul Weigpowa and Sade Abugan are the only remaining
quarter milers for Nigeria as they secured their places in the men’s and
Women’s 400m final events.

Joseph Ehigie, Godday James and Noah Akwu all failed to make the
cut and will only have the relay race to redeem their image.

Other winners

Kenya’s world champion Vivian Cheruiyot won the 5,000 metres
after a terrific last lap sprint with big Ethiopian rival Meseret Defar on the
second day of the African Championships on Thursday.

Her victory followed that of compatriot Wilson Kiprop in the
10,000 metres on Wednesday. Cheruiyot won in 16:18.72 with Defar second in
16:20.54.

Defar, a former world champion, took defeat honourably, telling
reporters: “I think Vivian is terrific and I must congratulate her on her
victory.” Cheruiyot’s immediate plans are the Continental Cup in Croatia in
September and the Commonwealth Games in October.

Kits arrive

Meanwhile Team Nigeria officials finally took delivery of their
kits from NIKE officials here in Nairobi yesterday with the Athletics
Federation heaping the blame on the sportswear suppliers.

The kits, it was gathered arrived Nairobi three days ago but the
Kenyan immigration demanded that duties be paid on them. This led to the delay
in the release of the wears and AFN secretary general, Maria Worphil explained.

She added that the federation should not be blamed for the
multi-coloured appearance of Nigeria so far in the championships.

“We gave the specifications and the numbers we needed and we expected them
to ship it here early. In fact it was not only Nigeria who had their kits
supplied two days after the championship began, the Kenya team also had theirs
delayed because NIKE shipped them together with that of Nigeria,” said Worphil,
a former national handball star.

After defeating all comers in Swaziland, Nigeria’s U-19 cricket team
has booked the ticket to the International Cricket Council-organised World
championship qualifiers in Namibia come August.

Playing against Swaziland, the Nigerian lads proved their mettle
with a 149 run demolition of the hosts at the Ubombo Country Club pitch and
emerged as the winner of the tournament with a day to go.

Nigeria batted first, and for the first time in the series, was
bowled out for 193 runs in 45 overs short of the full 50-over complement.
Joshua Ayannaike had 47 runs, Varun Behani scored 38, and Sola Anyia
contributed towards the total score.

The team started brightly notching up 49 runs in the first 10
overs for the loss of one wicket; then moved on to 80 runs for 2 wickets after
20 overs; then 130 for 5 after 30 overs; then 178 for 7 after 40 overs before
losing the final wicket on 193.

After lunch, the Swaziland U19 team took to the crease to attempt to surpass
the 193 runs; however they were soon in trouble at 17 runs for 4 wickets after
9 overs. The situation worsened to 32 runs for the loss of 6 wickets after 17
overs and the team capitulated on 43 runs; thereby conceding victory to Nigeria
by 150 runs.

Nigeria’s successful bowlers were the Anyia brothers; with senior brother
Benjamin taking 4 wickets for 14 runs in 7 overs, while his junior brother
Olusola accounted for 3 wickets for only 7 runs in 3 overs.

The latest victory came after previous victories over Gambia (10 wickets),
Rwanda (8 wickets) and Mozambique (245 runs). The tournament ends today with
inconsequential final matches between Swaziland and Gambia and the second match
will be between Mozambique and Rwanda.

The Nigerian team is expected to encounter significant opposition in
Division 1 with the likes of hosts Namibia, Kenya, Uganda, Botswana, Tanzania,
Zambia and Sierra Leone waiting for it. The team will return to the country on
Saturday, July, 31, 2010.

Triple Olympic
champion Usain Bolt and top sprint rivals Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell
will meet for the first time this year in a 100 metres showdown at the
Stockholm Diamond League meeting next week.

The clash on August
6 will be the first including Jamaican Bolt, American Gay and Bolt’s
compatriot Powell since they took gold, silver and bronze at the 2009
Berlin world championships, meeting director Rajne Soderberg told
Reuters on Wednesday.

It will match the
three fastest men of all-time with Bolt the world record holder at 9.58
seconds, followed by Gay (9.69) and Powell (9.72).

“The last time
Usain ran here Asafa beat him just before the 2008 Beijing Olympics,”
Soderberg said by telephone. “I think it was the only (100 metres) race
he has lost in his (professional) life so he probably wants to come
back for revenge.

Bolt has beaten Gay
in both of their 100 metres races. He holds an 8-1 edge over Powell,
the loss coming in the 2008 Stockholm meeting.

Weeks later, Bolt
set world records in the 100 and 200 and helped Jamaica eclipse the
4×100 record at Beijing. He went on to break both sprint records at
last year’s world championships.

Powell and Gay had
already been scheduled to take part in the meeting and negotiations to
include Bolt began several weeks ago, Soderberg said.

“He (Bolt) had
missed a couple of races (with injury) and did not want to run more 200
metres, so it is a great honour to have him.

This will increase
interest in the meeting for the future and (talk of the race) will
linger on for years.” The three also will meet in the Diamond League
final at Brussels on August 27.

Reuters

Zlatan Ibrahimovic
fears his former coach Jose Mourinho will create a Real Madrid team
capable of ending Barcelona’s recent dominance of Spanish soccer.

Ibrahimovic, the
Barcelona striker who endured a patchy first season at the Nou Camp,
played for Mourinho at Inter Milan between 2008 and 2009.

“Mourinho is one of
the best coaches in the world,” Ibrahimovic told reporters on Thursday,
ahead of Barcelona’s pre-season friendly against Norwegian side
Valerenga.

“When he comes to a
new club he will build it up to be a winning machine. It will be
difficult to beat (Real), but we are the best team in the world.”

Barcelona won the Spanish league in 2009 and 2010, and the Champions League in 2009.

Ibrahimovic, the
Sweden international who scored 16 goals in his first season at
Barcelona, said he expects to improve in his second, and that the
arrival of David Villa should not put his place under threat.

He admitted he had
discussed his situation with coach Pep Guardiola after Barcelona bought
Villa, Spain’s top scorer at the World Cup, from Valencia.

“Every time I
change clubs, I think the first year is always the (most) difficult
one, and from all the clubs that I’ve played in, my best first year has
been in Barcelona,” Ibrahimovic said.

“He (Guardiola) says I’m important, and then I take it as I will
play. If you’re not important, you don’t play.” Ibrahimovic said Villa
was one of the world’s best players who would help Barcelona next
season. “With Villa on the team we will be even stronger and have even
better chance to win the Champions League,” he said.

Former Super Eagles captain, Austin Jay-Jay Okocha, will get to
know on Monday whether his aspiration to get into the board of the Nigeria
Football Federation, to represent his home state, Delta, will eventually see
the light of day.

The legendary midfielder, whose career with the Super Eagles
spanned a period of 12 years before his international retirement at the end of
2005, isn’t however alone in the race for the state’s solitary slot, as he has
as a co-contestant in a certain Collins Eselemo.

Asaba is venue

Accordingly, the board of the Delta Football Association, DFA,
has set aside Monday in Asaba to decide between the ex-international, who is a
member of the presidential task force to the last World Cup in South Africa,
and who has been clamouring to serve in the football house since his retirement
from international football, and Eselemo, who would be representing the state in
the forth-coming elections billed for August.

DFA boss, Amaju Pinnick, said the decision to go into voting by
the 12-member board of the DFA was as a result of the fact that two prominent
individuals from Delta have indicated interest in representing the state on the
board of the NFF.

Pinnick then added that for the sake of transparency and
fairness to all the interested parties, the board of the DFA has decided to
meet at its secretariat in the state capital to elect their candidate.

While disclosing that the board will discuss other issues
affecting football in the state and the way forward, Pinnick said both Okocha
and Eselemo are expected to be at the venue to address the board members on
their plans to take the game to the next level if they eventually get into the
board of the NFF.

He further disclosed that the meeting will begin at 10am, while
the elections are expected to commence an hour later.

The U-19 cricket
team representing Nigeria in Swaziland took another step to claiming
the sole ticket for the International Cricket Council-organised world
championship qualifiers in Namibia in August by beating Mozambique on
Wednesday at the Ubombo Country Club, Swaziland.

In their third
match against the South Africans, the Nigerian team won by a whopping
245 runs to sound a note of warning to their next opponent that they
are in the Swazi kingdom for business.

The team, led by
Abiodun Abioye, won the toss and elected to bat first for the first
time in the series. The team then went ahead and notched up 269 runs
for the loss of just 7 wickets in 50 overs. Vice captain, Chukwu James,
was the top scorer for the U-19 team and he finished unbeaten on 103
runs, supported by Joshua Ayannaike with 36 runs, and Olumide Adeniran
with 20.

The team’s run-rate
was always on course, starting from 59 runs for 1 wicket after 10
overs, to 100 runs for 2 wickets after 18 overs. The runs slowed from
the 19 over with 7 runs for 5 wickets after 30 overs, then on to 193
runs for 6 wickets after 40 overs, before closing at 269 runs for 7 in
50 overs.

This is the highest team score so far at the tournament and Chukwu James also helped himself to the highest personal score.

No response from Mozambique

The Mozambican
response did not materialise, as the Nigerian bowling proved too much
to handle, and they collapsed to 24 runs all out.

Benjamin Anyia with
5 wickets for 16 runs in 8 overs, Captain Abiodun Abioye with 3 wickets
for 7 runs in 8 overs, and Usman Adebiyi with 2 wickets for 1 run, in
his only over, made sure the Nigerian team didn’t spend too much time
in the sun.

Nigeria plays its
final match in the series today against hosts, Swaziland, and another
victory will earn her promotion to the Namibia tournament in August.

If Nigeria qualifies today, countries like Namibia, Kenya, Uganda, Botswana, Tanzania, Zambia and Sierra Leone will be waiting.

In the other game
of the day, Rwanda beat hosts, Swaziland, by 5 wickets and the hosts
now have to raise their game against a rampant Nigerian side on
Thursday.

The Pepsi ICC Development Programme is another initiative of the International Cricket Council (ICC) to grow the game in Africa.

Ferrari’s Felipe
Massa has much to be thankful for on his return to Hungary this
weekend, even if his Formula One title hopes and reputation have taken
a heavy hit.

The Brazilian has
fully recovered physically from the life-threatening head injuries he
suffered a year ago at the Hungaroring, and intends to thank personally
all those who came to his assistance after that crash in qualifying.
“My first meeting when I arrive at the Hungaroring circuit will be with
all the marshals and medical staff who did such a very good job of
carefully getting me out of the cockpit,” he told the Ferrari website
(www.ferrari.com). “I want to thank these people, with whom I now feel
a special bond.” While the body has healed, the last grand prix in
Germany dealt Massa a psychological setback that may be harder to
overcome. He now has to face up to being seen as Ferrari’s de facto
number two, just as compatriot Rubens Barrichello was to Michael
Schumacher, after moving over to let team mate Fernando Alonso win
Sunday’s German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

The furore over
Ferrari’s apparent use of banned ‘team orders’ left Massa –
championship runner-up by a single point in 2008 – open to criticism
for making the move too blatant as well as for being so obliging.
“People will see him now as a ‘yes man’ who bends to the will of the
company,” former McLaren and Red Bull racer David Coulthard, who
himself fell foul of similar orders in his career, said this week.
“Maybe they are right. Team player or stooge? The line is thin.”

Mclaren success

Even without his
team mate’s assistance, Alonso will fancy his chances again at the
circuit where he took his first grand prix win with Renault in 2003 and
started on pole last year. Massa, by contrast, has never had much luck
at the Hungaroring even if he enjoys it there. In 2008 he was heading
for a comfortable victory when his engine failed with a handful of laps
remaining. “Winning is a great feeling and that was the case in
Hockenheim,” said Alonso, without making any mention of the
controversial circumstances. “The win does not change my approach to
the rest of the season,” added the double world champion, who is now 34
points behind McLaren’s overall leader Lewis Hamilton. “We knew full
before Hockenheim that our car was much more competitive and that was
what made me so confident. Now we must continue in this direction,
starting this weekend in Budapest.”

Red Bull and McLaren, with all their drivers in the championship
chase, will also be fighting for victory in the 12th of 19 races and
last before the three week break. Hamilton has twice won in Hungary
while world champion team mate Jenson Button took his first Formula One
victory there with Honda in 2006. “The car’s pretty good when you put
downforce on it,” Button told Reuters after finishing fifth at
Hockenheim, leaving him second overall and 14 points behind Hamilton.
“In Hungary the car should be more competitive… but I don’t know how
competitive. “I really enjoy the circuit and it’s one that should suit
this car pretty well.”

The Nigerian
contingent to the 17th edition of the Africa Athletics Championships
taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, got their campaign to a flying start as
most of the athletes qualified for the finals of their respective
events.

The trio of
Blessing Okagabre (11.16), Damiola Osayomi (11.26) and Agnes Osansuwa
(11.33) recorded the fastest time in the Women’s’ 100 semi final heat
thereby raising hopes for a possible sweep of the medals at stake in
tomorrow’s final.

Okagbare is a
favourite for the 100m, 200m, and long jump gold medals, while she is
also expected to anchor the 4×100 relay team, which is also in serious
contention for gold.

Success story

In men’s races the
duo of Obinna Metu and Ogho Oghene Egwero made into the 100 metres
final with Egwero finishing with the second fastest time in semi finals
in a time of 10.17 seconds behind Ghanaian Zakari Aziz who posted a
time of 10.16 seconds.

America-based Seun
Adigun also lived up to her pre-championships rating as she booked her
place in the finals of the 100m hurdles event.

In the Long jump
event, the country’s representatives, Samson Idiata and Stanley
Gbagbeke are still in contention with their places already secured in
the finals.

Former Junior
Champion, Folashade Abugan and Josephine Ehigie also remain on course
for medals as they both made it to the semi finals of the women’s 400m
event. The story is same for the men with the trio of Saul Weigpowa ,
Noah Akwu and James Godday; all in for the semi final races.

However, Nigeria’s
sole representative in the 800m event, Ishaku Mohammed, failed to make
it beyond the first round as he fizzled out of contention while
competing with East African opponents.

The championship,
which continues today, is also serving as selection trials for the
IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup (formerly IAAF World Cup in Athletics)
holding in Split, Croatia, from September 4 to 5 this year.

Nigeria has won
seven out of the 16 editions held so far with the 11th edition of the
championships held in Dakar, Senegal in 1998 marking the last time we
emerged as the overall winners of the competition with 10 gold, seven
silver and three bronze medals.

After breaking
their quarter final jinx by defeating the defending champions, USA, in
the round of eight, the Falconets will today face Colombia in the
second semi final match of the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup in Germany.

The match will be
the first meet between debutants Colombia and Nigeria in a women’s
football event with the match time fixed for 5.30pm at the Bielefeld
Stadium.

The Falconets, who
will be making their first ever semi-final appearance are already fired
up with the arrival of the wife of Nigeria’s President, Patience
Jonathan alongside the Football Federation interim President, Aminu
Magari, who have boosted the confidence of the girls.

According to the
team’s coach, Adat Egan, the presence of the two personalities has
further gingered the spirit of the girls to go all out for victory. He
also pointing out that girls want to do their best in order not to
disappoint their teeming fans at home.

“Before we arrived
in Germany, the girls promised that we would get beyond the
quarter-final stage, now we are looking to the final itself – that is
our target. The information we have been getting from Nigeria is that
all the people are very, very happy with the result.

“It will help a lot
more girls to take up the game, which can only be good for the
development of Nigerian football,” he told FIFA.com.

Steady improvement

A study of the
history of the competition shows the Nigerian ladies have undergone
steady improvement in recent years. In 2002, they were bottom of their
group; in 2004 they finished third, which was enough to take them into
the quarter-finals. Two years later, they were second before losing to
Brazil in the last eight; and in 2008 they topped their group but fell
to France in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, the
other quarter final fixture will be between host Germany and Korea
Republic. The two teams are the tournament’s top-scoring sides with 13
and 11 goals respectively.