Sports

Paris Olympics Women Basketball Knockouts: D’Tigress, reigning champions USA clash on Wednesday

Published

5 months ago

August 6, 2024

Admin

Nigeria’s senior women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, will on Wednesday, August 7 clash with the seven times back to back champions, USA in the quarter-finals of the Paris Olympics women’s basketball competition.

Following the draw on Sunday by the Olympic committee, Nigeria, the first African nation ever to reach the last eight of an Olympic basketball tournament, men and women included will now face the USA.

Nigeria which had previously beaten Australia in the on-going tournament dealt a blow on Canada 79-70 on Sunday, while the USA defeated Germany 87-68.

Host nations France, the bronze medalists three years ago at the Tokyo Games, will play Germany, Spain will take on Belgium and Serbia will play Australia.

Meanwhile, head coach and team captain of Nigeria’s senior women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, Rena Wakama, and Amy Okonkwo, have explained how the African champions overcame Canada on Sunday to qualify for their first quarterfinals at the Olympics since their first appearance in Athens in 2004, The PUNCH reports.

It was also the team’s first time of recording two wins at the Olympics, which they did impressively to confirm winless Canada’s early trip home.

After their defeat to France in their second game on Thursday, head coach Rena Wakama said the African champions needed to get back to their ways against Canada, which was exactly what they did.

Parading several big names, rising teenagers, and recent WNBA draft picks, Canada were favoured to hold their own against any opponent in France after finishing fourth at a recent FIBA Women’s World Cup, but they were surprisingly schooled by the impressive D’Tigress.

Despite being ranked 12th in the world, the lowest among the participating teams at the tournament, Nigeria gained the upper hand in the contest with a stunning 11-0 run to start the second half. It left the world No. 5 reeling as they failed to recover from the heavy setback.

As usual, Ezinne Kalu was hugely influential and did her usual thing by pulling the strings in the backcourt.

The playmaker registered 21 points, while Elizabeth Balogun chose a great time to have her best game in memory as she stepped up with 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists.

With the win, Nigeria seem poised to give absolutely anybody in the tournament a game right now. Their rugged defence was back after a lapse in their previous match against France. Physically, they are a handful, and anyone they come up against in the quarterfinals will have to play well to beat them.

Reacting to the win, team captain Amy Okonkwo claimed the half-time talk was a difference-maker.

“I am so proud of us. The last game wasn’t good for us, and even in the first half today (Sunday), we were not doing what we wanted to come out and do. We had a talk with ourselves and realised it was win or go home, and we decided we wanted to stay,” she said.

Also, retiring Canada forward Natalie Achonwa admitted that D’Tigress were the better side.

“It’s been a hell of a journey, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. If you are competing with the best in the world in do-or-die situations, you need to be ready in every possession of the game. I don’t want to make excuses. You have to show up for every possession and every play. The teams we played did it better than us.”

Now assured of taking part in the quarterfinals of the Olympic tournament, Nigeria became the first team from Africa to reach that stage, having won two of their three games.

Before this year, the teams from Africa tallied only one win in 37 games played in the women’s tournament (already Nigeria, against South Korea in 2004).

Recall that team wasn’t allowed to board the delegation’s boat for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

A source who spoke with the Associated Press on condition of anonymity disclosed that once the team made it to the area where it was supposed to board the boat for the ceremony, they were denied entry by a Nigerian official who told the players and coaches there were too many people on board.

The team then made its way to the athletes village after being turned away. The rest of the Nigerian delegation shared a boat with Niger and Norway.

The team had been sent logistics for the event before the group made the 2-hour, 28-minute, 138-mile (222 km) trip as part of a bus caravan of several teams from Lille, where the preliminary basketball rounds are being played. The buses had a police escort.

They were not able to make it to the location where the buses were departing after the opening ceremonies so they spent the night in Paris. The team didn’t make it back to Lille in time for its scheduled morning practice session yet they were able to beat Australia in the opening match.

Sports

I Failed In Front of the World Four Years Ago — Lookman’s Touching Speech After Winning CAF Award

Published

3 hours ago

December 19, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Super Eagles star, Ademola Lookman had delivered a touching speech after winning the 2024 CAF Men’s Player of the Year award.

According to him, he learned from his failure four years ago which made him a better player.

He said: “Just over four years ago I failed in front of the world. Fast forward four years, I’m the best player in Africa,” Lookman said after receiving the award.

“I want to say to the young children and people watching this: don’t let your failures weigh you down that they break your wings. Matter of fact, turn your pain into your power and continue to fight.

“Firstly. I want to thank the Almighty God for everything he has been doing in my life, and everything he has been blessing me with.

“I want to thank the president, I want to thank all my teammates- club and country. I want to thank them for all their support and love that they gave me.”

“This award today is a blessing to me, to my family, to my nation, and to be recognized as the best player in Africa. It’s something incredible and I’m extremely proud of.”

Sports

CAF Awards 2024: Full List of Winners

Published

1 day ago

December 18, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman, South Africa’s Ronwen Williams, and Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie emerged as some of the standout winners at the 2024 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Awards.

Lookman, who plays for Atalanta, clinched the prestigious CAF Men’s Player of the Year title, beating contenders such as Simon Adingra, Achraf Hakimi, Ronwen Williams, and Serhou Guirassy.

South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams dominated the night, bagging both the Men’s Interclub Player of the Year and the Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year awards.

Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie, known for her stellar performances, was named Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year.

Full List of CAF Awards 2024 Winners
CAF Men’s Player of the Year: Ademola Lookman (Nigeria)
Women’s Interclub Player of the Year: Sanaa Mssoudy
Men’s Interclub Player of the Year: Ronwen Williams (South Africa)
Women’s Club of the Year: TP Mazembe
Men’s Club of the Year: Al Ahly FC
Men’s National Team of the Year: Ivory Coast
Women’s National Team of the Year: Nigeria
Men’s Young Player of the Year: Lamine Camara
Women’s Young Player of the Year: Doha El Madani
Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year: Chiamaka Nnadozie (Nigeria)
Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year: Ronwen Williams (South Africa)
Women’s Coach of the Year: Lamia Boumehdi
Men’s Coach of the Year: Emerse Faé
Goal of the Year: Mabululu (Angola)

Sports

Ronaldo To Contest Brazilian Football Federation Presidency

Published

1 day ago

December 18, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Brazil legend Ronaldo has confirmed he wants to become president of the country’s football governing body to address a “deep crisis” the sport is facing nationally.

“I have hundreds of motivations, but I think the biggest of them is really to restore international respect to Brazilian football,” he said in an interview on Monday with the Globoesporte website.

Ronaldo said he wanted to be an “alternative for significant change” as candidate for the job of running the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF).

“O Fenomeno” (“The Phenomenon”), as the 48-year-old became known over the course of his 1993-2011 career, said he wants to use the CBF presidency to help Brazil’s national team to regain its glory as five-time world champions.

“The Selecao has to recover its prestige. I’ll do everything so that the players understand the historic importance of playing for the national team,” he said.

Ronaldo scored both goals when Brazil beat Germany in the 2002 World Cup final in Japan, and was twice winner of the Ballon d’Or.

To lodge his CBF candidacy, he needs the support of Brazilian regional clubs and federations.

To get those, he promised to travel “all around Brazil” and share the “incredible plans” he has for the sport.

The date of the next CBF election has not yet been set, but should happen between March 2025 and March 2026, according to Brazilian media.

‘Much deeper problem’

Current CBF chief Ednaldo Rodrigues has been criticized for slotting in temporary coaches for the national team after Tite’s 2022 exit while waiting for Carlo Ancelotti to arrive — something that did not happen when the Italian decided late last year to extend his contract as manager of Real Madrid.

Currently coached by Dorival Junior, the Selecao are fifth in South America qualifying for the 2026 World Cup tournament, seven points behind leaders Argentina.

“My problem is not Ednaldo. The problem is much deeper. My goal is to bring the people closer to the Selecao. Today, the people are indifferent when the Selecao plays,” Ronaldo told Globoesporte.

“I am an alternative of significant change for Brazilian football, which is going through a deep crisis,” he said.

Ronaldo, a former star for Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, already has leadership experience.

In 2018, he took majority control of Spain’s Real Valladolid, and in 2021 did the same for Cruzeiro, the Brazilian club where he started his career.

He sold his Cruzeiro stake in April this year.

In his interview, Ronaldo said he was in talks to “very soon” sell his Valladolid stake to avoid “any obstacle” to his CBF candidacy.

AFP