RandaFooty: Everything Nigerian football, home and abroad

Photocred. hapoelb7.co.il/ Nigeria midfielder John Ogu scored his first goal for his club this season in Hapoel Be'er Sheva's 4-0 thumping of Maccabi Netanya in the Israeli Ligat Haal on Saturday. Ogu in action Ogu, who moved to the Israeli side this season from Portuguese side Academica de Coimbra, was on target on 57 minutes to help his team get back to winning ways after losing 3-2 to Maccabi Haifa last week. Shlomi Arbeitman got Be'er Sheva on their way with the opener in the 10th minute before William Soares put them 2-0 ahead six minutes later. A goal in the second half from Ogu in the 57th and a Maor Buzaglo penalty goal ensured Be'er Sheva took all the spoils at the Versamil Stadium.

LEAGUE BLOGGERS AWARD UPDATE : The 2014 LBA will take place at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Lagos on December 15. NOMINATIONS 1. FAIR PLAY AWARD •Heartland FC •Enugu Rangers •Nasarawa United •Enyimba Int'l 2. BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA •Dolphins FC •Lobi Stars •Sharks FC •Enyimba Int'l 3. BEST CLUB WEBSITE •enyimbafcnet •abiawarriorscom •kanopillarscom

By Queen John The Nigerian Women Premier League 2013/2014 season has been an exciting one with lots of catchy results among the 12 teams that took part in the just concluded league season. The number of participating teams was however later reduced to eleven (11) after the NWPL granted Yola based Adamawa Queens a waiver following the insurgency claims given by other clubs as a reason for not honouring their games in the Adamawa state capital. The league started on Saturday, March 1st 2014, with games across the five centers and ended Wednesday 26 November, 2014 with Rivers Angels emerging as the League champions winning their second trophy in four days after winning the Federation Cup against two time FA Cup finalist, Sunshine Queens at the Teslim Balogun stadium, Lagos.

The 2014 Glo Premier League ended with a bang. Kano Pillars were crowned champions for the third straight season. Enyimba International of Aba came second, just like they did last season. There were a lot of stand-out performers in a season that saw Mfon Udoh break Jude Aneke's 20 goal tally by hitting hoe 23 goals to end the season as top golscorer. Rookie like Heartland gaolkeeper Emmanuel Iwu, Dickson Idakwo of Lobi Stars also made a name for themselves. Who would have even though of Terkai Melai's seven goal haul as a goalkeeper or the rise of Kingsley Sokari,  Tombara  Tiongoli, Charles Henlong, Tijani Adamu and many more. Here is my 2014 Glo Premier League team of the season. It was hard to come up with this X1. What do you think, let's share thoughts. Drop your comments here or hit me on twitter-  @RandaAndrew Coach: Okey Emordi Starting X1: Olorunleke Ojo (Giwa FC), Solomon Kwambe (Sunshine Stars), Chima Akas (Sharks), Umar Zang

Caf has laid down "the minimum required criteria" for clubs that will participate in the Champions League and Confederation Cup next year. The African apex body sent out official word to the various national federations, including the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), affiliated to it on the criteria for their clubs to meet ahead of next year's Champions League and Confederation Cup. Caf stated in its letter in October to the NFF that clubs must "fulfill the minimum required criteria at the national level for the Club Licensing System. They must obtain their licenses from their federations prior to their participation in those competitions." Supersport.com learned that Caf, having revised club licensing documents submitted by the different national federations, including the NFF, demanded that teams participating in its club competitions must have stadium certification not older than two years at the start of the season and mus

Tesho Akindele was a sixth overall draft pick in this year's MLS draft. He has a Nigerian father and a Canadian mother. He is eligible to play for Nigeria, Canada and the United States ( he is about to qualify) Since he has only turned down a Canadian national team invite — and has yet to turn down the Canadian program entirely, it’s OK to  applaud  Tesho Akindele’s major MLS  award  win as a victory for  soccer  in this country. Akindele, who was born in Calgary, but grew up in the United States, was named the MLS Rookie of the Year on Monday. Akindele scored seven goals and added three assists during the MLS regular season for FC Dallas, and scored a playoff goal against the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Something I picked up from YouTube. Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama has hard a cracking 2014. Most clean sheets in Ligue 1 last season and was voted the fourth best goalkeeper at Brazil 2014 despite Nigeria being knocked out in the second round. Enjoy the clip Vincent Enyeama

Two-time African champions Enyimba defeated Dolphins 2-1 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos on Sunday to claim their fourth Federation Cup title. Mfon Udoh and Chinonso Okonkwo gave Enyimba a two-goal lead before Emem Eduok halved the scoreline. Udoh shook off a bout of malaria to start the match for Enyimba while Rasheed Olabiyi and Nzube Anaezemba started from the bench. Dolphins head coach Stanley Eguma left Ifeanyi Egwim and Isiaka Olawale on the bench while he stuck to the striking pair of Eduok and Ebube Okpokwu. It was Dolphins that had the better of the opening half and as early as the second minute Chidiebere 

2014 Federation Cup Final Enyimba International FC of Aba v Dolphins FC of Port-Harcourt Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos. 23rd November 2014 Match background The 2014 Federation Cup final will be a classic between two teams who have been ever present in thee final in the last decade. Dolphins are clocked as the most prominent team, notching up four wins since 2001 and this came in the four finals they played;they've never lost a final they've played in. Enyimba, who finished second in the Glo Premier League will look to make up for that loss by handing Dolphins their first defeat in a Federation Cup final. The 'People's Elephants' are the reigning champions after edging out Warri Wolves 5-4 on penalties in last year's edition. The two teams have already met twice this season in the league. Enyimba handed Dolphins a 1-0 defeat in Aba in May and were able to pick a point in Port-Harcourt in the reverse leg Dolphins coach Stanley Egu

Photocred: Shengolpix Dolphins Football Club of Port-Harcourt goalkeeper Sunday Rotimi is optimistic that his side will continue their good run in the final of the Federation Cup by winning their fifth final in five attempts. The former Sunshine Stars and El-Kanemi player told 9jafooty that they have the experience to edge Enyimba in Sunday's final at the Teslim Balogun Stadium. Dolphins and Enyimba have been the most consistent teams in the Federations Cup lately. Dolphins have won four titles while Enyimba have three. Rotimi however feels this year is for the Port-Harcourt side.

Promising Nigerian talent, Ohimai Longe in training

Photocred:supersport.com The man who won Nigeria an Olympic silver medal in football six years ago is on the march again, as preparations for the building of a new strong squad has already commenced. Former Super Eagles’ Captain and Coach, Samson Siasia has called up 39 players to open a screening camp in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on Sunday, with another set of 39 and a final set of 38 to follow in batches. Siasia has the assignment to raise a squad that will qualify Nigeria for the Men’s Football Tournament of the 11 th All –Africa Games (taking place in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo in July 2015) as well as qualify for the CAF U-23 Championship (taking place in DR Congo, also next year), and also qualify for the Men’s Football Tournament of the 2016 Olympic Games through the CAF U-23 Championship. The first hurdle is an All –Africa Games qualifying fixture against Gabon, with the first leg away in Libreville towards the end of February, and the return

The Executive Committee of Nigeria Football Federation held its third meeting at the Venus Hotel & Suites , Uyo on Wedne sday, 19 th November, 2014 to discuss important matters around Nigeria football and resolved as follows: 1)     Executive Committee apologized to the Federal Government and Nigerian football fans at home and abroad for the failure of the Senior National Team, Super Eagles , to qualify for the 30 th Africa Cup of Nations finals in Equatorial Guinea. The Board resolved collectively to accept full responsibility for the mishap and called for patience and understanding of Nigerians while it pursued the cause of building a sustainable football culture for the country, and also work hard at engineering a resurgence of the National Teams through well –thought programmes and processes. 2)     In view of the imminence of the resumption of Mr. Shaibu Amodu as Technical Director of Nigeria Football Federation, the Executive Committee endorsed a proposal that

First Preview Enyimba vs Dolphins Federations Cup Finals. By  The Enyimba Fan A lot of us are hurting from Super Eagles’ abysmal performance that saw us get knocked out from the qualifiers meaning that we will not be participating in next year’s AFCON. It’s worse knowing that we won the ‘unwinnable’ match only to lose the winnable one. Well, I’ll rather stop talking about that game because well, everyone knows the story already. Our attention now shifts to the big one, our chance of landing a trophy this season- The Federations Cup finals against Dolphins of Port Harcourt. We head into this one as favorites as well as the Federations Cup holders. Again currently nursing the pain of losing the title to Pillars because of a 1-1 draw with Dolphins, we should be seething to finish them up at the finals on Sunday.

African champions Nigeria were reeling on Thursday after they failed to qualify for next year's Africa Cup of Nations to defend their title. The Super Eagles finished a disappointing third in Group A on eight points despite a 2-2 draw against South Africa on Wednesday night in the southern town of Uyo. The failure to qualify mirrored the disappointment when Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2012 tournament hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

photocred:enyimbafc.net Enyimba attacking midfielder Kingsley Sokari has been handed a debut call up to the main Super Eagles squad by Nigeria head coach, Stephen Keshi. The talented youngster, who was playing street football two years ago, put up a fantastic performance in the international friendly between the home-based Super Eagles and the Black Meteors of Ghana to commission the newly built Akwa Ibom International Stadium. Sokari, an integral art of Enyimba's failed attempt to wrestle the Glo Premier League title from Kano Pillars, pulled the strings in the middle for the Eagles and this impressed the team's handlers and he has now been pencilled down to join up with the main squad for residential camping in Abuja. Even though he has been involved with the home-based Super Eagles, this is his first call up to a full international level for Nigeria.

Warri Wolves midfielder Stanley Dimgba says he is over the moon to have made his Super Eagles debut against the Black Meteors of Ghana in an international friendly on Friday. Nigeria's home-based Super Eagles beat Ghana's Under-23 team (Black Meteors) 1-0 through an Emem Uduok goal in the 35th minute of a well attended game to commission the newly built Akwa Ibom International Stadium. Dimgba, who came on in added time of the second half told supersport.com that it was a dream come true for him to don Nigeria's colors.

  Super Eagles midfield gem, Ogenyi Onazi, has set his sights on victory in Congo over the host in next weekend’s Nations Cup qualifier but has stated that there are conditions to be met if victory must come Nigeria’s way  next Saturday . Onazi, who was expected in Nigeria  on Sunday  night, said Nigerians desirous of the Nations Cup ticket must all join hands and pray and that the football community must be united to achieve success. “Once I arrive Nigeria, I will go to my father in the Lord to pray with me, because I want the Nations Cup ticket and I know we can win in Congo. We must also cooperate and forget past differences to achieve our aim”, he said on phone from his base in Italy.