Nigeria coach Amodu names his squad for crucial World Cup Qualifier

Super Eagles of Nigeria head coach Amodu Shuaibu has named his squad to take on the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia in Abuja on September 6th. The match will be as important a World Cup qualifier can be for the Nigerian team and anything less than a victory will be a dissapointment.

Squad
Goalkeepers: Austin Ejide (Bastia, France), Vincent Enyeama (Hapoel Tel Aviv, Israel), Dele Aiyenugba (Bnei-Yehuda, Israel)

Defenders: Onyekachi Apam (Nice, France), Elderson Echiejile (Rennes, France), Adefemi Olubayo (Boulogne, France), Taye Taiwo (Olympique Marseille, France) Joseph Yobo (Everton, England), Dele Adeleye (Sparta Rotterdam, Holland), Oluwafemi Ajilore (Groningen, Holland)

Midfielders: John Mikel Obi (Chelsea, England), Sani Kaita (Rubin Kazan, Russia), Yusuf Ayila (Dynamo Kiev, Ukraine), Seyi Olofinjana (Hull City, England), Kalu Uche (Almeria, Spain)

Strikers: Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth, England), Chinedu Ogbuke (Hoffenheim, Germany) Osaze Odemwingie (Locomotiv Moscow, Russia), Obinna Nsofor (Inter Milan, Italy), Michael Eneramo (Esperance, Tunisia), Ikechukwu Uche (Real Zaragoza, Spain)

Klassen loses IBF Title

In his first fight in the United States and only his second fight outside of his homeland of South Africa, Malcolm Klassen, was dethroned as champion, losing his super featherweight title(130 pounds) to Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero via Unanimous decision in Houston, TX this past Saturday night.

In his first title defense, Klassen came in to the fight extremely confident, not only predicting a knockout but also claiming he would make a statement to the United States boxing public with his performance.

It was not to be as the busier Guerrero outworked Klassen over twelve rounds, the score totals were 117-111, 116-113, 116-112.

By Don Palacas.

Basketball news

Not much going on in the Basketball world this week but a few signings, some interviews after signings and some info on player changes and expectations for the upcoming NBA season.

The Houston Rockets have reached a verbal agreement with "The King Whale Killer" Pops Mensah-Bonsu.

Kelenna Azubuike expects to be used in multiple roles for the Warriors this season.

Luol Deng at Power forward? A possibility for the Bulls this season.

Luol is almost back to 100% but still won't be suiting up for Team GB this year.

How Emeka Okafor believes the trade to New Orleans will help him in his career and he explains his new mindset.

Ike Diogu is still seeking the right fit and hoping to get his breakthrough with the Hornets.

Just for the heck of it, more Ike Diogu but I'm sure you won't even realize he's in this picture.

FIFA U-17 draw held

The draw for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Nigeria has been held and the groups are as follows.

Fifa U-17 World Cup

Group A (Abuja): Nigeria, Argentina, Germany, Honduras

Group B (Lagos): Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland

Group C (Calabar): Gambia, Iran, Colombia, Netherlands

Group D (Enugu): Burkina Faso, Turkey, Costa Rica, New Zealand

Group E (Kano): United Arab Emirates, Malawi, Spain, United States

Group F (Kaduna): Uruguay, South Korea, Algeria and Italy.


The competition starts October 24th and ends on November 15th.

Angola win Afrobasket.

The Angolan basketball national team picked up their sixth straight African Championship with a victory over Cote D'Ivoire this past weekend. The Angolans breezed through to the finals as they do customarily in the African tournament and with an 82-72 victory they qualified for a spot in the World Championships along with 2nd place Cote D'Ivoire and Tunisia after ending up in 3rd place.

Read the explanation from Nigerian assistant Sanni Ahmed as to why D'Tigers failed to qualify for the World Championships.

Afrobasket results

8/13/09
GROUP A Egypt -Morocco 88 - 62
Amir Abdel-Rehim Fanan (EGY) 23pts. Mohamed Yasser Ragab Khorshid (EGY) 10 rbds.

GROUP A Libya -Rwanda 77 - 80
Mohamed Issa Mrsal (LBA) 24 pts. Robert Stanley Thomson (RWA) 12 rbds.

GROUP A Angola -Central African Republic 84 - 63
Joaquim Gomes (ANG) 29 pts. Joaquim Gomes (ANG) 9 rbds.

GROUP A Mali -Tunisia 73 - 74
Amara Sy (MLI) 21 pts. Salah Mejri (TUN) 9 rbds.

GROUP A Nigeria -Cameroon 80 - 84
Michael James Efevberha (NGR)24 pts. Harding Ngueyep Nana (CMR) 8 rbds.

GROUP A Cote d'Ivoire -Senegal 84 - 78
Mouhammad Faye (SEN) 22 pts. Mohamed Déba Kone (CIV) 10 rbds.


8/14/09
GROUP A Rwanda -Egypt 78 - 75
Robert Stanley Thomson (RWA)19 pts Robert Stanley Thomson(RWA) 14 rbds.

GROUP A Libya -Morocco 80 - 76
Hesham Ali Salem (LBA) 25 pts. Hesham Ali Salem (LBA) 14 rbds.

GROUP A Central African Republic -Mali 80 - 74
Max Martial Kougere (CAF) 30 pts.Régis Junior Koundjia-Sindo (CAF) 9 rbds.

GROUP A Nigeria -Senegal 76 - 58
Chamberlain Oguchi (NGR)17 pts. Pape Laye Sow (SEN) 10 rbds.

GROUP A Angola -Tunisia 79 - 69
Amine Rzig (TUN) 19 pts. Eduardo Mingas (ANG) 7 rbds.

GROUP A Cameroon -Cote d'Ivoire 61 - 68
Didier Eric Tape (CIV)15 pts. Mohamed Déba Kone (CIV) 10 rbds.

FIFA friendlies roundup

A number of friendly matches took place on Wednesday and we have the wrap up on all of them.

Ghana found their scoring groove against Zambia with a 4-1 thrashing in London, England.

A Katlego Mphela goal was not enough to stop South Africa losing 3-1 to Serbia in Pretoria. The Serbs currently lead their UEFA qualifying group over former World Champions France.

Tunisia and Ivory Coast played to a 0-0 draw in Tunisia. Didier Drogba and Kolo Toure were absent for the match.

A Pierre Webo brace gave the visiting Indomitable Lions of Cameroon a 2-0 win over Austria.

Egypt drew 2-2 with Gabon in Cairo.

Mozambique defeated Swaziland 1-0

Senegal beat DR Congo 2-1.

Angola got a 2-0 victory over Togo.

Mali defeated Burkina Faso 3-0.

Morocco drew with Congo 1-1.

Algeria got a 1-0 victory over Uruguay in Algiers. Rafik Djebbour got the winner in the 79th minute.

Afrobasket-final group round games

GROUP E Egypt -Cote d'Ivoire 64 - 80
Amir Abdel-Rehim Fanan (EGY) 18 points, Mohamed Déba Kone (CIV) 13 rbds.

GROUP E Mali -Libya 95 - 73
Waly Coulibaly (MLI) 25 points, Hesham Ali Salem (LBA) 11 rbds.

GROUP E Angola -Nigeria 93 - 85
Gabe Muoneke (NGR) 33 points, Joaquim Gomes (ANG) 8 rbds.

GROUP F Morocco -Central African Republic 73 - 81
Romain Lebel Guessagba Sato (CAF) 25 points,
Romain Lebel Guessagba Sato (CAF) 17 rbds.

GROUP F Rwanda -Cameroon 82 - 69
Kenny Gasana (RWA) 24 points, Robert Stanley Thomson (RWA) 9 rbds.

GROUP F Tunisia -Senegal 65 - 73
Boniface Ndong (SEN) 18 points, Boniface Ndong (SEN) 9 rbds.

Footy transfer roundup

As the EPL gets ready to kickoff and the German Bundesliga and Dutch Eredivisie among others have begun the 2009-2010 season, we round up the latest batch of European club transfers.

Obafemi "Obagoal" Martins explains why he left Newcastle for Bundesliga Champions Wolfsburg. *I'm guessing it had something to do with Newcastle playing in the championship! No explanation necessary.*

Seyi Olofinjana made the move from Stoke City to Hull and he explains the reason for his move here.

Fulham look set to sign Nigerian midfielder Kalu Uche after reportedly agreeing a fee with Spanish side Almeria.

Sebastien Bassong jumps ship from Newcastle's rebuilding project to Harry Redknapps Tottenham Hotspur side.

Aston Villa nab Habib Beye from Newcastle despite Hull City's best efforts to sign the defender.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang makes the switch from AC Milan to Lille. The young Gabonese striker will be given a chance to impress while in Ligue 1.

Ike Uche is enjoying his move to Real Zaragoza as the Nigerian phenom is showing his scoring ability during pre-season and will be hoping to win the Pichichi at the end of the 2009-2010 season.

Afrobasket Eighth final round

GROUP A South Africa -People's Republic of Congo 81 - 65
Bertrand Roger Richard Boukinda Dibessa (CGO)-19 points Neo Kgalabi Mothiba (RSA)-9 rebounds

GROUP A Mozambique - Cape Verde 61 - 94
Jeff Xavier (CPV)-27 points Mario Jorge Neves (CPV)-11 rebounds

GROUP E Cote d'Ivoire - Angola 61 - 88
Carlos Morais (ANG-18 points Eduardo Mingas (ANG)-7 rebounds

GROUP E Libya - Egypt 75 - 73
Alfath Mohamed Belgasem (LBA)-23 points Hesham Ali Salem (LBA)-9 rebounds

GROUP E Nigeria - Mali 74 - 70
Amara Sy (MLI)-18 points Ejike Christopher Ugboaja (NGR)-9 rebounds

GROUP F Cameroon - Tunisia 66 - 68
Amine Rzig (TUN)- 17 points Patrick Bouli (CMR)- 6 rebounds

GROUP F Central African Republic - Rwanda 85 - 64
Romain Lebel Guessagba Sato (CAF) - 30 points Romain Lebel Guessagba Sato (CAF) - 10 rebounds

GROUP F Senegal - Morocco 73 - 75
Mohamad Hachad (MAR) - 18 points Mohamad Hachad (MAR) -13 rebounds

Afrobasket Update

Final matches of Afrobasket group round

GROUP A Cote d'Ivoire - South Africa 94 - 57
GROUP A Libya - Nigeria 81 - 97

GROUP B Angola - Mozambique 93 - 50
GROUP B Egypt - Mali 47 - 67

GROUP C P.R. of Congo - Central African Republic 61 - 113
GROUP C Cameroon - Senegal 65 - 67

GROUP D Cape Verde - Morocco 83 - 86
GROUP D Rwanda - Tunisia 57 - 74

Quarterfinals

GROUP E Mali -Cote d'Ivoire 71 - 58

GROUP E Egypt -Nigeria 77 - 87

GROUP E Angola -Libya 91 - 58

GROUP F Rwanda -Senegal 72 - 59

GROUP F Morocco -Cameroon 54 - 80

GROUP F Tunisia -Central African Republic 76 - 75

Afrobasket results-day 2

In the second day of action, the 2009 African Basketball Championship saw the major contenders come through unscathed.
In Group A Nigeria dispatched of South Africa methodically by jumping out to a 28-6 lead in the first quarter. With 20 points from Chamberlain Oguchi and a 7 point 13 rebound effort from Ejike Ugboaja, D'Tigers beat South Africa 97-49.
The other Group A matchup saw Cote D'Ivoire defeat the host country Libya 73-64 behind 16 points and 4 assists from former USC guard Errick Craven.
In Group B two heavyweights of African Basketball met with Angola taking the spoils in their game versus Egypt. Despite Egypt opening up the game with a 23-17 run to end the first quarter, a second half comeback by the Angolans led to a 79-69 victory.
Mali and Mozambique faced off in the other group B game and Mali used 17 points from Nouha Diakite to beat Mozambique 67-54.
Group C had Senegal defeating Central African Republic 82-69 despite a massive 30 point game from former Xavier star and Central African Republic player Romain Sato.
The other game had Cameroon using a double double-10 points 10 rebounds from Alfred Aboya to defeat The People's Republic of Congo 70-56.
Group D had Rwanda defeating Cape Verde 77-67 and Tunisia winning the North African matchup vs Morrocco 98-79.

Fridays games

GROUP A Cote d'Ivoire vs South Africa

GROUP A Libya vs Nigeria

GROUP B Egypt vs Mali

GROUP B Angola vs Mozambique

GROUP C People's Republic of Congo vs Central African Republic

GROUP C Cameroon vs Senegal

GROUP D Cape Verde vs Morocco

GROUP D Rwanda vs Tunisia

2009 Afrobasket kicks off

The 2009 African Basketball Championships kicked off in Libya today with no big surprises but a test for perennial African favourites Angola from their Malian counterparts.
Mali played Angola as well as possible with Amara Sy and Ludovic Chele putting in 19 and 16 points respectively to help Mali tie things up at the end of the third quarter but Angola pulled out the win in the 4th quarter with a big effort from Center Gomes Joaquim who ended up with 31 points and 5 rebounds to give the Angolans a 79-74 win in the opening round of Group B action.
In other Group B action, five time champions Egypt dispatched of Mozambique with the ease of a contender as the Pharoahs dominated on the boards en route to a 72-62 win.
In Group C, Cameroon got 19 points from Gaston Essengué to help pull out a 79-69 win over the Central African Republic. The other Group C game saw Senegal blow out the Peoples Republic of Congo 95-68 with a 26 point performance from Boniface Ndong and a balanced game from point guard Babacar Cisse who ended up with 5pts 10 rbds and 10 asts.
Group D saw Cape Verde beat Tunisia 71-52 behind a strong 20 point effort from former Providence Friar Jeff Xavier.
In Group A, Nigeria started their tournament with a tough game against Cote d'Ivoire.
D'Tigers came out the blocks and led for the first three quarters before a fourth quarter run by the Ivoriens cut an 18 point lead by Nigeria down to 5 points. A double double by Ayodeji Akindele with 12 points and 10 boards as well as a 29 point 4 assist, 4 rebound, 4 steal game by Michael Efevberha gave D'Tigers a 93-84 win.

The teams head back to the courts tomorrow for more action.

Group A -South Africa vs Nigeria
Group A -Cote d'Ivoire vs Libya
Group B -Mali vs Mozambique
Group B -Egypt vs Angola
Group C -Central African Republic vs Senegal
Group C -People's Republic of Congo vs Cameroon
Group D -Rwanda vs Cape Verde
Group D -Tunisia vs Morocco

Isaac Hlatshwayo Wins IBF Title

South Africa’s Isaac Hlatshwayo defeated Delvin Rodriguez by a 12 round split decision to win the IBF welterweight title. The title was vacated by Ghana’s Joshua Clottey, who dropped the title in pursuit of a fight with megastar Miguel Cotto.

Hlatshwayo and Rodriguez previously fought to a draw in South Africa in a title eliminator; the fight was declared a draw controversially, as many ringside observers felt Rodriguez deserved the nod.

The rematch took place in Rodriguez’s hometown of Uncasville, Connecticut and Hlatshwayo left little doubt as he methodically took control over the second half of the fight, silencing the partisan Rodriguez crowd.

The score totals were 116-113, 116-112 for Hlatshwayo and 115-113 Rodriguez.

There is a strong possibility that if Joshua Clottey cannot secure a fight with Shane Mosley or Andre Berto, he may seek to regain his IBF title, setting up a bout between Africa’s two top welterweights.


By Don Palacas

NFL news

Washington Redskins DE/LB Brian Orakpo has signed a 5 year $20 million contract with the team and is now at the team's training camp.

Orakpo will be transitioning from Defensive End to Linebacker with the Redskins and according to this interview with the Washington Post is " very, very happy but mostly relieved," Orakpo said.

Meanwhile Green Bay Packers 1st round pick B.J. Raji is still absent from training camp and the Packers are eager to have their 337lb rookie Nose Tackle in camp as soon as possible. Raji's agents are believed to be awaiting the signings of the other top 20 picks by their teams including San Francisco WR Michael Crabtree who was drafted one spot after Raji.