Sports

Afcon 2019: Tanzania lack experience, character and maturity – Amuneke

Published

5 years ago

June 28, 2019

Eric

The Taifa Stars’ journey in the competition came to an end after losing to their East African neighbours in Cairo

Tanzania coach Emmanuel Amuneke was left frustrated after his side surrendered their lead twice in their 3-2 loss to Kenya in Thursday’s Africa Cup of Nations Group C clash.

The Taifa Stars started the encounter with their East Africa neighbours brilliantly after Simon Msuwa opened the scoring, six minutes into the game.

Michael Olunga brought the Harambee Stars back into contention with an improvised overhead kick in the 39th minute but captain Mbwana Samata restored Tanzania’s lead just before the half time break.

However, the Taifa Stars lost momentum in the second half as Johanna Omolo equalised for Kenya before Michael Olunga sealed the victory with his second goal of the game.

The defeat means Tanzania are eliminated from the competition after also losing their opening game to Senegal.

Tanzania’s coach, the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations winner with Nigeria and former Barcelona player, Emmanuel Amuneke expressed his disappointment with the attitudes of his players in the encounter.

“The reality is in a game of football if you don’t know how to manage the game to your advantage, you pay for it,” Amuneke told Goal.

“We started on a very good note, scoring first then leading the game towards half time, but there were a lot of crazy things. we committed a lot of mistakes, the second goal, the Kenya equaliser, this is what we have practised over and over, knowing they have dropped the ball in the first place.

“As a coach you are helpless, you feel you want to help them, but you cannot turn it around. Most players play in the Tanzanian league, we lack experience, it’s a good thing we came to this Afcon, and it’s a good thing for Tanzanian football, to open their eyes. The truth is that at the moment we’re not in a position to compete.

“Our target, we are privileged to have qualified for the Afcon, after so many years we’ve missed out and now we’re here after all these years. Every team wants to do well, every team wants to go far, but you could see, we’re still lacking a lot of experience, character, maturity.”

With many of the players plying their trades in the Tanzania League, Amuneke believes his players need to play abroad for exposure and experience to help the national team grow.

“The Tanzania league has two of the best teams in Tanzania – Simba and Yanga – they have 22 teams but the reality is not about the league, the truth is that the players need exposure, they need to play in places where they can grow and compete with the other players in Africa,” he continued.

“We’re not being harsh with our players, just realistic. In football, if you are lovers of football, following football, you need a lot of experience, to be in a position to compete, and the reality is that we don’t have the ability to compete with the rest.

“For us, being in the Afcon is an eye-opener for us, a big experience and a big achievement. You can fall in football, but if you believe in it and you stick to it, you can bounce back again. It’s not about how talented you are, players must know what to do when you have the ball, when you don’t have the ball. From the second goal, it was the wrong ball, the wrong moment, and in that second we lost the goal.”

Amuneke wants his side, who are making their first appearance in the finals for 39 years, to learn from the mistakes that led to their early exit from the tournament.

“Being here alone can inspire us. No one believed that Tan would qualify, and today we are here. Unfortunately for us we’re not in a position to win our games, but it’s an experience,” he added.

“We go back and we look at our players, players we can bring in, players who can help the team. Players who can have some responsibility then you can say you are growing. I always say that what is good today in football is backdated tomorrow. If you never grow, you will never be in a position to correct it.”

Sports

PSG Bundle Barcelona Out of Champions League

Published

1 week ago

April 17, 2024

Eric

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) have kicked 10-man Barcelona out of the Champions League as they qualified for the semi-final after winning 4-1 at the Camp Nou.

Barcelona had won the first leg 3-2 in Paris, but PSG won 6-4 on aggregate to qualify for the semi-finals.

Kylian Mbappe grabbed a brace in the encounter to see PSG through.

A Superb work from Lamine Yamal squared the ball to Raphinha, who beat Gianluigi Donnarumma with a brilliant shot into the bottom right corner to give Barcelona a 12th minute lead.

In the 29th minute, Ronald Araujo made an ugly tackle on his opponent and was sent off by the referee leaving the homers with 10 men to play the entire duration.

PSG capitalised on their advantage and equalised in the 40th minute. A former Barcelona player, Ousmane Dembele equalised for the visitors.

Bradley Barcola played the ball to Dembele, who showed great determination to get to the ball before a couple of defenders and from inside the box he shot into the top right corner of the net to make it 1-1.

PSG made it 1-2 in the 54th minute from a fantastic finish by Vitinha from just outside the box. He wasted little time in getting away a bullet of a shot that flew past the goalkeeper into the bottom left corner of the net.

Mbappe added another goal for PSG from the penalty spot in the 61st minute. He put the ball into the top left corner past the outstretched arm of Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

A minute to duration time, PSG made it 1-4. Mbappe fired the rebound into the bottom right corner after the ball broke to him in the box.

Sports

IGP Salutes Exceptional Performances of Police Athletes at 2023 African Games

Published

2 weeks ago

April 11, 2024

Eric

The Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D, NPM, has commended the exceptional performances of the Police Athletes who distinguished themselves, as Nigeria’s ambassadors at the recently concluded 13th African Games in Accra, Ghana.

The IGP notes that their remarkable performances across various sporting events have brought immense pride to the Force and the country at large.

While receiving the athletes, the IGP, who was represented by the Force Director of Sports (FSO), CP Patrick A. Atayero, likened the African Games to a continental Olympics, and harped on the significance of young and talented Police Sports Men and Women showcasing their skills, passion, determination and courage on such a prestigious stage to emerge Medalists. He emphasized that the success of Police Athletes at the 13th African Games which held from 8th to 26th March, 2024, shortly after the 14th Biennial Police Games (Oluyole 2024) that concluded on 2nd March in Ibadan, is a veritable testament to the effectiveness of the sports development initiatives of the Force.

The medalists – Inspr. Aisha Adamu, Sgt. Mohammed Inuwa, Sgt. Emmanuel Bala, Sgt. Matthew Deshi, Corporal Chika Blessing, Corporal Nathaniel Samson, Corporal Victor Ikechukwu, Corporal Eweh Emmanuel, Corporal Collins Obi, Corporal Godwin Sunday, Corporal Emmanuel Ochayi, Corporal Aminu Garba, PC Olayiwola Zainab, PC Mabel David, PC Precious Joel, PC Esther Peter, and Bello Tunde Muiz (Education Officer II), demonstrated exceptional dexterity in Arm wrestling, Athletics, Badminton, Mixed Martial Arts, Swimming and Hockey. These Police Athletes garnered 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 5 Bronze totalling 8 Medals, for Nigeria at the Continental Sports Fiesta.

The Inspector General of Police appreciates all Police Athletes for their dedication, hard work, and commitment to sporting excellence, national unity and development in all spheres in Nigeria. He reiterates that their collective success serves as an inspiration to other Police Officers and fellow aspiring Athletes and inestimable potentials across the nation.

Sports

Super Falcons Draw Goalless with South Africa, Quality for Paris Olympics

Published

2 weeks ago

April 9, 2024

Eric

Nigeria’s female national football team, Super Falcons have qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Nigeria beat South Africa 1-0 on aggregate to reach the Summer Olympics.

Rasheedat Ajibade scored from the spot in the first leg of the qualifiers in Abuja on Friday.

That goal was enough for the Super Falcons to pick one of Africa’s tickets for the women’s football event of the Paris Olympics as the second leg tie ended goaless in South Africa.

The last time Nigeria’s Super Falcons reached the Olympics was 16 years ago.