Sports
[OPINION] Senegal’s February Juju Hits Soccer Gold
One football concept that has continued to elicit confusion and debate is this: is there juju in football? Put differently, does juju work in football?
To comprehensively disect this discourse, I travelled from Lagos to Ibadan to have a chat with one of Africa’s most recognizable faces in football, particularly in coaching, Adegboye Onigbinde. I put the question to him: Is there juju in football? Onigbinde retorted in an emphatic yes. He gave examples but added that “juju does not take you far. What sees you through is your understanding of your opponent and then the ability of a coach to select the players who can interpret his match plan well”. He added, no matter the measure of drugs a non athlete took, it could only have taken a Ben Johnson to beat him”.
Two other former Nigerian players, Taribo West and Emeka Ezeugo equally confirmed in two separate interviews that there was juju in football. In fact, Taribo revealed how he used to travel to Mali and Senegal for football juju.
Indeed, Senegalese authorities never practically understood the working of February hence they agreed with CAF to stage the 1992 Nations Cup Finals in January. Had that Competition be held in February, the story would have been different.
Take a close look at this. Senegal almost caused a soccer sensation on February 7, 2000 in the Nations Cup cohosted by Ghana and Nigeria. It was a quarter final encounter and the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, was the theatre of hostility. The more than 60, 000 Nigerian cheering fans were roundly awed when Khalilou Fadiga got the curtain raiser in the seventh minute. It was unthinkable.
There was pin -drop – silence in the stadium. The goal was scored by Fadiga on the seventh minute on February 7! Senegal fought like lions as they are called and held tenaciously to the lead till the 80th minute when substitute Julius Aghaghowa levelled for Nigeria. The game was dragged into extra time and it was still Aghoghowa who gave Nigeria victory. Senegal lost but registered her February wonder with a roar.
Meanwhile the game produced a hilarious but hypertensive drama. A Nigerian coach who also was an NFF and CAF member, Kashimao Laloko shouted over and again from his VIP stand, pointing that there was a juju in form of an egg right behind the Senegalese goalkeeper. When nobody cared to listen to him, Laloko broke protocol, went straight to the Senegal’s goal area and picked what looked like an egg. Minutes later, Aghaghowa got the leveller.
Few days later, I chased Laloko to his Pepsi Academy base at Agege Stadium. I asked him he had to go to field during play – an action abhorrent to football rules? He said: “I saw something and I did something. What I did saved my country. I have no question to answer”. CAF suspended Laloko but later lifted it.
Exactly two years after, in Mali 2002, Nigeria again faced Senegal in a Nations Cup semi final pairing on February 7! Just like the Lagos duel two years earlier, Senegal went up in Bamako through Papa Bouba Diop. Since their seventh minute lead in Lagos never produced any good result, Senegal changed style, played a barren first half draw and later moved on in the ninth minute of the second half (54th minute) for their goal. Seconds flew. Minutes passed. Just two minutes to go, Aghoghowa again, equalized. It was extra time and Senegal had the winner through Salif Diao. Nigeria had a penalty after Nwankwo Kanu was hacked down but Wilson Oruma who was coming from the bench hit the up right and Super Eagles lost 1- 2 to Senegal.
For the first time in their history, Senegal made it to the final of the African Nations Cup. It was a big achievement. They lost to Cameroon.
Senegal qualified for the Nations Cup final for the second time in Egypt and lost to Algeria. That game was played in July 2019, not February.
And this year, the final of the 2021 Nations Cup played in Cameroon in 2022 was played on February 6, a Sunday. Senegal truly masters the magic of February championships. Not surprisingly, Senegal inspired by Sadio Mane, struck African soccer gold.
If you consider that Senegal avenged her February 7, 2000 defeat by Nigeria also on February 7, 2002 in Mali., and now emerged the new African champions in Cameroon that denied her victory in 2002 on February 6, 2022 just as she punished Egypt on whose land she lost the diadem two years ago on same date, then you will appreciate the country’s bound with February. It is the same way Nigeria hardly loses on October 8!
By Ori Martins
Sports
QNET and Man City Mark 10th Anniversary of their Partnership
Man City counts 28 trophies in the last 10 yearsQNET, an Asian direct selling giant and Manchester City, a top Football club in and outside England, are celebrating 10 years of partnership with great results.
The anniversary was part of the 26th V-Malaysia Conference (VCON) at Penang in Malaysia.
The long-standing partnership will see QNET continue as Official Direct Selling Partner for City’s men’s and women’s teams, according to Techeconomy report.
This partnership marked a significant milestone in May 2018 when City welcomed QNET as the first sleeve partner in the Women’s Super League.
Throughout the next phase of this partnership QNET will continue to provide City-led football clinics to communities around the world, as well as engaging with consumers and distributors through this relationship with City.
In a message to the leaders of QNET and the 8,000 VCON participants from over 30 countries, Ferran Soriano, the chief executive officer of Manchester City FC, said they are pleased to achieve great milestones that would not have been possible without the support and the commitment of everybody at QNET, “and every single one of you. I do remember back in 2014 when I met the leadership of QNET for the first time, and we discussed our plans, our ambitions, and we promised a lot.
“We promised that Manchester City would be a great football team, and that they would play beautiful football. Now, 10 years since then, we hold 28 trophies. I have to be honest and say that when we promised we were going to do well, we didn’t think we were going to win 28 trophies.
“We’re excited now we’re starting a new season, and guess what? We want to win again, and if we do, it would be another record. Maybe we can win the fifth Premier League in a row. Obviously, something that hasn’t happened before. I can promise that we will fight for all the trophies like you fight for all your objectives. Manchester City and QNET have the incredible power to engage people from every country, create a sense of community and empower individuals and teams to achieve their aspirations”.
He promised Manchester City’s support to the QNET brand to achieve even more successes in the coming years.
Trevor Kuna, the CEO of QNET said that the partnership with Manchester City has made positive impacts on the business.
QNET’s grass-roots business model enables ordinary people from all walks of life to start their own business with minimal overhead.
With hard work and dedication, QNET distributors, known as Independent Representatives (IRs) have the opportunity to become economically self-sufficient, raising the standard of life for their families and communities.
QNET is driven by two important philosophies: RYTHM (Raise Yourself to Help Mankind) and InService.
Meanwhile, the highlight of the QNET and Manchester City celebration was the presentation of a 10-year partnership anniversary plaque by John Kirton, senior partnership marketing manager, Manchester City Football Club to the QNET team.
Sports
Robinho To Serve A 9 Year Jail Term Over Gang Rape
Former Manchester City and Real Madrid striker Robinho will reportedly serve a nine-year jail sentence for gang rape – Imposed on him by an Italian court — in Brazil, judges in Brasilia has ruled.
The 40-year-old was found guilty in Italy in 2017 and according to Globo, Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice (BSCJ), made the ruling on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.
The former Premier League player, whose real name is Robson De Souza, was one of six men who were found guilty of a§§aulting an Albanian woman in an Italian nightclub in January 2013.
In January 2022, the Supreme Court in Rome dismissed his final appeal against the conviction, according to the report.
Robinho claims he is innocent and has been living in Brazil for the past seven years. It came after nine of the court’s 15 ministers had voted in favour of the decision to incarcerate the footballer in Brazil.
Globo also claims that the ex-footballer, who also spent time at AC Milan and Real Madrid, will now be arrested in Santos, where he currently resides.
Robinho, who was 28 and was playing for AC Milan at the time, admitted during his appeal to having ‘contact’ with the woman, but the Brazilian insisted it was consensual.
The Milan Court of Appeals found Robinho had ‘belittled’ and ‘br¥tally h¥miliated’ the victim as it upheld his original sentence in December 2020.
Intercepted phone calls between the Brazilian and those allegedly involved in the assault were used as key evidence in his initial conviction.
Sports
Former Tennis Champion, Tania Okpala Returns To Tennis After Rehabilitation
Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, has revealed that former tennis champion, Tania Okpala, has resumed playing on the courts.
This development follows Soludo’s assurance that she would undergo rehabilitation after a video surfaced online showing her in distress on the streets of Awka, pleading for assistance.
In an update on his social media handle on Thursday, Soludo expressed his satisfaction with Okpala’s return, stating, “Tania Okpala is back on the courts!
“A few months ago, social media was flooded with a viral video showing Ms. Tania in a distressing state on the streets of Awka. I am pleased to report that we have successfully restored Tania to her winning ways.”
Okpala, who hails from Anambra and has a Belarusian mother, represented Nigeria in the 1990s.
Here are pictures of her in the tennis court.
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