Nigeria wins Olympics opener despite delay
Even though they arrived in Brazil late and had barely four hours to prepare before their first match, the Dream Team pulled through and secured 3 points as they defeated Japan 5-4, in the early hours of Friday.
Despite their late arrival and little or no time to rest after their flight, Samson Siasia’s side where clinical in decimating their Asian opponents, who were just not as good.
Nigeria showed that they were there to win when Sadiq Umar gave them the lead in the 6th minute but Oghenekaro Etebo was definitely the man of the match, scoring 4 out of 5 goals for the Nigerian side.
Japan gave a response not long after Umar’s goal, as Shinzo Kokori leveled the score to 1-1. Etebo, then scored his first goal of the match but again, Japan equalized courtesy of Minamino.
Just a few minutes before the first half whistle was blown, Etebo scored a header that left the Japan defence bewildered. Shortly after the commencement of the first half, Super Etebo scored another but Japan’s Takuma Asano gave a swift response.
The final nail on the coffin was from Etebo, who scored from 30-yards out after a costly error from Kushibiki left the goal post open. Japan tried but they could not find the opportunity to equalize the 5th goal.
Well done Nigeria!
Rio 2016 begins today!
Are you ready for it? For those who don’t know, the 31st edition of the Olympic begins today and we are so excited about this.
The Olympics, which hosts over 207 countries will begin with what we hope will be a colorful ceremony tonight. It will be watched by over 3 billion people all over the world and in Brazil, 300 dancers, 5,000 volunteers will take part in the ceremony.
Though the Olympics is well under way with the football events kicking off since two days ago, the ceremony officially kicks of the rest of the games tonight.
This edition of the Olympics will host 10,500 athletes, with Team USA being the largest team with 554 athletes. There are 28 sports which countries can compete in and they will take place in 33 venues.
Ping Pong star Funke Oshonaike has been nominated to be Nigeria’s flag bearer during the parade of nations.
The Olympics will take place between August 5th – August 21st. Hope we are all rooting for Team Nigeria oh!
10-man South Africa holds Brazil to a stalemate
Host country Brazil began their Olympic campaign on a very sour note as they failed to secure a win against South Africa in their first match.
To the disappointment of fans, Brazil was unable to capitalize on South Africa being a man down, after Mothobi Mvala was sent off in the second half.
Despite the huge opportunity given to them, Brazil struggled to score and the likes of Neymar and Gabriel Jesus fired blanks as the hosts failed to take control of Group A.
The fans, felt cheated and disappointed and booed their team as the final whistle was blown at stoppage time. Brazil’s next fixture is against Iraq, as they try to get their Olympic campaign on the right track.
Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema to miss Super Cup
Looks like Real Madrid will have to do without the services of Christian Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema for their crucial super cup fixture against Sevilla on August 10.
The two of the main strikers, Ronaldo and Benzema have picked up injuries in the last couple of months and may not be fit be enough to play or even have an impact in the Super Cup. While, Bale is on a much needed holiday since after Euro 2016 and has not joined Real Madrid for their preseason tour.
Ronaldo, being the latest to pick up an injury, was injured during the Euro 2016 final against France last month and will definitely not feature in the match, though, Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane says he will be back to training soon.
“Right now, he still has his injury, Obviously he wants to be back but we need patience and for him to be calm. He will be back with us soon in Madrid.”
Zidane was more optimistic about Benzema as he said: “Karim will be with us and then we’ll see. Let’s hope he can play the Super Cup. He is doing better and he has trained with us.”
Also speaking on the readiness of his team for the Super Cup, the former French international says they are well trained and ready.
“We are ready for the Super Cup,” Zidane said. “After three games and three weeks of work, we are prepared to play on Tuesday. It will be our first important match.”
Written by Doyinsola Olaniyan
Images: Goal, Telegraph, Rte and Youtube
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