Arsenal beat Man City to win 2023 Community Shield

In a thrilling encounter, Arsenal secured a psychological boost to the new football season that begins next week, by defeating Manchester City on penalties to claim the 2023 Community Shield. After a relatively uneventful 70 minutes in the season opener, Cole Palmer seemed to have sealed the victory for City with a sensational strike. However, Leandro Trossard equalized in the 101st minute, sending the game to a dramatic penalty shootout. Substitute Kevin de Bruyne’s strike hit the crossbar, followed by Rodri’s saved effort, paving the way for Fabio Vieira to score the decisive penalty, clinching the silverware for Arsenal. The win provided a morale boost for Arsenal, who had led the Premier League for 248 days last season before falling short in the title race as City secured a Treble, including the Champions League and FA Cup. Arsenal’s manager, Mikel Arteta, had expressed the desire to avenge last season’s defeats against City, and his side displayed impressive determination throughout the match. The Gunners’ summer signings, Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, and Jurrien Timber, all made their competitive debuts, further strengthening the team’s core. While Community Shield victories do not necessarily guarantee Premier League success, Arsenal reveled in the positive result after a disappointing end to the previous season. Guardiola praised Arsenal’s summer transfers, acknowledging their strengthened squad. Despite City’s three major trophies in the last season, including the Premier League, they faced defeat in their third consecutive Community Shield appearance. Nonetheless, City remains focused on their primary goal of defending the Premier League title. Mateo Kovacic, one of City’s notable summer signings, displayed a strong performance in midfield. Although Golden Boot winner Erling Haaland had an off day in front of goal, City remains confident in their abilities to deliver a remarkable campaign. Overall, Arsenal’s Community Shield victory serves as an encouraging start to the season, instilling confidence and optimism for the challenges ahead. City, despite their Community Shield losses, is determined to maintain their dominance and continue their pursuit of more silverware in the upcoming Premier League campaign.

AfroBasket: D’Tigress bounce off Mozambique, advance to semi-finals

Nigeria’s D’Tigress on Wednesday in Kigali, Rwanda extended their winning streak in Africa to 22 straight wins by over-running Mozambique 59-52 to advance to the 2023 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket semi-finals. The hard-earned win means the Nigerian senior women’s national basketball team will now meet hosts Rwanda in Thursday’s semifinal. Mozambique led at the break, after 18-16 and 15-13 wins in the first and second quarters, but Nigeria overcame their lethargy to eventually turn the tables around. They outscored Mozambique 18-10 in the third quarter to set the tone for claiming the win, before a close 12-9 win in the fourth and final quarter. With Nigeria trailing by four points at half-time, they had to rally and find a way to get back into the game. When the opportunity occurred, Elizabeth Balogun seized the moment to help Nigeria tie the contest at 40-40. Amy Okonkwo then gave the reigning champions a short but solid advantage, before Ifunaya Okoro scored from behind the arc to give Nigeria the lead definitely. Mozambique tried to fight back, but they met a resilient and combative Nigeria. Okonkwo chipped in 17 points, Balogun contributed 12 points, and Sarah Ogoke finished just one point shy from a double-digit. Nearly every Nigerian ended the game with at least two points to their credit. However, what saved Nigeria was the depth of their bench, which produced 22 of the 59 points Nigeria needed to see off Mozambique. Nigeria also made the difference on free throws ratio, having 14 for 18 free throws which gave them the edge over Mozambique who had 16 from 24 attempts. The D’Tigresses also out-rebounded Mozambique 51-43, by being more active on the defensive side with 38 boards. But ironically, the game’s best rebounder was Mozambique’s Tamara Seda. With this win, Nigeria have also sent a message to hosts Rwanda that they will be tough nuts to crack, ready and focused on getting a fourth title in a row. Speaking after the game, Nigeria guard Sarah Ogoke said while their opponents were good her team was better and deserved their win. “Mozambique are a great team, and credit to them for putting up such a game. But we stayed together and we made it through,” she said. Looking ahead to their semi-final fixture, Obote said: “We’re going to be playing against the stadium, against the fans, against the entire country. “So it’s going to be very difficult. We will try to get us to Saturday’s final and to the 2024 Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament (WOQT). “We definitely have what it takes to make it four titles in a row and we have a way of making things happen. And we’ll find a way.”

Nigeria wins maiden African Admiral Porbeni Canoe Race

Team Nigeria emerged the overall winner of the maiden African Admiral Porbeni Canoe Race championships in Abuja. The championships which also served as an Olympics pre-qualifier event took place at the Jabi Boat Club, Abuja recently. No fewer than 100 athletes from five African countries including, Ghana, Senegal, Sao Tome and Principe, Togo, and host Nigeria took part in the four-day event. Team Nigeria amassed a total of 34 medals, including 21 gold, 11 silver, and two bronze to emerge as the overall winners of the event. Sao Tome and Principe with a total of 20 medals, including three gold, 11 silver, and six bronzes finished in the second position. While, Senegal with a total of 16 medals, including one gold, three silver, and 12 bronzes settled for the third position. Ghana with three bronzes and Togo with two bronze medals finished in the fourth and fifth positions respectively. The various race events competed for include; 500m KL3 women, 200m KL3 men, 1,000m K1 men, 1,000m K1 women, 1,000 C1 men, 1,000 C1 women, 5,000m K2 men and 200m K1 women. Others were; 500m C2 men, 200m C1 women, 500m KL2 men, 200m KL2 men, 200m C1 men, 200m K1 men, 500m C1 women and 500m K1 women. Nigeria’s Ayomide Bello finished as the overall best female athlete, winning three gold medals in all the three events she competed for including the 1,000m C1 women (5mins.06secs.50ms), 200m C1 women (55secs.57ms) and 500m C1 women(2mins.55secs..88ms) Bello was ranked 13th in the 2019 World Championships in Hungary and also won four gold medals from four events as rower at the Admiral Porbeni Boat Race in 2021. Also Nigeria’s youngest athlete Yinlayefa Godhelp won gold in two events which she competed for, including the 1000m K1 women (5mins. 16secs.54ms.) and 500m K1 women (3mins.01secs.50ms.) respectively. Godhelp only discovered within the last 12 months has proven herself as a young sensation from the National Sports Festival, winning 500m C1 race. She went on to represent Nigeria at the second Africa Beach Games in Tunisia 2023 where she finished an impressive fourth position in what was her first ever international event. Other gold medalists were Temitope Olasupo in 200m(15secs.21ms) and 500m KL2 men ( 2mins.45secs.62ms) Pere Paghamotei in 200m C1 men (48secs.49ms), Blessing Amusan in 200m K1 women ( 1min.56secs.), Ayoola Amusan/Endurance Godhelp in 500m K2 men (2mins.06secs.21ms) and Joseph/Michael Moses in 500m C2 men (2mins.23secs.27ms) Team Nigeria smiled home with a 3,000 dollars prize money, while Sao Tome and Principe pocketed 2,000 dollars with Senegal settling for 1,000 dollars. Moses Michael, Team Nigeria’s Captain expressed joy at the team’s victory, adding that it wasn’t an easy feat even though everyone had high expectations for the team. “Everyone expected us to win and the team spirit was very high. “Our sport is not like football where you see pitches everywhere where you can train. Even if you see water, you won’t easily have access to the boat. “So, it is very difficult to train and stay fit and if somebody is out of the sport for a month or two, there is no way you can get your fitness right within a week. But, we thank God that we did our best and the victory for us is a very good one,” he said. On preparation of the team for the Olympics qualifiers in November and Paris 2024, Michael stressed on the need to open training camp early for the athletes, adding that the Olympics was already around the corner. “We have already discussed as a team about what we want and are ready to present our request to the federation president. “We are already planning to travel to Germany for another pre-qualifying event next month, so as to enable us amass enough points before the Olympic qualifiers in November. “We also want to appeal to the Federal Government to assist us because November is around the corner and Olympics training is expected to commence immediately. “Some athletes in other countries start preparing for the Olympics a year ahead of the event. So, it is very important we resume camp immediately,” he said. Dignitaries at the event were Emmanuel Ogalla, the Chief of Naval Staff and Thomas Konietzko, the President, International Canoe Federation (ICF) and and Festus Porbeni, President of the Rowing, Canoeing and Sailing Federation. Others are Joao Afonso, the 1st Vice President of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA) and Habu Gumel, the president of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC). 

Eagles beat Sierra Leone 3-2, qualify for 2023 AFCON

The Super Eagles of Nigeria on Sunday qualified for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations after beating Sierra Leone 2-3 in Monrovia, Liberia. The three-time African champions picked the ticket after defeating the Lone Stars at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Stadium with one game to spare. A stoppage-time tap-in from Kelechi Iheanacho was the most important goal in a match where the Super Eagles surrendered a two-goal lead. Jose Peseiro started the match with the attacking trio of in-form Victor Osimhen, Samuel Chukwueze, and Moses Simon. He also preferred the backline paring over Kenneth Omeruo and Semilore Ajayi as Willam Troost-Ekong was benched. The Eagles showed their intent in the early minutes of the game when Osimhen’s header was only stopped by Ibrahim Sesay, Sierra Loanean’s goalkeeper. A few minutes later, Chukwueze fired high and wide from the edge of the box after he was teed up. He then scuffed a bigger opportunity after Osimhen wrestled the ball off a defender to set him face-to-face with Sesay. Shortly, the early pressure paid for Nigeria as Osimhen pounced on a long ball and executed a perfect lob over the on-rushing Sesay, who watched as the strike sailed into the empty net. The Napoli striker doubled the lead in the 32nd minute after he was sent through on goal by a cute pass by Joe Aribo. With a well-executed assist from Ahmed Musa, Osimhen capitalized on the defense’s neglect and unleashed a magnificent left-footed strike, further cementing the Super Eagles’ advantage. Osimhen’s brace also propelled him to the top of the scorer rankings with seven goals, surpassing Sadio Mané. Mustapha Bundu restored hope for the Leone Stars when he struck from the edge of the box to reduce the deficit just before the break. Sierra Leone emerged from half-time with renewed determination, launching relentless attacks on the Nigerian camp. Their efforts bore fruit as Augustus Kargbo equalized, leveling the score at 2-2. The momentum clearly favored the Sierra Leoneans, who continued to create opportunities, albeit leaving gaps for the ever-vigilant Super Eagles. In the end, it was Kelechi Iheanacho who seized the moment, securing Nigeria’s qualification with a crucial goal. This result also guarantees qualification for Guinea-Bissau.