Nigeria: Kicking Off!

16 July 2011

Nigeria’s most successful clubside, Enyimba Football Club, is back on the hunt for the African diadem as the prestigious CAF Champions League resumes this weekend with the round robin phase.

This week, SHOT! goes to Aba, the home of the Peoples’ Elephant to gauge the mood in the team’s camp and preview tomorrow’s clash against Sudanese giant Al Hilal. Enyimba officials and players are confident of victory against their familiar foes from East Africa. Also two other Nigerian sides, Kaduna United and Sunshine Stars will be in action in the lower-cadre Confederation Cup. We wish all three Nigeria representatives the best of luck.

Again, we continue in our series of reports from the Flying Eagles camp in Faro, Portugal as the team intensify their preparations for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia (See Page VII).

In addition, Nigerian basketballers are dreaming of appearing in next year’s Olympic Games. The effervescent Michael Efevberha is one of them. He is the captain of D’Tigers, the senior national team. Mike plays for Swiss club Lugano Tigers and helped them to win a Swiss Cup, Lega Cup and Swiss Championship treble last season. He told FIBA.com that he’s shocked that Nigeria has never made it to the Olympics despite her huge potential. He hopes to lead the D’Tigers to their first Olympic outing next year.

For lovers of golf, this is a very interesting weekend. The British Open, one of golf’s four major championship, is holding at Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, United Kingdom. The big guns – minus Tiger Woods – are battling it out on the fast course and Thomas Bjorn of Denmark has the early lead but U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy is the bookies favourite. We look at the holes the players must negotiate to have any chance of getting their hands on the famous Claret Jug. So, check out our Hole-by-Hole guide to the Royal St. Geoge’s course on Page VI.

Back home, the Nigeria Premier League is heating up with three or four clubs in contention for the league championship. Ladan Bosso, coach of Kano Pillars, believes his side is a top contender for the title. Read what he has in mind about his team’s chances this season on Page VIII.

AllAfrica – All the Time