The year 2013 no doubt was one full of activities for Nigerian sports, particularly, football, which is seen as the nation’s number one sport. Below is a chronicle of how Nigeria faired in the various sports in the year under review.
Football
It was, indeed, a busy and memorable year with the Africa Nations Cup, the World Cup qualifiers, FIFA Confederations Cup, FIFA U-17 World Cup, the Club World Cup and CAF Champions League.
In so many ways the 29th edition of the continental showpiece held in South Africa ushered a landmark in Nigerian football that many would love to recount with smiles.
For three weeks, 16 teams vied for the continent’s most prestigious soccer title. For starters, not many gave Coach Stephen Keshi and his wards any chance. Africa’s power houses; Ghana, Zambia and host, South Africa, looked very promising, while Cote D’Ivoire stood as top favourite, but the Stallions of Burkina Faso were unheralded.
The co-West African nation had never reached the summit of the finals, and so, facing two-time champion, Nigeria made the Burkinabes very much the surprise package and they fought to finish to take silver at the price of 1-0 to the Super Eagles, whose bright showing in the tournament announced their return to the glory days. Nigeria raised hopes for a successful outing at the 2013 Confederation Cup in Brazil during the month of June.
However, Stephen Keshi and his men returned home with one win, a 6-1 stroll against minnows Tahiti – and two losses against Uruguay 2-1 and Spain 3-0.
The second round of the 2014 World Cup qualifying was concluded on September 7, with 10 teams – Ethiopia, Tunisia, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Cameroon and Senegal – coming out on top of the 40 sides that entered the race.
Cape Verde, that stunned Tunisia at home 2-0 in the second round final match day to grab continental headlines was stripped by FIFA of the group’s spot in favour of Tunisia, following the use of an ineligible player. It would have been a historic qualification for the Islanders to the knockout stage of the World Cup qualifying race and it would have also been the smallest African nation to qualify for the finals eventually.
Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Nigeria were joined by Cameroon and Algeria to make up the five teams to represent Africa in Brazil this year, but the final draw placed some of these sides in knotty groups that have begun to tell on the hopes of many fans.
Ghana, in Group G alongside Germany, Portugal and the USA and Cameroon, pitted against hosts, Brazil, Mexico and Croatia in Group A, appear to be the least favoured African teams in the draw, while Algeria, that will face Belgium, Russia and South Korea in Group H, had admitted it is the underdog in the group.
Nigeria was widely believed to be capable of finishing second behind Argentina in Group F and, thus, progressing to the next round, while Cote D’Ivoire, although sharing a relatively flexible Group C with Colombia, Greece and Japan, may not be the team to beat in the lot. This was according to Coach Sabri Lamouchi, who had indicated there could be surprises in the group.
However, the best moment to determine who is who in each group is when the showpiece kicks off proper by mid June next year.
Four nations, Cote D’Ivoire, Morocco, Tunisia and Nigeria represented Africa at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup held in the United Arab Emirates in October and November, with the Golden Eaglets emerging as champions and also producing the best player and best goalkeeper of the tournament in Kelechi Iheanacho and Dele Alampasu, respectively.
It was one of the most enticing football events this year for African fans, especially Nigerians, who watched the Golden Eaglets’ invariable improvement across all seven matches to claim their fourth title of the tournament.
Athletics
In the field of athletics, Blessing Okagbare did Nigeria proud at the IAAF World Championship, winning silver and bronze medals, a feat that saw President Goodluck Jonathan rewarding her for her performance at the 2013 World Athletics Championship in Moscow. For Nigeria, the only thing to cheer about in athletics was not the World championship medals won by Blessing Okagbare. In March the IOC awarded Nigeria the Sydney 2000 Olympics gold medal in the 4x 400 meters event. The USA team that won the gold ahead of Nigeria confessed that their feat was drug aided. The relay team of Clement Chukwu, Aniefiok Udobong, Jude Monye, Fidelis Gadzama, Nduka Nwanze and late Sunday Bada were decorated with the gold, even as President Goodluck Jonathan rewarded them and their coaches with cash and national honors.
In April 2013, in Walnut, California, Blessing Okagbare set a personal record in the 200m with a time of 22.31sec. Then, in July, she improved her personal best in the long jump with successive jumps of 6.98 m at the Athletissima meet in Lausanne, and 7.00m during the Monaco Herculis meet. On July 27, 2013, at the London, Okagbare set a new African record of 10.86 s in her 100m race. She won the final about an hour later, setting a new African record of 10.79, in a race where she beat reigning 100m Olympic gold medalist, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Okagbare’s record eclipsed the existing record by compatriot, Glory Alozie of 10.90, which had stood since 1998.
At the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, Okagbare won the silver medal in the long jump. Her jump of 6.99m put her in second place behind Brittney Reese of the United States by only two centimetres. In the 100m final, she placed sixth with a run of 11.04 s and also placed third in the 200m race.
Basketball
It was flops galore for Nigeria’s male and female national teams. D’ Tigers at the AfroBasket men’s championship fell below expectations and finished 7th place. It was the country’s worst performance in many years. It was more worrisome that the national team coach, Ayo Bakare blamed his failure on the players that he alleged sabotaged him. Cameroon and Cape Verde finished ahead of Nigeria in what many described as a big setback for Nigerian basketball.
Weightlifting
Just like in athletics and football, it was success story for the country in weightlifting. The only major international weightlifting the country participated in was the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship in Malaysia. Though the Nigerian contingent to the competition, which took place in the coastal city of Penang was small, the country still won the overall championship trophy in the female category. Nigeria won a total of eight gold, four silver and four bronze medals, to finish first on the final medals table in the women’s event.
Wrestling
Nigerian wrestlers have always risen to the challenges of their peculiar predicament as one of the ‘lesser sports’ in Nigeria sporting Industry, where other sports outside football are relegated to the background.
The inadequate funding had been the militating factor that had dogged the Nigerian Wrestling Federation’s (NWF) quest to ensure that the athletes perform to their optimum level at international competitions.
In October, the wrestlers were heartbroken because they were denied the chance to participate at the World Wrestling Championship in Budapest as a result of Visa problems.
Two months later, in December precisely, the athletes and their coaches found themselves in the same quagmire,as they battled Visa hitches to participate at the Commonwealth Championship in South Africa.
The tenacity of the NWF President, Dr. Daniel Igali paid off and the wrestlers travelled to South Africa with just minutes to spare before hitting the mat.
The wrestlers that left for the Commonwealth Wrestling Championship amidst uncertainty, weathered the storm to post stunning performances and returned home as heroes with eleven medals comprising four gold, three silver and four bronze .
As icing on their cake, Nigeria’s Blessing Oborodudu (61kg) was crowned the best African female wrestler of the tournament and the male wrestlers that had already lost the opportunity to participate in the Free style events due to late arrival to South Africa, took a stint in the Greco Roman events, placing third in Africa with a silver and three bronze medals.
It was, indeed, a busy and memorable year with the Africa Nations Cup, the World Cup qualifiers, FIFA Confederations Cup, FIFA U-17 World Cup, the Club World Cup and CAF Champions League.
In so many ways the 29th edition of the continental showpiece held in South Africa ushered a landmark in Nigerian football that many would love to recount with smiles.
For three weeks, 16 teams vied for the continent’s most prestigious soccer title. For starters, not many gave Coach Stephen Keshi and his wards any chance. Africa’s power houses; Ghana, Zambia and host, South Africa, looked very promising, while Cote D’Ivoire stood as top favourite, but the Stallions of Burkina Faso were unheralded.
The co-West African nation had never reached the summit of the finals, and so, facing two-time champion, Nigeria made the Burkinabes very much the surprise package and they fought to finish to take silver at the price of 1-0 to the Super Eagles, whose bright showing in the tournament announced their return to the glory days. Nigeria raised hopes for a successful outing at the 2013 Confederation Cup in Brazil during the month of June.
However, Stephen Keshi and his men returned home with one win, a 6-1 stroll against minnows Tahiti – and two losses against Uruguay 2-1 and Spain 3-0.
The second round of the 2014 World Cup qualifying was concluded on September 7, with 10 teams – Ethiopia, Tunisia, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Cameroon and Senegal – coming out on top of the 40 sides that entered the race.
Cape Verde, that stunned Tunisia at home 2-0 in the second round final match day to grab continental headlines was stripped by FIFA of the group’s spot in favour of Tunisia, following the use of an ineligible player. It would have been a historic qualification for the Islanders to the knockout stage of the World Cup qualifying race and it would have also been the smallest African nation to qualify for the finals eventually.
Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Nigeria were joined by Cameroon and Algeria to make up the five teams to represent Africa in Brazil this year, but the final draw placed some of these sides in knotty groups that have begun to tell on the hopes of many fans.
Ghana, in Group G alongside Germany, Portugal and the USA and Cameroon, pitted against hosts, Brazil, Mexico and Croatia in Group A, appear to be the least favoured African teams in the draw, while Algeria, that will face Belgium, Russia and South Korea in Group H, had admitted it is the underdog in the group.
Nigeria was widely believed to be capable of finishing second behind Argentina in Group F and, thus, progressing to the next round, while Cote D’Ivoire, although sharing a relatively flexible Group C with Colombia, Greece and Japan, may not be the team to beat in the lot. This was according to Coach Sabri Lamouchi, who had indicated there could be surprises in the group.
However, the best moment to determine who is who in each group is when the showpiece kicks off proper by mid June next year.
Four nations, Cote D’Ivoire, Morocco, Tunisia and Nigeria represented Africa at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup held in the United Arab Emirates in October and November, with the Golden Eaglets emerging as champions and also producing the best player and best goalkeeper of the tournament in Kelechi Iheanacho and Dele Alampasu, respectively.
It was one of the most enticing football events this year for African fans, especially Nigerians, who watched the Golden Eaglets’ invariable improvement across all seven matches to claim their fourth title of the tournament.
Athletics
In the field of athletics, Blessing Okagbare did Nigeria proud at the IAAF World Championship, winning silver and bronze medals, a feat that saw President Goodluck Jonathan rewarding her for her performance at the 2013 World Athletics Championship in Moscow. For Nigeria, the only thing to cheer about in athletics was not the World championship medals won by Blessing Okagbare. In March the IOC awarded Nigeria the Sydney 2000 Olympics gold medal in the 4x 400 meters event. The USA team that won the gold ahead of Nigeria confessed that their feat was drug aided. The relay team of Clement Chukwu, Aniefiok Udobong, Jude Monye, Fidelis Gadzama, Nduka Nwanze and late Sunday Bada were decorated with the gold, even as President Goodluck Jonathan rewarded them and their coaches with cash and national honors.
In April 2013, in Walnut, California, Blessing Okagbare set a personal record in the 200m with a time of 22.31sec. Then, in July, she improved her personal best in the long jump with successive jumps of 6.98 m at the Athletissima meet in Lausanne, and 7.00m during the Monaco Herculis meet. On July 27, 2013, at the London, Okagbare set a new African record of 10.86 s in her 100m race. She won the final about an hour later, setting a new African record of 10.79, in a race where she beat reigning 100m Olympic gold medalist, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Okagbare’s record eclipsed the existing record by compatriot, Glory Alozie of 10.90, which had stood since 1998.
At the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, Okagbare won the silver medal in the long jump. Her jump of 6.99m put her in second place behind Brittney Reese of the United States by only two centimetres. In the 100m final, she placed sixth with a run of 11.04 s and also placed third in the 200m race.
Basketball
It was flops galore for Nigeria’s male and female national teams. D’ Tigers at the AfroBasket men’s championship fell below expectations and finished 7th place. It was the country’s worst performance in many years. It was more worrisome that the national team coach, Ayo Bakare blamed his failure on the players that he alleged sabotaged him. Cameroon and Cape Verde finished ahead of Nigeria in what many described as a big setback for Nigerian basketball.
Weightlifting
Just like in athletics and football, it was success story for the country in weightlifting. The only major international weightlifting the country participated in was the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship in Malaysia. Though the Nigerian contingent to the competition, which took place in the coastal city of Penang was small, the country still won the overall championship trophy in the female category. Nigeria won a total of eight gold, four silver and four bronze medals, to finish first on the final medals table in the women’s event.
Wrestling
Nigerian wrestlers have always risen to the challenges of their peculiar predicament as one of the ‘lesser sports’ in Nigeria sporting Industry, where other sports outside football are relegated to the background.
The inadequate funding had been the militating factor that had dogged the Nigerian Wrestling Federation’s (NWF) quest to ensure that the athletes perform to their optimum level at international competitions.
In October, the wrestlers were heartbroken because they were denied the chance to participate at the World Wrestling Championship in Budapest as a result of Visa problems.
Two months later, in December precisely, the athletes and their coaches found themselves in the same quagmire,as they battled Visa hitches to participate at the Commonwealth Championship in South Africa.
The tenacity of the NWF President, Dr. Daniel Igali paid off and the wrestlers travelled to South Africa with just minutes to spare before hitting the mat.
The wrestlers that left for the Commonwealth Wrestling Championship amidst uncertainty, weathered the storm to post stunning performances and returned home as heroes with eleven medals comprising four gold, three silver and four bronze .
As icing on their cake, Nigeria’s Blessing Oborodudu (61kg) was crowned the best African female wrestler of the tournament and the male wrestlers that had already lost the opportunity to participate in the Free style events due to late arrival to South Africa, took a stint in the Greco Roman events, placing third in Africa with a silver and three bronze medals.
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