Sworn rivals, Nigeria and South Africa again clash today in women’s football as CAF President owned South African outfit, Mamelodi  Sundown face Bayelsa Queens in a Group B match of the African Women’s Championship match in Marrakech, Morocco.

South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns are the defending champions. In recent time, matches in women’s football have seen the South Africans having the edge over Nigeria.

The latest was the Falcons versus Bayana Bayana duel in Morocco earlier this year in the CAF Women’s Cup of Nations.

Bayelsa Queens are debutants in the competition that has just entered its second edition. But owing to Nigeria’s stature in women’s football, today’s match is seen as a kind of early final.

Bayelsa Queen’s captain, Uzoamaka Igwe already knows the enornimity of the clash.

She told CAF media: “I know is not going to be easy. Mamelodi Sundowns are here as the champions and will give us a difficult match but we have prepared well and trained hard to do well in the tournament.”

Her statememnt is underlined by the determination of the defending champions.

Jerry Tshabalala, their coach remarked: “When we came year last year, the idea was for us to win the championship, we are back again, and want to defend our title. 

“We’ve won our [South African ]league three times in a row, and we hope to be the first team to win the Women’s Champions League title back-to-back. Against Bayelsa Queens, we understand the challenge that we will face and also know what to expect.”

The defending champions are however not taking things for granted. “Playing against a Nigerian club like Bayelsa Queens is going to be tough but we are not coming to underestimate any team in this competition” remarked Lelona Daweti, striker of Mamelodi Sundowns.

 ” We are trusting ourselves and our coaches. So, we will come out to do our best, and play our good football as Mamelodi Sundowns and the rest will follow.

Among the players listed by Bayelsa Queen is Edidiong Etim, scorer of Nigeria’s second goal in the six-goal thriller with Germany in Sunday’s third place match at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.

It is doubtful, if she will be availaible for tonight’s potential thriller with the South Africans.

Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez (top) celebrates with goalkeeper David de Gea on the final whistle at Old Trafford on Oct 30, 2022.

Arsenal and Manchester City remain out in front, but the Premier League title race is far from a two-horse race after a weekend in which all of the top five won.

Liverpool’s latest embarrassing defeat, 2-1 at home by Leeds leaves the Reds with an eight-point gap to the top four.

Chelsea were the other big losers on Saturday as Graham Potter was trashed4-1 on his return to Brighton. 

Here are three talking points from the Premier League weekend:

No more home comfort for Liverpool

Despite Liverpool’s struggles this season a proud record of not having been beaten at home in the Premier League in front of fans for over five years had stayed intact until Leeds’ win on Saturday.

The visitors arrived at Anfield with manager Jesse Marsch clinging to his job after an eight-game winless run saw them fall into relegation danger.

Leeds’ determination to fight for their boss was clear as they ran 11km more than their hosts.

But a shocking defeat encapsulated the flaws of Liverpool’s season so far.

Leeds were gifted the opening goal by an individual error from Joe Gomez and kept in the game by wasteful finishing from Darwin Nunez.

But Reds boss Jurgen Klopp was most annoyed by the slack defending that allowed Crysencio Summerville to fire in an 89th-minute winner unchallenged.

Klopp again pointed to injuries and a heavy fixture schedule for such a sluggish start to the season.

The Reds are also clearly suffering a physical hangover from a 63-game campaign last season when they came so close to an unprecedented quadruple.

Currently they are a shadow of the team they once were and desperately need to limit the damage over the next two weeks to limp towards a much-needed break for the World Cup.

Already 14 points behind Arsenal, the title looks long gone but even a return to the Champions League via a top-four finish is becoming unlikely.

Mini Martinez a colossus for Man Utd

Lisandro Martinez’s suitability as a Premier League centre-back at just 1.75 metres tall was ridiculed amidst Manchester United’s disastrous start to the season.

But the Argentine has proved the doubters wrong, with his speed, aggression and poise on the ball more than making up for a lack of height.

Martinez’s partnership with Raphael Varane has provided a solid foundation for Erik ten Hag to build on, but even without the injured Frenchman, the former Ajax man stood firm to withstand a second-half West Ham onslaught to secure a 1-0 win on Sunday.

United have now kept five consecutive clean sheets at Old Trafford, just one fewer than they managed in the entirety of last season.

No mercy for Potter

Brighton’s fans and players refused to roll out the red carpet for Graham Potter’s return to the Amex Stadium.

The Chelsea boss was subjected to boos and chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” by the home support, who remain upset at his decision to jump ship to Stamford Bridge last month.

“I’ve got nothing to say sorry for, I think I did a good job at the club and I think I left it in a good place as you can see today,” said Potter.

Of more pressing concern for Potter is getting the Blues’ Premier League campaign back on track.

His first defeat as Chelsea manager had been coming after being outplayed by Brentford and Manchester United in draws before the trip to Brighton.

Victories for Tottenham, Newcastle and United mean Chelsea slip to sixth, three points adrift of the top four, and 10 behind Arsenal, who they face next weekend.

Nigeria Women’s U-17 team defeated Germany U-17 team 3-2 on penalties to claim a historic FIFA Women’s World Cup U-17 Bronze medal in India on Sunday.

The Flamingos who narrowly lost their semifinal game to Columbia on penalties bounced back with a win against a familiar opponent, Germany in the third-place match on Sunday.

It is a second time lucky for Nigeria against the European team as they avenged their 2-1 defeat to the Germans in the Group stages with the Bronze medal match success.

Ajakaye who was Nigeria’s top scorer during the qualifiers started the third-place match against Germany without a single goal after five games.

But she ended her goal drought by putting Nigeria up with her first strike of the campaign. 

The pacy forward who has won two player of the match awards at the tournament scored Nigeria’s first against Germany.

Ajakaye made her usual run from the flank before firing past the German in the goal in the 20th minute. 

Ajakaye first goal

Amina Bello increased Flamingos’ tally three minutes into the second half with a bullet header.

Flamingos second goal by Amina Bello

Substitute Etim Edidiong scored Nigeria’s third goal in the 63rd minute.

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/765428857
Flamingos third goal by Etim

Within 17 minutes of the end of the game, Germany pulled level to force penalty.

Germany first goal

Germany’s second goal 

Germany’s third goal Bender’s overhead kick

During the shootout, Nigeria won 3-2, defender Tumininu Adeshina missed but it did not matter as Faith Omilana saved Pauliner Bartz’s penalty.

It is a first podium finish for Flamingos and Africa at the FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup.

India hosted the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World. The tournament was played from 11th to 30th October 2022 by 16 teams from 6 Confederations.

In this report, Sportsration presents a wrap of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup , the 7th in the competitions history.

CHAMPIONS

Spain defeated Colombia 1-0 to be crowned Champions of the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India on Sunday October 30, 2022.

A successful title defence for the Spaniards who defeated Japan in 2018 for their first U-17 Women’s World Cup title.

OTHER PODUIM FINISHES

Defeated finalists Colombia finished as first runners-up while Nigeria defeated Germany on penalties to claim the Bronze Medal.

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS 

Golden Ball: Vicky Lopez (Sprain)

Silver Ball: Linda Caicedo (Colombia)

Bronze Ball: Mara Alber (Germany)

Top Scorer: Loreen Bender of Germany (4 goals, 2 assist)

Silver Ball: Momoko Tanikawa (Japan)

Bronze Ball: Linda Caicedo ( Colombia )

Golden Glove: Sofia Fuente ( Spain )

Fair Play Trophy: Japan

GOAL STATS 

95 goals were scored in 32 matches of the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup an average of 2.97 goals per game.

Fourth-placed Germany finished the tournament as top scorers with 16 goals.

Hosts India have the tournaments worst defensive record, conceding 16 times in 3 games plus the ugly record of being the only team without a goal at the tournament.

MOST WINS 

Spain – Expectedly, the Champions finished the tournament with the most wins (5).

NEXT

Just like every age-grade competition, the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup ends with the tournament fulfilling it’s target of kicking off the dreams of youngsters like Vicky Lopez (Spain), Linda Caicedo (Colombia), Mara Alber (Germany) etc who entertained the world at the 19-days long tournament.

The next edition will take place in 2024.

Nigeria Women’s U-17 coach, Bankole Olowookere has said he has learnt a lot of lessons at the FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup in India.

Bankole Olowookere put his name in the history books by becoming the first coach to guide Flamingos past the quarterfinal barrier after winning against the USA.

He was very close to claiming the ultimate prize but a defeat in the semis against Columbia meant Bankole and his team will settle for bronze if they win the third-place match.

Flamingos did, beating Germany 3-2 in the penalty shootout after surrendering a 3-0 lead in 17 minutes as the game ended 3-3 during the normal regulation.

And coach Olowookere who made more records by becoming the first coach to guide Flamingos to a podium place at the FIFA U-17 World Cup said is happy not to leave empty-handed and has learnt a lot.

“I am a very happy man that we did not leave India empty-handed. 

“It has been a great tournament with a lot of lessons learnt. 

“We give God the glory.”

This is the first time ever that coach Bankole Olowookere will be taking charge of the national team at any category.

She beats Omilana to the best player award against Germany

Nigeria Women’s U-17 forward Opeyemi Ajakaye has been named the player of the match in the third place match between Nigeria and Germany. 

Ajakaye who scored Nigeria’s first goal during the normal regulations and also converted her spot-kick during the shootout was picked as the best player of the match ahead of goalkeeper Faith Omilana.

Ajakaye goal against Germany

It is Ajakaye’s third of the tournament having picked the player of the match in Nigeria’s 4-0, and 2-1 wins against New Zealand and Chile in the group stages.

She beat off competition from her teammates such as Faith Omilana who saved a penalty as Nigeria beat Germany 3-2 on penalties to claim the bronze medal.

After normal regulations, Nigeria and Germany played a 3-3 draw after the Flamingos gave away a three-goal lead within 17 minutes.

Nigeria and Egypt athletes continued their domination at the ongoing Para-powerlifting in Cairo, Egypt, BSNSports.com.ng has gathered.

Esther Nworgu posted a huge performance as her 114kg lift set a new world record in the women’s up to 41kg class. 

Latifat Tijani kept the winning going for Nigeria with an African record lift of 113kg to win the women’s up to 45kg class on Day Two.

Nigeria picked up two more gold medals in the final session over the weekend, Kafila Almaruf set an African record with a 145kg lift in the women’s up to 73kg class. 

Her teammate Folashade Oluwafemiayo won her second African Championship title in a row with a 150kg lift in the women’s up to 86kg event.

Roland Ezuruike won the first title for Nigeria with a 172kg lift in the men’s up to 54kg class, his mark set a new world record for the legends classification.

Nigeria currently has 5 gold and 3 Silver medals in the event.