Plateau United coach says the first leg will help his team prepare properly for Saturday’s return leg

Fidelis Ilechukwu, Plateau United Technical Adviser says his team still has a 50/50 chance of qualifying for the 2022/23 CAF Champions League group stage.

Jos-based Plateau United on Sunday came from behind to beat Esperance of Tunisia 2-1 in a CAF Champions League second preliminary round first leg fixture in Abuja.

Ilechukwu, however, told reporters at a post-match press conference that the result meant both teams still had a 50/50 chance of qualifying for the competition’s group stage.

He admitted that even though his team won the match, they still had a lot to do if they hope to progress.

“To me, it’s a 50/50 chance for us now because this is football.

“After all, nobody believed that we were going to win this game due to the experience and pedigree of our opponents.

“Before this game, we had talked to ourselves and had a good discussion on the need to ensure we score a lot of goals in the first leg here at home.

“We have found ourselves in this kind of situation so many times before, even in the local league, and we have always dug deep to emerge victorious at the end.

“So, I wasn’t really bothered when we were a goal down because I knew the quality of players that I have.

“I was confident that they will bounce back and win the game,” the coach said.

He, however, stated that the job was not yet done.

“We will go back to the drawing and re-strategise to ensure that we perfect our tactics and approach to the game,” Ilechukwu said.

He added that their goal ahead of the game was to gain experience and use the first leg to prepare for what they intend to achieve in the return fixture.

“So, we will build from what we have achieved here today and ensure that we approach the second leg with more strength and vigour.

“We are not going to sit back and defend in the second leg in Tunisia, but we will rather come out all guns blazing because we understand what is at stake

We will quickly move on from this victory and approach the second leg as though we are still at par with our opponents,” the coach said.

Also, Mustapha Ibrahim, scorer of Plateau United’s second goal during the match, expressed gratitude to the fans who turned up to cheer the team.

FIFA is set to pay Europe’s leading clubs a record amount of $10,000 per player per day while their stars are at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Manchester City, Real Madrid, Tottenham and Barcelona were some of the top earners at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Four years ago, FIFA distributed $209million under its Club Benefits Programme.

The more players a club has at the tournament and the further they progress in the tournament, the more money they stand to earn under the scheme.

And the pot on offer has been increased from a rate of $8,530 (£6,440) per player per day in 2018 to $10,000 (£9,012) this time around.

It means Premier League clubs such as Chelsea, who have as many as 20 players in contention for World Cup selection, stand to profit most from their stars being away.

Man City could have as many as 17 internationals away in Qatar this time around.

The Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare has tasked the newly elected Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) to improve all levels of football in the country.

Dare dropped this charge on Tuesday, in his office, at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja, when the NFF leadership paid him a courtesy visit.

The Minister said football is a national asset, a unifying force in Nigeria and the Federal Government, through his Ministry is interested in its growth and development.

His words: “I am happy to see that you have settled down to work as a team. I thank you for this courtesy visit and want to urge you to get down to business quickly to the enormous task ahead of you.

“You have to move the game in the right direction, where all the genuine stakeholders want it to go. You have to hold crucial and critical conversations before you take crucial decisions. Let the interest of the nation be the first and most important consideration in all you do.”

“As a new board, this is a new beginning. You have to move things to a higher level. If there are some areas of our football that are broken, then you must fix them and if some areas are unbroken, then don’t try to fix them.

“I urge you to improve all levels of our football, build strong national teams, well structured, efficiently run leagues by improving their governance structures.

“This new leadership must be aware and sensitive to the issues that will lead to the growth and development of our football and I promise that as a Ministry, we will continue to do our best to seek the right kind of funding for your programmes,” he added.

In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Ismaila Abubakar congratulated the new board and charged them to work with the Ministry in developing the game.

The newly elected NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau thanked the Minister for his support and pledged, along with other members of his board, to work in the interest of the country.

Other members of the new NFF leadership on the visit were Ahmed Yusuf Fresh, Rabiu Inuwa, Aisha Falode, Margaret Icheen, Rt.Hon Essien Udofot and the General Secretary Dr Mohammed Sanusi.

Paris Saint-Germain’s sporting director, Luis Campos, has debunked speculations that Kylian Mbappe has asked to leave the club in January.

Campos spoke out ahead of their Champions League clash with Benfica on Tuesday.

He was reacting to multiple reports that Mbappe feels betrayed by the Ligue 1 champions.

Speaking to Canal+, Campos said: “I am here to clearly deny, he (Mbappé) did not speak to me or to my president about leaving in January.

“This question never came up and we never talked about it. There are rumours every day, and we can’t talk about them every day.

“But this one, it is serious. Because my name is there. An impact on the locker room? No, they are experienced players. It’s not real news anyway, and it’s not going to disrupt the group.

He added: “We speak with Kylian every day, as with Neymar, Danilo, Vitinha and Verratti. All the players have their ideas and we discuss. On recruitment, we talked about it a month ago. It was very clear. And today, we work every day to be stronger.”

Chelsea took a big step towards the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday with a 2-0 win at AC Milan which took them top of Group E.

Graham Potter’s side took control at a packed San Siro against a Milan team who had to play most of the match with 10 men after Fikayo Tomori was controversially handed an early straight red card.

The clash was turned on its head in the 18th minute when former Blues man Tomori was sent off for pulling back Mason Mount in the area.

Italy midfielder Jorginho slotted home the resulting penalty and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s cool finish 11 minutes before the break ended Milan’s resistance and put Chelsea one point ahead of Salzburg at the head of the group.

Two straight defeats to Chelsea leave Milan third but they still have more than a fighting chance of making the knockout stages for the first time since the 2013-14 season.

Stefano Pioli’s side are ony two points away from the qualification places and a trip to Dinamo Zagreb and the visit of Salzburg will decide their fate in the competition.

An already scrappy, bad-tempered affair exploded when referee Daniel Siebert dismissed Tomori and gave a penalty to Chelsea after the England defender pulled back Mount who had been brilliantly put through by Reece James.

Tomori could barely believe his eyes when he was sent off and both Mount and Olivier Giroud were booked in the shoving that followed amid deafening jeers from the home supporters.

Jorginho opening the scoring three minutes later further irritated Italy fans after his spot-kick misses cost their national team qualification for the upcoming World Cup.

Olivier Giroud nearly levelled against his old club with a header that whistled just past the post in the 27th minute, but Aubameyang soon made sure Chelsea had an iron grip on the match.

Mount was again involved as he played through both Aubameyang and Raheem Sterling, but it was the Gabon striker who got there first and calmly finished at Ciprian Tatarusanu’s near post.

The Blues’ second, Aubameyang’s third in as many matches, completely took the wind out of Milan’s sales but to their credit they did try to force the issue in the second half.

Sergino Dest could have pulled one back for the hosts on the hour mark but he slashed an awful effort into the stands when Rafael Leao shot down the left flank and sent over an inviting cross with which the American should have done better.

From there Chelsea were content to keep the ball and take the sting out of a match which had long since been decided.