High-riding Nigeria will look to make it a perfect group phase campaign at the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup when they clash with Canada at the Estadio Alajuela Morera Soto in what would be the early hours of Thursday (3am) in Nigeria. Kick-off in Alajuela would be 8pm Costa Rica time on Wednesday.

Riding high as the top team of Group C following 1-0 wins over France and Canada has thrown the Falconets into the harshest spot of the klieg lights, but Head Coach Chris Danjuma Musa says his girls have their feet firmly on the ground as they confront the North Americans for another three points.

“We would like to make it three wins out of three to maintain a great mental state –the winning mentality. If we are used to winning, it would be difficult for any team to bring us down. 

“It would be a mistake to reduce our pace and zest simply because we have qualified for the quarter-finals. The best way to do it, always, is to consider each match as a task that must be accomplished and not slow down. We will still meet tougher teams ahead and the winning mentality is what will sustain us.”

Canada, who hosted the tournament eight years ago when Nigeria reached the Final for the second time (losing by the odd goal to Germany), are riding an impossibility wave after losing their first two games to Korea Republic and France, with a disadvantage of four goals. With Nigeria already qualified, the battle for the second spot from Group C is a straight one between Korea Republic and France, who play simultaneously (3am Nigeria time) at the Estadio Nacional in San Jose. Both teams have three points each.

For Canada to sneak through, they would have to achieve a high-score win against Nigeria, and hope that either of France or Korea Republic mutilate the other in the capital city.

Musa is certain to start with the girls who brought down the stubborn Koreans on Sunday night. Goalkeeper Omini Oyono showed improved composure and ball handling, and the steel and awareness of captain Oluwatosin Demehin, Omowumi Oshobukola, Jumoke Alani and Rofiat Imuran is sustaining the two-time runners-up quite well at the back.

Midfielder Esther Onyenezide, scorer of the scorcher that downed the Koreans, and forward Flourish Sabastine who netted the three-point winner against France, are also expected to be in the flow alongside Chioma Olise, Bashirat Amoo, Joy Jerry and the tireless Mercy Idoko.

The Nigeria Football Federation will host its 77^th Annual General Assembly in Lagos on Thursday, 18^thAugust 2022.

Earlier scheduled also for the City of Lagos on 17^th December last year, the event was put on hold as a result of an ex parte injunction issued by a Federal High Court in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State following the filing of a suit by some football stakeholders.

Thursday’s event is slated to hold at the Best Western Plus Hotel, Victoria Island and will welcome the Chairmen and Secretaries of the 44 Members of the NFF (Football Associations of all the 36 States and the FCT; the Leagues; Coaches Association; Referees Association and; the Players’ Union); Members of the NFF Executive Committee; invited dignitaries; NFF Management and Staff and; a number of other stakeholders. 

The General Assembly will consider a roadmap towards this year’s Elective Congress of the Nigeria Football Federation, as well as such items as may be proposed by the Members or Members of the Executive Committee.  

Scorer of the goal against Korea Republic in the Sunday’s match at the on going FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, Esther Onyenezide  has warned the rest of the teams that they haven’t seen nothing yet.

Her killer-punch curling shot was the difference between the hectic encounter of Nigeria and Korea Republic.

She was subsequently declared the player of the match.

She told the media after her prized nomination as the player of the match that the Falconets feared no team. “We are a giant in Africa and fear no other team.

“We’ve trained an unbelievable amount and if you look back at qualifying, then we’ve every right to be confident out here whenever we play.

“We want to show the world that we’re not just big in African terms but that we can beat any other team.” 

Britain Football Soccer – Chelsea v Liverpool – Premier League – Stamford Bridge – 16/9/16 General view of the Premier League trophy before the match

The Premier League celebrated its 30th anniversary on Monday, marking three decades that has seen English club football transformed into the world’s leading sports entertainment product.

In 1992, the top clubs broke with 104 years of tradition by splitting from the Football League and controversially creating a ‘super league’ which would keep its own income rather than sharing it with the clubs across all four divisions of the professional game.

The move only became a reality because it was backed by the governing Football Association — a decision that was viewed as a betrayal by many of the smaller teams — and by domestic television companies viewed with suspicion by sceptical fans.

Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Television then secured the rights and set about heavily promoting the league which since its inception has been driven by broadcast revenues.

The American style approach, evident in mimicking the NFL’s ‘Monday Night Football’, pushed the popularity of the national sport to new levels but at first some baulked at the razzmatazz.

“I don’t think we all realised quite what the Premier League was going to become 30 years ago,” said Teddy Sheringham who scored the first televised goal in the league for Nottingham Forest against Liverpool.

“It was a new thing and exciting times. There were dancing girls on a Monday night and it was all fan-dabby-dozy,” he added.

In time though, the TV income allowed clubs to attract top players from around the world which in turn drove interest abroad.

There were only 13 players from outside the British Isles on the opening weekend of the first Premier League season in 1992 but in the 30 years that followed players from 120 countries have featured in the league with 63 nationalities represented last season.

Now broadcast to 800 million homes in 188 countries with 90 broadcasters and more than 400 channels showing games, the Premier League and its clubs count almost a billion followers on social media.

This year, for the first time, the league will generate more revenue from foreign television deals than the established domestic market.

When all deals are concluded, the league expects foreign rights sales to generate 5.3 billion pounds ($6.40 billion) over the next three seasons with 5.1 billion raised from UK broadcasters.

BIG CITY DOMINANCE

While 50 clubs have featured in the league, unsurprisingly given its origins, the league has been increasingly dominated by the big city clubs.

There have only been seven clubs who have won the league with only Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City coming from outside of the major cities.

The early years were dominated by Manchester United who won seven of the first nine titles under Alex Ferguson in an era in which they enjoyed epic battles with Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal team — winners in 1998, 2002 and 2004.

Another London club, Chelsea, backed by Russian Roman Abramovich won back-to-back titles under Jose Mourinho in 2005 and 2006 before United returned to dominance with the likes of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Manchester City, under Pep Guardiola, have dominated in recent years, winning four of the last five titles, only interrupted by Liverpool in 2020 — their first title since the breakaway.

For all the talk of ‘marketing geniuses’, from Arsenal’s unbeaten ‘Invincibles’ season in 2003-4, to Sergio Aguero’s last minute title winning goal for Manchester City eight years later, it has been the drama on the field that has constantly pushed the growth in popularity.

“The league is full of compelling characters, whether it be the players or increasingly the managers. It constantly produces engaging storylines that capture the imagination of fans across the world,” says sports marketing expert Chris Cook of Fancurve.

“The Premier League created the ‘product’, or at least professionalised it and marketed it properly to a global audience, but the individual teams and players themselves are actually bigger brands than the Premier League as an entity.”

Will, however, England’s top flight remain the world’s most watched for the next 30 years?

Wenger believes the only threats to Premier League dominance would come from others following the example of 30 years and breaking away from established structures — such as last year’s attempt at a European Super League.

“Where is the threat? It’s the Super League. I was surprised that six (English) teams signed up,” he told Sky Sports.

“Maybe they could move a league to the States. That’s where the threat can come as well. If, one day, America is successful in football then it can be a problem for the league.”

Oleksandr Usyk v Anthony Joshua – WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight world title – Media Event – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – August 15, 2022 Anthony Joshua poses during the media event Action

A “re-invented” Anthony Joshua said he is well aware of Oleksandr Usyk’s tricks and knows what he must do to defeat the Ukrainian when they meet in their rematch in Jeddah on Aug. 20.

Usyk beat Joshua in front of a sell-out crowd at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September to take the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts.

The 32-year-old Briton, who now has a new trainer in American former super-featherweight world champion Robert Garcia, said he learned a lot from his first meeting with Usyk.

“I know what he’s going to do, I know what I’ve got to do,” Joshua told the BBC. “I’ve been in there before, I know his tricks. I’ve got to go change the narrative. I’m the author of my own movie.

“I took myself to the United States, worked with some new trainers. I just wanted to kind of revamp things. I’m going to be 33 in a couple of months. I want to try something new, I want to revamp myself, reinvent myself – let me bring in some new coaches.

“I’ve just got to go in there and do my job, no excuses. I’m a winner, I think I’m known as a winner. We’ve come into the game and just been winning ever since. There’s not really nothing else to know about me.”

Joshua previously lost the belts to Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019 before regaining them later that year