Before the 2022 U-20 Women’s World Cup, many outside the shores of The Netherlands had not heard the name Nina Iyobosa Nijstad, and understandably so, as the 19-year-old was not a popular name in Europe’s women football.

Her talents are undeniable though, and Nijstad made The Netherlands team to the ongoing U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica.

However, there is another unique fact about the teenage defender outside of the pitch and away from Europe. And it lies in another continent entirely – Africa – precisely Nigeria.

Nijstad’s middle name ‘Iyobosa’ originates from the Edo region of Nigeria and means ‘God is my helper’. The left-back was born to a Nigerian father and a Dutch mum in The Netherlands, where she was also raised.

Her club career is well underway, with the youngster turning up for SC Heerenveen in the Women’s Eredivisie, having made her debut for the side on March 12, 2021.

Now, perhaps through sheer coincidence or fate, Njistad is set for a face-off against her father’s country Nigeria in the quarter-finals of the U-20 Women’s World Cup at the Estadio Alejandro stadium in Costa Rica .

With both countries chasing a first gold medal at the tournament, there is added incentive for an entertaining display and Njidstad could be handed the unwanted role of villain should The Netherlands sink Nigeria’s hopes.

aving started two games out of three for the Oranje side, the teenager has made the left-back role hers in the competition, hardly putting a foot wrong in defence and also testing opposition keepers on occasion when the team is in ascendancy.

As delightful as the Falconets have been in the competition, exiting the group stage with a perfect result of three wins from three, they however face a tough test when they come up against Nijstad’s side.

Victories over France, South Korea, and Canada secured maximum points and the top spot in Group C for coach Chris Danjuma Musa’s side and it is the first time Nigeria will win their opening three matches in ten appearances across twenty years at the World Cup.

The Dutch girls on the other hand finished as runners-up in Group D behind defending champions Japan. At the tournament, only Spain (eight) have scored more goals than the Oranje (seven).

And with the Falconets boasting one of the meanest defences at the World Cup, an intriguing contest is on the cards at the Alejandro stadium in a battle of the immovable object and the irresistible force.

On an individual note, the battle between Nijstad and Esther Onyenezide of the Falconets will be an interesting one as Onyenezide is the second highest goalscorer with three goals, one behind Spain’s Inma Gabarro.

Will Nijstad stop Onyenezide and the Falconets from progressing to the semi-finals or will Nigeria get another chance to win gold at the U-20 Women’s World Cup?

Coach Mike Brown reiterates that early camping will help the team in forestalling what happened in the last window

The national male basketball team D’Tigers ,will resume camp on Saturday, August 20 in Abidjan in preparation for window four of the 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifiers.

This is contained in a statement by Afolabi Oni, on behalf of the Media Committee of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) on Thursday.

He quoted the team’s head coach, Mike Brown, as saying this became necessary to address the slow start in the first two windows when the team lost to Cape Verde.

”Knowing the task ahead in its quest to qualify for the World Cup, the team needs to get more training under their belt before they face host- Cote d’Ivoire on Friday, at Palais des Sports Treichville.

“We are trying to get there earlier to see whether we can have a few more practices to see whether we can get ready to perform at a little higher level in game one.

”In the last window, things were put together at the last second and we went there right before the first game,” he said.

Brown added that he was optimistic that early preparations would make a difference when his players step on the court for their first game.

“Hopefully, with us getting there a little earlier, getting three or four practices under our belt, it will show a little bit of difference when it comes to playing the games”, Brown was quoted as saying.

The D’ Tigers currently fourth on the table, will play its opener against host- Cote d’Ivoire on August 26.

They will afterward face Guinea a day after before squaring up against Angola on August 28.

The 2023 World Cup is billed to hold from August 25 to September 10, 2023, in Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Aribo was the only Super Eagles player to claim all three points in Saturday’s EPL matches

e Aribo will understandably be happier among the Super Eagles stars in action in the Premier League on Saturday.

Despite not scoring for Southampton in their clash away against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium, Aribo was on the winning side, unlike his compatriots who either recorded draws or who suffered defeats in Saturday’s games.

Aribo, who returned to the Saints starting lineup, was in action for 88 minutes before making way for Lyanco after being booked for a foul moments earlier.

According to Opta, the Southampton starting lineup which Aribo was part of is the youngest they have ever fielded in their Premier League history at an average of 23 years 238 days.

At the end, the former Rangers star smiled away with all three points in the kitty as Southampton picked a vital 2-1 win over Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City-their first this season.

The Nigerian duo of Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho were both in action for the Foxes, with the former starting the game and the latter coming in as a 76th-minute substitute.

Without the dropped Wesley Fofana, Leicester threw away the lead to lose 2-1 at home to Southampton as their tough start to the season continued.

Che Adams came off the bench to score for the visitors in the 68th and 84th minutes, effectively propelling Southampton to their first win of the season on the third attempt.

Elsewhere at Goodison Park, Alex Iwobi and Taiwo Awoniyi were on opposing ends for Everton and Nottingham Forest, respectively.

At the end of 90 minutes, they shared the spoils as the tie ended in a 1-1 draw.

Interestingly, it was the away side that drew the first blood through Brennan Johnson nine minutes to full time, but Demarai Gray rescued the Toffees with an equaliser in the closing stages of the encounter.

Iwobi played for 90 minutes and was booked in the 35th minute. Awoniyi only played for 61 minutes while manager Steve Cooper did not use the new signing Emmanuel Dennis off the bench.

Unfortunately, Iwobi missed a glorious chance to win it for the Toffees, but his effort two minutes to full time saw the ball nestle at the roof of the net.

With this development, Frank Lampard and his men have just one point from three games; representing their worst start to the season since 2010, when they also had just one point in their first three games of the season.

In the other Saturday games, Fulham beat Frank Onyeka’s Brentford 3-2 while Ebere Eze was a happy man as Crystal Palace thumped Aston Villa 3-1.

Harry Kane, for the umpteenth time, was the hero for Tottenham Hotspur as the English striker scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton.

Collins suffered a ligament injury during Cardiff EFL game against West Brom ladt Wednesday

Super Eagles and Cardiff City defender Jamilu Collins has been ruled out for the rest of the season due to injury.

Collins, 28, suffered a cruciate ligament injury during Cardiff’s goalless draw with Semi Ajayi’s West Brom on Wednesday.

The Nigeria international suffered the injury while trying to deny Darnell Furlong before his knee twisted as a result of his “stud getting caught in the turf.”

The left-back played for nine minutes during the clash before he was assisted off the pitch.

According to Collins’ manager, Steve Morrison, “We won’t see him again until next season. It is gutting for the lad, really gutting.”

‘It’s the worst-case scenario. We will try and get him back for pre-season next year. One thing we do know is we will have one hell of a left-back next season.”

Collins, who just joined the Bluebirds this season from German Bundesliga 2 outfit Paderborn, was described as the best left-footed defender by Morrison.

He also added that the Nigerian is not alone in the city as his family have reunited with him in Cardiff.

“On a plus-point for him, his family has just moved over and he has his family with him now. The lads will get behind him, he will be around. I’m sure you’ll see his smiling face around the place. We have something else to fight for now.

“He is a great kid, he comes in with a smile on his face every day. He loved working every day with us and we loved working with him. He is someone you want around. He is infectious. As soon as he has his operation and he’s a bit more mobile he will be around the lads.”

Nigeria earned a semi-final ticket in 2014 but have fallen short in subsequent tournaments

The Super Falconets will face the Netherlands in the quarter-final stage of the FIFA Women U-20 World Cup at the Estadio Alajuela Morera Soto in the late hours of Sunday, the first time the two countries will meet at this tournament.

The Falconets last earned a semi-final ticket in 2014. Ever since then, they have failed to exceed the quarterfinals in both the 2016 and 2018 editions.

The Netherlands defeated the likes of the United States and Ghana and will pose a different challenge to the Falconets who seek to win the World Cup for the first time in Costa Rica.

According to Coach Chris Danjuma, the Dutch side won’t be underrated.

“The Dutch are a super-strong squad to have survived that group where the Americans were sent packing. In any event, any team in the quarter-finals must be a super-strong squad. We will not under-rate them, just as we did not under-rate any of France, Korea Republic, and Canada.

“As I said at the beginning of the tournament, we are taking it one match at a time. Our overall plan for each of the games in the group phase worked well. And I believe that our overall plan for the match against The Netherlands will work as well,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Esther Onyenezide, who has scored three goals to stand as the highest goalscorer of the team believes the Netherlands will fall like France.

“We are going to bring out our best. We will double our effort against the Netherlands. We doubled our efforts against France and Korea, but we are going to add more because this is a stage where we have to execute everything we have been learning.

“The next stage is the semi final, and we aren’t in a hurry to leave the tournament.”

Esther Onyenezide, with NFF’s Director of Competitions Ruth David, when she was again selected Woman of the Match in the Nigeria Vs Canada encounter. She was also Woman of the Match in the Nigeria Vs Korea Republic match.

Highly –inspired Falconets of Nigeria are determined to proceed further at the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup finals in Costa Rica and see The Netherlands as simply another mountain to climb to get closer to the diadem.

The Dutch, who emerged from a tough Group D that included United States of America and Japan, eliminating the Americans in the process, would not be a walk in the park for Chris Musa’s girls, but the two-time runners-up say they are aware of this 

“The Dutch are a super-strong squad to have survived that group where the Americans were sent packing. In any event, any team in the quarter-finals must be a super-strong squad. We will not under-rate them, just as we did not under-rate any of France, Korea Republic and Canada.

“As I said at the beginning of the tournament, we are taking it one match at a time. Our overall plan for each of the games in the group phase worked well. And I believe that our overall plan for the match against The Netherlands will work as well,” Chris Musa said on Saturday.

An explosive encounter is anticipated at the Estadio Alajuela Morera Soto (same venue where the Falconets brought down the challenges of Korea Republic and Canada) as from 11.30pm Nigeria time on Sunday.

In the 20 –year history of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup, Nigeria have played in the Championship Match twice, losing on both occasions to Germany, in Germany 12 years ago and in Canada eight years ago. In-between, they reached the semi finals in Japan 10 years ago.

Midfield powerhouse Esther Onyenezide, with three goals in the tournament, is expected to again be the driving force of the Nigeria game going forward, with pacy Flourish Sabastine and Blessing Okpe likely to start as the Falconets seek early goals, while workhorse Mercy Idoko and the duo of Deborah Abiodun and Bashirat Amoo would hold things tight in the middle.

Goalkeeper Omini Oyono is expected to be at her best as she is protected by captain Oluwatosin Demehin, Jumoke Alani, Omowumi Oshobukola and Rofiat Imuran.

Anthony Joshua in tears…

An emotional Anthony Joshua fought back tears as he reflected on his second straight loss to Oleksandr Usyk in Jeddah on Saturday, saying he was deeply “upset” with his performance against the Ukrainian heavyweight champion.

Usyk retained his WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight titles with a split-decision victory over Britain’s Joshua, who fared better in the rematch but proved unable to dethrone the champion in an absorbing 12-round contest.

“It’s really, really hard for me to say I’m proud of myself. I’m upset, really, deep down in my heart,” Joshua told reporters.

“I tried a different style … in the last fight I wanted to compete as a boxer, but it wasn’t good enough, and tonight wasn’t good enough.”

Joshua threw down two of Usyk’s belts after the final bell before storming out of the ring, only to return later and deliver an impassioned speech.

“When you try and do things from your heart, not everyone is going to understand,” explained Joshua. “It was just from the heart. I knew I was mad at myself. Not at anyone, just myself. I was like I got to get out here because I’m mad.

“When you’re angry you might do stupid things. Then I realised this is sport. I came back and did the right thing.”

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn dismissed speculation that retirement may be around the corner for the 32-year-old, who has only fought Usyk since last year

“I’m a fighter for life. That hunger never dies. Fighter for life,” Joshua said.