Jamilu Collins is excited to make a positive start to life at Sky Bet Championship club Cardiff City

Collins was named Man of the Match following Saturday’s 1-0 home win against Norwich City.

The left-back linked up with the Birds on a free transfer this summer after severing ties with Bundesliga 2 club SC Paderborn.

“It was a dream debut to have in front of these amazing fans,” JC as he is called by the fans told the club’s official website. 

“It’s nothing small to get a win in front of them, so it’s really beautiful to have won today.

“We stuck to the tactics that we were told to follow, and went with it as the intensity changed. However it came, we dealt with it.”

Collins ontinued: “I’m enjoying my time here so far. I know that it’s a big club with ambition, and we’re putting in some good work. From the my first day here I’ve felt accepted by the guys, and now we’re working together every day.”

The Super Eagles of Nigeria’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Guinea-Bissau have been postponed till next year.

This was confirmed by Confederation of Africa Football’s (CAF) Executive Committee in a statement released on Sunday.

The double header between the Eagles and Guinea-Bissau as well as other qualifiers involving other countries for the 2023 AFCON was billed for September this year.

The double header fixtures will now come up in March 2023.

According to the Executive Committee, the reason for the postponement is to allow the five African countries that will represent the continent at the Qatar World Cup to prepare well.

The statement read:”The Confederation of African Football (“CAF”)_ Executive Committee has approved a revised TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 revised qualification calendar.

“This was necessitated by the Executive Committee’s commitment to make room for the African nations that have qualified for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in November/ December 2022 to prepare adequately.

“Consequently, the September 2022 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire match day three and match day four qualifiers have been moved to 20-28 March 2023. 

“Match day five will now be on 12-20 June 2023 while match day six will be played on 4-12 September 2023.”

The Eagles top Group A in the AFCON qualifiers after recording two wins out of two games played.

Umoafia Joseph has won Nigeria’s second medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The 18-year-old clinched bronze in the men’s 67kg weightlifting event on Sunday.

In the snatch category, he scored no lift in his first two attempts but his final haul of 130kg pushed him ahead in the log.

In the clean and jerk category, his first lift of 150kg was bettered his third attempt of 160kg, which overrode his second lift mistake.

Lalrinnunga Jeremy of India took the gold medal with a combined lift of 300kg which is the game’s record. Vaipava Ioane of Samoa finished with the silver medal.

Umoafia’s bronze is Nigeria’s second medal at the games after Olarinoye Adijat had won gold in the women’s 55kg weightlifting event.

In table tennis, Nigeria’s men’s team progressed into the semi-final after a 3-2 defeat of Malaysia in the quarter-final.

The Nigerian contingent came from behind to defeat the Asians after the duo of Bode Abiodun and Olajide Omotayo lost the first game 3-1.

Aruna Quadri levelled the match with a 3-1 victory over Mas Leong before Abiodun lost to Mas Wong in the third game.

However, Quadri and Omotayo scored identical 3-1 victories over their opponents in the fourth and fifth games to book a place in the last four.

The semi-final is billed for Monday at 7 pm.

Nigerian defender Calvin Bassey did not have the most auspicious of starts for Ajax as he was sent off in the 3-5 defeat to PSV during the Johan Cruijff Shield game on Saturday.

Bassey moved to the Dutch side from Glasgow Rangers in a record £18.7m transfer fee to end his stay at Ibrox becoming the most expensive Nigerian defender in history.

The 24-year-old came on for his debut in the 62nd minute to replace left-back Owen Wijndal who assisted Steven Bergwijn to score on his debut against his former side for the opening goal.

16 minutes following his introduction into the match, he was handed his marching orders in the 78th minute for a poor challenge on Moroccan midfielder Ismael Saibari leaving his team in the lurch with the score at 4-2 to PSV.

Following his red card, Mohammed Kudus pulled one back for the Dutch champions to give Ajax fans a glimmer of hope.

However, Ajax would eventually fall to the numbers as teenage sensation Xavi Simons also making his debut scored the fifth for PSV in the 91st minute to put the game beyond doubt and hep PSV win the first silverware of the 2022/23 season.

It would be a day where the new signings would write story as another debutant, attacking midfielder Guus Til scored a hat-trick for PSV in one of the best debut performances ever announcing himself to the fans as their new hero.

Calvin Bassey would want to quickly put the error behind him and prove to the Ajax boardroom and staff that the investment made in him was a worthy one.

L-R) Silver medallist, Vaipava Loane of Team Samoa, Jeremey Lalrinnunga of India, the gold medallist and Nigeria’s Edidiong Umofia of Nigeria who won the bronze medal

Nigeria has gotten yet another podium finish as Edidiong Joseph Umoafia wins bronze medal in men’s 67kg weightlifting. This is Nigeria’s second medal in weightlifting and overall at the games following Olarinoye’s earlier gold medal in the women’s event.

But India seems to be in lead in weightlifting as Jeremy Lalrinnunga claimed the country’s  fifth Weightlifting medal of Birmingham 2022 with gold in the men’s 67kg, breaking two Games records on his way to victory.

The 19-year-old, who also won the Commonwealth Championship title in the same weight in Tashkent last year, lifted a record 140kg in the snatch before a further 160kg in the clean and jerk to set a Commonwealth target of 300kg.

Glasgow 2014 bronze medallist Vaipava Ioane of Samoa secured silver after lifting a Games record 166kg in the clean and jerk

When the track and field events begin at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, the Nigerian athletes will be putting on new attires.

According to a media release, the boss of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) Tonobock Okowa remarked that the unveiling of the attire will see a new era in Nigeria athletics.

The AFN is ready to deliver yet again like we did from the Olympics last year when we ended a 13 year wait for a podium finish”

Continuing, he said: ‘From the World indoor championships where we ended a 14-year wait for a medal to the World outdoor championships in Oregon,USA where we produced not just a world champion for the first time in our history but also a world record holder,’

Okowa remarked that he believed getting the athletes to compete in good kits will also spur them to excel.

Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo will return to the squad for their final pre-season friendly against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday, manager Erik ten Hag said.

Ronaldo’s future at United has been the subject of speculation after British media reported he told the club he wanted to leave so he can play in the Champions League. United will compete in the second-tier Europa League this term.

The Portugal international, who has a year left on his United deal, did not join the squad for their pre-season tour to Thailand and Australia and was not included in the squad for Saturday’s 1-0 friendly defeat to Atletico Madrid in Oslo.

“Tomorrow he will be in the squad. We’ll see how long he can play,” Ten Hag told the club website after Ronaldo posted a photo from training on Instagram.

If Ronaldo plays on Sunday, it would be his first match under new boss Ten Hag.

The absence of long commutes will ensure players will have more time to train and rest during the competition

IFA on Tuesday said 24 of the 32 teams at the football World Cup in Qatar will have their base camps within a 10-kilometre radius in and around Doha.

The world ruling body said that due to the compact nature of the 21November to 18 December tournament, no domestic flights to matches were needed by the teams.

“Players will have more time to train and rest during the competition while being able to experience the excitement that will take over the country at much closer quarters, as fellow players and passionate fans from all 32 nations will be gathering in a single area,” Colin Smith, FIFA’s World Cup chief operating officer, said.

Among the teams that are based a little further away from the country’s capital city are four-time champions Germany, Belgium, and Saudi Arabia.

FIFA also said it would alongside local organisers be implementing “an unprecedented due diligence process to protect the rights and well-being of workers at a total of 159 hotels.

This will include all of those that will host participating teams and it will be in cooperation with trade unions, independent monitors, and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Qatar has been criticised for its treatment of migrant workers, but officials have said that progress has been made.

However, rights groups insist that more efforts are needed.