World football –ruling body, FIFA, has released appointments of officials for the Matchdays 3 and 4 of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying race (Africa series), with Egyptian top official Gehad Grisha and respected Gambian Papa Gassama to take charge of the two potentially –explosive encounters between Nigeria’s Super Eagles and the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon.
Grisha, full name Gehad Zaghloul Ibrahim Selim Grisha, has been designated to be at the centre for the big clash between the reigning African champions and the three –time African champions in Uyo on Friday, 1st September 2017, to be assisted by Redouane Achik (Moroccan, Assistant Referee 1), Waleed Ahmed Ali (Sudanese, Assistant Referee 2) and Mahmoud Zakaria Mohamed (Egyptian, Fourth Official). Former FIFA referee Felix Onias Tangawarima from Zimbabwe has been assigned as Referee Assessor, with Congolese Jean Médard Kossa as Match Commissioner. The match will start at 5pm Nigeria time at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium. For the return leg scheduled for the Stade Omnisports, Yaounde on Monday, 4th September 2017, Papa Bakary Gassama will be at the centre, to be assisted by Jean Claude Birumushahu (Burundian, Assistant Referee 1), Aden Marwa Range (Kenyan, Assistant Referee 2) and Maudo Jallo (Gambian, Fourth Official). Jerome Kelvyn Damon, a former FIFA referee from South Africa, will be Referee Assessor, while Sudanese Osama Ataaelmanan Hassan will be Match Commissioner. The match starts at 6pm Cameroon time.
John Obi Mikel is nothing if not optimistic when it comes to Nigeria’s hopes of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™. Although Africa’s third round of qualifying only reaches its halfway point at the end of this month and beginning of September, the Super Eagles captain believes a place at the global finals is within their grasp.
Group B, in which Nigeria are already four points clear of second-placed Cameroon and five ahead of Zambia and Algeria, certainly makes for pleasant reading. And though four tough games have still to be negotiated, Mikel is upbeat about their prospects of topping the table and claiming the section’s sole spot at Russia 2018. “We are in a very good position in our group,” the 30-year-old Tianjin Teda midfielder told FIFA.com. “We have two wins from two games, and in our last game we beat Algeria at home. We have a very good young team and the players play good football. If we can win our next match (at home to Cameroon on 31 August) it will edge us closer to qualification. I think we can go through.” For the former Chelsea star, the pressure to make it to Russia is immense. And as he explained, that is not simply due to the expectations of supporters in his football-mad homeland. “My wife is Russian,” he said, “and many of our relatives and friends are from Russia. They are all expecting Nigeria to qualify for the next World Cup. I think they will kill me if I fail them,” he added, laughing. Crunch ties For all his confidence, Mikel is under no illusions that the remainder of Nigeria’s campaign will be easy. Looming large, after all, are back-to-back meetings with reigning African champions Cameroon, who have drawn both their matches thus far. The Super Eagles captain knows that these meetings on 31 August and 4 September will go a long way towards deciding the group’s outcome. “As everyone knows, they are a very good team,” he said of Cameroon. “They are strong and they play with confidence. We must get ourselves well prepared for this game and try our best to get on top against them. It won’t be easy but these are important matches. If we win both, we will be almost there.” As might be expected given his role as captain, Mikel has figured prominently in Nigeria’s qualifying campaign thus far. Notably, he scored one and set up for another in their most recent triumph: a 3-1 win over Algeria in November. However, injury has kept him sidelined over recent months, causing concern for supporters of both club and country. Mikel, though, has vowed to do everything within his power to be fit for this vital upcoming double-header. “I had maintained good form until this injury,” he said. “So it was a shame. But this is part of the game and now I am focusing on recovery and on coming back stronger. I will do whatever I can to get fit to play for Teda and my national team. “This Nigeria team look up to me for advice. My team-mates miss me and they need me. As the captain, I want to fulfil my role and help them with my experience.” A distinguished career Mikel certainly has pedigree that few of his African peers can match. He broke on to the scene at the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup, when he helped Nigeria march all the way to the final, where they were edged out by a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina. In the senior ranks, he helped Nigeria to the 2013 African Cup of Nations title and, more recently, starred for the Super Eagles at Brazil 2014, where they reached the second round for the first time since 1998. At club level, he won just about everything on offer during a glittering 11-year spell with Chelsea, departing Stamford Bridge having claimed a UEFA Champions League title, two English Premier League crowns and four FA Cups. Such achievements, however, merely serve to whet his appetite for more. “I am glad with what I have done,” he said. “But at the same time, I am not satisfied. I want to achieve more, so I must push harder. The next World Cup in Russia will be a fresh chance for us but, first, we have to make it there. Then the next challenge will be to make sure we enjoy an even better tournament in Russia than we did in Brazil.”
Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr is hopeful goalkeeper Carl Ikeme, who has been diagnosed with acute leukaemia, will return for next year’s World Cup in Russia.
“It’s unfortunate that Carl Ikeme will be sick for a long time, we miss him, but hopefully he will come back for the World Cup,” Rohr said on Wednesday.
“So, for the moment we will work with the other goalkeepers.” The Wolverhampton Wanderers number one, who made his debut against Tanzania in 2015, played a key role in Nigeria’s 2-1 opening World Cup qualifier victory against Zambia in October last year. But in June the 31-year-old was diagnosed with acute leukaemia and immediately began treatment. Rohr said former national goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama will quit Lille when he has fully recovered from a knee injury. Enyeama was Ikeme’s predecessor in the Super Eagles before he quit international football two years ago after a major falling out. “He has to change clubs because his club has bought two new goalkeepers. It’s finished for him at Lille,” the Nigeria coach said. “Unfortunately, he is injured, he has had operation for cruciate ligament, he will be out for another two, three months before he comes back to play.” The Franco-German coach further said he will be happy to have the experienced Enyeama back in the Eagles. “If he is fit again, the door (to my team) is open for him,” he said. “We are in touch, we need the best players and the goalkeeper position is an important position,” he added.
Kane and Morata Morata, 24, joined champions Chelsea from Real Madrid last month for a reported fee of £58 million ($76.8 million, 64.7 million euros).
Pochettino spoke to Morata about a move to Spurs two years ago and said the Spain international was deterred by the presence of the prolific Kane at White Hart Lane. “Morata talked about myself, in the media he said: ‘Mauricio called me.’ That was two years ago or more,” Pochettino said, in comments published by several British newspapers on Wednesday. “He said to me: ‘Why do you want me if you have Harry Kane?'” Unlike their Premier League title rivals, Spurs are yet to make a significant close-season signing and the new campaign is just over a week away. Spurs have mounted stirring title challenges in both of the past two campaigns and Pochettino said the strength of his first XI was deterring potential new recruits. “You know, if you go to try to sign a striker, they will say: ‘Eh gaffer, you want me for what? To be on the bench?’ I can’t compete with Harry Kane or Hugo Lloris or different players,'” he said. “It’s so difficult to convince good players to come and then be on the bench. Then the problems start.”
Neymar’s potential world record move to Paris Saint-Germain moved a step closer on Wednesday as the Brazilian informed his Barcelona teammates he is leaving the club, a Barca spokesperson told AFP.
