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OPQT: We’ll bounce back from our loss – Coach Odauda
The head coach of the men’s senior national basketball team, Coach Ogoh Odauda, on Monday said his team would bounce back from their loss to Senegal at the ongoing FIBA Pre-Qualifying Tournament 2023.
The event holding at the Eko Hotel Convention Centre in Vicoria’s Island, Lagos, has Cameroon, Tunisia, Guinea and Mali competing for the sole available ticket.
Nigeria opened their campaign with a 93-87 loss to Senegal in a keenly contested match, which could have gone either way.
Odauda told newsmen at a press briefing after match that the loss would not affect the mentality or his team’s ability to bounce back in coming matches.
He said it was a game that did not quite go their way and that the team played very hard, but the day was not just theirs.
“We will go back to the drawing board and check the videos as well to see areas we have to work on,”Odauda said.
Head Coach of Senegal, Memadou Gueye, said he was very happy about the result, attributing the victory to the team’s strong mentality and determination to win.
“We are confident of getting good results in the coming matches, it’s a good start; we just have to keep the strong mentality and consistency,” Gueye said.
D’tigers playing infront of home fans won the first quarter 26:25 with star players Chimezie Metu, Uche Iroegbu leading the team’s onslaught.
However, Senegal came back stronger in the second quarter recording 46:44, rising to every challenge D’tigers threw at them, reponding with their solid power play.
The third quarter was a big battle between both teams as Senegal tried to dorminate D’tigers but lost the third quater, 68:67.
Senegal shockingly, went on the front foot in the final quarter by tacking the game beyond D’tigers in the final quarter to beat D’tigers for the first time in Nigeria.
Following are the results of Match Day 1 fixtures in the 2024/2025 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), played on Sunday and dates of the remaining fixtures:
Akwa United FC 1-1 Abia Warriors FC
Bayelsa United FC 1-1 Kano Pillars FC
Katsina United FC 1-1 Bendel Insurance FC
Niger Tornadoes FC 0-0 Nasarawa United FC
Shooting Stars FC 1-1 Plateau United FC
El Kanemi Warriors Vs Kwara United FC (postponed )
The following Match Day two fixtures
Would be played on Sept.
25:Ikorodu City FC Vs Enugu Rangers international FC
Enyimba international FC Vs Lobi stars FC .
(NAN)
Following are the results of remaining Match Day one fixtures played on Sunday in the 2024/2025 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL)Heartland FC 1-3 Enyimba international FCKwara United FC 1-2 Niger Tornadoes FCBendel Insurance FC 0-0 Rivers United FCPlateau United FC 1-0 Katsina United FCKano Pillars FC 3-0 Ikorodu City FCSunshine Stars FC 3-0 Bayelsa United FCAbia Warriors FC 0-2 Remo Stars FCNasarawa United FC 1-1 Shooting Stars FC.
(NAN)
The interim coach of the Super Eagles, Augustine Eguavoen, said his team can beat any team with the quality of players in the team.
Eguavoen stated this after his team spanked the Cheetahs of Benin Republic 4-0 in the 2025 African Cup Of Nations (AFCON) at the Godswill Akpabio stadium, Uyo, Akwa Ibom on Saturday.
“We have quality players to beat any team but we respect team anyway.
Any coach can come in and do the same job with the Super Eagles.“It is a mindset, we have the potential and how you perceived your opponent, given the information about them and then go out and do the job,“he said.
Equavoen attributed the victory to the formation adopted by the technical crew, adding that any formation could be used to ensure that the team was successful.
“We can decide to use any system. It is something we discussed and I slept over it. I know with the caliber of players that we have, we can decide to play any formation.
“Football is about you win, lose and draw, I don’t believe we have a poor result,” he said.
He, however, said that the former Super Eagles coach didn’t do a good job but it has to do with believe, what is at stake and what you want to achieve.
“Psychologically as a group, we are agreed, where we are and where we are going to be. We will definitely achieve it,” Equavoen said.
He commended the performance of the defence , describing it as superb, adding that the team had been training together for one week.
The coach said that asking six players to warm up for the second half was to buy time, adding that there was no need to rush to change.
He said the Cheetahs of Benin Republic were a good team, adding that they came with a good game plan.
Report says that Eguavoen was appointed interim coach after the deal between the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) and coach Bruno Labbadia failed.
NFF explained in a statement that it failed due to the stringent regulations of German tax authorities.(NAN)
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