RandaFooty: Everything Nigerian football, home and abroad

Brendan Ogbu was the hero of the day as his goal late into added time   ensure Heartland Fc of Owerri     retained their trophy. The final held   at the Teslim Balogu Stadium in Lagos came alive as early as the  5 th   minute when Ezekiel Bassey scored to give Lobi Stars the lead, they continued to create chances and were in the ascendancy as the game   progressed. Heartland hit back in the  37th minute through Jolly Osas.   The game swung from end to end as the teams took the game to each   other,  Tony Okpotu was full...

A rundown of selected performances by Nigerians across the globe, goals & highlights England Mikel Obi was once again in the thick of things as Chelsea ran out 2-0 winners against Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge courtesy an Eden Hazard penalty kick and  Fernando Torres strike. New boy Victor Moses was introduced to the Stamford Bridge faithful before the game.Victor Anichebe was an used sub in Everton''s 3-1 away win at Aston Villa. Down the ladder, Super Eagles one time invitee   Carl Ikeme (pic: fm-base.co.uk) Carl Ikeme continued between the sticks for Wolves as they continued life in the Npower Championship, he posted a good performance as they drew 1-1 with Derby County. Kelvin Etuhu was on from the start for Barnsley who were trashed 5-1 by Brighton & Hove Albion. Dan Shittu was an unused sub for Millwall who lost 3-2 to Sheffield Wednesday. Kayode Odejayi scored for Rotherham in a 1-1 draw with Chsterfield Turkey Super Eagles captain Joseph Yobo w...

The clamor for more Nigerian born players to be co-opted into the Super Eagles set up reached a crescendo when Ghana and Senegal successfully adopted foreign born players into their squads which yielded tremendous results and improvement in the overall quality of their play. 9jafooty.blogspot.com combed Europe and other parts of the world for players with Nigerian blood who are eligible for any of our national teams. The list contains players who are either born in Nigeria, but bred abroad or have a Nigerian parent. In a four part special, 9jafooty.blogspot.com brings you some of the talented Nigerian-born players abroad who can do the business for Nigeria at different levels. BERNIE IBINI-ISIE Bernie Ibini-Isie (pix courtesy ccm.au) (Born 12 September 1992, to Nigerian parents, in  Rivers State, Nigeria ). He emigrated to Australia with his parents when he was a kid. He grew up in the suburbs of We...

How i would line the team up. a 4-3-3 system with Kabiru Umar just behind Chikeluba Ofoedu and Sibi Gwar I haven't watched all the games, but from the what i have seen this season and reports from NPL bloggers and journos alike, i have drawn my NPL All Star team for the current campaign, bar any outstanding performance from any other player, this might be my team of the season, but hey, i could be wrong, let me know what you think and come up with yours so we can have a clean banter

  1. We are a work in progress, in fact we are just starting, we have a long way to go. The team needs a bit more tinkering, from the defence down to the attack. 2. John Utaka is not a winger, once again, Keshi decided to tow the line of various coaches, John has and will always be a central striker, that's how he started at UNTH and Ismaili, yes , he is versatile, but his best can only be gotten through the middle. 3. Steven Keshi is the ''boss'', yes i dare say, since Clemence Westerhof nobody,i repeat nobody has had the guts to play a decent amount of home based professionals in a competitive game, he must be supported by Nigerians. 4. There are no more small teams in Africa nay the world, yes, you must have heard such a cliche before, but it just became more apparent during the game, we need to push more and burn the grass more, no guts no glory. 5. Ahmed Musa is an impact player for now, playing him from the start won't play to his strengths, maybe lat...

Last weekend, 9jafooty had an open twitter interview with Ike ThankGod of Warri Wolves, Nigerian premeir league fans sent in their questions and he answered via our handle,   here is the link Ike's twitterview

It is fair to say that the use of Twitter has revolutionised different aspects of football. It has made an impersonal game a more interactive one. Fans can now see the thoughts and feelings of players before big games. They can ask their favourite players questions and cross their fingers for a reply, and every now and then, they might get one. Every now and then we will get footballers genuine unmediated thoughts on a controversial refereeing decision or talking point. Ryan Babel’s picture of Howard Webb in a Manchester United shirt and Ryan Taylor’s claims that Ashley Young is the biggest cheat in the league stand out. Twitter offers us a unique insight to the world of football. An insight that cannot be accessed looking at the back of tabloid newspapers, so much so that newspapers have now begun reporting Twitter arguments as news. Joey Barton inane ramblings are a perfect example of that. However, the emergence of Twitter and increased social media has also given th...