FIBA: Nigeria U-16 lose to Mali in final

Nigeria's U-16 women’s basketball team were beaten 57-46 by three-time champions Mali in the 2015 FIBA Africa Women U-16 Championship in Madagascar.

The Nigerian went into the final after edging Mozambique 54-51 in the semi final on Saturday.

However, both Nigeria and Mali will represent Africa at the 2017 FIBA Under-17 World Championship.

In the classification games played on Sunday, Angola beat Mozambique 52-48 to claim third spot; hosts Madagascar beat Tunisia 64-57 to win fifth place; while Egypt beat Morocco 61-46 to finish seventh.

AFCON 2015: Ivory Coast land in Quarter finals, Guinea and Mali left hanging

Google Image: CIV

It was indeed a display of best of African football artistry, as ''Power'' houses Cameroon and Ivory Coast did battle on wednesday while Guinea and Mali also trade tackles to decided who goes through to the knock out stage of the on-going African cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.

Ivory Coast and Cameroon had it tough and quite rough as the Elephant trampled on the Lions the battle securing a lone goal victory enough to see them through to the qaurter finals of the competition. It was Max Gradel's 35th minutes strike that sent Cameroon packing from Malabo.

In the other fixture between Guinea and Mali, it was all-square as they finished one goal appease, tied on points on the table and hang their fate of progression in luck.

CAF has announced that the winner will be decided later today when the Lots will be drawn using Article 74 of Afcon Regulations.

Let's see who gets favoured as the quarter finals commence on Saturday.

AFCON 2015: From The Stance of A Nigerian

By Amos Joseph

Having to watch the Africa Cup of Nation which kicks off 17 January and ends February 8 without seeing the current Champions is a bit hard, but, really as a football lover, you don't want to miss a single game as every match will have its own share of thrills and action.

This is not an attempt to remind you that Nigeria failed to qualify, it is simply to keep you abreast of the AFCON schedule even if you have to cope with the fact that ''Nigeria'' will not be playing a single game.

A little digression. Imagine if Spain had not participated in the last world cup being the defending champions, what would the world have said? They would have been missed of course. But am sure they would have preferred not to have been a part of that tourney. We saw the outcome! Beaten and knocked out early enough, they didn't even go far in the Brazil 2014.

Now, from a Nigerian perspective and for the sake of good football, what can we make of this AFCON without the Super Eagles? Can one say that the team which struggled with the likes of Sudan, South Africa and Congo be missed at the African stage?

One cannot take away the follower-ship and glamour Nigerian football fan would bring to the event, but the tournament will still have its gloss as said by the CAF President Issa Hayatou 

''The whole of Africa will miss Nigeria in Equatorial Guinea. But the absence will not in any way diminish your stature as a very big and influential nation in the African game, Hayatou said in a statement to the Nigeria Football Federation.

“It would have been good to have the defending champions in Equatorial Guinea. Nigeria brings so much value to the Africa Cup of Nations.

“However, we know that you will come back much stronger, as you did in winning the cup in South Africa last year after missing out on the 2012 championship.”

Also for the sake of football and its development, the AFCON was moved to Equatorial Guinea after original host Morocco pulled out due to reason relating to Ebola outbreak.

The Oil-rich nation will host the games in four venues: the capital city Malabo on an island off the mainland; the biggest city Bata; and Mongomo and Ebebiyin on the eastern border with Gabon.

Equatorial Guinea Burkina Faso, Gabon and Congo are in Group A

Group B: Zambia, Tunisia, Cape Verde, DR Congo

Group C: Ghana, Algeria, South Africa and Senegal

Group D: Cote d'voire, Mali, Cameroun, Guinea

From the stance of a Nigerian, a football lover and a writer: let the better side win.

Friendly: Nigeria Super Eagles to play Ivory Coast and Mali

The Nigeria Football Federation has confirmed that the Senior national team will take on Ivory coast and Mali during the FIFA free days next year.

Google Image: Nigeria vs Cote d'voire

According to report on Vanguard, the NFF General Secretary said the Eagles will also be engages during the period despite not qualifying for AFCON.

 

''We are working round the clock to make sure that the Super Eagles will have opponents for all the FIFA windows available in year 2015, and we are happy that the two games with the Ivorians and the Malians are sealed.

 

''The Elephants and the Les Aiglons are on their way to the 30th Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea, so they are sure to give our team good games.''

 

Already, Assistant Coach Daniel Amokachi has drawn a list of 24 players who will do battle for shirts for the two matches.

Afcon 2015: Nigeria miss out, see countries that made it through

Title holders Nigeria will not be at Equatorial Guinea to defend the title they won last year, thanks to a 2-2 draw the west Africa played against South Africa in Uyo on Wednesday evening.

The African champions finished 3rd place in Group A with 8points, two points behind Congo who pip Sudan 1-0 to secure an automatic slot after Bafana Bafana maintained their lead as winner of the group with 12points.

Here are the teams that made it through:
Equatorial Guinea (hosts), Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Zambia

Good luck to them all, name your favourites for the title.