Correspondingly, the reigning African Champions who rose to 5th in April 1994 ended the current year as the 43rd best national team in the world.
As unprecedented as Super Eagles collapse was, the women gave the country a lot to cheer. The country’s U-20 Women’s team, the Falconets went to Canada 2014 FIFA World Cup and surpassed all expectations. The young ladies guided by Peter Devdebo shot their way to the final of the tournament and lost 0-1 to Germany. Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala was a delight to watch as she deservedly carted home the Adidas Golden Boot and the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
CELEBRATION: Falconets celebrate after the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup match against New Zealand at Moncton in Moncton, Canada, Sunday night. Photo: FIFA.
FILE PHOTO: CELEBRATION: Falconets celebrate after the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup match against New Zealand at Moncton in Moncton, Canada. Photo: FIFA.
Similarly, the senior women’s team, the Super Falcons re-emerged as the most dominant force in the continent as Coach Edwin Okon led them to a record 7th African title in Namibia in October.
By their feat, the Falcons will lead Africa’s charge to the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada. Interestingly, Asisat Oshoala who dazzled at the U-20 level and won the MVP in Namibia with the Falcons, will return to Canada, the land that made her one of the future stars to watch in world football. Already, expectations are high that the African champions will not disappoint.
Nigeria’s heroics at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow deserves special mention. The country’s contingent posted a sterling performance with 11 gold, 11 silver and 14 bronze medals, totaling 36 medals. Blessing Okagbare was star of the Games, winning a sprint double, while up and coming junior athlete Ese Brume won gold in the women long jump.
Fresh from winning the Commonwealth Games sprint double just two weeks earlier, Okagbare showed no signs of tiredness at the African championships in Marrakesh, Morocco. Okagbare won the 100m in a championships record. This time, not only did she face double world silver medalist, Murielle Ahoure of Cote’ d Ivoire, she also had to contest with a stiff -1.4m/s headwind. She dealt with both, though, and came through strong at the end to win in 11.00, taking 0.03secs off the championship record she set when winning this title in 2010.
Nigeria also had an excellent outing at the 6th Commonwealth Taekwondo championships in Edinburgh. The country’s 16-man contingent won a total of 4 gold, 2 bronze medals to place 4th, the best ever finish by Nigeria. Nigeria Taekwondo Federation President, George Ashiru, who believes the feat in Edinburgh would help the country’s qualification for the 2016 Olympics, hopes that with more support from government and stakeholders would spur the team to greater heights.
“For us, 2014 was a watershed as we were able to attend a number of international tournaments while the domestic scene was equally active,” Ashiru recounted, adding that, “in terms of development, we took some giant strides as some of our coaches and referees attended international courses. Indeed, two of our referees were declared best referees at two separate international events in 2014. And that is no mean achievement.”
He also recalled that the year saw the discovery of young talents who will take over from the likes of Chika Chukwumerije. Some of them have already had international exposure. “With the strides recorded by Emmanuel Peters and Chika Chukwumerije, we know that it takes at least 8years grooming before an athlete can get to the medal range at the Olympics. We are happy that we have recorded incremental improvements after an overall assessment of our programmes.”
Table Tennis was another pace-setter in the year under review. With a vibrant leadership anchored by Enitan Oshodi, the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation ensured the ping pong players were busy all year round. They attended local and international championships. Above all the federation hosted major international tournaments in Lagos, including the Lagos Classics, the Lagos Opens, among others. Aruna Quadri rose from 237 in the world in February this year to 30 in November and now 31 according to the latest ITTF rankings.
