Sports
BREAKING: 1985 U-17 Word Cup winning coach, Sebastian Broderick is dead
Sebastine Brodericks-Imasuen, who led the Golden Eaglets to win the inaugural U-17 World Cup in 1985 is dead.
The late Nigerian coach was on life support at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital for over a year.
Brodericks-Imasuen, 85, had been diagnosed with Ischemic stroke in December 2022 and had been receiving treatment before he took his last breath, our correspondent gathered.
Ischemic stroke occurs when a blood clot blocks or narrows an artery leading to the brain.
The blood clot often forms in arteries damaged by the buildup of plaques (atherosclerosis).
One of the players Brodericks-Imasuen trained at the 1989 U17 World Cup in Scotland, Bamidele Oguntuashe, first broke the news before another confirmation came from Harrison Jalla, the Chairman, of the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria Task Force through a WhatsApp post.
Jalla quoted family sources for the death of the iconic coach who had been bed-ridden for some months now.
He reportedly suffered from a stroke and diabetes.
The late coach was one of the football players who represented Nigeria at the Mexico Olympic Games in 1968 and famously scored from a free kick to win the then Challenge Cup for Bendel Insurance in 1972.
As a coach, he was the head of a three-man crew that included Bala Shamaki and Christian Chukwu when the Nigerian team shocked the world in China in 1985.
He led the team again in 1987 to Canada and got to the final before losing through a penalty shoot-out to the then-Soviet Union.
At the third attempt in the competition, his team lost to Saudi Arabia by a penalty kick in the quarter-finals.
At another time, he was the assistant to Clemens Westerhof in the Super Eagles.
He began his football career in 1956 when as a student, he featured for the Onitsha team in the Challenge Cup.
In 1962, he joined the then ECN and was part of the Challenge Cup winning side of 1965.
He was invited to the national team in 1962 but only became a regular in the build-up to the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico.
He was noted for his curving shots, especially from free-kick situations.
Popularly called ‘Sabara’, his biggest moment as a club player was when he scored the winning goal in the 3-2 victory for Bendel Insurance in the replay of the 1972 Challenge Cup with Mighty Jets of Jos at the Liberty Stadium – the first time the national cup final was held outside Lagos.
He later became a coach and handled the Midwest junior side to win a gold medal at the inaugural National Sports Festival in 1973.
Sports
Seven Eritrean players fail to return home after AFCON qualifier
Although the whereabouts of the missing players remain unclear, reports indicate that some may have been seen in South Africa. Among those who failed to return are goalkeeper Kubrom Solomon and veteran winger Medhanie Redie.
Seven players from the Eritrea national football team have failed to return home after their side secured a historic victory over Eswatini national football team.
A source close to the squad told the BBC on Monday that while part of the team travelled back via South Africa after the match, the seven players are believed to have absconded.
The development comes shortly after Eritrea’s 2–1 win in Eswatini, which secured a 4–1 aggregate victory and a return to the qualifying group stages of the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 19 years.
Sources said only 10 members of the 24-man squad were based in Eritrea, and just three of those players—including team captain Ablelom Teklezghi—have returned to the country.
Although the whereabouts of the missing players remain unclear, reports indicate that some may have been seen in South Africa. Among those who failed to return are goalkeeper Kubrom Solomon and veteran winger Medhanie Redie.
Sports
CAF confirms 16 teams for U-17 AFCON 2026
However, Nigeria is missing from the tournament for the second consecutive edition.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed the 16 countries that will compete at the 2026 Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The 16 teams set to feature at the tournament are :
Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire; DR Congo Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Morocco (hosts); Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.
The competition is scheduled to take place in Morocco from April 25 to May 15, 2026, and will also serve as Africa’s qualification route for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar.
With the global tournament expanding to 48 teams, the top 10 finishers at the AFCON finals will secure qualification.
However, Nigeria is missing from the tournament for the second consecutive edition.
Nigeria’s absence follows their elimination in the WAFU Zone B qualifiers, where the Golden Eaglets suffered a 2-0 semi-final defeat to Ghana in September 2025, ending their hopes of reaching the continental stage.
CAF’s qualification process is organised across six regional zones—UNAF, WAFU A, WAFU B, UNIFFAC, CECAFA, and COSAFA—with each region hosting its own tournament to determine representatives for the AFCON finals.
Sports
FIFA ranks Super Eagles third in Africa, 26th globally
Globally, France has reclaimed the number one spot after wins over Colombia and Brazil, overtaking Spain, which was held to a goalless draw by a ten-man Egypt. Argentina, England, Portugal, and Brazil round out the top six.
The world’s football body , FIFA, has ranked Nigeria’s Super Eagles third in Africa (behind Morocco and Senegal), and 26th globally.
In a post on FIFA’s website on Wednesday, the ranking reflects Nigeria’s strong performances in friendlies, including a 2‑1 win over Iran and a 2‑2 draw with Jordan, as well as their showing at the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year.
In the 2025 AFCON tournament, Nigeria won five matches against Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Mozambique, and Algeria, drew with Morocco in the semi-finals, and defeated Egypt in the third-place playoff.
Other nations saw minor adjustments in the rankings.
Iran slipped from 20th to 21st following consecutive defeats, while Jordan moved up to 63rd after draws with Nigeria and Costa Rica.
Globally, France has reclaimed the number one spot after wins over Colombia and Brazil, overtaking Spain, which was held to a goalless draw by a ten-man Egypt. Argentina, England, Portugal, and Brazil round out the top six.
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