Nigeria defeats England 1-0 in U20 FIFA World Cup

England exited the U20 World Cup after a 1-0 defeat to Nigeria at the last-16 stage of the tournament in Colombia.

The result means Brian Eastick's side - deprived of 36 players from Premier League clubs - return home without having scored a single goal as the Young Lions' winless streak at the tournament was extended to 14 games.

An equally remarkable statistic is that England only conceded once over the past fortnight, Edafe Egbedi's close-range effort seven minutes into the second half at the Estadio Centenario proving decisive, reports Eurosport.

Despite Nigeria's favourites' tag - they headed into the game with a 100 per cent record and with a goal difference of plus-10 - England started the brighter.

But the African champions' quality came through in the second half, as Egbedi slotted home from Olarenwaju Kayode's cross and England's hopes of progressing were extinguished.

Nigeriawill now play France for a place in the semi-finals after Les Bleuets edged Ecuador 1-0, Antoine Griezmann getting the only goal of the game.

In other last-16 games, Brazil cruised past Saudi Arabia 3-0 to set up a mouth-watering quarter-final clash with Spain, who needed penalties to get past North Korea after 120 minutes of play failed to produce a goal.

This Day

Man Arrested for Beheading Housewife

A middle aged man (name withheld) has been arrested at Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State for the murder of a housewife, Mrs. Trust-ere College, who was beheaded, penultimate week, allegedly for ritual purposes.

The deceased was killed at her farm while she was fetching fire wood.

With the wounds on her face, it was learnt that she probably did not give in easily to her killer.

Luck, however, ran out of suspect, when he went to the Bomadi General Hospital, after allegedly committing the crime to treat the wounds he sustained in the struggle with the deceased, but was turned down by the officials, who suspected him because of the nature of the injury.

The bereaved husband was said to have raised alarm when he got to the farm and met the lifeless body of his wife, prompting the arrest of the suspect by a combined team of Joint Military Task Force, JTF.

A police source at the Bomadi Police Division, said it was a homicide case and that the matter had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Division, SCI D, Asaba for further investigations.

Vanguard

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Nigeria vs Ghana Friendly Rescheduled for October

Nigeria and Ghana have agreed to reschedule Tuesday's cancelled friendly match. The game is now expected to be played on October 11, subject to approval from The FA.

Match agent Jairo Pachon said players and officials from both countries were hugely disappointed at the cancellation of the game, and were willing to give it another go as soon as possible

"We spoke to Nigeria and Ghana, and both countries have agreed that if the FA gives their approval, then the game can be played in October," Pachon said.

"Watford has already agreed that the game can still take place at Vicarage Road."

Tuesday's highly anticipated match up had to be called off on the advise of the Hertfordshire Constabulary, who informed Watford that they could not effectively police the game in the wake of three days of violent looting which started in London, and is rapidly spreading to other parts of England.

Daily Independent

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Super Eagles Paid Upfront for Cancelled Ghana Friendly due to London Riots

The organisers of the Ghana versus Nigeria match have paid the Super Eagles an unspecified sum in appearance fees upfront before the game billed for Vicarage Road, London, was put off on Tuesday as result of the rioting which hit several cities across England.

The much anticipated 55th derby match between Nigeria and Ghana was sensationally called off on the eve of the match when Hertfordshire Constabulary council declared a force majeure about its inability to secure the match in the wake of the sustained clash in London between the rioters and police.

But news out of Ghana Tuesday night claimed that the organisers of the match, JV2, had paid both Nigeria and Ghana ahead, before the kick off of the friendly, and had admitted suffering huge losses arising from the cancelation.

Though there were reported instances of the absence of key players as result of injuries and hitches with travelling arrangements, players and officials of both Nigeria and Ghana were already on ground before the cancelation.

The friendly match has now been rescheduled for a date in October subject to the approval of the FA of England. The rescheduled match will now hold after the African Cup of Nations qualifying matches involving both Ghana and Nigeria.

The Ghanaians will host Swaziland in Accra in the first week of September, while Nigeria will visit Madagascar in Antananarivo across the Indian Ocean the same week.

According to reports, JV2 chief executive, Justin Addo incurred the losses after he paid the mandatory appearance fees to both sides. He will also find a way of making refund to the fans who had paid for the tickets of the match billed for the ground of Watford football club.

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Siasia Names Osaze Against Ghana

Nigeria vs Ghana friendly cancelled due to London riots

Super Eagles Head Coach, Samson Siasia, has expressed his disappointment at the cancellation of Tuesday's international friendly match against Ghana Black Stars.

The friendly was due to be hosted at Watford FC's Vicarage Road stadium, but the club was forced to call off the game on the advise of the Hertforshire Constabulary.

Siasia and his players were left to contemplate the effects

"We are very disappointed that the game has been called off.

"We were looking forward to playing this game, and the players were also very prepared and confident despite the fact that we didn't have a full house and we had just one training session.

"I also spoke to the NFF officials and they are also disappointed that this game did not hold.

"But there is nothing anybody can do. The police have the final authority and if they say they cannot guarantee our security, then we have to take it like that."

Organisers are working hard to reschedule the game, with November being looked at as a possible date for the fixture.

However, Siasia is not losing any sleep over midfielder Dickson Etuhu's decision to make himself unavailable for selection.

Etuhu was handed a late call up to join the squad following withdrawals by several players, but declined, saying he did not wish to be considered for selection under Samson Siasia.

Asked about the decision at the pre-match press conference, Siasia did not seem overly concerned.

"We all know we had problems with visas for some players. And he is here in London so we asked him to come and be part of this team.

"He said no. I dont know what issues he has but that will be dealt with later."

Etuhu is said to be unhappy at having been ignored since Siasia took over, but his decision will cause little heartache for Siasia, who has a surfeit of midfielders higher up the pecking order than the Fulham man.

John Mikel Obi and Joel Obi have both locked down the central midfield roles, with Kalu Uche, Fengor Ogude and Nosa Igiebor all pushing hard to dislodge them.

Daily Independent

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