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Nigerian Rookie Shines in Major League Soccer Debut for Toronto FC, Scores Winning Goal

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Achara - Nigerian Soccer Player

I’m going to guess you have no idea who Ifunanyachi Achara is and have no idea he even plays football, or as Americans like to call it, soccer.

Don’t fret. Most people don’t.

The Nigerian born footballer earlier this month became an instant success with the Toronto FC of Major League Soccer (MLS), the United States professional soccer league when he helped his team to a 1-0 victory over the NYCFC in his debut match for the team.

Achara, as he is known to his legion of fans in Canada and United States, scored twice in the 11th and 81st minutes, but the first goal was ruled offside by the referee.

“I was happy, excited to just get out there,” Achara said after the match. “Soccer is awesome, I just love playing it. It gives me confidence.”

Achara - Nigerian Soccer PlayerIfunanyachi is not new to soccer. He captained the Georgetown University team that won the 2019 NCAA Championship and was picked 25th in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft by Toronto. He signed a contract barely two weeks before making his debut this month.

“It means everything,” Achara said of his signing a contract. “I’ve been working all my life for this, so having made the team it’s amazing. I was drafted and it was awesome, but then coming in, knowing I’m part of the team, that’s incredible. I’m so excited.”

Greg Vanney, Toronto FC’s coach said Achara is a confident player, a smart kid with the ability to make a difference in a game.

“Achara stands out as a guy who has come from the college scene and fits. His skill set fits into our group, his confidence, the way he plays the game and the speed at which he plays really suits us. He’s a smart kid, picks up things tactically very quickly. Even within games, when we adapt he picks things up quickly. He’s got a nice maturity level.”

Coach Vanney said he was not surprised Achara adjusted as quickly as he did.

“I don’t know if ‘a surprise’ is right. We were optimistic that he was a kid with high talent that just had a couple unfortunate injuries in college. He’s shown that he is that talented young man that we were hoping for; he’s been really interesting.”

But Achara gave the credit for his quick success to the coaches and his teammates.

“Like I said talking to the team, I felt welcome the first time I walked in. The guys were really nice, I felt at home. It took away some of the pressure, that I need to prove myself and all that.”

“They made me feel like I’m a good player,” he continued. “And being around so many good players made me so much better. This month has been really difficult, working hard and being sick, missing Florida, but then coming in and having the impact that I did was awesome.”

Speaking of his teammates that made the strongest impression on him, he singled out U.S. international, Jozy Altidore.

“I’ve looked up to Jozy all my life. I watched him so many times with the [US] National Team. Being on the same team with him, that’s like, ‘wow.’”

“In practice, when I make good plays, he gives me compliments; tells me what to do. He said not to be afraid to talk to him, gave me a lot of advice,” he continued. “Also Richie (teammate Richie Laryea) was awesome. The first day he talked me through it because he was also drafted, told about his experience at Orlando and then Toronto.”

“What I have to say is tonight he was fantastic,” manager Greg Vanney said. “He has been fantastic since the day he arrived in preseason in LA. From the day he arrived he showed that he fits in, that he’s talented, that he’s a smart player. That he can adapt within the game. He can read plays. He can play on the move.

“As we saw tonight, he has soft feet even when he is playing on the run and he’s got a nose for the goal. He scored twice tonight, really. He has scored in just about every preseason game leading up to the season. He is a wide player that can do all the things we need him to do. He had quite a night…He came to the US when he was 15 years old from Nigeria. You can tell he is a man, and he understands what life is about and he shows that on the field.”

Achara - Nigerian Soccer Player with fellow track stars at Berkshire School

Achara with fellow 4×400 track stars at Berkshire School




Achara wasn’t always a footballer though. At Berkshire School in Massachusetts, he was a track star, representing the school in 4×400 relays in many competitions.

Ironically, Achara wasn’t supposed to be making his debut earlier this month. He only got his chance when his teammate Tsubasa Endoh suffered a knee injury and was not available to play.

Born to Nigerian parents who are storekeepers in Enugu, 22-year-old Achara joined United States youth international of Nigerian descent Ayo Akinola on the Toronto FC roster.

Entertainment & Fashion

Victor Osimhen: Napoli Celebrates ‘Striker with No Limits’

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Victor Osimhen, Nigerian and Napoli striker

The city of Napoli, Italy, this week celebrated a rare feat: winning the Italian soccer title. And no player has done more to make that possible that Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen.

Osimhen is being celebrated as the “striker with no limits.”

Back in 1990, Gli Azzurri’s top scorer was Diego Armando Maradona and he could only manage 16 goals in 28 Serie A appearances. That was good for third in the league that year.

Today Osimhen who plays his games in the stadium named after the highly revered Maradona shattered that record scoring 22 goals in 27 games including the strike that won the title for Napoli in a 1-1 tie with Udinese.

Osimhen currently leads all Serie A scorers, three ahead of his closest rival Lautaro Martinez of Inter Milan.

“Osimhen has really grown to be this leader that they need on the pitch,” Italian football journalist Mina Razouki told BBC Radio 5 live.

“He doesn’t give up. His performances have been ridiculous. Right now, the team are dependent on him.

“On a technical level, he’s always been brilliant. And we’re starting to see the consistency that he provides right now. Certainly, he’s got to be one of the top five strikers in the world.”

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Victor Osimhen, Nigerian and Napoli striker


 

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Family & Relationships

French Doctors Call for Africans to Be Used as Coronavirus Guinea Pigs

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Drogba and Eto'o

Two French doctors are advocating for Africans to be used as guinea pigs by Western drug manufacturers looking for a way to test their coronavirus drugs.

The doctors said such COVID-19 drug tests should not be conducted on Europeans, instead should be done on Africans because “there’s poverty and other things over there, there are things we can experiment.”

Professors Camille Locht of Inserm, the French national medical research center, and Jean-Paul Mira of Cochin Hospital in Paris, were debating on French television last week when Jean-Paul Mira suggested that COVID-19 studies should be conducted on Africans, rather than Europeans.

Mira also compared testing potential coronavirus vaccines on African populations to AIDS studies being carried out on prostitutes who he said are typically more exposed to infections and diseases, and have less access to ‘treatment or intensive care’ than those in Europe and other Western countries.

African football stars Samuel Eto’o, Didier Drogba, Demba Ba and Mohamed Sissoko immediately condemned the comments, saying that what the two physicians are suggesting amounted to outright racism.

Drogba said it is inconceivable that Africans continue to tolerate such racism.

“It is inconceivable that we continue to accept this. Africa is not a laboratory,” the 42-year-old said.

He called the pair, “sons of b——”

“I strongly denounce these serious, racist and contemptuous remarks!” said Eto’o.

“Help us save lives in Africa and stop the spread of this virus which is destabilizing the whole world, instead of considering ourselves as guinea pigs.

“It’s absurd! African leaders have a responsibility to protect people from these heinous plots ”

SissokoSissoki, a former Liverpool defender called the comments “a scandal” and said actions should be taken against the professors.

“What the two doctors said is really a scandal,” ex-Mali international Sissoko said. “I can’t understand why they weren’t fired, and I can’t understand why there hasn’t been more commentary about the things they said.

“You really have to condemn this sort of discourse and take the necessary measures, because the remarks they made about African people are completely inadmissible.

“At this point, we must really be aware that this is not a joke,” he added. “When you make such statements against African people, or against any people, you must be measured and be aware of what you’re saying.”

“Africa hasn’t been touched [by Covid-19] compared to Europe, but clearly [the doctors] said ‘as there’s poverty and other things over there, there are things we can experiment’,” Sissoko continued, “but it shouldn’t happen like that.

“Close friends who I’ve spoken to about this are really wound up by what they said, and these kinds of comments are unacceptable, particularly in a country like France.”

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Family & Relationships

25-Year Old Nigerian Student in USA Dies From Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection

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Bassey offiong - Nigerian in USA dies of coronavirus

Bassey Offiong was only a few days to graduating with a chemical engineering degree from Western Michigan University in Detriot, when he died this week.

Cause of death: Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection.

Offiong was 25 years old.

His family told the media Tuesday morning that he suspected he had COVID-19 and tried several times to get tested but was turned down in the Kalamazoo area of Detroit where he was living off-campus.

They said he told authorities he was running fever, was fatigued and had shortness of breadth, all known symptoms of COVID-19, but was refused the needed tests.

Asari Offiong was Bassey’s sister, and earlier today confirmed that her brother’s numerous requests for coronavirus tests were rejected several times.

“I told him to ask them to test him,” Asari Offiong said. “He said they refused to test him.”

One medical personnel told him all he had was bronchitis while another refused to even examine him.

Bassey offiong - Nigerian in USA dies of coronavirusAsari Offiong said her brother had no known prior medical issues. She declined to name the testing locations in Michigan that turned her brother down prior to his death.

She said her brother was hospitalized at Beaumont in Royal Oak and spent the last week on a ventilator in their intensive care unit.

She called her “baby brother” sweet and humble and a “gentle giant.”

She last saw him a week ago. “I know God has him in his presence,” Offiong said. “He loved God.”

Bassey Offiong’s dream was to start his own organic makeup line with Loreal that would enhance women’s beauty, his sister said. He was a graduate of Renaissance High School in Detroit.

“He’s just someone who thinks so big,” she said.

Western Michigan University President Edward Montgomery said Offiong had “enormous potential.”

“On behalf of the entire Bronco community, I want to extend my deepest condolences to his entire family, including his sister, Asari, who has been generous in communicating with us regularly,” Montgomery said.

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