Football News

It is very sad to announce the death of a great grassroots football developer in Nigerian history. That man was Kashimawo Laloko.

Before many Nigerian footballers became household names, there were many visionary coaches working tirelessly behind the scenes to discover, train, and inspire the next generation, but this particular icon did a lot of comparable jobs in the youth’s development of this country.

Short story about the football icon

Born in 1944, Lalo dedicated more than four decades of his life to football as a coach, educator, administrator, and mentor. While he never became famous as a professional player, his influence on the game was extraordinary because of the countless young talents he helped develop.

In 1992, he founded the Pepsi Football Academy, a groundbreaking youth football program that gave thousands of Nigerian children the opportunity to pursue their dreams regardless of their background. Under his leadership, the academy expanded across Nigeria and became one of Africa’s most respected football development institutions.

Many players who passed through the academy went on to represent Nigeria and enjoy successful professional careers, including John Obi Mikel, Obafemi Martins, Osage Odemwingie, Sunday Mba, Elderson Echiejile, and Stephen Makinwa, alongside many other talented footballers.

Laloko also served as the Technical Director of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), where he helped strengthen coaching education, youth development, talent identification, and technical planning. He consistently believed that Nigeria’s football future depended on investing in young players and providing them with proper guidance, discipline, and opportunities.

Throughout his remarkable career, he: 🏆 Founded the Pepsi Football Academy in 1992. ⚽ Mentored thousands of young footballers. Helped produce several Nigerian internationals.
📚 Promoted modern coaching methods and football education. It left a lasting impact on grassroots football in Nigeria and inspired youth development programs across Africa.

Those who worked with him often described him as disciplined, humble, passionate, and deeply committed to helping young people succeed. Although he kept his family life private, he became a father figure to many of the players he coached, earning respect for his wisdom, leadership, and dedication.

Sadly, Kashimawo Lalo passed away on 26 March 2021 at the age of 76 after a brief illness. His passing was widely mourned across the Nigerian football community, with former players, coaches, administrators, and fans paying tribute to a man whose legacy continues to shape the game.

Today, every young footballer who dreams of rising from grassroots football to the world stage is walking a path that pioneers like Kashimawo Laloko helped create.

Rest in peace, Coach Kashimawo Laloko. Your vision, leadership, and commitment to developing young talents will never be forgotten.

❤️ If you believe Nigerian football legends deserve to be celebrated, LIKE this post, SHARE it with fellow football lovers, and tell us in the comments which player developed through the Pepsi Football Academy inspired you the most.

The 34-year-old Brazil’s star and all-time top scorer with 80 goals in 130 appearances for the country, surpassing Pele, who had 77goals in 92 games, Ronaldo 62 goals in 99games and Romário 55 goals in 71 games, indicating his international career ended after a game against Norway on brief exchange with a journalist remember Neymar got his first goal for his country in the same stadium, in a 2-0 win against the United States back in 2010.

Here is the statement he made.

“I tried and I tried. Now it’s over. It began here, and it ends here,” Neymar said in a brief exchange with a journalist from Brazil’s Globo Esporte after the game.

Neymar has never led Brazil to victory in a World Cup final, but he has played in four consecutive World Cups in 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026 with a total of nine World Cup goals and four assists.

His best World Cup was 2014, where he had five appearances with four goals and one assist to win the Bronze Boot, but missed two matches due to injury while Brazil lost the semifinals 7-1 to Germany.
In the sequence of years 2018 and 2022, they lost in the quarter-finals.

Maybe he collapsed in tears when the final whistle went, and had to be consoled by teammates because it was a poor performance in round 16 or because of his injuries in recent years. That makes the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain player, now back at his former club (Santos) where, at 19 years old, won the South American Footballer of the Year award in 2011.
To everybody Actually, it was a surprise when he was included in Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil squad for the World Cup, but he did what he could, remembered: Neymar came on as a late substitute at the MetLife Stadium and scored a penalty deep in injury time, but that was a mere consolation after Erling Haaland netted twice for Norway, and Brazil lost 2-1.

The reason for the statement made by Neymar Jr: ‘It started here at MetLife Stadium, and it is now over’ is because Neymar Jr made his Brazil debut at MetLife Stadium on August 10, 2010, in a friendly against the United States.

Gabriel Martinelli has become one of Arsenal’s most exciting attacking players since joining the club from Brazilian side Ituano in July 2019. The Brazilian forward arrived in north London as a young talent with raw pace, energy and hunger, but he quickly proved that he had the mentality to compete at the Premier League level.

Martinelli made an immediate impression during his debut season at Arsenal. He scored important goals, pressed defenders aggressively and showed the kind of fearlessness that quickly made him popular among Arsenal fans. One of his standout early moments came against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, when he scored a brilliant solo goal in Arsenal’s 2-2 draw while the Gunners were down to 10 men. Sky Sports described that performance as a major sign of his courage and work rate.

Arsenal signed Martinelli because of his potential and his attitude. He is not just a winger who waits for the ball; he works hard without it, tracks back, presses opponents and gives Arsenal energy on the left side of attack. Under Mikel Arteta, those qualities have made him an important part of the team’s attacking structure.

The Brazilian’s best Premier League season came in 2022/23, when he became one of Arsenal’s main goal threats. His pace, direct running and ability to attack space helped Arsenal compete strongly at the top end of the table. Martinelli’s understanding with teammates such as Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard and Gabriel Jesus also gave Arsenal one of the most dangerous young attacks in English football.

Although competition for places at Arsenal has increased, Martinelli remains valuable because he offers something different. His speed stretches defenders, his pressing helps Arsenal win the ball high up the pitch, and his ability to cut inside from the left gives the team another scoring option.

At just 25, Martinelli still has room to improve. His decision-making, final pass, and consistency in front of the goal can still improve, but his talent and commitment are clear. For Arsenal, keeping him fit and confident could be crucial as the club continues to challenge for major trophies.

Gabriel Martinelli’s journey from Ituano to Arsenal shows why smart recruitment matters. He arrived as a promising teenager, but he has grown into a serious Premier League forward. If he continues to develop, Martinelli can remain a major part of Arsenal’s future for many years.

The Gunners failed to make history after their first Champions League final in 20 years as they finally ended their 22-year wait for a 14th Premier League title. Arsenal played a 1 -1 draw against current holders Paris Saint-Germain and lost by 3-4 on penalties after extra time.

Wednesday was the first time joy for pacesetter queen after experience seven lost and one draw at Nigeria Woman league

The ladies played incrediblely with impact of recent tactical and strategy adjustments and introduced of new players into team really improved momentum of game and help at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan, Oyo as oyo State’s female football side, Pacesetter Queens, finally recorded their first victory of the season with 2-0 over Adamawa Queens who actually in the 4th position in table in their Nigeria Women Football League .

After a tense first half that ended without goals, the hosts returned from the break with greater determination. Their persistence was rewarded in the 51st minute when Hikmat Adewale broke the deadlock, sending the home crowd into celebration and setting the tone for a stronger second-half performance.

The Queens continued to press forward with renewed energy, and their efforts were crowned again in the 80th minute when Kaase Esther calmly sealed the victory with the second goal, ensuring a comfortable and memorable win for the Oyo side.

With difficult at first round that saw the pacesetter queen struggle through and last performance we saw no don’t fear ladies we finished well as they hosting Ibom Angels FC again on next Wednesday. And sequence matches.

The Nigeria ladies have a surprise story today after being 1-0 down in 7 minutes of the game Although at 32 minutes, Chiwendu Ihezuo equalized the home side to pick off the game for Nigeria the
Both teams were similar, with quick passing and unselfish assists.

After a few minutes, on 43’ minutes of the game, Rinsola Babajide launched in the second goal, from a powerful strike.

The fans at the 1, 000-capacity Yaoundé stadium were cheering again after the second half resumed hope of victory for their beloved team, but nineteen minutes later, Michelle Alozie scored the third goal on 64 minutes to make the gates close at 3-1 in favor of the Falcons.

The Nigeria u17 Team is the most successful team in the tournament’s history, with five titles and three runners-up. Brazil is the second-most successful with four titles and two runners-up. Ghana and Mexico have each won the tournament twice, Despite being one of the top youth countries in the world, when was the last time they qualified or did well in the category?

A lot of unseeing hidden factors are killing our football development in Nigeria, although political instability and governance issues are major challenges to Nigeria’s football development. Frequent changes in government often lead to policy inconsistency, affecting long-term development plans. Corruption is another significant issue, but there are others such as

Selection of players based on federal character, godfatherism, and favoritism, rather than on merit and performance.

Rotation of football coaches across all age categories

Transfer of interest like in the olden days, the interests of the majority were in the local team, not now when everybody is crazy about foreign teams.

No team performance analysts across any of the national teams

Most parents don’t see football as a profession. They see it as a wasting of time, which is not like that in the developing world. Just tell me how profession pay, like football.

There is no age grade developmental program like in most developed countries. There are leagues for age grades from u10 to senior categories which are not like in Nigeria and there is a time in Nigeria, in particular, Ibadan Liberty Stadium, where the NFF u12 tournament was organized to develop young people, but after the first edition, the tournament was stopped.

Recycling players who are already past their prime, yet claiming to be young and energetic, making it almost impossible for genuine young talents to emerge and fill the gap.

The killing of school games across the nation and putting a stop to the primary school game really damaged our development stage, our development stage a lot.

Poor motivation for the grassroots clubs and coaches. At least if grants did not come from the grassroots, they should make it compulsory for local government to coach employees in local government.

Turning most of the school field into a house. In the country now, most of the old school fields have started turning into houses.

The influence of social media and the way in which the majority of young people use social media really affects the development of games in the country.

The team has been confirmed for the CAF Championship League in which only one team from Nigeria was qualified for the group stage and North African teams have been the dominating team to win the CAF Champions League, but Nigerian club Enyimba won their first two titles back-to-back in 2003 and 2004. Here is the list of confirmed teams.

• Al Ahly 🇪🇬
• Power Dynamos 🇿🇲
• Al Hilal SC 🇸🇩
• St Eloi Lupopo 🇨🇩
• Yanga 🇹🇿
• Rivers United 🇳🇬
• Petro Luanda 🇦🇴
• JS Kabylie 🇩🇿
• AS FAR 🇲🇦
• Simba SC 🇹🇿
• Mamelodi Sundowns 🇿🇦
• Esperance Sportive de Tunis 🇹🇳
• Stade Malien 🇲🇱
• MC Alger 🇩🇿

Awaiting qualification:
• Winner of Pyramids FC (1) 🇪🇬 vs Ethiopian Insurance (1) 🇪🇹

• Winner of RS Berkane (1) 🇲🇦 vs Al Ahli Tripoli (1) 🇱🇾