World Cup debut propelling D’Tigers, says Diogu
The captain of D’Tigers, Ike Diogu has said the current players in the team are highly motivated to excel at the forthcoming 2019 FIBA Men’s World Cup in China.
With all 15 players in camp set to make their World Cup debut if selected as part of the final 12-man roster, Diogu said the chance to be at the World Cup means everything to the
members of the squad.
“It means a lot because none of us has played in the World Cup. The one time we had a chance of qualifying was in 2013 and we lost in the quarter finals of the Afrobasket. This is the first time for us all and we want to make sure we do something special.”
Diogu also thumbed up the high quality of training program for the team which he said has really improved the team’s overall performance as evident in the four friendlies played so far.
“We have got a lot of good young players and we are all excited to represent Nigeria in the right way. We are preparing very well and we expect to have a successful outing at the world cup.”
The captain said that the series of friendly matches and the training camps in New York, Canada and Lagos have given the team ample time to blend and get familiar with each other
“We just have to make sure we play as a team. Individually we know how good we are. We have a good collection of NBA talents and high level Europe based talents. We just have to play collectively as a group and I guess we should be fine against everybody else.”
Nigeria made its debut at the 1998 World cup in Athens, Greece while the last appearance was in 2006 where the team got eliminated in the round of 16. Leganes have confirmed the signing of Chidozie Awaziem on a seasonlong loan from Portuguese giants Porto.
The switch to Spain is the 22-year-old's third loan spell outside of Portugal after previous stints in France with Nantes and in the Turkish Super Lig with Rizespor.
Since he started his professional career at Porto in 2015, Awaziem has struggled to secure a regular first-team spot.
The versatile defender spent the second half of the 2018-19 season at Rizespor and helped the club avoid relegation from the Turkish topflight after 16 league appearances.
This summer, Awaziem was part of the Nigeria squad that finished third at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt where he played six games.
He will reunite with compatriot Kenneth Omeruo, Ghana's Owusu Kwabena and Morocco's Youssef En-Nesyri in Mauricio Pellegrino's squad.
Leganes will begin their 2019-20 La Liga campaign against Osasuna on Saturday.