United States female tennis star Sloane Stephens trained ahead of her 2022 Madrid Open clash with Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina in Nigeria national team jersey.
Stephens uploaded a photo of her donning the Nigeria national team home jersey on her Twitter handle.
She then accompanied the photo with a flame, the Nigerian flag and Super Eagles
“🔥🇳🇬 @NGSuperEagles.”
Stephens will take on Kalinina in round 64 of the Madrid Open on Friday, April 29.
The American’s photo putting on Nigeria jersey generated lots of reactions on Twitter.
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Obong Itata, Esq. (@ObongItata) informed Stephens that the Super Eagles will take on Mexico and Ecuador in the US and urged her to watch the games.
“Hi, Sloane. The Super Eagles play Mexico at the AT&T Stadium, Dallas on May 28 and Ecuador on June 2 at the Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey. Wear your jersey proudly and show up for either game. I assure you’ll meet some of our stars and the matches will be memorable.”
JO£BABA FLIGHT LOGI$TIC$ (@49Joebaba) thanked Stephens for wearing Nigeria Jersey.
“THANKS @SloaneStephens For REPPING that JERSEY but, I would have LOVE you to have TAGGED @NGSuper_Falcons BECAUSE, they have DONE well than the MALE & That MEN’S team were too OVERRATED with BUNCH of lazy PLAYERS.
“Finally, ARE you a NIGERIAN or your BOYFRIEND is from THERE…😁“
Reacting to the photo, Solobizzy (@solomonbekebo) informed the tennis star the Super Eagles will not be at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
“Thanks Lady. Unfortunately we ain’t gon be at the #FIFAWorldCup this year in Qatar. 😣”
And according to I am Habeeb (@UrbanBeardy)
“Welcome home Sloane! 🥰“
While 19 years old, Stephens rose to prominence at the 2013 Australian Open with a semifinal run beating world No. 3, Serena Williams.
Although she reached No. 11 towards the end of 2013, she regressed and stayed outside the top 25 to the end of 2015.
She returned from injury in the middle of 2017 and won the US Open singles title in her fifth tournament back. She was also awarded WTA Comeback Player of the Year for her successful season.
4 Comments
Well done sister. You have gained a supporter in me. More shot to your racket.
Could it be that Sloane has Nigerian roots? Hmmm.
Next question: That jersey above is extremely popular world wide. NFF’s share of global sales must have been substantial.
WHERE IS THE MONEY?
This money could have been used to pay players’ match bonuses, or even help fund the coach’s salary.
For instance, in the US football league NFL, players receive 2/3 of jersey sales.
TWO THIRDS!
So what’s the deal with our own arrangement?
Leon Balogun’s viral video complaining about unpaid match bonuses shows that it hurts the players and dampens their morale when bonuses they’ve earned are not paid. This surely contributes to the lacklustre performance we see from time to time from the SE.
While players are expected to give their all on the pitch for the jersey, it is also important to demonstrate to the players that their efforts are valued by making prompt match bonus payments.
It is only fair and right to pay players their due. They may be making millions at their clubs. But they have earned their match bonuses by playing for Nigeria as well.
The money is there to pay, after all. From jersey sales, for one. We’ve not even talked about participation fees at tournaments, TV rights, match ticket sales, and government assistance.
Pinnick and his gang of thieves never buy house finish for Dubai, London, South Africa and America you want make him use the money pay player’s bonus, you no dey serious. Pinnick no be American or European, I no no how you expect am to behave like one.
Doing the right thing in not normal where we come from, that’s also something our people have a big problem with. And good example is not what our people emulate so pointing that out to them is like talking to bricks. The right thing would continue to not get done as long as we continue to have a system that makes it possible for clowns like Pinnick to keep on running our football affairs
Hahaha my brother,
Who do us like this?
Na wa ooooo!