The Nation Newspaper

Category: Ade Ojeikere

  • Super Eagles’ friendly: A post-mortem

    The noise from the social media after Nigeria beat Poland in Wroclaw penultimate Friday was deafening. It was as if the Super Eagles lost the game, with paralysed analysis bothering on the people’s primordial sentiments on how the team should look. Chief among the complaints was the clamour for Vincent Enyeama’s return, even when  we know that he has been inactive in Europe this season. The submissions gave the impression that they would rather have Enyeama in goal with a walking stick than allow Francis Uzoho man the goalpost in Russia. Let me not say what have gone down in the social media since Eagles lost 2-0 to Serbia in England. Everyone talking about going to the drawing board to plot new tactics. I wonder if this board isn’t in tatters.

    The friendly matches against Poland and Serbia were meant to test the players and see how they would fare against countries that have similar playing patterns and mentality like the Croatians, Nigeria’s opening game opponents at the Russia 2018 World Cup on June 16. Besides, the two matches were meant to expose the team’s lapses so that the coaches could find the right players for weak positions. I’m glad that both games served the purpose, with the tie against Serbia showing that Eagles’ regular back men have no substitutes. It is also not too late to look for reliable defenders to rival the first team players.

    Enyeama was awesome with the Eagles. When Adegboye Onigbinde told us (Nigeria sporting press) in Japan that he was fielding Enyeama ahead of Ike Shorunmu in Nigeria’s last World Cup game against England at the Korea/Japan World Cup, many wondered  if he could stop David Beckham’s free-kicks. Enyeama kept a clean sheet in that game. The rest is history.

    What these analysts don’t know is that Uzoho will only gain experience playing games such as the one against Poland. The essence of friendly games is to correct mistakes. Most teams at this time are work-in-progress, like the coaches say. It is worthy to note that Rohr listed Uzoho in the Serbian game, making the goalkeeper know that his fate doesn’t lie with what critics say but how the manager rates him – boosting his confidence.

    Two balls slipped through the defence into the net. The first which happened in the Poland game was debatable. But the slip in the first half against Serbia was a good goal. Rohr needs to warn his defenders and Uzoho that such slips would be captured by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) machine, which wasn’t used in the two matches. On the score of 10, I will rate Uzoho 7, as a first timer in such high profile matches.

    Sticking to Uzoho underscores the importance that Gernot Rohr attaches to using this Mundial to give Nigeria a team that would have a lifespan of 10 years, which is what Clemens Westerhof did when he started rebuilding the Eagles in 1990. Nigeria is going to the Russia 2018 World Cup with the youngest squad. Nobody is casting any doubt on the players’ ages because most of the players pledged their allegiance to Nigeria from other countries, although they have Nigerian parentage. It simple means that their ages are incontestable, how being born in Europe. We are tired of always rebuilding Eagles after every failed expedition. The drawing board we always refer to after every aborted trip must be tattered now.

    It is obvious that many players have lost their shirts, given their contributions in the last two games, especially the one against Serbia, which we lost by two goals. Rohr must dig deep into his bag of tactics to evolve a system that would make the players play at their best. The only consolation is that Nigeria’s last group opponents at the Mundial, Argentina were whacked 6-1 by Spain. I know many pundits would say that the results would have been better if Lionel Messi had played. Hmmm! The same excuse when Nigeria beat Argentina 4-2 last year in Russia. Failure beckons, if Argentina’s coach must be told the truth.

    Rohr, happily, isn’t perturbed by the defeat. He gambled on Ahmed Musa to lead the team’s attack, which is normal for friendly matches. It didn’t work. He played Awuziem in place of injured Leon Balogun; it was catastrophic. Oguenyi Onazi was lost in the game just Victor Moses, who apparently played to avoid injuries. The results of friendly games will count for nothing, when the chips are down during the Mundial. Balogun’s absence  in the team’s  defence showed when the Serbians launched their onslaughts. They effectively utilised Eagles’ weakness to play aerial balls, especially from set-pieces. Rohr should find a way to play Ola Aina regularly. He is big and strong, scared and plays regularly for Hull City in the English Championship, even though he is a Chelsea star on loan. Aina can dash forward to score like he does with Hull City.

    Moses appears unable to carry the fortunes of the team, if marked like we saw against Serbia. Perhaps because Ivanovic, the Serbia captain, knew him – they were mates at Chelsea. One word- Moses isn’t Eagles messiah at the Mundial. Eagles, don’t have any undertaker in the mould of Lionel Messi (Argentina) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Neymar (Brazil), Thomas Muller (Germany), Paul Pogba (France), Hazard (Belguim) et al. I’m scared to pick Wilfred Ndidi as Nigeria’s undertaker because he lacks the World Cup experience. He isn’t also a prolific scorer for the Eagles, unlike the aforementioned players in their countries.

    Alex Iwobi looks like the man to do the creative job for the team at the Mundial, only if he is told so now. There is an obvious reason for that. Nigeria head coach Gernot Rohr may have an exciting young squad to take to Russia but he hardly has creators like Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Iwobi is perhaps the nearest the Super Eagles have to a playmaker. He certainly looked like their best hope for a goal as they laboured against a disciplined Serbia.

    A few people would argue that John Mikel Obi’s contributions were missing. True, but Mikel still needs a younger player, such as Iwobi to use his passes and dribbling runs to attract markers to him. This way, openings would be created for goals. Eagles’ midfielders in the two matches were tentative in their displays, with none of them willing to seize the initiative of being match winners reminiscent of the Nwankwo Kanu and Austin Okocha era.

    With a dysfunctional midfield like we saw in the two matches, there is no way the strikers can work. Strikers are best utilised if the defence-splitting passes are there. They would find it easier to run into space to receive such passes, where the midfielders can dribble to unlock the oppositions’ defences. Our players’ resort to long balls to unlock defences was poor tactics as it rendered the strikers otiose. The manager needs to either look for the players (I wonder if there is the time) or find a better pattern of play that will bring out the players’ best qualities.

    ‘’Nigeria may have come away from Barnet licking their wounds, though it was largely to do with a youthful defence incapable of taming Aleksandar Mitrovic and the woeful display of Ahmed Musa as a central striker,’’ Standard Sports newspaper of England wrote on Wednesday.

    “Rohr commended the boys and urged them not to drop their heads because no football team in the world wins all their games,” Eagles spokesman Toyin Ibitoye said.

    “The coach told the team they should learn from this defeat but not suck, but rather go back to their clubs and keep fighting. He said what was most important after such a loss is how you react, he said we have to bounce back.”

    “The coach reminded the boys that they have not been doing badly as a team and what has happened should be put behind. He said it is a game and they have done their part and should forget the rest. We have three more friendly matches to play before the World Cup proper. Ours is to take the positives from the Serbia game, study them critically and implement,’’ Ibitoye said.

    It is good to know that NFF chieftains are on the same page with Rohr and the team. Amaju Pinnick’s statement underscored the need for all the parties to work towards getting Nigeria into the quarter-finals. At that stage, anything is possible, especially if Nigerians rally round the team. They could spring surprises.

    Pinnick wrote this writer in a terse reply to an inquiry about his thoughts on the game: ‘’Trust me, it was a good preparatory game against Poland, for instance. We are satisfied. You learn more when you lose matches and learn less when you win games.

    ‘’I must congratulate Serbia for giving us a good game, which helped to expose the weaknesses of our team. This is the essence of playing such friendly games. The coaches have taken notes and we expect good reaction from them in subsequent matches before the World Cup proper in Russia.’’

     

  • Before the knives are drawn

    Russia 2018 World Cup is 83 days away. Everyone seems convinced that the Super Eagles will do well at the Mundial, unlike in the past when our preparations were dogged by bickering among Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) members, sports ministers struggling to hijack the federation’s duties, as well as wrangling among the players and coaches. Nigerians were left unimpressed. Of course, Eagles never did well.

    The fragile peace among football faithful as we countdown to the world’s biggest sporting activity is hinged on the fact that issues which heated up the polity have been settled, with oil giant Aiteo Group  paying N581 million ($600,000 and N370 million) to coaches, including the Eagles technical crew. The players’ and officials’ allowances and match bonuses have been settled. Besides, the players and their coaches were at the meeting where they agreed with NFF chieftains what they should be paid during the Mundial, beginning with Nigeria’s opening game against Croatia on June 16. The government has the report, which is good. So, we know who to blame when things go awry.

    My take on this is that the Federal Government should ensure that the agreement is fulfilled. We are tired of Nigeria being the laughing stock at the World Cup because of our players going on strike for their entitlement. The government should direct the sports minister to allow the federation handle cash disbursement. If the minister feels strongly that any cash is misappropriated, he is free to petition the relevant bodies to prosecute those liable. The idea of the minister paying sportsmen and women at international competitions is not only an aberration, but a laughable act. Our ministers should learn to trust their subordinates like the President does with them.

    Interestingly, NFF men have made accountability sacrosanct by allowing renowned financial agencies that brokered the deals to handle the disbursements. What the federation’s chiefs  are doing now is to make requests based on what was agreed when the cash was sourced. They get what they want after due diligence by the financial agencies.  It explains the seamless manner of financial transactions leading to our qualification. Of course, there are pockets of protest, most from those who want the old order to continue.

    Accountability is a major problem within the sporting sphere in Nigeria. No company will support any sport and not expect such a federation to account for what it got. No company will identify its products and services with federations enmeshed in controversies or burdened by allegations of corruption. All appears well between the NFF and the Sports Minister, who once declared the country squad for the 2016 Olympic Games missing, when indeed they were in America. The stories of how an American airline took our team to Brazil, nine hours before their first game should never happen again. Equally unacceptable was the financial assistance to the squad by a foreigner when the contingent cried out for cash to settle hotel bills. We had at least four years before the last Olympics to prepare for the competition. NFF has sourced for its funds which it has used to give Eagles the desired preparations for the Mundial.

    But the masterstroke by NFF, which has raised Nigerians’ hopes of a credible outing in Russia, has been the quality of international friendly matches lined up for the team. I would rather the friendly games expose our flaws than to win them, only to be beaten groggy in Russia. Nigeria played against Poland in Wroclaw yesterday and the players’ performances will form the bulk of the discussions today. On the 27th in London, Eagles will file out against Serbia, a game which is meant to know how Croatia plays.

    Gernot Rohr stated the obvious when he told the international media on Tuesday that he doesn’t have match winners in his team who could change the tide of matches the way Austin Okocha and Nwankwo Kanu did. Rohr, however, revealed that his side’s strength rests with their collective play, which is what a team needs to avoid selfish tendencies among the players.

    ‘’We have a difficult group with Argentina, Croatia, and Iceland, to which we came from the fourth basket. This shows that we

  • Prosecute barbarians, please

    They are the 12th player on the field. They raise the stakes of games. They add to the ambience inside and outside the stadium with their theatrics, drama and the suspense they create with their pre-games’ hypes. Fans are unmistakable during matches with jerseys and other apparels that distinguish them. They could cause pains with their poor conduct. But the security operatives are always at the alert to quell such misdemeanours.

    Resentment against teams by the fans starts with boos after some poor displays. It deteriorates to the level where firstly, certain players are hounded with every move that they make. Then the managers feel the heat, with the fans waving their white handkerchiefs to indicate a vote of no confidence on them.

    Matters get to a head when drones, kits and, in many instances, helicopters are deployed to unleash posters with the faces of the managers, urging them to quit. Such things get the media’s attention, forcing such clubs’ managements to either back the embattled manager or sack him. If the managers retain their jobs, the fans persist with all manner of posters and, in some instances, caricatures of the manager flooding the social media and match venues.

    This is not to say that the fans don’t acknowledge successful mangers, players and teams. When successful teams dominate, their fans go wild in celebration, with many storming drinking bars and eateries. The fans, particularly players’ family members storm the stadium wearing jerseys with their favourite players’ pictures.

    Arsene Wenger has turned the fortunes of Arsenal FC around, such that it is only one of the few clubs that are solvent. Wenger achieved these feats without compelling the club’s owners to break the bank during transfer seasons. Wenger isn’t the manager who shops for players with mind-boggling figures. He is prudent in his spending and quick to ask for any players worthy of such huge figures at the Emirates. Love Wenger, hate him, he has made Arsenal the most exciting team to watch when things are right. And he achieves that with seemingly average players who start as rookies. In fact, deep pocket teams such as Manchester City have literally made Arsenal the shopping centre in the same way Liverpool FC’s managers have turned Southampton FC to their recruitment base.

    Wenger’s argument for not spending big is germane. He argues that paying one or two players staggering figures could destroy the synergy existing between the players and the manager. He states too that paying new players big cash increases the demand from older players who have taken the club to the height where new ones want to be part of.

    However, the Frenchman’s philosophy was put to great test when Gunners’ fans turned on the team following poor performances recently. Arsenal fans booed players after the humiliating defeat to Manchester City on March 1, 2018. They chorused in anger: ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ in half-empty Emirates Stadium.

    The Citizens tore Arsenal apart for the second time in four days, beating them 3-0 that fateful Thursday night.

    On March 4, some travelling Arsenal fans turned mutinous at the Amex Stadium as Arsene Wenger’s Gunners hit an embarrassing new low against Brighton & Hove Albion FC. After just 28 minutes of the Premier League clash, Arsenal found themselves 2-0 down against the newly-promoted side. Lewis Dunk and Glenn Murray scored in a first-half rout that could have been so much worse.

    And with mounting pressure on Wenger, there was a sense that the patience of some supporters had emphatically snapped.  A “Wenger Out” banner was unfurled almost as soon as Murray found the net.

    If there is a crisis in Manchester United today, it is because big stars in the clubs such as David De Gea and Paul Pogba, are demanding pay rise because of what Jose Mourinho offered former Arsenal striker Sanchez in the January 2018 transfer window. Dea Gea wants 350,000 pounds a week, which he justified with his incredible reflexes that have aided Manchester United’s campaigns this season. Pogba wants an increase in his pay, having been the highest paid star until Sanchez joined them in January.

    Indeed, the rift between Pogba and Mourinho could be the reason Manchester United are out of the UEFA Champions league, even though a few of the club’s fans won’t agree. Truth be told, if all was well between Mourinho and Pogba, the latter would have started the Tuesday night game against Sevilla FC of Spain at the Old Trafford stadium and United would have won. Manchester United’s game enjoyed good fillip when Pogba was introduced in the second half, but the Spaniards had scored twice and defended stoutly till the end of the match.

    Arsenal fans and Wenger have had yearly fights over the team’s composition, with many insisting that the team should parade big names, if they hope to compete with others. Wenger understands their concerns but would rather have younger boys who he can nurture to greatness. Gunners’ fans can’t wait. They want to see their team at the top, dominating like in the past. This disagreement between Wenger and his supporters has reached a disturbing dimension, given the empty stands when Arsenal beat Watford 3-0 on Sunday.

    Will Arsenal fans change their minds and back Wenger, having reinvented the team in the last three matches against AC Milan in the Europa League and Watford. With 10 goals and conceding a goal in the three matches, it won’t be shocking if the fans return to the Gunners.

    It is acceptable for the fans to boycott matches of their favourite teams if they are under-performing. What is absolutely unacceptable is the manner in which West Ham’s fans stormed the pitch to fight their players after a disappointing 4-1 home loss to Leicester City last weekend. The England FA has queried the club The FA chieftains will definitely treat this issue as  a criminal offence and those fingered made to face the law.

    This barbaric act was enacted in France, where Lille FC’s fans lost patience with the team and clearly showed their frustration during the 1-1 against Montpellier at Pierre-Mauroy Stadium last Saturday. TV footage showed supporters surging towards the Lille players and aiming kicks at some of them after the final whistle of the Ligue 1 match.

    Former Super Eagles goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama has whole-heartedly condemned the incident via social media. The 35-year-old Lille goalkeeper tweeted: “How did we get here. The last time LOSC had fans on the pitch was for celebration. The real fan/supporter will always stay behind the team no matter what. Good or bad times. tousensemble#onestlelosc# ilfautpasoublie.”

    But the shameful act of interference with the game came from PAOK Chairman Ivan Savvidis, who stormed the pitch with a gun in his belt and confronted officials after a disallowed goal against AEK Athens. He told the referee: ‘You’re finished.’

    Fernando Varela thought he had scored a last-gasp winner for PAOK, only for his effort to be ruled offside. That decision sparked furious scenes which included Savvidis, one of the richest men in Greece, storming the playing field, appearing to carry a gun in his waistband, and a pitch invasion. Fixtures have now been suspended indefinitely.

    ‘We have decided to interrupt the championship. It won’t start again unless there is a clear framework, agreed by all, to move forward with conditions and rules,’ Greek Deputy Culture and Sports Minister Georgios Vassiliadis said.

    The world is watching. It won’t be long before FIFA chiefs react to these disturbing trends.

     

    Not again, Siasia

     Samson Siasia is a very good coach, given his results with age-grade Nigerian teams. He has also done well on the few rescue missions with Super Eagles. Siasia does not like being owed his wages. Nobody wants to be owed his/her wages. So, he should forget about the job.

    All may be well with Eagles this time, but the team’s manager, Gernot Rohr didn’t get his wages as at when due. Rohr knew that a World Cup for Nigeria will be his meal ticket to better jobs next year.

    This is the difference between a Nigerian coach and a foreigner, with our local coaches looking for how to survive instead of using the platform for better jobs. Whereas successful foreign coaches with Eagles have gone to get bigger jobs, our coaches are eased off only to be recycled when the opportunity beckons again.

    Siasia has boasted that the NFF will return to him after the Russia 2018 World Cup. Siasia, I don’t think so, except Eagles fumble in Russia, which is most unlikely, given the team’s preparations. Did Siasia not tell us that he won’t return to the Eagles job again?

    If Eagles do well in Russia, Rohr will retain his job. If he chooses to leave, there is no way Nigeria will allow a Nigerian coach the team, given the ease with which we qualified for the Mundial in Russia. Non payment of coaches is a trademark of the Glasshouse. Siasia should look elsewhere for a job. He shouldn’t return and then complain about things that cannot change for now.

  • Football ministers

    Football ministers

    George Opong Weah visited Nigeria on Monday – not as a soccer star, but as President of Liberia. He wore a suit, not his favourite number 9 shirt which made fans roar in ecstasy, as he stepped onto the pitch for a game. Weah was a prolific striker, scoring goals with aplomb. He was such a phenomenal player that he did the unthinkable – playing for both Inter Milan and AC Milan FC in Italy. These two teams are bitter rivals, though they use the same pitch for matches. Weah wasn’t the only player to do so but, for an African, it underlined how he was adored everywhere he played.

    I would have been surprised if Weah left Abuja without scoring a goal; he did and the goal, if reviewed, was a spectacular one as it touched on the most important reason why Super Eagles don’t do well in major soccer tournaments and other sporting contingents. Weah isn’t a stranger to our football politics, having been playmate with Taribo West and Celestine Babayaro at Chelsea. Besides, he played against many of our soccer icons, such as the late Stephen Keshi, the late Rashidi Yekini et al.

    Weah had cause to play ceremonial matches with famous players, such as Austin Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, Samson Siasia, Peter Rufai and other members of the golden era of the game here. They must have discussed our problems with Weah.

    So what did Weah say in Abuja? “Some of the things you see at the World Cup, you will see an entire team go to represent a whole country and you will hear that one minister took the money, they did not pay these players and the players are causing problem. When players are going to camp, it is to relax and focus. And for them to be in camp, they must have everything there for them not to worry, ‘’ Weah said.

    Spot on Weah. Most ministers of sport advance the argument that since the cash is coming from the government’s vault, they should be the ones to disburse it – as if they own the cash. It is difficult to explain why the ministers don’t trust NFF members as the president trusts them. Those of us who cover sporting competitions find it difficult to answer questions concerning our ministers dishing out cash to players when the ministry has officials who can do the job. Foreigners wonder how such ministers can audit expenditures. Which auditors, appointed by the ministers indict him?

    What these ministers do is to blackmail NFF members. They polarise the media to stir up controversies, which compel the government to constitute probe panels whose outcomes are of no consequence, if the ministers succeed to muscle the federation chiefs to do their biddings. These football ministers set the NFF members against themselves with the face-off affecting the team’s performance. They then constitute Presidential Task Forces (PTFs), whose members, most times, are the ministers’ friends. And critics of the federation take over the jobs of the coaches.

    It got so bad in two instances that the incumbent coach watched in awe and pain as interviews were been conducted for his job during tournaments. The late Shuiabu Amodu qualified Nigeria for two World Cup competitions, but was sacked, no thanks to our all knowing sports ministers. Sports minister Solomon Dalung told the media that the Muhammadu Buhari administration saved N7 billion when there wasn’t a PTF body to superintend during Nigeria’s qualification series to the Russia 2018 World Cup.

    What most ministers don’t know is that Nigerians can’t be fooled by their theatrics, especially the corporate world, which would not do business because of frequent policy somersaults in governance. Besides, the ministers think that creating confusion in the Glasshouse, and unfounded allegations against soccer chieftains, would convince the business moguls to listen to their requests. No show.  No business concern would invest in projects bedevilled with controversies and tales of sharp practices. Nigerians look forward to the day when the Sports Ministry would also be probed since it is always the soccer chiefs that pilfer government’s cash. We wait.

    We had a minister in the past who watched matches live at the stadium, but compelled the NFF men to drive back to his hotel some three hours away to collect players’ bonuses which other countries paid immediately after games. The minister insisted on doing the paper work whereas he had a personal contingent of 35 people (cooks, nannies, house boys, relations, kids etc). What manner of paper work did the minister want when the federation had stipulated what they wanted the cash for in the budget which the government approved? Shouldn’t the minister have given the cash to the federation to disburse and ask them to account after the tournament, the way others do?

    Nigeria is usually the laughing stock when players refuse to train until their cash is given to them. Most times the players spend the night before a game sharing money that should have been transferred into their accounts immediately after matches like it is done in their European clubs.

    We also had a minister who got government cash for a recuperating Nigerian athlete, who got paid in two tranches at different times. Was it not a sports minister who boasted that he would convince the government not to waste money on Nigeria’s qualifiers for the Mundial because Super Eagles can’t win the trophy? Yet, the minister was on every trip to watch the team, of course earning estacodes for himself, that is if he didn’t have other people who accompanied him. They tell us that they accompany the teams to deliver the president’s goodwill messages. Indeed.

    Now that the new NFF has got the Aiteo Group to invest in our football, I want to see if the minister would ask them to hand what they generated to him. So far, Aiteo has spent $600,000 and N320 million on the team en route its qualification for the Mundial in Russia. Again, the NFF has secured a deal worth N2.5 billion over five years with Nigeria Breweries, with NFF President Amaju Melvin Pinnick assuring Nigerians that he would generate $2.8 million more for the team.

    Already, FIFA has released $1.5million to the 32 qualifiers for the Mundial, Nigeria inclusive. Another $8 million await Eagles for the group stage matches. and the figures are staggering as the teams progress. So, what would that minister be saying now that cash running into millions in dollars hits the NFF account? What manner of advice would he have given the President asking him not to fund Nigeria’s participation to the World Cup? Is the World Cup all about winning?

    Weah spoke about Nigeria’s chances at the Mundial, saying: “I think Nigerian team is a model; we all followed them. I have played with great Nigerian players; I played against them. Now you have a new generation. The fact that they qualified is a good thing for Nigeria.

    “But I hope they will prepare very early because they are going to represent Africa and we will be there to watch them, for them to bring the trophy for the first time if it is possible. But I think the seriousness to go to World Cup is not to pay players to go, I want every African government to know, if you win World Cup is a pride to Africa is not just to Nigeria, so we must do everything to ensure that the players are not stressed, make sure they concentrate, make sure their incentives are given to them to motivate them.

    “Remember I played in European setting, when we go to camp, we have nothing to do. The only thing we have to do is to take a shower and prepare for the game, everything is laid down here and so you have no excuse.  So, let the players not have excuse, support them and let them go and bring back that cup.”

    Weah noted that every government in Africa complains when it comes to sports. He thanked President Buhari for supporting the Super Eagles to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

    He said: “I was amazed the other sitting before Macron; he talked about his sports agenda because he believes you can build capacity through sports, and through sports you can also encourage people to work, to do what they want to do.

    “I have been fighting for so long for my national team to qualify. Imagine, I’m the World Best here in Africa, the only world best. And I told French President Macron that FIFA built one stadium in Liberia and we have one Ballon D’or,  so if you build 10 stadia in Liberia, you will have 10 Ballon D’Or.’’

    Weah revealed that he had convinced the World Bank to support his country’s sports revival with $5 million. This is what Nigerian sports need, not ministers who abandon 29 other sports and bicker with soccer. It hurts to note that these other sports are money spinners too, like soccer, in countries where sports is seen as a business, not one to compensate failed politicians.

    “As a former coach, technical director and former sponsor of the national team, you know is not only football. When Liberia goes to represent us at the Olympics, we only see the officials drilling with our flags, we don’t see no athletes.

    “This year, we have made sure that all of our sports we will have someone to represent us and I will be there to monitor them. That is why we put a former player as the sports minister that I will work with to revamp Liberia National Team and I know he will do it best. And those techniques that made Liberia qualify twice and missed the World Cup three times, I will make sure that I work with him so that he can do the work and ensure that our athletes go and represent our country,” Weah said.

    I envy Liberia. I won’t be surprised if Liberia becomes the new Mecca for sports in the next decade, with President Weah. Who won’t fund sports when the marketing drive is being initiated by the country’s President?

  • Roaring Rohr

    Roaring Rohr

    I don’t envy Gernot Rohr. He has the daunting task of ensuring that Nigerians enjoy the matches of the Russia 2018 World Cup, beginning with Nigeria’s opening game against Croatia on June 16. The German updates us on his work whenever he comes into the country. And his plans are quite laudable, with many of them answering questions on our preparations for the Mundial.

    Rohr isn’t asking us to pray for the Super Eagles. Nor is he stirring any controversy about his dealings with his employers, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). He isn’t talking about going back to the drawing board (it must be in tatters now) . He is telling us his plans and debunking those that are off the mark. We have been saved the needless debate of the powers of the Technical Committee over the tactician. No cheap talk of having a certain number of home-based players. We seem to know those likely to make the country’s 23-man squad to the Mundial.

    Rohr’s plans are not speculative. Now we know that Vincent Enyeama is out of the squad. This Enyeama disclosure underscores the importance that Rohr attaches to our preparations. He has sent one of the goalkeepers’ trainers to Spain to drill Francis Uzoho. This means that Uzoho will be the country’s number one goalkeeper at the Mundial. The training sessions are meant to keep him fit. And the managers of Uzoho’s Spanish side have keyed into Rohr’s dream by fielding the Nigerian in the team’s recent matches. Uzoho has recorded 10 clean slates showing the huge prospect he is for Nigeria.

    The friendly games against Poland on March 23 in Warsaw and Serbia on March 27 will give the manager the platform to see how well the trainer has worked on Uzoho in Spain. It will also serve as the best opportunity to improve on Uzoho’s confidence. Ezenwa has been off the pitch due to injuries; he can’t feature in such top grade games against Poland and Serbia.

    Rohr knows how not to dampen the morale of contenders for each position. The truth is that the first choice goalkeeper looks like Uzoho, irrespective of what Rohr told the media on Wednesday in Germany.

    “Uzoho is working hard, but he is only third choice keeper at La Coruna, and very young. Let’s work on all our goalkeepers,’’ he said, adding: “We will give the same attention to Alampasu, Alloy Agu will work on the local lads as well. We will work equally with all the goalkeepers we have available, even with Daniel Akpeyi in South Africa.” Well said, Rohr; it is better to throw the fight for positions open.

    Ezenwa and Akpeyi will warm the bench, although Ezenwa may feel cheated, having manned the goalpost creditably. The World Cup is the platform for excellence, not the podium to celebrate mediocrity. Fielding Uzoho ahead of Ezenwa raises hope for Brian Idowu at the left back position. Idowu utilised the opportunity of the Argentina game to score a goal on his debut and impress Rohr, who had been pondering how best to plug the hole at the team’s left back position.

    Idowu’s imposing personality and sublime skills stand him out as a defender strikers must be wary of. He also showed tremendous pace and strength while running down the left flank. His goal against the Argentines enhances his chances of manning that position for Nigeria.

    Will Rohr rely on players’ experience or their current forms in picking his first 11? Elderson Echiejile is the most experienced left back, having played at the Brazil 2014 World Cup and the 2013 Confederations Cup held in Sao Paolo. Echiejile graduated from the age-grade teams to the Eagles after stints with Bendel Insurance FC of Benin City in the domestic league. What would give Rohr’s team the tenacity at the rear would be those versatile players who can play in more than one positions. Ola Aina, another Nigeria-born lad offers the manager that quality since he can play in any of the five defensive positions. Aina is distinguishing himself weekly for Hull City in the Coca-Cola Championship League in England.  He has been selected severally this season in the division’s team-of-the-week.

    Tyronne Ebuehi will be the surprise first team player at the Mundial. He is immensely gifted; recall the ease with which he took the ball off the feet of  the Argentines. Ebuehi didn’t play regularly in the qualifiers, largely because of the physical style in Africa. He doesn’t have to chase his markers since he ensures that he gets to the ball first.

    Such intelligent players earn their marks at the Mundial, little wonder Ebuehi has been listed in the team-of-the-week in Holland for Netherlands ADO Den Haag recently in the Dutch League. Will Rohr dump Shehu Abdullahi for Ebuehi? Reading Rohr’s mind, one won’t be shocked. Ebuehi is a natural defender, unlike Abdullahi who is a defensive midfielder. This explains why he hesitates to launch tackles inside the penalty box. Natural defenders would simply shield the ball and make it almost impossible for the striker to score, except such strikers are English – apologies to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who once described English strikers as divers for penalty kicks.

    Abdullahi has made the right wing back position his. But with the way Ebuehi played against Argentina, he must roll up his sleeves to keep the shirt. Aina could dethrone Abdullahi, now that it appears that Idowu has clinched the left wing back shirt, if he does well against Poland in Warsaw and Serbia in London.

    The central defensive pair of Troost-Ekong and Leon Balogun have been very effective. My only fear is with injuries (God forbid), but it is in the game to be injured or become ineligible for the next game due to card offences. Pundits aren’t comfortable with Omeruo’s style, despite his playing at the Mundial in Brazil in 2014. Will Rohr hit Europe again to get Nigeria-born lads to serve as substitutes? Names, such as Kevin Akpoguma, are being dropped as prospects even as the manager is ruling out any new face in the squad. Coaches talk like that. They like to keep their cards to their chests.

    What is important to Rohr is how to distinguish himself in his debut appearance at the Mundial. Having been persuaded to leave Germany FA for the Nigerian job, Rohr knows that doing well at the Mundial will raise his profile at home. It will also throw open the gate of opportunities from clubs and countries seeking to improve on their profile in global football. It is a win-win situation for Eagles and Rohr – both parties need the World Cup stage to excel.

    I’m glad that we are going to the Mundial with the youngest group of players. I’m inclined to celebrate this feat because a large number of players use birth certificates, not sworn affidavits. Age cheating has been the bane of our national teams after big competitions, such as the Mundial. If we exit from the Russia 2018 World Cup, we won’t be talking about a complete overhaul of the team. We would know if the exit arose from having an inefficient manager. Those players to bid farewell in the new dispensation will also be known. Conversely, if we excel, Rohr stays and builds on what he has in place.

    Nigeria, with a population of over 170 million, should make her participation at the Mundial a birthright, given what our players are doing in Europe. We hardly hear of issues of allowances from big players during competitions. Eagles’ players have truncated our chances to excel on the big stage due to the shortcomings of the federation, only to play again under the same setting. Messi and Ronaldo have issues with their federations but they give their best, knowing that the issues will be resolved. Our players make it look like the world will end if they are not paid. Don’t get me wrong;  they deserve their wages. Till date, no federation chief has been found guilty of misappropriation of funds. It means that our players must learn how to believe their federation chiefs, especially if things remain the same.

    Our players know the importance of playing at the World Cup. Many Nigerians haven’t recovered from their wasted revenue when we failed to qualify for the Mundial. Nigerians make a lot of money when Eagles are doing well in major competitions. The media are awash with stories and people do brisk business selling wares with our players’ pictures, business centres accommodate more fans and eateries, bars and hotels increase their stock.

    A credible outing for Nigeria in Russia will attract European scouts and managers to Nigeria in search of more talents like we had in the past.

  • A genius at work

    A genius at work

    He needs no introduction when the issue is football. He ranks among the icons of the beautiful game, going by his achievements since he started kicking the ball around the streets as a boy in Argentina. He enjoys playing when marked, if he has a target to break. Lionel Messi, is the man for all seasons, soccer wise. He leaves a mark anywhere he plays.

    Indeed, clubs’ fans pray when draws are made for competitive matches if their teams are drawn with Barcelona FC. And the word on every lip after such draws is ‘’Messi.’’ So, when the Round of 16 matches pitched Chelsea against Barca, the world looked forward to mouth-watering matches over the two legs in London and Nou Camp.

    Messi doesn’t fail with challenges. He must have smiled, reading pre-match commentaries highlighting the fact that he had not scored against Chelsea in eight matches. He debunked that seeming fallacy when he finished off a square pass from Barca’s captain, Andres Iniesta into the net to tie the game a goal apiece.

    Messi wasn’t the Man-of-the-Match. That accolade was for Chelsea’s midfielder Willian, who had to get medical attention twice before the end of the pulsating encounter. Messi’s side didn’t have the best chances. Chelsea had. Yet if Barcelona approaches the second leg as undoubted favourites, Messi that is responsible for that. Again, one chance, one goal. That is all he needs. And Messi got it because he, along with Barcelona’s immense forward drive, terrifies the opposition, defenders in possession in particular.

    Messi isn’t known for rhetoric in the media before or after games. His feet do the talking, leaving many fans of opposing teams with broken hearts. Messi isn’t a spoilsport. He accepts defeats since he fights till the referee’s final whistle. Kudos should go to Chelsea’s manager Antonio Conte for his tactical plans which kept Messi quiet until he struck from a poor pass across Chelsea’s 18-metre box by Christensen in the 74th minute. Chelsea were unlucky as Willian’s shot hit the upright of the goalpost twice until he scored in the 61st minute from a curly kick. Willian received the ball outside of the box, paused, accelerated to the right then put it past a static Marc-Andre ter Stegen. At last, the warrior had his reward.

    A tale of two warriors – Willain and Messi – with both players looking forward to the return leg at the Nou Camp in Barcelona. Soccer purists will give the game to Barca due to Messi’s records of swinging tight fixtures in his side’s favour at the Nou Camp. But Chelsea are no easy meat to chew in such winner-takes-all fixtures. Besides, Conte doesn’t park the bus in away fixtures. I see both sides scoring a goal each before the end of the first half. If Chelsea scores first, which isn’t unlikely, Barca will have a big problem on their hands.

    Conte’s world class tactics anchored on not using a striker took care of the strong points of key players in Barcelona. This tactic should worry Barcelona’s coach, Ernesto Valverde given the way Chelsea’s players stuck to the system until that slip. Otherwise, Barca would have left Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night with their tails tucked in between their legs.

    ‘’Playing Alvaro Morata from the start, with him and Eden Hazard, without Willian or Pedro, would’ve lost our balance,’’ the Italian told the press in a post match session. ‘It would’ve been suicidal. We executed the game plan really well,’’ Fabregas said afterwards. ‘’We were compact, solid, played as a team and created lots of chances.’’

    No good team plays blindfolded at this level, with coaches and players playing to the pre-match scripts. Those who think that the Barcelona tie between these two combatants is over had better read this instructive submissions by Chelsea’s highest goal-scorer this season, Eden Hazard, in a post-match conference: ‘’At least we won’t be able to think defensively in the second leg because if we think defensively over there we will be in a lot of danger.

    ‘’We will go there trying to win because we have to score and we will try for the perfect game as we did today, except for the small error that we made. That’s what made the difference because you’re up against Barcelona. Against other teams, perhaps you get away without letting in a goal. We played well. We had a plan to defend well. Perhaps we could have done more with the ball when we had it. It’s not over. We can still dream. Qualification is still possible,’’ the Belgian told reporters.

    Fight to the death, if you ask me. Even with this can-do spirit from Chelsea stars, Hazard still feels that Messi’s class is one obstacle they have to contend with in the second leg tie. Hazard said on Tuesday night: ‘’We contained him well. When he’s outside the box he’s less dangerous than in it. He had one touch in the box today and he scored. That’s the difference he makes.’’

    Is the game over for Chelsea in two weeks time? Barca’s striker Luis Suarez seems to have written off the Blues, stressing: “It was a beneficial goal for the second leg to have more space at the Camp Nou.”

    “Our strength is being better at home; that’s why it was important to score. Now they have to try to score at the Camp Nou and we’ll have more space,” Suarez told Marca, a Spanish newspaper on Thursday.

    So, why did Conte adopt the striker-less options against Barca? Is Hazard willing to play that role in the return leg? Hazard revealed after the 1-1 draw with Barcelona on Tuesday: ‘You don’t get a lot of balls. I might have touched 25 balls that night and 15 of them were flying towards my head. That is not really playing to my qualities. I won some aerial duels against Gerard Pique, and that’s not bad.

    ‘’But if I had to choose, I prefer to play like I did in the last 10 minutes, which was out wide. But it’s the manager who has the final word. On the wing, I feel more comfortable. That’s my place. In games like that you have to be 100 per cent focused,’ he said. ‘One error, one goal. We should have scored more.

    ‘’We complicated it ourselves. A draw is a bad result. We won’t be able to think defensively in Barcelona. If we only think about defending, we’ll be in a lot of trouble. We will go to try to win. We have to win, we have to score,’’ Hazard said.

    Indeed, Messi had the night in which he had only one chance at goal and buried the ball inside the net. Daily Mail’s writer Ian Ladyman summed up Messi’s talent and his contributions in Tuesday’s game thus: ‘’So we savour nights like this, nights when the greatest footballer of our generation cheats the passing of time on the back of skills, appetite and intuitive understanding that refuse to wane. Maybe we should not be surprised that Barcelona’s No 10 retains his youthful capacities.’’

    ‘’There is not a footballer alive who understands the rhythm of a game and the intricacies of his own game like he does. Unlike many, Messi does not seek the ball, he does not hunt the ball. Instead he finds pieces of solitude, waiting for the ball, the game, to come to him. His mind is always switched on but the body only follows when he has possession.

    ‘’This could be the secret of the enduring brilliance. Certainly Messi would make a mockery of modern running stats. If there was a similar measurement available for lurking then he would top the list,’’ Ladyman wrote on Thursday.

    Should Super Eagles players surrender before Messi kicks the ball in the last fixture of Group D against Argentina? No way. We thrive best when the opposition is tough. Unlike at Barcelona, Messi will have to take charge since his Argentine mates are not as talented as his peers at Barcelona. Surely, a tree cannot make the forest. Eagles will mark Messi. They will cut off supply to him. He dare not wait for the ball like he does at Barcelona. Otherwise, what happened in Russia last year would be a child’s play.

    Eagles’ manager Gernot Rohr must instruct his players not to lose sight of Messi anytime during the game. Just when you think you have Messi inside your cage, he bolts out to deliver the devastating blow that swings the game in his side’s (club, and country’s) favour.

    Certainly, our boys and their coaches watched the first game on Tuesday; they should watch the return leg and decide how best to mark out Messi. Did I hear you say bring on Argentina and Messi? No hurry, it will soon be World Cup time.

  • The fear of Aguero

    The fear of Aguero

    There has been panic in the land (rightly so) since last Saturday when Argentina’s goal-scoring machine Kun Aguero scored four goals in Leicester City’s 5-1 away loss to Manchester City in a Barclays English Premier League match. The popular thinking of soccer-loving Nigerians is that with Aguero in form, the Super Eagles will be in trouble at the Russia 2018 World Cup, given his devastating combination with Lionel Messi.

    It will certainly not be the first time we have confronted the Argentines. Both teams have squared up to each other eight times since the USA ’94 World Cup. Apart from the September 11 international friendly, which the South Americans lost 4-2, the score line in games involving both teams are usually close. But the incredible form of the Manchester City striker suggests that he could take things a notch higher at this year’s Mundial.

    Aguero has scored 29 goals from 33 matches this season. Awesome average, no doubt, but he could still be policed by defenders. Aguero detests being man-marked and it affects his concentration, which is good for the opposition, unlike Messi who enjoys such attention, which he sees as his best chance to show his class and style.

    Aguero is stocky, but falls easily with the slightest touch to gain referees’ favours. He likes running in between defenders to elicit a tackle, which referees respond to. He is not a fast runner and doesn’t need a high back-lift to riffle home the ball. He could be an unselfish striker, if he finds better placed mates to score goals.

    Past results between Nigeria and Argentina don’t suggest high scoring matches, since both teams’ players know what is at stake. Besides, Aguero is injury-prone. His record of being literarily patched up to make Argentina’s squads to big competitions is legendary. I don’t expect him to recreate his Manchester City form because the Argentines don’t have the kind of quality midfielders (Kevin de Bruyne, Ilkay Gündogan, Fernandinho, Yaya Toure, David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and Oleksandr Zinchenko) which The Citizens in the blue side of Manchester have. Aguero operates best when the supply of passes splits the defence. Indeed, three of Aguero’s goals were goalkeeper’s errors with the last goal, Aguero’s fourth but Manchester City’s fifth, zooming over the head of Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.  Did I hear you sigh? I recognise your worry but I’m sure that goalkeeping won’t be Eagles’ albatross in Russia.

    Aguero won’t be left unmarked by all the countries in Group D in Russia. Marking marksmen comes with crunchy tackles. This is where Aguero has problems coping while playing for Argentina. And when he is injured, the Argentines fall apart, reminiscent of what happened when Nigeria whacked them 4-2 last November in Russia. Aguero was taken to the hospital at half-time, with scores in favour of the Argentines.

    Since that game, the Argentines have been talking, the latest being one of the world’s greatest players, Diego Armando Maradona, who rued the defeat by insisting : ‘’We have no midfield deserving of the name. Today, except for Lionel Messi, people have lost respect for the Argentina team.

    “Nobody is afraid of us. Look at the last game with Nigeria. We almost conceded eight goals. You know what happened in my time in a game like that. But Sampaoli is lucky. If the baby (Messi) is on fire, he will cover for all the mistakes. We have a 60 per cent chance of becoming champions (at the World Cup).

    “Why? Because the others can make up the choir, but they can never replace him as the singer. He’s the only singer. It hurts me a lot, but the reality is that it’s going badly for us and I don’t see a way out. The title would be ‘After Messi what next?’

    “After Messi, there is nothing. It is embarrassing to rely on Icardi. Pipa (Higuain) is 10 times better than Icardi. That guy (Sampaoli) doesn’t know anything, the only thing he knows is what he’s going to eat at his friend’s house. Pipa has to have a new chance.”

    Hahaha, Maradona has added another dimension to the World Cup countdown, with the rascally one stating categorically that the coach isn’t good enough for the stars in the team. Is this the cutting edge Nigeria has to exploit to beat the Argentines? Maradona isn’t a novice in the game. His fears about the players suggest that Higuian, who has been shut out of the squad under Sampoli, will trouble the Nigerians. I’m standing with Maradona on this, given Higuian’s records in Europe.

    Is anyone shocked that Maradona didn’t talk about Aguero, preferring to discuss Higuain? Aguero used to be Maradona’s in-law but that marriage has crashed and Maradona’s daughter is looking elsewhere for marital bliss.

    Higuain scored a brace against Tottenham Hotspurs in one of the UEFA Champions League matches but hit a penalty kick on the upright of the goalpost. This penalty loss prevented him from scoring a hat-trick. Pundits feel strongly that Aguero is a better striker than Higuain and would rather look at Maradona’s submission as expected , considering the animosity between them. There are other Argentines who could also hurt the Eagles, such as Paulo Dybala.

    My excitement is that the Argentines are scared stiff about Eagles’ unpredictable performance. The Nigerians raise their game based on the opposition’s pedigree and it could be dangerous for Argentina, if they flounder in their first two matches. Argentina FA chieftains are miffed that Spanish side FC Barcelona rejected their appeal to sparingly use Argentines in their squad. Laughable; isn’t it? Barca pay their wages and the players should reciprocate with their best performance. Which European team will have Messi and not play him if he is fit? The club fans will cause mayhem, especially if the team loses at home. Barca’s revenue would dwindle if the team falters by doing Argentina FA chiefs’ biddings.

    The La Albiceleste also know that they have two major weaknesses which could cause them problems at Russia 2018. The first is that like Barcelona FC, Argentina relies on Messi’s creativity and goals. The second, Higuain and Aguero seem to have the natural instinct to converge centrally, which starves their game of width, so they may struggle against centrally-packed defences. The Super Eagles would do well to take note of this.

    Suddenly, Nigeria seems to be the country to beat for not just Argentina but Croatia, which is Eagles’ first game on June 16. The Croatians, like the Argentines, finished second behind Iceland in the qualifying series. They know what to expect, leaving Eagles as the underdogs, knowing that the Argentines are veterans of the Mundial.

    ‘’That’s right, but we’re always ambitious, we’re going to be world champions and I respect that,’’ Croatia’s manager Zlatko Dalic told Sportske Novosti.

    ‘’I am ambitious and want to do all the best and the best. The first goal must be to pass the group. The first match against Nigeria will be the decider. They are the key to everything. Then Argentina is where we cannot look for much. They will be the easiest, because we have nothing to lose. The last is against Iceland, and it is possible that everything will be resolved.’’

    The good thing about the pre-World Cup hypes is that our players and indeed the coaches have kept mute, preferring to be modest in their submissions about our chances at the Mundial.

    Nigeria’s biggest weapon towards a hitch-free Mundial is the synergy between the NFF and the coaches on the one hand and rapport between the manager, Gernot Rohr and his players. It is heartening to note that such troublesome areas as the prompt payment of the team’s entitlements have been resolved. We hope that the government would release the team’s cash and not bore us with the talk of a Treasury Single Account (TSA), whose process is cumbersome.

    The 31 other countries don’t have such financial difficulties, knowing the importance of the competition. Government should design a format that will ensure that funds released for sports are brought from the source and accounted for at the end of the competition. Cash earmarked for participating teams is documented on the FIFA website. The extras from gate takings, television rights and merchandising will be made public by FIFA and accessed on the body’s website.

  • Nothing to celebrate

    Nothing to celebrate

    CHAN Eagles players and coaches must have been stunned with the cold reception they got at the Muritala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos Tuesday morning. They must have been wondering if such empty halls would have greeted their arrival, if they came home with the trophy. Such is life. Nobody loves losers. Failures are orphans. If they had beaten the Moroccans to lift the trophy, the celebration would have been wild, unlike what happened Tuesday morning when a few supporters welcomed them back home.

    Of course, there was nothing to celebrate, hence soccer faithful and indeed the media didn’t think being at the Lagos airport lounge as early as 1am for a contingent slated to touch down at 3am was worth their while. Can the players explain how they played without forcing the Moroccans to concede a corner kick? We didn’t play a corner kick against the Moroccans over 90 minutes. Isn’t this strange?

    I wish our coaches and administrators could learn a few lessons from this experience to understand that with Nigeria’s population, only the trophy is good enough for us in any continental sports event, including soccer, obviously our most popular sport. Our coaches and administrators toy with our emotions and insult our sensibilities when they parade the kind of team we saw at the 2018 CHAN in Morocco. We wouldn’t have had any business in the finals, if our two goalkeepers – Ikechukwu Ezenwa (in two games) and Dele Ajiboye in the semi-finals game against Sudan – had not been at their best. It is unthinkable for goalkeepers to be Man-of-the match in games involving Nigeria and soccer minnows Libya, Sudan and Angola, with due respect to their nationals.

    Matches involving Nigeria and the aforementioned countries should be a stroll in the park, given our world rating. Therefore, our coaches and those in charge of the domestic league should begin to see the humiliation in Morocco as a wake-up call to change from their docility and develop the game to the level where it is seen as a business that attracts corporate players. Nigeria’s shambolic outing in Morocco robbed the game of its best opportunity to attract soccer-loving Nigerians to the domestic league.

    Most stadia in the late 70s until the mid 90s were filled, largely because of what they saw from their representatives at big soccer fiestas. It was easy to predict that games involving Shooting Stars and Enugu Rangers would be a box office since their players were our stars in the national teams. Most stadia where Shooting Stars or Enugu Rangers visited for league matches had their tickets sold out because people wanted to see their favourite players in action. they wanted to have autographs and pictures with stars in both teams. Not so anymore. Those who run the domestic league are interested parties in assembling and selecting players and coaches before big competitions.

    It is not true that the Moroccans played with their national team. Only one player from their domestic league is in their World Cup bound team and he grew up in Belgium. he also didn’t play at CHAN. So, no excuses for our humbling by the Moroccans. In fact, had Kenya not lost the hosting rights, perhaps Morocco wouldn’t have taken part in the CHAN tourney. No one should tell us that our team was ill-prepared. Were most of these players not part of last year’s La Liga tour in Spain? Did they not tell us it was part of our preparation for CHAN? Why can’t the league organisers draw a programme that will ensure that our competition aligns with the European leagues? If we didn’t start our league on time, whose fault? The world cannot wait for us. If people don’t know how to run the league beyond massaging their ego, they should step aside. What does it take to run the league from August to May like it is done in other climes? All efforts must be made to end this season’s league before the World Cup begins on June 15. That way we can align our league with others. Those who run our domestic league owe Nigerians an apology.

    Salisu Yusuf is a good coach, given the way he handled some domestic league clubs. The team we saw in Morocco wasn’t Yusuf’s. It was the league cabals’ squad; many of them were taken to Spain last year. Most of the players are targeted to be sold to European clubs, but need one international competition to increase their values in the next transfer window. Yusuf simply erred on the side of caution by fielding what appears to be a permanent list of players in the office of the league organisers. The essence of CHAN is to introduce new players from the grassroots to prominence, yet our team was populated by those who had seen better days in the domestic league and those who had failed in the African and European expeditions in search of the golden fleece.

    The CHAN squad was poor and couldn’t have won the trophy. I just hope those who think the domestic league is theirs have learned the hard way. Sadly, Yusuf couldn’t beat the traps which the system set when a national team is drawn from players in the local scene. Club owners and their ilk in the domestic league should cover their faces in shame, given the shambolic outing of the CHAN Eagles in the final game.

    They have failed to establish a system where the best players emerge weekly and indeed monthly, with these best stars playing against the league leaders at the end of each month. This system would have kept the players busy and provided the platform to pick the best in the league at short notice. So, the argument by supporters of the league organisers that the team was assembled in weeks is bunkum.

    I have suggested this format to the league organisers several times. Since the idea isn’t theirs, it was put aside. I wonder what they tell sponsors and how they hope to leverage on these firms’ sponsorship packages. The league body needs to have a template to evaluate competition to pick the best. Such competitive platforms bring data, which are based on occurrences in the league, not how a coach or club owner feels. It is easy for ardent followers of the EPL to pick England’s first 11. Where there are injuries, they know who to pick because the league has a gauge of performance. The beauty of this kind of system is that nobody tells an ageing player when to quit. He already knows his successor.

    With the way Kane, Dele Alli, Rashford et al are banging in goals in Europe, veteran Wayne Rooney retired from the England side to face club assignments. Not so in Nigeria where players and coaches are recycled.

    I won’t blame the players because they didn’t pick themselves. They played according to the coaches’ instructions. The coaches are blaming injuries for last Sunday’s. shameful show, That is laughable; they ought to have picked talented players, especially the utility ones who can play in more than one position. That is why there is a 23-man squad for tournaments.

    It is sickening to note that domestic league players aren’t good enough for the country’s world Cup, largely because the regulators of the game have failed to enforce the rules. A situation where players are owed salaries won’t attract foreigners to our league. In the past, foreign players, such as Edward Ansa, Lotis Boateng, et al, played in our league. Others, such as Boateng played for Nigeria, even as a Ghanaian. Edema Fuludu went to the World Cup as a home-based player even as he combined playing soccer with his Business Administration course at the University of Benin, Benin City. Today, Edema is a Masters degree holder in that discipline. I won’t be shocked to learn that he paid his fees from playing the game. Imagine if salaries were being owed at that time?

    It is ridiculous that the league regulators couldn’t find the time to inspect the stadia where matches would be played before the season. Footages from live matches have shown disgraceful pitches that are like deserts. Lush green pitches add to the look-and-feel of the stadia on television, especially when players slide on them in celebration. Can our players slide on such bumpy and balding pitches?

    Our players won’t beat others if the quality of coaching in the league is poor. The regulators must raise the stakes for coaches in the elite class. Coaches must be trained and not just because they played the game. If it means clubs getting foreign coaches to help raise the bar of coaching, they should do so. Our coaches are contented in being recycled by indolent clubs who want to run as charity homes and not as businesses.

    Governors who own these clubs should assign competent administrators and coaches to these clubs, if they hope to recoup their investments. It is sad to watch governors who own clubs patronise foreign clubs, yet their players and coaches are unpaid.

  • Iheanacho and Owen’s whine

    Iheanacho and Owen’s whine

    England’s poster boy to the France ’98 World Cup, Michael Owen (at 18 years and 190 days), was furious on television when he analysed one of the Emirates FA Cup matches between host Peterborough and Leicester. The Foxes won the game 5-1, with Nigerian international Kelechi Iheanacho scoring a brace. Owen was miffed that Iheanacho scored his second goal when there was a better placed striker to jab the ball into an empty net. Owen, you will never walk alone. Owen hit the limelight playing for Liverpool.

    Owen’s goal against Argentina still headlines some of the greatest goals scored at the World Cup, given his age and enterprise, until England exited the competition. He waltzed past three Argentines in a dribbling run, which began from almost the centre circle, before driving the ball beyond the goalkeeper to score the wonder goal. Owen scored this audacious goal, among others, because he thought he had the dribbling skills to bang in goals. Would it be appropriate now to ask Owen why he didn’t lay the pass to a better placed teammate, Paul Scholes, to score? Owen chose to finish what he started, even at the risk of kicking Scholes’ leg.

    Owen’s pace and dribbling runs were his weapons, which he used optimally, irrespective of the fact that there were several times he had better placed mates to pass the ball to. Whenever he took on those dazzling runs, he had one thought – score a goal. And this came to him like his second nature.

    I’m a Liverpool fan. I don’t know where to start listing how many times Owen committed the mistake for which he scolded Iheanacho. I can recall that one of the top class coaches (I don’t remember his name) said the hallmark of a striker is to be selfish, insisting that he sets his sight on where the goalpost is and how well placed or otherwise the goalkeeper is for him to know where to place the ball. The top tactician argued that the striker, on seeing the player who initiates the move, dashes towards the openings in the defence to receive the ball, which he despatches into the net.

    Owen was a world class striker. His daring moves and crosses resulted in goals for Liverpool, England and every club he played for. Owen brought joy to Liverpool fans. It would be unkind to slam such a great star, especially when his comments were spot on, except that Iheanacho scored the goal. If the Nigerian hadn’t scored, he would have lost his shirt. Owen, will you blame Iheanacho for taking the chance to score the goals, considering the fact that he rarely gets to play for Leicester City?

    Iheanacho needs to score goals if he hopes to excel at the Mundial playing for Nigeria. He represents those players discovered from the grassroots competitions organised by FIFA. Playing at the Mundial, a few years after emerging the best player at the FIFA U-17 World Cup, reinforces the need for FIFA’s 210-member nations to develop the game at the grassroots.

    Four goals in less than a week is commendable, although many would wish that he left Leicester for a team where a first team shirt is guaranteed. Iheanacho has been a victim of the change of guards at the Foxes. The manager who recruited him was sacked, making it imperative for the new coach to pick his men, perhaps due to a change in tactics. Iheanacho has been given the task of marshalling the Foxes’ attacking onslaught for the English FA Cup. Good enough. But it would be nice to give the Nigerian a chance to show his stuff in the English Premier League.

    The biggest relief for Rohr would be that his strikers are scoring goals, although he would also wish that they are not injured before the June 16 opening game against Croatia. Indeed, Odion Ighalo was spectacular with his Chinese side, Changchun Yatai, scoring in the first half, with his side whipping FC Sfintuk Gheorghe 3-0. Ighalo told the international press he was excited to be back to scoring ways. He wants to concentrate on being fit for the new season, obviously with the Mundial in mind.

    I’m glad that Eagles manager Gernot Rohr followed our players’ movement during the transfer window. His warning to Iheanacho and Ahmed Musa culminated in the latter’s return to CSKA Moscow in Russia, where he excelled. Of course, CSKA didn’t hesitate to register their former player for the Europa League competition. CSKA’s fans are excited with Musa’s return, knowing that the club will benefit immensely from the Nigerian’s speed.

    The transfer market was good for Nigerians, with Eagles right wing back Shehu Abdullahi completing the move to Turkish outfit Bursaspor in the January window. Abdullahi’s move sets the stage for the biggest fight for the right wing back position, where Ola Aina has done remarkably well for Hull City, scoring goals, aside defending stoutly.

    Brown Ideye has been given a lifeline in quest for a shirt in the Eagles, with his loan move to Malaga in Spain, after his uneventful sojourn in the Chinese league. Rohr would monitor Ideye during Spanish league matches. Another Nigerian, Isaac Success, has moved on loan from Barclays English Premier League side Watford FC to Malaga.

    Malaga offers Success the biggest opportunity to revive his career, having played for another Spanish side, Granada, where he was voted the club’s best player during the 2015/16 season.

    The 22-year-old, who joined the Hornets for a record £12.5 million in the summer of 2016/17, failed to fulfil his huge potential in England, having scored just once in 20 appearances for the club.

    Eagles’ midfielders cannot afford to be bench warmers because it is any team’s engine room. Hence, the news that Nigeria forward Oghenekaro Etebo moved to struggling La Liga side UD Las Palmas, from Portuguese side CD Feirense, was refreshing. This means that he will be playing regularly since his recruitment is meant to strengthen the Spanish side. Etebo must utilise his La Liga matches with Las Palmaras to get  better deals from other clubs after the World Cup.

    I won’t join the motley crowd of those who want Elderson Echiejile out of the Eagles. Echiejile isn’t the Eagles’ weakest link. Our star players who play on the left side never fall back to mark when we lose ball possession. Sadly, most teams have identified this weakness and exploited it. I really don’t understand why Victor Moses, for instance, doesn’t like to fall back to mark when he loses the ball, yet that is his biggest ace at Chelsea. Our players must play as a unit if they hope to block this leakage. Moses’ yeoman efforts for Chelsea account for the club’s victories when he plays.

    Barcelona FC don’t have outstanding defenders because of their collective approach to their matches. As soon as they lose the ball, at least four players close up on the opponent with the ball. Most times, they gain possession within the next 12 metres. This style of play ensures that Barca dominates play and scores goals with aplomb. Moses, John Mikel Obi, Odion Ighalo et al should be taught how to mark to win the ball back, not shadow mark or escort the opponents to score against us. Oguenyi Onazi and Alex Iwobi are exemplary in marking the nearest opponents when we lose the ball.

    One player who has leaned from the transfer market is Mikel, and he showed it when he shunned entreaties from clubs, such Everton, Marseille and especially Fenerbahce, which offered a €3-million Euros per year deal till June 2020. Mikel opted to remain with Chinese side Tianjin TEDA. He is sure of a regular shirt if he is fit. He knows that it will be foolhardy to go for the cash in place of a regular shirt in a World Cup year, with a team where he is the captain.

    I hope that others can take a cue from Mikel to pick clubs where they are sure of regular shirts.

     

    Goalkeepers’ tournament

    Nigeria’s team B are in the finals of the CHAN tournament against Morocco, with the heroics of our goalkeepers highlighting our last three matches. But for the sharp reflexes of goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa, the CHAN Eagles would have lost the two games against Libya and Angola, where we came back  from a goal deficit to win both games 2-1.

    The argument by proponents of the domestic league that the goalkeepers are part of the team is laughable. Goals make matches exciting. Our CHAN Eagles’ performances have been nerve-wrenching, with many people abandoning the games in the closing stages due to tension.

    When Ezenwa got injured, most people pondered if we had a better goalkeeper. I told those who were watching the game with me that if the coaches introduced Ajiboye as Ezenwa’s replacement, he would be our saviour. ‘’Ajiboye!’’ many shouted. I reminded them of Ajiboye’s exploits at the U-17 World Cup where he was voted the best goalkeeper of the tournament, ahead of Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea of Spain. A few believed me. They feared that he was rusty.

    Ajiboye was superb. He saved two point blank shots that ensured that we qualified for the final, notwithstanding the fact we played with 10 men for close to 35 minutes. The Sudanese eventually got a red in the 85th minute.

    Aside our two goalkeepers, CHAN eagles look like a disaster waiting to happen, with they have played. Well, they could rise to the big stage on Sunday and shock the Moroccans. it is possible. Good luck CHAN Eagles. Up Nigeria!

  • Eagles… just before the World Cup

    Eagles… just before the World Cup

    In the past, the talk about the European leagues centred on which three or five teams would win the trophy across the big leagues – Barclays English Premier League, German Bundesliga, Spanish La Liga and Italian Serie A. Other leagues, such as the Scottish League, Belgian league etc don’t attract pundits’ and fans’ attention, perhaps because their representatives in the UEFA Champions League don’t make the kind of impact made by the bigger leagues in England, Germany and Spain. Clubs use the January transfer window to strengthen their squads for the second half of the competitions. But the three big leagues have runaway winners that would only lose the trophy if something disastrous happens. And it isn’t looking like such a thing would happen because other contenders are losing to smaller teams. The big teams draw on weekends when these leaders extend their leads on the table.

    Bayern Munich has established a 16-point gap in the German Bundesliga, Manchester City has a 12-point difference to second placed Manchester United, with the Manchester return leg derby a few weeks away, and Barcelona are untouchable with 11 points difference from the second placed Atletico Madrid in the Spanish La Liga. Don’t ask me about Real Madrid, which is languishing in the 10th position, 19 points adrift of Barca.  There are at least 17 matches left in some of the leagues, but the leaders have made their homes a fortress aside the fact that they know how to beat the strugglers in their leagues. But, with football, everything is possible. We wait.

    Barring a likely upset of the seeming runaway winners, Manchester City of England, the battle for the second, third and fourth positions has become more exciting, perhaps, because of the pedigree of the teams in the race. The five teams to compete for the top four in England, assuming City are uncrowned champions, are Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal. Only three of the five will join Manchester City as England’s representatives in the 2018/2019 UEFA Champions League.

    Manchester City looks like the best team in Europe, with the scintillating skills exhibited  by their players, although many pundits expected such exciting games from clubs handled by Pep Guardiola. Until Guardiola moved to England, purists didn’t think he had the tactical savvy to dominate the English game the way Manchester City is doing. And with less than four months to the end of the season, it won’t be out of place if Guardiola’s Manchester City win at least three titles, with the EPL diadem almost theirs. When last did an English team annexe the three trophies in one season?

    No team has ever won the domestic treble in England. I look forward to Manchester City breaking the jinx this season. Will Manchester City annexe the three big competitions (EPL, Caraboa Cup and the English FA Cup) in England? These three competitions produce the representatives in England for Europe next season.

    I’m scared to pick the top four in England, knowing that the beautiful game is unpredictable, with the relegation strugglers ruffling the feathers of title contenders like we saw on Monday when Swansea beat Liverpool 1-0. It was an upset for Swansea, given what Liverpool did to Manchester City at Anfield penultimate Sunday to end the Citizens’ 22-match unbeaten run. Penultimate Saturday, Bournemouth shocked Arsenal with a 2-1 win. The Gunners have added  new players, such as, Henrikh Mkhitaryan to the side to improve their chances of making the Top Four in May. Mkhitaryan swapped places with Sanchez, a move which gave him a new lease of life at Manchester United. Will Arsenal succeed in its quest for Gabonese star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borrussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga?

    The European leagues appear decided over which teams would lift the diadems, although attention has now been shifted to the battles among relegation threatened clubs. But the talk in Europe is the avalanche of goals scored by World Cup players for their clubs to show that they are ready for the big stage in Russia in June.

    The European leagues are full of goal scorers from countries heading for the Russia 2018 World Cup, such as Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero of Argentina (16 goals), Brazil’s Gabriel Jesus (eight goals), England’s Raheem Sterling (14 goals), Germany’s Leroy Sane (seven goals), Spain’s David Silva (five goals) and Kevin de Bruyne (six goals).

    The other big scorers in the European leagues are England’s Harry Kane (21 goals), Argentina’s Lionel Messi (19 goals), Egypt’s Mohamed Salah (18 goals), Argentina’s Sergio Agüero (16 goals), Uruguay’s Luis Suárez (15 goals) England’s Raheem Sterling (14 goals) Argentina’s Gonzalo Higuain (nine), Argentine Angel Di Maria (five goals) and Argentina’s Paulo Dybala (14 goals). One of these goal scorers could win the Golden Boot, although one new name could pop up, except that such a striker may not be playing for the eventual World Cup winner. Most of the prominent strikers would be tightly marked.

    My worry for the Super Eagles is that the Argentines have scored 63 goals, considering what Messi, Aguero, Dybala, Higuain and Di Maria did in the Europe this season. Eagles stepped on the python’s tail by beating Argentina 4-2 in Russia last November. The Argentines have vowed to avenge the loss. Nigeria’s last group game at the Mundial is against Argentina and the Argentines will put in their all to win, especially as many of them have attributed the 4-2 loss to Messi’s absence. Will the task be too big for Messi to carry?  No way. Messi is a Trojan of such fight-back wars. In fact, he excels in such games. This is why he is easily the world’s best player, depending on the divide you are.

    I have chosen a comparison with Argentina because I know that the last game would make or mar the chance of either of the teams to qualify. The World Cup is replete with stories of fallen heroes, with the last casualties being the Spaniards, who fell like a pack of cards, despite being the defending champions at the Brazil 2014 World Cup. The Argentines have a poor record with Africans at the Mundial. Nigeria won’t be an exception, after the Eagles broke the yoke in Russia last year.

    The Argentines won’t forget Cameroon in a hurry, considering how they fell to the Indomitable Lions 1-0 at the Italia ’90 World Cup. The Argentines were defending World Cup champions. The legend Diego Armando Maradona was playing, but the Cameroonians demystified him and his men. Can the Eagles  rise to the occasion and make it count when it matters? Yes. They are younger than the Roger Milla-led side, though the Argentines have Messi, who has rightly replaced Maradona, he isn’t controversial, which makes him more devastating in front of the goalpost.

    Do the Eagles have the defenders to stop Messi? They need not have them, if they play as a unit by ensuring that everyone marks as soon as possession is lost. The Argentines are not spectacular in defending. They may have problems handling our attack, but it is in the midfield the Eagles should dominate to get the desired result. With Messi, there won’t be any comeback from goals deficit. So, the Eagles must gird their loins to survive.

    If we use goals scored by the Argentines to measure how the Eagles would fare against them, it will be no contest. But, with football, there are two kinds of players- the club player and the national team star. Nigerian players get their best playing for Nigeria – if properly motivated. With the plans made by NFF chieftains, the Sports Minister and the government, our players won’t lack anything. So, Argentina, beware.

    Kelechi Iheanacho’s sterling performance against Fleetwood Town, penultimate Tuesday, opened the floodgate of goals by other Nigerians in the European leagues. What makes soccer beautiful is the number of goals scored. The fans are excited. The fans’ post-match analyses are hinged on top performance, especially players who scored goals. Iheanacho had been written off as a non-performer at Leicester City, despite his £25 million transfer from Manchester City based on his bench role with the Foxes. His absence from the pitch raised eyebrows. Iheanacho cannot field himself in Leicester’s first 11.

    Alex Iwobi and Victor Moses also scored goals for Arsenal and Chelsea penultimate weekend, sending signals that they are ready. It is better late than never. Let’s hope that our players will keep scoring in the weeks leading to the Mundial. It is good that those of them who are not regulars want to move to clubs where they can play regularly. The Argentines know Musa, who outran them in Nigeria’s last World Cup outing against Argentina, scoring two goals with the Eagles’ counter-attack style. We lost 3-2, but Messi still found time to crack jokes with goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama each time he stopped the Argentine’s tricky shots.9