The Nation Newspaper

Category: Ade Ojeikere

  •  Stadia of violence

    Poor Shehu Dikko. The boss of the League Management Company (LMC) is working his socks wet to reposition the domestic league, with the signing of mouth-watering packages geared towards making the practitioners enjoy what they are doing. Dikko has taken his innovations to Europe to showcase the domestic league to the world.

    These innovations have been rubbished by some criminals who have exploited the laxity in security across the country’s stadia to maim people, especially the referees. It must be said here that only indigenes can cause mayhem and go scot free. This is why nothing serious has been done to arrest the dastardly acts. I hope we are not waiting until a referee is killed before we set up the usual panel to find out why it happened. Now is the time to act.

    I’m not surprised that roughnecks have seized match venues, largely because most of the match commissioners are weak. They don’t have the character to assert their authority before, during and after matches. These match commissioners are too friendly with club officials. They close their eyes to certain laxities in the security arrangement. Otherwise, how have these mayhems gone without the hoodlums being caught inside the stadia?

    Perhaps, this is the time to ask the Inspector General of Police whose duty it is to ensure adequate security in any gathering. How come the police are disinterested in securing our match venues, knowing that football is an emotional game where some criminals can take the laws into their hands?

    Dear Inspector General of Police, the thugs, roughnecks, and urchins storm the stadium with raised chests, warning that they are around and not scared to repeat the mayhem. This impunity won’t occur if security operatives whisk them away for punishment. Others will behave properly. The IGP should, as matter of urgency, ask his units in the states where matches are played to immediately storm these venues before a referee is killed simply because some fans are unhappy with a match rule. Teams which suffer from such unruly behaviour return home to await their hosts in the second leg game.

    Sadly, the league chiefs are poor students of history. Otherwise, venues that are notorious for violence ought to have been locked up or matches held there shown live on television. With matches shown live, it would be much easier to spot these criminals and their acolytes from replays after the violence.

    Such stadia should be locked for one year as the rules provide for. The club should be denied revenue from its home games – one of the consequences of being banned. A club that plays over 28 matches outside its home will definitely be better behaved after serving the ban. Such clubs’ managements must source for cash to travel, feed, accommodate their players and provide other logistics. The burden of such expenses would compel clubs owners to be orderly.

    Until club chairmen and their board members are prosecuted and jailed for not producing the hoodlums who harm referees and spectators, these buffoons would continue to make league venues death traps and not recreation centres. How would as many as 40 able-bodied men use all manner of weapons on a hapless referee, a woman, in Bauchi, who gets no help from anybody?

    I’m sad that the referee who suffers the most would get N250,000 and perhaps the urchins are made to pay for their missing phones and wristwatches. What is that? Is that what his life is worth? How would such a referee be firm next time, knowing the pains he went through? The referee deserves to be paid N2 million because the bodily harm suffered on that day may trigger untold illnesses. You never can tell. Three referees could be paid up to N6 million. It would be difficult for board members of such clubs to defend this when tendering their statements of accounts to their sponsors at the end of the season.

    The LCM, through a bilateral relationship with the La Liga in Spain, took coaches and players to interface with their Spanish counterparts in a bid to increase the capacity of the coaches. The players saw firsthand how the game is administered. They played with some of the greats they watched on television. What this experience meant to them is better imagined. But for sure, it has improved their skills and changed their mentality towards the game. This tour raised hope among the players and coaches that they can earn a living playing the game. The administrators saw how things are done, such that they can replicate them here.

    Rather than help to improve the quality of the game in terms of getting the fans to appreciate the results of matches in a sportsmanlike manner, these initiatives have become wasted. Some beasts have chosen to bring the domestic game to disrepute by maiming match referees and those who dare to call them to order.

    The LMC has done a lot in meting out punishment promptly. But it appears the body must ensure such violent acts are treated as criminal offence, so that those caught are made to face the wrath of the law.

    The Dikko administration has made clubs to see players’ and coaches’ welfare as a necessity. The LMC has made the payment of players and coaches a right not a privilege such that only three clubs are indebted to their wards.

    Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) took referees, FA chairmen, coaches, key stakeholders on a refresher course in London, where it was discovered that many of our coaches were analogue compliant. The English trainers were shocked that some of them couldn’t operate a computer. They were awed to see top rated coaches mope at the computers. They drew diagrams on notebooks. Laughable! Please don’t laugh. It explains why our domestic league winners flounder at the continental levels.

    The best form of security is the referee. But the referees must have the right environment to interpret the laws of the game appropriately. A situation where referees have to meander through the route where irate fans could easily descend on them is condemnable.

    Indeed, the stadium designs expose the referees, players, and coaches to assaults from the fans. Sadly, match commissioners who should insist on clearing fans within the inner perimeters of stadia look the other way. They are ones to pelt the first stone. These intruders’ unholy acts spur those sitting in the stands to cause mayhem.

    We shouldn’t wait until deaths are recorded in the stadia before taking appropriate actions. Match commissioners must insist on having 80 policemen to man security. The LMC must get the Commissioners of Police in the states where games are held to post their men to the stadia. The few security operatives seen in most stadia are supporters of clubs. You see them where referees are molested but no arrests are made. Where arrests are made, eminent personalities influence prosecuted in the law courts.

    The LMC has taken many of these urchins to court, with few let off the hook or given a slap on the wrist. But with the magnitude of injuries inflicted on referees, the three fans caught in Bauchi should be allowed to go through the court process. The media must follow this case to its logical conclusion.

    The backlash from the fans’ misdemeanours explains why the league is struggling to have a sponsor. Dikko et al have done well to reinvent the workings of the league. But these criminals’ invasion at match venues is a big smear on the game.

     

    The English game begins

    Over one billion pounds has been spent by Barclays English Premier League clubs for the 2017/2018 season, which begins today. And with 20 days to the end of the European transfer window, pundits are wondering if this massive expenditure would translate to some spectacular displays by the new recruits.

    Indeed, the figures could increase to 1.5 billion pounds mark, if the much-touted move of Liverpool’s midfield gem Phillipe Coutinho to Barcelona comes to fruition. The Spanish side has decided to spend the bulk of what they received from Paris Saint Germain for Neymar on Coutinho. But whispers from Anfield suggest that Coutinho’s absence from the Reds’ last matches has to be because of a backache. Will Coutinho join Barca? Time will tell.

    As for Manchester City and Manchester United, their massive investments in new players leave them as the odds on favourite for the title. Both teams have world class managers who understand the dynamics of rebuilding their teams. I expect these two teams to take the race for the title to the wire, not forgetting Chelsea, the defending champions, Liverpool and Arsenal’s quest to leave Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola ruing why they spent so much cash on new players. Arsenal and Liverpool are the teams to watch this season. They appear lightweight in their squads but the two teams are best playing sides in the EPL. It will take some time for the Manchester teams to blend. This season will witness a fight to the finish for the top four positions.

    As for newcomers Brighton, Huddersfield and Newcastle, two of them may return to the lower league if they don’t fortify their squads. I see only Newcastle remaining of the three, largely because of the stature and technical savvy of their manager Rafa Benitez. Stoke, Watford, Swansea and West Bromwich Albion must gird their loins if they don’t want to be demoted. Let the most exciting league in Europe begin.

  • The leap forward

    Nigeria international Kelechi Iheanacho must be ruing how he got it all wrong with his move to Europe. He will be looking for who to blame for his transfer crises. He won’t consider himself as his biggest problem because he had people to guide him, but he was carried away by the rave reviews he got from the international media.

    Iheanacho was a star everyone saw shortly before the U-17 World Cup, following his incredible skills at the Africa U-17 Championships. It was easy to guess that he would run the unholy path of former Golden Eaglets after he emerged the best player and highest goal scorer with six goals at the FIFA U-17 World Cup. The Eaglets won the trophy. Iheanacho became the star every club wanted.

    Smart agents lured Iheanacho into several deals. He started receiving calls from scouts from European clubs he wanted to handle his move out of Nigeria. He should have asked questions, but didn’t know who to speak with. I won’t blame him or his father, who later stepped in when things started going awry. They were inexperienced to handle some of the intricacies of European clubs’ contracts. They were seeing some of the agents for the first time and wouldn’t have known who to deal with.

    Ordinarily, such exceptional stars’ future should be handled by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). I recall that the Nigerian government has always tagged winning Golden Eaglets’ squads as government properties. Sadly, our players have chosen to carry their crosses, only to seek the face of the government and the NFF when they are stuck in their movement out of the country.

    Will our budding talents learn to trust the NFF? I don’t think so, with the Federation’s image battered by unfounded tales. I say so because no NFF chief has been jailed for any wrongdoing. Or is it that no one can say that the federation’s chiefs have been corrupt? It is the players whose careers have been truncated by shylock agents who hold the wrong end of the stick. Nigeria is worse off because boys who should have blossomed to be world stars retire from the game in penury, even as their agents smiling to the bank.

    Transfer rules are sacrosanct. They have been operated by the 211 countries affiliated to FIFA, Nigeria inclusive. One of the rules specifies the layers of authority, beginning from the football academies, youth clubs, clubs and the federation, leading to such players’ transfer to Europe. The importance of these layers of authority is to ensure that the player gets his dues. It also ensures credible documentation where any aggrieved party can exploit all the channels of seeking redress. If unsatisfied, such a player could head for the courts, if he suspects any foul play.

    Iheanacho was Under-17 when he hit the limelight. It isn’t right for an underage to sign a document on his future, simply because he is talented. Such documents shouldn’t be given to young boys in academies since most of them hardly pay the boys any form of remuneration. These kids enjoy playing the game. Their parents aren’t too worried because playing soccer takes them off societal vices.

    Why should academies ask for cash on boys they didn’t pay salaries? What happens to FIFA’s provision for academies when such players get deals in Europe? What image right does an under-aged player have? Such breaches exist because some coaches and NFF members are fronting for European clubs. They break the rules, which lead to large scale sharps practices when it comes to international transfer of players. Or is it not only the NFF that can issue ITC to players to play outside the country?

    The way forward is for the NFF board to get its international department to computerise its operations, such that it would be easy to capture movement of players. The board’s members should institute a law which forbids academies from inviting foreigners into the country to do football business without NFF’s approval. There should be a list of approved agents, scouts, managers, as it is on FIFA’s on their website to guide players and their parents.

    It smacks of a gross aberration for academies to unilaterally take players out of the country for football business. Such academies must be proscribed and their matter taken to FIFA. This flaw in NFF’s international department is responsible for all the falsification of players’ documents. Such sharp practices in the international department explains why players would easily ask if you want the football ages or their real ages, if you try to find out their dates of births.

    What will it cost NFF to alert FIFA about the illegal routes through which unscrupulous agents take our budding talents to Europe, Asia and the Diaspora? Any transfer without NFF’s seal of authorisation is illegal, using FIFA’s rule book. How come ours is different? Or does the NFF’s competitions department not have the data of these talents? If yes, how about those who have played for the country?

    We cannot continue to be the laughing stock over issues that can be resolved using FIFA rules. 

     

    National Sports Festivals

    Sportsmen and women looked forward to the biannual National Sports Festival with one goal – to excel by winning medals for their states, which ultimately guarantees them the path to represent Nigeria at international sporting competitions. Indeed, states ensure that competitions are held at the grassroots, largely through catch-them-young programmes and the traditional sports tournaments.

    Sports thrived in the past through the synergy between the states’ ministry of education and the sports ministry. After all budding stars abound in the 774 local government areas.

    The states’ Sports Council coaches are drafted to those areas to fish out talents, after getting offices and accommodation for those assigned to discover new talents. These new kids on the block were invited to camp to prepare for the National Sports Festivals.

    The festival was a spectacle because the venues were fixed – inside the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos. No stories. Most governors or administrators of yore, ensured that athletes’ welfare and remunerations were top priority. Some went to the extent of training with them and eating their meals. This relationship emboldened the athletes to give their best. Of course, those who excelled were adequately rewarded with certificates signed by the governors and cash. Those who wanted to combine schooling with sports were given scholarships.

    I wonder what the governors discuss at their meetings beyond looking for cash to run their campaign programmes. I wish some of the governors realised that sports is the biggest public relations tool that they need to mobilise the people. I wonder if governors know that it is their duty to ensure that the people can use sport to improve on their health.

    The governors should reinvent the industry in the states to convince investors to key into the business of sports. The National Sports Festival was tagged Nigeria’s Olympic Games and it attracted our best athletes and new ones to compete. The National Stadium and other centres were filled to capacity.

    Many people in the nooks and crannies of the country who partook looked forward to visiting Lagos as it afforded the opportunity of seeing structures that were not in the states. Inside the bus, we looked downwards to see vehicular movement while we were cruising on the flyover bridges. Those of us who had cameras took memorable pictures. We prided ourselves as having been to the country’s commercial nerve centre and capital in the 1970s.

    All that glamour and camaraderie is gone. The National Sports Festival was held in 2012, interestingly in Lagos – courtesy of the interest of former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola.

    Since that time, it has been tales of the unexpected, with Cross Rivers Government offering all kinds of reasons why the sports fiesta is on its knees. The athletes have been training since 2012 till date, with no word from the owners of the event, the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

    The importance of the festival is best appreciated by the need to build new facilities around the country. States which hosted the event in the past are still benefitting from some of the facilities built, although most of them are derelict, no thanks to the dearth of competitions.

    I’m sure that if the governors prioritise the festival, it will hold biannually even if the owners of the event don’t know what to do. One of the things that the private sector needs to splash their cash on the festival is the concern of government. And, of course, what they stand to gain from investing in it. Tax relief to sports friendly firms is one of the ways to get them to key into the sporting industry.

    It hurts when Nigeria rushes to convince Nigeria-born athletes to represent us. It amounts to a slap on our faces when such Nigeria-born stars who shunned us in their prime, accept our offer in the twilight of their careers.

  • New helmsmen and old ways

    The deafening noise from the election grounds of the 31 sporting federations shows why Nigerians like to acquire positions without preparing for them. I have been excited since the results of the exercise were published because most of the winners were previous critics of the sacked boards.

    What we have in most federations are cliques from the past who would soon realise that there is a big gulf between being a critic and providing the enabling environment to make sports thrive. What most of these federations’ politicians don’t understand is that the national federations are clearing houses.

    Which of the national federations owns athletes or pays their emoluments? How developed are sporting bodies in the 36 States and Abuja, when compared to the storm associated with the electoral process at the national level, thus far? The states discover, nurture and expose the players, pay the coaches and provide the facilities which they train with. Does any Federation have a sporting complex where athletes train?

    The Sports minister should include in the rules the condition that aspirants must show what they have done for sports at the grassroots. And how well are their states’ associations run?

    There may be some aspirants, such as the new President of the Nigeria Badminton Federation (NBF), Barrister Francis Orbih, who is an Edo State indigene but has developed the game tremendously in Lagos State. In Orbih’s case, Nigeria is his constituency but what he has done explains why lovers of Badminton voted resoundingly for him as the president. The new president has started on an excellent note, with the Lagos International Badminton Classics, which ends today at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium.

    The transition for badminton is seamless because Orbih has a relationship with sports friendly companies. This relationship is reinforced by the fact that Orbih accounts for cash that he receives. The firms also have returns on their investments, devoid of conflicts among members or allegations of fraud during competitions.

    For Orbih, getting support from firms comes with showing prospecting companies what the federations did in the past. A telephone call from these prospects to those doing business with the federation is the seal for sponsorship.

    Otherwise, what would one say about a new federation boss seeking for take-off grants to run the judo federation at a time when people are canvassing for less involvement of the government in sports? If the judo federation chief had Orbih’s pedigree, he won’t be making such medieval times requests. The government should be involved in providing the facilities and creating the enabling environment for the sporting industry to thrive. Not forgetting the government’s responsibility to bankroll the country’s representatives to international tournaments.

    The President of the Nigeria Judo Federation, NJF, Prince Timothy Nsirim was quoted in the Vanguard to have said: “I want to appeal to the Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, to give us take off grants so as to enable us to kick start our programme.

    “I am not only speaking for myself but also for other Federation Presidents, most especially the first timers, because this is not the best time to woo the private sector as majority of them are done with their budgets for the year.”

    “I don’t expect the Minister to give us the grant and go to sleep but to set up a committee to monitor how the grant is spent to ensure accountability,” he said.

    We don’t need federations’ members who cannot think outside the box. We want proactive members who will see the running of the federations from the prism of business albeit building a brand which marketers can package for the corporate world to support.

    There isn’t any sport in the world that isn’t run as a business in countries with administrators who know their onions. Our federations’ chieftains must think of what they can do for sports not what they can get. If they cannot think of what to do, they can seek advice from their continental and international affiliates for the blueprint to make the difference. Otherwise, they should quit for others with the vision for sports to blossom. The government should never spoon-feed any Federation with cash. The members should do the needful. I wonder what they promised during their campaigns. We are tired of having feeding bottle administrators running sports here. It is about time we exploited the marketing windows in sports to run the industry.

    I’m glad the Muhammadu Buhari administration won’t give freebies to indolent sports administrators. I won’t be surprised if Nigeria becomes a pariah sporting nation. Those masquerading as new leaders don’t see the job as a business but one in which they will aspire into federations’ international bodies, even if Nigeria doesn’t participate in competitions.

    I won’t be surprised if Nigerians depart from here to other countries in order to sustain their quest to earn a living from sports. Not many of these members can tell us what they have done for their sports in the states or for their Alma Mater. Who do some of these members know in the corporate world? How do blue-chip firms relate with people who would be seeking their support through proxies? Did I hear you say that era of marketers making more cash than the federations are here? Don’t bet against the fact that some of these marketers will be friends and relations of top members of the federations concerned?

    Not all the new boards will grope in the dark. It is heartening to note that Barrister Wahid Enitan Oshodi participated in the emergence of the new man in the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Engineer Ishaku Tikon. This means that there is a synergy between the new and the old. We don’t expect any acrimony between the two men just as we anticipate deliberate attempts to sustain the gains of the past.

    Companies sponsoring table tennis will happily consolidate on their contributions, having interfaced with the new helmsman when Oshodi was in charge. The players will have confidence in the new man, who should know that Aruna Quadri needs a competent coach to improve on his game.

    Tikon’s biggest legacy will be to get Quadri a good coach because he can be the world’s best table tennis player. Quadri has beaten most of the good hands. Tears drip down my face anytime he loses matches he should have won, only if he had a good coach. Oshodi has set the template to produce budding stars. I feel strongly that with a good coach, many of the younger players could beat Quadri’s records.

    The emergence of these “feeding bottle” members in the various federations may have put paid to the glorious era of the likes of Reverend Moses Iloh of the then Cycling Federation. In Iloh’s time as the Cycling Federation chairman, he used his clout and influence in the corporate world to fund (and get sponsorships for) the association’s programmes. Cycling became a prominent sport then because of its various events. The federation had a busy calendar. Of course, this came about with the calibre of the chairman. This Reverend gentleman, I can boldly say, positioned his federation to attain glorious heights in the sporting arena.

    Since Iloh left that position, what has happened to the Cycling federation? What has happened to the equipment corporate bodies donated to the association? What has been the calendar of the association? Granted that those types of equipment would have been obsolete by now, but if, had the association had another leader with Iloh’s clout, such equipment would have been replaced by other sponsors.  This explains why we do not need “feeding bottle” members in our sports federations.

    Don’t blame me if I don’t dwell so much on the basketball and athletics federations. I don’t know what the combatants in these two federations want. I can’t understand why they can’t sit in a closet and appreciate the bigger picture – ensuring that Nigeria qualifies for the Olympics. It will be a big shame if Nigeria doesn’t qualify for the men’s basketball event in Tokyo 2020. Our target should be for both the male and female teams to be in Tokyo. That is the proper way to measure growth, going forward.

    For athletics, the stakeholders must return to the era where Americans chased our boys, girls and kids with scholarships, which helped them to improve on their performances. Any athletics body that fails to get an athlete to win an individual gold medal at the Olympics has failed. We achieved that feat in 1996, over 21 years ago.

    One is miffed at how ex-internationals would allow a sport that brought them fame to be enmeshed in needless controversies. One would have thought that with their emergence as members there would be stability in both federations.

    Now that FIBA, the international basketball federation, has given Nigeria till November 30 to resolve her crisis, I hope and pray that national interests will take precedence over administrators’ ego. The dunking game has lately attracted quality sponsors, which should not be diminished because this platform can provide a means of livelihood for all basketball players. It is important to remind those heating up the polity in basketball that Hakeem ‘The Dream’ Olajuwon started his rise to stardom on the courts at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos. This tradition must be sustained, not destroyed.

  • New dawn for African soccer

    New dawn for African soccer

    Soccer is an enchanting game. You get hooked unwittingly, after a passing interest. What pulls the faithful to the beautiful game is the passion. The ecstasy of the crowd; the noise when players exhibit incredible skills. The roof tops are almost blown off when goals are scored.

    Scoring of goals is the crescendo of the game. You cannot miss backslaps and hugs among supporters. And the celebration styles are enthralling, although such celebrations could end in a fiasco, if the losing sides have drunken members.

    The game is exciting because the organisers always have innovations to reduce some of the complaints from the fans. New rules, such as goal-line technology, golden goal, Video Assistant Referees (VAR) e.t.c, have been introduced to remove some of the contending problems inherent in the game.

    For example, the goal-line technology has helped the English game since FIFA introduced it. The Video Assistant Referees (VAR) model helped to correct certain human errors committed by referees, even as some of those controversial situations happened in flashes faster than what the human eye could comprehend. When the VAR overruled some of the referees’ faults at the Confederations Cup held in Russia, everyone applauded, with many federations asking for the use of the gadget during matches across the globe. Need I remind you about such referees’ oversights at the Confederations Cup, which Germany won by beating Chile 1-0?

    With the game gradually been embraced by most nations, it is no surprise that there are presently 211 nations under the umbrella of the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA). There are a few other nations waiting to satisfy some of the stringent conditions put before them by FIFA chiefs, such that the rules are the same for all federations.

    Interestingly, big nations where the game was hitherto being played as a novelty have joined the league of soccer-playing nations by first hosting the senior World Cup or developmental competitions organised by FIFA to get their citizenry to embrace the game.

    Hosting of the World Cup by the Americans in 1994 raised the awareness in that part of the world; now United States citizens can be found playing the game in other nations. The game has undergone a massive improvement after the 2002 Japan/Korea Cup, with Asian business moguls and their firms virtually funding some of the biggest English clubs.

    Aside the presence of Asian kids playing the game in many countries, Asians have built on soccer’s popularity to market their goods and services.

    With this influx has come the need to restructure the game’s competitions at all levels. FIFA, the world body, has remodeled its competition structures to include more nations. This has enhanced FIFA’s finances, increased funding from various marketing windows, and boosted revenues of citizens where major competitions have been played beyond just raising the awareness of the world to the game which Brazil great Pele, once described as beautiful.

    FIFA chieftains have accepted to increase the 32-nations structure, beginning with the Qatar 2022 edition. More countries will be representing their federations, unlike in the past where it was termed an elitist group. Indeed, Nigeria’s football changed for good after we qualified for our first World Cup. We have not grown as expected because of our refusal to respect certain ingredients of the game that enhance growth.

    Nigerian administrators’ penchant for doing things the Nigerian way has greatly brought the game to its feet here. In fact, soccer would have been moribund, like most things in Nigeria, but for the fact that FIFA’s rules are such that they must be respected much to the annoyance of those who feel that the sovereignty of any nation should tower above FIFA’s rules.

    Most of FIFA’s innovations have helped developing nations, such as ours. There have been blatant attempts to destroy changes that have worked in other climes have only been actualised in Nigeria, for instance, after threats of FIFA bans. Yet, there are interferences from sports ministers who would rather dictate what happens at the Glasshouse in Abuja than seek for ways to get the corporate world to embrace sports, such that the maintenance and refurbishing of major sporting structures are done by these thriving firms.  Today, nothing works in Nigeria, largely due to the refusal of our sports ministers to encourage the state governments to see the benefits of making sports a business where only those with the capacity to rebuild the sporting sphere to attract blue chip businesses, which will identify their goods and services with repackaged sporting brands like it is being done elsewhere.

    The world won’t wait for us, hence the need to applaud the repackaged Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) for deeming it fit to embrace the 24-nation structure for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. Africa has been stuck in the old format because its previous leadership refused to embrace changes that were adopted by FIFA and UEFA. The world expects certain countries to make such tournaments as the World Cup tick. Debutants in World Cup in the last 10 editions have come to surprise older football nations, with such examples as Nigeria beating Bulgaria 3-0 in 1994, only for the Bulgarians to be placed third at the end of the competition. Senegal, also in her first appearance, qualified for the quarter-finals, having beaten some big football nations, enroute getting to that position. It will be sacrilegious not to acknowledge what Cameroon did at the World Cup, with Roger Milla being the oldest player at the Italia 1990 World Cup.

    The new CAF 24-nation format for the Africa Nations Cup competition in 2019 opens fresh windows for some sleeping African nations to reinvent their squads to qualify for the next edition. Had CAF embraced this 24-nation format, perhaps the Egyptians wouldn’t have been part of the unenviable historical record of not qualifying for three consecutive editions of AFCON, after winning the competition’s trophy three times on the trot.

    I’m glad that the new CAF board members are eager to emulate some of FIFA’s and UEFA’s rennovations. It won’t be long before Africa witnesses regional AFCON involving closely linked African nations. It has been a while since after the 2000 AFCON co-hosted by Nigeria and Ghana, where the Indomitable Lions beat Super Eagles in the finals on penalty shootout. Goalkeeper Ike Shorunmu hasn’t forgotten the nightmarish experience of seeing the ball slip through his legs for Cameroon’s first goal inside the now derelict National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

    League Management Company (LMC) boss ShehuDikko told this writer in Rabat, Morocco on Wednesday that the VAR will be used during the domestic matches later this year, once FIFA gives the gadgets to affiliate federations.

    Rabat in Morocco

     

    Of what use would it be to anyone here, if I said that we have not experienced any power outage in Rabat, Morocco. Would it shock anybody if I also said that KekeMarwa and Okada as means of transportation don’t exist in Morocco? Is it right to tell anyone here that the rail system thrives in Morocco? I wonder what our leaders see when they leave our country.

    Staying at The View Hotel in Rabat has been revealing. State-of-the-art facilities at affordable rates raise the poser of how much it could cost anyone in Nigeria to stay in such a place. How many hotels in Nigeria have pressing iron and boards for guests to do their laundry, for those who cannot afford the hotel’s rates?

    In Morocco, life is easy.

    And this…

     

    Travelling from Casablanca to Rabat on Monday morning didn’t come without an intriguing story, although many people would be wondering why I mentioned it.

    The distance between Casablanca and Rabat is one hour by road. But that isn’t the story. With less than 30 minutes to Rabat, the luxury bus taking us to Rabat had a flat tyre.

    Ordinarily, that shouldn’t be a problem, but it was as we spent two hours waiting for someone who also could replace the tyre.

    The bus driver, surprisingly, didn’t know where the spare tyre was. He called his colleague who didn’t know.

    As things were playing out, my mind raced back to Nigeria. Such a problem wouldn’t have been a big deal, since there would have been many vulcanisers who would have tyre jacks to do the job in record time.

    Not so on this day in Rabat, with many of us inside the bus sleeping, having left Nigeria at 4am for Casablanca.

    Respite came for us after two hours when one of the conference buses conveying the South African delegation picked us up.

    Aside, not knowing where the spare trye was, the driver didn’t know where to get the tools for the job.

    What was clear to us was that the driver was a volunteer, whose duty was to convey guests from one point to the other. The volunteer’s conduct during the distress period was marvelous.

    As the clock ticked, he brought his fruits bag to give us what we wanted. He pleaded for understanding. We saw him making frantic calls for a relief bus to take us out of the place.

    When the bus came, the driver literarily jumped for joy as he ran from one bus to the other moving our bags for the homeward trip to Rabat.

  • Messi’s boggling wages

     Lord have mercy, I said, after reading of  the staggering figures which Barcelona are proposing to pay the indefatigable Lionel Messi for the next five years. I foresaw another wages war between Barcelona and Real Madrid, with the match sticks being Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

    Clubs which understand the dynamics of business have used their big stars as nexus for change among players. As outstanding stars get their dues, the young ones aspire to surpass the marks set. In the 21st Century, it appears that Messi and Ronaldo are not relenting in getting their clubs to earn more cash from the turnstiles, especially using the available marketing windows.

    Messi will earn $565,000 weekly until 2021, making him the highest paid player in the world. This topples the Chinese offers. Many will fault the decision to pay Messi such a staggering sum. But if you consider his input in Barcelona, you will agree with the increase because when Messi plays, the team can be exciting to watch. Barca can be pitiable whenever Messi is off form. Most people lament when Messi doesn’t play for Barca, especially when he is ill or injured.

    Messi’s incredible pay rise will draw attention from other big earners at Barca, such as Luis Saurez, Neymar, Iniesta, Pique et al. Only Neymar may stoke resentment over Messi’s new wages. But he would acknowledge the Argentine’s incredible contributions to the team.

    Barca’s management knows that they would recoup their investments in Messi from merchandising, ticket sales, branding and other cognate indices in marketing, especially endorsements on one product with Messi’s insignia.

    Keeping Messi at Barcelona will boost the revenue from the turnstiles with fans expected to throng the Camp Nou Stadium to watch their idol, irrespective of the outcome of the games, which they consider already won anytime the little man plays. It is unthinkable of Barca to suggest to its fans that Messi has moved away to another club. It would translate to bankruptcy for the team, which operates in a country where Barca and Real Madrid appear to be the thriving businesses, with Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the markers.

    Already, there is a cold war between Messi and Neymar. Neymar suggested a few talented players join Barca. Neymar feels that with those players Barca will be stronger this season. Sadly, Barca didn’t agree with Neymar, even though they didn’t tell him so. Those suggested by Neymar were dropped and the Brazilian figures that Messi could have sneezed at those players’ inclusion in Barca. Neymar wanted Liverpool’s gem Phillipe Coutinho and Santos’ Lucas Lima, two Brazilians in Barca.

    Of course, any team with Messi directing its affairs will definitely kowtow to the Argentine than to a younger Neymar. This is why Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger doesn’t fill his team

    with stars. Wenger argues that the negatives in the dressing room from having star-studded squads leave much to be desired.

    One thing is sure – Real Madrid won’t allow Messi to be the highest paid player, especially in the European game ahead of Ronaldo. Madrid could raise the bar to $800, 000 weekly. The deep pockets at Madrid could settle for a higher figure of $1million weekly to set an all-time record. For Real Madrid, breaking records is now a habit in all the spheres of football management.

     Iheanacho’s hurdle

    I like what is happening to Kelechi Iheanacho in the European transfer window since it opened officially on July 1. Iheanacho is rated the best goal poacher in Europe in scoring ratio despite his cameo appearances for Manchester City. I celebrate each time the ratings are out and Iheanacho dwarfs his Manchester City mates. I do not understand why Pep Guardiola cannot see what other experts have seen in Iheanacho.

    It is good to know that something good can still come out of Nigeria. It is also interesting that such deafening accolades are coming from sports. And nobody doubts the ratings since it is generated by the best pundits.

    Today, Iheanacho is worried. I won’t blame him, considering his age. He needs help from his managers, irrespective of whatever he may have signed in his rookie days. Iheanacho may have been overwhelmed by the thought of playing outside Nigeria. He could have signed those documents, not knowing the implications of the contents. Of course, those who brought those documents knew what they were looking for. They were also well versed in signing quality players.

    As at the last count, we have been told that Tottenham Hotspurs FC of London need his services, even though it has been published by leading outlets in the transfer market that Iheanacho and indeed Manchester City had agreed on a deal for the Nigerian to join his mates at Leicester City. We know for a fact that Wilfred Ndidi and Ahmed Musa spoke with Iheanacho to join them at the Foxes. Iheanacho could also have loved to play with his Golden Eaglets mate Ndidi, after they thrilled the world with their sublime skills, culminating in Nigeria lifting the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup diadem.

    Some of the pitfalls in which our players find themselves have arisen from their greed, a otherwise transfer ought to pass through the NFF like it is done in other climes. Besides, some NFF men and club officials are European clubs’ scouts. They run a racket with some of these unscrupulous agents seeking to cut corners in deals with our budding stars.

    These shylock agents lure our young boys with trips to Europe. The attraction of flying is enough to cow these hitherto village boys to accept anything thrown at them. Some of our young lads have signed contracts written in other languages, not knowing the details.

     Most times when our youngsters in the age grade teams are exposed to competitions, they have been made to sign contracts that enslave them to shylock agents. They get to discover when they have blossomed. They are compelled to stand by what they documented before their rise to stardom.

    Iheanacho needs to get all parties to discuss his future. And if it means paying huge sums of money to free him from the bondage, it is better. Nothing is cast in stone, considering the fact that he was a rookie when the deal was struck. Now that he can make his decisions, he needs to cut the chain to reap where he is sowing now and not work for agents.

    NFF should intervene in this Iheanacho image rights quagmire because he may have innocently signed the document. It is true that ignorance of the law shouldn’t be an excuse. Yet, for a prospective icon, such as Iheanacho, national interest should come first. If he continues to play for Nigeria, all the parties will benefit from his exploits. Nobody should cast any shadow over Iheanacho’s future on grounds of a certain document that he may have signed in desperation, knowing what our domestic league players go through.  The whole gamut of how Iheanacho got himself into this wahala must be redressed. Iheanacho is like what Nwankwo Kanu and Austin Okocha were to us in the past. I digress.

    Tottenham will be playing in the UEFA Champions League like Manchester City. He would have lost nothing. Rather, he will be guaranteed a first team shirt, which provides the best platform to teach Guardiola a few lessons when both teams meet.

    I don’t see anyone in the Tottenham side who will bench Iheanacho in the support striker position when the season begins. Again, Tottenham plays exciting soccer. And they have since learned how to aim for the goals than to entertain the crowd.

    Iheanacho should agree with Leicester City but with one condition – to give his best during Foxes’ matches, such that clubs will be forced to recruit him during the January 2018 transfer window. Iheanacho must be told that a remarkable outing at the Russia 2018 World Cup reminiscence of what Okocha did during the France 1998 World Cup will fetch him bigger teams, using his conditions, not the clubs’.

     

    Prayers for Carl Ikeme, please

    I have been encouraged by the reports from the foreign media about Carl Ikeme’s medical condition. The former Aston Villa Stiliyan Petrou star revealed that his condition lasted for six months. I feel strongly that Ikeme’s recovery will be shorter since his problem was discovered early.

    Wolverhampton Wanderers FC’s management has been magnificent with the kind of support they have given to Ikeme beyond settling the Nigerian’s medical bills, even if the bulk of the payment would be done through the club’s life insurance policies.

    I have been bowled over by Wolves’ management’s decision to allow Ikeme retain his number one goalkeeper’s shirt. They have also stated that some portion of the club’s earnings will be paid into the hospital’s account for his treatment. Less emphasis has been placed on his replacement, which is commendable.

    Please don’t ask me Nigerians’ reaction to Ikeme’s condition with respect to his future in Super Eagles. That is the way we are. We forget easily. If only we know that some of the needless debates on who to replace Ikeme get to him, it would have been better.

    I was excited by Eagles’ goalkeeper trainer Alloy Agu’s comments on Ikeme. He said: ”Our thoughts and prayers, for now, should be for the speedy recovery of Ikeme. He has done well for this country. He has never gotten a bad record ever since he joined the national team.

    “He is just down with an illness. I still have a strong belief he will be back strong and healthy. All he needs is prayer and support. It’s not high time we started talking about replacement but time for prayer and I am sure he will get well soon because I learnt he has been receiving serious treatment abroad. Let’s just wait, hope and pray for the best,”  Agu said.

    Well said, Agu. I pray that NFF chiefs or should I say Rohr will remember not to hand jersey number one to any goalkeeper until Ikeme recovers. Besides, a percentage of what we earn from the gates could be sent to Ikeme. The players must do everything to beat Cameroon to help fasten his recovery. Join me in wishing Ikeme a speedy recovery.

  • Victory as a curse

    Genuine football playing nations are proactive when they set goals for the beautiful game. They look at all the indices surrounding competitions, including historical slants, if they exist. Rather than celebrate the German Machines’ feat of lifting the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia, some Germans are ruing the achievement, preferring to point at the Mundial’s history in mirroring their chances of winning the world Cup back-to-back.

    Did I hear you say that the Germans are Oliver Twists? Is someone saying they are just bluffing because they have used two squads to lift two of the world’s biggest soccer competitions at the senior level? The Germans are the defending World Cup champions, having clinched the trophy in 2014 in Brazil, beating Argentina in the nail-biting final game. The only trophy at the senior level not in Germany FA’s wardrobe is the Confederations Cup diadem, which is being held by the Brazilians.

    Ordinarily, cynics who didn’t give Joachim Low any chance of lifting the Confederations Cup diadem ought to be celebrating his achievement. They ought to have aligned with most soccer greats who have praised a hitherto unknown Low, who rose from coaching obscurity to win the World Cup and Confederations Cup within three years.

    Indeed, Low has guided Germany to lifting the Confederations Cup for the first time in the country’s and competition’s history. But the pessimists have not backed off. They are postulating that no Confederations Cup winner has won the next World Cup. Shouldn’t that be the challenge for Low instead of the defeatist submission that Germany under the quiet workaholic doesn’t have the character and tactical savvy to win the Russia 2018 World Cup?

    Records are meant to be broken by those who understand what they are doing. Besides, records are myths which usually don’t stand the test of time. Real Madrid smashed the record of winning the UEFA Champions League trophy back-to-back. The players and the manager are big in Europe. They were determined to quash the thought of back-to-back trophy feats for previous winners. And they did it in style. If Real Madrid returns next year to set the record of a treble feat, not many historians will doubt them.

    I align with Low’s stoic’s silence. He is quietly plotting his path to winning the 2018 Mundial, given the intimidating list of over 40 players to pick his squad from.

    At the Confederations Cup, not only did the Germans emerge as champions, two of their squad members were honoured. Julian Draxler, the team’s captain, was adjudged the best player of the competition. Timo Werner clinched the highest goal scorer award; Chile’s goalkeeper, Claudio Bravo, won the golden gloves prize. Draxler, 23, plays for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in France. Werner is a home-based player (using the Nigerian parlance). He plays for German Bundesliga side, RB Leipzig. He is 21.

    The feat achieved by these young Germans is no mean achievement, given the quality of opposition they faced in the competition. Most of the countries came with their ‘A’ team. Besides, the achievement should be enough joy for Germany in that with the Confederations Cup, they already have the luxury of having in place an experienced bunch of players who will form the nucleus of a future team when the country’s leading and established stars grow dim in later years.  The implication of this is that while other countries experiment or struggle to raise another team upon the dimming lights of their ‘superstars’, the Germans will simply glide into a regime of the experienced and tested team in the nearest future. This will give the Germans a domineering advantage over opposition for some time.

    Germany’s victory in Russia makes them crowd favourites at next year’s Mundial. They would be playing on familiar grounds.

    They won’t need to do any form of acclimatisation. Good thing Germany didn’t beat the host nation at the Confederations Cup. The Germans kept their game simple. Passing the ball and allowing the ball’s movement to dictate the pace of their matches. Today, Germany is the number one nation in soccer, according to FIFA’s Ranking for June 2017. This development is the first big move for the Germans in the world ranking in the last two years. What it shows clearly is that the Germans have built on the gains of hosting the 2006 World Cup competition.

    They are best in almost all levels, including women soccer. And these feats arose from a discerning template anchored on producing talents from their domestic leagues, leaving the best Germans to seek greener pastures in other European leagues. Germans who ply their trade outside Germany return to their national teams to provide the antidote for neutralising other European countries, including the big boys who play in their European clubs’ leagues.

    The big question: does the German Bundesliga tolerate the mass influx of other countries’ nationals? Yes. But since the Germans have a workable template to produce talents, most German teams would rather give openings to their nationals than foreigners. Even when foreigners get such first team shirts, it doesn’t take time for the Germans understudying them to dethrone them. Iheanacho’s unending transfer Since the European season ended in May, as many as 11 clubs have been bandied as showing interest in Kelechi Iheanacho. No surprises for this long queue, given Iheanacho’s meteoric rise in the game since he shot into limelight in 2013 as a member of Nigeria’s U-17 World Cup winning Golden Eaglets squad. I have enjoyed reading the stories but the one that caught my most attention was that of Arsenal FC’s quest to sign the Nigerian. I was excited because Arsene Wenger will polish Iheanacho’s game and make him a world class striker. Please join me in praying that Wenger truly wants Iheanacho.

    He will be Nigeria’s surprise package at the Russia 2018 Mundial. I look forward to watching Wenger establish a goal-scoring link for Iheanacho, with Alex Iwobi supplying the defencesplitting passes. I trust Wenger when it comes to bringing the best out of Africans, albeit Nigerians. Simply put, Wenger revived Nwankwo Kanu’s career and made him one of the legends of the English game with Arsenal. If Iheanacho and Iwobi strike the right chord in Arsenal’s attacking onslaughts this 2017/2018 season, then the world must truly wait for the Super Eagles in Russia next year. Rohr is German and has set the rebuilding of the Eagles around what the Germans are doing.

    I hope the rumour of Arsenal looking for Iheanacho is true. Let’s laugh at Manchester City’s manager Pep Guardiola, who keeps listing Iheanacho as a transfer candidate, yet includes him in all his pre-season plans, making the Spaniard a laughing stock in Europe. Guardiola must be prepared to free the Nigerian when the January 2018 transfer window opens, if he fails to give Iheanacho a regular first team shirt. The World Cup year is 2018 and talents such as Iheanacho must be allowed to play for clubs where they will be regulars instead of cameo appearances for their European teams which translate to average outings for their countries. Very few foreign clubs discover talents for any country. The norm is for these clubs to send scouts to fish out budding stars, most times those who are playing for their countries regularly. Rohr’s noble initiative My views on the Nigerian coaches have not changed.

    No surprises that Nigerian clubs have been eliminated from all the continental cup competitions for clubs. Nigerian coaches must learn to acquire knowledge through remedial courses. Learning is a continuum, if they hope to compete with those who upgrade their skills. Readers of this column also know my views about our coaches who we sent to Europe to visit our players. They return with tales of headiness with some of our Europe-based stars. I have always found it difficult to understand why a coach sent to England to see our players end up in a hotel making calls to them. I also considered those who refused to recommend stiff punishments for those who didn’t return the manager’s messages after their complaints were sounding like a refrain. I couldn’t understand how a manager gets to London and is reluctant to take a cab to see our players in Arsenal, Chelsea and West Ham. I didn’t see the sense in asking them to see their managers in their London hotels. I have been vindicated with the coming of Rohr. Rohr visits our players wherever they are. Rohr takes pictures with the players and their European managers.

    These pictures give vent to whatever they reveal to us about what transpired about them. No stories of players refusing to pick Eagles’ coaches’ calls or refusing to return several messages placed on their answering machines. The two matches against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon are crucial and require our best players to prosecute them. Predictably, Nigeria has dropped on the FIFA Rankings for June by one point, no thanks to the devastating 2-0 loss to Bafana Bafana inside the Nest of Champions Stadium in Uyo last month. But there is hope that the Cameroonians are just fifth on the chart in Africa, with Nigeria occupying the sixth position. Such close setting explains why the September 1 or is it August 31 clash in Uyo is one for those who can withstand shocks. The Indomitable Lions are beatable. Our players owe Nigerians a good game against the Cameroonians for them to celebrate. Nigerians who will be inside the stadium should cheer ceaselessly the players, even when they are not pulling their weight. Such vociferous support has swung the game in the Eagles’ favour in the past.

  • The German ‘machine’

    Interesting scenes have played out in the ongoing Confederations Cup competition holding in Russia. The hue and cry have come from the Video Assistant Referees (VAR), whose judgments have been faultless, the recent decision being the red card issued to Cameroon’s defender in their game against Germany. Colombian Ref Roldan Wimar’s decision was wrong. The red carded Cameroonian, Sebastien Siani, protested, rightly so. It took the VAR to change things, even though the Indomitable Lions lost 3-1. Ernest Mabouka was correctly sent off after video replays.

    I won’t join the motley crowd in Nigeria who are using the Cameroonians’ awful outing at the Confederations Cup to gauge the Super Eagles’ chances against them in August inside the Nest of Champions Stadium in Uyo. No two matches are the same. Otherwise, football wouldn’t be as exciting as it is. Some Nigerians must understand that certain teams are ‘voodoo’ opponents to certain clubs and countries. Indeed, when such fixtures occur, it is the better team on the day that wins, irrespective of how the teams have fared before the game. Nobody can predict the results of the two-legged matches between Nigeria and Cameroon scheduled for August and September in Uyo and Yaoundé.

    But the most interesting scenario in Russia is the exploits of the Germans. Not many people in Germany were happy with the players the German coach, Joachim Low, picked for the competition. Low was pilloried by the German media, ex-internationals and pundits, especially as they are the defending World Cup champions, having won the trophy in 2014. For Low’s critics, it was suicidal for the defending World Cup champions to be the whipping team at the competition. Low ought to have taken the bulk of players who won the trophy in Brazil three years ago to the Confederations Cup, they said.

    Germany Football Association chieftains stood by their manager’s decision to pick a second string of younger players for the Confederations Cup. These German football administrators bought into Low’s explanation of looking for new boys to replace the ageing ones. Low wants stiffer competition for shirts among the players in the team by 2018. The manager’s reason made plenty of sense. But the average football fan wants his country or favourite teams to win all their games. Not good at all. It raises the pertinent question of rebuilding the team when key players get tired or cannot play at the level that they are by 2018.

    Low isn’t perturbed by the fans’ criticisms because he has been through this path before in the games leading to Germany winning the 2014 World Cup diadem in Brazil. Low is drawing lessons from Spain which won the World Cup and later the Confederations Cup with their World Cup winning side, only to be humbled at the Mundial in Brazil. The Spaniards haven’t recovered. They are still suffering the transition of their golden generation, with the new lads taking too long to blend into a formidable side like their predecessors.

    Interestingly, Mexico manager Juan Carlos Osorio described the German side before Thursday semi-final clash in the Confederations Cup thus: “You have mentioned that Germany is a very young squad; they have only one player who is 20. Benjamin Hendricks, who plays with Javier Hernandez at Bayern Leverkusen.

    “There are two who are 21, Niklas Sule and Julian Brandt, who are the same age with Mexico’s winger Hirving Lozano. Being young and having experience are two different things. For example, you can go to university when you are 30 years old and become a heart surgeon and have no experience at all.

    “But you can study when you are 21 and then work in an emergency room in a huge

  • The goodness of change

    The Video Assistant Referees (VAR) system being used at the ongoing Confederations Cup in Russia is the biggest player being whipped by analogue apologists, who are impervious to change. What these critics have not been able to acknowledge is that most of the decisions taken by the VAR system have been perfect. The burden is with the speed in arriving at decisions. But that will come with the users learning. Practice, they say, makes perfect.

    Things happen so quickly in football for the referees’ eyes to capture, making it imperative for some of these new developments to reduce controversies and make games more exciting to watch.

    Nigerian administrators and their ilk are crying because VAR’s introduction will stop a major fraud bedeviling  the domestic game. Our administrators must learn from the experts. And here is one of them.

    Arsène Wenger does not know why it has taken so long for football to embrace technology but can point to some key calls that could have been changed, if VAR had been introduced earlier.

    ”I would choose Barcelona’s equaliser in the 2006 Champions League final because it was offside, and we were 1-0 up with 30 minutes to go,” the manager told Arsenal Player.

    “That’s the trophy I miss here, you know, so that is for me the most important one. The second one I would choose is the second yellow card for Robin van Persie at Barcelona in 2011 because this was the moment we were qualified against a very strong team, and it was a very difficult decision to accept – it basically killed our chances.

    “After that maybe I go to a more recent decision – against Bayern Munich when Laurent Koscielny was sent off for a penalty when Lewandowski was offside. That just comes to my mind now but maybe I forget many, many, many, many more.” Thank you, Monsieur Wenger.

    What makes sports exciting at the global level is the dynamism in the way affiliates are given rules to govern them.  There are thoroughly researched indices which help to give games the desired fillip for growth.

    It must be stressed that not all the changes are embraced. But it is important to make them and see how the enthusiasts react to salient aspects of the game. Indeed, some of the upheavals from such changes elicit further modernisation of what is being tested. The only thing that is constant is change. I embrace the VAR rules introduced by FIFA – to reduce the seeming autocratic powers given to referees.

    Until the VAR experiment at the ongoing Confederations Cup competition holding in Russia by chieftains of the Federation of International Associations (FIFA), the centre referees’ decisions were final. They are also the sole custodians of time. They were the judges and they also had the powers to overrule their assistants, even if they were not in the best position to decide on the prevailing offences or incidents.

    Need I restate some of the controversial decisions taken by referees that poured odium on the game the great Brazilian, Pele, once described as beautiful? No doubt, sport most times is passionate to lovers of such games, but winners must emerge from their deal on a free transfer; the move was completed July 1, at the start of the 2015–16 season.

    Such players seeking vengeance, like Higuain and Khedira, must be reminded that there are players in their former teams who know their strengths and weaknesses, which they will exploit on match day. I will be very surprised if Real Madrid players give Higuain room to operate. Higuain will be marked, having scored five goals so far in the competition.

    So, who are the gladiators at Juventus? Need I restate Buffon’s contributions? I would rather look at the Italians’ defenders, comprising Giorgio Chiellini, Medhi Benatia, Alex Sandro and Dani Alves, who have the daunting task of stopping Cristiano Ronaldo, the talisman of the Spanish side.  Ronaldo will be difficult to pocket over 90 minutes because he has many records he wants to either achieve or possibly surpass. It must be said that victory for Real Madrid offers Ronaldo the best chance of being voted the World Footballer of the Year for the fifth time. If it happens, he equals the feat already achieved by Messi. You can see why it will be too close to call if anyone tries to pick the eventual winners based on facts on paper.

    The Italians are rugged at the rear, but what do they have in the midfield where most of the battles will be fought?  In this area, the Italians will rely on Miralem Pjanic and Sami Khedira to seize the midfield from the Spaniards. If Juve hopes to lift the trophy tonight, their midfielders must dominate the midfield and supply good passes to their strikers – Gonzalo Higuaín, Paulo Dybala, Juan Cuadrado and Mario Mandzukic – to score goals.

    However, Zidane has identified Dybala as the most dangerous striker for Juve. Dybala will be marked.  “Dybala is definitely Juventus’ number one threat. Juve has many good players and Dybala is one of the best. This will be a special final for me as I played for both clubs. I have amazing memories of Juventus.

    “Bale has nothing to tell me; he’s ready, he has suffered a pretty serious injury but I know each one of my players is motivated and that’s the only important thing for me. We still have some days left to prepare for the game, we’ll do some simple things during today’s training and we’ll go into further details tomorrow (Thursday),” Zidane said.

    Marking out star players is what will make tonight’s game very interesting, with each striving to render the opponents’ dangerous men otiose. Indeed, most pundits are expecting a tight and tactical game, which invariably will reduce the number of goals to decide it. Should this be the setting expected from two teams with immensely talented players? Certainly not, except it becomes necessary. Yes it is. So which of the two coaches will blink first?

    Former Brazil captain Cafu starts the rating of key players tonight, beginning with two defenders – Dani Alves (Juventus) and Marcelo (Real Madrid). Cafu said: “It will be a clash of titans. We are talking about the two best full backs in the world at the moment. Dani Alves attacks a lot, but Marcelo does the same. Tactically, it will be very interesting and it will be fantastic for Brazilian football.”

    Already, Higuain is looking forward to the battle against his former mate at Real Madrid, Sergio Ramos. “Let’s hope Ramos doesn’t score in the 90th minute. I have a lot of affection for him and his family and we still send each other messages.

    “Football sometime places you in situations like this one where I will face Real Madrid in the final. It will be an evenly matched game,” Higuian said.

    Will there be personal honour for exemplary players? Yes. Former Real Madrid legend and goalkeeper Iker Casillas raised the likelihood of tonight’s clash by deciding who the best footballer of the year would be when he said: “If the opponent wasn’t Madrid, I’d want him to win the Champions League with all my heart. He deserves it. It’s obvious that I’m a Madrid fan, but Gigi’s journey shouldn’t end without the Champions League.

    “He’s won almost everything, but this is a trophy he’s missing and it weighs heavily on him He’s had a great season, he’s back in the final and for we ‘old people’ – I’m thinking of myself, Petr Cech… – it’s a good thing. It shows that at 39 you can still feel good and be competitive,” the Blancos legend told Gazzetta dello Sport.

    “He started at 17 when I was 14. It was amazing for me to think that a boy just older than me was already at that level with Parma. It was a pattern, I admired him, I followed in his footsteps and I envied him. That was for a little bit, because when I started playing regularly for Madrid in 2001, he moved to Juve. Then we continued on together. The Ballon d’Or? Maybe a goalkeeper could win it, but I think it’s very complicated.”

    So, how deadly is Ronaldo in front of the goal keeper? Zidane captures Ronaldo’s influence in tonight’s game thus: “As you well know, there are no words that can do Cristiano Ronaldo justice. He has now got more than 400 goals for Real Madrid in all competitions. These are unbelievable statistics, but with him, anything is possible.”

    Zidane looks forward to Ramos conjuring last minute goals for Real Madrid, noting: “Ramos represents the values of Real Madrid, the spirit of doing anything to win. For me, those values are commitment, battling and fighting until the last minute. This club has taught me that and our captain, Sergio, represents this. He is a noble player.”

    Can Ronaldo be trusted to win this title with his goals for Real Madrid? “On the day of the game there is going to be a lot of nerves and I prefer not to think much about the final,” Ronaldo told Real Madrid TV.

    “They are an excellent team but so are we. I have the feeling that we are going to play a great game and we are going to win. I feel very good, very good, a bit cold, but it is better than having an injury. I’m better on a physical level compared to the last five seasons. I also played less, although I’m the one who played the most matches in the team,” Ronaldo concluded.

  • Don’t pull Rohr down

    The knives are out. Critics who have been silenced by the results recorded by Super Eagles Technical Adviser Gernot Rohr are up in arms, with one objective – pull Rohr down. Curiously, they have returned with the warp argument that Nigerian coaches would have done better. They have forgotten so soon that Nigerian coaches have failed with the country’s representatives to the Confederation of Africa (CAF’s) inter club competitions since Enyimba FC last won it in  2004.

    Thrown into the dust bin  are some of Rohr’s gains in rebuilding the Eagles, with the inclusion of Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City FC of England, Alex Iwobi (Arsenal FC of England), Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City FC of England), Troost Ekong (Gent FC of Belgium), Simon Moses (Gent FC of Belgium) et al. The immediate impact of these players’ inclusion was the high level of competition in the team. Sadly, this edge suffered a setback following injuries to key players, such as skipper Mikel Obi, goalkeeper Carl Ikeme and defender Leon Balogun. Victor Moses’ toe surgery further crippled a side that had found its rhythm in previous matches. Had the quartet played against the South Africans, the result would probably have been different. This is not to say that we lost because of their absence. No. We had lost games with these stars playing but they would have made the difference,  with their experience. Ikeme would have done better than a fumbling Akpeyi.

    Eagles’ outing against South Africa underlined the importance of the quartet. Akpeyi’s errors were too elementary. If Akpeyi was more experienced, he would have stopped the South African attacker, knowing that he was the last man in the defence. If Akpeyi had fouled the attacker outside the box, he would have been shown a red card but the second goal would not have been scored.

    Balogun and Mikel wouldn’t have abandoned the defence in a bid to get the equaliser, knowing that a counter attack would  be disastrous, which was what it turned out to be with the back-breaking second goal. Either Mikel or Balogun or both would have remained to protect the rear from the counter-attack.

    Had Victor Moses played, the South Africans would have been kept busy, especially in the first half when the Eagles tried to impress. If Nigeria had scored from Moses’ darting runs, the visitors would have panicked. Iheanacho and Iwobi were not at their best, perhaps because of their in-today-out- tomorrow appearances for Manchester City and Arsenal in the European season.

    Of  importance in Saturday’s defeat is the absence of the 12th man inside the stadium – the ever vocal Nigerian supporters club. They were missing. They watched in awe as if our players were facing the executioner; permit my usage of this coinage. In the past, the restive supporters would have begun the

  • Spell Bafana with goals

    I woke up Monday morning at 6am trying to interpret an inner voice which suggested that Super Eagles will spell Bafana with goals inside the Nest of Champions Stadium in Uyo, in one of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Impossible; that was my first response, knowing that the South Africans had grown in stature, since hosting the 2010 World Cup. Spelling Bafana means the Eagles will score six goals against South Africa. It looks like a target to set for boys. But is it achievable? Yes. Will the South Africans just watch Eagles score six goals without scoring a goal or two? I don’t think so, but that is where the permutations for today’s game begin. Welcome to Nigeria, Bafana Bafana.

    The simple interpretation of my dream on Monday is that there will be goals in the game, with many feeling strongly that the Eagles could rout Bafana. It is also looking like a grudge game for the Nigerians, having missed out of the last two editions of the Africa Cup of Nations because of the bickering at the Glasshouse in Abuja. It got so bad in one instance in Calabar, when one of the warring factions at the NFF was stopped from watching the game by security operatives to save Nigeria from a FIFA ban. Congo Brazzaville beat Nigeria 3-2 in that game in Nigeria in the opening game of the 2015 edition’s qualifiers.

    Things got worse at the Glasshouse in the fallout of the NFF elections that Eagles flunked the chance to qualify for the last edition in Gabon by drawing 2-2 against Bafana Banfana. The situation at the Glasshouse is better and Nigerians expect the Eagles to avenge that unfortunate draw with a resounding victory.

    Our players know the importance of playing at the Nations Cup, aside the benefits from the government in the form of houses, cash gifts from soccer-crazy Nigerians and national honours. Our players must be reminded that a defeat (God forbid) today will dampen the morale of the fans rooting at the stands and indeed around the country. Victory for Nigeria starts the process of getting the ticket since South Africa appears the only stumbling block on our path.

    The South Africans can be beaten silly. They have had issues within their squad ahead of their trip to Uyo. Bafana are depleted by injuries with stars such as Hlompho Kekana and Kamohelo Mokotjo, being replaced by Tiyani Mabunda and Lebogang Phiri. Bafana Bafana doctor Thulani Ngwenya is reported to have warned that more replacements are in the offing. Ngwenya also revealed that Mulomowandau Mathoho had made progress after he missed Kaizer Chiefs’ last game of the season against Bidvest Wits due to a concussion.

    “Tiyani Mabunda, Andile Jali, Aubrey Ngoma, Mulomowandau Mathoho and Lebogang Manyama – some of the players who had knocks – were lively in Wednesday’s train ing, while Rivaldo Coetzee and Tokelo Rantie only did some light workouts”.

    It leaves Baxter with the unholy option of converting players to positions which make them vunerable to Eagles’ sustained assaults at dusk. This is the first game for Bafana’s coach Stuart Baxter with this squad. Indeed, the South Africans had to fall back to Baxter in panic .  Thank God Nigeria has only Victor Moses missing due to a toe surgery. Mikel Obi is recuperating but the team has shown that they can play without both men, following the results from their last two international matches against Corsica (1-1) and Togo (3-0) in France.

    Will thunder strike on the same spot twice? Never. Eagles are a changed squad with a new coach, Gernot Rohr, who has transformed the team with an unbeaten eight-match run prosecuted by younger and fitter boys who ply their trade in Europe. And the results so far attest to the fact that the changes are yielding dividends, no matter if the bulk of the players are in Europe. All we crave for is the best collection of players for Nigeria. It isn’t any player’s birthright. If you lose form, you sit at home and watch others play for glory.

    Nigeria is ranked 38th in the world and fourth in Africa. This setting will ensure that we are seeded for the Russia 2018 World Cup, especially if we can beat South Africa today and Cameroon later in August. A top 20 ranking in the world by next year will help the Eagles play quality games against Grade A football-playing countries, such as Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Holland and England. This will increase the revenue of the NFF since international brands will want to showcase their wares in the high profile matches.

    Besides, our players will be exposed to bigger contracts in Europe at their terms, not the slavish deals that some have signed. They have nothing to say when it comes to choosing between clubs and country where there is a clash of fixtures.

    The South Africans arrived here on Wednesday night and trained on Thursday in Uyo, which they have described as their home, having not lost there. But how does Baxter intend to play his boys against the Eagles and what does he want to achieve?

    These questions Baxter answered when he said: “I think they’re a playing team. They’ve got a lot of players who want the ball into feet. They attack space because they’ve got speed upfront. If they build up they will attack space in-between and behind our defenders in the last third.

    “Maybe they don’t have the same extreme physical capabilities of the earlier Nigerian teams. But I think that they are still physical in their approach to the game. They want to press the ball immediately after they lose it. They want to get in your face. I’m sure that they want to drive the tempo of the game on. I’m hoping that there will be a bit of that physicality about it. Because then I think our mobility‚ and our speed and skill‚ will come to the fore.”

    “And we know that we’ve got to be good at getting out of that first pressure. If we do that‚ and the game opens slightly‚ then we have a chance to use our speed and mobility and hit them. And we may decide to press them really high. Or we may decide to drop off and create the space behind them for our quicker players to go into. It doesn’t really matter.

    “But we’ve got to make sure that if we go‚ we go together. And if we stay‚ we stay together. And when we win the ball that we’re calm enough to get out of their pressure‚ and then use what we are good at,” Baxter remarked.

    Tactics and counter plots will highlight today’s game, with the fans having full value for their money and time. Happily, the Eagles are not talking about how they hope to thrash the visitors. They are focused on the game. The team’s captain Ogenyi Onazi craves for respect from the South Africans. Well said, Onazi. Let your feet do the talking, boys. Good luck. Up Nigeria!

     

    Rare gem Ronaldo

     

    The UEFA Champions League finals turned out to be an anti-climax. Many pundits expected a closely fought game between Real Madrid and Juventus FC of Italy. But the Italians froze on Saturday. They lacked ideas against a rampaging Madrid revving on the tremendous ball skills, speed and superb goal poaching instinct of Cristiano Ronaldo.

    Ronaldo was the standout performer of the night. He threw into the trash bin any comparison with Barcelona FC’s mercurial player Lionel Messi. The next World Footballer of the Year is without any doubt Ronaldo. He has earned it, showing that with determination, everything is possible. Ronaldo is truly a rare gem. We had thought it was Messi but with the way Ronaldo is going, his records may be unequalled in the 22nd Century if he sustains this form in the next two years.

    Ronaldo made the game so easy. He interpreted his manager Zinedine Zidane’s tactics with gusto and struck the ball into the net twice, especially his second goal, with the speed of light – no hyperbole intended. His markers were awed. They looked at each other in shock, wondering how Ronaldo slipped through two markers for that brilliant third goal but Ronaldo’s second.

    Ronaldo’s speed exposed the ageing Juventus players who froze in defining moments of the game, especially with the third goal. The Juventus manager was clueless. His only game plan was to defend against a team that takes delight in scoring goals. The better side deservedly won the trophy. Hala Madrid!

     

    Sleep well Stephen Okechukwu Keshi

     

    Wednesday was exactly one year that Nigeria’s legend Stephen Okechukwu Keshi passed away in shocking circumstances. The late Keshi had troublesome knee problem, which eventually led to his death. Keshi left unmatchable records in the game as a player and as a coach.

    I hope that our players will use today’s game to bring cheers to Nigerians by beating the South Africans groggy with goals. The last time the South Africans were in Uyo, they earned a pulsating 2-2 draw, which ended Nigeria’s dream of playing at the Gabon 2017 Africa Cup of Nations which the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon won.

    Keshi was a pitiable sight after the game at the Nest of Champions Stadium last year. I challenge the players today to make us proud. Keshi gave the Eagles his best and it is that mentality he tried to imbibe in his players.

    It won’t be out of place if the boys dedicate today’s victory to the Big Boss’ memory. Continue to rest in perfect peace Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, aka Olubodun ti o te ri. Keshi loved being called Allan Ball, because he tailored his playing style after that of the England legend. Keshi was a great Liverpool FC fan. Big Boss, you never walked alone. Sleep well.