Category: Sports

Ekeki High Chief, Bennard Zebie Odoki has described the evicted member of Glo Soccer Academy, Buguma Dawebiye as a hero of the Ekeki community in Bayelsa State.

Chief Odoki who made this remark when he received Buguma from Globacom representatives was full of praise for Globacom for initiating the concept of the Academy.

Speaking at the reception, Chief Odoki, who was accompanied by other high chiefs, described the academy as a first step towards football development in Nigeria, adding that youths like Buguma who are being trained by Globacom today will become very useful in the Nigerian football circle in the nearest future.

‘Globacom is preparing these young ones for the future, and I see them taking over our national teams in few years to come,” Chief Odoki said.

He therefore called on Globacom not to rest on its oars, adding that history will not forget the company’s contribution towards youth development in the country.

Speaking at the occasion, Glo Business Director for Bayelsa State, Mr. Richard Ogunsina commended Buguma for not only qualifying for the academy from thousands of prospective youths, but for also distinguishing himself as a good player during his stay. He advised him to be disciplined and focused, adding that this will help keep his career on course.

Buguma Dawebiye was one of the 33 players selected from over 7,000 youths screened in Nigeria, Ghana and the Republic of Benin for the Glo Soccer Academy. While at the Academy, Buguma had the rare opportunity of being trained by two UEFA Grade ‘A’ Coaches from the youth arm of the popular Manchester United football club in the UK, and the technical team of the academy led by ex-international, Victor Ikpeba.

Emmanuel Emenike’s agent, Erdem Konyar, has denied reports at home and abroad that his client is on the brink of a transfer to Fenerbahce in the January window.

It had earlier been reported that Spartak Moscow were willing to do business with the Turkish club if they could meet the 15 million euros valuation of the Nigeria internationalist.

”We do not know of such a desire on the part of the Turkish club. I have a good relationship with the leadership of Fenerbahce. I was told by the club that they did not approach Spartak Moscow.

”Emenike have had some problems with the former head coach of Spartak Moscow Unai Emery. But now the coach is Karpin, and all the problems disappeared. I doubt that the transfer is possible in the current situation,” Konyar was quoted as saying by the online edition of Soviet Sport.

Emmanuel Emenike signed a four – year contract with Fenerbahce in the summer of 2011 for a fee of around 9 million euros. Without playing an official game for the club, he was sold to Spartak Moscow.

Villarreal striker, Ikechukwu Uche stressed that his side cannot afford to drop any more points and this weekend’s match against Barcelona B is now a must win.

Speaking to reporters following the first practice back from Christmas break, Uche insisted that it was necessary to put together a string of good results and keep fighting for promotion.

“Now I’m only thinking of Saturday’s game and helping the team so we can get off to a strong start. We need to start strong and get the good results early. We need to improve, we need better results and the work we are doing is reflected in the team’s results. We hope that in the new year, things change for the better. We know we cannot fail, we know that time is crucial and we must fight for every game.”

The Nigerian international then admitted that the team’s lack of scoring is one of the team’s biggest problems.

“It’s true that we are missing out on goals, but that’s not the only problem. We must improve and we must do it as a team, it’s something of which the team is very conscious.”

With a glut of strikers at his disposal, Nigeria’s coach, Stephen Keshi must decide who will best suit his plans for a successful outing at the 2013 Afcon

The names of the strikers that Nigeria’s Super Eagles could use at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations Cup easily roll off the tongue. From Emmanuel Emenike, Brown Ideye, Shola Ameobi (?), to Ikechukwu Uche; and not forgetting Bright Dike and Kalu Uche – the team is awash with some quality strikers. We also have Ahmed Musa, who has been playing as a top striker for CSKA Moscow this season.

But unfortunately, not all these names will be in South Africa in January so Coach Stephen Keshi has to decide who amongst the lot best suits his style and formation and not forgetting who will deliver the goals. The ideal situation will be that the chosen one goes on to score in every game that the Super Eagles will play in South Africa – from the three group stage matches till the final. That means he must score at least six (6) goals in South Africa.

So, who is this person?

First we have to take a look at the qualities that each striker will bring to the team.

Every coach in the world has looked at the template of the best national side in the last six years and want their team to play almost like that – it is like a fashion fad, it will be the norm until Spain loses its mojo – in football I mean!.

So agreed that Keshi will stick to the 4-3-3 that he favoured during qualification, it would mean that the Super Eagles do not need a stagnant centre forward but a very nimble and mobile player that will always play on the shoulder of the opponent’s last defender-then the task of choosing the lead striker will have been made easier.

THE STRENGTHS OF THE PROBABLE STRIKERS

Ikechukwu Uche: The most nimble and technically gifted of all the strikers in the team and the most experienced amongst the lot. He has all the qualities to play the false number nine role. He can dribble, shoot with both feet and if he is starved of the ball in the last third can join the fray in midfield. He has been very potent for the Super Eagles-whether he starts or comes off the bench.

Emmanuel Emenike: Emenike possesses the strength to hold on to ball with his weighty frame and he is quite nimble though he does not like moving out of the box too much as most of his goals come at the end of moves by his team mates using the matches in the Champions League and Super Eagles matches as a guide.

Brown Ideye: Ideye has been in good goal scoring form this season because of his movement from outside the box and good combination play with his team’s play maker. He is good with his head and can shoot really well with both feet. Though he sometimes tries to do too much when playing for Nigeria, he is young and still improving his all round game.

Bright Dike: An upstart that can only be assessed with the minutes he played against Venezuela last month. He is a powerfully built player with speed and aggression who reminds one of Daniel Amokachi, which means he will not score a lot of goals.

Shola Ameobi: We are still not sure if he will be available for the Nations Cup but he is strong and big and has nimble foot work for such a big man. He has a lot of experience playing in the English Premier League though he is a neophyte with the national team as he played for the first time last month against Venezuela. He is a good one to have on the bench and can join the fray when things are not going to plan to disrupt the balance of the central defenders of the opponents.

Kalu Uche: Just left for Turkey from Enyimba but technically a good striker, who can hold up the ball and loves to run the channels behind the defensive formation of the opponents. He has been scoring regularly in the second division in Turkey but if chosen could play a big part in the Super Eagles.

Ahmed Musa: The CSKA Moscow player is included in this list because he has been playing as a striker for his team in the Russia Premier League and has scored a lot of goals in the process. He is fast and can cause a lot of havoc running off the ball but still lacks the instincts of a world class striker.

So after listing all the strengths of these strikers, I would say that Emenike leads the queue with his poacher’s instincts as he showed so brilliantly against Liberia, though the team from Liberia cannot be classified as world class opponents.

Also, Ideye and Ik Uche present ideal foils for the rampaging two that will be behind the main striker but I would also love to see Musa play the role because almost all the teams in the Nations Cup will be prepared for Emenike, Ideye and Ikechukwu Uche and Ahmed’s presence in the central striking will definitely put the cat amongst the pigeons.

We will be thrilled to get your responses on whom the Super Eagles ideal striker should be.

• Culled from Goal.com