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Wed, Jul

The prospect of an all-German or an all-Spanish European Champions League final next month remained alive after Friday's semi-final draw. Last year's beaten finalists Bayern Munich, who have already secured the Bundesliga title, take on Spanish league leaders Barcelona.

In the other match, Borussia Dortmund will play Real Madrid, as representatives of Europe's current dominant footballing powers go head-to-head. The first leg matches will be played on April 23 and 24, with the return games on April 30 and May 1.

But with the Spanish and German teams kept apart when European football's governing body UEFA made the draw for the last four, the Wembley showpiece could just as easily feature yet another Germany-Spain clash.

Remarkably, the four semi-finalists can boast a total of 18 European titles between them. Real lead the way with nine victories, although their last success dates back to 2002. Their arch-rivals Barcelona and Bayern both have four and Borussia weigh in with their single victory in 1997 when they upset favourites Juventus 3-1 in the final.

Neutral fans were probably hoping for a Bayern v Barcelona final, promising a feast of football between arguably the continent's two top teams of the moment. The semi-final is given added piquancy in that former Barca coach Pep Guardiola is to take over the helm at Munich's Allianz Arena next year.

But Jupp Heynckes, the man he is to replace, will have reason enough of his own for wanting to reach the final -- and not simply in order to bow out on a winning note in London. He will no doubt also be hoping that Real win through to the Wembley showdown, as a fitting way to bring down the curtain on his long and distinguished coaching career against the side he led to the European crown in in 1998, bringing the Madrid giants their first title in the competition in more than 30 years.

Bayern, having comprehensively dispatched Juventus in the last round, again have home advantage first but are unlikely to find the Barca defence as porous as the Italians, who shipped four goals without reply over the two legs. However, if they are to reach their third final in four years, Bayern will have to do so without the services of leading scorer Mario Mandzukic, who is suspended for the first leg.

Barcelona, in their sixth semi-final in as many years, showed just how reliant they are on World Footballer of the Year Lionel Messi in their hard-fought quarter-final triumph over Paris Saint Germain, eventually prevailing on away goals. But they needed the less-than-fully-fit Messi to come off the bench in the second leg in Barcelona to orchestrate the equaliser on the night that saw them through.

Jose Mourinho's Real are unlikely to relish the thought of another trip to Dortmund in this season's competition.In the group stages, the Germans overran Real 2-1 and then earned a deserved 2-2 draw in Madrid to finish top of the group.

And the way Real struggled to overcome game Galatasary, losing the away leg 3-2, while Dortmund were getting the better of another Spanish side Malaga with two late goals, will doubtless set the alarm bells ringing in the Spanish capital.

There is also the little matter of the bitter memory of their last German semi-final opponents, Bayern, who beat them on penalties at the same stage of the competition last season. The first leg matches will be played on April 23 and 24, with the return games on April 30 and May 1, with the final at Wembley stadium in London on May 25.

Meanwhile, in the EUROPA League semi-finals, Chelsea was drawn against Swiss side Basel while Turkish giants Fenerbache will face one of the competition favorites, Benefica of Lisbon.

Erstwhile Coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria, Shuaibu Amodu has been appointed Technical Director of the country’s football team.

Also, James Peters was appointed National Technical Director for Youth and Women Development while Kashimawo Laloko was appointed National Technical Director for Youth Development. All three coaches have been handed their letters of appointment.

Former Ethiopia Coach, Tom Saintfiet was initially appointed technical Director last year but never assumed office following opposition from a section of the country’s footballing community, leading to a revocation of his contract.

 Amodu, meanwhile, twice qualified Nigeria for the World Cup (in 2002 and in 2010) but he was sacked on both occasions before the beginning of the mundial.

Reigning African champions, the Super Eagles of Nigeria held its first training session in the Canaan City of Calabar on Monday as the team began its final preparation for the Brazil 2014 World Cup qualifier against Kenya next Saturday.

Second choice goalkeeper, Austin Ejide, Michael Babatunde and Fegor Ogude were the first foreign-based stars to join the Super Eagles camp. They were among the 12 out of the 23 players expected to feature for the national team against the Harambee Stars of Kenya that started training in Calabar.

Ogude flew into Calabar with the team from Abuja, while Ejide joined the others at the Transcorp Metropolitan Hotel about an hour after the team’s arrival. Babatunde was just on time to hop into the team’s bus for the day’s training session.

The team departed for training at about 3:30pm at the Abraham Ordia Sports Complex inside the University of Calabar and will repeat same tomorrow and all through the days leading to the match against Harambee Stars.

Head Coach, Stephen Keshi says he expects a full house by this morning, adding that training will be the same time and all players expected should have been in, as he needs a good number of training sessions for the team to jell against Kenya.

“We would have a full house for Tuesday’s evening training and from there we see how ready the players are for the task at hand,” he declared.

The team had a light training session with the UNICAL Football team before it went into its own session that was supervised by Keshi and his assistants. The nine Nigeria Premier League stars in the team are Chigozie Agbim, Godfrey Oboabona, Azubuike Egwueke, Gabriel Reuben, Sunday Mba, Solomon Kwambe, Benjamin Francis, Obinna Nwachukwu and Gambo Mohammed.

Our governments have spent billions of naira over time to promote a positive image for Nigerians everywhere.  Regrettably, the popular perception of the Nigerian character remains that of greed, self-interest and other such antisocial escapades.  The promoted brand of "Good People, Great Nation" never really took off, and it has become clear that neither catchy slogans nor sexy packaging can change public perception of what is intrinsically a bad product!  Ultimately, our football team's derisive nickname of 'Super Chickens' became a neater fit of our national image than our own self-invention of 'Giant of Africa'; consequently, most foreigners believed that nothing good could come out of this supposedly 'cursed' land!

The question then is, how did the Super Eagles against all odds win the coveted elusive ‘Africa Nation's Cup’, with qualities and focus supposedly alien to the Nigerian character?  With our tradition of tardy preparations, inadequate funding and poor team selection, how did the shrubs we sowed transform into sweet-smelling roses?

As we celebrate the unexpected exploits of the Super Eagles, we may also draw lessons from the performances of the following three members of the team; Stephen Keshi’s exemplary leadership, the indomitable spirit of home grown Sunday Mba and also, the dynamite and humble enigma called Victor Moses!

Undoubtedly, unity, cohesive teamwork, strong determination to succeed, utmost self-belief, and a driving hunger for personal glory and honour to the fatherland produced the Eagles’ unexpected success! 

Keshi's courageous leadership was certainly a major factor in the AFCON victory; his team list was based on the perceived fighting and winning mentality of each player and the readiness of his selection to play according to instructions.  Indeed, Keshi, himself maintained that individual skills alone do not win such tournaments, and in spite of intense pressure, he remained undaunted and unapologetic for leaving out some star players; for Keshi, merit without consideration of ethnic affiliations or federal character was the benchmark for team selection!

The Coach consistently took full responsibility for his team's shortcomings, without overtly apportioning blame to anyone!  Consequently, he earned his players’ respect and their resolve to give 101 per cent in every match.  Keshi, in return, showed genuine fatherly concern and motivated his players.

Meanwhile, unknown to Nigerians, Keshi was silently hurting; but despite unpaid salary arrears and other official deprivations, he refused to moan but instead encouraged Nigerians to have faith in the team’s ability, and confidently remained upbeat about fulfilling his contract terms to take the Super Eagles to the semi-finals of AFCON 2013,!

Curiously, also, unknown to most Nigerians, midway through the tournament, the Football Federation had allegedly threatened to summarily sack Stephen Keshi if he refused to accept a foreign technical adviser as his boss; in response, Keshi offered to voluntarily resign as Coach immediately after the Super Eagles unexpectedly beat the star-studded tournament favourites, Ivory Coast!  Consequently, Keshi’s dedication of the victory to all African Coaches and the subsequent aborted resignation were clear statements of protest! 

Fortunately, the Eagles camp remained unusually convivial and harmonious despite the distractions!  The excellent team spirit was no doubt a testimony of  resilience and the matured leadership skills of Coach Keshi; an attribute that has unfortunately been absent in the affairs of our nation for too long!

Keshi's effortless response to questions in both English and French must have endeared him not only to French speaking Africans, but also to those Nigerians, who cringe at the poor performance of our national leaders in front of international media. 

In similar vein, Nigerians witnessed the amazing exploits of Sunday Mba, one of six domestic players in Keshi's 23-man team.  The unusually high quota of local content was justified by the excellent performances of Mba and other homegrown players.  Mba certainly lifted the spirits of most Nigerians with his two mesmerizing winning goals against Ivory Coast in the quarterfinals and Burkina Faso in the finals respectively; better-known international icons like Pele and Maradona would have been proud to have scored either goal.  Indeed, despite technical and capacity limitations locally, there are undoubtedly many more Mbas, loaded with the ‘Nigerian Spirit’, waiting to explode in the service of our country in various fields of endeavour whenever the enabling economic environment presents itself.

Mba's electric performance and Keshi's success sent out a strong message that the object of our expensive foreign travails may actually have remained idle in the pockets of our 'shokoto'.  This same syndrome of lack of belief in ourselves, and the cringing adoration for everything foreign, even when the imported quality is inferior can still be observed in all facets of governance and corporate management in our country!

Finally, we cannot comment on the apparent total commitment of Victor Moses to the national team’s success without a twitch of guilt or at best some embarrassment.  Indeed, after his petulance in retaliation to tackles in the pre-tournament match against Cape Verde, it was unlikely that the same player would win the fair-play award in the final match of AFCON 2013.  Moses certainly responded positively to the reformative chiding by a very unhappy Coach Keshi after the Cape Verde match, as the young man subsequently rode more vicious tackles without any visible emotional outburst in the six AFCON matches played by the Super Eagles!  Despite the threatening injury he sustained in the earlier match against Mali, Moses went on to give a superlative account of himself also in the finals.

Surprisingly, Victor had a choice to play for England and ultimately enjoy the same cult status of key players in the English team, but it is to his credit and his sense of loyalty that he chose, instead, to play for his fatherland; unknown to most Nigerians, the parents of this young man were mindlessly murdered in the mayhem that followed the aborted Abuja Miss World Beauty Contest in 2002!  Painfully, the perpetrators of that heinous act remain free; Victor Moses may never forget the brutal separation from his parents, but for him to have given so much of himself to Nigeria in the AFCON 2013 tournament, the young man must have found it in his heart to forgive his countrymen!

Nigerians everywhere thank the Super Eagles, the team's support staff and travelling fans for burnishing our national image and delivering on their promise to put a smile on the faces of longsuffering compatriots; however, we also pray that our smiles become a wider grin at the Confederation Cup in June!  Good Luck!

 

By Henry Boyo

 

 

 

An attempt to bite the’ dust’ would not reflect a society norm but will certainly face the wrath of such normalcy. To be an athlete is not a norm but rather a symbol of eccentrics. Let me explain, less than 10% of our society considers themselves as athletes in their lifetime for whatever reason and majority of the population will ask for what purpose would a sprinter be running or who is pursuing him /her or why an individual is chasing after football. Gratuity / rewards showered on the individual or acceptance that the person partakes in in this endeavor is not the issue rather why less than 10% consider sports good hobby for them.

Who Controls National Sports Commission (NSC)

Few days ago this writer penned a report on observation about the consensus view that the Sports Minister Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi had been reduced below a toothless barking dog by his staffs. Strange enough every single day those staffs had been coming out to reverse his directives. Below is excerpt of one of the directive and latest verbatorial by one of his staff Dictator Ojo-Oba:

·On January 7, 2013(Guardian)

The Honorable Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi has directed Secretaries of the Sporting Federations to prepare their handover notes ahead of their redeployment to the Commission.

·On January 9, 2013 (Punch)

The NSC on Monday announced that the secretaries of the federations/associations are to be withdrawn and redeployed to the Commission to pave the way for the employment of new secretaries from outside the government setting by the federation in what is explained as a bid to give them greater autonomy.

The minister, who was on his way to Portugal to visit the Super Eagles in camp preparatory to the 2013 Africa Nations Cup, said that there were other fresh ideas being injected to make the federations more professionally run.

·On January 22, 2013

Minister of Sports, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi has debunked the claims that the Commission is planning to retrench all sports federation secretaries who have been redeployed to the NSC Headquarters in Abuja.

Trustsports gathered that the redeployment of the secretaries is part of the reform of the sports federations, where the federations will be empowered to appoint their own secretaries, thereby granting them greater autonomy.

Speaking at an interactive session with members of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, SWAN, Lagos chapter at the weekend, Abdullahi made it clear that the reform is meant to make the federations function better, just as he said redeployed the secretaries would be posted to all the geo political zones of the country to administer the grassroots programme of the commission.

·On April 8, 2013 (Guradian)

Dictator Bolaji Ojo-Oba said: “So the secretaries are still in place and functional; what we have advised them is that they (sic) should prepare their handing over notes, because they will not remain in office after the new boards have been inaugurated,”

I ask, can anyone believe any new directive by the Sports Minister. I think not. Is Ojo-Oba telling Nigerians that it takes 4 months to prepare hand-over notes?  Talk about incompetency and foolishness on how Nigerians will perceive Ojo-Oba statements. Did the Minister say that those illegal secretaries should remain in office until new Boards?  I don’t think so. Is this not National Sports Confusion I wrote about last year? Is this not a palace coup? Do Nigerians care? I think they should because salaries been paid Ojo-Oba should have been directed towards athletes not him. And I ask who the hell is Ojo-Oba?

Federations’ Election is Scam, Sham and must be slammed!

Ojo-Oba who believes he is the Chairman of NSC when he announced further that the recalled NSC staffs who illegally occupied the federations’ secretariat will conduct those federations’ elections. This usurper may think he has spoken well but I hate to tell him that his pink slip at NSC is been prepared and he has just ‘gassed’-out.

Unsuspecting Nigerians would likely want to know why these Ojo-Oba statements are mere rubbish and ought to be disregarded along with its messenger, to that, I will identify few key areas where even a primary school drop-out will understand.

Firstly, any credible election demands Independent umpire and that is key requirement in conducting any election even for class prefect in schools as well as in Universities that I think Ojo-Oba holds some sport degrees. Now, why would an illegal occupier of the secretariat who also is a potential candidate is mandated to conduct an election where his / her fellow Board members are contesting? Anyone that fails to see a problem in this scenario ought to be severely ‘flogged’. If I have my way Ojo-Oba will be sent to school to learn Basic Ethics in administration.

Secondly, skills required to conduct an election must be learned and I fail to hear or see any federation secretary trained in electoral processes. I should ask, if Ojo-Oba does not know that independence is key in conducting an election then how can he comprehend that special skills are necessary? Either way it’s clear, idiocy is the only requirement because athletes are considered dumb by NSC and they failed to challenge NSC in anything, so far. I personally don’t consider any athlete dumb but I don’t understand why federations’ boards’ leadership run is not part and parcel in athletes’ quest for glory.

Thirdly, infrastructure to conduct an election (credible or not) simply does not exist although no one believes that NSC will spend less than N100 Million in salaries for its so-called illegal secretaries and many ghost workers including cats, dogs, eagles and other animals with dead men (women) names.

Fourthly, the timing is not convenient considering pending NSC Act, training for those illegal secretaries, Dictator Ojo-Oba, Sports Minister, etc. These people are never trained in conducting an election but yet an election is to take place in less than 2 weeks.

Fifthly, NSC or shall I say Ojo-Oba fails to inform Nigerians who is eligible to vote in such election, are we not to guess that only those illegal secretaries, Ojo-Oba, Sports Minister, current federations’ board members are the only ones allowed to vote. To this end I say the estimated N100Millions for this so-called election is nothing other than redistribution of the country taxpayers’ funds to the pockets of those illegal secretaries, Ojo-Oba, etc. essentially money grabs.

Moving Forward

1.Ojo-Oba must be called to order or dismissed by the Sports Minister immediately.

 2.So-called Federations’ elections must be postponed because those illegal federations’ secretaries lacked the skills to conduct any election and are not independent of those sports federations and I might add any conduct of national election will likely falls within INEC jurisdiction because it has broad powers not just derived from Nigeria constitution (on elective offices) but by any law or decree.  It is my position that independence and skills must not be toyed with, therefore, Sports Minister simply has to invite INEC to assist based on his Ministerial authority (the question is he a Minister with power).

Excerpt of INEC Act

Independent National Electoral Commission Decree (Decree No 17 of 1998)

 4. (1) The functions of the Commission shall be to-

(a) organise, conduct and supervise all the elections and matters pertaining to elections into, all the elective offices provided in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1979, as amended or any other enactment or law;

Electoral Act of 2006 (Update)

Section 2. (1) In addition to the functions conferred on it by the 1999 Constitution, the Commission shall

have power to: (a) conduct voter and civic education.

(b) promote knowledge of sound democratic election processes.

3.The Sports Minister must seek INEC help to determine who is eligible to vote as well, failure of which, the result of such election will be scam, sham and slammed by even ghost workers.

Again, Ojo-Oba you need a serious lesson in administrative ethics, corruption, electoral processes, laws of Nigeria and many other things. I aint mad at you but I royally disagree with you.

I rest.

Dr. Rashid A. balogun, CPA, LLB(Hons.),

The chances of another El=Classico pitting Spanish giants, Real Madrid against their arch rivals Barcelona in the Champions League final at Wembley remained alive when the Spanish giants were kept apart in the draw for the quarterfinals.

Barcelona will face David Beckham’s side Paris St Germain - he is the only English player left in the competition - while Real Madrid will take on Turkish giants, Galatasaray. In the other two quarterfinals, Bayern Munich’s reward for seeing off Arsenal is a meeting with the Italian “Old Lady” Juventus, while the other German quarter-finalist, Borussia Dortmund will play Spanish side Malaga. Unlike in previous seasons, UEFA did not also make the draw for the semi-final pairings at the same time - that will now take place next month.

Real Madrid head coach Jose Mourinho is aiming to become the first manager to win the Champions League with three different clubs, having achieved it previously with Porto and Inter Milan. Real Madrid eliminated Manchester United after very questionable refereeing in the first knockout round and also qualified from a tough group comprising the domestic league champions of Spain, Germany, England and Holland. Galatasaray’s squad includes two former Mourinho favorites - ex-Chelsea striker Didier Drogba and former Inter midfielder Wesley Sneijder.

Barcelona, who came from 2-0 down in the first leg of the last round to beat AC Milan 4-2 on aggregate, will come up against their former striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who now plays for big-spending French clubside, Paris St. Germain.

Fans around the world hope the matches among the last eight will be just as intriguing. Of all the clubs left standing after group play and the first knockout stage, Turkish side Galatasaray and Spanish side Malaga, who often get overshadowed by La Liga counterparts, are the most surprising.

Among the top contenders are Bayern Munich, which reached the final last season before upstart Chelsea claimed the trophy, fellow German club Borussia Dortmund and the two Spanish giants, Barcelona and Real Madrid. The first legs will be played on either April 2 or 3 and will be followed by the second legs the next week, on either April 9 or 10.

Meanwhile, the three English teams remaining in the Europa League were kept apart in the quarter-final draw. Tottenham appeared to be handed the easiest draw after being paired with Swiss side Basle, while Newcastle will play Benfica from Portugal and Turkish side Fenerbahce will face Lazio of Italy.

Rubin Kazan will be tough opponents for Rafa Benitez’s Chelsea team. The Russian side has already knocked out two Spanish teams - holders Atletico Madrid in the round of 32 and Levante, winning 2-0 after extra time. Rubin Kazan were unbeaten in a tough group that include Inter Milan, and are particularly strong defensively, having conceded only three goals in 10 European matches.

Spurs’ opponents Basle scraped into the quarter-finals after Russian side Zenit St Petersburg missed a late penalty against the 10-Swiss side.

Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola on Friday announced a cash gift of N54.5m to members of the Super Eagles of Nigeria for clinching the 29th African Cup of Nations (AFCON) trophy.

The excited governor made the announcement when he hosted the team in his Lagos House office at Alausa, Ikeja. In addition to the gift, he announced another donation of N2.5m to Coach Stephen Keshi.

Keshi's immediate assistant, Daniel Amokachi received N2m while each of the other four assistant coaches got the sum of N1.5m. Captain of the team, Joseph Yobo also got an extra N1.5 million.

The governor gave each of the players who scored the team’s 11 goals at the tournament the sum of N1.5m each while others got N1 million each. Also, Governor Fashola gave the backroom staff of the team a total sum of N15m while the supporters’ club received another N4.5m.

Describing the gesture as a token, he commended the team for lifting the spirit of the country and its citizens through its excellent performance at the tournament. He described the successful outing as a victory for the country and its sports, especially considering the team’s latest position on the FIFA ranking.

Fashola urged them against relenting, saying they should rather build on the recorded success as they prepare to meet Kenya next month in a World Cup qualifier.

“Let us remind ourselves that Zambia, the immediate defending champions of the tournament, did not make it to the second round,” he said reminding the team of the forthcoming Confederations Cup which is to begin in June.

“The Confederations Cup provides us with an opportunity to improve on our performance. Yes, we have moved from very abysmal ranking to 4th in Africa and 30th in the world but we must remember that the ranking used to be better because in 1994, we were ranked 5th in the world.”

He implored them to always be conscious of the fact that the job is far from completion, saying “We must begin to plan ahead and do all the right things to ensure the team performs better.”

While using the opportunity to call for the improvement of the local league and grassroots football since they both have prospect for the country's performance in international competitions, he urged sport officials to desist from interfering with coaching matters in the national teams.

More Articles ...

  1. Why Stephen Keshi resigned and rescinded decision to quit
  2. Nigerians Saddened By Keshi`s Resignation
  3. CAF Suspends Referee of Ghana-Burkina Faso Tie
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