Nigeria Content Online

The hope of
Nigerian football fans for a decent performance at the world cup in
South Africa received a boost with Chinedu Obasi’s strike on goal for
his club and the return of another striker, Ikechukwu Uche of Spanish
team, Real Zaragozam.

Uche returned to action last weekend after a
seven-month injury spell . He came off the bench and played for 16
minutes in his club’s 2-1 loss to Real Madrid . It was a remarkable
return for one of the Super Eagles regulars who suffered a ligament
damage in September last year and undoubtedly, coach Lars Lagerback
will be delighted at the strikers recovery especially as he has named
him on provisional list last week.

On Sunday, Malaga’s
Obinna Nsofor scored his club lone goal in a 1-1 draw in 86th minute
after coming on as replacement for Ecuadorean Caicedo in the 72nd
minute.

England

John Utaka and Nwankwo Kanu ( Portsmouth):

John Utaka was on
for the entire 90minutes as his relegated side Portsmouth rallied back
to a 2-2 draw against Bolton Wanderers in their Premier League
encounter at the Reebok Stadium last weekend. It was Cote D’Ivoire
striker, Aruna Dindane who scored both goals for Pompey to cancel
Bolton’s 2-0 lead but Utaka had a decent performance and provided the
assist for the second goal after his cutback pass near the byline found
the Ivorian forward who slotted the ball home from six yards out. Utaka
is hoping to make the final squad for the World Cup after being named
in the 44-man list released by the Super Eagles coach last week but he
may have to step up on his game if he is hoping to be among the six or
seven players to fill the forward line in the Nigeria squad to South
Africa. He has made 16 league appearances – eight from the start- for
the South Coast outfit, yet he has failed to record a single goal with
two games left to play in the campaign.

Eagles captain,
Nwankwo Kanu was not even listed for the Bolton trip albeit he claims
he is in top shape to lead the Eagles to the World Cup in South Africa.
Kanu however has a better scorecard than Utaka, having made 23
appearances for Portsmouth though he only started seven of those games.
The former Arsenal man has scored twice and provided two assists.

Aiyegbeni Yakubu,
Joseph Yobo and Victor Anichebe (Everton): Yakubu was on from the start
for only the eighth time this season but it was actually Anichebe who
scored one of Everton’s goals to help them to a 2-1 win over Fulham at
Goodison Park on Sunday.

Anichebe who is one of Nigeria’s World Cup
hopefuls came off the bench to level scores at 1-1 for the Toffees
before Mikel Arteta netted the winner. Yobo continued to endure a
frustrating experience on the Everton bench for 90minutes again last
weekend.France Onyekachi Apam (OGC Nice): One of our most consistent
players in Europe, Apam was not listed last weekend when his side, Nice
ensured they are staying in the top flight next season with a 2-1
victory over Grenoble at Stade Municipal Du Ray. The team was flirting
with relegation after winning only 10 out of 33 games before the match
against Grenoble but last weekend’s triumph meant they will play in
Ligue1 next season.

Central defender, Apam, who can also play as a full
back has featured in 23 league games this season and featured for
90minutes in all of the games. His number of appearances has obviously
been limited by his participation at the African Cup of Nations in
Angola in January.Olubayo Adefemi (US Bolougne) and Brown Ideye
(Sochaux) :Adefemi is one of Nigeria’s promising players in the right
back position for the World Cup in South Africa but he has not enjoyed
the best of times in the second half of the Ligue1 season at the newly
promoted outfit, Bolougne.

The former Rapid Bucharest of Romania player
was again not listed last weekend as his club, recorded a convincing
3-0 win away to Sochaux, their biggest win this season. The win gave
the newcomers a huge boost in their fight to escape relegation but they
still have a lot to do to better their 19th position on the table.
Adefemi has not featured in Ligue1 since scoring Bolugne’s consolation
goal in their 3-1 loss at Lille Metropole in February this year but he
is among the players called up to fight for a place in Nigeria’s World
Cup squad. Sochaux striker, Ideye was on for 90 minutes but he could
not save his club from a comprehensive home defeat.

The former Flying
Eagles striker who played in the 2007 World Youth Championship squad
has played 13 games for Sochaux, scoring only once. His other three
goals for the team came in the French Cup. He is one of the players
listed for World Cup build up programme.

Germany

Chinedu Obasi (TSG Hoffenheim):

If there is one
player whose potential of making Nigeria’s World Cup squad is not in
doubt , it should be Obasi. But his injury problems have continued to
hinder his progress in Europe. Obasi once again showed his scoring
prowess when he netted twice on Sunday to help his club to a 5-1 win
over Hamburg. He netted his first on 31minutes after pouncing on a pass
from Vukcevic and netted his second with a calm finish running through
on goal in the 72nd minute of the encounter.

The two goals brought
Obasi’s season tally in the league to five from 18 starts and he was
sure to have been delighted to have completed the whole game without
injury.Obafemi Martins (VFL Wolsburg):Expectedly the duo of Edin Dzeko
and Grafite got the nod to start in the attack for Wolfsburg and Eagles
striker Martins was left out of the squad.