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What United must do the Champions
League final is in the future but there is a present challenge which is
blue, in the form of Chelsea.

What does Alex Ferguson need to do?

Between being
cautious and going gung-ho? They lead the table with three points and a
point from today’s match will not be a disaster – so playing on the
counter with the pace of Wayne Rooney, Nani and Javier Hernandez, could
be the preferred option.

In the champions
league win over Chelsea, United showed a patient side and the ability
of Ryan Giggs to play the killer pass was key to the two-legged win,
even though the two sides mirrored a 4-4-2 formation.

So today, Rooney
will have to drop into the hole but he must be supported there by Giggs
– a feature that was missing in the 1-0 loss to Arsenal last Sunday.
Rooney was too isolated and was suffocated by the attentions of Alex
Song and Aaron Ramsey. Michael Carrick must get back to the groove he
showed against Chelsea in the Champions League clashes.

What Chelsea must not do

Chelsea must go
into today’s match with the notion that there is nothing to lose, and
that trophies are not won by second-place finishers. Chelsea have
reverted to their tried and trusted 4-3-3 formation and have scored 11
goals in their last four matches. Against Tottenham, Carlo Ancelotti
tried to pair Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres but the experiment did
not work out too well. So expect Drogba to start with Salomon Kalou and
Florent Malouda. Ramires should also start with Frank Lampard and Mikel
Obi.

As it showed
against Arsenal, United do not like players running at them like Jack
Wilshire did, so Ramires, though not as skilful as Wilshire, can still
commit the midfielders and defenders to track back. Branislav Ivanovic
will take up his battle against Nani and Ashley Cole could also
bejoined in battle with Antonio Valencia. Chelsea have momentum but
United have proven over the years that they do not accept defeat until
the final whistle.

Flashback

In the 1995/96
league title run-in, Newcastle manager, Kevin Keegan had a public
break-down; live on television after being needled by the ‘master’ in
psychological warfare, Alex Ferguson.

Keegan, while
responding to questions after a match against Leeds, lost his cool over
Ferguson’s claim that teams tried harder to beat Man Utd than Newcastle.

“I’ve kept really quiet, but I’ll tell you something: he went down in my estimation when he said that,’ Keegan said.

He continued, “I’ll
tell ya – you can tell him now, he’ll be watching – we’re still
fighting for this title. And I’ll tell you honestly, I will love it if
we beat them – love it!”

Newcastle ended up
second after United had clawed back a 12-point deficit with the
pressure of mind games with United manager Alex Ferguson appeared to
have taken its toll on Keegan. Newcastle were thus denied a first title
since 1927. Man Utd led the table by two points with one game left, and
beat Tottenham 3-0 to claim the trophy.

Quotes

“If you don’t
recognise who won the league the year before, you’re very foolish. It
is not easy winning the league, even if it was only by a point. They
still won the league and they’re a very experienced, formidable side
and anybody who finishes above Chelsea will win the league.” – Alex
Ferguson predicted in November that the season would come down to a
fight between his side and the Stamford Bridge outfit

“Obviously, it
gives Chelsea a major chance now and that’s what happens. They got
great decisions for them. We never seem to get these kinds of
decisions. They seem to be getting them. They got one to win the league
at Old Trafford last season so that’s a worry.” – Alex Ferguson started
his mind games on Sunday immediately his side lost 1-0 to Arsenal as he
accused referees of favouring Chelsea

“You need to use
character and personality to play this match. Both teams have that, but
it is the momentum. It is the best moment to play there because now our
condition is good and the momentum is also. But obviously it will not
be easy to play there. I don’t think we are better [than United]. I
think we have the same power, the same strength, and the same ability.”
– Carlo Ancelotti after the 2-1 win over Tottenham last Saturday

“We know if we want
to win the game we have to play with confidence. The results against
them in the Champions League were very good. I think that gives us the
psychological advantage. We just have to concentrate on our football
and winning the game. If we do that then everything will be fine. If we
win this one then it is a great advantage for us. It is nearly over
then. We have a great chance.” – Nani saying United hold a
psychological edge over Chelsea in today’s encounter

The referee – Howard Webb

When the name of
the referee for the Man Utd versus Chelsea match was revealed on
Monday, United fans gave a collective sigh of relief whilst Chelsea
fans started fearing the worst.

Ken Ochonogor, a sports presenter and an avid United fan put the appointment succinctly.

“When we played
Chelsea, they brought Atkinson, who is a Chelsea fan so the Premier
League had to balance it by giving us ‘our’ referee. Now we are sure
that the league will be won at Old Trafford on Sunday.”

And Webb’s alleged
bias for United started back in the 2008/2009 season. A match between
Tottenham Hotspurs and United in April 2009 was the day this legend was
born.

United were 2-0
down to Tottenham at half-time with the title race also balanced
precariously when Webb awarded Michael Carrick a more than dubious
penalty after he lost the ball and fell over Tottenham goalkeeper,
Heurelho Gomes in the box in the 56th minute.

Cristiano Ronaldo
scored and United, mounted a famous comeback. United finally won 5-2
but there is the likelihood that the comeback would have been
impossible if Carrick had not been awarded that penalty.

Spurs midfielder
Jermaine Jenas said afterwards: “I think it was a case of a referee
crumbling under the pressure at Old Trafford really than making
decisions.

“One thing which
struck me about it was that he didn’t even think. It was like he’d
already made his mind up when he came out for the second half that he
was going to give something.”

Webb was demoted to the Championship the following week as punishment for the mistake but United still went on to win the title.

Liverpool were also
left fuming in January when Webb awarded an early penalty to Dimitar
Berbatov to give United the lead, a decision that was classified as a
‘joke’ by Liverpool manager, Kenny Dalglish. To rub salt into an open
wound, Webb then sent off Steven Gerrard for a two-footed lunge on
Michael Carrick, though it must be said that it was the right decision.

Afterwards it
became a Twitter rant as former Liverpool player, Ryan Babel, posted a
mocked-up picture of Webb in a United shirt and the Football
Association promptly handed down a £10,000 fine for the Dutch player.

Also to help the myth grow, Webb has awarded United three penalties in the last four games he has officiated at Old Trafford.

But there in comes
the fear that Webb will try too much on Sunday to be seen as fair,
thereby hampering his ability to give key decisions the way of United.

It is hoped for
Webb’s case and other referees that today’s match will pass without any
incident and that United and Chelsea do not crowd the referee when
there are contentious issues to be addressed.

Managers’ head to head

Juventus 2 Man Utd 3; agg 3-4; (Champions League semi-final, second leg, April 1999)

AC Milan 3 Man Utd 0; agg: 5-3; (Champions League semi-final, second leg, May 2007)

Man Utd 2 Chelsea 2 (Chelsea won 4-1 on penalties); (FA Community Shield, August 2009)

Chelsea 1 Man Utd 0 – (Premier League, November 2009)

Man Utd 2, Chelsea 1 (agg 3-1); (Champions League quarter-final, second leg, April 2011) </

As the nation
heaves a sigh of relief after the national polls, the Nigerian polo
family, the management of Zaria Polo Club and enthusiasts of the sport
of kings are looking forward to the much-hyped Zaria annual polo
festival.

Traditionally
billed for the Easter holiday period, but pushed forward by the
elections, the Zaria 2011 festival, which holds later this month or
early June, would provide a convivial ambience for the polo fraternity
to celebrate with some of their own who made it at the polls.

Acting captain of
Zaria Polo Club, Alhaji Aminu Gagare who dropped this hint, said
arrangements are in top gear for Zaria to host its 2011 tournament.
Gagare, who would not confirm the date until he clears it with the
Nigerian Polo Federation (NPF), says the event will be one of the best
Zaria has witnessed in recent times.

“Arrangements are
on course and the club management has been holding discussions with our
patrons, benefactors and potential sponsors and everything is looking
good for a grand event that would further consolidate the return of
noble game to the ancient Zauzau kingdom,” Gagare said.

Zaria Polo Club,
which is bracing up to host its second tournament since coming out of
decades of inactivity, is overwhelmed by the level of interest as most
clubs across the country are jostling to play in Zaria.

“We are overwhelmed
by the huge interest our tournament is generating, and we are currently
discussing with officials of the Nigerian Polo Federation for
permission to invite more than the mandatory number of clubs for the
fiesta” the captain pointed out.

Getting ready

NPF President,
Francis Ogboro has confirmed that the body is working closely with
Zaria Polo Club to host the festival. According to the polo boss,
tournament details and the date for the tournament would be made public
soon.

Apart from the
growing interest from participating clubs that stretches from Port
Harcourt to Sokoto, Yola, Kaduna, Jos, Katsina, Bauchi and Abuja,
corporate organizations are angling to use the event to market their
products and services in Zaria and its environs.

Already, the polo
club nestling on the serene Queen Elizabeth Road in Zaria GRA, is
wearing a new look as a communications company is seeking to get Zaria
under its growing sponsorship list of polo events in the country.

A visit to the
university town reveals the whole city beaming, with its ever growing
student population, bracing up for a real festival as the polo ground,
the club house and the pavilion is wearing a new look.

Also, side boards was already in place with few horses trotting around as the countdown to the prestigious event begins.

The city will
receive thousands of visitors, as most of the players currently
preparing for the Polo World Cup qualifier, would use the event to
showcase their skills before departing to Malaysia.

The ancient kingdom
of Zazzau in Kaduna State came alive last year as polo made its long
awaited return to ancient city. The tournament, which attracted over
ten teams from Katsina, Kano, Kaduna and host Zaria, galloped off on
April 2 and climaxed with fanfare on April 4. The festival enjoyed the
blessing of the Emir of Zazzau, Shehu Idris and his Katsina counterpart
and life chairman of Nigerian polo, Abdulmumuni Kabir.

The three-day
fiesta was undoubtedly the biggest sporting carnival the kingdom has
witnessed in decades, with tourists and polo enthusiasts arriving Zaria
in droves.

At the end of the event, Katsina Max Air and Kano Nakudu polo teams
emerged winners, carting home the highly-revered Royal Signal Cup and
the Emir of Zauzau Cup respectively.

Chest pains which
confined Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier to a hospital bed for
eight days, a decade after he underwent open heart surgery, are a
salutary reminder of the stresses of an unforgiving job.

The 63-year-old
Frenchman is now recovering at home and has relinquished control of the
Premier League club for the remainder of the season.

Heart problems have
been a recurring theme in British football management, with the best
known being, Scotland manager Jock Stein’s death from a heart attack
after his team’s match against Wales in 1985.

Another Scot,
Graeme Souness, was only 38 when he had a triple heart bypass while
managing Liverpool in 1992 and Manchester United manager, Alex Ferguson
had a pacemaker inserted in 2004. Two English managers, Joe Kinnear and
Barry Fry, have suffered heart attacks.

Tricia Kalloo is
the owner of Wellness International, which provides the opportunity for
English football managers to have free and regular checkups in
coordination with the League Managers Association (LMA) under the Fit
to Manage programme.

In a telephone
interview with Reuters, Kalloo said football managers endured stress
levels similar to those of senior executives in other occupations.

Heavy workload

“We can see similar levels of stresses in senior executives as we do in football managers,” she said.

“With football managers, their stress begins not just from the moment that they step on the field.

“Their stresses can
begin a couple of days into the lead up to the game. Football managers
endure this build-up of stress over a significant period of time and
recurring through a season.

“There can also be pressures with the club and the day-to-day activities that we are probably not aware of.”

Kalloo said one of
the contributing factors to their stress level was the sheer number of
hours a football manager worked, which has been estimated at more than
80 hours a week during the season.

“We are thinking of
training, we are thinking of time at the club, of game time and travel
time. I believe that is what drives those statistics,” she said. “Not
much rest.”

Kalloo said the
programme had a pool of some 290 managers who could undergo checkups in
Wellness International’s London or Manchester offices.

“Managers, current
or retired, can also access a mobile service if they live close to the
area where it is being delivered,” she said. “It gives them an idea of
any health risks they may have.

“This accessibility
has proven to be successful as it brings the service to the range of
managers, not just with clubs who are under constant stress, but
managers who might be temporarily out of the game but involved in other
activities and retired managers who need to keep monitoring their
health and take good care of themselves.

Insecure trade

“In terms of the
total membership, we probably have approximately 50 percent of the
members coming through at any one time. Given the success rate of the
programme and the number of managers who benefit from this, it is
disappointing that we do not see more managers through.”

Kalloo said one
factor all managers had in common, whether they were ex-professional
players or not, was a passion for their job.

“I think it’s a
genuine passion from every manager that we see that drives them, the
dedication and ultimately the stress levels,” she said.

Football management is a notoriously insecure trade, with managers hired and fired on a regular basis.

“I believe that is
something that they are all very much aware of,” Kalloo said. “Of
course it affects them but I think there is a general understanding
that it’s one of the risks of the job.

“We do work with a number of lawyers, senior executives or chief executives who have similar stresses or reactions.

“Remember that we all endure some type of stress and it is really
about the way we handle. It is about coping strategies. You and I may
have an exact situation in life but our ability to cope with it is very
different and hence our stress levels would be different.”

REUTERS

I
have asked this question several times in this column and I ask it
again: are we a nation that is inured to cheating? Are we irretrievably
sold on the idea that the best approach is the short cut route?

These questions
have been prompted by recent developments on our sporting scene, one of
which is our recent triumph at the Africa Youth Championship, which
ended recently in South Africa.

For a lot of
Nigerian football fans, slaying the Camerounian bogey felt even better
than lifting the trophy itself. Expectedly, officials of the Nigerian
Football Federation (NFF), have been beside themselves with excitement
engaging freely in backslapping and chest thumping.

But as we have come
to know with almost everything that has to do with our participation in
international youth football competitions, the victory in South Africa
is decidedly pyrrhic. It has come at the cost of national honour and
integrity.

For as we gloat
over our triumph, the foul smell of corruption pollutes the firmament
and dogs our every step. The use of players who are clearly over the
age limit in prosecuting a tournament, for which lads are supposed to
participate, certainly diminishes us.

For the second time
in two years, Adokiye Amiesimaka, the respected former commissioner for
justice in Rivers State and a former member of the Super Eagles, has
drawn attention to the use of players clearly too old for the teams in
which they have been fielded. In 2009 he pointed out to us the folly in
fielding Fortune Chukwudi, a player he said was 18 years old, seven
years earlier, in the Golden Eaglets squad.

This time around,
he has picked on Kayode Olanrewaju pointing out that the player was in
the same Sharks feeder team with Chukwudi nine years ago.

What has been the
reaction of the NFF and the larger Nigerian society to the disclosure?
Indifference. While the football federation has pretended nothing has
happened, one of its senior officials is alleged by a journalist to
have threatened his life for daring to draw attention to the fact there
are indeed more players in current Flying Eagles squad over the
prescribed 20 years age limit.

Now, before anyone
thinks that this practice is the sole preserve of the NFF, he or she
would do well to consider recent developments in the Athletics
federation of Nigeria (AFN). This week in Botswana Nigeria will be
participating in the African Junior Athletics Championships. The team
has been chosen and visas obtained. Sadly, we are confronted yet again
with allegations of use of overage athletes.

The danger of shortcuts

Last week, Olajide
Fashikun, one of Nigeria’s leading investigative journalists wrote that
some of the athletes in the Nigerian contingent are actually older than
they are making out:

“Nigeria, through
her athletics federation, has perfected a massive but criminally
fraudulent measure to go the next African athletics championships
holding in Botswana to cheat again.

“The latest is the
massive importation of 30 year olds to participate in championships for
17 year olds. In this team, we have a quarter miler whose personal best
by the records of the AFN is a 48 seconder! Can a 16 year old return
such? Haba AFN! One of your juniors was in the world universities games
in 2005 and in 2011 is a junior. This is obviously senseless cheating.
I have the three Nigerian passports of this single athlete all changed
at the AFN’s instance.”

If this revelation
does not disturb us then something is fundamentally wrong with our
values. No society survives or gets ahead through cheating. If anything
shortcuts, rather than help us along on the path of progress, actually
distract and makes us lazy.

For truly, it is
laziness that has continued to feed the desire of our sports officials
to field overage athletes in age grade competitions because it is so
much easier for them to do so than engage in the mental exercise of
devising programmes that would identify and groom youngsters to become
the elite athletes of the future who can win laurels for Nigeria.

No nation follows this path and succeeds and Nigeria will not be
different. True greatness in sports cannot be attained via the back
door. The potential to succeed exists; the resources to actualise it
are overabundant. What are lacking are integrity, commitment and plain
commonsense.

Baron Pierre De
Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympics, would have been laughed
to scorn were he alive in present day Nigeria.

Coubertin’s ethos
emanates from a purist’s conscience, one acutely aware that triumphs in
sport are pyrrhic, if not built with the fundamental blocks of
integrity and diligence.

His honourable
view, that “the important thing in life is not the victory but the
contest”, does not resonate in the consciousness of our sports
administrators. If it did, they would know that we, as a country,
should bury our heads in shame and have nothing to celebrate over
“winning” the African Youth Championship in South Africa.

Our “victory”, on
May 1st in Johannesburg, is a tragic testimony to our persistence in
folly, as the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) and Taoheed Adedoja,
the sports minister, hosted a lavish gala for the Flying Eagles that
“won” the championship with over aged players.

Two years have not
even passed since the Golden Eaglets fraudulently earned a silver medal
at the 2009 U-17 World Cup, with the Nigerian Football Federation
knowingly including two twenty something year olds – Fortune Chukwudi
and Stanley Okoro – in that squad.

Adokiye Amiesimaka,
an elder friend and learned colleague, presented incontrovertible
evidence to the country proving this. And, unsurprisingly, it has not
been challenged to this day.

His revelation,
made whilst that tournament was on, as I functioned as a member of the
official FIFA delegation, stirred the hornet’s nest, as the NFF
unleashed their rabid attack dogs on Amiesimaka.

“How can a sane person write something like that at this time?” asked Taiwo Ogunjobi.

It is ironic that
Ogunjobi, one of Amiesimaka’s detractors at the time, whilst a board
member of the NFF in 2009, is the one squirming under a criminal
indictment in a Federal High Court that could see him end up in jail.

In contrast,
Amiesimaka, a 1980 African Cup of Nations winner, served Nigeria with
distinction, dignity and honour. And the man certainly has cojones. He
is not shirking away from the onerous task of reminding us that
Nigerian football’s marriage to falsehood continues, making prescient
remarks about the current Flying Eagles class.

“Stanley Okoro, for
instance, has no business in that team. He cannot be anything less than
33 or 34 (and yes, he is the same player that was in the 2009 U-17
team!).”

“Olarenwaju Kayode
was my player in the Sharks feeder team in 2002, and played alongside
Fortune Chukwudi, so he cannot be less than 29 or 30…”

“Abdul Ajagun was
one of the highest goal scorers in the league. He was in Command
Secondary School in Kaduna and dropped out of school, in SS2, in the
1990s, and so cannot be U-20,” Amiesimaka points out.

A culture of silence

Six years ago,
whilst still a BBC journalist, I had documentary evidence, derived from
two different passports, that Obinna Nsofor, currently on loan with
English Premiership side West Ham, falsified his age whilst playing for
Nigeria at the 2005 African World Youth Championship in Benin.

Privately
confronting Ibrahim Galadima, the erstwhile Nigeria FA chairman, with
the evidence, he ordered – and ensured – that the player be dropped
from the team that went on to win a silver medal at the 2005 World
Youth Championship in the Netherlands. It was a rare moment when truth
prevailed.

Rather than engage
in hard graft and create teams from the depth of talent available in
Nigeria’s secondary schools – the only place where you can find players
genuinely within the U-17 and U-20 age bracket – national coaches
regularly pick ‘teenagers’ playing league football, when it is a
rarity, even in the most advanced football nations, for a 16 year-old
to be playing against seasoned pros!

The euphoria – and
the spoils – of victory, has seduced Nigerian officials into becoming
complicit in a poisonous, insidious culture of cheating, which steals
the opportunities of genuine teenagers, with the talent to make a
successful career out of football and build a great future for Nigeria.

Our culture of
silence or, at best, inaudible discontent on age cheating, which is
eating away at the fabric of Nigerian football, does us a terrible
disservice.

It is time for those who really care about our game to stand up and be counted.

As Usman Dan Fodio, the 19th century Islamic scholar succinctly
pointed out, “conscience is an open wound and only truth can heal it.”

After struggling to a 1-0 win in their first match against
Liberia last Thursday, the Home based Super Eagles team seem to be back in
their strides as they soar to a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Niger Republic
in their second group game in the ongoing WAFU tournament in Abeokuta.

Two goals from the boots of Ikechukwu Ibenegbu in the 4^th minute and another in 35^th gave Nigeria a deserved 2-0 lead in the 1^st half, while rave of the moment Ehigo Ehiosun and 2^nd half
substitute Aughta White completed the routing.

The win over Niger thus means the Siasia led team is still
in firm contention to retain the trophy won last year, it also served as
revenge over the Nigerians who knocked the Home Eagles at of the CHAN Nations
Cup last year.

French Sports
minister Chantal Jouanno will announce on Monday the initial findings
of a probe into alleged racial discrimination within the country’s
soccer federation.

France coach
Laurent Blanc, who helped win the 1998 World Cup as a player, has been
implicated in the affair but has yet to attend a Ministry hearing into
reports the federation wanted quotas for African and Arab players in
youth teams.

“I want to bring
serenity because what is happening is dramatic for football and for
sport,” Jouanno, who has backed Blanc, told reporters as she confirmed
her first report would land on Monday.

“You cannot accuse
Laurent Blanc of being racist and we must tell everyone to remind
themselves of the wonderful image of France ‘98.”

Since investigative
website Mediapart first broke the story on alleged quotas, a ministry
and separate federation inquiry have been set up with the latter due to
make its first report on Tuesday although that could be delayed.

The latest
information published by Mediapart is a chart, which it says was
circulated internally at the federation and identifies young players
with dual nationalities who were likely to choose to play for teams
other than France.

“What we should
look at is what this chart was really about,” added Jouanno, who
refused to say when Blanc would be heard by the inquiries, given he is
on holiday in Italy.

“The date of the hearing is confidential, I promised him,” she said.

“He is in the process of reviving the France team and he instils values. Now we must find a solution to the crisis.”

France endured a
woeful World Cup last year and their players even went on strike but
they are top of their Euro 2012 qualifying group under their new coach.

Blanc, slammed by
some of his France ‘98 team mates, has denied being racist and has said
any comments he made at a November meeting into dual nationality
players were taken out of context but could “offend some sensibilities”.

REUTERS

Teenage prodigy,
Matteo Manassero is expected to make his US Open debut next month and
he simply cannot wait to take on the famous Congressional Country Club
course in Bethesda, Maryland.

The 18-year-old
Italian is 33rd in the world rankings and needs to remain in the top 50
by the end of May in order to make certain of his place in the second
major of the year.

“I’m really looking
forward to playing one of the world’s most famous courses,” twice
European Tour winner Manassero told Reuters on the eve of the Spanish
Open.

“I don’t know
anything about the Congressional, except I know the rough will be long,
but tough courses suit my game and I’m excited about making my debut.”
The June 16-19 US Open will be held for the third time on the Blue
course at Congressional where South African Ernie Els won the most
recent edition in 1997.

Manassero became
the youngest winner on the European Tour when he lifted the Castello
Masters title in Spain last year, at the age of 17.

Europe’s 2010
Rookie of the Year then proved his maiden victory was no fluke by
landing the Malaysian Open crown in Kuala Lumpur last month.

While Manassero is
delighted to have won twice already in his fledgling career, the
teenager is also concerned about a possible backlash.

Lots to learn

“My wins have happened very soon which is nice because I can now go on and achieve more,” he said.

“(But) I do wonder if it has all come too soon because now everybody expects me to win when I still have a lot to learn.

“There will be bad times but I’m sure I’ll be able to handle it especially as I have a good team around me.”

Manassero,
competing this week for the first time since his Malaysian triumph, is
juggling the demands of the tour with trying to complete his formal
education.

“It’s not easy to
combine the two but I try,” he said. “I want to finish my studies, so I
travel with my books and do my exams.”

Manassero said that qualifying for next year’s Ryder Cup near Chicago was in his thoughts.

“The Ryder Cup is far away … (but) obviously it’s on my mind,” he explained.

“My present goal is
to make the top 10 in the Race to Dubai,” added Manassero who now holds
13th place on Europe’s money-list.

REUTERS