Nigeria Content Online

Tiger
Woods returned to competition at last week’s WGC-Accenture Match Play
Championship in the Arizona desert under increasing pressure to clean
up his game and his on-course demeanour.

Although he showed
distinct signs of improvement in the latter category, his week ended
abruptly when he was eliminated by Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn after 19
holes in the opening round.

It is now a distant
15 months since Woods last won a tournament anywhere in the world and
he would dearly love to end that barren run with the first major of the
year – the April 7-10 U.S. Masters – fast approaching.

Woods is a
four-time champion at Augusta National, the permanent home of the
Masters, and that venue offers him a comfort factor more than most
others.

However, there is
no doubt the American one has been totally frustrated by his inability
to string together four good rounds in one week while undergoing the
fourth swing change of his career.

Comfortably the
best player of his generation, he has struggled to regain his former
dominance after trying to repair his deteriorating marriage last year
and spending less time at practice than usual.

“Still in the
process, still working on it,” Woods said last week about the swing
changes he initiated with Canadian coach Sean Foley in August.

“That’s what I went
through with Hank (Haney) and went through with Butch (Harmon), he
added, referring to his previous swing coaches. “It took 18 months to a
couple of years.”

Erratic Play

Woods arrived at
Dove Mountain for last week’s Match Play event with renewed confidence
in his revamped swing after being blown off course at the Dubai Desert
Classic two weeks earlier.

“The game is
progressing, no doubt,” he said on the eve of the opening round. “Had
to work on a few things that we found were not right in Dubai, which
was good. And it feels like we’re heading in the right direction. Just
have to work on it and solidify it.” However, erratic play continued to
be the order of the day for the former world number one as he came from
two down after five holes to go one up after 12 before losing to Bjorn
on the 19th green.

“Disappointing,
very disappointing,” Woods said before heading home to Florida to
prepare for his next event, the March 10-13 WGC-Cadillac Championship
at Doral.

American television analyst, Johnny Miller, the 1976 British Open champion and U.S. Open winner in 1973, compared the downward spiral of Woods to the spectacular fall from grace by boxer Mike Tyson.

“It’s a little bit
like a Mike Tyson story to be honest with you,” Miller said in a Golf
Channel round-table discussion last week. “Sort of invincible, scared
everybody and performed quickly under pressure until Buster Douglas
came along. Tiger sort of hit that and it’s life. And his life
crumbled.” “It’s like Humpty Dumpty,” Miller added. “He was on a high
wall way above all the other players. He had a great fall and there are
pieces all over the place. He’s trying to put them together.

It’s a tough
thing.” Woods, a 14-times major champion, has not won a tournament
since the 2009 Australian Masters and he has slipped to number five in
the world – his lowest ranking since the week before he won the 1997
Masters.

The
maiden edition of the South-East Cricket Championship for Anosike Cup
ended on Sunday February 27, at the Government Secondary School Owerri
where the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) Cricket Club emerged
victorious.

The University team defeated Unity Cricket Club of Awka, by just one run in a highly competitive 25 Overs.

The Anambra team
batted first scoring 97 runs for 9 wickets while the UNN team led by
the former Nigeria International, Jacob Onyechi levelled up at 24.2
Overs scoring 98 runs for 5 wickets.

The match was
described by the Chairman of the occasion, E.E. Njemanze, the Ozuruigbo
V of Owerri as challenging and entertaining. The former cricket player
described the match as tension soaked as the two teams fought to the
last minute. Njemanze afterwards encouraged the organisers to reach out
to other states of the South-East and the old Eastern region.

In his opening
speech, the sponsor of the Championship, Chuma Anosike thanked the
dignitaries and the participating teams: Unity Cricket Club of Awka,
from Anambra; Owerri Cricket Club, Imo and UNN Cricket Club, Enugu, for
their spirit of sportsmanship. He further called on all lovers of
Cricket in the country to support the growth of the game in the region.
He encouraged sponsors to team up as much as possible to make sure the
game is kept alive through sponsorship of tournaments.

While acknowledging
the co-sponsorship of Ekulo Group of companies who within the short
notice agreed to co- sponsor the tournament, Anosike also praised UAC
Foods for providing snacks during the entire duration of the tournament.

To qualify for the
final match, the Anambra team defeated Imo 86 runs to 83 runs in the
opening match but lost to UNN in their second match. In the final match
of the round-robin game, the Owerri team lost to UNN by two runs – 65
to 63 runs.

Joseph Agada of UNN
won the Bowler of the series Award, while Ugochukwu Umeh of Unity won
the Fielder of the series. Other awards like Wicket Keeper of the
series went to Okey Okeke of UNN while Chisom Adagu and Joseph Agada
won the Batsman and Man of the series Awards respectively. The
competition took place between February 25 and 27.

The
Shell sponsored Governor’s Cup football tournament, which ended in
Rivers State at the weekend, has been praised by three former members
of the Super Eagles for its quality.

One after the
other, former Eagles captain, Segun Odegbami, Henry Nwosu and John
Fashanu said after the match that the skills exhibited by the young
players indicate that the future of football in Nigeria lies at the
grassroots.

Odegbami, who in his days entertained football fans with his dribbles down the flanks said:

“First, the idea
is fantastic, secondly, it is at local government level which means we
are going to the grassroots and I was highly surprised to find the
quality of players and quality of football we saw today.

“In fact, I am
going to go out of my way to pass on the message to one or two people
in authority to invite one or two of them for trial at the national
team level that goes to show how impressed I am with what I saw today.
Technically, organisationally, I am impressed.”

Encouraging display

His teammate in the
Green Eagles and a former coach of the Golden Eaglets, Nwosu weighed in
noting that the display put up by the youngsters is encouraging: “I am
impressed with what I saw today (Saturday) most especially from the two
teams that I watched, they showed class, skills and discipline which is
very important. There are some budding talents among them that if
nurtured, they will go places in the nearest future,” he said.

For Fashanu, who
played his professional football in England, the players who featured
in the Shell Cup particularly in the final will excel globally if given
proper exposure.

The final match was
played between defending champions, Okrika and new comers, Obio Apkor
Local Government councils with Obio Akpor running away with a 3-1
victory.

Meanwhile, Shell
Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), sponsor of the
tournament has restated its commitment to continue sponsoring the event.

Mutiu Sunmonu, Managing Director of the organisation who was pleased with the outcome of the tournament,

said: “Shell is
committed towards the development of grassroots football; I must
confess to you that this year’s game is one of the best I have watched.”

The battle by the
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president, Aminu Maigari and other
elected members of the federation to remain in office will today resume
at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, as Justice Okon Abang will hear
arguments on the preliminary objection filed by the football officials
challenging the relist of a suit filed by the National Association of
Nigerian Footballers (NANF).

NANF had filed a
suit urging the court to stop the conduct of elections into the
executive board of the NFA last year on the ground that the process of
the election was perfected without recourse to its members and contrary
to FIFA statutes and other extant laws relating to football
administration in Nigeria.

Contrary to the
court order secured by NANF then, the elections went on with Aminu
Maigari emerging as the federation boss in polls conducted on August
26, 2010.

After series of
negotiations with the leadership of the NFF and other football
faithful, NANF agreed to discontinue its suit against the respondents
and opted for an out of court settlement. The Harrison Jalla led body
however relisted the suit last month citing breach of the agreement
earlier reached.

Justice Abang, it
would be recalled, had nullified elections that brought Maigari into
office as NFA president, on the ground that the elections were
conducted in flagrant disregard to a subsisting order of court that
parties should maintain status quo.

Last hearing

At the last hearing
on the case, lawyer to the NFA, Akin Olujimi (SAN) informed the court
of the preliminary objection to the relist of the matter, adding that
he had served the plaintiff with the objection.

Responding, NANF’s
lawyer, Bello Aideloje applied for adjournment on the ground that he
was just served with the objection and that he would need time to react
to it.

For the NFF, NANF
which is supposed to be a players’ welfare union is not a recognised
body neither by FIFA or FIPRO the world body for football players.

However, president
of NANF, Harrison Jalla said he is not bothered by the said
non-recognition by the international bodies as he reckoned that the
association is duly registered and recognised in Nigeria by the
relevant bodies.

While the legal
battle continues , FIFA through its Secretary General, Jerome Valcke
had warned that the world football governing body will not hesitate to
use the full weight of the law on Nigeria should the court disrupt the
smooth running of the NFF as presently constituted.

Although his late
goal was responsible for securing a win for Birmingham City over
Arsenal on Sunday, Obafemi Martins has played down his new-found
legendary status by admitting he just wants to carry on scoring goals
for the Blues. The Super Eagles striker came off the substitutes’ bench
at London’s Wembley Stadium to score the match-winning goal that helped
the Blues win the Carling Cup, and in the process secure their first
piece of major silverware for 48 years.

The last time Birmingham City
won a major title was back in 1963 when they defeated fierce local
rivals Aston Villa 3-1 over two legs to claim the Carling Cup, which
back then was known as the Football League Cup. With just over six
minutes left until full time, and with Arsenal launching wave after
wave of attack on the Birmingham City defence line, Blues manager Alex
McLeish threw Martins into the fray. And it immediately paid off in the
89th minute as Martins latched onto a defensive mix-up by defender
Laurent Koscielny and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and coolly jabbed
the ball into a gaping net to spark wild celebrations among the over
30,000 Blues fans at the venue.

Birmingham will now
feature in next season’s Europa League while Martins, who has been at
Birmingham for only one month, looks set to be remembered as a Blues
legend with his name expected to go down in Blues folklore.

But the former
Inter Milan player who is currently on loan from Russia’s Rubin Kazan
insists it is his teammates who deserve all the credit for Sunday’s
shock victory over the Gunners.

“I don’t know that (I’m a legend now),” he told reporters. “I just want to play my football for the team.

He added: “It’s not
easy coming in when the team are doing well so they deserve all the
credit, they did well (on Sunday). I’m happy for the team and the
fans.” After celebrating his goal with an extravagant back-flipping
somersault, Martins almost scored again when he attempted to lob the
ball over Szczesny only to see the young Polish stopper block his
attempt. In the last minute of stoppage time Martins then rounded
Szczesny but failed to hit the back of the net with his speculative
effort.

Important and easy

However, his vital
goal was enough to secure a memorable victory for the Blues, and he
insists the strike is the most important of his career, as well as the
easiest he has ever scored.

“I have scored a
lot of important goals but since I was at Inter Milan this is the most
important because it won a trophy,” Martins continued.

He added: “I think this is the most easiest goal that I’ve ever scored in my career and it’s very important.

“I’m glad I scored
and we won — I’m very happy. The gaffer (McLeish) said to me I was
going to come on in the second half and I was going to try my best.

“The gaffer did it
right. I think it was my second touch. It seems easy, but I took my
time to score and I’m glad we won.” It was a header from giant striker
Nikola Zigic, who had earlier opened scoring for the Blues, that led to
the mix-up between Kocielny and Szczesny. Martins admitted he was
shocked to see the ball fall at his feet but his instinct for goals had
brought him to the right place at the right time.

“The chance came and I took my time,” he continued. “Sometimes as a
striker you just have to be there. You can never tell what might
happen.”

For the first time
in years, Chelsea’s prime concern in Tuesday’s Premier League match
against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge will not be the title.

Already 15 points
behind leaders United and 11 adrift of second-placed Arsenal, Chelsea’s
hopes of retaining the title are long gone and instead they must focus
on fighting it out with Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur for the
remaining Champions League berths.

Chelsea have not
finished outside the top four since 2002, the year before Roman
Abramovich took them over, and after subsequently failing to land the
Champions League trophy he so desperately wants, the Russian
billionaire is unlikely to be impressed by the prospect of the Europa
League.

United have 60
points, four clear of Arsenal. City are third on 50, with Spurs on 47.
Chelsea, on 45, have a game in hand on Spurs and the top two and two in
hand over City.

Chelsea’s situation
is still very much in their own hands as they have still to play City
and Spurs at Stamford Bridge, though they also have to travel to Old
Trafford.

Their home record
against United in recent years is strong having not lost since 2002
and, having had the weekend off, captain John Terry said his team were
raring to go.

“We are very confident at home and the way they play might help us,” Terry told the club’s website (www.chelseafc.com).

“I’m not sure how
they are going to come at us but other teams that have come to the
Bridge have sat back and we’ve found it hard to break them down.

“It is a must-win
game for us and the fans are going to be up for it. If we can win, who
knows, it could put a little bit of pressure on them and the teams
around us.” Although Chelsea had the weekend off they were still all
over the newspapers after full back Ashley Cole was reported to have
shot a member of the club’s staff with a .22 air gun.

Rooney’s elbow

The club said they
were treating it as an internal issue and would be taking “appropriate
action” but that might not be the end of the matter as Surrey Police,
who control the area where the incident took place at the club’s Cobham
training ground, said on Monday they would be investigating to see
whether a criminal offence had taken place.

United boss Alex
Ferguson will also be waiting nervously by the phone as the FA studies
the referee’s report from their 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic on Saturday
with particular attention on Wayne Rooney.

The striker elbowed
James McCarthy in an off-the-ball incident early in the match and
though a free kick was given against him, he escaped any further
punishment.

Wigan manager
Roberto Martinez was furious and a subsequent media storm has ensured
the FA look closely at the incident, which if the referee says he did
not see clearly despite awarding the free kick could lead to a
suspension for Rooney.

Should a ban ensue
Ferguson will be delighted to have a ready-made replacement in the
shape of Javier Hernandez, who scored twice on Saturday after being
preferred in the starting lineup to Dimitar Berbatov.

Ryan Giggs is also likely to be fit for the match after recovering from a hamstring strain.

“It’s always a big game at Chelsea,” Ferguson told MUTV. “We used to
have a great record down there but our record over the last seven years
or so has been poor. We have to do something about that and that’s what
Tuesday is about.”

Golfer, Martin
Kaymer looks to have the same drive, determination and mental strength
as former tennis champions, Steffi Graf, Boris Becker and seven-time
Formula One champion Michael Schumacher.

But unlike his
fellow German athletes, Kaymer’s own rise to the top of his sport,
before he took over as world number one from Britain Lee Westwood
Monday, has largely gone unnoticed in his home country.

Whereas Becker,
Graf and Schumacher captivated Germans with their exploits on the
courts and the racing tracks, boosting their sports’ popularity to new
heights, Kaymer has quietly shot up the rankings, enjoying only
occasional coverage.

Where the others
had TV spots, front pages and fly-on-the-wall coverage of their events,
Kaymer is much more low-profile, never making it on the best-selling
Bild newspaper’s front page.

Kaymer has not been
back to Germany for any length of time since clinching his first major
title at last year’s PGA Championship but he hopes to raise his sport’s
profile there even more now that he has become world number one.

“In Germany, it’s
very difficult to get (fan) respect and recognition because we have
only soccer and Formula One which are pretty big,” the 26-year-old said
at this week’s WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Marana, Arizona.

“And as a golf
player, you barely get recognised at all. I’m trying to do what Steffi
Graf and Boris Becker did in tennis. If we can do the same with golf in
Germany, that would be very nice.” The U.S. PGA champion’s
head-spinning climb to the top of the rankings has made him one of the
hottest properties in golf and he has now emulated his role model and
compatriot Bernhard Langer, who was 29 when he became the first
official world number one in 1986.

Only recently,
however, a German consultancy was hired to help boost Kaymer’s profile
domestically with a series of media events prior to last year’s Ryder
Cup as his image within the country was lagging behind his
international success.

“There has been a
need to push his image in Germany a bit. He does not seem to have the
coverage he deserves,” a media expert who has been involved in the
golfer’s effort to boost his image, told Reuters on condition of
anonymity.

Switched focus

The soft-spoken
Kaymer almost chose football as a profession before switching his focus
to golf as a 16-year-old. Last year, he won four European Tour titles
before ending 2010 as the circuit’s number one player.

“All the goals I
set for myself happened — to win the Race to Dubai, to play in and win
the Ryder Cup and to win a major (PGA Championship),” Kaymer recalled.

Since clinching
that first major title at Whistling Straits in August, Kaymer has
triumphed three times on the European Tour, most recently at the Abu
Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in January.