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African soccer, which failed again to get past the quarter-final
barrier at the 2010 World Cup, reached its first senior global final on
Tuesday. The Club World Cup may not have the prestige of FIFA’s big showcase
tournament for national teams, but African champions TP Mazembe were relishing
their achievement.

The team from the Democratic Republic of Congo upset South
America champions Internacional of Brazil 2-0 in an exciting semi-final of the
seven-team tournament at the Mohammad bin Zayed stadium.

“I think the whole team were playing very well… I went to talk
to them (at halftime and said) ‘now this is not Brazil which they are saying,
you are better then them, you can do better than them, just like in the Bible
David killed Goliath’,” club chairman Moise Katumbi Chapwe said.

“It was not an easy game, no one gave us a chance, they think
you are coming to lose,” the smartly dressed 46-year-old businessman and
politician told reporters.

“I prepared this team (from) a long time ago and they started
from the age of 16 so this is the result.” Coach Lamine N’Diaye, who is from
Senegal, said African soccer had been progressing steadily and its day had
come.

“Yesterday (Monday), I said this day was not far away and I
believed it. I asked the players ‘do you want to achieve something?'” N’Diaye
told the post-match news conference.

“It’s high time that Africa was taken seriously. We have eyes,
arms, legs, a head and we can think,” he said.

“We knew we were a great team, we just needed a place to show
it. In Africa, it’s already big to win the Champions League twice in a row.”

TP Mazembe, founded in 1939 by Benedictine monks, have twice won
successive African Champions League titles, the first time in 1967 and 1968.

“To win is always nice but here that takes on a bigger
dimension,” N’Diaye said. “We have players with talent and conviction… These
players are easy to coach.

“Last year we came here to get experience, this year it was to
do better,” he added.

Mazembe finished sixth last year after losing their quarter-final 2-1 to
Pohang Steelers of South Korea and the fifth-place playoff to surprise team
Auckland City.

Super Eagles’ coach, Samson Siasia, will travel to England this
weekend to meet with some of the country’s players, most of whom ply their
trade in the English Premier League.

The trip will serve as the first official parley between Siasia
and some of the country’s top stars since his emergence as the new coach of the
Super Eagles. He will also use the opportunity to sell his vision for building
a formidable Super Eagles side in the aftermath of last summer’s World Cup in
South Africa.

Amongst the players Siasia is expected to meet are Osaze
Odemwingie, Aiyegbeni Yakubu, Victor Anichebe, Victor Obinna, John Utaka, and
erstwhile Super Eagles skipper, Nwankwo Kanu. Siasia will also hold talks with
Chelsea’s John Mikel Obi, as well as his 1994 World Cup teammate, Michael
Emenalo, who is now Chelsea’s assistant coach.

He will also get to watch this Sunday’s English Premier League
clash between Chelsea and Manchester United at London’s Stamford Bridge. “I am
going to watch Chelsea and Manchester United this weekend, he recently posted
on his twitter account. “Will speak to the boys in UK, too.” Siasia will,
thereafter, travel to Turkey where he will meet with Super Eagles defender and
skipper, Joseph Yobo.

Siasia had earlier been scheduled to depart for England last weekend, but
the trip had to be put off for undisclosed reasons. There had been speculation
that the postponement had to do with the unavailability of funds by the Nigeria
Football Federation, but according to a statement made available by the
federation, Siasia had the trip moved a few days.

Isa Bio, the
Minister of Sports, has commended the General Overseer, Mountain of
Fire and Miracles Ministries, Daniel Olukoya, for his contribution
towards the development of sports in Nigeria.

Toyin Aluko, who
represented Bio, during the finals of the 2010 annual Daniel Olukoya
International Youth Football Competition, held at the Yaba College of
Education last weekend, said that she was going to ensure that Bio gets
first hand details of the church’s quest at developing the country’s
youths through sports. “What I’ve seen here is commendable,” said
Aluko, who’s the minister’s special assistant on technical matters.

“I must thank the
MFM General Overseer for empowering the youths through sports. I came
here to represent the minister of sports in an event that I thought was
just a football competition but I was pleasantly surprised to see young
boys and girls doing the 100 metres and the 4×100 metres relays. I saw
future athletes here today. This is the kind of support that we need in
the Ministry of Sports to help us develop sports in Nigeria and I am
glad that MFM is showing the way. As I said before, the minister sent
me here to represent him and I will certainly give him a feedback. One
thing I can assure MFM of is that the sports ministry will be ready to
assist them whenever the need arises as far as sports is concerned in
Nigeria. I must say that I am very pleased with what I’ve seen here
today.”

Winning team

The fourth edition
of the tournament was won by MFM Ikeja, who dethroned the defending
champions, MFM Headquarters, in a pulsating final which ended 2-1. MFM
Benin City won the third-place match by defeating MFM Kwara 3-0 on
penalties after regulation time had ended goalless. Olukoya, who played
the perfect host to top dignitaries that included Super Eagles coach,
Samson Siasia; former Super Eagles goalkeeper,

Peter Rufai; Commonwealth boxing champion, Olusegun Ajose; Athletics
Federation of Nigeria President, Solomon Ogba; and a host of others,
has concluded plans to send the winners and the runners up to Dubai, in
the United Arab Emirates, for a training tour before the end of the
year.

After bidding for
the Nigeria Premier League twice and losing out to rival, Globacom,
telecommunications firm, MTN Nigeria, on Thursday, won the rights to
sponsor the Nigeria Premier League for four seasons.

Details of the
agreement have yet to be made public, however, MTN is said to have made
a commitment to pay N2.6 billion over the next four years to the
league. The deal will come as a relief to beleaguered Chairman of the
league, Davidson Owumi, given that Rumson Baribote, former Chairman of
Bayelsa United is contesting the legality of the NPL elections that
threw up Owumi as chairman, in the courts.

The battles

The rivalry between
the two telecoms companies over sponsorship of the league started as
far back as 2006 when for the first time the league came up for
sponsorship. MTN were initially thought to have wrapped up the deal
with a sponsorship fee of N300m. That was not to be as Glo, reportedly
availing itself of contacts in the Presidency, won the bid with an
offer of N70 million. When the contract lapsed in 2008 under Oyuiki
Obaseki, a new deal brokered by MTN for N500m failed with Globacom
retaining sponsorship.

In January 2010,
former league boss, Obaseki, had led his team to Globacom to
re-negotiate the sponsorship. Globacom complained that having spent
millions in league sponsorship, they were not getting the desired
results. Therefore it was not a surprise when the 2010/11 season
arrived and Globacom pulled out of the sponsorship deal. The NPL again
threw its doors open for new sponsors. This time around, MTN, floored
twice by Globacom, decided not to show its hands openly electing to use
a front, an organisation known as Total Promotions to push its bid.
Total Promotions already does business with the league, having signed a
deal with the NPL over broadcast of league matches. After two days of
intense negotiations, news emerged that MTN had clinched the deal ahead
of its rival.

“It is a good one.
It shows that there is still potential for the league if MTN can do
business with the NPL,” said Emeka Nwani, Head of Media, NPL. “We are
assuring Nigerians that the money will be used judiciously for the
improvement of the league.” The NPL has debts of over N700 million as
part of recurrent expenditure as they are yet to be paid for last
season’s sponsorship. The former sponsors, Globacom, are reportedly
owing N923 million for the 2009/10 season.

Monkey business

While Nigerians
await a formal announcement of the new deal, there are indications that
the last may not have been heard of the matter. Globacom is not taking
the latest development lying down. An official of the organisation, who
asked not to be named, said “The last has not been heard of the matter.
The entire process has been less than satisfactory. We have a situation
where one company put it in a bid and then another organisation, which
did not formally enter the race, is said to have won the bid.” Attempts
to reach Shehu Gusau, the Chairman of the bid committee, to explain to
clarify whether the rules permit the use of fronts, proved
unsuccessful. Equally, efforts to contact Owumi were unsuccessful as
his mobile phone was switched off.

MTN also sponsors the Africa Cup of Nations and the CAF Champions League tournaments in Africa and the Zambia Premier League.

Nigeria’s only
surviving team at the ongoing 25th edition of the Africa Champions Cup
for men taking place in Cotonou, Benin Republic, Kano Pillars, say they
are looking beyond today’s quarter final clash with Cameroonian side,
Condor Basketball Club.

No Nigerian team
has ever played in the finals of the continent’s biggest club
championships. However, Kano Pillars, who are the champions from
Nigeria and also Zone 3 champions, hope to make history by first
winning today’s’ tie and making progress in the competition. Pillars
and Nigeria senior national team guard, Abubakar Usman, said the real
battle for the soul of the African title just began with the
quarter-final fixtures.

Team charge

Usman charged his
teammates to go all out against the Cameroonians who proved book-makers
wrong last Sunday to end the invincibility of the defending champion,
Primeiro de Agosto Basketball Club. He declined to comment on the
strength of their Cameroonian opponents, and is optimistic that Pillars
would be able to do the job of getting past them. He held that Pillars
always respect every opponent but would approach the game with all
seriousness from the jump-ball to the buzzer. “We are happy with the
quarter-finals pairing and the game will be treated with all
seriousness as we cannot afford to drop the game at this stage of the
competition, which is about the most important aspect of any
competition because the loser never get another opportunity to right
the wrongs committed,” he said. “Though we respect Condor like every
other team, especially when they are the only side to have defeated
Primeiro de Agosto in the last three years of the Africa Champions Cup,
that alone is enough morale booster for them but we shall do everything
possible to stop them on Friday. Our team is made up of tested players
who know what it takes to play a team like Condor and our bench knows
what to do at every given time as we match on to the African title.”

Fine run

Pillars were
invincible in the first round where they not only topped their group
but also maintained a hundred percent record a feat no other team
achieved. Condor beat another Nigerian side, Royal Hoopers Basketball
Club on Wednesday in both sides’ last Group-B game by 60-49 points.
Other quarter-finals pairings billed for today pitches Inter-Club
against AS Sale, while Manga play defending champion, Primeiro de
Agosto. ASB Mazembe will battle Maxaquene in the last quarter-final
pairing at.

After a less than
convincing performance against United at Old Trafford on Monday, the
Gunners will be boosted by the return of influential captain, Cesc
Fabregas, as they host Stoke City on Saturday.

Victory over Stoke
will see Arsenal get back to the top of the table, at least until
Sunday. There is an undercurrent of simmering tension in this tie with
Arsene Wenger accusing Stoke City players of being over the top in
their tackles on his players. Aaron Ramsey had his leg broken last
season by a Stoke player – Ryan Shawcross, who now captains the City
side. Wenger had criticised Stoke’s overtly physical approach when the
Gunners were beaten 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium in November, 2008. But
Stoke Chairman, Peter Coates, has come out to say that the Potters bear
no ill feeling towards Arsenal. Though Stoke City are still rankled
that Arsene Wenger has failed to apologise for again accusing Shawcross
of kicking Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes earlier this season. On the eve
of another tempestuous encounter at the Emirates, Coates has come out
to douse tensions that are apparently building up. “We like Arsenal
Football Club. I know the chairman well, he is a good man, there is no
problem with him,” he said on thisisstaffordshire.co.uk.

No ill feelings

Though Coates
admitted a running battle of words with Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger,
he said: “Yes, we have had a few little spats with Mr. Wenger, but that
is all water under the bridge. However, it would be nice for us to do
something against them at the Emirates. They are a good, strong team,
but you always hope we can give them a game. However, we will be up
against one of the top teams in Europe, so it is going to be tough.”
Stoke were on a high of an unbeaten run of five matches before
Blackpool came to the Brittania Stadium and left with the spoils last
weekend. But Tony Pulis has refined their play from the typical British
kick and rush style, and in Matthew Etherington and Kenwyne Jones, they
have fine ball players who can mix it with the best. And expect Stoke
to mirror the five-man midfield of Manchester United to water down the
crisp passing of the Gunners.

One of the Arsenal
players that has grossly disappointed this season is the Russian
captain, Andrei Arshavin, and he has come out to say that the players
and fans should get over the loss to United quickly and focus on their
remaining matches. “There is no time to be melancholy or sad,” he said.
“We need to forget this defeat and start thinking about the next match.
We need to prepare properly for each opponent. The championship is very
interesting this year and nothing has been lost yet.” Arshavin and his
coach, Wenger, will definitely have no complaints about the pitch at
the Emirates Stadium after blaming the Old Trafford pitch for the 1-0
defeat against United.

Hodgson faces former team

Liverpool FC were
lifeless in their Wednesday Europa Cup tie, but the three points at
stake are very important in this one. New Fulham boss, Mark Hughes,
knows that he is flirting with relegation and sack, but new Liverpool
boss, Roy Hodgson is fighting for more than that. Hodgson was labelled
as the ideal Liverpool coach when he was named in the summer, but in
four months, he is still struggling to get the respect of the Kop.
Liverpool will have all their big guns back for this one except Steven
Gerrard and Jaime Carragher.

The derby of Catalonia

There is nothing
like a local derby to negate present form. Though Barcelona have been
firing in the goals with relish in the past five league matches, a
match against their city rivals, Espanyol, will have to be treated
differently. The Nou Campers have scored 18 goals in their last five
matches without conceding any, including the hammering given to Real
Madrid. Right now, they look quite unstoppable but Espanyol are also on
a good run – standing fourth on the La Liga table. Lionel Messi has
been in scintillating form and has already got 17 goals in the league,
compared to just five goals by Pablo Daniel of Espanyol. But on
Saturday, at the Estadi Cornellà-El Prat, Barcelona will need a desire
for a win against their neighbours. In the last eight matches between
both sides, the best result for Barcelona has been a 2-1 victory in the
2008/09 season, but that match was played at the old ground, Estadi
Olímpic Lluís Companys, which hosted the 1992 Olympics. There may be a
lack of goals in this tie but there won’t be any lack of desire.

Nigerian forward,
Victor Anichebe, has denied reports that he rejected a £30,000 a week
deal with Everton, and insists he remains committed to the Premier
League club.

Reports in the
British media, last weekend, suggested that the Nigerian international,
who is in the final six months of his current contract, had rejected a
lucrative new deal to extend his stay at Everton. As a result of the
misleading reports, Anichebe found himself jeered by a section of the
Everton faithful when he came off the bench in last Saturday’s draw
against Wigan. Anichebe is in the dark as to where the rumours of his
contract negotiations came from and is keen to set the record straight
to the Everton fans. A number of clubs across Europe are thought to be
monitoring the Nigerian’s situation at Everton as, with the player
turning 23 in April, under FIFA regulations he could leave the Premier
League side for free when his contract expires at the end of June.

Quick resolution

However, Anichebe
is keen to stay at Everton and wants to resolve his contract wrangle at
Goodison Park. “Obviously, of course I want to stay at Everton,”
Anichebe told skysports.com. “I have been here since I was a boy and I
have grown up at the club. The whole situation over the weekend about
my contract was a bit crazy to be honest. I don’t know where it leaked
from that I supposedly turned down an offer of £30,000 a week. That is
not the case at all. I have not been offered anything like the figures
that have been bandied about in the press. I want the fans to know I
would never disrespect the club in any way or disrespect the fans. I am
happy at the club, happy with the players, happy with the manager and I
don’t have any problem with anyone at the club.”

Worst career experience

Regarding the jeers from sections of the Goodison faithful, Anichebe
admits he was upset to be singled out for abuse and conceded it was the
worst experience in his career. “I spoke to the manager the other day
and he didn’t understand where it came from either and he was shocked
by the reception I got when I came on against Wigan,” he said. “I was
quite shocked by the reaction from some fans, and to be honest it was
quite upsetting because of the fact I have come through the ranks and
the fans have always been so good to me throughout my time at the club.
It was probably the worst day I have had as a footballer the reception
I got and even the build-up to it. I understand that some of them will
believe what they read in the papers, but I want to reassure them I
would never disrespect the club or them in any way. I am like the fans,
I know what Everton means to them. It was hard what happened to me, but
I have great team-mates around me and Tim Cahill, Phil Neville and Phil
Jagielka have helped me a lot. The main thing for me is to train hard
and play as many games as possible as I have had two tough injuries
over the last 18 months and I just want to leave all the negotiations
with my advisers who deal with that side of things.”