Nigeria Content Online

After mauling Mali 5-0 in their opening match of the ongoing
Africa Women’s Championship, Nigeria’s Super Falcons will today take on hosts,
South Africa.

The match is billed for the Sinaba Stadium, Daveyton, near
Johannesburg with Kick-off fixed for 10am (local time).

Already both teams have been talking tough ahead of the testy
encounter, which guarantees either of the teams that emerge victorious today a
semi final ticket.

Despite losing out in all her previous encounters with the Super
Falcons, Augustine Makalakane, coach of the South Africa ladies says there is
nothing to fear this time around in the Nigerian team.

“Banyana Banyana hold no fears as far as playing Nigeria is
concerned. The match has the potential of being one of the highlights of the
tournament and we want to make our supporters proud,” he said.

Not intimated

While the South African ladies will no doubt enjoy the support
of their home crowd, with vuvuzelas blaring from the blast of the whistle,
Super Falcons coach, Eucharia Uche says her team cannot be intimidated.

“We have always played South Africa and each time we hear the
same thing. But they cannot intimidate us,” she said.

“This is a match like every other match for us and there is no
room for complacency. We came here prepared to win the trophy and we are taking
every match as it comes.

I know that we will not drop any point.

The Super Falcons coach said the mistakes of the last edition in
Equatorial Guinea have been corrected and the team is now ready to win a third
women’s title on the South African soil.

“We did not play well at the 2008 CAN. We have renewed our team
and we have worked hard with younger players. In this team, there are only four
players that took part in the last CAN. Our girls are ready to confront any
team in this competition,” she said.

Perpetua target

Super Falcons prolific striker, Perpetua Nkwocha, yesterday said
she hoped to score 15 goals at the championship.

Speaking after she bagged a hat-trick in Monday’s tie against
Mali, Nkwocha told reporters in Johannesburg that the 15-goal mark was set for
her by friends.

“My friends told me before I came for the tournament that I have
to score 15 goals,” said the Sweden-based player.

She admitted that she will work hard to meet the target as she
was determined not to disappoint her friends.

She described her three goals against the Malians as a warning
to the South Africans.

“I have started it in our first game so I believe I can
continue. I believe I will do it again, that is my prayer,” she said.

“Let’s see what will happen at the end of the day but I believe I can do it,”
she added.

Former
Super Eagles teammates Samson Siasia and Stephen Keshi will be out to
outwit each other today when they face the technical committee of the
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). The committee will be interviewing
them for the Super Eagles coaching job.

While Siasia had
been deep in negotiations with the former – interim – board, with
remuneration the only grey area, Keshi only joined the race when the
present board decided to advertise the position for interested
applicants.

Chris Green,
Chairman of the technical committee, has assured football fans that the
process for selecting the new manager will be very transparent.

“Of course there
are no sentiments; the committee is made up of people that have
integrity and would want to protect their names. We are going to be as
transparent as possible in our selection,” he said.

Apart from Green,
who is head of the technical committee, others that will decide who
becomes the next Eagles coach includes Enyimba boss, Felix
Anyansi-Agwu; former national team coach, Christian Chukwu; Paul
Bassey; Garba Ibrahim; Deji Tinubu; and Austell Elumelu.

Other members of
the committee include ex-internationals Austin Okocha, Garba Lawal, and
Victor Ikpeba with Emmanuel Ikpeme as secretary.

The NFF will unveil the new coach on Monday, November 8.

Meanwhile, there have been diverse opinions on who the cap fits between the two men.

For many, both contemporaries have impressive resumes having played together in the most successful Super Eagles team ever.

While Stephen Keshi
was captain of that highly talented side that won the African Cup of
Nations in 1994 and then played in the country’s first World Cup in the
United States, Samson Siasia played an important role up front and he
scored a famous goal against Argentina in the World Cup.

Keshi, 48, help
Togo qualify the World Cup in 2006. He was later to relinquish the
position after the dismal performance of the Hawks at the African Cup
of Nations in Egypt. He has also coached the Malian national team which
he led to the Cup of Nations in Angola this year.

The Malians were knocked out of the competition in the first round without a win and Keshi left the job.

Siasia, 43, has
seen a bit more success. He was the coach of Nigeria’s U20 side that
won the silver medal at the World Youth Championship Netherlands 2005
as well as the U23 side that won a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics
in 2008.

However, as coach of Nigeria Premier League side, Heartland FC,
Siasia failed to match his predecessor feat; he failed to make it
beyond the group stage of the African Champions League whereas his
predecessor, Kelechi Emetiole, made it to the final last season.

Nigeria Premier League (NPL) defending champions, Enyimba
International, alongside last season’s runners-up, Kano Pillars, are favourites
to win the 2010/2011 League season, which gets underway this Saturday, former Heartland
midfielder, Uchenna Agba, has said.

Agba, who now plays in the more lucrative Tunisian League with
CS Sfaxien, said the Peoples Elephants and Pillars are head and shoulders above
the other sides competing in this season’s competition.

He explained that the two clubs are the biggest in the country
at the moment and have the best players compared to the chasing pack.

“Enyimba and Kano Pillars are the teams I can say will win the
Nigerian league this season,” he said. “They have the best players and they
have always had the structures. That was evident from the way the two teams
played last season, which led to the title being decided on the last day before
Enyimba won it.”

The Tunisia-based player said he left out his former team from
the hot contenders for the title because they are undergoing a rebuilding
process under Samson Siasia and with a new management in place.

However, he still believes that since football throws up the
impossible in terms of results the Naze Millionaires could still pull a
surprise, though they are outsiders for the title.

“Heartland are still a good side but for now they are going
through a rebuilding period and that’s why I don’t think they might compete for
the title yet. But anything can happen in football and Heartland may still come
in and compete with Enyimba and Kano Pillars for the title. Like I said
earlier, Enyimba and Kano Pillars really look good for the title this season,”
Agba said.

League opener

Kano Pillars and Kaduna United are primed for the season’s opener
on Saturday as both teams have promised to give a good account of themselves in
the first game of the season.

Coach of Kaduna United, Maurice Coreman, said after his team
lost the Charity Shield to Enyimba over the weekend, his focus was on the game
with Kano Pillars and not the Charity Shield match.

Also, Chairman of Kano Pillars, Tukur Babangida, has promised
Kaduna United a tough battle this Saturday.

Babangida said that despite the limited time they had to prepare
for the new season; they will still give the Kaduna side a good fight for the
three points.

“I am very confident of my team this season. We may have lost
some players but we have capable replacements.

“We are going to Kaduna with the intention of getting the three
points at stake. We know Kaduna United is also preparing very well, but we are
equal to the task,” Babangida said.

Kano Pillars defeated Kaduna United in the same fixture last season with the
goal from former striker, Ahmed Musa.