Nigeria Content Online

Nigerian
defender, Taye Taiwo will be leaving Olympique Marseille and the French
Championnat for the Italian Serie A after reaching an agreement with AC
Milan.

According to a
report in French newspaper L’Equipe, the Nigerian international has put
pen to paper on a three-year deal with the Rossoneri – seven-time
winners of Europe’s biggest club competition, the Champions League.

The contract of the
highly-rated Nigerian defender, who has been at Marseille since January
2005, runs out in June, but he has been linked with several major
European clubs since the start of the year.

However, the former
Lobi Stars of Makurdi ace last month revealed that he has set his
sights on a move to the Italian top flight division, and has now
reportedly reached an agreement with the San Siro club on a three-year
deal.

“I’m very pleased that Milan have shown an interest in signing me.

Milan are my first
option when I leave Marseille this summer,” said the 25- year-old last
month in an interview with Canal Football Club.

Nevertheless, there has not been any official statement confirming the deal from Taiwo’s camp.

There has also not been any statement from Marseille or Milan who are still in the race for their respective national titles.

Marseille, who only
last weekend clinched the French League Cup at the expense of
Montpellier, with Taiwo grabbing the match-winning goal towards the end
of the game, are second on the Ligue 1 table, while Milan are close to
wrapping up their first Serie A title in over half a decade.

Defensive worries

But the management
of the Rossoneri has never hidden their desire to bring a fresh
left-back to the San Siro following the disappointing performances of
the duo of Marek Jankulovski and Luca Antonini this season.

So unacceptable has
their performances been this term, that Milan’s coach, Massimo Allegri,
has had to call upon the services of the elderly Gianluca Zambrotta a
number of times to fill the role.

Urby Emmanuelson,
who arrived in the January transfer window, has also played in the
left-back position but is more comfortable playing as a winger.

So Milan will be
hoping that Taiwo will be the answer to their defensive worries,
although no official statement to that effect is expected until the end
of the season.

However, on
Wednesday, Marseille will resume their quest to reclaim top spot on the
Ligue 1 table with a game against Nice, with Taiwo expected to be
involved in the game even as he looks set to be suspended by the French
league body following his post-match utterances at the end of last
weekend’s game.

The defender
targeted unsporting remarks at fans of rivals PSG, a club based in
Paris, venue of last Saturday’s game against Montpellier.

A suspension could however be placed upon Taiwo before this weekend’s league match against Auxerre.

The
final for the Covenant Football League ended on Monday with Peter
Pioneers emerging winners by beating Rock FC by a lone goal.

The match tagged
the ‘Final Showdown’ saw the favourites, Rock FC, coming up short
behind the eventual winners. A converted free kick in the seventh
minute put the Pioneers ahead and that made the difference in the match.

Rock tried every trick in the book to overcome the Pioneers but found their opponents’ defence to hard to breach.

In the second half,
tension arose as both teams tried to get on the score sheet. In the
75th, a scuffle saw Rock FC’s Akinyinka Oludele sent off for being rude
to the referee after he had been handed a second yellow card.

In the third-place match, House of Judah beat Zion FC by a lone goal.

David Mohammed, a
representative of Covenant Christian Centre, organisers of the league,
was happy that the final turned out successful:

“We started the league March 19 and I am happy that it has ended up like this,” he said.

The first, second and third place winners were all handed medals.
The highest goal scorer, Adeyemo Adetunji of Rock FC with eight goals
to his kitty was given a trophy while the golden glove was won by Idowu
Bakare of Peter Pioneers who did not concede a goal throughout the
tournament.

The final for the 2011 Promasidor Para-soccer tournament was a repeat of last year’s final between Lead United and TC terrors.

Lead United, last
year’s winners, were unable to re-enact their feat as they fell 4-2 to
the Terrors in a thrilling encounter, which had spectators lapping up
the excitement.

At the head of the
goalfest was the talismanic striker and hat trick hero, Abdullahi
Mohammed, who put his team in front after 10 minutes of the match. He
scored another goal about two minutes later. After his second goal, he
became the object of close attention as his markers ensured he did not
have space to operate. Lead United reduced the tally in the 20th minute
with Abdullahi Sanni making it 3-1 in the second half. Abdullahi
Mohammed made it 4-1 moments later and in the closing moments of the
game Suraj Ibrahim grabbed Lead’s second goal to bring final scores to
4-2.

Terrors rampage
Terrors emerged the highest goal scorers in this tournament, scoring 22
goals and conceding just two. Speaking on their victory, Mohammed
expressed delight that team was able to win the tournament. He said
that they were ready for their opponents and did all they could to keep
themselves on top. His teammate, John Sunmonu, also expressed happiness
that his team was able to win.

“We are happy for
this time. We also use this opportunity to thank our sponsor, Theo
Lawson, for not giving up on us. I am very happy today.” In the losers’
final, Baba Mai Mangoro from Adamawa beat the Kwara State Para-soccer
Club, 1-0. The goal was scored by Umar Abdullahi. The Christopher
Bitrus-coached team could have scored more goals but were denied by the
compact defending of their opponents.

An elated Bitrus
was grateful for the opportunity to showcase the talent of his
athletes. “We are happy that they are able to come over here and win
the third prize. We are also grateful to all those who made it possible
for us to be here, the organisers, the sponsors and our adopter, Halima
Nyako, who has always shown confidence in the players.” Total Consult,
the organisers of the tournament, were satisfied that all went
according to plan and hoped more organisations and people would adopt
some of these teams. Theo Lawson, the CEO of Total Consult, expressed
hope that next year would be better. He thanked Promasidor Nigeria, the
makers of Cowbell Milk for their support in the last four years.

Manchester United outclassed Schalke 04 in a one-sided Champions League semi-final first leg on Tuesday, with goals from Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney securing a 2-0 win for the English side.

United’s assured victory would have been far more emphatic but for a brilliant first-half display from Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

The German keeper performed heroics to keep the game scoreless going into the break before two goals in two minutes settled matters.

Giggs broke the deadlock after 67 minutes from a brilliant Rooney pass and the England international turned scorer almost immediately, firing in from a similar position.

“I thought if we kept creating chances one would go in,” Giggs told Sky Sports. “We created enough chances in the first half to be four or five up.”

The result leaves Schalke, playing in their first Champions League semi-final, facing a mighty task going into the second leg at Old Trafford next week, with the winner going through to play Barcelona or Real Madrid in the final at Wembley on May 28.

“We have to accept the fact that they were so much better,” Schalke defender Christoph Metzelder said.

“Apart from the opening 15 minutes we did not get into this game at all. But we will give everything we have at Old Trafford.”

United Dominate

United took control of the game from the start, slicing through the Schalke backline at will with Rooney, Park Ji-sung and Javier Hernandez all missing early chances.

The Mexican should have scored in the 16th when Park sent him through but Neuer was at hand to save, as he was so often.

The keeper, who looks set to leave Schalke at the end of the season after refusing to extend his contract beyond 2012, made two more superb saves in the first half.

He palmed away a Giggs header in the 28th minute and denied the 37-year-old Welshman from point-blank range a little later.

With Schalke’s defence in complete disarray, even Brazilian Fabio, picked to start as right back, had a crack at it, firing just over the bar.

Patrice Evra forced another Neuer save with a fine header early in the second half before United, chasing their fourth European Cup win, finally struck.

Rooney supplied the inspirational pass through the legs of Joel Matip and Giggs slotted in.

Rooney was then picked out by Hernandez two minutes later and fired home to seal the victory.

By now, Barcelona’s Josep ‘Pep’
Guardiola will have assimilated the fact that he is at war with Jose
Mourinho. With the first leg of the Champions League semifinal between
two teams that have created over the years one of the greatest
rivalries – a win for the Mourinho and his team will further put a dent
on the confidence of the Azulgranas that was apparent after last
Wednesday’s Copa del Rey loss to Madrid.

Neutral observers – but can any
football fan be neutral to Mourinho? The ‘Special One’ has a persona
that breeds adulation and hate in equal measures and Barcelona fans
will like nothing more than a victory today, especially considering the
fact that Mourinho had truncated a successful cup defence last season
with Inter Milan.

Mourinho showed last Wednesday that the
tactics that frustrated Barcelona over two legs last season, can still
be as effective on the passing game of the acclaimed best football side
in the world.

The other two ties in the last eight
days have been about the emergence of Pepe as the Real Madrid watchdog,
and the Portuguese midfielder has put in wonderful performances
snapping at the heels of Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta. In all,
Mourinho has set up his team to deny space to Barcelona forwards at the
last third of the pitch. In the Copa final, Real restricted Barcelona
to four shots on target and that will be the same strategy that will be
applied today.

But a good team cannot overnight have
diminished so much, that they will not stand a chance against Madrid
and Barcelona legend, Johan Cryuff has said, “There’s no reason to be
worried for the Barcelona fans. The draw in Bernabeu secured the league
title, while Barca came close to winning the Copa. It’s impossible to
be brilliant in every game and Barcelona haven’t turned into a weak
team all of a sudden.” Yes, but the mind games and the Mourinho factor
have definitely given Los Blancos the advantage.

Barca alternative

Guardiola must find
a way to get Messi, David Villa, who scored against Osasuna on Saturday
after 11 barren games and Pedro Rodriguez into more dangerous
positions. But the option is to play Iniesta on the left to face up
against either Sergio Ramos or Alvaro Arbeloa. The impish forward must
be told to commit the defenders to one-on-one positions to attract
fouls or drive into the box.

Messi must be
advised not to drop too deep into midfield. He must wait around the box
to create his runs into the box and also interchange passes with
Iniesta and Pedro. Though the Catalans are known not to favour long
range shooting, they will need to do more of that so that the air of
predictability will be diminished.

Mourinho perspective

He has a pack of
forwards that are simply world class. Gonzalo Higuain scored three
goals against Valencia on Saturday. The Argentine forward was joined by
Kaka, with two goals and Karim Benzema. Added to these three are
Cristiano Ronaldo and Emmanuel Adebayor. So right now, the only
possible starter as a forward will be Ronaldo.

There is also Angel
di Maria, who provided the cross for Ronaldo’s goal on Wednesday. If
Mourinho decides to pick pacy players, then di Maria, Ronaldo and
Higuain are likely to start but if he wants to go long, then Adebayor
will start at the centre of Maria and Ronaldo. Unfortunately, Ricardo
Carvalho is suspended so either Raul Albiol or Ezequiel Garay is
expected to come into the centre of defence. Barcelona will be all too
aware that Madrid will continue to play on the break.

But whatever
formation or players that are devolved today on both sides, it promises
to be a cracker with the stakes much higher than it was last week. Also
expect Madrid to finish with 10 players!

Mourinho’s rule is
espoused most vividly by Marcelo, who said: “I would prefer to win not
playing well than to lose while doing so,” he added. “”If we can win
playing well, then that’s great but the most important thing is to get
the victory.”

Quotes

‘For me there are
no favourites. It’s the Champions League semifinals – two rival teams
who know each other very well. Two teams with long traditions, two
teams whose players know what it is to be successful, who know how to
win things and play big matches. For me there aren’t any favourites
here.” – Jose Mourinho

“We believe in ourselves and we feel
more comfortable going in search of opportunities as opposed to
defending what we have. At the Bernabéu, you must always take the game
extremely seriously while going in search of goals so that you don’t
get swamped by the occasion”. We’ll obviously be going there looking to
get a good result.” – Pep Guardiola

A
possible shift in the balance of power towards Real Madrid and away
from Barcelona was reflected on Monday in the views of two of the
clubs’ most famous former players.

Real’s 1-1 draw
against Barca in La Liga 10 days ago and their 1-0 win in the King’s
Cup final suggested Jose Mourinho has learned from his team’s crushing
5-0 defeat at the Nou Camp this season and found a way to contain their
arch-rivals.

Real’s first trophy
in three years has eased the pressure on their Portuguese coach, with
two days to go until the clubs meet for a third time in Champions
League semi-final first leg at the Bernabeu.

“Madrid are in a
fabulous moment,” honorary Real president Alfredo Di Stefano wrote in
sports daily, Marca, his rant against the side’s counter-attacking
style from the first ‘clasico’ seemingly long forgotten.

The nine-times
European champions shrugged off any tiredness from the Cup final to
rout third-placed Valencia 6-3 away in the league on Saturday, but Di
Stefano warned against complacency.

“We have to continue in the same vein and not rest on our laurels, and to fight on as if we still hadn’t won anything,” he said.

“Inspiration alone isn’t enough to create unforgettable art. It requires a great quantity of fight and tenacity.”

Third title

Barca maintained
their eight-point lead at the top of La Liga with a 2-0 win over lowly
Osasuna on Saturday, and with five games left look to have a third
consecutive title in the bag.

In contrast to
Real, however, Barca laboured to their victory and coach Pep Guardiola
appeared to be on the defensive before and after the match when
speaking to the media, saying Real were now the favourites in the
Champions League.

“No one passes from
being favourite to the weaker side in 10 days,” former Barca forward
Johann Cruyff wrote in daily El Periodico.

“The draw in La
Liga delivered the title and Barca lost the Cup by the narrowest of
margins. Ah! It’s because Barca did not shine! If this is the true
measure of Barcelona, there is a problem.” The Dutchman went on to give
Guardiola a rap on the knuckles for the 40-year-old’s change from his
usual placid approach to make sniping comments about the refereeing in
the first two ‘clasicos’ among other complaints.

The Madrid-based media have jumped on these complaints to portray Guardiola as struggling with the pressure, and a bad loser.

“Barca must do what
they have done thousands of times before and forget about getting drawn
into a war of words or scuffles,” Cruyff said.

“Instead of worrying about who will referee, if the grass (at the
Bernabeu) is long, they should think more about getting behind their
rivals and into goal-scoring positions.”

If West Bromwich
Albion plan on remaining in the English Premier League come the end of
next season, then it is imperative that they retain the services of
Nigerian forward Osaze Odemwingie.

This was the
opinion posited by the club’s manager, Roy Hodgson, who warned that
selling the Nigerian international could have disastrous consequences
for the Baggies who, following last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Tottenham,
are now six points above the drop zone.

Odemwingie opened
scoring for the Baggies in that draw against Tottenham to take his
goals tally to 13 in the Premier League and further draw the attention
of a host of European clubs eager to lure him away from the Hawthorns.

Juventus are
reportedly in the forefront for the Nigerian’s signature and will look
to make an official bid once the transfer window reopens on July 1.

Hodgson however has
no intention of parting with the Nigerian and is banking on the club’s
board to help him keep the former Lokomotiv Moscow star.

The former
Liverpool and Fulham manager also knows it is important for a club of
West Brom’s stature to retain their best players if they plan on
remaining in the English top flight.

“It would be nice if Juventus told us (they were interested) rather than us having to hear it from the media,” Hodgson said.

“But it’s a
no-brainer really, isn’t it? If you’re going to have a spell of years –
even if it’s only two – in the Premier League then you’ve got to
improve your team.” To do that, however, Hodgson feels he needs to
bring in a number of new players ahead of next season’s campaign.

He added: “We are
running on a reasonably small squad of players. We are asking an awful
lot of inexperienced players who are getting better all the time.

“But if we want to
have a good Premier League campaign next season, it is very important
we sign several players in the summer that will really help us.

“It will also take
some of the burden away from the Youssuf Mulumbus and Peter Odemwingies
who, you must remember, are in their first season in the Premier
League.”

Backing the boss

Hodgson isn’t alone
in his assessment of the club’s situation as he has the backing of
Simon Cox who has called on the club’s chairman, Jeremy Peace, to do
everything in his power to retain the Nigerian.

Although Cox, who
grabbed West Brom’s second goal at White Hart Lane, admitted that West
Brom might face a fight to keep Odemwingie, he is confident the club’s
chairman will fight off any attempt to take him away from the club.

“We want him to do
as well for us as he can for as long as he is here,” said Cox. “He has
been an absolute revelation for us this year.

He added: “If he keeps doing this inevitably the big boys will come sniffing for him but our chairman is no mug.

“He will try to keep him for as long as he can and it’s going to have to be a hefty price tag to tear him away.”

Augustine
Eguavoen, coach of Nigeria’s national under-23 team, has called up
three additional overseas-based players for this weekend’s 2011
All-Africa Games qualifier against Liberia. Already, the former Super
Eagles skipper and coach can bank on the services of seven
overseas-based players for the match which comes up on Saturday at
Benin City’s Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium.

But having earlier
played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg tie decided penultimate Saturday
in Monrovia, Eguavoen is leaving no stone unturned in his bid to ensure
that Nigeria advances to the next round of the qualifiers by calling up
three more overseas-based players. They are led by former Bendel
Insurance and Kano Pillars midfielder, Solomon Okpako, who now plays
for Greek Super League side, Panionios, and who was in the Super Eagles
‘B’ side that won last year’s WAFU Cup tournament in Nigeria.

Also called up is
former Nigeria under-20 international forward, Kehinde Fatai, who plays
club football with Romanian top Liga 1 outfit, Astra Ploiesti, as well
as Hapoel Acre of Israel defender Fidelis Dimaku.

They will join the
likes of goalkeeper Dele Ajiboye, and also Nurudeen Orelesi, Edet Ibok,
Nosa Igiebor, Ganiyu Oseni and Nnamdi Oduamadi, who had earlier been
called up for Saturday’s game.

According to the
media officer of the Nigerian team, Arafat Aliu, the players are
expected to hit the team’s camp by Wednesday, April 27. Mr Aliu also
disclosed that the team would observe a training-free day today because
of the gubernatorial and state house of assembly elections holding
nationwide.

A captain’s optimism

Meanwhile, the
captain of the Nigerian U-23 team, Kingsley Udoh, is confident of
victory over the Liberians on Saturday. The Nigerian team had a tough
time in the Liberian capital during the first leg encounter with some
of the players losing valuables, while the likes of Ajiboye and Rabiu
Ibrahim sustained injuries.

“We went through a
horrible time in Monrovia but we picked a point,” Udoh said. “Now that
we are home, we want revenge and that we shall get on the field of play
on Saturday.” The Heartland of Owerri defender also assured that the
Nigerian team would win Saturday’s tie in memory of late Nigerian
defender Olubayo Adefemi, who passed on recently in Greece.

“If for nothing, we will be playing for our fallen colleague, Olubayo Adefemi. And we are going to win for him,” he added.

It was Easter morning. I took my car to a car wash in Lagos mainland.

As I waited to be
attended to, I spied a young lad appear. He looked to be within the 14-
to 16-year-old bracket. He was from a building adjacent to where I was.
He hurriedly walked past. I noticed he was wearing a branded football
kit with the name Eto’o written conspicuously on the back. In his hand
was a pair of tattered running shoes.

There was no doubt
that the only thing on Shehu’s mind was getting to his destination: to
enjoy an Easter morning football outing with his friends.

As I watched him
hurry past and turn the corner, it suddenly occurred to me what
potential must lay buried within a young man like him. He could be one
of a millions gemstones, deep in the bowels of God-given mines, spread
across this nation waiting to be explored.

Alas! Here they
are, in my fatherland, wasting away ‑ a travesty of unimaginable
magnitude. For so many reasons. One is the non-existence of enough
well-equipped and trained age-grade football coaches, trainers and
administrators to, in a methodological manner, carry out this
assignment. It would have to line-upon-line, precept-upon-precept, I
reasoned.

Our great nation
also lacks sports journalists skilful in the art and science of writing
on issues concerning functional age-grade or grassroots football
development. This is one reason why there is no sensible sports
development pyramid structure, as far as I am concerned, in any of
Nigeria’s 36 states today.

Eventually, Shehu
appeared from the same street he had disappeared into minutes ago. This
time, there was frustration written visibly all over him. I knew
something was wrong and immediately decided to intervene.

“No football this morning?” I asked.

“No.”

“Why?”

“They did party where we play. There are broken bottles on the ground.”

“You like playing football?”

Shehu looked at me closely before replying. “Yes.”

“Which position do you play?”

“Forward.”

“Forward? Which is one is called forward?”

“Number 7.”

As we carried on
with our conversation, I moved over to my car and opened the boot.
Inside, I had a couple of training balls. There were at least four
various sizes. It was Shehu’s turn to question me as I picked and
started pumping one with my hand-held double action pump. I knew it was
fascinating to him.

“I like your pump. Are you a coach?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Where is your academy?”

He was disappointed to realise it: I wasn’t staying close to him. “So, how can I join your academy?”

Instead of
answering his question, I threw the ball on the ground, an action we
use in the Brazilian Soccer Schools to test how skilful footballers are
generally. I watched his reaction. He picked the ball up with his hand.
By this time, two other boys had joined us. I asked him if he realised
he could become a greater player than some of the popular European and
South American footballers. He answered in the affirmative but rather
impatiently. Me and my two friends here want to do some knock-about. So
enough of this conversation, Mr Coach!

Shehu dropped the
ball to his feet. He tried kicking it up, only for it to roll away from
him. One of the boys ran after the ball. He caught up with it and did a
‘step over’ move with it before passing it to Shehu, who received it
with his foot. Again, he picked the ball up with his hands. At this
point it was abundantly clear that he had not been taught the basic
rudiments of ball juggling.

I spent about 30
minutes teaching him and the other boys some very simple ball juggling
techniques. While this was going on, Shehu’s mother came around and
gave him some instructions. I exchanged some pleasantries with her and
then appealed to her to buy a Size 4 ball for my friend. She promised
to do so. I believe her.

Eventually, the sad
moment came for me to go. I promised to see Shehu again very soon. He
asked for my telephone number. I gave him my card. I would receive a
call from him only one hour after our meeting.

As I drove off, I felt very fulfilled but wondered how many Nigerian
children needed to be exposed to the type of experience Shehu and the
two boys just had with me. Then I remembered the meeting I had with
Koye Sowemimo of Polygon Sports, in London, on the need for us to, as a
matter of utmost urgency, introduce the Coerver® Coaching system to
millions of our young ones at the grassroots level. To millions of such
in this country, I promise to spend and be spent for you all ‑ in order
to save Nigerian football from further decline. So help me, God.