Nigeria Content Online

Nigeria’s only
surviving club in the CAF Champions League, Heartland on Sunday
recorded their first win of the group stage of the continent’s top club
competition when they beat visiting Egyptian club side, Ismaily.

The encounter
played at the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri ended 2-1 in favour of
Heartland but the team’s coach Samson Siasia will still have cause to
complain about his misfiring forward line as all of his side’s goals
against Ismaily came from defenders.

Heartland needed to
win in order to keep alive their fading hopes for a semi final berth
after failing to win any of their opening three games of the group
stage. And to make matters worse for Siasia’s side, it was the visitors
who shot into the lead after 29 minutes through Mohamed Soliman Ali.

That lead, however,
lasted for only nine minutes before the team’s skipper Ike Thankgod
pulled them back on level terms with the Egyptians who two weeks
earlier defeated Heartland in Egypt 1-0.

Heartland’s last
home encounter against another Egyptian side Al-Ahly, back in July, had
ended in a one-all draw and Owerri fans will be forgiven for thinking
that it was going to be the same case scenario against Ismaily until
former Enugu Rangers captain Chinedu Efugh popped up to score the match
winning goal with five minutes left on the clock.

The win saw
Heartland swapping places with Ismaily in the Group B standings but
anything less than a win in their upcoming game against Al-Ahly in two
weeks time will mark the end of the Owerri side’s Champions League
aspirations.

Eaglets grounded in Congo

It was, however, a
different story in Pointe Noire, Congo where the Nigerian Under 17
national team, the Golden Eaglets, fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of
their hosts in an African Junior Championship first round, first leg
qualifier.

The Golden Eaglets,
silver medal winners at the last FIFA World Cup held in Nigeria last
year, fell behind after just eight minutes through a penalty kick goal,
but they afterwards kept the Congolese at bay to go into the dressing
room at the half-time break just a goal down.

Worse was to come
their way in the second half as they conceded a second goal two minutes
before the hour mark before the match’s centre referee from the Central
African Republic Bertrand Bekai issued a red card to the Nigerian coach
Monday Odigie for challenging some of his calls.

Odigie’s expulsion
means he will not be on the bench when both sides meet in the return
leg encounter in Nigeria on September 11.

Samuel Peter is
confident of scoring a knockout victory over reigning IBF and WBO
heavyweight champion, Wladimir Klitschko, when both get to slug it out
on September 11 in Frankfurt, Germany.

Five years ago,
Peter had Klitschko in big trouble, having knocked him down three
times, including twice in the fifth round, during their heavyweight
fight in Atlantic City, United States. But in the end, Klitschko
rallied to win the bout, with winning scores of 114-111 on all three
judges’ cards. It has been a long wait for the Nigerian, but he now has
a chance to redeem himself and become a world champion when he takes on
the big Ukrainian five days after his 30th birthday.

Proving a point

“I have a lot to
prove. I have a chance to redeem myself from the 2005 fight. It is
going to be a great fight. I am getting another chance to prove that I
am the best heavyweight champion in all,” said Peter, who will turn 30
on September 6. “The loss was a bad mistake. This time I am going to
prove that I can become a champion again,” said Peter. “For sure, on
September 11 in Germany it is going to be a great fight. I don’t have
much to say because I know that my gloves will speak for me in the
ring.”

With a record of
34-3 that includes 27 knockouts, the Nigerian Nightmare’s resume
includes victories by split decision and unanimous decision over former
world titlist, James Toney, as well as a March 2008 sixth-round
knockout of Russian Oleg Maskaev that earned him the WBC belt. In his
next bout after beating Maskaev, Peter was dethroned as WBC champion
via a knockout loss to Wladimir’s brother, Vitali Klitschko, in October
2008. That bout saw Peter churning out a lacklustre display against the
older of the Klitschko brothers which he followed up with yet another
uninspiring performance in March 2009 against Eddie Chambers, which the
Nigerian Nightmare described as the low point of his career.

Thinking ahead

“I will be looking
for that boy again after this fight,” said Peter. “I don’t know how
that boy did what he did but after this fight I will take care of him.
Everything was frustrating at that time. I had lost the championship,
and the promotion was so bad. But I am okay now, and everything is
straight up. I have the best promoter in the world, and the best coach
in the world. I have the best manager in the world, and I am going to
be the best.” Peter, who has been training with his trainer Abel
Sanchez in Big Bear, California, said he is enjoying his training.
“Everything in Big Bear is great,” he said. “It is a great place to
train. It is very peaceful. I didn’t know about Big Bear for all these
years, but it is a great place to train. Abel brought me up here, and
he doesn’t take my nonsense. He doesn’t take ‘No’ for an answer. He
wants to see working. I am happy about being here.”

German factor

Klitschko has never
lost a fight in his adopted nation, Germany. It was also in the
European nation that Peter lost by TKO to Wladimir, but he is confident
the upcoming title fight will not last the distance thanks to his
punching power. “The victory and my judges I have in my right hand and
the judge is my left hook,” he declared.

“There will not be a decision
this time around. This time he will not get up from my left hook. I am
ready and I am prepared and I will not need a referee or a judge. This
time around anyone I touch will not be standing up. I don’t think
Wladimir will be able to stand me after four rounds.”

New season, same
old story. In my mind, there is no way Barcelona’s dominance of Spanish
football will end this year, even if you consider Real Madrid will no
doubt improve under the guidance of Portuguese coaching maestro Jose
Mourinho.

The two-time
defending champions are just too strong and too solid to finish below
their old rivals in the league table. And while I’m in the predicting
mood, here’s my forecast for the other movers and shakers for the
forthcoming season in the Primera Division Champions – Barcelona Last
season, Barca and Real staged a duel of epic proportions. It was a case
of “whatever you can do, I can do better.” When the dust settled, Pep
Guardiola’s side had set a new record for points, while Real came close
to beating the mark for most goals scored.

This year, both
sides will push each other all the way once more, and in my mind, the
same team will come out on top. Considering Barcelona picked up one of
the best strikers in the world in David Villa to play alongside Leo
Messi and Pedro up front, it means they will be virtually unstoppable.
Even if the fragile Andres Iniesta succumbs once again to injury, this
team is just too good to fail. With Xavi running the show in midfield,
they will dazzle their opposition in Spain and finish first.

So what about Real
Madrid, you ask? Well, they will improve. Especially at the back. Jose
Mourinho is known for his safety first approach and Los Blancos will
concede less goals than they did last year. However, like the
Portuguese coach admitted himself, it will take a while to get the best
out of his players. The Special One revealed his team will only be
truly special after the second season he is in charge, so they will
come up short this year.

An X-Factor that
will affect the title race in Spain is how far both teams make it in
the European Champions League. Real president Florentino Perez is
obsessed with winning the competition again, and Mourinho himself will
prioritize Europe’s top prize ahead of La Liga considering they haven’t
won it since 2002. Barcelona could also put Europe first since they
have won the last two domestic titles and what they really want is to
rack up their Champions League trophies while in possession of the best
team in their history.

Over-achievers: Valencia

This is a really tough one to call because there are so many teams that could surprise this year, but I am going with Valencia.

Considering they
lost David Villa, David Silva and Nicola Zigic, many could believe Los
Che would tumble down the league table in the coming campaign, but I
believe they will still manage to qualify for the Champions League.

Why? Well for
starters, although they needed to sell some of their top players in an
effort to balance the books, Valencia have a great head coach in place.
Unai Emery is a diligent student of the game and proved last year that
he has a knack for making his team better than the sum of its parts.

Secondly, there is
still plenty of talent in this squad. World Cup winner Juan Mata,
Argentine midfielder Ever Banega and winger Pablo Hernandez are all
exciting young players. Add to the mix veterans like David Albelda and
Joaquin, and you have a promising season ahead.

Their close-season
signings were also very impressive. Strikers Roberto Soldado and Aritz
Aduriz, who between them scored 28 goals for Getafe and Mallorca last
season, should get plenty of goals at the Mestalla, and Portugal
central defender Ricardo Costa is also a good acquisition.

My verdict is that Valencia will finish fourth, behind Barcelona, Real Madrid and Sevilla.

Under-achievers: Atletico Madrid

Expectations are
always so high at the Vicente Calderon, and more often than not, Los
Colchoneros don’t live up to them. With stars such as Diego Forlan,
Sergio Aguero and Simao Sabrosa, this team should finish in the top
four. However, from what I hear, the atmosphere in the dressing isn’t
great and I don’t think the players will put their bodies on the line
for coach Quique Sanchez Flores.

Last season,
Atletico finished in a disappointing ninth place and I don’t see them
climbing a lot higher in the new campaign. Their recent signings don’t
impress me too much and consequently they will once again flatter to
deceive, with Forlan and El Kun scoring their share of goals.

Top scorer: Leo Messi

This is a tough one
to call because both Barcelona and Real will score a LOT of goals this
season, and both teams feature several players who could finish on
double figures. At the Camp Nou, David Villa’s tally could eat into
Messi’s haul, but the Argentine superstar will once again win El
Pichichi title.

Cristiano Ronaldo,
who had 26 goals in 29 league games last season, will see his total go
down. I believe Mourinho won’t want the team to be CR9-dependent and
therefore expect Higuain, Kaka, Di Maria and others to pitch in with
their fair share of strikes.

An outside
contender is Roberto Soldado. He has a great goalscoring record since
leaving his hometown club Real Madrid, netting for fun at Osasuna and
Getafe. He should get plenty of chances at his new team, Valencia, and
could finish the season near the top of the charts.

Roger Federer has
agreed to hire Paul Annacone as his new coach after the pair hit it off
during a one-month trial. Federer said Annacone would join forces with
Swiss Davis Cup captain Severin Luthi in coaching him.

“We’ve moved it
from a test trial to integrating him into the team now, so that’s going
ahead,” Federer said at Flushing Meadows.

American Annacone,
best known as the former coach of Pete Sampras and Tim Henman, joined
Federer’s camp earlier this month and the pair enjoyed instant success
when the Swiss won the Cincinnati Masters.

Federer said
Annacone had agreed to work with him on a part-time basis during the US
Open, starting on Monday, and would be part of his regular team once he
finished his current job with the British Lawn Tennis Association in
November.

“Obviously he has
had stuff to do for the LTA here and he will have things to do
obviously after the US Open, which I’m cool about.” Federer has
experimented with several different coaches over the years whenever he
felt his game needed improvement.

Although he won the
French Open for the first time last year to complete his own career
Grand Slam, then broke Sampras’s record of Grand-Slam titles, Federer
has had a lean time this year by his own standards.

He won the
Australian Open in January but was knocked out in the quarter-finals at
the French Open and Wimbledon and slipped to third place in the world
rankings.

He moved back to
second place after winning in Cincinnati last week and the 29-year-old
believes the inclusion of Annacone could be the key to getting back on
top.

“It’s just nice to hear a fresh, different voice for a change,” Federer said.

“I just think the dynamics work really well with Severin, and Paul
and me coming into the conversation just makes it really interesting. I
can go with a very clear mindset into the matches.” Federer has won the
US Open five times, from 2004 to 2008, the same number as Sampras and
Jimmy Connors. He lost last year’s final to towering Argentine Juan
Martin Del Potro.

Only one result
will be good enough for Heartland FC of Owerri today as they try to
resurrect their fading CAF Champions League title aspirations; and that
is victory against visiting Egyptian Club, Ismaily at the Dan Anyiam
Stadium in Owerri.

The Naze
Millionaires, as last year’s losing finalist are fondly called by their
supporters are currently languishing at the bottom of Group B with just
one point and a goal from three matches.

ThankGod Ike who is
the Heartland’s captain says his teammates hope to break their scoring
drought in the league and record their first win of the group stage
against their Egyptian opponent as they go head-on in today’s crucial
tie.

“Everything is
possible in football. It’s unfortunate that we are at the bottom of our
group but all we need is just the three points on Sunday and from there
we can find our way out of the group” he said.

Ike, who was a member of the home-based Super Eagles team that won the WAFU tournament some months back continued:

“We’ve had hard
luck in front of goal and we hope to start scoring against Ismaily on
Sunday. Everybody is serious about winning the game; the club’s
management has told us of the importance of the game and we are
confident of a win” he said.

Interestingly, the
Egyptian team earned their first victory (1-0) in the group stage of
the competition against Heartland in Ismaila a fortnight ago, but Ike
believes his team will make amends in today’s reverse fixture to
brighten their chances of advancing from Group B while also expressing
confidence in the team’s technical bench led by Samson Siasia.

“Our coaches have
been doing a great job and the spirit in camp is very high. Samson
Siasia and Emeka Ezeugo are known names in African football having made
their mark as players. They have given us the needed encouragement and
determination to turn things around,” the Nigerian international said.

Tough task

Meanwhile, the
team’s Head Coach Samson Siasia, says he is focused on the day’s
assignment and not distracted by the Super Eagles job lurking around
the corner.

“The job for me now
is to see Heartland progress in this competition. They were at the
finals last year and it won’t be good to see them do less under me this
time around” the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games silver winning coach said.

Siasia who has
continually found it difficult coaching at club level with previous
stints at local sides JUTH FC and Ocean Boys turning out uneventful
hopes, said he can help Heartland out this time around.

“It’s a tough call
but nothing is impossible. There have been issues but I’m happy the
management has done a lot in terms of paying salaries up-to-date. I
appreciate what the government is doing.

“On the part of the
players, we are trying to give them the confidence to play for
themselves and the country. The Orange CAF Champions League is a big
competition and it will expose the players for other bigger clubs to
see.

“I am happy with
the present situation in camp and I believe we can earn the three
points on Sunday with the mood in camp,” he told cafonline.com.

Goals concern

According to
Siasia, his major concern for the team has been the inability to score
goals despite creating lot of chances – a situation he hopes will
change today.

“We can get things
going once we can start scoring. We still have three games and the
outcome of our match on Sunday will be crucial in our chances of
progressing to the next stage.

“Really, we want to
score goals. If you look at the statistics of our games, we had more
chances and better possession than our opponents had, but we failed to
score.

“This time we don’t
want to just keep possession but score as many goals as possible to
give us a chance of qualifying. We didn’t take our chances before now
but I believe Sunday will be the beginning of a new dawn for us,” he
said.

In Bello Musa
Kofarmata, who scored the opener in the 1-1 draw with Al Ahly in
Owerri; winger John Owoeri and midfielder Ikechukwu Ibenegbu; Siasia
has a potent strike force he believes can help wrestle out the maximum
three points at stake today.

Group standings

The standings in
Group B sees Algeria’s JS Kabylie sit in pole position with the maximum
nine points while Six-time champions Al Ahly are second with four.

Ismaily are third
with three points while Heartland, are currently at the bottom of Group
B with just one point from three matches, only managing to score just
one goal and conceding three.

After today’s match
Heartland will travel to Cairo in the second week of September to play
Al-Ahly before they wrap up their group campaign at home to group
leaders JS Kabylie a week later.

Rugby women World
Cup is currently going on in England and Nigeria is not represented in
the tournament. The female team which came second on their first
international tournament could not feature in the tournament because of
the ban that was placed on the National Rugby Football Federation. The
women Rugby World Cup which began on the 20th of this month has only
one African country represented.

South Africa, the
only African country at the World cup, has shown some dominance in the
game in Africa and their presence was registered for the first time in
2006, fifteen years after the inception of the tournament. However,
they are not the only African nation that have been actively involved
in developing the game of Rugby amongst women.

Efforts have been
made to develop the female version of Rugby in Nigeria. In the
forefront of this mission was Ntiense Williams who put together the
first women team under the auspices of Young Lions RFC in 2000. His
efforts paid off when other teams began to float female teams and by
2006, Women Rugby was first played at the National Sports Festival in
Ogun State, tagged Gateway Games.

Last year, a female
team from Nigeria was sponsored to their first international tournament
by the Friends of Rugby, one of the organizations whose aim is to
promote the development of Rugby football in Nigeria.

The first Nigerian
Female 7’s Rugby Team that went to the 1st North-West African Women 7’s
Rugby Tournament in Ghana early in 2009 came back home with a silver
medal. This feat was achieved despite the fact some of the Nigerian
women met each other a day before the tournament began.

Lost Opportunity

Asked why Nigeria
is not at the world cup in England, Williams, who is the Secretary of
the Lagos Rugby Union League organized by Friends of Rugby attributed
it to a subsisting ban on the Nigeria team by the games governing body,
the International Rugby Board (IRB).

“We lost out of the qualifiers due to the ban on the Nigerian Rugby Football Federation by IRB (International Rugby Board)”.

The ban was clamped
on Nigeria last year after plans to concession rugby by the National
Sports Commission (NSC) led to conflict between Racing Rugby Football
Club, which eventually won the bid to head the Nigerian Rugby Football
Federation (NRFF) and friends of Rugby, which claimed the process was
rigged in favour of Racing.

Folu Majekodunmi,
NRFF’s spokesman, however said he was not aware of the participation of
any Nigerian women’s rugby team in any international competition last
year.

“I don’t want to give you information I am not sure of. We are still trying to raise a team”, he said.

However, Scholar
Opara, the captain of the team that played in the tournament confirmed
that they were in Ghana and finished second. She regrets that Nigeria
is not represented at the ongoing World Cup. Asked if they would have
made it to the event had Nigeria not been under ban she said:

“Why not? What
could have stopped us from going on to do our best? Our coaches are
trying for us and doing their best to keep us fit.

I just hope that
the ban placed on Nigeria by the international Rugby Board would be
lifted so that we can go on to do what we know how to do best”.

Despite the ban,
however, the ladies are keeping themselves battle ready for any time
when they would get the opportunity to play.

Hoping to do more with support

After they first
featured at the Gateway Games, the women have also featured in local
competitions with the state teams of Edo and Delta showing dominance in
the game. The last two National Sport Festivals – Gateway Games 2006
and Kada Games 2009- have seen them hauling home the maximum gold
medals that could be obtained in Rugby.

Opara says Friends
of Rugby have been in forefront, organizing competition and sponsoring
the teams on tours outside the country.

“Our coaches have
been doing okay and this man, Kelechi Mbagwu has been trying his best.
What Rugby needs right now is more supporters. The people there cannot
do it alone; therefore we need more sponsorship”. Mbagwu is the
chairman of Cowrie RFC and also chairman of Friends of Rugby. It was
through his efforts that Opara and her team mates went on that tour in
Ghana.

How time flies. It
is already a year since new mum Kim Clijsters proved her “come back
queen” status by winning the 2009 US open and Roger Federer, bidding
for sixth title in a row at flushing meadows, surrendered his crown to
Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro.

Once again it is
the last grand slam of the year and as usual it promises to be
exciting, more on the men’s side than on the women’s. It is no longer
news that Serena Williams pulled out of the US open claiming injury.
Something tells me she may never play there again after she was treated
badly in her semi-final match against Clijsters last year. If you are
in doubt, ask the organisers of Indian wells where the sisters have not
played in over 7 years because of racial abuse.

Serena, the
greatest player of this generation, will be sorely missed. There’s just
something extra special the Williams sisters bring to every tournament
they enter.

Bad for Serena,
good for Caroline Wozniacki as she gets her first top seed in a grand
slam. A finalist at last year’s US open, she is one of the favourites
to lift the trophy at Queens in a fortnight. Why not? She is a hard
worker and full of confidence after topping the US open series. She
must be motivated by the fact that she goes away with £2.7m if she wins
the title. Wozniacki does have the determination and experience and
according to her “I feel I’ve definitely got more experience and I know
how it feels to be in a Grand Slam final.” As long as she doesn’t get
burned out from all the play before the Open she has a real shot
coupled with the fact that the American Grand Slam tournament will be
without two-time champion Justine Henin. Three other past U.S. Open
winners -Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters have been
injured recently.

By the way what are our expectations of American teenager Melanie Oudin after her great run to the quarter-final last year?

The men’s half

Over to the men’s
draw which proves to be more exciting. Top seeds are the usual
suspects. Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
Further down are the likes of Andy Roddick, Robin Soderling, Nikolay
Davydenko, Tomas Berdych, Fernando Verdasco and Mardy Fish who took
Federer to the wire at last Sundays Cincinnati final. The Fedexpress
won his 63rd career title and tied Bjorn Borg for fifth place in the
Open Era.

Truth is, a diverse
new range of playing styles is emerging in the men’s game. We’ve long
been familiar with Roger Federer’s comprehensive brilliance, but
everything from the diversification of Rafael Nadal to the tactical
nuance of Andy Murray and Gilles Simon and the all-court prowess of Del
Potro, Tsonga and James Blake have brought excitement to ATP. But
Federer is always a force to reckon with especially when it comes to
grand slams. So as always, the 16 Grand Slams title winner is the
hottest favourite going into the US open. Andy Murray has been
brilliant in the US open series. He beat both Federer and Nadal to win
the Toronto masters, though he crashed out in the semi-final of the
Cincinnati masters. Question though is can he “do it” when it really
matters considering he’s come close to winning his maiden Grand Slam
and lost to the great Roger Federer in both finals.

Though Nadal has never made it past the semi-final here, in seeking to complete the career Grand Slam,

he will be the
top-seeded man when the U.S. Open starts today. Despite Nadal’s not too
impressive run to the US open, he will still be a force in any
tournament.

Unfortunately Del
Potro becomes the third U.S. Open men’s champion in the 42-year Open
era that will not defend his title. He pulled out because of tendinitis
in the wrist.

Alongside Del
Potro, two other men withdrew late Friday, No. 10-ranked Jo-Wilfred
Tsonga of France and three-time U.S. Open quarterfinalist Tommy Haas.

And by the way, one other man that excites me and should not be written off is David Nalbadian.

After been
side-lined for over a year, he recently gave us another example of how
talented he is. Will he emulate his compatriot and have another
Argentine shine for a second straight year? Only time will tell.

While we look
forward to watching good tennis, we also look forward to the fashion
statements to be made as we are now used to seeing in the game of
tennis. After all the Williams sisters, Sharapova, Federer and Nadal
have shown us that you don’t have to be a “plain-Jane” to win titles.

The end of the
Ramadan period is expected to witness a flurry of activities on the
polo scene as gladiators return to the arena after a long break.

The Yola tournament
will kick off the fray and thereafter polo faithful in Abuja will be
treated to the best of the sport as leading players and clubs converge
on the nation’s capital in November for an inaugural tournament to be
held at the newly opened 1212 Polo & Turf Club.

Officials of the
club, which is located between Gwarimpa and Life Camp, off the Kubua
Expressway, are still finalising details of the tournament and will
come out with a date for the tournament very soon.

They disclosed
however that the tournament will feature competition in regular cups
like the Abuja Open Cup, President’s Cup, IBB Cup, Senate President’s
Cup, CBN Governor’s Cup and Patrons’ Cup, among others.

Located at the foot
of the famous Gwarimpa Hill, stretching up the hill and the surrounding
area which nestles at the heart of Abuja’s legendary horse country, the
1212 Polo & Turf Club is a world-class polo and racing club
designed by and for players and jockeys, to showcase the finest the
sports have to offer.

Built and Promoted
by Sani Nuhu and his friends Rufai Jose and Yair Segal, 1212 is a
return to the way the game of polo and horse racing were meant to be
enjoyed, where players and fans of all ages gather in a world-class
venue for the love of the sports and the lifestyle.

Bird’s eye view

The rolling natural terrain of 1212 provides for spectators and players alike, a bird’s eye view of the entire city.

The lush tropical
landscaping and a carefully manicured polo field ring by world class
race tracks, completes the picture of a dream country club and a heaven
for equestrian sports. Watching high-goal polo or international racing
event from the proposed VIP boxes, viewing stands, field side tailgates
and special hospitality tents, all overlooking the Championship Field,
promises to be an unparalleled experience.

Explaining the rather peculiar name of the club, Nuhu said:

“This unique name
is history in its self and (it was) the date the seat of Federal
Government was moved from Lagos to Abuja by the administration of
President Ibrahim Babangida and the present and future generations will
always appreciate the date” he explained during a guided tour of the
facility.

On what members of the Nigerian polo community should expect of the club, Nuhu said:

“To all polo and
racing enthusiasts and newcomers alike, we extend our invitation to be
part of the 1212 history, as we work together in building this world
class facility to nourish our love and affection towards the game, in a
spirit of friendly competition, as well as a facility for networking.

“It is our
aspiration to make 1212 Polo & Turf Club a place where new
generations of Nigerian polo players with strong character and
dedication will be born,” he vowed.

“I am optimistic that 1212 as a pride of Abuja will flourish, as a
centre for developing our sport and the city’s number one leisure hot
spot will thrive. While we still have a long journey ahead of us to
achieving these set goals, I strongly believe that the very presence of
1212 Polo & Turf Club is a notable milestone in the history of
Nigerian polo.”

Five members of the
Super Eagles team last week made the cut with their respective club
sides to feature in the 2010/2011 group phase of the UEFA Champions
League competition. They are goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama (Hapoel
Tel-Aviv) defenders; Elderson Echiejile (SC Braga) and Taiye Taiwo
(Marseille), Obafemi Martins(Rubin Kazan) and Mikel Obi (Chelsea).

This is somewhat an
improvement as only two Super Eagles – Mikel Obi of Chelsea and Taye
Taiwo of Marseille, players made it to this stage of the tournament
last time out.

For this lucky
five, enacting the feat so far achieved by only two Nigerians – Kanu
Nwankwo and Finidi George – which is a Champions League crown, will be
the ultimate goal.

Of the lot, Chelsea
midfielder, Mikel Obi is the closest to joining the league of African
players that have lifted the coveted trophy as his team lost narrowly
in finals of the 2008/09 season and only got knocked out in the quarter
finals last season. His team nevertheless remains one of the strongest
favourites in this year’s race.

While the likes of
Mikel, Taiwo and Martins have featured previously at this stage of the
competition, it is a debut appearance for the duo of Enyeama and
Echeijle who only recently moved from the French League to Portugal to
join Sporting Braga.

For Enyeama making
it thus far is a dream come true; “it is a ‘fulfilled dream’ to have
the chance to play in the UEFA Champions’ League group phase” he said.

The number one shot
stopper for the country not only proved to a safe pair of hands but
went further to score a goal in his team’s 4-3 over Red Bull Salzburg
of Austria to boost his team’s qualification quest.

“It has always been
my dream to play in the UEFA Champions League and this was an
opportunity I did not want to miss,” Enyeama told UEFA.com after his
team’s qualification.

“I have played in
every competition and this was the only one left. It is good to get a
chance to play against the best players in the world.” he added.

Indeed, the history
of the UEFA Champions League is incomplete without the mention of
Nigeria as the competition’s first goal in its present format was
scored by Nigeria’s Daniel Amokachi while he was with Belgian outfit FC
Brugge.

Expectedly, that
moment is one of the most cherished in the illustrious career of the
ex-international who was also a former assistant coach in the country’s
national team.

Real are in the group of death

Thursday’s draws
has set the stage to determine which team takes over the reign of
European football from Inter Milan which emerged champions after forty
eight years of fruitless efforts.

Inter, under their
new boss Rafa Benitez, will face Werder Bremen and Champions League
debutants Tottenham Hotspur and Twente Enschede of the Netherlands in
Group A,

Spurs are one of three London sides in the competition and familiar foes to Benitez from his time with Liverpool.

Group G has to be
the most difficult group to call with Real Madrid under Jose Mourinho,
the 9-time winners, 7-time champions AC Milan, Ajax who are also former
champions, and French outfit, Auxerre. But as Marseille and Bordeaux
showed in the last competition, French clubs seem to understand the
European terrain a little bit better.

Barcelona, European
champions in 2009, will face Panathinaikos, FC Copenhagen and Rubin
Kazan of Russia in Group D, looking to avenge the shock home defeat to
the Russians who beat them 2-1 at the Nou Camp in the group stage last
season.

Manchester United,
winners in 2008 face Valencia, Rangers and Bursaspor of Turkey with the
Rangers match especially poignant for United boss Alex Ferguson, who
once played for Rangers and still has close links with his home city of
Glasgow.

United are among
the quartet of English clubs including Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs who
all have extra incentive to lift the European Cup this season with the
final at Wembley in May.

Arsenal’s chief
executive Ivan Gazidis was already eying a place there after his club
were drawn against Braga, Shakhtar Donetsk and Partizan Belgrade.

Steel and experience

“We have a real
incentive to win it this year with the final at Wembley. We have added
steel and experience to the side and we are one year older and more
experienced and are going for it,” Gazidis told reporters.

Chelsea, who are
familiar visitors to Wembley having won the last two FA Cups there,
return to Moscow where they lost the 2008 final to Manchester United,
with a match against Spartak.

Chelsea will also
face Zilina of Slovakia and Olympique Marseille, with their talismanic
striker Didier Drogba no doubt relishing the battle against his old
club.

Bayern Munich, who lost May’s final to Inter, will face AS Roma, Basel and CFR Cluj.

Real Madrid and
Milan’s rivalry goes back to the first season of European competition
in 1955-56 when Real beat Milan in the semi-finals and in all they have
played each other 13 times with Milan winning six times and Real five.

Ajax have also enjoyed memorable final showdowns with Milan, with the Italians triumphing in 1969 and the Dutch in 1995.

While Real, Milan
and Ajax will be looking to revive old glories, Inter will be seeking
to become the first club to retain the European Cup in the Champions
League era.

“It’s a tasty
group,” said Inter’s Ambassador Luis Figo. “Werder Bremen are very
physical, Spurs have a lot of pace but our aim is to play in the final
at Wembley.” The group phase begins on September 14/15 and concludes on
December 7/8. The final is at Wembley on May 28.

The deed has finally been done.

The men who are bigger than the rest of us; those above the law of the land, had their way on Thursday.

Aminu Maigari, the
acting vice chairman of the Nigeria Football Federation who during the
debate by presidential candidates in Abuja two weeks ago confessed he
did not know the number of football clubs in Nigeria’s different
leagues, has been confirmed in the saddle.

Now Maigari and his team, including the invisible puppeteer with links to world football governing body,

FIFA, bestride the
darkening Nigerian football firmament like Colossus and we ‘petty’ men
walk under his huge legs, and peep about to find our dearly beloved
game of football destroyed.

Indeed, these are
ominous time with vultures are circling over Nigerian football. The
election of last Thursday will prove whether we still have laws in this
country and whether those laws are subordinate to those of FIFA.

It is a matter for
serious concern that the head of the electoral committee, which
conducted the election, is a lawyer and that he wilfully ignored at
least three subsisting court orders demanding a stay of action.

Anyway, the outcome
of the election has not surprised anyone particularly those of us who
had seen the writing on the wall since Sani Lulu first began ‘working’
on the federation’s statutes two years ago.

I had predicted
here that there was no way a good was going to come out of the process
given the shenanigans of Maigari and his team and the obvious
preference of FIFA for the maintenance of the status quo.

Two days before the
elections I sent an email to Pekka Odriozola, FIFA’s acting Head of
Media. I put the following questions to him

1. Does FIFA acknowledge receipt of the two letters from Odegbami?

2. What is FIFA’s
official position on the election? Is it in support of it holding
despite the issues raised in the Odegbami letter or is it in favour of
the state FA chairmen standing election first before participating in
the national election?

3. If FIFA is in support of the election, on what basis is it in support of it?

4. Does FIFA
believe that justice would have been done if as Odegbami has pointed
out, men who were elected for four-year tenure stay for eight years in
office?

5. Should the
Nigerian government decide to intervene given the tension being
generated by the election in the football community in Nigeria by
ordering through the National Sports Commission that state FA chairmen
first renew their mandate, what step is FIFA likely to take?

He was evasive in his reply.

Rather than address the issues raised he merely stated that:

“One of FIFA’s
duties is to ensure the independence of the Member Associations from
external interference and to ensure that the football family in each
country can have the best possible conditions to develop the game. That
is the reason why we directly monitor the situation in each FIFA member
association that they comply with their statutes.

“As such FIFA will
also be present as an observer on Thursday when the election in Nigeria
will take place to monitor the process and to verify that it is
conducted in accordance with the NFF statutes.

Men without ideas

This reply finally
confirmed my long held view, which I have stated here on several
occasions that the world football body was not interested in the
development of football in this country but is more interested in
maintaining Sepp Blatter’s cronies and their men Friday in power.

Whichever way we
look at it, football is doomed in this country. I have assessed the men
elected into the board and without trying to diminish them in any way;
none of them has the needed knowledge to take the game to the next
level. For the most part, they are the same men who refused to yield to
commonsense and test their popularity by conducting elections into the
state football associations.

We are also not
aware that any of them is an accomplished manager of men and resources
who can bring their administrative acumen to bear on issues surrounding
the running of football.

For those who made
jest of Segun Odegbami and other former Nigerian internationals
insisting that having played the game was no criterion for wanting to
administer the game, what have they got to say about some of these men
one of whom has been chairman of a club in the Nigerian Premier league,
which won the CAF Champions League back to back and failed to leverage
on that success to the extent that during the last Super Four
tournament in Ijebu Ode, players of the club nearly boycotted a match
in protest over unpaid allowances.