Nigeria Content Online

Despite slumping to
a 2-1 defeat to South Korea in an international friendly match played
Wednesday at the Seoul Olympic Stadium in Korea, former Super Eagles
handler, Christian Chukwu and ex-player, Garba Lawal, have defended the
outcome of the game.

For Chukwu, who was
once at the helms of affairs as chief coach of the national team;
friendly matches should not be seen as a do or die affair but as
avenues to try out new players and give them a platform to express
themselves.

“Of course, victory
is always sweet but in this case I think we should be concerned about
the major purpose of the match which I believe is to start the
rebuilding process of the national team,” he said.

He added that the
match has availed the coaches opportunity to see one or two players
that can fit into different positions when the situation demands.

Good attempt

Similarly, Lawal
said the Eagles did their best, particularly the duo of Osaze Odewingie
and Obafemi Martins while also praising the efforts of some of the home
based players that got a chance in the game.

“They did their
best. For me, I don’t care about the result I am happy that we are
making good use of the FIFA window just like other countries. If we
continue like this then we can begin to reap the benefits in time to
come,” he said.

Others who also
shared the same position include former assistant manager Joe Erico,
former players Dosu Joseph and Yisa Shofulwe, who all argued that
friendly matches should not be seen as a must win game.

The game

Korea dominated the
game and were the more cohesive team, while the Osaze Odemwingie-led
Super Eagles struggled to play as a unit and relied more on the
individual brilliance of Odemwingie and Martins.

Russia-based
striker Solomon Okoronkwo made his full international debut, while
several players from the domestic league also had their chance to excel
at full international level with Valentine Nwabili of Enyimba showing
promise at left fullback.

Korea captained by
Manchester United ace Ji-Sung Park went in front after 18 minutes
through Bit-Garam after sustained pressure on the Nigerian defence.

Nigeria drew level
in the 26th minute through Locomotiv Moscow striker Odemwingie, before
Korea regained their lead just before the break when Hyo Jin darted
into the box before firing past goalkeeper Dele Aiyenugba.

Korea came close to increasing their lead in the 49th minute but the post came to Aiyenugba’s rescue.

Israel-based shot
stopper Aiyenugba was at his best when he pulled off a fine save off a
fierce shot from outside the box on 79 minutes.

Brown Ideye would
have restored parity for the Eagles on 59 minutes but he scoffed his
shot from inside the box after a good combination play that involved
the lively Odemwingie and Martins.

A defensive error, by Danny Shittu right inside the six-yard box, almost gifted the Asians a third goal in the 85th minute.

Both teams played out a 2-2 draw in a 2010 World Cup group match in
South Africa. It was a result that qualified the Taejuk Warriors to the
knockout stage of South Africa.

Former Super Eagles
manager, Shuaibu Amodu, yesterday, urged the Nigeria Football
Federation to apologize to Nigerians for hiring his successor, Lars
Lagerback.

Lagerback took over
from Amodu months before the Mundial, and led Nigeria to a first round
crash, and has not returned to the country after the tournament.
Lagerback’s agent has said the Swede would not return to keep with his
job. Speaking at a forum organized by the House of Representatives
Sports committee to review the devastating outing and general fading
performance of the country’s football, Amodu said NFF members who took
the decision of bringing in the new coach, took a “hasty and
irresponsible” decision and deserve to say sorry to fans. “I expected
people who took that decision to apologize to Nigerians for taking that
unreasonable decision,” he said.

The former national
team coach said it was a “disgraceful performance” that the Super
Eagles failed to win a match in South Africa and also failed to justify
the $1.5 million paid to Lagerback for the period he worked. Toeing a
familiar argument of past Eagles handlers, Amodu said his frank
position on issues often pitched him against football authorities but
that he cared less about losing the job. “You can take my job away, but
you cannot take my knowledge,” he said.

Coaching not the problem

The former Eagles
coach said the cause of the rapidly declining status of Nigerian
football, was not by coaches, foreign or local coach but by the
administrative system within the country. “The problem with our
football is not with a foreign or indigenous coach, but our system and
mind set,” he said. He blamed the problems on the lack of continuity in
the appointment of sports ministers and other key officials, who do not
have enough time to articulate their programmes. He also called for
adequate planning and budgetary allocation to sports while saying that
local coaches should be adequately remunerated and given time to
achieve results.

Brazil coach Mano
Menezes offered a fascinating glimpse into the future with the 2-0
friendly win over the U.S. — and if first impressions count, the team
should be entertaining hosts in the 2014 World Cup.

It remains to be
seen how many of those who started at the New Meadowlands stadium on
Tuesday will be in the team that takes the field for the opening game
in Brazil in four years time but the new faces on show certainly played
like they were capable of performing on the biggest stage.

None shone more
than 18-year-old Neymar, a player who many in Brazil had urged Menezes’
predecessor Dunga to take to South Africa this year.

The Santos forward,
sporting a spiky Mohican haircut, began on the left wing but floated
into the middle when the space opened up and also switched flanks to
keep a largely bewildered U.S defence even more befuddled.

The slightly built
Neymar’s superbly taken header to open the scoring was an illustration
that as well as superb control and energetic pace, he also has the
striker’s ability to convert chances however they may fall to him.

Nothing is certain
in football but few would bet against Neymar being a well known name,
with one of Europe’s top clubs, by the time the next World Cup comes
around and he certainly is not short of confidence.

“I had some nerves
early on, with this being my debut,” he told Reuters, “But it got
easier when the ball began to roll and of course the goal settled me,”
he said.

Likewise it is hard
to imagine playmaker Paulo Henrique Ganso not going on from his
impressive debut to make his mark on the international scene.

He may look like a
scrawny schoolkid but Ganso, another from the current outstanding crop
at Santos, put the most famous shirt in football — the gold and green
one with number 10 on the back — and delivered a performance that was
as notable for its calm composure as for its technical proficiency.

Real Madrid’s Kaka,
out with injury, is the current owner of Pele’s old jersey, but he will
need to get back to his very best to fend off the challenge from Ganso
who is very much an enabling playmaker, prompting others and opening up
spaces.

But he also possesses a wicked shot as he showed when he hit the post from 25 metres out against the Americans.

“The (number 10)
jersey is certainly a heavy one in terms of responsibility but it is up
to me now to go away and work hard and try to earn another call-up,” he
said.

With Pato close to
his lively best in attack, after a season plagued by injury and Robinho
showing signs of his quality as well, Menezes’ new team, featuring just
four players who were in South Africa, already looks to be taking shape
and certainly has indicated it’s character.

“Personality is not something you can really give a team,” said Menezes after the game.

“Either you have it or you don’t. This performance was a sign that they have it,” he said.

Newcastle United
returns to the Premier League without their customary big-name
managers, high-profile signings, and unlikely ambitions after a healthy
dose of realism from a year spent in the second division.

“On the whole
people know it is a very different Newcastle team. It is one that can
stay in the Premier League and build on that to become just as big and
flamboyant as teams that have gone by,” Newcastle defender Mike
Williamson told Reuters. Guided by the understated former Tottenham
Hotspur assistant coach, Chris Hughton, Newcastle open their season at
the deep end with a trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United on
Monday. ‘The Toon’ have been graced with soccer greats including Paul
Gascoigne, Peter Beardsley, Kevin Keegan, Chris Waddle, and Alan
Shearer in years gone by but under Hughton they have turned to youth
with a sprinkling of modest experience. “It’s a new era now and a very
different outlook that the fans have got to take. The majority of them
will be happy if we stay in the league and we build on it,” said
Williamson, a tall centre back signed from Portsmouth in January.

The club have some
exciting youngsters in big striker Andrew Carroll, new signing Dan
Gosling and Danny Simpson, who are chaperoned by the experience of Alan
Smith, Kevin Nolan, and most recently ex-Arsenal and England defender
Sol Campbell. Newcastle have six FA Cups, the last coming in 1955, and
a 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup to their name, although more recently
they are remembered for an enthralling Premier League title race which
ultimately ended with Manchester United lifting the trophy in 1996.

Panic button

These days ensuring
top flight status is more of a concern. “First and foremost, the target
is to achieve the 40 points mark. I think that is probably the target
for half of the teams in the league, to secure their survival and then
build on it,” Williamson said. Hughton, twice caretaker manager at
Newcastle before taking the reins permanently in 2009, inherited a
relegated side up for sale and on the verge of crisis. A year later
they topped the Championship (second division) by 11 points to earn
promotion. “To pull a club that was on the verge of a crisis, on and
off the field, and to get the lads together and come back into the
Premier League at the first time of asking is a brilliant achievement
and he deserves a lot of credit for it,” Williamson, 26, said. “He has
a lot respect from the players. He is not a big, loud, aggressive
manager, who gives the hairdryer treatment. In general it is all about
tactics, he brings an element of calmness to the team and he always has
a focus in his mind, there are no panic buttons.”

After Manchester United, Newcastle round off August with a match at
home to Aston Villa before a trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Hughton
has outlined his plans of how to make this season a success, telling
the local Journal newspaper: “What we were able to do last season was
be very strong defensively. We scored a lot of goals, but we were
strong at the back. If possible, I want us to be even harder to beat
this season. The most important thing is we’ve got to give ourselves
every chance. We have to give ourselves a platform to build on and that
is at the back.”

FIFA have launched
an investigation into allegations that the North Korean World Cup coach
and players were reprimanded by the government after their early exit
from this year’s tournament in South Africa.

Last month, Radio
Free Asia said that the Korean squad, apart from two foreign-based
players, were subjected to “harsh ideological criticism” after they
lost all three matches and conceded the most amount of goals by a team
at the World Cup.

“We sent a letter
to the football federation to tell us about their election of a new
president and to find out if the allegations made by the media that the
coach and some players were condemned and punished are true,” FIFA
President Sepp Blatter told reporters on Wednesday.

“We are doing this as a first step and we will see how they answer.”

After starting only
their second World Cup brightly with a 2-1 defeat by five-times
champions Brazil, North Korea were humiliated 7-0 by Portugal and
easily beaten 3-0 by Ivory Coast.

Blatter said the
investigation was launched after FIFA executive committee member Chung
Mong-joon, from South Korea, had delivered new information on the issue.

Asian Football
Confederation President Mohamed Bin Hammam, who recently travelled to
the secretive communist nation, said he was hopeful the investigation
would prove conclusive.

“There was an unconfirmed report that these players have gone through torture or something like that, but I can’t confirm that.

“I haven’t seen anything with my eyes or heard anything with my
ears. Maybe this FIFA investigation can clear the air.” Blatter, Bin
Hammam and Chung were in Singapore to launch the soccer tournament at
the inaugural Youth Olympic Games.