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Paraguay beat Japan
on penalties to move into the World Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday after
the match had finished in a goalless stalemate after extra time.

Japan’s Yuichi
Komano hit the crossbar with his team’s third spot kick, the only one
missed in the first shootout of the finals. Paraguay, who become the
fourth South American team after Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, in the
last eight, will now meet Spain or Portugal after holding their nerve
to win the shootout 5-3. The South Americans had enjoyed more
possession during the 0-0 draw which had relatively few clear goal
chances at either end. A cagey opening brought few clear-cut chances
but the game sparked to life in the 20th minute, Eiji Kawashima saving
with his knee from Lucas Barrios, then Daisuke Matsui cracking the
Paraguay crossbar with a curling 25-metres effort.

An out-of-sorts
Honda had his first clear sight of goal in the 38th minute, striking
the ball first time with the outside of his favoured left foot just
past the post. Paraguay looked set to open the scoring 10 minutes into
the second half when Edgar Benitez broke into the left side of the
penalty area but his shot was deflected wide by Yuji Nakazawa. Japan,
who had torn Denmark apart in their final group game with some
delightful free-flowing soccer, struggled to maintain possession in the
second half and their trademark quick-fire counter-attacks fizzled in
the final third.

With the score tied at 0-0 after 90 minutes, Japan made a bright
start to extra time, Yoshito Okubo bearing down on the Paraguay defence
with a surging run from deep in his own half. Paraguay almost unlocked
the Japanese defence seven minutes into extra time when Claudio Morel
released substitute Valdez in the box but goalkeeper Kawashima got out
smartly to block. Paraguay’s Edgar Barreto had his head in his hands
moments later when the ball dropped to him in a crowded penalty area
but he could do no better than flick the ball over the bar.

The leadership of
the Nigeria Football Federation has apologised to Nigerians over the
poor performance of the Super Eagles at the World Cup in South Africa.

The decision to
tender an unreserved apology to the country was reached at the end of
an executive committee meeting of the federation in Abuja yesterday.

A communiqué issued at the end of deliberations read in part:

“The Executive
Committee tendered apology to the Federal Government and all football
-loving Nigerians for the early ouster of the Super Eagles from the
2010 FIFA World Cup finals, despite immense support by Mr. President
and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
(GCFR), and other well-meaning Nigerians.” The Eagles exited in the
first round of the tournament after losing to Argentina and Greece and
drawing its last group game against South Korea. It finished last in
the group with only one point and three goals to show for the nearly
one billion naira spent on their participation in the tournament.

Nigerians were united in their anger at the poor performance, prompting the apology from the NFF.

Other decisions
reached at the meeting and contained in the communiqué include the
decision to commence rebuilding the Eagles. The executive committee has
directed that the technical crew of the team, which for the time being
will be led by Austin Eguavoen in the absence of Lars Lagerback who is
on a two-week holiday, embark on “a highly rigorous technical process
of raising a new team to be dominated by the youth and home grown
talent”. The federation charged them to develop a long term programme
“that will give the new team adequate exposure and confidence ahead of
imminent qualifying competitions”.

Scrapping home-based Eagles

Another key decision taken by the NFF was the disbanding of the home-based Eagles.

According to the
communiqué: “There will be only one Super Eagles, with no foreign
-based or home -based appellations. Discipline will continue to be key
issue in Nigerian national team camps, national youth teams will be
exposed to more international tournaments and the senior teams will be
made to play more friendly games.” Other decisions reached at the
meeting also include the engagement of a highly -qualified Psychologist
for the national teams.

It also directed
the Secretariat to ensure that the national U-20 women’s team,
Falconets and the U-17 girls’ team, Flamingoes, prepare adequately for
upcoming FIFA championships. The Falconets will take part in the FIFA
U-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany (13th July – 1st August) while
Flamingoes will participate in FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Trinidad
and Tobago (5th – 25th September, 2010).

It was also
resolved that bonuses paid to the players of the national women’s teams
(Super Falcons, Falconets, Flamingoes) be reviewed upwardly.

The Nelson Mandela
Bay in Port Elizabeth will today be the scene of an eagerly anticipated
battle between two of the 2010 World Cup’s talented sides.

Five-time
champions, Brazil, square up against the Orange men from the
Netherlands in the first quarter final encounter of the tournament.
Both sides are not new to each other, having met nine times before with
Brazil having a slight edge of three wins to the Netherland’s two.
Their last meeting at the World Cup took place 16 years ago during the
1994 edition, with Brazil running away with a 3-2 victory.

On a good day when
teams possessing the firepower and technical ability of both teams
play, sparks should fly. However, obsession with tactics, especially on
the part of the Brazilians, means fans may see a game shorn of flair
and creativity.

The South
Americans, noted for their fluid attacking style ,have for a long time
dating back to nearly two decades, opted for a hit and run approach.
Under Carlos Dunga in particular, the usually rampaging Brazilians are
content to lay back and allow their opponents have a go at them before
hitting them on the counter. That strategy has worked well for them in
this tournament, particularly in the game against Cote d ‘Ivoire, where
they clinically finished the exuberant Africans.

Robben inspiration

Against the
Netherlands, boosted by the return of Bayern Munich star, Arjen Robben,
their stingy defence is most likely to have a lot of work to do. The
Dutch, who beat hard fighting Slovakia in their round of 16 encounter,
will be relying on the guile of the former Chelsea FC star to unlock
the closely knit Brazilian defence. Robben, who sat out all his team’s
matches before the round of 16 clash, showed why coach Bert van Marwijk
and his crew had agonised over his absence, with a commanding display
against the Slovaks, which he capped with a beauty of a goal that must
rank as one of the best of the tournament.

Brazil coach,
Dunga, is mindful of the quality of his team’s next opponents: “Of the
European sides, the Netherlands are perhaps most similar to us South
Americans in terms of technical ability. They traditionally produce
teams that play nice football. They’re not a team that just defends or
one that plays a long-ball game. They’ve got very technical players and
we need to be ready for that.”

Playing with fire

Despite the quality
of players in their squad, the Dutch know it is an uphill task against
the sleek Brazilians parading former World Football of the Year, Kaka,
and rampaging Sevilla striker, Luis Fabiano, who has notched up three
goals so far in the tournament. Marwijk is wary of the threat posed by
the South Americans: “Brazil have six really impressive defensive
players and attackers who are capable of making a difference at any
moment. They’re a solid side.

“We’ve controlled the play in all our games so far; we’ve scored
seven goals and only conceded two and we’ve hardly been in any danger.
But I think that’s going to change when we meet Brazil.”

Germany captain
Philipp Lahm on Thursday fanned a war of words between his side and
rivals Argentina ahead of their World Cup quarter-final clash, accusing
his opponents of being bad losers.

A day after Germany
midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger called the Argentines
“disrespectful”, his captain said they did not know how to deal with a
defeat.

“Bastian said what
he said. We know South Americans are impulsive and temperamental and
cannot lose,” said the usually soft-spoken Lahm.

“We will see on Saturday how they will lose and how they will behave after a defeat,” he said.

Germany beat
Argentina in the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals on penalties before a
violent brawl broke out at the end of the match, drawing in most
players and coaches from both teams with punches and kicks flying.

The two sides have
also met twice in a World Cup final, with Argentina winning their
second trophy in 1986 and Germany coming out on top in 1990 for their
third World Cup victory.

“We have to
concentrate on our football only,” said Lahm. “The South Americans are
temperamental. We know that and we will see how they will deal this
time with a defeat.” “It is time we beat a top team. Our young team has
to show that it can beat a top team like Argentina in 90 minutes,” Lahm
said.

Disrespectful

Schweinsteiger had
kicked off the unusual war of words on Wednesday saying Argentine
players were always trying to influence the referee to gain an unfair
advantage.

“It starts before
the match,” Schweinsteiger said. “If you see how they gesticulate, how
they try to influence the referee. That is not part of the game. That
is a lack of respect. They just are like that,” said Schweinsteiger.

Team manager Oliver Bierhoff, playing the role of a good cop, urged German players to forget the 2006 World Cup brawl.

“We should leave it
behind and keep a cool head and just concentrate on what we do best,”
he told reporters, sitting next to Lahm.

“I do not think it
will be a fiery game,” he said adding Germany were not overestimating
their abilities despite having played a good tournament so far.

“That is exactly the strength of the team. That they have a healthy
self-esteem. This enthusiasm around them will not carry them away
thinking they have reached their target.”

Contrary to
expectations that the world football governing body, FIFA, will be
quick to take a decision on Nigeria’s resolution to withdraw it’s
national team from international engagements and the dissolution of the
football federation, the body has instead stated that it is not in
haste to take any action as it will have to study the report it has
before taking any stance.

Addressing a
briefing in South Africa yesterday, FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot
confirmed that Nigeria’s government has officially notified FIFA of its
action. “We have been now officially informed of that and we are
looking at this case,” Maingot said. “We need a little bit of time.”
FIFA over the years have maintained a strong stand on government
interference in football insisting that football should not be mixed
with politics.

The rules

According to FIFA
rules, national federations are required to manage their affairs
independently or face suspension from world football. In the event of
suspension; national and club teams cannot play in international
competitions, and football officials are barred from attending
meetings. “This is clearly outlined in the FIFA statutes,” said
Maingot, adding that “we are not at the step of taking sanctions.”
Aware of the possible punishment the country could suffer for its
actions, former Super Eagles player, Garba Lawal, appealed to FIFA to
temper justice with mercy as the government action was only geared
towards improving the country’s football “We all know what the rule
says but I hope FIFA will not be too hard on us, Nigerians love
football and a ban would be a painful thing” he said.

Similarly, Super
Eagles defender, Adefemi Olubayo also added his voice as he opined that
football is a uniting factor in the country and it would not be good to
starve the populace of it. A standoff between the government and FIFA
could threaten Nigeria’s place in the FIFA-run Under-20 Women’s World
Cup, which kicks off July 13 in Germany. Nigerian club side, Heartland,
could also lose its spot in the African Champions League with the team
scheduled to host Egypt’s Al-Ahly in two weeks’ time. The Super Eagles
next engagement is scheduled for early September against Madagascar in
a qualifier for the 2012 African Cup of Nations. Events in the next
couple of days would determine the turn of events.

Reason for action

The Super Eagles
poor performance at the World Cup, and the need to re-organise the
country’s football were some of the reasons adduced for the
presidential action. Nigeria was eliminated from the World Cup with
only one point after a 2-2 draw with South Korea in its last game.
Nigeria lost to Argentina 1-0 in its Group B opener, and was beaten 2-1
by Greece.

Outside this, the
president’s spokesman, Ima Niboro, also revealed that appropriate
authorities will also investigate corruption allegations against the
football federation. “All funds directed toward the federation would be
examined and all those found wanting will be sanctioned,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nigeria is scheduled to receive prize money of US$8 million from FIFA for participating in the World Cup.

No African team has
gone beyond the quarter finals of the World Cup. The two teams to have
reached that stage-Cameroon (1990) and Senegal (2002) fell to their
opponents. Today, the Black of Stars will be gunning to change all
that. Against Uruguay at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg,
they’ll be aiming to enter history books as the first African country
to get to the semi finals of the World Cup.

Journey so far

To get to this
stage of the competition, the Black Stars saw off the challenge in the
Group D where it was placed defeating Serbia by a lone goal in her
opening match, then played out a 1-1 draw with Australia and although
they lost 0-1 to Germany, the team went into the next round. In the
Round of 16, Ghana became the first team to take a match into extra
time at the 2010 FIFA World Cup when ninety minutes failed to separate
the African team and the United States team. The match had started well
for Ghana with Kevin Prince Boateng putting them in front after just
five minutes. Landon Donovan however made things even when he converted
a penalty kick award after a careless tackle on a goal bound American
by Ghanaian defender, Jonathan Mensah. Extra time had hardly begun
before Asamoah Gyan held off two defenders to fire the ball into the
net for the winner and a date with Uruguay today.

Missing men

Ghana is without
suspended players: Jonathan Mensah and Andre Ayew; but striker, Asamoah
Gyan, is expected to recover from an ankle injury he picked up in the
second-round victory over the United States.

The biggest problem for the last African team left in the
competition is the enormous weight of expectations. But Ghana’s Serbian
coach, Milovan Rajevac, says the prospect of becoming the first team
from the continent to reach the last four will motivate his squad. “We
are not thinking about the pressure,” he told fifa.com. “We played very
well at the African (Cup of) Nations so we have already proved that we
are a team that knows how to compete. We will try to relax. You know it
is good for us to be here. We are very happy with the whole situation.”