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Barcelona will need
to keep the euphoria in check if they are to hold onto the La Liga
title in what promises to be a nerve-jangling final day of the Spanish
season on Sunday.

The champions are
at home to Real Valladolid (1700 GMT) and have a one-point lead and the
head-to-head advantage over chasing Real Madrid.

At the same time,
their arch-rivals visit Malaga, where a victory and a Barca slip up is
the only way Real can avoid finishing a second consecutive season
without a trophy.

Both Valladolid and Malaga, along with three other sides, are fighting to avoid relegation to the second division.

Last weekend’s
nervy 3-2 win away to Sevilla saw Barca’s players celebrating on the
pitch having overcome what had been considered the toughest obstacle
left for them, but captain Carles Puyol sounded a note of caution.

“It’s a difficult
game against a side that is fighting to stay in the league. It won’t be
a stroll in the park,” the Spanish international told reporters. “We’ll
have to control the anxiety.” Barca have the mixed blessing of playing
in front of their own fans at the Nou Camp but face a wily opponent in
the shape of former Spain boss Javier Clemente, who has been brought in
to try and save Valladolid from relegation.

“Miracles don’t exist in football, but surprises do,” Clemente told daily Sport.

Guardiola, who
played under Clemente with Spain at the World Cup finals in 1994, will
be without suspended playmaker Xavi but could have Andres Iniesta back
from injury as a replacement.

Calculators and pens

A victory for Real
in Malaga would see them finish the season with 98 points which is
enough to have taken the title every year since the league began. But
it will not be enough if Barca also win to move onto 99.

Coach Manuel
Pellegrini is having to prepare for the weekend with the local press
talking up the possibility of Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho being
brought in as his replacement next season.

“I have a year left
on my contract and whether we win or lose (the title) should not
condition Madrid’s future,” the Chilean told reporters.

“You can’t say this
has been a lesser project when you consider how many points we have
achieved.” At the foot of the table, the three relegation slots will be
decided on Sunday (1700) with Valladolid, Racing Santander, Malaga and
Tenerife tied on 36 points, three ahead of bottom club Xerez.

With the
head-to-head rule deciding matters for those who finish level on
points, fans will be reaching for their calculators and pens to work
out the complicated consequences of each goal as events unfold during
the evening.

Atletico Madrid
shook off a debilitating inferiority complex to win the Europa League
on Wednesday and could bury it for good with a triumph in the King’s
Cup final next week.

Atletico are used
to living in the shadow of nine-times European champions Real Madrid,
but relegation in 2000 followed by eight years of under-achievement
back in the top flight have taken their toll on Spain’s third biggest
club.

Their fans had
started to revel in the nickname “the sufferers” and had to look back
to 1996 for their last glimpse of silverware when Atletico won a league
and cup double.

The club even used
the idea to help promote season-ticket sales with a television advert
that saw a child ask his father: “Daddy, why do we support Atletico?”
His father was unable to offer a reply.

“They have been living with a pathological pessimism,” Santiago Segurola wrote in sports daily Marca.

“Now they have the
opportunity to bury the ghosts and their fears. It’s moments like
these, full of happiness, that push them into believing, to progress,
to return to a level that corresponds with their history.” True to
their recent past,

Atletico did not do
it the easy way in Hamburg and needed a goal from Diego Forlan, four
minutes from the end of extra-time to secure a 2-1 victory over Fulham.

“We deserved to win
although we went through some bad moments, but Atletico are like this,”
19-year-old goalkeeper David de Gea told reporters.

Changed fortunes

Coach Quique
Sanchez Flores has been the architect of Atletico’s turnaround in
fortunes, taking over a side that were bottom of their Champions League
group and 15th in La Liga last October.

He kept a low profile in the celebrations: “This is a moment for the players. I prefer to watch from afar.

“I asked them to be
daring and to remember the footballer inside them that dreamed of
winning titles.” He added: “It’s difficult to control (the euphoria)
and I’m not going to try.” Then they have a second Cup final against
Sevilla at the Nou Camp next Wednesday.

Sports daily AS helped out the father who was unable to answer his son from Atletico’s well-known advertising campaign.

“Son, this is why we support Atletico,” they said above their write up of the match on Thursday.

Every player dreams of featuring at the World Cup. It comes to pass for some while it remains a faraway dream for most.

In less than a
month from now, 736 players representing 32 nations will converge on
South Africa for the first FIFA World Cup to be staged on African soil.
Nigeria will be one of those nations and will be contributing 23
players to the eagerly anticipated spectacle.

A 30-man
provisional squad list unveiled recently by Super Eagles coach Lars
Lagerback, included siblings John and Peter Utaka as well as Kalu and
Ikechukwu Uche who will all be doing their best in the weeks ahead to
confirm their spot in the final 23-man list.

Brothers in arms

Celestine and
Emmanuel Babayaro both appeared for Nigeria at the 1993 FIFA U-17 World
Cup in Japan but no pair of Nigerian siblings have ever featured
together at a senior World Cup. So if Lagerback ends up taking both the
Uche and Utaka brothers to South Africa it will be historic for the
Nigerians.

It won’t, however,
be the first time in World Cup history as it has already happened on
four different occasions with the most recent coming at the last
tournament in Germany where the Ivoirians arrived with a team featuring
the both the Koné brothers (Arouna and Bakari) and the Touré brothers
(Kolo and Yaya).

“It will be nice to
play with my brother and even better if it’s at the World Cup,” said
Peter, the younger of the Utaka brothers.

He then added: “It
has always been my wish to play in the Super Eagles with my big
brother. We talk about it all the time and we will both do our best to
ensure it happens.”

New kid on the block

Unlike the Uche
brothers who have been integral members of the national team for a
couple of years now, the Utaka brothers have never played together in
the Super Eagles. Although John has featured for the Super Eagles since
2002 he has been left out of the side for some months now and even
missed the African Cup of Nations tournament in Angola earlier in the
year, while the younger Peter has only made one appearance for the
Super Eagles in a 5-2 thrashing of Congo DR in Abuja where he even
found the back of the net to make it a dream start to his international
career.

“It was a nice way to start even if it was just a friendly match,” Peter said.

“My target now is to work very hard and make the team because there are so many top players in the Super Eagles.

“Since I was a
child, I dreamt of playing in the World Cup. Now I have a chance to do
that with my brother and in a team that has a lot of great players like
(Nwankwo) Kanu and IK Uche,” Peter stated.

“IK Uche is someone
I want to play with but Kanu is a legend. To me, Kanu is the greatest
Nigerian player of all-time. Just training and playing with Kanu on the
same pitch will be fantastic,” he added.

Sibling pair

Real Zaragoza’s
Ikechukwu was the national team’s leading scorer in the South Africa
2010 World Cup qualifying campaign before a career threatening injury
ruled him out of the rest of the qualifiers as well as the African Cup
of Nations in Angola. He has, however, recovered ahead of schedule and
is looking forward to making his World Cup debut in South Africa.

“It seems like an
eternity since I last played for the national team but I now have a
chance to play at the World Cup,” said Uche.

The younger of the Uche brothers also said he enjoys playing alongside his elder brother, Almeria’s Kalu.

“I love playing
with him. He knows the way I play and I understand him as well so I
look forward to playing with him again,” added Uche.

Uche is equally
looking forward to playing again with John, peter’s elder brother, even
though he doesn’t know much about the prolific OB Odense forward.

“John is a good friend but I don’t know much about his brother,” said Uche.

“I have heard a lot
of good things about him; that he’s a good player and a good scorer,
and I hope to get a chance to play with him.”

That chance may
arrive later in the month when the Super Eagles commence their training
camp in London, England where they already have a series of friendly
matches lined up.

It’s barely twenty
five days to the commencement of football’s greatest showpiece; the
World Cup. Africans and indeed the whole world cannot wait to see the
kick off of the first Mundial on African soil.

They long to see
the sheer display of talents and mastery of the round leather game by
their soccer idols coming in from thirty two countries around the world.

However with a host
of footballing nations already announced their initial World Cup squad;
some stars are already missing in action even before the blast of the
whistle.

Karim Bezenma

Perhaps the biggest
casualty of Raymond Domenech’s surprise preliminary World Cup squad was
Karim Benzema; he is one of Real Madrid’s big money summer signings
priced at about €35 million with the fee rising to as much as €41
million based on incentives The striker was one of the hottest
properties in world football one year ago while playing for French side
Olympique Lyon , but a disappointing season in the La Liga saw him lose
out on a World Cup spot.

Benzema came
through the youth academy at Lyon and has been capped at senior level
for France. He played in UEFA Euro 2008 and was the top goal scorer in
Ligue 1 for the 2007-08 season; just three seasons after making his
professional debut.

This was also his
breakthrough season which saw him earn many awards and a new contract
which resulted in him becoming one of the highest-paid footballers in
France.

Currently linked in
the French media with an under-age sex scandal, coach of the team
maintains his omission has nothing to do with the issue but his lack of
match fitness in his new club Real Madrid. Bezema has eight goals to
his credit having started just 14 games in Madrid.

Cambiasso/Zanetti

Diego Maradona left
out two major players from his Argentine squad, both of which come from
Serie A outfit Inter Milan. Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso. They
have enjoyed long careers with their national squads, but they would
not be on the trip to South Africa come June when the Argentines begin
their quest for the World Cup trophy against the Super Eagles of
Nigeria.

Though both players
played key roles for their side during the last World Cup in Korea/
Japan but their places have since been grabbed by younger counterparts.

One would however
question the logic behind this exclusion when you see names such as
Fabricio Coloccini and Gabriel Heinze, a player thought to be in the
twilight of his career making the list ahead of two of the most
sensationally performing defensive midfielders in world football. The
duo however remain on course for a unique treble under Jose Mourinho
who perhaps knows their worth more than their national coach; Maradona.

David Beckham

Glamorous on and of
the pitch, Beckham’s exclusion from the World Cup list is no surprise
after the former England captain got injured March 14 playing for
Italian club; AC Milan.

He was in tears on
that Sunday night when his dream of being the first England player to
appear in four World Cups was wrecked after he suffered a ruptured
achilles tendon.

The former England
captain had struggled to impress England coach’ Fabio Cappello who had
consistently sounded it clear that there would be no automatic shirt
for him.

This informed his
switch to the Serie A from his MLS side Galaxy Stars. However with the
injury set to rule him out for six to seven months, Beckham can best be
a spectator at the South Africa 2010 World Cup Ronaldinho Baring any
serious injury to Dunga’s “preferred” marksmen two-time former “World
Player of the Year” Ronaldinho has no place in the Brazilian squad
which would be gunning for an unprecedented sixth title in South Africa.

For many, had Dunga
turned his back on Ronaldinho a year or six months ago, when the
dazzling footballer was in a slump for whatever reason, it would have
been understandable and even justified.

This season,
however, Ronaldinho had rejuvenated his game to a large extent with AC
Milan and there seems to be every reason to believe he could even step
up his game further in the company of equally talented Brazilian
teammates who he already has some sort of rhythm with.

He has not only
been scoring goals in Milan but also creating scoring chances for
teammate. Currently he has ten goals to his credit and fourteen assist;
the highest in the Milan team.

All this perhaps
counts little with Dunga who has decided to keep faith with the bulk of
players that won the Confederation Cup hosted by South Africa a while
ago.

Luca Toni

Luca Toni, who
played well for Italy during the last tournament where the Azzuri’s
emerged champions made a last minute loan move to Roma from Bayern
Munich in hopes of landing a spot in the Italian team to South Africa.
He was however disappointed by Coach Lippi having been left out of the
Italian pre-world team.

Toni’s niche for
goals and classical finishing styles stands him out having won the
Serie B Top Scorer award in 2004, the Serie A Top Scorer: 2006, the
European Golden Shoe: 2006 and also making the FIFA World Cup All-Star
Team in 2006. He also made his mark in Germany emerging as the
Bundesliga Top Scorer in 2008 and UEFA Cup Top Scorer same year.

For Toni, he would have to watch from the stands as his teammates attempt to defend the Cup they won four years ago in Germany

Patrick Viera

He his another
experienced player that would be missing at the World Cup after
attending three previous editions and winning the trophy in one of
those occasions on home soil (France 98) .

The exclusion more
than likely signals the end of Vieira’s international career, and the
on-loan Manchester City midfielder will have to look back – not forward
– on a glittering international career which has spanned over twelve
years and over one hundred caps under his belt.

His power, Charisma
and motivating spirit would be missed by the French team who
controversially qualified for the tournament after a hand ball by
Thierry Henry secured them a ticket ahead of Northern Ireland.

Other Stars that
would be conspicuously absent includes Arsenal’s Whizkid, Samir Nazri
who was unlucky compared to teammates, Abou Diaby, Bacry Sagna, Gael
Clichy and William Gallas who were included in France’s initial 30, man
list.

There was also no
room for Ruud van Nistelrooy, the 33-year-old striker with such
remarkable feel for close-range goals. Van Nistelrooy left Real Madrid
for Hamburg SV in an attempt to get more playing time, but the Dutch
coach ruled him out due to his ongoing recovery from a knee injury.

While the likes of
Pato , Neymar may have to wait for the 2014 edition in Brazil, the
likes of Olofinjana, Sedof Owen Hargraves, Francessco Totti, Raul
Gonzalez may have to kiss ever playing in the World Cup bye.

Last week Lars
Lagerback, Super Eagles coach, released a provisional 30-man World Cup
team list. Without mincing words, a lot of us were disappointed by some
of the names on that list because the signs are emerging that this man
will also toe the route of disappointment of sacked former manager,
Amodu Shuaibu. As a result cause grief to millions of Nigerians who
have reposed their trust in him and felt that his coming will witness a
break from the past where call up to the national team was based on
other criteria apart from merit.

A lot of Nigerians
find it incomprehensible that Lagerback who has been in football
management at the national team level for some time now, can behave
like an amateur and come up with a provisional list for the world’s
biggest football fiesta made up of largely unfit, half fit, perpetual
bench warmers and very old men when such an occasion demands that only
fit, regular playing, youthful and ambitious players represents the
country.

Serious business

The World Cup is a
stage for every serious nation to showcase its football potentials as
captured in its youths. It is serious business and not a tea party or
valedictory session for retiring footballers. By this list, Lagerback
wants to go and insult our national pride on the world stage by
parading very old men and benchwarmers who are too weak, unambitious
and don’t even understand the enormity of the task before them. Is it
that the change of environment has made Lagerback forget the basic
requirement of the competition he’s going for? I hope not.

We had a good run
in the USA 1994 World Cup because our team was composed mainly of
quality youthful, fit and regular playing boys who donned the national
jersey on merit and were very eager and ambitious to make a name for
themselves and the nation. We only lost out to Italy in the second
round because we had a technically bereaved bench headed by a merchant
who was already calculating the largesse that would follow from
qualification into the quarter finals through the sale of his players
rather than the much trumpeted excuse that the team’s failure was due
to inexperience.

Oh, how one wished
he was a prophet like those in the Holy Bible of old whom God bestowed
with the gift of seeing into the future, then one would have seen that
this is the road Lagerback will travel on and would not have been a
strong campaigner for the dismissal of Amodu Shuaibu even though he was
technically incompetent in the first place.

I’m even more than
pained when I consider that apart from the damage to our hope, faith in
him and national pride, our reward for investing the huge amount of
money used in hiring him is disappointment and heartache, when we take
into cognizance the fact that such money instead should have been used
to address some of the societal and infrastructural problems
bedevilling us as a people.

That the Nigerian
people were unanimous in the call for the sack of Amodu Shuaibu right
from the day he was appointed as Eagles manager wasn’t because we hated
his face or his skin colour after all we are Black and proud people.
Rather it was predicated on the fact that we believed he wasn’t
competent to lead the senior national team of Nigeria and that his
appointment was based on other considerations apart from merit.

We intensified the
clamour for a foreign technical manager because the continued stay of
Amodu and his miserable team was dangerous to our health after God had
seen some of us through the heartache that we were all subjected to and
also because we desired a national team that is made up of very fit,
youthful, energetic, ambitious and regular playing players chosen on
merit, who understands what it means to represent the most populous
black country on earth like the Eagles of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. In
this Lagerback provisional team list, am afraid that we may find it
easier for the camel to pass through the eye of the needle than find
just a handful of players who fit into this category.

While one
acknowledges that the time is too short for Lagerback to assemble a new
team bearing in mind the enormous task ahead, at least one expected him
to call up a few set of energetic and fit youngsters who are ambitious
no matter where they are playing so that they can get the required
experience early enough instead of these set of players most of whose
sun has set. At least, I know some of the players in the present list
who are going to call it quit with football totally because of old age
after the competition if they eventually make the world cup team.

So what national
purpose will it serve including such old men in the world cup team? The
time and resources involved in prosecuting the world cup proper is too
serious to be waived for personal considerations. All these media hype
of including some old men whose limbs can hardly carry them for the
sake of experience in the world cup team are lies, illogical and don’t
make sense.

Ekujumi sent in this piece from Ikeja, Lagos