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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

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.

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.

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.

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.

An
Indian court on Tuesday ordered that the former chief organiser of the
Delhi Commonwealth Games (CWG) be kept in police custody. This followed
on the heels of a crackdown on businesses and government officials in a
string of corruption cases to hit the emerging global giant.

Federal police
Monday arrested Suresh Kalmadi, a senior lawmaker who has been
suspended from the ruling Congress party, charged with cheating in
tenders for timing equipment worth millions of dollars in the October
sporting event. Police will hold him for eight days from Tuesday.

The case is one of
several high-profile corruption scandals to strain the Congress
party-led government and spark protests in the Indian capital against
what is seen as a culture of near impunity for the country’s elite.

In a separate case,
a court deferred a decision on whether to grant bail to five executives
charged with manipulating the sale of telecoms licences in collusion
with senior officials in the ruling coalition.

New Delhi may have
been deprived up to $39 billion in lost revenue due to the flawed
awarding of second-generation mobile telecoms licences, a state auditor
has said.

Mr Kalmadi, who has
become a pantomime villain in the Indian media, had a sandal thrown at
him as he made his way to a court Tuesday. He has denied any wrongdoing
and his lawyer called the arrest “illegal.” “The accused person entered
into a criminal conspiracy to cheat the government of India in the
matter of awarding contracts for timings, scoring and results system to
be acquired for the CWG, Delhi 2010,” V.K. Sharma, a federal police
lawyer for the prosecution, told the court Tuesday.

The $6 billion
event was billed as India’s answer to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but
descended into rows over leaking stadiums, filthy athletes’ rooms and
corruption scandals.

Mr Kalmadi’s aides
formed a tight phalanx around the lawmaker from the western city of
Pune as he walked out of the court and the judge sat down to write the
order. A female aide shouted to him: “God is with us.” Rows of police
armed with batons roped a path for Mr Kalmadi to come in and out of the
courtroom.

Months of
relentless headlines about corruption scandals and a vocal political
opposition have roiled the government, rattled investors and put the
brakes on ambitious economic reforms in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s
second term.

The Congress party
suspended Suresh Kalmadi Monday after he was charged with favouring a
Swiss firm to provide 1.4 billion rupees ($31.6 million) worth of
timing equipment to the Games.

Mr Kalmadi, who was
booed at the Games’ opening ceremony in front of a global TV audience
in October, had his constituency office in Pune vandalised by a gang of
angry youths Monday night.

On Tuesday, onlookers shouted a mix of support and abuse as Mr Kalmadi emerged from the court.

Telecoms case

In an adjacent
courtroom, former telecoms minister, Andimuthu Raja, was seen slumped
over a table as a case over the sale of telecoms licences and spectrum
continued Tuesday.

Mr Raja, along with
executives from telecoms firms and the daughter of the leader of a
regional party that is a key government ally, have been charged in the
telecoms licence case.

In another
courtroom, a Delhi high court judge deferred a hearing on the bail
applications of senior officials from Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani
(ADA) Group and the Indian joint ventures of Norway’s Telenor and the
UAE’s Etisalat until Friday at the earliest.

Their bail plea was
rejected by a lower court last week after federal police said the
executives could abscond or try to influence witnesses. They will be
held in jail pending the trial or until they are granted bail. All
those on trial in the telecoms case deny wrongdoing.

Federal police
Monday added more names to their charge sheet in the telecoms case,
including the lawmaker daughter of the chief minister of Tamil Nadu
state. She was accused of taking bribes routed via a TV channel owned
by her family.

The case could
potentially threaten Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s ruling coalition
and provoke a popular backlash in ongoing state elections, including in
Tamil Nadu, where Congress is allied to the ruling Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam (DMK) party.

The DMK threatened
to pull ministers from the coalition if members of the chief minister’s
family were charged, according to media reports.

The DMK will meet
in the state capital, Chennai, on Wednesday to discuss their coalition
with the Congress party, a spokesman for the party told the NDTV news
channel.

The DMK had also
threatened to withdraw from the government in March in a row over
seat-sharing arrangements in the Tamil Nadu election, for which results
are out on May 13.

However, analysts question whether the DMK would act on such a
threat, given that it needs Congress’s clout in the state as much as
Congress needs the DMK’s 18 seats to maintain its federal majority.
Congress could also look to other smaller parties to prop up its
coalition.

World number one, Lee Westwood is growing increasingly weary with being asked about his failure to win a first major title and told reporters in Seoul on Tuesday, that the question was getting on his nerves.

The Briton, speaking to reporters in Seoul ahead of the $2.8m Ballantines Championship, said becoming world number one and winning a major were separate issues and that his only focus was to keep playing good golf.

“The amount of times I have to answer it gets on my nerves,” Westwood said. “This might be the very last time I could be answering this question. It could be no comment after this.

“The world rankings and major championships are two completely separate things,” added Westwood, who celebrated his 38th birthday by winning the Indonesian Masters in Jakarta at the weekend.

That victory, combined with fellow Englishman Luke Donald’s failure to win The Heritage, moved him back above Germany’s Martin Kaymer into top spot.

“I haven’t won a major yet but hope to do so soon. I’ve had a lot of good chances to win majors but it just hasn’t happened.

“But the world rankings are all about consistency and playing well week-in and week-out, which I tend to do. The secret to being world number one is having the consistency, and all parts of your game have to be good to do that.”

Greater pressure

Westwood, who was world number one for 17 weeks after deposing Tiger Woods in November, acknowledged the pressure was greater having reached the summit of men’s golf.

“Obviously with being number one there is a lot more responsibility,” he said. “You have a lot more things to do, media commitments and things like that.

“People want a lot more of your time, it becomes a bit difficult to cram everything in and leave time for practicing golf and doing what got to you where you are. That’s the toughest part of it.”

Three-times major champion, Ernie Els and local favourite Yang Yong-eun, the first Asian man to win a major at the 2009 PGA Championship, are set to push Westwood this week at the Ballantines, which is co-sanctioned by the Asian, European and Korean Tours.

Teenage Korean sensation, Noh Seung-yul, the reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion, and European Ryder Cup players Ian Poulter and Miguel Angel Jimenez are also among a quality field at the Blackstone Golf Club near Seoul.

“My confidence is high,” said Westwood. “I didn’t realise the world number one had never competed in Korea before so it’s a bit of an honour.”

Nigeria’s
U-20 team, the Flying Eagles may be pitched against strong sides like
Brazil and Argentina, when the draws for this year’s FIFA Under-20
World Cup takes place in Cartegena, Colombia, on Wednesday (2am
Thursday, Nigerian time).

The Flying Eagles
and other African qualifiers; Cameroun, Egypt and Mali are some of the
teams in Pot C for the draws. The other countries in the same pot are
Uruguay, Croatia and Ecuador.

However, the
tournament’s most successful country Argentina are in Pot A along with
hosts Colombia, Brazil, Spain, England and France, which inevitably
means the Flying Eagles will be grouped along with any of these six
teams.

At the Netherlands
2005 edition of the tournament, Nigeria was in Group F with Brazil with
both teams playing out a 0-0 draw in the group’s opening match.

The Samson Siasia-led team went on to reach the finals of the tournament losing 2-1 to Argentina.

No big deal

For Garba Lawal, a
former Super Eagles player and member of the Nigeria Football
Federation (NFF) technical committee, being grouped along any of the
teams should not cause any stir.

“Once you qualify
for a tournament, you are expected to play with any of the other teams
that make it to the championship so whether it is Brazil or Argentina,
it makes no difference to me” he said.

Lawal, who was the
team manager for the 2009 U-17 team, whose players form the bedrock of
the present Flying Eagles team, said he would even prefer to play
tougher oppositions in the group stages.

“While I will say
that there are actually no minnows in football again, I will actually
prefer playing the so called tougher teams in the group’s stage; they
give you a better assessment of your team” he said.

Getting the ticket

Nigeria beat Gambia
2-0 on Sunday at the ongoing African Youth Championship (AYC) to
complete the African quartet heading to the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Nigeria, with five AYC titles joined Cameroun, Mali and Egypt as the
continent’s contingent to Colombia 2011.

Defending FIFA U-20
World Cup champions Ghana, were eliminated along with the Gambians.
Ghana, who drew with Cameroon 1-1 on Sunday, became the first African
team to lift the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2009 when they beat Brazil in
the final.

Nigeria had
previously been the most successful youth team from the continent,
having lost in the final match at both the 1989 and the 2005 editions.
They will look to match those accomplishments in Colombia, which will
host the FIFA U-20 World Cup in eight cities from July 29 to August 20.

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.

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.”