Nigeria Content Online

Grant set to compound former club’s woes

Chelsea face a
tricky test against Portsmouth at Fratton Park, as they look to rescue
their fading chances of winning the English Premier League title.

After enjoying a
long spell at the summit of the table, the Blues’ season have witnessed
a dramatic setback where they now look to battling for a second place
finish, following their damaging weekend draw at Blackburn.

They, however, have
the chance to reduce Manchester United’s four point lead to one, if
they bounce back to winning ways tonight, when they face their former
manager, Avram Grant, who is the current boss of embattled Portsmouth.
Grant won 36, drew 13 and lost five of his 54 matches in charge of
Chelsea from 2007 to 2008, guiding them to the UEFA Champions League
title before surrendering the crown to Manchester United in Moscow.

Bottom-placed
Portsmouth, who appeared to have lost the battle to escape relegation
after having nine points deducted from their total, could benefit from
the London opponents’ dwindling form. Chelsea have only won three of
their last seven league games and with influential defender, Branislav
Ivanovic missing through injury, Pompey may fancy their chances of
getting at least a point from the game.

In the other games
scheduled for tonight, Manchester City will host Everton in what is
expected to be another huge game at the City of Manchester Stadium
while Aston Villa will host Sunderland at the Villa Park.

Blackburn and Birmingham will also battle at Ewood Park.

Serie A: Inter face struggling Livorno

This is about first
against last but 17-goal man, Diego Milito, may miss this match and the
upcoming Roma match to injury. Trouble may also continue to brew in the
Inter camp between hot-head forward Mario Balotelli and Jose Mourinho,
as Balotelli went on camera to say, after not being part of the Inter
team that beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, that the plaudits should be
for the team and not to the coach: “Whose victory was it? No way! It
was the team that won at Stamford Bridge, not Mourinho.” The youngster
has however, been re-instated into the first team. Inter have won one
match in five on the domestic scene in what can be described as a lull
but Livorno’s record reads one point from a possible 15. Inter have
already beaten the Amaranto twice this season, once in the league and
in the Cup with Livorno yet to register a goal against the champions.
Normal service should resume with a win for Inter almost guaranteed.

Bologna vs. Roma

Roma are just four
points off the summit and travel to face a Bologna team who are sitting
uncomfortably in 14th position, waiting to pounce. Roma defenders,
John-Arne Riise and Juan, are confident their side can catch Inter and
win the Scudetto this season. “The comeback is possible. Inter are the
favourites, but we believe,” said Riise. “It will be fundamental to win
in Bologna to give us every chance in the head-to-head on Saturday”.

Juan agreed, and said that his faith lies in the fact that Roma have
another card up their sleeves with the likely return of Francesco
Totti. “For us, it will be an advantage to get our captain back. We
hope that he can get back to his best,” the Brazilian explained. Inter
will be tired. They are playing a lot and are still active on all
fronts. Inter travel to Stadio Olimpico to face Roma on Saturday

Parma vs. Milan

After missing
another opportunity to leapfrog Inter, the Rosseneri will have another
chance when they travel to Stadio Ennio Tardini to face Parma. Milan
will be missing Alexandre Pato and Allesandro Nesta. These absences
have become the key to whether Milan will win the Scudetto or not.
David Beckham is out for the rest of the season. Though the
Leonardo-tutored side have earned more points on their travels than at
home, they will have to be wary of a youthful Parma side.

La Liga Barcelona will be ‘Messi-less’

Defending
champions, Barcelona, face lowly Osasuna with Lionel Messi looking
virtually unplayable. The Barca wunderkind has scored 25 goals in 27
matches and has eight goals in three matches going into this match.

A last-minute own
goal from Gerard Pique cost Barcelona two points in the reverse, as
they had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Osasuna. If Messi plays well, the
question is now how many goals will be scored by the ‘Flea’ as he
continues to conjure magic with his boots and he has added scoring
goals with his head.

FC Groningen of
Holland star, Femi Ajilore believes he can fill the void in the
offensive midfield position of the Super Eagles as Nigeria hopes for an
impressive outing at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Ajilore has
endeared himself to his club’s fans after churning out eye-catching
displays playing behind the strikers. The former Midtylland of Denmark
ace has enjoyed a brilliant form of late, orchestrating his side’s
triumphs with three goals in his last two Eredivisie league games.

After netting a
brace in his side’s 3-0 win at NAC Breda the previous weekend, the
midfielder headed home the second minute winner that ensured another
three points against Roda JC Kerkrade. He was particularly unlucky not
to have made it two as he struck the woodwork with a rasping 20-yard
effort after bursting through the midfield in the only real chance of
the second period.

Delight

“I was happy to
score again and it was even more special that it gave us the win. I was
only sad not to have made it two goals because I had another chance
that hit the post, so it could have been a brace as well. All the same,
I’m happy with my performance and it’s been very good for the team”, an
elated Ajilore told NEXTSports from Holland.

Ajilore who made
his debut for the Eagles in the international friendly against Colombia
in Cali in November 2008 is confident he can continue with such
performance which he hopes could earn him a place in the country’s
squad to South Africa.

“ We have some
players who can also play the ( offensive) role in my club but the
manager believe I can do the job. To have scored some vital goals
playing from that position really makes me happy and I really feel
comfortable doing it.

Feeling good

“ I’m feeling good
at the moment and I think some extra personal efforts after training
sessions on my physical condition and my game has really been paying
off and my coach was really impressed with my performance again on
Sunday.

“I have played in
that position for the Super Eagles, that was during the World Cup
qualifier against Mozambique and I remember some good moments.
Normally, you need to play more games to get used to it but our people
want instant result because of our passion for the game.”

Ajilore also said
he has heard positive comments about the new Eagles coach, Lars
Lagerback after discussions with a couple of his club mates who play
for Sweden.

“I don’t really know him but I spoke about him with some of my
colleagues who have played under him in the Sweden national team. We
have a couple of them playing here and they said he (Lagerback) has
been here to see them play. They told me he is a well-organised coach
and that he is tactically good. So I hope he will bring that into the
team to help the team make a good impact at the World Cup.”

The Nigeria
Football Federation yesterday vowed to battle former coach, Shuaibu
Amodu, in court rather than call for an amicable settlement.

The coach, who was
seconded to home-based Eagles, took the federation to court to demand
for his wage and allowances. But the NFF has ruled out the possibility
of an out-of-court settlement with Amodu over the case that is now
before Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), for alleged breach of
contract.

Speaking on the
issue, the special adviser to NFF president, Tunde Aderibigbe, revealed
in an interview with brilafm.net that officials of The Glasshouse are
ready to meet Amodu in court if he fails to follow official directives.

“If he has expressed his willingness to go to court, I don’t think we can stop him. There is nothing we can do about it.

“For now, what he
told us was that he was going for leave, after which he will resume at
his new posting. He has been our employee and he’s our employee until
his contract expires. If he decides not to return, no problem. We shall
tackle it head on,” he declared.

Amodu’s demands

Amodu is demanding
a compensation of 300 million naira (about $2 million) from the NFF,
after he was side-stepped for the World Cup.

According to media
reports, Amodu is asking for 135 million naira for the remaining part
of his contract, which is to end in July.

He is also asking for another 165 million naira as bonus for qualifying Nigeria to the 2010 World Cup.

The coach also
qualified the Super Eagles to the 2002 World Cup but was eventually
axed, after a squabble with the country’s top officials allowing
Adeboye Onigbinde to lead Nigeria to the World Cup.

Amodu was
redeployed to the country’s B team, made up of players from the
domestic league after he led the Eagles to third place at the Nations
Cup in Angola in February.

Africa’s football governing body, the Confederation of African
Football (CAF), has held a review of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, which
ended in Angola in February.

A workshop on the tournament, which commenced at the body’s
headquarters in Egypt on Tuesday and ended yesterday, was declared open by the
CAF Deputy General Secretary, Hicham El Amrani.

In attendance at the event were some of Africa’s brightest
technical minds, including former Super Eagles coach, Adegboye Onigbinde who is
a member of CAF’s technical committee. Other technocrats at the event included
Ghana’s Ben Kouffie, equally a member of CAF’s technical committee, as well as
Hassan Shehata, the coach who led Egypt to three consecutive Nations Cup
titles, including the last edition held in Angola.

Identifying key
challenges

According to the organisers, the aim of the workshop was to
provide a technical and tactical analysis of the African flagship competition
held in Angola, to help identify key challenges in the pursuit of developing
the game on the continent.

El Amrani was quoted on the CAF website as saying that the
workshop represented a testimony of CAF’s commitment towards the development of
the game to an appreciable standard. He said the symposium gives to coaches, as
well as technical directors, a great opportunity to exchange their know-how,
whilst observing some modern trends in the game.

“For CAF, this event is of our dearest concern, as it provides a
platform for the major players who brought a significant role in the success of
the tournament to come together, exchange ideas and forge ahead. “With the
first ever World Cup on African soil few months away, we are hopeful that this
symposium will serve its purpose, especially to the continent’s coaching
license system launched in 2009,” he said.

The CAF’s Director of Development, Abdel Moneim Hussein who was also at the
event, said the workshop is significant since it provides a platform for
technical people to share and review their performance during the 27th edition
of the continent’s biggest football spectacle.

New Super Eagles coach, Lars Lagerback may have identified the
defence as his main concern ahead of the World Cup, but two former members of
the national team, Samson Siasia and Nduka Ugbade believe the current form of
our players for their respective European clubs is not adequate ahead of South
Africa.

Nigeria’s first group opponents at the World Cup, Argentina,
would fancy their chances of assembling players who are not only enjoying
regular competitive action but also making waves in Europe with goal-scoring
performances. The quartet of Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Carlos Tevez and
Sergio Aguero have hauled in more than 70 goals at the club level this season.

It appears an intimidating scorecard considering the fact that
our Eagles trio of Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Obinna Nsofor and Obafemi Martins have
only managed a combined total 15 league goals albeit with some injury problems
in the course of the campaign. Osaze, who has just begun a new season with his
Russian Premier League side, Lokomotiv Moscow netted only seven goals in 23
appearances for his team last season.

Siasia, who himself scored for the Eagles in their 2-1 against
Argentina in Nigeria’s maiden appearance at the 1994 World Cup held in the
United States admits he is worried about the current performance of our
strikers with just about two months to the beginning of the global competition.

It is discouraging

“You have to be worried as a coach when you look at the
performance of our strikers just like you will naturally be happy if the goals
are flowing ahead of the World Cup. It is better when the players are showing
good form and we are hoping to see that from them as the World Cup gets
closer,” said the former Flying Eagles coach.

Ugbade, who also played alongside Siasia in the Eagles squad
that won the 1994 African Cup of Nations in Tunisia, insists the players must
improve their form for the Eagles to have any chance of qualifying for the
second round of the Mundial.

“We would have just about three weeks to prepare as a team for the World Cup
and currently things are not at the level you expect from the players. I hope
they would attain the high level of fitness as they would be moving to the
national camp for the World Cup preparation immediately after the end of the
season,” Ugbade said.

The battle at the top of La Liga is extremely close, and with
the league remaining the only avenue of silverware for Real Madrid, only a win
will do today when they travel to play Getafe.

Madrid have won nine straight matches in the league, and they
are looking forward to overcome Getafe this evening to make it ten out of ten.
But recent history suggests the title-chasers may be in for an uncomfortable
night at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez. In the last five league meetings since
Getafe were first promoted to the top flight in 2004, they have recorded three
wins, a draw, and lost just once – 0-1 in 2007 to Madrid.

With the derby against Athletico Madrid at the weekend, and the
El-Classico fixture two weeks after that, a slip up against Getafe today will
count in the long run. Jerzy Dudek, the Real Madrid second choice goalkeeper
has already warned his team mates, saying they have to concentrate hard,
because Gatafe is a complicated side and “‘they will be motivated’. Last season
Real Madrid had lost a 3-1 at the Getafe ground, a defeat that contributed to
dismissal of Bernd Schuster, Madrid’s coach then.

Gonzalo Higuain, who was Madrid’s top scorer last season with 22
goals, will this evening mark his 100 appearance for Real Madrid, and he will
want to celebrate it with a match winning appearance, he has already scored 20
league goals this season, five behind the Barcelona prodigy Lionel Messi.
Looking ahead of tonight’s clash, Higuain said he will just like to enjoy
himself, and help his team win irrespective of what his personal objective is.

“My objective is to beat the number of goals I scored last year.
I’m only two away, but aside from my personal aims; my main goal is to help the
team. If we are champions and I score goals, then so much the better,” the
striker told AS.

Higuian scored the goals that downed Getafe in the first leg
encounter this season; Madrid won 2-0.

Despite having a better head to head in recent meetings, Getafe
knows playing Real Madrid is not going to be a stroll in the park, particularly
taking into consideration that they have only won once at Coliseum Alfonso
Perez in last five league matches; they lost two matches and drew another two.

“They (Madrid) are out of the Champions League and the Copa del
Rey and this will make them 100% focused. As well as that, they have players
who are used to pressure and solving difficult situations. It’s going to be
difficult, but nothing more. This is sport. At the Bernabeu Getafe already took
them on toe-to-toe and this is the intention tomorrow. We need to be very
careful not to make any mistakes,” Getafe forward Miku said of the match.

Battle of the giants as
Napoli, Juventus clash

Serie A fans are likely to witness a fiery battle this evening
as Napoli take on Juventus in a match neither side can afford to lose.
Currently, three points separate both teams. Juventus are in sixth position on
the league table, while Napoli trail in seventh place, a position it occupies
jointly with Genoa.

In the last 11 days Juventus have thrown away a 3-0 lead against
bottom-placed Siena, lost 4-1 to Fulham at Craven Cottage, and fallen 1-0 to
Champions League spot rivals Sampdoria, a situation that has made Alberto
Zaccheroni’s position as Juventus coach untenable.

Walter Mazzarri’s men are fresh from holding Milan to a 1-1 draw
at San Siro, but that came after two consecutive defeats and they are without a
victory since beating Livorno 2-0 in January. Since January they have only
notched up four draws and a 3-1 defeat to Fiorentina at home.

Juventus lost at Napoli last year when Amauri’s opener was
overturned by Marek Hamsik and Ezequiel Lavezzi.

Going into this evening’s game, question marks hang over
Alessandro Del Piero, who sprained his ankle against Sampdoria and will require
a late fitness test. Also Nicola Legrottaglie is suspended and Momo Sissoko is
on compassionate leave.

Napoli on their part will be without Fabiano Santacroce, former Liverpool
full-back Andrea Dossena and Salvatore Aronica for the game.

Despite scepticism from sections of the western press, and some
European football pundits about the ability of South Africa to host the FIFA
World Cup, Hristo Stoichkov, former Barcelona star and Bulgarian international
said South Africa is up to the test, and will not disappoint the world.

Stoichkov went to South Africa less than a year ago to take up
the coaching position at Mamelodi Sundowns, but he resigned after failing to
lead the club to the league title. However, the Bulgarian has only words of
praise for the country.

“Having seen the infrastructure here, I’m sure they will not
disappoint. South Africa will pass this test.” Stoichkov said of the South
Africa’s hosting ability.

Stoichkov, who led Sundowns to second place in the Premiership
only a point off the pace of champions Supersport, waved away the possible
concerns of tourists who will travel to the country for the FIFA World Cup.

Beautiful country

“Before coming here, I had read a lot in the newspapers, a lot
of negative things.

However, what I have experienced is something different to what
I read.

“I have been staying in South Africa for many months now, and I
think it’s a very beautiful country. It’s very nice here, I like it a lot,” the
man who was joint top-scorer at USA 1994 told FIFA.com during an interview. “I
don’t like comparing places because places are different. Barcelona is
different from Johannesburg, so is Cape Town. I don’t mean that in a bad way,
but people must understand that places are different. In those three places,
you find different people with different cultures, so of course the experiences
will be different,” he said. “I walk around a lot, I go to many places. I have
made many friends here. I meet people in the streets and my experience has been
good with them. Like any country in the world, there are places you don’t have
to go to. And, this applies to Madrid, Barcelona or London.”

In South Africa, Stoichkov is widely admired for his role at the
1994 FIFA World Cup as well as for his time with Barcelona. The quick-thinking
and skilful Bulgarian was part of what is now fondly referred to as the Catalan’s
“dream team,” which dominated Europe in the early 1990’s. He also endeared
himself to Sundowns supporters after he turned around what had initially looked
like an average season for the club and had them fighting for league honours
until the last week of the campaign.

Chances of African teams

Talking about how he thinks the African teams will perform at
the World, the former player hinged Africa’s hope on Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.
He doesn’t rate Nigeria as one of the African teams that might perform well.
“You have Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, very good teams. Then there’s South Africa
whom I think will have a point to prove. Those three African sides will be hard
to beat.” Although he is hesitant to predict which country will win, Stoichkov
doesn’t expect a surprise. “You have countries like Brazil, England, Spain,

Italy, Argentina – they are all favourites. All these teams are
organised and will be dangerous. Then you have the African teams whom I believe
will fight very hard in this tournament.

The legendary player turned coach, who has also led the
Bulgarian national team and Celta Vigo in Spain, rates Barcelona’s Lionel Messi
high and insists the in-form Barcelona maestro is the player to watch in this
World Cup. “He is the best player in the world at the moment. He is playing for
the best team [Barcelona] and he is very good.

“At the moment, if you talk about the best players, you have to
mention [Wayne] Rooney,

Cristiano [Ronaldo], Kaka, [Andres] Iniesta and few others that I might have
forgotten. Of course you will have the African guys like Didier Drogba and
[Samuel] Eto’o,” he said.

These are certainly the best of times for Barcelona star Lionel
Messi who has extended his lead in the game beyond the pitch by becoming the
highest earner in world football, putting an end to David Beckham’s two-year
reign as the world’s best-paid footballer.

The 22-year-old Argentine forward pockets an estimated £29.6
million annually, closely followed by Beckham at £27.3m, while Real Madrid
hotshot Cristiano Ronaldo sits in third place with his estimated earnings
having hit the £27m mark.

A £3.6 million bonus earned by Messi for winning the treble last
season with Barcelona took him ahead of the England star, according to the rich
list.

Messi was also ranked as the fourth highest-earning sports
person in the world, behind golfers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, and
basketball star LeBron James.

Carlos Tevez takes the title of highest earner in English
football, coming in seventh place overall at £13.8m.

The ‘Special One’ leads
the pack

Jose Mourinho, whose Inter team last week knocked his former
club Chelsea out of Europe, saw his stock rise further as he topped the list of
football’s highest-earning managers.

The Portuguese manager and self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ earns
£11.7m a year, with Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini in second place making
£10.8m. Former Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari, now coaching at
little-known big spenders Bunyodkor in Uzbekistan, comes in third at £8.5m.

Fabio Capello edges past Guus Hiddink into fifth, the pair being the only
two national team coaches on the top 10 horizon.

Super Eagles defender, Olubayo Adefemi has said Lionel Messi and
the Argentina squad will face a hard time when they come up against Nigeria at
the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

The Flea, as the World Footballer of the Year is called, has
dominated global headlines with his scintillating performances that have
culminated in a goals spree for Barcelona. Messi has a remarkable goal tally of
34 strikes in all competitions this season for the Spanish champions and he
will be expected to confirm his status as the best player on the planet by
leading Argentina to glory at the World Cup. As a matter of fact, Barcelona has
68 goals this season and Messi accounts for 64 in terms of goals and assists.

Lack of credible
defenders in La Liga

Yet, Adefemi, who has come up against the diminutive player at
international level on two different occasion says the youngster will not be
able to bully the Eagles like he does to his opponents at club level.

” I have seen some of the games and I would not accept Messi can
easily be going around our players like he mesmerises his opponents in Spain.
Sometimes you look at the quality shown by the opposition in the Spanish
League, you just have to laugh at how they allow him such pace and ease,” said
the Boulogne defender who has lost in two different meetings with the Barcelona
star.

Adefemi was in the Flying Eagles squad that lost 2-1 to a
Messi-inspired Argentina U-20 squad in the final of the 2005 World Youth
Championship in Holland, and the U-23 Eagles that surrendered the Beijing
Olympic football gold medal to Argentina in 2008. Messi was once again the
anchor man as he provided the pass Angel Di Maria converted for the only goal
of the game.

“We all know he is a good player no doubt, I think people can
still remember how we made life difficult for him at the Olympics. We lost both
games narrowly because it was a close fight. I expect another big fight at the
World Cup and honestly we will have to wait and see if he can enjoy those easy
moves he is having in La Liga.”

The other Argentine
strikers

Messi is not the only Argentine in top form as the trio of
Gonzalo Higuain, Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero have plundered close to 70
goals in the league in between them at club level this season.

It appears an intimidating scorecard considering the fact that
our Eagles trio of Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Obinna Nsofor and Obafemi Martins have
only managed a combined total 12 league goals albeit with some injury problems
in the course of the campaign. Osaze who has just begun a new season with his
Russian Premier League side, Lokomotiv Moscow netted only seven goals in 23
appearances for his team last season and he has not scored in the two-week old
new Russian league season.

Concern about Nigerian
strikers

Samson Siasia, ex-Eagles international and former national
coach, who had scored for the Eagles in their 2-1 against Argentina in
Nigeria’s maiden appearance at the 1994 World Cup held in the United States
admits he is worried about the current performance of our strikers just over
two months to the start of the global competition.

“You have to be worried as a coach when you look at the
performance of our strikers just like you will naturally be happy if the goals
are flowing ahead of the World Cup. It is better when the players are showing
good form and we are hoping to see that from them as the World Cup gets
closer,” said the former Flying Eagles coach.

Nduka Ugbade, who also played alongside Siasia in the Eagles
squad that won the 1994 African Cup of Nations in Tunisia insists the players
must improve with their form for the Eagles to have any chance of qualifying
for the second round of the Mundial.

“We will have just about three weeks to prepare as a team for the World Cup
and currently things are not at the level you expect from the players. I hope
they attain high level of fitness as they will be moving to the national camp
for the World Cup preparation immediately after the end of the season,” he
said.