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“Everybody knows
Mourinho doesn’t lose at Stamford Bridge. My record is unbeatable. It
is amazing – we were so strong for such a long time.”

Former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho now of Inter

“Mourinho’s return
was really not a big theme in the dressing room. It is another time
with another coach. Most of the players worked with him for a long time
but it’s gone. We have an experienced side hungry to win the Champions
League. To have a coach who has won it twice, that’s why we look up to
him and that’s why he is here.” Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack

“There is no problem with Mourinho. It’s a game between Chelsea and Inter, not me against Mourinho.”

Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti

“Mourinho is one of
the best managers I’ve played for and he brought a lot to my career.
When he signed me at Chelsea he gave me a lot of confidence. He always
put me in the team, no matter what game. He brought a lot of positive
things to my career so I’ll never forget him.”

Chelsea striker Solomon Kalou

“For me, it will
rest on how they handle Drogba. They don’t have a great deal of height
at the back. They have Lucio, who is a reasonable size, but Samuel is
not big. He’s only about 5ft 9ins or so. He’s tough, but not
particularly big, so Drogba’s size could be a problem.”

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson

“It will be a
different game from the first leg. Chelsea played better at San Siro.
Inter begin with a quite important advantage at Stamford Bridge. It
also depends on who Ancelotti plays. But Chelsea are as strong as
Manchester United.”

Former Inter manager Roberto Mancini now of Man City

“Chelsea are the
favourites and the pressure is on them. Every minute that passes
without a goal on Tuesday will add to that pressure. They will feel the
tension. I have told Didier Drogba that we will create big problems for
Chelsea and that they will have to produce their best performance of
the season to beat us. I was annoyed when I saw the draw because I
hoped this match would have been the final at the Bernabeu in May, but
we don’t fear Chelsea. We need to repeat the level we showed in the San
Siro over the 90 minutes.”

Inter striker Samuel Eto’o

Last week’s
write-up ended with an appeal for reader’s contributions. Let me repeat
that no one knows it all. I want to reiterate the fact that suggestions
made by you readers, may be that which will weave all the threads –
that is, all the ideas, opinions, suggestions, plans, concepts and
thoughts, expressed so far – together in our attempt to sell the idea
of ensuring a secured future, through sports, for millions of talented
Nigerian youngsters.

I cannot sincerely
think of a better way to explain the Diamond Structure Philosophy, more
than simply saying, that, it is the marriage of sports and education in
order to ensure a secured future for millions of Nigerian youngsters,
already destined for future leadership roles through sports. (Please
the repetition/emphasis is deliberate.) It is worth mentioning that
there are about 40 million young boys and girls of Primary and
Secondary School age in this country. This is apart from about 150, 000
graduates produced annually by our Universities.

Sports promotion vs development

Let me also confess
that taking up this aspect of sports journalism has not been easy at
all. Maybe it would have been more comfortable to tow the line of
sports promotion as against grassroots sports development. It would
have been more profitable or rewarding, to tell our sports
administrators and managers what they feel comfortable hearing or
reading. Why create problems for myself? Why experience sleepless
nights; thinking of the how not to and how to take this Diamond
Structure idea to the next level, thinking about making Nigeria the
greatest sporting country in Africa and one to be reckoned with once
again, internationally, thinking about the socio-economic, health and
political benefits of sports. Is change itself, not the greatest
insecurity of our sports administrators in the Abuja glass house? Yes,
it has been a very emotional experience. But my heart is fixed by His
very special grace.

Readers’ reaction

Some of the
reactions received last week, are very encouraging. I appreciate the
comments posted online, by J.O. Iyiola, Jane and Frank. I want to
appeal to Jane’s children, not to be too upset with me, because of the
Dodo issue. It is not only dodo, there is a lot more I hope
nutritionists will help us with. For instance, it is very dangerous to
eat puff-puff before embarking on any form of exercise. It is not safe.

Of interest,
however, is the suggestion that the Diamond Structure idea be sold to
faith-based organisations involved in sports. That move has been made
and the result is positive. We are following up and will get you
informed at the right time.

The suggestion of selling the same idea to, the football-playing and sports-loving governor of Lagos State is also interesting.

Something rather
interesting was discovered in a statement made by Ken Anugweje,
President of the Nigerian Universities Games Association (NUGA): “In
the last Beijing Olympics, for instance, every medal that Nigeria won
had a NUGA imprint. The Chukwumerije chap who won a medal in taekwondo
was the NUGA taekwondo champion in his weight class in the last NUGA
games. The relay quartet that won bronze … all four of them were NUGA
athletes. Gloria Kemasouede was in the University of Ibadan … she ran
for NUGA in 1999 at the World Universities games. So, you see that
everybody who won anything in the last Olympic Games had a NUGA
coloration except in (the) soccer team”.

Whao! Soccer! How come? The
answer is simple because sports (especially football – the most
beautiful and most popular sport) has not been given the required
attention in our Universities. I am made to understand that our
undergraduates are made to pay a compulsory sports levy, by the
Nigerian University Commission, but this sports levy is diverted to
other University expenditures, leaving little or nothing for sports. Do
we now have to play the “blame-game”? No, we take the bulls by the
horns.

We therefore ask Niky Igbokwe – the NUGA Sports Director, if it is
possible for us to work towards floating a football club to consist
mainly of graduates from our tertiary institutions. Is it not possible
for our U-23 to consist mainly of undergraduates? Niky made me
understand that Fashola – a University of Benin alumnus, played for his
University alongside Edema Fuludu and scored several goals during the
NUGA competitions. A pyramid with a football team consisting of
graduate football players, at the peak of such a pyramid, will motivate
and encourage Nigerian youngsters in secondary schools to aspire to
make it to the top. Is this possible in Nigeria? Time will tell.

I have been quizzed
repeatedly as to why football is my subject choice for this column. I
have never really asked myself this question on a ‘scientific basis’ –
all I know is that I enjoy everything associated with football whether
it is watching the game or writing about it. I have therefore taken
some time out to reflect on this issue and the result of my ‘time out’
is outlined below.

Simple dynamics

The frenzy and
passion associated with football as a sport is not in doubt. Very few
polo, hockey or golf lovers kill their wives or themselves or go on
hunger strike because their teams or players lost a match but it has
happened repeatedly in football. And before the cynical minded ones
start off thinking football lovers are probably more emotional than
most, let me add that we are not – it is the dynamics of the game. It
is like opium; it is highly addictive and engenders a deep passion that
equals perhaps that of religion. Football is loved and followed all
over the world and it cuts across all ages, class and races. Even
cricket loving nations like Australia place some premium on their
football teams judging from the nation’s reaction to their team’s
qualification for the 2010 World Cup.

The joy of football
is that it is egalitarian and easily accessible whether you are playing
or watching it. Anyone anywhere can pick up a ball and play. The
accessibility of the game is (permit me to say) unrivalled by any other
sport – for swimming, you need a pool of water, for golf you need the
ever expensive kit and clubs (never mind miniature golf!), for Polo –
don’t even go there.

There are some
sports that are deliberately not accessible to just anyone. Not
football though. The unparalleled demonstration of raw skill is another
drawing point – you can teach a man to hit the ball on the golf course,
swing the bat in cricket but in football you need to have the raw
talent first which can then be refined through training. Whether you
are in midfield, attack or defence everybody has a role to play. If you
have a good attack and your defence is leaking like a basket full of
water, then God help you.

A perfect football
team is one with an impregnable defence, tight midfield and excellent
attack. Let me quickly add that such a team does not exist on the face
of planet earth but some teams do tend to come close. My beloved
Arsenal on a good day will deliver sublime and exciting football for
the enjoyment of all.

Warfare and unpredictability

The game is almost
like warfare with a need to be tactical. Players are deployed in the
format (whether it is 4-4-2 or 5-3-2) that is best suited to their
talents and to match the expected formation of their opponents. You can
have all the skills of Pele or Diego Maradona but it can only take you
thus far.

Real Madrid
currently has 2 of the best players in the world – Kaka (2007 winner of
FIFA world footballer of the year) and Cristiano Ronaldo (winner in
2008) yet they are shockingly out of the 2010 UEFA Champions League
which leads to another point regarding the beauty of the game – it’s
not exactly logical – 2 plus 2 does not necessarily always equal four!
If you hate mathematics believe me football is the game for you.

One may at the
beginning of the football season guess that Manchester United will win
the Barclays Premiership league (since they have won it ‘gazillion’
times already!), but wonders have been known to happen in football and
it could jolly well end up being Arsenal holding the cup aloft at the
end of the season.

Unlike in other
games where a ‘comeback’ of individual players is possible a la Michael
Schumacher to Formula 1 at age 41years or George Foreman’s return to
professional boxing at age 38, in football whilst possible it may not
be feasible and if done it is usually in another guise probably as
coach or trainer. The physical demand of the game is such that most
individuals think twice about making this decision.

Merchandising is
huge in football so, identifying with your team even if you are not in
the same physical location is not a problem. How many sports have
branded mugs, wristwatches, bed sheets, bean bags…!

So, there you go. Football for all!

The President of
Ghana, John Atta-Mills has described Globacom Telecommunications as a
company all Africans should be proud of. Attah- Mills said this at the
2009 Glo-CAF Awards ceremony at the State Banquet Hall in Accra, where
he was represented by the Vice President of the country, John Dramani
Mahama.

The President, who
received the Glo-CAF Platinum Award noted that Globacom has established
itself as a true giant in telecommunications and a vanguard of youth
and sports development in the continent. “We appreciate Globacom for
the work they are doing in telecoms and in football. We thank them for
raising the standard of the Glo-CAF awards and generally for their
support for football in the continent,” Mahama said.

He added that the
company had, through its various football sponsorships in Nigeria,
Ghana and across Africa, raised the standard of the game on the
continent.

“Glo has done very well. It is a company we can all be proud of,”
the Vice President said. He said the government and people of Ghana
were anxiously waiting for Glo to roll out services in the country.

After making a
short work of Nagy Aguilera within two rounds last Friday, ‘The Nigeria
Nightmare,’ Samuel Peter, is ready to face Wladimir Klitschko with
revenge on his mind.

Despite knocking
down Wladimir three times in 2005, Peter still went ahead to lose to
him, but with the Friday win taking Peter nearer to the peak of world
boxing reckoning, he looks forward to a grudge match with Wladimir, the
current IBF heavyweight title holder.

The Friday win
extended Peters winning streak to four after the last March loss to
Chambers. But what does this win mean? For one, Peter, who usually is
heavy for his fight, surprised the crowd that watched the bout when he
came out with a weight of slightly under 238 pounds, his lowest since
2001 – the year he made his debut in professional boxing. Perhaps, this
new weight shows that the boxer, whom Obisia Nwankpa, his former coach
when he was in the amateur rank, described as “a pillar who is made for
easy target” because of his weight, is now refocused.

This final
eliminator win against Nagy does not make Peter the mandatory
challenger to the world title against Wladimir Klitschko. There are
others before him. First, Wladimir will defend his title next Saturday
against Eddie Chambers, and then the winner will face mandatory
challenger, Alexander Povetkin. Peter is next in line after that.

Peter’s manager,
Ivaylo Gotzev, is keen about a fight between Peter and
Wladimir,”Wladimir, come on. We’re here to finish what we started in
2005,” he said.

Peter, 29, claimed
the heavyweight title temporarily with a sixth-round knockout of Oleg
Maskaev in 2008 before losing it later in the year when Vitali
Klitschko (Wladimir’s older brother) made him quit after eight rounds.
Peter’s loss to Chambers followed.

The Nigeria
Football Federation is not known for doing things in simple and
rational ways. Whether it is signing a new sponsor, inviting players to
national camp, calling a meeting of board members or choosing a camp
for the national team, it is always a complicated and difficult
process, and the last exercise did not prove any different.

Whereas football
minions Benin Republic sacked her coach a few days after the Angola
2010 African Nations Cup and named a new one a few days after, the NFF
called a national conference before Shuaibu Amodu was sacked as the
coach of the Super Eagles.

And before Swedish
Lars Lagerback was hired as replacement, an international conference
that took the officials of the federation to different parts of the
globe and also saw all manner of jobless coaches looking for retirement
benefits or a big pay day coming to Nigeria, was held.. There are
insinuations that our officials normally make simple processes
difficult because when they keep it simple and easy, they lose out on
estacodes they would have got from travelling and sitting allowances.

In the process of achieving their personal gain, they country, its image and citizens suffer.

An all comers affair

Imagine coaches
like Louis van Gaal, Guus Hiddink, Giovanni Trapatonni, and others who
we did not consult but whose names were being dropped to the extent
they were so incensed that they were almost calling us a nation of
liars.

And after days of
interviewing many former heavyweights who were either jobless, or in
coaching obscurity we settled for Lagerback.

His choice may not
be idle given the paucity of time and the fact that he has never worked
closely with Nigerians or Nigerian players before, neither does he have
any ilk of the people’s culture, but with co-competitors like former
England coach Goran Eriksson, Glen Hoddle and others in the league of
coaches other countries would not want to touch, Lagerback’s choice is
welcomed.

The fact that he is coming with a physical trainer, match analyst and another assistant shows that he means business.

With locals like
Austin Eguavon, Daniel Amokachi and Alloy Agu, Lagerback should be able
to avoid the mistakes that led to Amodu’s fall from grace.

And the Swede does
not need a whole decade of study to know the problem with the Super
Eagles and the way forward. A shortcut to solving his problem is
reading the Nigerian newspapers between November and today, he will get
all the arguments for against and where to start from.

New Super Eagles

For a start, the
coach will do himself and Nigerians a lot of favour by turning the
Super Eagles from a rehabilitation camp that it was under Amodu to a
Super Eagles where players are selected on form, fitness and
commitment, not on past pedigree, sentiment and public opinion they are
sponsored by the players and their agents.

One does not need
to be a coach or football analyst to know that Obafemi Martins, Joseph
Yobo, and Aiyegbeni Yakubu did not merit their places in the Angola
team, not because they are not good enough, but because as at December
that Amodu named them into the squad and January when they were playing
the Nations Cup, they were not fit.

The likes of Obinna
Nwaneri, Seyi Olofinjana, Chidi Odiah, Yusuf Mohammed and a few others
have definitely served Nigeria well in the past but football is about
current form and fitness, how they made the team to Angola is still a
mystery, but Lagerback will do himself and Nigeria a lot of good by
closing the door of the national team against them.

Eagles captain
Nwankwo Kanu has definitely served Nigeria well especially at the U-17
and U-23 levels; he has not been able to do same at the Super Eagles
level. Kanu has made two World Cup appearances for Nigeria, France’98
and Japan/Korea 2002, but hiscontributions on the field at the two
championships were not significant.

Kanu has also
played six Nations Cup tournaments for Nigeria, he has not scored a
goal, his overall contribution when measured on a scale of hundred is
less than average.

At Portsmouth, the
English Premiership side where he plays his club football, Kanu has not
been able to tie down a regular shirt despite the fact that many of the
talents in the team have left because of the acute financial problem
facing the club.

Since Kanu has not
thought it wise to quit when the ovation is loudest, Lagerback will be
doing him a great favour by helping make the decision that he does not
have the courage or the will to make.

Many have spoken of
Kanu’s influence on the younger players and how he motivates them;
Lagerback may include Kanu his team as an official or motivator, but as
a player, this is 2010, not 1999 or 2000.

If the coach has the courage to include the likes of Dele Adeleye,
Adefemi Olubayo, Mike Eneramo, Joseph Akpalla, Sani Emmanuel, and other
young blood in his team, Nigeria may be on the way to making a decent
appearance at the South Africa 2010 World Cup.

Chelsea
needed a win and got a well deserved one against a some-what flat West
Ham performance even though there was an initial scare when former
Blue, Scott Parker turned in a half volley on 30 minutes. Didier Drogba
celebrated his African Player of the year award by scoring a brace to
momentarily take the Blues top on Saturday.

Chelsea’s focus
will now turn to the Champions League match against Inter Milan on
Tuesday. The Blues will be without their first and second choice
goalkeepers and will have Ross Turnbull handed a debut against the
Italians who lost 1-3 to Catania on Friday.

At the KC Stadium,
Arsenal had to wait until the third minute of extra time to deliver the
coup de grace to a battling Hull City team that had lost their captain,
George Boateng after his rash tackle on Bacary Sagna in the first half.
Andrei Arshavin had given the Gunners the lead but Hull City won a
dubious penalty through Jan Hennegor of Hesselink as he had made his
move from an offside position and was nudged by Sol Campbell – in for
the injured William Gallas. After the sending off, Hull defended
gallantly but the Tigers were undone by a mistake from goalkeeper Boaz
Myhill in the 93rd minute as he punched a Denilson strike straight at
Nicolas Bendtner. The Danish international made no mistake in putting
in the rebound thereby capping a fruitful week where he also scored
three goals against Porto. That is a turnaround for the young Dane as
he missed a plethora of chances against Burnley at the Emirates Stadium
last weekend.

United fight back

On Sunday,
defending champions, Manchester United needed another Rooney reprise to
see off a hard fighting Fulham to storm back to the top with Chelsea
having a game in hand. After slamming AC Milan with four goals, the Red
Devil striker has now scored 23 goals in 27 appearances in the league
and a total of 35 goals for the season in all competitions for his club.

The first half had
ended goalless with goal scoring chances at a premium from both sides.
Wayne Rooney though eased the nerves of the fans at Old Trafford with
just 30 seconds into the second half. After his mid-week pass of the
year, Nani was again the provider when he found a bit of space on the
left and cut a ball low across the box for Rooney to slide home his
24th league goal of the season.

England hopeful,
Bobby Zamora almost restored parity for the Cottagers in the 75th
minute when he got into, a one-on-one with Edwin Van der Saar but
Nemanja Vidic just managed to get a last-ditch tackle in. That was
Fulham’s chance and they blew it. If only Zamora had been a bit quicker.

The gloom that was
descending on Old Trafford was lifted with Rooney’s second in the 84th
minute but this time the provider was Dimitar Berbatov who had almost
scored with a header on 79 minutes. The Bulgarian forward took the ball
from the air, skipped past a couple of challenges and cut back the ball
to Rooney who decisively finished into the far corner past Schwarzer.

Dimitar Berbatov
finally scored his tenth goal of the season when he met Fabio’s cross
with a stooping header only two yards out. Wayne Rooney then had a
couple of chances towards the end to get his hat-trick but was stopped.
The English man is blooming this season in the absence of Cristiano
Ronaldo, who was sold to Real Madrid at the end of last season.

United are back on top after dropping down to third place after
Chelsea and Arsenal both won their matches on Saturday. With nine
matches left, there is little room for errors at the top.

After starting from
pole position and leading for 34 laps out of 49, a cracked exhaust
wrecked the ambition of Sebastien Vettel of Red Bull GP at the Bahrain
Grand Prix. All through last season, Red Bull was always close to pole
but the unreliability of their car always determined their fate and in
hot Bahrain, that again proved to be the case. With the points scoring
system upgraded for outright win, the top 10 all score, and the points
are allocated as follows: 25 for first position, 18 for second place
and 15 points for the third driver that makes the podium.

Position
four to ten also get 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point respectively.
Fernando Alonso and his Ferrari team mate, Felipe Massa came in first
and second in a race that did not have any drama. On the 47th, Alonso
clocked the fastest one lap time of 1:58.287 and that was just to
confirm the fact that the other drivers will have to chase him
throughout the new season.

The race, which was Alonso’s Ferrari debut,
saw him record his first formula 1 win since Japan in October 2008.
2009 champion, Jenson came in seventh behind returnee driver, Michael
Schumacher, who is also a position behind team mate, Nico Rosberg.
Vettel developed a problem in the 34th lap when he radioed his pit crew
that he had a “loss of power” with the two Ferraris nudging him in the
back. Lewis Hamilton made the podium as the third placed driver.

Nigeria again
stands the risk of not featuring in the second edition of the
Championship of African Nations (CHAN), after the home based Eagles
lost 2-0 to Niger Republic on Saturday.

Abdoulaye Mohamed’s
18th minute goal and 40th minute goal by Modibo Sidi, were all the
Nigeriens needed to put the dream of the Daniel Amokachi-led team in
jeopardy, especially as the team failed to qualify for the first
edition hosted by Cote’d Ivore in 2009. CHAN is exclusively designed by
the Confederation of African Football (CAF), for African players
playing in their home league.

In other CHAN
matches, defending champions DR Congo, beat Gabon 2-1 in Libreville,
while Malawi drubbed Mozambique 3-0. Algeria stopped fellow North
Africans Libya 1-0, and Senegal were also 1-0 winners over Sierra Leone.

The home based Eagles will have to win by a three-goal margin when they meet in the second leg in Abuja.

Despite
pumping N620 billion into the banking sector, businessmen still do not
have access to credit to finance their projects. Bismarck Rewane, the
Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company, said the paradox of
the industry remains that credit intermediation is declining sharply in
the face of money supply saturation.

“The
credit crunch is unlikely to ease anytime soon. The decisions of the
last committee meeting did not address the credit crisis,” he said. He,
however, commended the committee for acknowledging that there is a
credit crisis rather than toeing the path of national self-deception.

The
Central Bank of Nigeria, confirming that the credit crunch is
worsening, said, a decline in annualised credit to the private sector
by -16.20 per cent, signals a stalling of economic recovery.

Risk aversion

An
extreme level of risk aversion hinders banks from giving out credit
facilities, even though they have enough to lend out. A bank official
at First Bank said banks would rather take their funds to the Central
Bank on the two per cent interest rate overnight, than lend them out,
owing to a lack of confidence in the safety of their funds. “Banks are
not lending, neither are they creating assets for now. They would
rather keep the money with the Central Bank and collect it the next
day,” he said.

But
the last Monetary Policy Meeting reduced the rate to one per cent, to
discourage banks from keeping cash idle, and encourage them do more
lending.

Exorcising the ghosts

However,
Mr. Rewane in the March edition of his monthly Economic Review said the
ghost of banks’ risk repugnance will not “be exorcised with this
measure”, adding that liquidity would be freed up when nonperforming
assets are bought over the Asset Management Corporation, when it
becomes effective.

While
keeping the standing lending rate flat at eight per cent, the CBN
reduced the standing deposit facility to one per cent, down from two
per cent. This is the second time the industry regulator is reducing
the rate, which was previously at four per cent before it was brought
down to two, a step it adjudged to be necessary to encourage banks to
unlock the credit market.

Asset Management Corporation, a must

Finance
experts say the passage of the AMC bill by Nigeria’s House of
Representatives has already started to drive the markets. A report by
Kato Mukuru, Esili Eigbe and Odalo Addeh, a team of finance experts at
Renaissance Capital, published on Friday revealed that, “The passage of
the Asset Management Corporation (AMC) bill has been the key driver of
Nigerian equities this week (March 8-12), putting paid to speculations
about its passage on a lack of support by the current administration.
Over this week, equities have rallied 5.3 per cent, bringing the return
on the index to its high of 15.9 per cent. In addition, the average
value of stocks traded has advanced 19 per cent to $22.6 million daily,
from $19 million last week.”

They
also expect increased trading activities next week in the shares of
some of the strong banks, as the industry complies with the common
year-end reports as directed by the CBN, which should have been
published before the end of March.

“If
the results are better than the market expects, we think this week’s
rally could be sustained, potentially supported by further positive
news on the passage of the AMC bill. We note that the Senate has now
referred the AMC bill for a public hearing (its third reading), before
being presented again for a final reading,” the report said.

The
sharp deterioration in banks’ assets on account of non-performing loan
portfolios, estimated to have increased to around 22 per cent at
December 2009, up from eight per cent a year earlier, has made banks
lending-shy.

Finance
experts believe that a turnaround in credit metrics is unlikely to be
achieved simply on the back of interest rate decisions, especially
given the weakness of the monetary policy transmission mechanism.

They
argue that any turnaround will require more structural steps, such as
the establishment of an asset management company to clean the system
and speed up the recapitalisation of the finance industry and the
emergence of a corporate bond market..