Nigeria Content Online

Aside the
allegation of bribery that rocks the appointment of Lars Lagerback as
the Super Eagles coach, a subject that is generating intense debate in
the sports circle is Nigeria’s preparation for the New Delhi 2010
Commonwealth Games scheduled for October.

After an
unimpressive performance at the Melbourne 2006 Games, officials and
managers of Team Nigeria promised us that preparation for the New Delhi
Games will start immediately, but a few months to the Games, athletes
and coaches are worried that no adequate preparation has been put in
place. They argued that unless something is done fast, our team will
record woeful performance in India.

Ken Anugweje, a medical doctor and president of Nigerian Universities Games Association thinks otherwise.

Anugweje, a PHD
holder in sports medicine and an academician at the University of Port
Harcourt, said camping athletes for months is not the same as adequate
preparation.

Anugweje, who is a
member of the board of Athletics Federation of Nigeria, believes that
athletes are better when they work individually.

Camping is not preparation

“From my
experience, preparation for Games is not all about camping. In Nigeria,
we tend to elevate camping to a level that is very unreasonable. I
don’t intend that a Olusoji Fasuba should come and stay in Nigeria; to
be trained by whom? Modern sports training has been reduced to very
simple times called periodization and this entails that you must
prepare for every event, breaking your training into compartments
called periods. You don’t expect somebody who is training for
Commonwealth Games in October to start now to prepare for those Games.
It means that the person will not take part in any other intervening
competition, so what we are saying is that if there are Golden League
competition to go, the person now sits down and say I want to be at my
peak performance by May.”

The European Indoor Circuit

Anugweje has been
following the performances of our athletes in the European Indoor
Circuit. He speaks on athletes and how they prepare for tournaments “I
saw Franca Idoko run at the indoor competition, although she did poorly
but it’s part of her preparation, maybe she had not peaked before this
time but I think if she has a good training programme she will keep
improving until that day. The AFN was trying to start a training camp
at Ijebu Ode, I don’t know how advisable that camp is because I know
that for maximum training, athletes insist on having personalized
coaches. Your coach may be having one, two or three athletes at the
maximum and they have their training programme so many of them will be
very reluctant to come to camp. They will prefer staying with their
coaches and that is what I’m seeing now. I’m in contact with very many
national athletes and they tell me they are training with their
coaches, they don’t want to toil around with their training programme.
I bet that by summer the preparations for the Commonwealth Games will
be obvious to everybody.

Training grants

With most of our
athletes from humble background, training without financial assistance
from the government has been a source of worry, but he explained that
“Patrick Ekeji, the Director General of National Sports Commission is a
very strong advocate of training grants. I know that in this year’s
budget we have captured those aspects and I’m sure when the time comes,
our top athletes will be given grants. You see you don’t just call a
group of people and start giving money to them.

“But we need to
invest more in schools sports. We have not given sports the right
consideration in Nigeria universities and this not only traceable to
the Nigerian universities, we should also blame the National University
Commission the NUC which is the supervising body for the universities;
we will also blame the ministry of education that ought to give
direction. They have a sport desk in their ministry but they don’t give
us directions even when we initiate programs and project they don’t
really encourage us. But having said that, if we consider the
contribution of NUGA to Nigeria sport, you can see that it is
unprecedented.

“In the last
Beijing Olympics, for instance, every medal that Nigeria won had a NUGA
imprint. The Chukwumerijie 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 the bronze medal Franca Idoko was ABU, Blessing
Okagbare is a NUGA athlete, because in world universities games you
represent your country. You don’t represent your university or the
country of study so all four of them were NUGA athletes.

Gloria Kemasouede was in the University of Ibadan she ran for her
university. She ran for NUGA in 1999 at the world University Games so
you can see that everybody who won anything in the last Olympic games
had a NUGA colouration except the soccer team.

British Lewis
Hamilton may dream about being cast in the role of James Bond, but
seven-times Formula One champion Michael Schumacher said the role was
already his.

“I am probably
James Bond because I did my seventh title in the 700th grand prix,” the
German, returning to Formula One at the age of 41 and after three years
out, told a Mercedes news conference when asked what movie role he
might fill.

“So that means 700
— 007.” Hamilton, McLaren’s 2008 world champion who has yet to race
against the most successful Formula One driver of all time, told
Reuters that he had always dreamed of being cast in the role of the
British secret agent.

With Mercedes
fielding an all-German team of Schumacher and Nico Rosberg against
McLaren’s reigning champion Jenson Button and Hamilton, the season has
already been scripted as an Anglo-German battle.

However, Schumacher
warned that it could take time for Mercedes, who have taken over 2009
champions Brawn led by his long-time friend and former Ferrari ally
Ross Brawn, to get up to speed.

“The most important point is that probably we won’t be able to win straight away,” he said.

“If possible,
great. But I don’t think that is the key factor for the season. For me
obviously, the goal is the end of the year result and that means not to
lose too much ground at the beginning.

Where exactly we are going to be, I don’t know.”

Four champions

The German, who won
his five most recent titles with Ferrari and has a record 91 wins to
his credit, is returning at a very different time to the one he
dominated before retiring at the end of 2006.

There are four
world champions on the starting grid and the top four teams all harbour
realistic title ambitions in what is shaping up as the most competitive
season in years.

“I think you see four teams that have been very close over winter testing,” said Schumacher.

“The last test
showed McLaren quite strong, so was Red Bull and all winter Ferrari was
very strong and we believe we are strong.” The German said he could not
wait for the challenge, with his wife Corinna joining him in Bahrain
and fully supportive of his return.

“I mentioned when I
announced the contract that I felt like a little boy of 12 years. I
have grown a little bit since then but not much,” he declared.

Schumacher said he
was not focusing on new opponents, such as Hamilton and Red Bull’s
young German Sebastian Vettel, but more on the challenge of driving
itself. Continued…

The oldest man on
the starting grid recalled how he had felt on his debut in 1991, when
he was racing against the ‘old guys’ like Brazilian Ayrton Senna,
Britain’s Nigel Mansell and Frenchman Alain Prost.

“It’s a good
comparison,” he said. “When I arrived in Formula One, it was so far
away that my biggest expectations were far off what I finally did. I
didn’t think I would be able to play on the same playing field.

“But when I arrived
I understood that they all cook with the same water we all do. They are
all humans, with special abilities but so did I have.

“The same way round, I have the greatest respect for all the other
guys that are around. I know I have been very successful and success is
lots of details that make it. I will work very hard on those and so do
the other guys. That’s why I respect and expect a tough fight.”

The Swede, Lars
Lagerback, is now Super Eagles new coach. The former coach of Sweden’s
national team arrived Nigeria on Tuesday, after briefly returning home
to tidy up domestic matters before resuming fully on his new job.

Mindful of the
little time available to accomplish what many Nigerian football fans
consider an impossible mission (to take Nigeria to the semi-final of
the World Cup in South Africa), he has submitted his programme to the
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

With the Swede
still keeping his strategy close to his chest, a look at his coaching
philosophy may provide an inkling into the shape the Super Eagles is
likely to take under his direction. Just before he was appointed Eagles
coach, he granted an interview to Europe’s football governing body,
UEFA. The interview, reproduced on their website, reveals the working
of the mind of the Swede. In the interview, he takes a look at the
different departments of a team and the kind of players he prefers in
those departments.

Now that he is
ready to work, we try to take a look at the direction in which the man
may be heading as helmsman of the Eagles, based on his philosophy and
the players available.

Attack of the attack

He says: “A really
good striker is always at the right place. In a way, that is the most
important thing – if you have good techniques, and you have high balls
coming at you and you can finish with your first touch. They have
something to read the game, be on the right spot at the right time, but
also you want very good technique, how they finish with whatever part
of the body they are using.

” If you look at
Ronaldo, who has scored the most goals in the World Cup, he can be out
of the game for 5 to 10 minutes but suddenly, he is there and scoring.
So, for the classical goal scorer, this is typical. If you play at the
highest level today – I do not see many teams having this kind of
players – the forward has to be involved in the game because the
demands on every position are rising every day.”

In the Eagles
attack at the moment, we have Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Obafemi Martins,
Ikechukwu Uche, Michael Eneramo, Victor Anichebe and Joseph Akpala.
This statement presupposes that he will defer to use the preferred
playing formations of either 4-1-2-2-1 or 4-3-2-1. The number one(1) at
the end of it is a lone striker who should be big, strong and reliable.
That means Obafemi Martins and Ikechukwu Uche are out of that equation.
Of the remaining three, only Yakubu Aiyegbeni has the experience to
play that part perfectly and to some extent, his fellow Everton
colleague, Victor Anichebe, who has the added attributes of youth and
aggression.

It is almost a
no-brainer that in whatever form, Yakubu will be in South Africa
leading the line, unless he breaks a leg. He has scored the most goals
for club and country and is the second leading foreign striker in the
English Premiership, after Thierry Henry. His substitute may be
Anichebe or Joseph Akpalla. There may not be a play maker in the mould
of Austin Okocha, but there will probably be a shadow striker, and that
role in the present Eagles’ team is tailored for Osaze Odemwingie.

Lagerback continues:

“A target man must
be able to receive the ball, shield and distribute but in the next
phase of the game, he must also be able to score.”

Yakubu has played
as a lone striker for Everton on many occasions and his forte is
probably bringing others into play. He can shoot with both legs and he
is decent in the air.

Midfield

Lagerback prefers a lone holding midfielder who will act as an auxiliary defender. He says:

“You can compare
this to the libero in times past, just like Franz Beckenbaeur. You must
have extremely good running abilities. I will be pleased if he is not
found wanting in the one-on-one defensive part of the game. He should
be a good reader of the game and must have good passing technique. The
first holding midfielder I saw in the modern game was Dunga – Brazil’s
captain to the 1994 World Cup. He was really a role model for that
position, and he had good passing technique, was physically strong and
could run – a very good all-round player.”

The position
Lagerback has in mind suits Sani Kaita to the bone. Mikel Obi will be
the screen in midfield and will occasionally swap positions with Kaita.
Either Etuhu or Ayila will also fit into the Kaita role. The U-23 star
has also shown that he can pass the ball. But the important trait is
that he can defend, but he should be more disciplined.

For a coach that is
impressed with Dunga’s playing style, Kaita will be in serious
reckoning to play the screen for the defence. Kaita is a workaholic,
who loves defending. So, expect this guy to be in the starting line-up.

Given Lagerback’s
thoughts on the role of a play maker, the Eagles may not play with a
playmaker per se in South Africa but with a shadow striker, who has the
attributes but more importantly, is expected to score his fair share of
goals:

“If you talk about
the playmaker, the typical No.10, I think they are disappearing more
and more from the game. In today’s game, I would rather call him a
shadow striker, and he must definitely have offensive skills.

“Zinedine Zidane
was the typical playmaker, but there is also Dirk Kuyt. They have the
same characteristics. When you talk about the shadow striker, the only
difference is that the shadow striker must also be able to score. It is
not that important that the playmaker is a clinical goal scorer in the
penalty area.”

Osaze Odemwingie is
about the only player that fits the shadow striker mode. He possesses
guile, can shoot with both legs and is good running at defences. So, in
the Locomotiv Moscow striker, we may have another certainty for the
Eagles starting line-up.

Defence

The new Eagles coach likes his defenders to be tall. He says in the interview:

“For the centre
half, it is important that he is tall, at least 185m, and he must be
good in the air. That is a quality that I think is needed today. For
me, the most important thing is that he can defend.”

Where does that
leave Onyekachi Apam and Obinna Nwaneri, compared to players like Danny
Shittu and Joseph Yobo? Danny Shittu and Joseph Yobo are the tallest
players in that department. Rabiu Afolabi of Red Bull Salzburg in
Austria may come into serious reckoning now that Amodu Shuaibu has left
the team.

Lagerback continues, regarding the centre half:

“He can move the
ball well, attack well and win one-on-one situation. I want them to be
tough, if I can use that word, but if they want to play at the highest
level, he must have a good passing technique and a good understanding
of how to start the attack. But my priority is that he must be a good
defender.”

Going by this
comment, one of the toughest defenders in the current Eagles team is
Danny Shittu. He is also always 100 per cent committed to the national
cause.

Lagerback believes
that for the team to be really solid at the back, there has to be
proper co-ordination in the midfield and defence:

“In the midfield
and in the back four, it is important that you have good leadership
because they can see much more. So, if you have good leadership from
those playing the central defence, I think that is very good. They can
also talk a little bit more from that position. Talking of centre
backs, they have all the players in front of them so perhaps, they have
the best overview of how the team is working.”

The combination
will likely be Yobo, who will also captain the side, and Shittu. The
only place where they need to work on is communication and
concentration. If Lagerback is able to instil that discipline he is
noted for on the defence line, the Eagles may stop letting in cheeky
goals.

For the goal
keepers, just like former German handler, Berti Vogts, Lagerback’s
preference is for big guys to man the goal posts. Austin Ejide stands
in good stead in this regard. But in terms of agility, concentration
and ability in one-on-one situation, Vincent Enyeama should be first
choice in South Africa. The Swede says of this department:

“The length of the
goal keeper is very important with the number of crosses that are
coming in. The goalkeeper ideally should be tall. Understanding and
reading the game are also vital. As the games are now faster, he cannot
handle back-passes. You must also be very quick to react in today’s
game (agility). You need a keeper that is an athlete and he must be
brave of course, because there are a lot of situations where you have
to dive at somebody’s feet and all. I also think they must have a
special quality in concentration.”

Lagerback seems to
have a clear idea of what he wants. Whether he achieves the semi-final
target the NFF has set remains to be seen. He knows quite clearly that
he faces a daunting task, but he seems primed to give it a good shot.
At his unveiling two weeks ago he had said:

“I think it is
quite possible for Nigeria to reach the semi-finals in South Africa. I
think every coach, every country going into a competition, always have
their aim on winning it.”

Well said, but for $1.5 million, anybody can say such. He went further to qualify why he said the above.

“You have good
individual skills in Nigeria, so if we can get that together with the
players, I think we have a fairly good chance to go far in the World
Cup.”

All the players have been told that there are no automatic shirts.

“You have to prove
yourself but like they say in football, let the feet do the talking. I
have always been impressed by the Super Eagles and Nigerian football.”

His optimism aside,
the truth may be that for most Nigerian football fans, he will truly be
judged, not on his ability to meet this semi-final benchmark, but on
whether he is able to restore confidence in our football.

Real Madrid will be
hoping to put the disappointment of the UEFA Champions League exit
behind them by ensuring they win tonight’s away at Real Valladolid.

The Galaticos
suffered another heartbreak from Lyon to bid farewell to the European
competition despite their over £200million pound investment on new
players last summer but they must now concentrate on wrestling the
Spanish title away from Barcelona. Valladolid, who have Nigeria striker
Batholomew Ogbeche in their fold, are flirting with relegation and with
13 games left to play in the season, they will need to brace themselves
up by gathering valuable points especially at home if they hope to stay
at the top.

But with Madrid
enjoying a slender lead on goal difference ahead of Barcelona, the
likes of new signings Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Xabi Alonso must be
ready to pull themselves together by maintaining a winning run to have
a chance of dethroning Barcelona in Spain. Madrid are aware that
Barcelona have a more difficult night with Valencia at the Nou Camp and
winning at Valladolid could give them a chance of extending their lead
at the top should their Catalan rivals falter again against Valencia.

England

Manchester United
will be hoping to step up their bid to clinch their fourth Premier
League title when they host Fulham this afternoon at Old Trafford.

United are enjoying
a terrific run of eight wins from 10 games in all competitions and they
have proven their 3-1 defeat to Everton last month at Goodison Park was
just a blip after winning four matches in a row since the loss. Wayne
Rooney has been at the heart of the Red Devils’ impressive campaign
this season with his remarkable run in front of goals. Rooney brought
his tally for the season to 30 goals in all competitions last Wednesday
when he struck twice to lead his side to a 4-0 thumping of AC Milan as
United marched to the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League.

The Premier League
champions will hope to maintain their winning momentum against Fulham
and the visitors will have to find a way of shutting out the rampaging
Rooney who has a record of 23 goals from 29 league matches. The
Cottagers will worry that they have failed to record a single point
from their last five visits to the Theatre of Dreams after the modest
London side’s last win in October 2003. But Fulham could draw
motivation from the fact that United have lost six games in the ongoing
campaign and one of them was recorded at Old Trafford when Aston Villa
ran away with the three points courtesy a goal from Gabriel Agbonlahor.
United will also have at the back of their mind that their biggest
defeat this season was inflicted on them by the same side they are
facing today, a 3-0 loss at Craven Cottage in December.

Mid-table side

Fulham still fancy
their chances of finishing the season with a Europa League ticket and
with the array of unexpected results that have characterised the title
race this season, it cannot be ruled out that the Craven Cottage outfit
can spring a surprise against Sir Alex Ferguson side.

At the Stadium of
Light, Sunderland will hope to avenge their last December defeat in the
hands of Manchester City this afternoon when both sides battle for the
three points at stake. It was a close tie at the City of Manchester
Stadium but the Citizens still won 4-3 in front of their home fans.

Manager Roberto
Mancini is hoping to lead his club to finish in a UEFA Champions League
spot at the end of the season and they will have to battle the trio of
Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspurs and Aston Villa.

The Black Cats, as Sunderland are known, are still without Andy Reid while Martin Petrov is still out for City.

English
Premier League duo of Manchester United and Manchester City are
battling to secure the services of Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets midfielder,
Ramon Azeez.

The youngster won
the ‘Bronze Ball’ as the third best player at the U17 World
Championships and his performance earned him plaudits from soccer fans
who believe the lad has the potentials of becoming a great player.
Together with striker Sani Emmanuel, Azeez distinguished himself in the
Eaglets squad that finished as runners up in the last U-17 World Cup
hosted on home soil last year and he has been linked with a move to Old
Trafford after the Manchester United manager, reportedly indicated
interest in him.

Doubts

United are expected
to land the midfielder but Ferguson’s reluctance to tie up the deal has
alerted their rivals Manchester City who have the financial muscle to
edge out the Red devils should it turn out to a bidding war. United’s
reluctance iseems to be connected with their previous experience with
another Nigerian, Mikel Obi, whose transfer from Lyn Oslo of Norway led
to a transfer wrangle with Chelsea which lasted for over a year. United
thought they had completed a deal for Mikel in April 2005 but it later
emerged that there were irregularities in the process, as the player
made a U-turn that he only wanted to join Chelsea. The world football
governing body FIFA and Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) had to
intervene in the matter before Mikel eventually moved to Stamford
Bridge in June 2006 after Chelsea agreed to pay £16million to settle
the matter out of court.

There are claims
that Azeez- who has already hinted Mikel is his role model- had
rejected a move to Manchester City, opening the door for a move to the
Old Trafford with Ferguson’s ability to produce super stars out of
youngster being a big attraction for the Nigerian prodigy. But no
agreement has been reached with any of the two Manchester rivals.

Talent

Ifeanyi Abanum, who
is close to the Eaglets midfielder told tribalfootball.com: “After the
U-17 World Cup, he was invited to England for trials by Manchester
City, who had closely monitored his performances at the competition.
However after spending a few days with the Citizens, he was also
invited to Old Trafford for trials. Apparently, Manchester United
scouts also had monitored him at the competition held in Nigeria.”
“Another big transfer drama is about to unfold and we are all (in
Nigeria) watching and waiting.” Abanum believes Azeez could be a good
talent to harness for the new Super Eagles coach, Lars Lagerback as he
looks for the right mix of players to parade for Nigeria at the FIFA
World Cup in South Africa “He plays as a defensive midfielder and there
is this clamour by Nigerians that he should go to the World Cup. So
highly rated by followers of the game here, that they call him the ‘new
Mikel Obi’”, Abanum said.

Former Super Eagles
midfielder Mutiu Adepoju has offered tips on how Nigeria can tame
Argentina’s stars when both teams battle for three points in their
opening group game of 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Our Eagles will
start their campaign against their toughest rivals in group B at the
Ellis Park in Johannesburg on June 12. The South Americans already
considered one of the favourites to win the global silverware this time
around with the quality of players in their squad, including the
current World Player of the Year, Lionel Messi.

Argentina’s coach,
Diego Maradona, has stated that he already has over 50 percent of his
World Cup squad listed while the Nigeria Football Federation, only
recently named Lars Lagerback as the coach to take the Eagles to South
Africa.

Adepoju was a 57th
minute substitute for Samson Siasia when Maradona captained his country
to a 2-1 victory over our Eagles at the Foxboro Stadium, Boston, in the
1994 World Cup held in the United States. The memories of that
experience linger as he looks forward to a huge game for Nigeria, in a
year we are making our return to the competition after missing out in
the 2006 edition held in Germany.

Crucial game

“It is an important
game because it is the first game of the competition, which could be
significant to how well we perform in the competition. Though there are
situations where you lose first game and still go ahead to do well in a
competition but we have to be very careful in South Africa”, says the
former Real Sociedad of Spain star.

“We are in a tricky group and getting a result in the first game will help. That will be difficult but it is not impossible”.

Adepoju who was
nicknamed the Headmaster in his day believes the key battle lines for
Nigeria against the Argentines will be in the midfield and the attack.

“I am not too sure
they are strong enough in their defence line. They could still want to
use the experience of the like of Walter Samuel and Gabriel Heinze to
lead their back line but I believe like it is known to a lot of people,
Argentina’s main strength lies in the middle and the attack.

“They have a lot of
quality in those two departments and our defenders will have a lot of
work to do. Their key players, Gonzalo Higuain, Lionel Messi and the
young man Sergio Aguero all play in Spain where there is so much
emphasis on passes and movement, two things that will work very well
especially when there is enough space to operate.

“We all know what
Messi could do with the ball, he has the pace, skills and techniques
but he enjoys it well when he is given space to operate. He has got a
very good left foot but people sometimes forget he makes use of his
right too.”

20-year-old Higuain has shown a lot of potential, mostly clinical around the opponent’s box area.

“He has done very
well for Real Madrid this season. And Aguero is also another exciting
striker and don’t also forget that they’ve got (Carlos) Tevez who is
also doing well for Manchester City in England.

“I watched their
friendly against Argentina and you could see the impact of (Sebastien)
Veron and their captain, Mascherano on their play in the midfield. I
think we will need to be very tight in the midfield to deny them of
space and that means a lot of will need to be done on our fitness ahead
of the game.”

Adepoju also noted
that the Eagles would need to work on their sharpness and discipline
because they are naturally tricky in on and off the ball situation.

“We have met at a
couple of times at the Olympics and at the World Cup level, so there is
history between the two teams. Technically they are better with players
who are playing at top level of European football,” he said.

Usain Bolt was the
stand-out act in athletics in 2009, winning both the 100m and 200m at
the 2009 World Championships, and breaking his own world records in
super human displays of sprinting perfection. He also admitted, at the
end of the championships, that he was a bit tired coming into the
Berlin Games, but he still had more in reserve to beat his own records.

The 23-year-old capped a strong outing when he also led Asafa Powell and team to gold in the 4x100m relay.

Bolt actualised his
legendary status by stunning the world in break out performances at the
2008 Beijing Olympics and he continued to improve on his records at the
IAAF World Athletics Championships in Berlin last year.

He took 0.11s off
his 100m world record, which he set in Beijing with a time of 9.58
seconds and then ran an incredible 19.19 in the 200m.

Bolt said the
achievements in Berlin definitely made 2009 eclipse his performances in
Beijing in 2008. He spoke to the BBC at the award ceremony:

“For me, it was
even better because I had a car accident and bounced back. It shows me
that with hard work and determination, anything is possible.

“I have got to the
stage where I know what winning is and how to keep winning, and I want
to keep running, breaking records and winning championships.”

Formula 1 world
champion, Jenson Button, from Great Britain, won the Breakthrough of
the Year award after claiming the Formula 1 world title last season.
The new McLaren driver was rewarded for an F1 season where he won six
of the first seven races and remained steadfast to win the
championship. It was on the strength of these performances that he
switched to McLaren Mercedes racing team after Brawn GP went into
financial administration.

He though jokingly
reminded the Laureus board that he was not a youngster – that he is
actually 30 years of age – and that he did not just start driving.

“Before I started
last season, I didn’t know I would be racing in Formula One, so to
clinch the title with Brawn in our first season was very emotional for
me.

“This is perfect
for wrapping up my 2009 season. Tomorrow, I start the 2010 season and
hopefully, I can come back here next year and be close to winning one
of these awards again.”

25 Grand Slam title
winner, Serena Williams, was named Sportswoman of the Year in
recognition of a season in which she won the Australian Open and
Wimbledon and remained number one at the end of 2009.

Belgian returnee,
Kim Clijsters, who beat Serena in the semi-finals of the 2009 US Open,
got rewarded with the Comeback of the Year after returning from a
two-year absence to win the US Open title.

South African
swimmer, Natalie du Toit, received the Sportsperson of the Year with a
Disability prize and Australian world surfing champion, Stephanie
Gilmore, was named Action Sportsperson of the Year.

Ghana’s Joshua
Clottey will target Filipino Manny Pacquiao’s body for punishment, when
the two clash in Dallas this weekend. Seven-time world champion
Pacquiao’s WBO world welterweight title is on the line and Clottey
intends to soften up his opponent.

“I will go to his body a lot. I will follow him, I will hit him to the body,” Clottey told reporters Wednesday.

Clottey said he would block anything thrown his way while making his own punches count.

“It doesn’t matter
if he throws 1,000 punches, if I’m blocking them. I don’t waste
punches,” he said. “He throws a lot of punches, but he’s the smaller
guy. I throw fewer, but they are going to connect, and that’s going to
do damage.

Pacquiao’s trainer,
Freddie Roach, said Clottey had never had to face the “accumulation of
punches” that will be thrown by the Filipino, known for his speed and
swarming style.

Roach also said his fighter was ready for whatever strategy Clottey and his corner planned to deploy.

“We’re ready for
more than one game plan and we will adapt … He (Clottey) blocks
punches in a way that can be broken,” he said.

Pacquiao
acknowledged Clottey’s height and reach advantage and said it could
work for his opponent “if he knows how to use it.” “I don’t want to
underestimate Joshua Clottey,” he said.

The fight will be the first to be held at Cowboys Stadium, with 45,000 spectators expected to attend.

The six players who
booked their place in the 2010 Thomas & Uber Badminton Cups will
face a difficult task when the event scheduled for the Putra Stadium in
Bukit Jalil, Malaysia kicks off in May as it got drawn together with
host Malaysia and Japan in Group B during the week.

Nigeria secured the
right to represent Africa in the Thomas Cup, alongside South Africa
which came second and will be competing in the Uber’s event, when it
emerged African champions at the Badminton Championship in Kampala,
Uganda, last month. The Nigeria team grabbed 14 out of the 16 titles
available in the 10-day continental tournament.

Nigerians are minnows

Already, Badminton
Association of Malaysia (BAM) secretary-general Ganga Rao, has written
off Nigeria’s chances of scaling the hurdles in the tournament.

Replying to
question on a Malaysian National News Agency, Bernama.com, Rao whose
country hopes to end their 16-year Cup drought, said Malaysia could be
assured of the quarterfinals since Nigerians are minnows in the group.

“Either Malaysia or
Japan will top Group B and both teams will easily qualify for the
quarterfinals because the third team in the group is minnows, Nigeria.
We’ll face stiffer tests in the quarterfinals,” he said.

Apart from Nigeria,
other teams competing for the Thomas Cup include defending champions
and top seeded China, who are in Group A with South Korea (5th seed)
and Peru (10th seed).

Group C comprises
Denmark (4th seed), Germany (8th seed) and Poland (9th seed) while
Group D pools Indonesia (2nd seed), India (7th seed) and Australia
(12th seed).

Only two top teams
from four groups will move to the next knockout stage of the sport’s
prestigious men’s team event to determine the semi-finalists.

Meanwhile, South
Africa is slugged in Group D with Korea and India while Japan, Russia
and Germany are pooled against one another in Group C.

China will do battle with Malaysia and USA in Group A with Indonesia, Denmark and Australia doing same in B.

A different format

This year’s edition
will see a revised format used for the competition with the
introduction of the two-stage, two-draw format where only the top two
teams from each group will progress to the knock-out stage – the
quarterfinals.

Previously all
three teams from each group (four groups) progressed to the next stage.
At the knock-out stage, a fresh draw will be held to decide the ties.

Thomas Cup

(Group) A: China, Korea, Peru;

Group B: Malaysia, Japan, Nigeria;

Group C: Denmark, Germany, Poland;

Group D: Indonesia, India, Australia

Uber Cup:

(Group) A: China, Malaysia, USA;

B: Indonesia, Denmark, Australia:

C: Japan, Russia, Germany;

D: Korea, India, South Africa.

Consumer prices in
China rose 2.7 per cent in February over the year-earlier period,
according to data released on Thursday, partly attributable to the
Lunar New Year holiday but also to the rising inflationary pressures in
China’s economy.

Other data, on
Thursday, reflected China’s continued strong recovery from the global
economic crisis. For the combined January to February period, which
factors out distortions from the Lunar New Year holidays, industrial
output expanded by 20.7 percent and retail sales rose 18 per cent
compared to a year ago.

Those figures followed data on Wednesday that showed robust growth in both China’s exports and imports in February.

No shift in economic policy

Overall, economists
said the picture suggests no shift in economic policy is in store,
although interest rates on loans are likely to rise as China strives to
hold down inflation.

While inflationary
pressures are clearly building, “current inflation is still modest,”
said Ken Peng, an economist with Citigroup Global Markets in Beijing.
“Right now, we are still okay. This is not going to cause any panic
among policy makers.”

Jinny Yan, an
economist with Standard Chartered Bank in Shanghai, said the data
released this week does not suggest China’s economy is overheating,
despite pockets of speculation, especially in the red-hot property
market.

“We see the recovery continuing to keep its momentum,” she said. “The policy makers will continue to hold their stance.”

Drop in food production

China’s leaders
insist that inflation as firmly in check, below the government’s target
of three percent. The 2.7 per cent increase in February followed a 1.5
percent increase in January. Food prices led the way, a potentially
troublesome sign for the leaders of a country where as much as 40 per
cent of poorer household budgets go to food.

But prices are
typically jacked up during the Chinese New Year holidays, when families
tend to splurge on food and gifts. The National Bureau of Statistics
also blamed the harsh winter, which it said hurt food production.

A spokesman for the
bureau, Sheng Laiyun, predicted prices would come down after the spring
harvests. “We don’t see any signs of economic overheating,” he said.

China’s deputy
central bank governor, Su Ning, told reporters last week: “We believe
we can successfully contain inflationary pressure this year.” He said
the bank was more concerned last year, when prices fell for nine months.

“While we don’t
want to see prices rising too fast, the current situation is necessary
for the development of our economy and cannot be described as
inflation,” he said.

Other data released
on Thursday showed the government’s efforts to rein in loans after last
year’s lending spree, which was designed to spur the economy. Chinese
banks lent only about half as much money in February as they did in
January.

Premier Wen Jiabao
announced that China would lower its lending target for this year to
7.5 trillion renminbi, or $1.1 trillion, about 72 per cent of the 9.6
trillion renminbi in 2009.

The central
government, twice this year, increased the amount of money that banks
are required to deposit with the central bank as a monetary reserve
rather than lend to customers.

Many economists predict one or more interest rate increases in the
coming months, but higher interest rates are unlikely to threaten
China’s economic recovery because growth is governed more by the
availability of loans more than their cost, economists said.