Nigeria Content Online

Can there be a
better test for Liverpool’s new coach than Arsenal? The first match in
the era of Roy Hodgson will see him go up against Arsene Wenger’s young
charges, whom the Reds have not beaten at Anfield for the past three
seasons.

After the
topsy-turvy reign of Rafael Benitez that scored a Champions League and
a League Cup, Hodgson’s task is clear – get back into the Champions
League and if he can, win the Premier League title that has eluded
Liverpool for 20 years.

With new shirt
sponsors, a new coach and new players, Liverpool seem to be picking up
and then there is the buyout being proposed by Chinese billionaires –
the good times might just be back with the Kop.

Arsenal are also
six years and counting when they last won a major trophy and patience
is running thin for the Gunners fans who want to see their beloved team
compete and win titles.

So here we are in a
packed Anfield stadium that is rocking to the rhythm of ‘I will never
walk alone’ and the players with butterflies in their stomach – this
game is too close to call.

Probably, the first
team to score will carry the day. There is the prospect of an
entertaining football match considering the calibre of players on both
sides but it also could be very cagey and bruising.

Gerrard and Torres are vital

Liverpool captain,
Steven Gerrard is enjoying his football again after the World Cup
debacle and Fernando Torres has pledged his future to the club but
needs games to get match sharpness. 20-35 goals from the Spaniard will
make a difference at the end of the season. Jamie Carragher is also
looking forward with excitement: ‘We have got to look forward with
great excitement. Last season never went well but we have got to forget
about it and put it behind us’.

Carragher is set to
start his 15th season in the first team and the signing of Christian
Poulsen from Juventus should solve the Lucas Leiva challenge.

Arsenal still need players

Thomas Vermaelen is
hoping Wenger will make some more signings and the Belgian said as much
on Arsenal’s website: “We lost a few centre backs and only Laurent and
Johan came back, but it is the boss’ decision what he is going to do,
if he wants to buy another one or not.

“But what I have
learned from last season is that you need enough players because we had
a lot of injuries last year and you need enough players to play all the
games.”

Denilson and Abou
Diaby face fitness tests ahead of the opener against Liverpool. Wenger
said: “Alex Song has a calf problem and will be short. Denilson had to
pass a test on an abdominal problem and Diaby has a calf problem but he
is back in full training. Liverpool tormentor, Andrey Arshavin is
alright to start. He has scored five goals in two visits to Anfield.
World Cup winner, Cesc Fabregas has been convinced to stay and that is
such a huge lift for the Gunners and their fans. If they do not win any
silverware this season, then no amount of pleas will make him stay
beyond this season. The signing of Marouane Chamakh will unburden Robin
van Persie up front to play his best football if he stays injury free
but there are still doubts concerning Manuel Almunia in goal.

Wenger also said he has to consider fitness in choosing players for today’s match.

“I still have to
make a decision about whether I will include Van Persie and Fabregas in
the squad.” The Gunners took all three points last season and played
out a memorable 4-4 the campaign before.

But if what Gerrard
said on new signing, Joe Cole is to be used to gauge the new season
then the Kop should be optimistic of victory today and in the season.

“Messi can do some amazing things, but anything he can do Joe can do
as well, if not better. He used to shock us in training by doing footy
tricks with a golf ball that most players can’t even do with a
football.” What Liverpool really need is a shock to last year’s system.

FIFA have launched
an investigation into allegations that the North Korean World Cup coach
and players were reprimanded by the government after their early exit
from this year’s tournament in South Africa.

Last month, Radio
Free Asia said that the Korean squad, apart from two foreign-based
players, were subjected to “harsh ideological criticism” after they
lost all three matches and conceded the most amount of goals by a team
at the World Cup.

“We sent a letter
to the football federation to tell us about their election of a new
president and to find out if the allegations made by the media that the
coach and some players were condemned and punished are true,” FIFA
President Sepp Blatter told reporters on Wednesday.

“We are doing this as a first step and we will see how they answer.”

After starting only
their second World Cup brightly with a 2-1 defeat by five-times
champions Brazil, North Korea were humiliated 7-0 by Portugal and
easily beaten 3-0 by Ivory Coast.

Blatter said the
investigation was launched after FIFA executive committee member Chung
Mong-joon, from South Korea, had delivered new information on the issue.

Asian Football
Confederation President Mohamed Bin Hammam, who recently travelled to
the secretive communist nation, said he was hopeful the investigation
would prove conclusive.

“There was an unconfirmed report that these players have gone through torture or something like that, but I can’t confirm that.

“I haven’t seen anything with my eyes or heard anything with my
ears. Maybe this FIFA investigation can clear the air.” Blatter, Bin
Hammam and Chung were in Singapore to launch the soccer tournament at
the inaugural Youth Olympic Games.

Newcastle United
returns to the Premier League without their customary big-name
managers, high-profile signings, and unlikely ambitions after a healthy
dose of realism from a year spent in the second division.

“On the whole
people know it is a very different Newcastle team. It is one that can
stay in the Premier League and build on that to become just as big and
flamboyant as teams that have gone by,” Newcastle defender Mike
Williamson told Reuters. Guided by the understated former Tottenham
Hotspur assistant coach, Chris Hughton, Newcastle open their season at
the deep end with a trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United on
Monday. ‘The Toon’ have been graced with soccer greats including Paul
Gascoigne, Peter Beardsley, Kevin Keegan, Chris Waddle, and Alan
Shearer in years gone by but under Hughton they have turned to youth
with a sprinkling of modest experience. “It’s a new era now and a very
different outlook that the fans have got to take. The majority of them
will be happy if we stay in the league and we build on it,” said
Williamson, a tall centre back signed from Portsmouth in January.

The club have some
exciting youngsters in big striker Andrew Carroll, new signing Dan
Gosling and Danny Simpson, who are chaperoned by the experience of Alan
Smith, Kevin Nolan, and most recently ex-Arsenal and England defender
Sol Campbell. Newcastle have six FA Cups, the last coming in 1955, and
a 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup to their name, although more recently
they are remembered for an enthralling Premier League title race which
ultimately ended with Manchester United lifting the trophy in 1996.

Panic button

These days ensuring
top flight status is more of a concern. “First and foremost, the target
is to achieve the 40 points mark. I think that is probably the target
for half of the teams in the league, to secure their survival and then
build on it,” Williamson said. Hughton, twice caretaker manager at
Newcastle before taking the reins permanently in 2009, inherited a
relegated side up for sale and on the verge of crisis. A year later
they topped the Championship (second division) by 11 points to earn
promotion. “To pull a club that was on the verge of a crisis, on and
off the field, and to get the lads together and come back into the
Premier League at the first time of asking is a brilliant achievement
and he deserves a lot of credit for it,” Williamson, 26, said. “He has
a lot respect from the players. He is not a big, loud, aggressive
manager, who gives the hairdryer treatment. In general it is all about
tactics, he brings an element of calmness to the team and he always has
a focus in his mind, there are no panic buttons.”

After Manchester United, Newcastle round off August with a match at
home to Aston Villa before a trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Hughton
has outlined his plans of how to make this season a success, telling
the local Journal newspaper: “What we were able to do last season was
be very strong defensively. We scored a lot of goals, but we were
strong at the back. If possible, I want us to be even harder to beat
this season. The most important thing is we’ve got to give ourselves
every chance. We have to give ourselves a platform to build on and that
is at the back.”

Brazil coach Mano
Menezes offered a fascinating glimpse into the future with the 2-0
friendly win over the U.S. — and if first impressions count, the team
should be entertaining hosts in the 2014 World Cup.

It remains to be
seen how many of those who started at the New Meadowlands stadium on
Tuesday will be in the team that takes the field for the opening game
in Brazil in four years time but the new faces on show certainly played
like they were capable of performing on the biggest stage.

None shone more
than 18-year-old Neymar, a player who many in Brazil had urged Menezes’
predecessor Dunga to take to South Africa this year.

The Santos forward,
sporting a spiky Mohican haircut, began on the left wing but floated
into the middle when the space opened up and also switched flanks to
keep a largely bewildered U.S defence even more befuddled.

The slightly built
Neymar’s superbly taken header to open the scoring was an illustration
that as well as superb control and energetic pace, he also has the
striker’s ability to convert chances however they may fall to him.

Nothing is certain
in football but few would bet against Neymar being a well known name,
with one of Europe’s top clubs, by the time the next World Cup comes
around and he certainly is not short of confidence.

“I had some nerves
early on, with this being my debut,” he told Reuters, “But it got
easier when the ball began to roll and of course the goal settled me,”
he said.

Likewise it is hard
to imagine playmaker Paulo Henrique Ganso not going on from his
impressive debut to make his mark on the international scene.

He may look like a
scrawny schoolkid but Ganso, another from the current outstanding crop
at Santos, put the most famous shirt in football — the gold and green
one with number 10 on the back — and delivered a performance that was
as notable for its calm composure as for its technical proficiency.

Real Madrid’s Kaka,
out with injury, is the current owner of Pele’s old jersey, but he will
need to get back to his very best to fend off the challenge from Ganso
who is very much an enabling playmaker, prompting others and opening up
spaces.

But he also possesses a wicked shot as he showed when he hit the post from 25 metres out against the Americans.

“The (number 10)
jersey is certainly a heavy one in terms of responsibility but it is up
to me now to go away and work hard and try to earn another call-up,” he
said.

With Pato close to
his lively best in attack, after a season plagued by injury and Robinho
showing signs of his quality as well, Menezes’ new team, featuring just
four players who were in South Africa, already looks to be taking shape
and certainly has indicated it’s character.

“Personality is not something you can really give a team,” said Menezes after the game.

“Either you have it or you don’t. This performance was a sign that they have it,” he said.

Former Super Eagles
manager, Shuaibu Amodu, yesterday, urged the Nigeria Football
Federation to apologize to Nigerians for hiring his successor, Lars
Lagerback.

Lagerback took over
from Amodu months before the Mundial, and led Nigeria to a first round
crash, and has not returned to the country after the tournament.
Lagerback’s agent has said the Swede would not return to keep with his
job. Speaking at a forum organized by the House of Representatives
Sports committee to review the devastating outing and general fading
performance of the country’s football, Amodu said NFF members who took
the decision of bringing in the new coach, took a “hasty and
irresponsible” decision and deserve to say sorry to fans. “I expected
people who took that decision to apologize to Nigerians for taking that
unreasonable decision,” he said.

The former national
team coach said it was a “disgraceful performance” that the Super
Eagles failed to win a match in South Africa and also failed to justify
the $1.5 million paid to Lagerback for the period he worked. Toeing a
familiar argument of past Eagles handlers, Amodu said his frank
position on issues often pitched him against football authorities but
that he cared less about losing the job. “You can take my job away, but
you cannot take my knowledge,” he said.

Coaching not the problem

The former Eagles
coach said the cause of the rapidly declining status of Nigerian
football, was not by coaches, foreign or local coach but by the
administrative system within the country. “The problem with our
football is not with a foreign or indigenous coach, but our system and
mind set,” he said. He blamed the problems on the lack of continuity in
the appointment of sports ministers and other key officials, who do not
have enough time to articulate their programmes. He also called for
adequate planning and budgetary allocation to sports while saying that
local coaches should be adequately remunerated and given time to
achieve results.

Despite slumping to
a 2-1 defeat to South Korea in an international friendly match played
Wednesday at the Seoul Olympic Stadium in Korea, former Super Eagles
handler, Christian Chukwu and ex-player, Garba Lawal, have defended the
outcome of the game.

For Chukwu, who was
once at the helms of affairs as chief coach of the national team;
friendly matches should not be seen as a do or die affair but as
avenues to try out new players and give them a platform to express
themselves.

“Of course, victory
is always sweet but in this case I think we should be concerned about
the major purpose of the match which I believe is to start the
rebuilding process of the national team,” he said.

He added that the
match has availed the coaches opportunity to see one or two players
that can fit into different positions when the situation demands.

Good attempt

Similarly, Lawal
said the Eagles did their best, particularly the duo of Osaze Odewingie
and Obafemi Martins while also praising the efforts of some of the home
based players that got a chance in the game.

“They did their
best. For me, I don’t care about the result I am happy that we are
making good use of the FIFA window just like other countries. If we
continue like this then we can begin to reap the benefits in time to
come,” he said.

Others who also
shared the same position include former assistant manager Joe Erico,
former players Dosu Joseph and Yisa Shofulwe, who all argued that
friendly matches should not be seen as a must win game.

The game

Korea dominated the
game and were the more cohesive team, while the Osaze Odemwingie-led
Super Eagles struggled to play as a unit and relied more on the
individual brilliance of Odemwingie and Martins.

Russia-based
striker Solomon Okoronkwo made his full international debut, while
several players from the domestic league also had their chance to excel
at full international level with Valentine Nwabili of Enyimba showing
promise at left fullback.

Korea captained by
Manchester United ace Ji-Sung Park went in front after 18 minutes
through Bit-Garam after sustained pressure on the Nigerian defence.

Nigeria drew level
in the 26th minute through Locomotiv Moscow striker Odemwingie, before
Korea regained their lead just before the break when Hyo Jin darted
into the box before firing past goalkeeper Dele Aiyenugba.

Korea came close to increasing their lead in the 49th minute but the post came to Aiyenugba’s rescue.

Israel-based shot
stopper Aiyenugba was at his best when he pulled off a fine save off a
fierce shot from outside the box on 79 minutes.

Brown Ideye would
have restored parity for the Eagles on 59 minutes but he scoffed his
shot from inside the box after a good combination play that involved
the lively Odemwingie and Martins.

A defensive error, by Danny Shittu right inside the six-yard box, almost gifted the Asians a third goal in the 85th minute.

Both teams played out a 2-2 draw in a 2010 World Cup group match in
South Africa. It was a result that qualified the Taejuk Warriors to the
knockout stage of South Africa.

After leading the
Falconets to a historic final against Germany, coach, Adat Egan, has
said he is satisfied by the performance of the U-20 women’s team.

In an interview
with NextSports, Egan said, “Of course, at least for leading the team
to the finals of the World Cup, and not in Africa; it wasn’t easy.

Nigeria beat
super-powers like America, Japan, South Korea which has been in the
sport for long. “I cannot say I am the best in this country as far as
coaching is concerned but it is just the grace of God. We are channels
that God has used to achieve this goal for Nigeria,” Mr Egan said.

In the finals
against Germany, Nigerians believed till the last minute that the
Falconets would equalise, and Egan revealed that the girls were ready
to die to honour their country. “Well, I don’t need to tell you
anything because it was a very big challenge. When we were talking to
them, the girls assured us that they will die. The goal came
unexpectedly because they lost concentration in those short seconds.
The girls tried their best and if they had utilized the chances we had,
the result would have been different but since it didn’t come, we take
it that the Lord knows best,” Egan explained.

The fittest team

The Falconets were
adjudged the fittest team in Germany and Egan said there was no secret
apart from hard work. “It is the determination and commitment of both
the girls and the technical crew because we took it up as a challenge
to return with a different result. ” All Egan’s words are regularly
peppered with the fact of God’s grace. After this success, he will like
to be involved in the continuous development of these girls but he has
to wait on the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), who is his employer.
“Well, that is automatically in the hands of the NFF because I don’t
know their plans. They have plans already on ground set for the girls.
Certainly, some of those girls are going to be moved into the Super
Falcons for the soon-to-come competition. Without being told, some of
those girls must be in that team going to the African Women
Championship for us to be able to repeat what we have done in Germany.
Those are the things the NFF is trying to put in place so that there
will be a total graduation from one category to another. The plan is
promotion from where they are to a higher level.”

High discipline

The 2010 Falconets
displayed a high sense of technical and tactical maturity in their play
and never wavered from how they performed in Germany. Egan said
discipline comes naturally to him and he was able to inculcate that
into the team. “I am naturally a disciplinarian because I was brought
up in a disciplined home; it is a part of me and wherever I am, it is
part of my operational tool because it is important to know that
without discipline you cannot achieve anything. Without discipline, you
cannot meet up with the target your have set for yourself. They obeyed
instructions to the letter because they knew we had a lot at stake.”

The team left
Nigeria unheralded and came in as heroines but according to their
coach, just giving honour to the nation was enough motivation after the
threat of a complete football ban. “I thank him (Goodluck Jonathan) for
listening to the appeal by Nigerians from all walks of life, for having
the fear of God and I see our feat at the World Cup as a reward from
God for our President’s obedience to listen to the wishes of the
people.” Egan added that Patience Goodluck’s presence helped the team.
“Also, the presence of the First Lady in Germany did a lot to psyche up
the girls even when they were down; this encouraged both the girls and
the technical crew to do more.” Lastly, Egan wants more attention to be
paid to the female aspect of football in our country. “I strongly
believe that will change; I believe they will begin to give equal
consideration to female football. It is clear that the girls can no
longer be treated as second best; it is clear that with determination,
right environment, encouragement, right incentives, we can only imagine
where we will be. It will be disastrous if we go to sleep after this.
This is the right foundation to build on and I don’t think both the
government and the NFF will let that opportunity pass.

After three days of
exciting football artistry, the Super four competition taking place in
Ijebu-Ode will be rounded off today at the Gateway International
Stadium.

At stake are a prestigious trophy and the sum of five million naira for the team which will emerge as champion.

The Super Four
competition, showcasing the best four teams in the country, has helped
bring to the limelight some outstanding players with the best clubs in
land. For some of the teams, the tournament also avails them the needed
opportunity to test new buys while others give some of the fringe
players a chance to prove their worth before going into the new season.

However, a major
worry at the competition was the absence of national team coaches at
the onset, though players still hope they will be on hand today to
witness the final matches that will be played, with a view to seeing
some good players that could be handed invitations to the national
teams.

Charged for the title

As expected,
Enyimba International of Aba will attempt to maintain its dominance on
the home front by adding the Super Four title to its cabinet already
overflowing with silverware. Enyimba beat Kwara United 2-1 on Friday,
to remain on top of the table with six points. The ‘People’s Elephants’
as the team is known by its fans, will be playing against arch rivals,
Kano Pillars, in the final fixture of the competition. Pillars lost by
a lone goal to Sunshine Stars of Akure in its second match played on
Friday, to leave it with just the one point it garnered from its 0-0
with Kwara United on the opening day of the competition.

For Enyimba, who
were recently crowned as Champions of the Nigerian Premier League, the
match will be a testy one, as the Pillars have a knack for raising
their game whenever they confront the Aba side. An added reason for
Pillars to fire full throttle is the fact that Enyimba beat them to the
league title on the last day of the league, with a 2-1 in Aba.

Okey Emordi,
Enyimba head coach, says his team has what it takes to repeat the form
which won it the league title during the regular season.

“Enyimba is not a
small team and one thing that we know how to do is to win trophies. We
are here in Ijebu-Ode to confirm our supremacy and win the trophy,”
boasted the 2005 best coach in Africa.

The Super Four
competition, which is strictly for the first four finishers in the
regular league season, is in its third season, with Enyimba also the
defending champions.

The Aba Elephants
who were recently eliminated from the CAF Confederations Cup are also
in the finals of the Federations Cup which will be played in Lagos
later in the month.

Already, the team’s captain Okey Odita, says his hands are already itching to lift another trophy with his team.

“It has been a
tough season for us both on the local scene and on the continent but
one thing that keeps us going is the thought of lifting trophies,” he
said.

His teammate,
Atanda Sakibu, is also brimming with confidence. Sakibu opened the goal
scoring account for Enyimba in this tournament after his lone strike
shot Enyimba to the top of proceedings on the first day against
Sunshine Stars, and he is already looking forward to scoring more goals
in today’s game.

“They are all good
teams but they cannot stop us. We want to appeal to all our fans to
come out en-masse to support us on Sunday and we promise we won’t
disappoint them,” he said However, Pillars coach, Salisu Yusuf, says he
is not fazed by the antecedents of Enyimba, while also pointing out
that he has more than revenge in his mind going into today’s game after
being denied the league title by his opponents in the just concluded
season. “It was a painful loss to Enyimba last time out, no doubt, but
that is gone; our focus is strictly on winning today’s match and not
talking about revenge or no revenge,” the ex-international said.

Kano Pillars are
playing the Super 4 competition without their hit man, Ahmed Musa, who
is currently on national assignment and who will also be heading for
the Dutch League next season to play for VVV Venlo.

The other match

In the other match
of the day, Sunshine Stars of Akure, which shocked Pillars on Friday by
running away with a 1-0 victory, will come up against Kwara United.

Kwara United, which
recently appointed Kadiri Ikhana to tinker the team after the sack of
Justin Tenger, will be hoping to improve its fortunes with their new
soccer tactician who is acclaimed as one of the best coaches in the
land.

The team, which finished fourth on the league standings, will be making its debut in the CAF Confederations Cup next season.

A good tournament

Assessing the
tournament, Davidson Owumi, chairman of the NPL board, says the quality
of football in the competition has been high, adding that it can only
get better in subsequent editions.

“I believe the
tournament has been a success; the teams have demonstrated a high level
of professionalism in their approach to the games, and any team that
emerges as winner will know it truly deserves it,” he said. Owumi, who
was himself a product of the local league, commended the Ogun State
government and people for the support rendered towards making the
season’s tournament a reality.

“I must register
our profound gratitude to the government and people of Ogun State for
being good hosts; the excellent facility they have availed us is really
commendable and appreciated,” he said. Meanwhile, the congress of the
Nigeria Premier League was held yesterday where members deliberated on
the new road map for the local league.

Top on the agenda
was the welfare of players and coaches of the different clubs taking
part in the League. The new board stated its intention to protect both
the players and coaches’ interests in the upcoming season, as no club
will be registered without providing a clear contractual agreement
between it and its players and coaches. Other issues discussed include:
providing good playing surfaces, which will give the league a better
outlook on television, as well as the need to impose stiffer
punishments on teams that foment trouble in the new season.

A tentative date of September 25 has been fixed for the commencement of the 2010/2011 season.

The kick off of the
English Premier League was won by Manchester United with three goals by
Antonio Valencia, Javier Hernandez and a sublime lob from Dimitar
Berbatov in the 92nd minute, giving the Reds the first silverware of
the season.

This will mark the
fifth time that United and Chelsea have faced off in the Community
Shield and three former encounters had gone to penalty kicks. There was
a flourish to the end of the match as Chelsea pulled a goal back in the
82nd minute through Salomon Kalou but it was not to be the Blues’ day
and they have now lost their last four matches on the trot.

The first half
started on a slow note with United not keen to press the ball when it
was in Chelsea’s half of the pitch. During the period, there was the
booing of John Terry and Wayne Rooney – fans venting their spleen for
the bad showing of England’s national team at the World Cup.

The first chance of
the game arrived for Valencia in the 5th minute but his lob was not
accurate enough to beat Henrique Hilario, in goal for Chelsea. Paul
Scholes should have punished Chelsea in the 9th minute but his volley
was way off the mark after being set up by a delightful lob from
Valencia, who was giving Ashley Cole all sorts of problems down
Chelsea’s left flank.

Edwin Van Der Sar
produced the first quality save of the encounter in the 16th minute
when he clawed away Branislav Ivanovic’s goal bound header off a corner
kick.

The first goal,
when it came was, simple. A long pass from Scholes was misjudged by
Terry and Rooney made a first time square pass to Valencia to knock
past a hapless Hilario.

In the second half,
United made three changes, new signing; Javier Hernandez, Dimitar
Berbatov and Nani came on to replace Wayne Rooney, Park Ji-sung and
Michael Owen respectively.

Chelsea pressed
forward for the equaliser and made their own substitutions with Nicolas
Anelka and Mikel Obi withdrawn for Didier Drogba and Danny Sturridge.

Sturridge was a
lively sub and will have gladdened Carlo Ancelotti with his drive and
persistence. He should have scored when put through by Essien’s defence
splitting pass but Van der Sar pulled off another wonder save.

Berbatov’s lob
simply settled the match as a contest and the Bulgarian will be hoping
that this season will be very different from the last when he was made
the brunt of all United’s failings.

Manchester United
won the 2010/2011 season Community Shield for a record 14th time but
the real prizes will not be won until May 2011.

Super Eagles
players based in Nigeria have departed the country for Suwon, South
Korea, for the friendly match against the South Korean national team.

Nine players from
the Nigeria Premier League led by Bassey Akpan, a fringe player to the
2010 World Cup, and caretaker coach, Augustine Eguavoen, left Lagos on
Sunday and will be met today by the other players pencilled for the
match, which will be played in Suwon on Wednesday

Enyeama and Nsofor missing

With the European
season just kicking off, there have been many withdrawals from the
game. Vincent Enyeama and Obinna Nsofor, have not made themselves
available for this encounter. On the back of a woeful display in South
Africa, the team will look to pick up the pieces in this match.

South Korea and
Nigeria were in the same group in South Africa and Nigerians will
remember their match for all the wrong reasons including Yakubu
Aiyegbeni’s woeful miss in front of an unguarded goal when the Eagles
needed to win to progress.

Some players who
have been knocking on the national team door like Joseph Akpala and
Ideye Brown may get the chance to show Nigerians what they are capable
of.

Meanwhile, new
Korean coach Cho Kwang Rae has named a very strong squad that will
comprise 13 members of the squad that drew 2-2 with Nigeria at the
World Cup – a result that helped South Korea qualify from Group B. They
will be led by Manchester United’s Park Ji Sung and Monaco’s Park Chu
Young.

Kim Min Woo, Park Joo Ho and Yoon Bitgaram, are part of a group of
six uncapped players, who may also get their chance to impress Rae, who
was appointed to replace Huh Jung Moo when he stepped down after a
second round ouster at the World Cup.