Nigeria Content Online

The
11th edition of the Africa Youth Championship starts today and the road
to stardom for some of the players will also start from Johannesburg.
As players from the eight countries gather, the teams all have a common
goal – to be crowned champions at the end of the tournament on May 1,
but only one of them will take that accolade.

Though the
Federation of International Football (FIFA) introduced age-grade
football competitions, i.e. the U-17 and U-20s, to breed a new set of
football stars, only once has a country from Africa won the U-20 world
championship and that was Ghana in Egypt in 2009.

Nigeria, though a
‘powerhouse’ in age grade football, not only in Africa but in the
world, going by the records but for all that muscle flexing,

Nigeria has never
won the U-20 World Cup, on the six occasions that she has participated.
For the African version, the country in the 90s won five successive
trophies and has been quasi-successful in the 2000s. The closest has
been final appearances in 1989 in Saudi Arabia and in 2005, when the
team led by Samson Siasia came very close but lost to Argentina.

The culture of
breeding players through the youth ranks should be the main focus of
the tournaments, so we will look at players that have been able to
graduate and move successfully into the senior team after their stint
in the U-20s.

Looking back over
the years, a lot of talent has moved up the ladder and most notable
amongst these graduates is Mutiu Adepoju, who won silver at Saudi
Arabia in 1989 and went on to represent the country at three World Cup
tournaments. There have been others like Etim Esin, Austin Okocha,
Taribo West and now the likes of Mikel Obi, Taye Taiwo, Chinedu Obasi
and many others who were part of the 2005 U-20 set.

Comparison with Europe and the Americas

Lately, we all can
see the genius of Lionel Messi, week in and week out but the little
Argentine first came to the world’s consciousness with virtuoso
performances for the U-20 team in Holland in 2005. Now, just six years
after, he has won the World Player of the year award twice already,
with many more in view.

Diego Maradona was
a product of the first championship in Tunisia in 1978 and went on to
win to captain his country to a World Cup triumph in 1986. The most
explicit example of what this cadre can do, is Spain. They won the 1999
edition in Nigeria with Iker Casillas and Xavi in their squad and 12
years after, they went on to form the core of the team that brought
Spain its first World Cup. Ronaldinho was also in Nigeria in 1999 and
he also is a proud winner of the World Cup in 2002.

One of the
Nigeria’s opponents at Egypt 2009 was Germany and the junior Mannschaft
had players like Sven Bender and Lewis Holtby in the squad. Two years
after, Rabiu Ibrahim, a Nigerian midfielder, who was adjudged to be a
better player than both Bender and Holtby, just got signed by a Dutch
club,

PSV Eindhoven.
Meanwhile Bender and Holtby are regulars with Bundesliga sides,
Borrusia Dortmund and Mainz FC respectively. Also, the two players are
now full German internationals and you can almost say that they will be
at the next World Cup tournament in Brazil. That is called progression
and that is why FIFA set up the tournament.

The question then
is – when will a set of players from the African continent, who were
discovered at this level, lead their country to at least the semi-final
of the world event? That is the million-dollar question.

FIFA will look at
these examples and postulate that the concept has worked because it has
borne fruit for some countries but Africa is not enjoying as much a
success as these afore mentioned countries and analysts have said, the
issue is age-falsification. At U-20 level, the players are almost full
grown professionals but if they are really below the age limit, they
will continue to progress at a steady pace but for the Africans – the
insinuation is that they are already fully grown at that level and do
not improve any further.

But there is Ghana’s example

Though there might
be various explanations for the non-progression of seemingly more than
averagely talented players, there are still some postulations that can
be made. In the local league set up in most African countries, bar some
in the North and South Africa, player development in not taken
seriously. However the most common denominator in Africa is using
over-aged players to play the U-17 and U-20 tournaments that yield
quick ‘fruits’ for the players, their families and the coaches but
which five years down the line, the countries will come to rue.

But the only
African winners of the U-20 World Cup, Ghana have shown at least from
the promotion of most of the victorious 2009 set, that if done
properly, the national sides are the ultimate beneficiaries. The Black
Stars introduced six players from the victorious U-20 side into the
full national team that reached the quarter final of the 2010 World Cup
in South Africa. Players like Dominic Adiyah and particularly Andre
Ayew, captain of the U-20 side, showed with their feet that they can
progress to the next level and also perform well. Ayew even got
nominated as the young player of the tournament, though he lost out to
Thomas Mueller of Germany.

So as this 11th edition kicks off, the question that needs to be
answered is not, who will win the competition but which countries will
produce the football players that will take their country to a World
Cup triumph, let us say in Qatar 2018? That is the question that must
be answered as the eight countries join battle starting today in South
Africa.

Ahmed Musa, is
without a doubt, the biggest name in the Flying Eagles team to the
African Youth Championships (AYC) in South Africa, and justifiably so,
following his achievements over the past couple of years.

Last season, while
still playing for Nigerian club side Kano Pillars, the speedy VVV Venlo
of Holland forward finished as the top scorer of the Nigerian Premier
League with a record 18 goals.

He also played a
key role in Nigeria’s Super Eagles ‘B’ team’s successful march to
victory at the WAFU Cup decided last April on Nigerian soil, and has
since then gone on to gather a handful of caps for the main Super
Eagles team, grabbing a goal in Nigeria’s recent 3-0 success over Kenya
in Abuja.

Musa, thus arrives
at the AYC, along with Flying Eagles teammates Terna Suswam and Stanley
Okoro, as one of a handful of players who have already been capped at
senior level by their respective national teams.

But even his
participation at the AYC remains uncertain, despite assurances from the
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) that the 19-year-old will be released
by his Dutch club, who are desperately fighting against relegation from
the top flight division, for the AYC.

According to
information made available to NEXT by the NFF on Thursday, Musa will be
arriving South Africa today ahead of tomorrow’s game against Ghana.

Flying Eagles coach John Obuh also confirmed this to NEXT prior to his team’s departure for the tournament.

“That was also the information I got and it is a welcome development because he is crucial to our plans,” he said.

He added: “His teammates are already looking forward to seeing him.”

It won’t be Musa’s
first time playing under Obuh in the Flying Eagles team as he had
featured in some of the team’s pre-AYC qualification games.

But even as his
teammates await his arrival later today, he won’t be available for the
entire duration of the tournament, as he will only get to play the
opening two games against Ghana and Cameroun before returning to
Holland to play for Venlo, thus missing next Sunday’s game against
Gambia.

Obuh however hopes
qualification for the semifinals, along with a spot at this year’s FIFA
World Cup in Colombia, would have been secured by then.

“I guess that is the option available to us but we hope to have qualified for the semi-finals before our last match,” he added.

At 61, Mohammed Bin
Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation, knows his quest
for the FIFA presidency, up for grabs on June 1 in Zurich, is the last
throw of the dice for his career.

Seeking to topple
the politically-savvy Joseph Blatter, incumbent president of FIFA for
13 years, and its general secretary for 17 years before that, is an
extremely tall, some say impossible, order, even with the immense
wealth at the Qatari’s disposal.

“If I do not go for
what I believe today, there will be no other chance for me. I cannot be
going for this seat at the age of 70,” Bin Hammam confessed to me a
week ago, during an exclusive chat at his Kairaba Hotel suite in
Banjul, capital of The Gambia.

“FIFA is a great
organisation and many people have been touched by it in one way or the
other, because our sport is the most popular in the world.” “However,
FIFA has been facing too many accusations about corruption, even though
I have not seen any corruption within FIFA. We need transparency and
more teamwork [within the executive committee], which is missing.”

But Bin Hammam’s
15-year stretch on the FIFA executive committee, playing a key role
within it, leaves him with very little room to play the reformer’s
card, as he is the ultimate insider, I tell him.

Not surprisingly,
he strongly disagrees. “Having been a member of the Asian Football
Confederation for eight years before I became president, I know, from
my own experience, that if you are not in the leading position, you
cannot influence the major decisions.” “For sure, I have raised my
voice so many times [in the FIFA executive committee] over the last 15
years and have opposed the president within the four walls of our
meeting rooms, but without being at the top, one cannot make the needed
changes.” “I never thought of challenging Sepp Blatter, as I have been
with him from the beginning. But he told us that he only wanted two
terms. But those two finished and he asked for and got a third term and
now wants a fourth. It looks like things are not going to end
anywhere.”

Travelling to The
Gambia, not exactly one of world football’s premier destinations, Bin
Hammam sought the votes of FA bosses from the region, who met under the
auspices of the West African Football Union (WAFU), Nigeria being a
conspicuous absentee at this event.

“I am here to
campaign amongst friends and brothers. I have conveyed my worries and
problems to you and always tried to find joint solutions to our
problems,” he told the WAFU delegates.

But the decision of
Bin Hammam – and the other Asian members of the FIFA executive
committee – on July 6, 2000, to vote for Germany as the 2006 World Cup
host, instead of South Africa, severing a longstanding football bond
between the two continents, left a particularly sour taste in African
mouths.

When I confronted
him seven years ago in Malaysia, on what many, including CAF president
Issa Hayatou, saw as a betrayal of that alliance, Bin Hamman did not
express regret over his choice.

“The four [Asian
members of the FIFA executive committee] left the voting room with
clear consciences. We made a decision that was in the best interest of
world football.” And the passage of time has done nothing to alter his
view.

With Blatter and
Joao Havelange, his predecessor, spending a total of 36 years in the
presidential chair, many have called for an insertion of an eight-year
limit, consisting of two terms of four years, into FIFA’s statutes.

“Frankly speaking,
I agree with that,” Bin Hammam says, “because the game has developed so
much and I think a president should be able to achieve his goals within
that period.”

For Bin Hammam’s
thoughts on the controversial award of the 2022 World Cup to his
homeland of Qatar, his response to widespread allegations of his “undue
influence” in Africa and his deeper feelings on Blatter, read next
week’s ‘Point Blank’ for the final part of this special.

If
the current momentum in the country’s national football teams,
particularly the Super Eagles, can be sustained, then Nigeria may soon
return to the good old days when its players were the toast of European
clubs in the transfer market.

This is the view of
Shina Philips, one of Nigeria’s foremost FIFA and Nigeria Football
Federation (NFF) licensed football agents. He explained that the
downturn in country’s football fortunes, which only abated recently
with the appointment of Samson Siasia as Eagles gaffer, has made many
European clubs lose faith in Nigerian players and hence look to other
countries like Ghana to get their new stock of African talent.

For instance, in
the April football rankings released by FIFA, Nigeria is in the 38th
position while Ghana is 23 steps ahead leading the continent in 15th
place.

“Everywhere in the
world, clubs crave for good players because football is big business.
If you noticed, after the USA ’94 World Cup, there was a boom for
Nigerian players because we had a good national side. Once your
national team begins to produce results, it tells the entire world that
you have more in the kitty, it tells them that if the national team
could be as good as this, then the mine will definitely have more gold
therein” he said.

It would be
remembered that in the 90’s, Nigerian players were courted by big sides
like Dutch giants, Ajax, Italian clubs like AC Milan and Juventus and
also top German sides just to mention a few.

However it’s a
different case now, where second tier leagues in Greece, Belgium and
Turkey are now the major destinations of our top stars, though one or
two players ply their trade in the English Premier League.

“I remember one of
my friends; a Dutchman who is the manager of Bonfere Jo, he always told
me that; Shina, if you can get me another player like Okocha or
somebody that plays well like Kanu, then we have a deal” Philips added.

More worry

And on a sad note,
even though Nigeria has the highest number of FIFA licensed agents on
the African continent (119), many aspiring young footballers from the
country still keep falling prey to fake football agents.

Thousands of them
litter the streets of Europe, Asia and even the Middle East, all in
search of the proverbial “greener pasture”.

Unfortunately most
end up not fulfilling their dreams and thereby truncating these talents
by wasting away and living on menial jobs for survival. Some others
actually end up signing off their life away in slavery with some of
these ‘greedy’ clubs abroad.

Philips blamed this
sad trend of players selling themselves to slavery more on desperation
on the part of the players rather than illiteracy.

“There is no effect
without a cause, this disturbing trend you are seeing now is as a
result of the desperation of the players” he said.

“We are in a time
where Nigerian players are not selling in the international market like
they used to do formerly; it is a difficult time for the market
especially for the Nigerian players” he further explained.

Also contrary to a
previous media report, where Mr Philips was wrongly quoted as saying
Nigerian players are illiterate, the Italy-based agent said that it
will be wrong to make such assertions about Nigerian players.

“It will be wrong
to say Nigerian players are illiterate, they are not. Why because
anyone that goes through the primary education, secondary school and if
they are not able to further thereafter, doesn’t make them illiterate”
he said.

“It is safer to say
that the players are not informed in certain areas but it would be
erroneous and unfair to say that these players are illiterate” He
however advised players that it is safe for them to always have a legal
adviser and to have their agents watch whatever they want to sign.

Right direction

Fortunately, the
NFF is not oblivious of the role players’ agent can play in the
development of football in the country, hence the decision to partner
with Matchmakers Consult International in organising a players’ agent
workshop. Already the organizers of the maiden two-day workshop billed
for May 13 and 14 have confirmed the availability of its resource
persons for programme.

Marco Leal, who is
coming from world football-governing body, FIFA’s headquarters in
Zurich, Switzerland, is among the resource persons for the much
anticipated programme, which the NFF and the organizers believe would
make licensed match and players’ agents, better managers of their wards
and utilise the opportunities they have.

Also confirmed for
the event is Branco Martins from the European Football Agents
Association, Musa Amadu who is acting general secretary of the NFF and
Ian Birkmyre of the UK Consulate.

Super Eagles’ head
coach, Samson Siasia; NFF’s principal legal officer, Barrister Okey Obi
and president-general of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club, Rafiu
Oladipo are also involved.

Others expected to
contribute during the workshop include the secretary of the Association
of Professional Footballers of Nigeria, Austin Popo; NFF’s Nasiru
Jibril; financial and investment advisers; television presenter,
Charles Anazodo and the executive director of the Ondo State Football
Agency. Mike Idoko.

The workshop takes place at the Four Points Hotel by Sheraton, Lekki on May, 12 and 13, 2011.

Resounding
victories over Ethiopia in the Africa Nations Cup qualifying series and
another over Kenya in an international friendly match see the Super
Eagles move up just one spot in the latest monthly rankings released by
world football governing body, FIFA, yesterday.

The Eagles formerly
ranked 39th in the world are now in the 38th position while still
maintaining their ranking as the fourth best team on the African
continent.

Thus, the
expectation of some football fans that the 4-0 drubbing of Ethiopia and
the 3-0 victory over Kenya will translate into an appreciable leap has
been dashed.

The Black Stars of Ghana remain Africa’s highest-ranked team moving up the table to now occupy the 15th spot in the world.

Côte d’Ivoire, in
the 21st spot, and Egypt, in the 36th postion, are the other African
countries ranked ahead of Nigeria in the April FIFA rankings.

Meanwhile,
finalists at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Spain and the
Netherlands continue to stride clear atop the world rankings as they
maintain the 1st and 2nd spot respectively after recording victories in
their recent UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying games.

Significant movements

There was however
significant movements below as five-time world champions, Brazil clawed
back to third spot from her previous 5th position while Germany dropped
one place to 4th, same for Argentina that now occupy the 5th position.

Also, Italy
returned to the top ten after an absence of seven months as the Azzuris
leapt from the 11th spot to the 9th position.

There were also
some major movers in the top 50 of this month’s ranking, with Israel
(33rd, up 25), Belgium (37th, up 25), Albania (50th, up 23) and Algeria
(40th, up 15) making the biggest climbs of the teams in the top
half-century.

Four teams –
Montenegro (24th, up 1), Albania, Libya (58th, up 13) and Antigua and
Barbuda (100th, up 1) – are currently in their highest-ever position
since the launch of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking in 1993.

Ranking formula

124 international
matches have been played since the last edition of the ranking five
weeks ago, which has doubled the total number of games played in 2011
to 248.

Of these 124
matches, 50 were qualifiers for confederation championships (29 in
UEFA, 21 in CAF). The other 74 games were friendlies.

For the FIFA rankings, points are calculated on a match-by-match
basis using a formula which takes into consideration the result,
whether it was a tournament, qualification or friendly match, the
strength of the opposition based on their ranking position and the
strength of the region they are from. If a team loses, they receive no
points.

Manchester United have begun to peak at the perfect time as they charge towards a possible repeat of their 1999 treble after an accomplished win over Chelsea secured a Champions League semi-final spot.
Much of their season has been characterised by a knack of grinding out results without playing particularly well but the performance over both legs of a 3-1 aggregate victory against the London side was all about style and class.
Manager Alex Ferguson has been quick to point out that this season is very different to 1999 because of the injuries they have suffered but his players have recovered just in time for the run-in and returned with a new spark.
“I think we’ve hit our form,” said Ferguson after Tuesday’s 2-1 victory at Old Trafford. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. You’ve seen it in the second half at West Ham (a 4-2 win after being 2-0 down at halftime) and the (first leg) performance at Chelsea, plus the performance tonight.”
The Scot has said the return of key players such as centre-back Rio Ferdinand has been like signing new players but with the added bonus that they already know how to play for the club.
Ferdinand, who started limping early in Tuesday’s 2-1 win at Old Trafford but battled on, was just one of several key figures who were outstanding in a team whose cohesion is growing.
Mexico striker, Javier Hernandez, goal-poacher-in-chief, has been a revelation and his knack of netting at key moments has kept top scorer Dimitar Berbatov on the bench.
Energetic Rooney
Wayne Rooney has gelled better with Hernandez than Berbatov and seems to be revelling in a deeper position behind the Mexican that is proving very effective.
“He (Rooney) is enjoying the position he’s playing in at the moment because it has given him a lot of freedom to use his energy, in that position you do need energy,” Ferguson told a news conference after Tuesday’s victory.
In the first leg, Rooney was given too much space and scored the only goal of the game, and while Chelsea changed their shape to try to restrict him in the return leg he still pulled the strings and used his eye for a long ball to devastating effect.
Similarly effective has been the evergreen Ryan Giggs, who was involved in all three of his team’s goals in the tie, a feat made all the more remarkable by the fact he is now 37.
Giggs knows what it feels like to win the treble and that could be key as United seek success in the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup.
“His experience and composure are vital,” Ferguson said of the Welshman. “He’s just a unique person and player.
“He’s lucky, in the sense he’s got a physique that doesn’t carry any weight, he’s got fantastic balance… He looks after himself. To play at 37 years of age, there must be tremendous sacrifice to do that.”
Ferguson was heading to Germany on Wednesday to find out who his team will face in the Champions League last four, although it is likely to be Schalke 04 who lead holders Inter Milan 5-2 from the first leg at the San Siro.
If United win the semi-final, a trip to Wembley for the final would beckon and they will have an early chance to get a feel for the turf this Saturday when they face local rivals Manchester City in their FA Cup semi-final.

Ghana,
one of Nigeria’s first round opponents at the African Youth
Championship (AYC) have named their final squad for the tournament but
there was no space in the squad for former France junior international
Kelvin Osei who is now out of the tournament after delays in acquiring
a Ghanaian passport for him.

Marseille-born
Osei, who plays his club football with Olympique Marseille and who had
previously captained the French Under-17 side, was part of the squad
that has spent the past two weeks in Naivasha, Kenya but missed out on
the final squad released by coach Orlando Wellington.

Wellington said the midfielder was released by the technical team from Nairobi back to his base in Marseille.

But despite the
unavailability of the five feet, eight inches tall midfielder who
joined Marseille from regional side Olympique Saint Maximinois in 2003
and went on to become a first-team player in 2009, Wellington can count
on the services of nine overseas based players for the AYC.

They include the
Genoa of Italy duo of Richard Baokye-Yiadom and Masawudu Alhassan and
the Hapoel Be’er Sheva of Israel pair of Bright Addae and James Bissue.

The list also
includes Kwame Nsor of French side Metz, Benfica of Portugal’s Enoch
Ebo Andoh and Canada-based Gershon Koffie who plays for the Vancouver
Whitecaps.

The Ghanaians had
initially planned on having as many as 11 overseas-based players in
their AYC squad but were unable to secure the release of Marseille’s
Jordan Ayew, whose brother Andre Ayew captained the Black Satellites,
as the team is officially known, to the AYC title two years ago.

They were also not
able to secure the release of the Italy based duo of Daniel Kofi Agyei
(Fiorentina) and Afriyie Acquah (Palermo).

But irrespective of the absence of these players, the Ghanaian coach is optimistic his side will retain the AYC trophy.

Wellington said
that with nine foreign-based players in his stable, he was confident
his team will make an impact in the forthcoming tournament even as he
revealed the secret behind Ghana’s success at age-grade tournaments.

“We have invested
immensely in the youth and that is why we have achieved a lot. Once you
start with the youth teams, your work as a coach becomes easier
especially when you are conducting any selection,” he said.

He added: “We have
enjoyed our stay in Naivasha where the climatic conditions are similar
to what we are going to get in South Africa. God willing we shall
retain the trophy which we won last year in Kigali, Rwanda.”

Gambia also name squad

Meanwhile, Gambia,
who will be competing in Group B along with Cameroun, Ghana and Nigeria
has also named its final 21-man team for the tournament.

Lamin Sarr, coach
of the team, known as the Darling Scorpions, named the team after its
training at the Brikama Box Bar Stadium.

The list includes
Ousman Jarju of Spanish giants Atletico Madrid; Omar Jassey (San Jose
Earthquake, USA), Omar Colley (Kansas City Wizards, USA), Matarr Jobe
(FC Valour, Iceland), Ebrima Camara (Gonilis FC, Sweden), Ebrima Kanteh
Ndow (FC Salt, Spain), Saihou Gassama (Real Zaragoza, Spain) and
Baboucarr Jammeh (Rush Academy, USA).

Croatia-based defender Lamin Samateh was left out of the squad after his club blocked his release for the tournament.

A
nine-man team yesterday inspected facilities at the Abuja National
Stadium ahead of the international friendly that is to take place
between Nigeria and Argentina on June 1.

The team which comprised organizers and sponsors of the match also checked out the hotels and other areas within the stadium.

Areas that were
inspected include the media centre, control rooms, media workstation,
camera stands, corporate suites, dressing rooms, and the main pitch, as
well as training pitches at the National Stadium and at the FIFA
technical centre.

The hotels – Transcorp Hilton and Sheraton Hotels – were also looked at.

The team was led by
Jairon Pachon who is the match agent. Others in the crew were Mark
Holden-Aikhomu (Control Risk Security project manager), Niall MacGinnis
who is director of security, Tony Oghoghorie, head of security,
Guinness Nigeria, which is one of the sponsors; Kevin Woods, logistics
director; Ian Watts, Supersport operations manager; Haastrup Femi,
Supersports crew leader; Neal Rawlings, project director and John
Walker, technical director.

They were
accompanied around the stadium by the stadium manager, Victor Osunsanmi
and some Nigeria Football Federation officials which included Idris
Adama who is assistant secretary general, Ademola Olajire, chief media
mfficer and Alizor Chuks, head of marketing.

The team is expected round off its inspection today.

Coach
of Nigeria’s under 23 men’s football team, Augustine Eguavoen has
expressed delight with the outcome of Wednesday’s draws for the 2012
Olympic Games which saw Nigeria’s Dream Team V pitched against their
counterparts from Tanzania.

The draws which
were released by Africa’s football governing body, CAF, will see the
Nigerian team travelling to Dar es Salaam on Wednesday, May 4 for the
first-leg tie before returning home for the reverse fixture billed for
May 18.

The Tanzanians,
during the last round of the qualifiers for the London 2012 Olympics,
eliminated 2000 Olympic gold medallists Cameroun. After losing 2-1 to
the Camerounians in the first-leg tie in Yaounde, the Tanzanians
responded with a similar score line in Dar es Salaam before advancing
via a 4-3 penalty-shoot-out win.

But Eguavoen is
confident his team will not be added to the list of teams eliminated at
the hands of the East Africans, even as he admits that the draws could
had been tougher, as Nigeria could have easily been pitched against the
likes of Egypt, Senegal, or even Sudan who were responsible for the
elimination of Ghana.

“It is not bad. It
could had been worse, so I am happy with the draw as it gives us a good
chance to progress,” said Eguavoen. “That doesn’t mean it will be a
stroll in the park for us as they have got to be respected.

He added: “Any team
capable of holding its own against the Camerounians has got to be
respected. But I am confident. I believe in this team and I’m sure we
will make it to the next round.”

Mini-tournament

The next round will
see the eight teams left in the competition being drawn into two groups
in a mini-tournament to be played in December at a yet-to-be-determined
venue, at the end of which the top three-placed teams will qualify for
the Olympics.

The fourth best placed team will however qualify for a play-off with an opponent from the Asian continent.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Dream Team V will tomorrow leave for Monrovia,
venue of this weekend’s All Africa Games qualifier against Liberia.
Twenty players made the team for the trip and they include senior
internationals Ekigho Ehiosun and Chibuzor Okonkwo who came in as a
replacement for right-back Emmanuel Anyanwu, who is in the Flying
Eagles team to the Africa Youth Championship in South Africa.

Most Brazilian airports being upgraded for the 2014 soccer World Cup will not be ready on time, likely causing serious transport bottlenecks for fans, a government-backed research group said on Thursday.
Only two of 13 airport terminals under expansion are on schedule to be completed by the time the tournament begins in June 2014, while a third might be ready, “if everything goes right,” according to a study by Brazil’s Institute for Applied Economic Research, or Ipea.
Brazil, which will also host the 2016 Summer Olympics, is scrambling to find investment to address severe infrastructure deficiencies — from overcrowded airports and sea ports to poor roads and insufficient public transport in major cities like Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
“The situation is such that it’s increasingly unlikely that these projects will be ready on time,” said Carlos Campos, one of the authors of the study.
Brazil’s government and Cup organizers promised to complete work on airports, stadiums and other related infrastructure as a condition of holding the tournament, the world’s most popular sporting event.
The country’s tourism ministry is expecting between 800,000 and 1 million visitors for the Cup.
Infraero, the state-owned airport authority, has budgeted 1.4 billion reais ($887 million) for upgrades to 13 airports in the 2011-2014 period. Nine airports, eight in cities hosting games and one that helps serve Sao Paulo, are behind schedule, Ipea said.
In addition to the 13 airports being upgraded for the Cup, a brand-new airport in Natal, another World Cup host city, still has no firm date for completion.
So many projects related to the Cup and Olympics are behind schedule that Pele, the Brazilian soccer legend, warned in February that Brazil risks “embarrassing itself.
Ipea put much of the blame for the delay on Infraero, which it said “has a low level of efficiency in the execution of investment programs.” The study urged the agency to take swift action to improve its management.
Even if all 13 airport upgrades were to be ready on time, 10 are expected to be operating over capacity by the time of the Cup, Ipea said. Fourteen of Brazil’s 20 largest airports are already operating at more than 80 percent of capacity.
Brazil will likely have to adopt temporary terminals with remote boarding facilities far from principal buildings to provide capacity needed to move visitors to the Cup and Olympics, the study concluded.
REUTERS