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Following the Super Eagles’ group stage
exit at the last World Cup, Lars Lagerback embarked on a two-week leave
that was approved by the Nigeria Football Federation.

Weeks after the tournament in South
Africa, the Swede is yet to return to Nigeria, much less give a report
on the national team’s performance at the tournament.

The question now on everybody’s mind is whether the 62-year-old has dumped Nigeria for good.

On Friday, it was reported in some
Nigerian newspapers that Lagerback had turned down an offer to continue
as Nigeria’s coach. The reports, which quoted acting Nigeria Football
Federation (NFF) boss Aminu Maigari, said the Swede had informed him
that he did not wish to continue in his post despite being offered a
four-year deal by the federation.

When contacted, Lagerback’s agent,
Emeka Enechi, who handled the Nigeria deal, said the status of the
Swede’s job is unclear to him. Mr. Enechi, however, promised to speak
on the matter when he visits Nigeria on July 31.

Mixed reactions

The Eagles’ performance under the Swede
has evoked mixed reactions with most Nigerians casting the NFF for
spending so much on a coach who delivered so little. Many say the
Eagles’ performance in South Africa was no different from that of the
squad under Adegboye Onigbinde at the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan.

They insist the Eagles should have done
better given that the usually vexatious issue of match bonuses and
allowances for players had been sorted out in advance by the NFF.

However, there are those who believe
that Lagerback did his best given circumstances that prevailed in the
build up to the tournament. These circumstances included a number of
issues notably the inability of the football federation to organise
matches early enough for Lagerback to get a feel of his squad and
bickering over a camp base for the Eagles in South Africa.

“We did not prepare well for the World
Cup,” said former Super Eagles defender Nduka Ugbade, who holds a UEFA
Grade-A coaching license.

“The preparation was terrible but if
Lagerback could handle the team for 30 days and do the job he did I
think he deserves a second chance.”

Indeed, the Eagles were pathetic in
South Africa playing second fiddle and depending on goalkeeper Vincent
Enyeama for the greater part of their game against Argentina, before
handing Greece a historic win in a game that saw Sani Kaita losing his
cool when it mattered most.

Their profligacy in front of goal also
cost them a second round ticket in their last group match against
Korea, a development supporters of Lagerback believe resulted from his
not having enough time to tinker with the squad.

“I wanted Lagerback to stay for the
sake of continuity,” said Chukwuma Akuneto, who is the coach of the
U-18 side of FC United, the side that broke away from Manchester United
a few years ago.

“Argentina, despite their poor outing,
are retaining Diego Maradona, England are keeping Fabio Capello, so
continuity is the word that is synonymous with success.

“He is a well respected guy and the
World Cup had given him an opportunity to understand the Nigerian
football player culturally, psychologically, mentally, technically and
tactically,” added Akuneto, who has in the past four years also led
Manchester College to nine national titles.

Looking inwards

Ugbade disagrees with Akuneto on the
propriety of retaining the Swede. Despite his view that Nigeria’s
failure in South Africa should not be blamed on Lagerback, he feels
that given Nigeria’s style of play differs substantially from the
European style, we need to look inwards for a coach for the Eagles.

“Nigerians must learn to take their
fate in their own hands. Even Lagerback said this after our exit in
South Africa,” continued Ugbade, recalling the Swede’s statements
urging African countries to have indigenous coaches rather than
expatriates in charge of their national teams.

“All the African countries that were at
the World Cup with foreign coaches, with the exception of Ghana, all
crashed out in the first round,” he added.

Former Super Eagles defender Andrew
Uwe, also now a coach, has never been in support of a foreigner
handling the Nigerian national team despite spending the better part of
his Super Eagles career playing under the likes of German national
Manfred Hoener and Dutchman Clemens Westerhof.

“Germany had a German coach and his
assistants consisted of former national team players,” said Uwe. “It
was also the same for the Dutch team who had the likes of Frank De Boer
and Philip Cocu assisting the coach.

“Most of these big countries made it
big in football because they developed their own coaches and we can’t
afford to be any different,” added Uwe, who captained the Flying Eagles
to a third-place finish at the 1985 FIFA U-20 World Cup in the former
USSR.

Siasia resurfaces

In the period that Lagerback has been
away, pressure has mounted on the leadership of the NFF to pick a
Nigerian coach for the Eagles.

Many names have been bandied in the
media in the last few weeks. The names include Augustine Eguavoen, who
was Lagerback’s Nigerian assistant in South Africa, Samson Siasia and
John Obuh, present coach of the Flying Eagles.

In the last few days, however, Siasia
has shot to the top of the list with former teammates in the Eagles
calling on the NFF to hire him.

“I don’t know why people keep asking
who should be given the Super Eagles job when we have somebody who has
been tested to handle the job without any problem,” said Tijani
Babangida, Siasia’s former teammate.

Another former teammate, Thompson
Oliha, added: “We all know the qualities in Siasia and everyone who
really wants the best for Nigeria will know that he has what it takes
to coach the Super Eagles.”

By Friday it was looking like Siasia
may clinch the job as NFF boss Maigari was quoted as saying that: “We
have had talks with Siasia. The talks have been fruitful and all things
being equal, he will put pen to paper next month subject to
negotiations,” said Maigari.

“Siasia is the coach Nigerians want and we shall give him all the support to succeed in this new job.”

Whether this will materialise remains
to be seen as Siasia is seen as thorn in the flesh of federation
officials for his stubbornness. Two years ago when a new coach was
sought for the Eagles following the exit of German Bert Vogts, Siasia
was in pole position to clinch the job after emerging top candidate
following interviews conducted by the federation. At the last minute,
the job was handed to Shuaibu Amodu, the coach replaced by Lagerback in
February.

Siasia, currently technical adviser of
Heartland FC of Owerri confirmed he has had discussions with the NFF
over the Eagles job: “I have had discussions with them but we can only
wait and see,” said Siasia. “It will be a great honour handling my
country’s national team. It is the biggest job in the world as far as I
am concerned but if I do get it I will do my best not to disappoint
Nigerians who have placed so much trust in me.”

If Siasia, as expected, becomes the
next Super Eagles coach, his service will be divided between club and
country as he still has a deal with his current employers Heartland.

The former Nantes forward, who won a
French league title with the side back in 1995, however, disclosed that
he had the Super Eagles job in mind when negotiating with the
management of the Naze Millionaires.

“I will be able to divide my time
between the club and the national team,” he continued. “I knew at the
back of my mind that there was always going to be the possibility of
that happening and that was why I told the club to bring in Emeka
Ezeugo.” Ezeugo, who played with Siasia at the 1994 World Cup, is
Siasia’s assistant at the Owerri based side and had previously coached
in India.

After a month-long
football fiesta in which there was excitement, drama, intrigue and
controversy, we said good bye to Zakumi the mascot, the Jabulani ball
and the Vuvuzela. Love it or hate it, the blowing horn became
synonymous with the first African World Cup. This World Cup also saw
the failure of many well known players and the rise of exciting new
talent, like Germany’s Thomas Müller and Mesut Özil.

Germany ought to
have been in the final but fell short when it mattered the most; there
was the French team mutiny and an encouraging display from Ghana as a
sole African representative in the quarterfinals; then there was the
15-card final that saw a deserving Spanish side emerge as world
champions. They showed that teamwork, hard work and technique are key
ingredients of success. Ultimately, it was a victory for football.

With an estimated
700 million television audience, there’s no doubting the worldwide
appeal of the Mundial. We must congratulate South Africa on this
all-out success – splendid scenery and stadia and I am told, a warm
atmosphere. The World Cup was a truly unifying event. The FIFA
presidentSepp Blatter, commended the hosts and is willing to back a
possible bid by Durban to host the 2020 summer Olympics. This has shown
that with the right attitude and adequate preparation, other African
countries can succeed at hosting major tournaments.

With such a large
number of football players on show, it’s always tempting to try to
choose the best side from a diverse group. In my entirely subjective
World XI, I would opt for a 4-3-3 formation with Iker Casillas in goal.
In support: Portugal’s Fábio Coentrão on the left, and Sergio Ramos,
Carles Puyol and Lucio completing the back quartet. In midfield would
be Javier Mascherano (holding), Bastian Schweinsteiger (marauding) and
Xavi as playmaker. Thomas Müeller, Wesley Sneijder and Andrés Iniesta
are also more than capable but as an armchair manager, I am allowed to
choose. As a strike force, I’d have Diego Forlan on the right, David
Villa on the left with Miroslav Klose in the middle. On the bench,
Fernando Muslera, the Uruguayan goalkeeper, Philipp Lahm, Gerard Piqué,
Sami Khedira, Arjen Robben, Lukas Podolski and the villainous Luis
Suarez. Honourable mentions go to Vincent Enyeama, Kalu Uche, John
Pantsil, Asamoah Gyan, Kevin Prince Boateng, Fabregas, Van der Wiel and
van Bommel, Alonso, Maicon, Cardoso, Alonso and Higuain. Coaches
Vicente Del Bosque and Joachim Loew will jointly manage my world-class
team. My goal of the tournament goes to Giovanni van Bronckhorst for
his rocket against Uruguay.

For the sheer
delight I felt at the time, I’ll add Sulley Muntari’s 40-yard strike
against Uruguay. As there were good moments, so there were ugly/bad
ones; and the Suarez handball that denied Ghana a goal opportunity was
one of those. Nigel de Jong’s karate chop on Alonso was another. So
also was Domenech’s refusal to shake Parreira’s hand after France’s
exit in the first round; and Bert van Marwijk’s removal of the
second-placed medal in a show of bad sportsmanship. Despite those, it
was a thoroughly enjoyable month and it’ll be hard to adjust to
watching less football (there are 30 days until the start of the
Premier League season, but who’s counting?) Here’s wishing Paul the
Octopus a happy retirement. Should he want one last job, he might come
to the waters of Nigeria and help us out with the 2011 elections.

Who said Africa can’t host a World Cup? So long, South Africa.

I had looked forward to the extraordinary congress of the
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which held last Friday.

Somehow, I had nursed the hope that something positive would come
out of it given developments of the days leading up to the congress.

In the immediate aftermath of the impeachment of NFF boss, Sani
Lulu, and two of his lieutenants, a member of the football house’s congress had
wryly remarked that the next step would be to sack the entire board of the
federation.

Given the fact that the sacked NFF chiefs were not alone in
their misadventure, I had been impressed that the effete congress was finally
going to do something reasonable. That expectation proved to be forlorn.

The whole exercise, rather than deal with key issues relating to
the administration of the game particularly the vexed issue of Lulu’s
unilateral tinkering with the NFF statutes, turned out to be a huge waste of
time.

Rather than dissecting the Lulu statutes to see whether the
changes are such as may not have a salutary effect on the running of football,
they tactlessly adopted it wholesale.

From the communiqué adopted at that meeting, it was clear that
the bulk of the individuals who gathered in Abuja that day were more interested
in rubber stamping Lulu’s removal and clearing themselves of allegations of
wrongdoing in respect to the alleged jamboree in South Africa than charting a
new course for football in the country.

This fact is made clear from the communiqué when they took pains
to state that the congress: “Noted with satisfaction the submission of the NFF
Executive Committee that there is no iota of truth in the allegation that State
FAs were each bribed with the sum of N5,000,000 (Five Million Naira)”.

Knowing the lack of morals and fidelity of some of the men who
run football in Nigeria, the truth of what happened in South Africa will come
out one day; maybe even sooner than we think.

If I were to hazard a guess however, I’ll definitely wager that
something untoward must have transpired to have pushed members of the congress
to rush to deny receipt of any bribe. For the duration of the World Cup, there
were speculations that Lulu took the 37 state football association chairmen to
South Africa in order to win them over to his side.

When you consider that Lulu’s original move was to trim the
number of members of congress eligible to vote at the August elections to 44
including the 37 chairman of state FAs then you begin see that the allegation
of wrongdoing may not be farfetched.

A missed opportunity

As things stand, nothing has changed. We are still stuck with
the same old characters; men who lack spunk and ideas to drive Nigerian
football. We are stuck with a collection of yes-men, a motley mix of goons and
timeservers incapable of generating new ideas.

The speed with which they disowned Lulu and his impeached
henchmen and embraced their ‘sworn enemies’ in the sports ministry clearly
shows that they lacked the courage of their convictions. To just keel over
without making a stand shows clearly that they are just plain craven. An
individual should stand for something or he will fall for anything. No matter
how untenable a man’s beliefs are, he should be able to defend them until a
superior argument knocks it over. For the men in the NFF interim executive
committee and the congress at large, that seems not to be an option.

Now, I do not suggest that the removal of Lulu was wrong. If
anything, I believe it was the best thing to happen to Nigerian football in a
long while. My point is that Nigerian football would have been better served if
the entire leadership of the NFF had thrown in the towel or at least tried to
defend their performance in office instead of capitulating without a fight.

How these men hope to organise an election in which credible
people will emerge remains to be seen. With the present statutes in place, any
hope of an inclusive administration of football may be farfetched. The reason
is that the statutes put too much power in the hands of the president who may
decide to wield it arbitrarily. In a sense, it can be said that Lulu himself
became a victim of the near unbridled powers he was handed by the statutes.

And so, rather than address this important issue, the congress
elected to maintain the status quo to the detriment of Nigerian football.

This World Cup was supposed to belong
to Leo Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. All three players had
fantastic seasons with their respective clubs and everyone expected
their goals to light up this tournament. They did, after all, combine
for 114 goals over the 2009/2010 campaign.

However, by the time of the semi-finals
in South Africa, all three superstars had flown home and had to watch
the rest of the tournament on TV. Between them, they played 13 games
and scored just one goal.

So what went wrong? Well, it’s
impossible to generalise and use the same explanation for every player,
so let’s take it one case at a time.

Let’s start with Messi. He scored 47
goals in 53 games for Barcelona, yet at the World Cup, he couldn’t hit
the back of the net once. Now I believe Leo was actually unlucky not to
get his name on the score sheet. He had 15 shots on target, but found
some inspired goalkeepers in his way. The major problem, though, was
that he was asked to do too much.

At Barcelona, he normally receives the
ball relatively close to the area, while with Argentina; he often had
to pick it up on the halfway line. It was common to see Messi tracking
back and having to be the playmaker and then at the same time trying to
finish off the moves himself. It was just too much. The reigning World
Player of the Year wasted too much energy in areas which should have
been occupied by midfielders,

not a forward like him. As a result,
most of his shots on target were either from outside the area (11 out
of 15), or after he had made a 30 or 40 yard run.

He is a phenomenon, but is not superman.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s problem was one of
isolation. Carlos Queiroz decided to play his star player in a forward
role, and ultimately paid the price. Ronaldo did score in this World
Cup, but so did practically the whole team against North Korea. It was
his first goal in 16 months for the national team so it really does
show that he is not being used in the correct manner.

Isolated

I noticed every
time Cristiano got the ball, he had no-one around him to pass it to.
Portugal were playing in a counter attacking style and often left the
Real Madrid standout on his own up front hoping he would miraculously
dribble past two or three players and score.

Some Portuguese
fans have told me recently that they feel Ronaldo doesn’t try hard
enough when he plays for his national team. I disagree. I believe he
actually tries too hard, but is often stranded on his own up front,
with a mountain to climb every single time he touches the ball.

What about Rooney?
Wayne didn’t look 100% fit and he lacked the sharpness that we have
come to expect. In four games, he managed only six shots on target, and
that is simply not good enough.

Besides fitness, Rooney can also blame a lack of service from the
midfielders. Neither Frank Lampard nor Steven Gerrard provided enough
passes to the front man, especially around the box. I saw the
Manchester United star run around aimlessly too often, desperately
looking to get the ball. And he did not see enough of it.

After a deplorable
World Cup campaign; bad preparation leading to an early exit; our
football can’t seem to stay out of the news. And we’ve gone
international. President Goodluck Jonathan’s ban on Nigerian football
teams’ participation in international tournaments for two years, and
his shake-up of the Nigerian Football Federation, NFF, divided
Nigerians. Some praised the bold move by the president, but others
believe that it was high-handedness that would only serve to ostracize
the nation in international circles. It made me think of penning a
letter that might go somewhat like this:

Dear Mr. President,

It is with the
greatest humility that I write to you regarding the recent to-do
surrounding the dissolution of the Nigerian Football Federation, and
the banning of our football teams from international competitions for
two years. I must confess, I was a little surprised by this act. Who
would have thought it? You give new meaning to the saying ‘still waters
run deep!’ I understand exactly how you feel and the fury that led you
to making that decision. The Super Eagles make you feel like throttling
each and every one of them, and I am far from being a violent person.
It’s not just the team that stoke the fires of our indignation; it’s
also the NFF and their machinations. Football development is
nonexistent and any funding to the sector seems to have gone down the
proverbial drain.

Rule of law

While we agree that
only a major change in mind set can move our football forward, I must
refer to your predecessor of blessed memory when we ask that this must
be done by adhering to the ‘rule of law.’ It therefore gladdens my
heart that you have rescinded the ban on our football teams. This
problem has to be solved from home, without alienating FIFA. In any
case, as a member of the body, we agreed to be bound by their rules or
face sanctions. Your astuteness in ensuring that the face-off did not
degenerate further is to be admired. What is of utmost importance is
how to make certain that we can harness the talent in the country to
build formidable football teams at all levels and to lay down the
blueprint for a sustainable development programme. The poor showing in
South Africa is but a symptom of a greater disease. Unfortunately the
malady extends to other sports and it is hoped that this will also be
looked into.

A competent supervisor

As we reflect on
these problems, one must also seek to proffer solutions. Sir, I cannot
presume to be as wise as you. However, I offer a couple of suggestions:
Firstly, however exasperating it may be to watch the NFF thrust
football on a downward spiral, you must resist the urge to directly
intervene. You would have appointed a trusted minister of sports with
the required pedigree, who has oversight functions for sports as a
whole and under whose jurisdiction this comes. He or she must hold all
elected officials under the ministry to account. The onus of accounting
and disclosure obligations rests on them. They would have drawn up a
workable plan on how they intend to achieve tangible results. Progress
reports must be submitted periodically to show what is being achieved
(or not as the case may be.) Grass roots development must be the
mainstay of any move forward. This is my humble opinion and is not an
end in itself but might be a start. Again, permit my boldness Sir, as I
wish you a successful stay in office.

It’s hard to
believe that the World cup final is here. It has been an interesting
one month in South Africa and I truly can’t imagine a better organised
tournament. Contrary to all the negative reports from the European
journalists on security, incomplete stadia, etc, prior to the World
Cup, South Africa has pulled off a remarkable feat. I hope those
journalists will now bow their heads in shame. FIFA must be proud even
though this is probably not the final pairing they wanted.

A World Cup final
without the ‘big four’? Who would have thought so? Personally, I love
the fact that today, a new winner will emerge. Who will it be? My heart
goes to the men in orange. They have been perennial underachievers, and
considering Spain are the current European champions, it would be nice
for the Netherlands to finally win a trophy.

Its crunch time and
you hear all sorts of predictions, to the extent that an animal is
involved in the World Cup. You must love the game of football. An
Octopus named Paul has become the most famous animal amongst football
fans. Octopus Paul rightly predicted the outcome of the semi-final
match between Germany and Spain. It’s all quite hilarious.

Not too long ago,
two years ago to be precise, Rafael Nadal won his first Wimbledon
title, dethroning then five-time champion Roger Federer, making him the
first man since Borg to win the French open and the Wimbledon titles.
The same year Nadal won his first Wimbledon title, his country, Spain,
became champions of Europe. Two weeks ago, Nadal won his second
Wimbledon title and Spain of course are in the World Cup final for the
first time. Nadal himself is a passionate football lover and a diehard
Real Madrid fan; I can almost bet anything that he will be at the
stadium later today. Perhaps the wonder boy of Spain will bring them
the title once again. We shall find out in a few hours.

Nadal or no Nadal, the ‘orange boys’ are not joking.

The key man on the
team, Wesley Sneijder, who happens to be my player of the tournament,
has consistently demonstrated his importance to the team by scoring
crucial goals at crucial moments. He is playing like he has a point to
prove. Why not? After all, Real Madrid didn’t think he was good enough;
they off loaded him and Arjen Robben for Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka,
for the most ridiculous of amounts.

Talk about ‘the
stone that was rejected becoming the chief corner stone’. He couldn’t
have asked for a better year, coming from winning the treble with Inter
Milan, he is in the World Cup final and to crown it all, may win the
golden boot today, and he is set to be married to one of Holland’s
hottest TV stars next week. Could life get any better?

Captain, Van
Bronkhorst, will end his career as a footballer today. He scored the
opening goal against Uruguay. I truly hope that he can finish his
career on a high.

Their opponents
today boast an array of skilful players, with most of the team playing
for Barcelona. In fact, against Germany, seven Barcelona players
started the match. Their passes were so sublime that you could see
‘Catalunya’ written all over. Star striker, David Villa, believes Spain
have shown throughout this tournament that they are able to produce
their best when needed. “We’ve shown that in the big moments, we’ve
risen to the occasion,” Villa said.

Like Sneijder,
Villa himself is a contender for the golden boot. Thirty-two-year-old
Puyol for me has been the best central defender in the tournament and
it was rewarding that his header helped his team to the final. He
showed the German young guns what experience can bring. Iker Casillas
made some brilliant saves also from the young Germans but the Spanish
side were unstoppable. They dominated possession as we have seen all
through the tournament. One thing I noticed though is they never take
their chances. Against Swizerland, they had 14 shots on goal and didn’t
convert any. The Swiss had two shots on goal and they took one. If they
do not take their chances against the Dutch today, they will be
punished.

I see free flowing football today, and as much as I want the orange
boys to lift the trophy, I would like to see good football; after all
it is the World Cup final.

I had looked forward to the extraordinary congress of the
Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which held last Friday.

Somehow, I had nursed the hope that something positive would come
out of it given developments of the days leading up to the congress.

In the immediate aftermath of the impeachment of NFF boss, Sani
Lulu, and two of his lieutenants, a member of the football house’s congress had
wryly remarked that the next step would be to sack the entire board of the
federation.

Given the fact that the sacked NFF chiefs were not alone in
their misadventure, I had been impressed that the effete congress was finally
going to do something reasonable. That expectation proved to be forlorn.

The whole exercise, rather than deal with key issues relating to
the administration of the game particularly the vexed issue of Lulu’s
unilateral tinkering with the NFF statutes, turned out to be a huge waste of
time.

Rather than dissecting the Lulu statutes to see whether the
changes are such as may not have a salutary effect on the running of football,
they tactlessly adopted it wholesale.

From the communiqué adopted at that meeting, it was clear that
the bulk of the individuals who gathered in Abuja that day were more interested
in rubber stamping Lulu’s removal and clearing themselves of allegations of
wrongdoing in respect to the alleged jamboree in South Africa than charting a
new course for football in the country.

This fact is made clear from the communiqué when they took pains
to state that the congress: “Noted with satisfaction the submission of the NFF
Executive Committee that there is no iota of truth in the allegation that State
FAs were each bribed with the sum of N5,000,000 (Five Million Naira)”.

Knowing the lack of morals and fidelity of some of the men who
run football in Nigeria, the truth of what happened in South Africa will come
out one day; maybe even sooner than we think.

If I were to hazard a guess however, I’ll definitely wager that
something untoward must have transpired to have pushed members of the congress
to rush to deny receipt of any bribe. For the duration of the World Cup, there
were speculations that Lulu took the 37 state football association chairmen to
South Africa in order to win them over to his side.

When you consider that Lulu’s original move was to trim the
number of members of congress eligible to vote at the August elections to 44
including the 37 chairman of state FAs then you begin see that the allegation
of wrongdoing may not be farfetched.

A missed opportunity

As things stand, nothing has changed. We are still stuck with
the same old characters; men who lack spunk and ideas to drive Nigerian
football. We are stuck with a collection of yes-men, a motley mix of goons and
timeservers incapable of generating new ideas.

The speed with which they disowned Lulu and his impeached
henchmen and embraced their ‘sworn enemies’ in the sports ministry clearly
shows that they lacked the courage of their convictions. To just keel over
without making a stand shows clearly that they are just plain craven. An
individual should stand for something or he will fall for anything. No matter
how untenable a man’s beliefs are, he should be able to defend them until a
superior argument knocks it over. For the men in the NFF interim executive
committee and the congress at large, that seems not to be an option.

Now, I do not suggest that the removal of Lulu was wrong. If
anything, I believe it was the best thing to happen to Nigerian football in a
long while. My point is that Nigerian football would have been better served if
the entire leadership of the NFF had thrown in the towel or at least tried to
defend their performance in office instead of capitulating without a fight.

How these men hope to organise an election in which credible
people will emerge remains to be seen. With the present statutes in place, any
hope of an inclusive administration of football may be farfetched. The reason
is that the statutes put too much power in the hands of the president who may
decide to wield it arbitrarily. In a sense, it can be said that Lulu himself
became a victim of the near unbridled powers he was handed by the statutes.

And so, rather than address this important issue, the congress
elected to maintain the status quo to the detriment of Nigerian football.

Heartland FC have
promised to be the better team when they take on Algeria’s JS Kabylie
in their next match of the 2010 CAF Champions league campaign. The Naze
Millionaires were held to a one all draw in their game against Egypt’s
Al-Ahly last Sunday in Owerri in a game that saw Heartland creating
numerous chances only to be denied either by the Egyptian goalie or
their profligacy in front of goal. It was only four minutes into the
second half that they were able to convert a chance into a goal with a
simple tap-in from Bello Koformata.

Al-Ahly on the other hand scored
from the penalty spot. “It was a mistake,” declared the team’s
assistant coach Emeka Ezeugo while talking about the goal that saw the
Egyptian club equalizing in the 75th minute following a rash tackle on
Mohammed Barakat in the penalty area by Emmanuel Olowo with Mohammed
Abou Trika converting the resultant penalty kick.

Heartland’s new
coaching crew is made up of the duo of Samson Siasia and Ezeugo who
recently took up the appointment of managing the team and had just four
training sessions with the first team squad before their match against
the Egyptian side that has won a record six Champions League titles. At
the moment the coaching crew is concentrating on the getting to know
the team but they also want to see how best they can work together to
achieve their goals in subsequent games beginning with their July 31
game in Algeria against JS Kabylie.

Rest days

The players didn’t
train on Monday and Tuesday but preparations for the tie against the
Algerians will begin in earnest on Wednesday according to Ezeugo.
“There’s no training today,” disclosed the former Super Eagles
midfielder in a telephone interview with NEXTSports. “We gave the
players an opportunity to rest but training will begin on Wednesday.”
The Algerian side currently top the Group B standings after securing a
crucial 1-0 away win over Egypt’s Ismaily with the only goal arriving
15 minutes from time from the head of Essaid Belkalem after a corner
kick. “We will try to know the players and their coaches, see the way
they play and build up from there,” continued Ezeugo who also added
that the coaching crew saw last Sunday’s game as an opportunity to
watch the players in competitive mood and discover their loopholes, top
of which is their inability to convert chances that came their way into
goals. “We would have to work on their finishing. The boys created good
chances but failed to convert them,” added Ezeugo who also disclosed
the club’s plans to play a series of friendly matches with some local
teams even though the specifics have not been put in place. The team
would be in Nigeria until July 29 when they plan to head out to Algeria
to acclimatize. The match will be played in Algiers on July 31, a day
before Al- Ahly takes on Ismaily in Cairo.

Nigeria’s Falconets
have set their sights on securing their place in the knockout rounds of
the ongoing FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany by getting a result
against their upcoming opponents Mexico on Wednesday in Bochum.

With four points
already in their nest, following a 1-1 draw against England and a 2-1
win over Japan, the Falconets only need a draw on Wednesday to qualify
for the quarter finals.

A draw will see
both Nigeria and Mexico advancing to the quarter finals and the team’s
coach Ndem Egan is hoping to lead the Falconets to their fourth
successive quarter final appearance.

“As I said after our opening draw with England, my players have a winning mindset,” said Egan in an interview with Fifa.com.

“In the first game,
all we were lacking was that little bit of luck you need to claim three
points. Against Japan our game clicked into place right from the
kick-off, and we overcame them with our strength and speed.

“I’m very pleased and happy for my players. But we now need to focus on Mexico, our upcoming opponents.

“We’re not quite there yet – we need to make sure of our place in the next round in the final group match.”

The Falconets were
wasteful in their opening game against England and had to come from
behind to pull off a 1-1 draw against the European champions. They,
however, displayed better finishing skills against the Japanese,
winning 2-1 with goals from Amarachi Okoronkwo and Desire Oparanozie
with the first Falconets goal arriving after just six minutes.

“After grabbing the
opening goal, the only thing I could think of was to run to the bench
to celebrate with my team-mates,” described Okoronkwo, who also scored
during the group stage of the 2008 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in New
Zealand.

“It was very important to score first.”

Goals provider

Ebere Orji was the
creator of both Nigerian goals against the Japanese side. She was also
the provider of the cross that led to Nigeria’s equalizer against
England and currently has three assists in the tournament.

Together with the
team’s leading scorer, Oparanozie, she has been one of the stars of the
tournament and explains the secret to the Falconets’ success, just as
she looks forward to her first goal of the tournament.

“We try to stamp
our style of play on games, by controlling possession and attacking in
numbers,” said Orji, who took part in the last U-17 World Cup in New
Zealand.

“Many of the
players in the squad know each other from our New Zealand 2008 campaign
and that familiarity extends to the field of play.

“I want to help out
my team with my ability to put the ball in the net, but for the moment
I’m not having much luck in that department. I am happy to have played
some part in the goals, though,” added Orji, who scored once at New
Zealand 2008 and three times at the previous FIFA Women’s U-20 World
Cup in Chile, also in 2008.

After a nerve-wracking 2-1 win over Japan, the U-20 female
national team, the Falconets will have to keep their wits to get the result
needed to progress to the quarter finals.

In the 22nd match at the tournament in the German town of
Bochum, Desire Oparanozie, who has scored two goals in the two matches and her
strike partner, Ebere Orji will hope to score the goals to conquer the Mexican
girls. Orji, with all her all-action style has not hit the target in Germany
but her work rate has produced some assists told fifa.com that all she is
thinking of is helping her team to the next round.

“I want to help out my team with my ability to put the ball in
the net, but for the moment I’m not having much luck in that department. I am
happy to have played some part in the goals, though.” The Nigerian defence led
by Joy Jegede, captain of the side have to stay concentrated for the duration
of the match as the duo of Charlyn Corral and Stephany Mayor are blessed with
silky skills and will hurt the team if not well shackled. Their goal tender
Cecilia Santiago will also play a vital role as she has 17 saves in the
championship so far.

How to play the Mexicans The Les Aztecas are a very skilful
bunch and pack a very fast counter-attacking system. The captain, Renae Cuellar
is the midfield dynamo who keeps the motor running.

Esther Sunday must be more productive in her link-up play and as
she has shown so far, she could become the Nigerian team’s joker if she
concentrates fully on the job to be done. The Nigerian team must also make sure
that they score at least 70% of all chances created. In their first two
matches, the team created a lot of chances, especially against England, a game
that they should have comfortably seen off.

Coach Egan has to be in touch with his defenders so that their
concentration is tip-top.

The coach, Adat Egan has shown that he will tinker the team if
necessary is optimistic but also cautious as his team faces Group C leaders,
Mexico in the game that will determine who tops the group.

“As I said after our opening draw with England, my players have
a winning mindset. In the first game, all we were lacking was that little bit
of luck you need to claim three points. Against Japan our game clicked into
place right from the kick-off, and we overcame them with our strength and
speed.

“I’m very pleased and happy for my players. But we now need to
focus on Mexico, our upcoming opponents. We’re not quite there yet – we need to
make sure of our place in the next round in the final group match.” The Falconets
need at least a draw to be assured of a place in the next round. All last group
matches will kick off at the same time.

Group C Table Team

Results

14 July England 1-1 Nigeria

14 July Mexico 3-3 Japan

17 July Nigeria 2-1 Japan

17 July England 0-1 Mexico

Other fixtures

15:00 Bielefeld Japan vs. England

15:00 Bochum Nigeria vs. Mexico

18:00 Bielefeld Korea Rep vs. USA

18:00 Bochum Ghana vs. Switzerland