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South Africa’s
government has issued a stern warning over unruly behaviour during the
World Cup and promised a clampdown on illegal ticket sales.

A stampede by fans during a warm-up match between Nigeria and North Korea on Sunday left 15 people injured.

“The government
will not tolerate any unruly, disruptive and unsafe behaviour that
impacts negatively on those attending public events,” government
spokesman Themba Maseko said in a statement on Wednesday.

Maseko urged fans not to enter stadiums during the World Cup without valid tickets.

“Those found in possession of illegal tickets will be prosecuted,” he said.

The South African
government has taken pains to assure foreign visitors that they will be
safe during the month-long tournament, which starts on Friday.

Security has been
one of the biggest issues ahead of the World Cup because of South
Africa’s high rate of violent crime — with 50 murders a day, almost
the same rate as the United States which has six times the population.

The country’s crime rate is among factors blamed for lower-than-expected foreign bookings to attend the World Cup.

The government and
local organisers have insisted fans will be protected by a $174 million
security plan including more than 40,000 specially deployed police.

When the World Cup comes around, as a football fan, I want to see the best players on the planet on show.

Managers of
national teams can pick 23 names for their respective squads, so you
would think they would have enough chances to get it right. However,
glancing at the squad lists of some of the contenders, there are many
stars missing and I am not happy about it. Furthermore, some omissions
will be the reason why some of these teams will fail in South Africa.

Let´s start with
Brazil. The five-time champions have probably the best defensive unit
in their history heading into a World Cup, featuring a stellar
goalkeeper in Julio Cesar and players like Maicon, Lucio and Daniel
Alves. However, in attack, there is a shortage of creativity, speed and
flair, and coach Dunga is to blame. The omission of Alexandre Pato is
baffling to me. Sure, the young forward was injured for a large part of
the season and just now returned to full fitness.

However, even with
all the time he spent on the sidelines, the AC Milan standout still
scored 14 goals in 30 games. If I was picking Brazil’s squad he would
be one of the first names on the teamsheet. He offers something no one
else on the team has and, make no mistake about it, he will be missed.

Argentina’s options

Brazil´s fierce
South American rivals Argentina also left behind some notable names.
It’s always easy to pick on Diego Maradona, isn’t it? However there is
no question that Champions League winners Javier Zanetti and Esteban
Cambiasso should both be travelling to South Africa. Maradona´s team
has plenty of talent, but would have benefited from some extra
experience and class. Zanetti and Cambiasso were ever-present for Jose
Mourinho´s Internazionale this season and would have been invaluable
assets at the World Cup.

Zanetti can play
anywhere across defence and midfield, while Cambiasso is one of the
best midfielders on the planet. Even if he would be playing second
fiddle to Captain Javier Mascherano,

Cambiasso would
still have been an important player for Los Albicelestes. Plus, there
is no reason why he couldn’t play alongside Mascherano. Especially
considering Juan Sebastian Veron may be the other starting central
midfielder.

Domenech blunder

Let´s dissect the
picks of another controversial manager, Raymond Domenech. As if the
French public didn’t dislike him enough, the coach of Les Bleus decided
to leave out the nation’s most exciting forward, Karim Benzema. Is he
overweight? Yes. Did he have a great season with Real Madrid? No.
However, some of the other strikers going to South Africa didn’t set
the world alight either and Benzema still has the talent that can
change the game at any time, even coming on as a late substitute.
Domenech definitely missed a trick here and will pay the price. Up
front, France will rely too much on a man who doesn’t have either the
work rate or motivation to lead the line, Thierry Henry.

A changed man

Defending World Cup
champions Italy also left behind a couple of potential game winners.
Antonio Cassano is the obvious example of this. I understand Marcello
Lippi believes the Sampdoria forward can be a disruptive influence on
the team, and up until this season, I would have agreed with him.
However, Cassano is a changed man. His serious relationship with an
Italian swimmer has made him more content and mature and there is no
doubt he would have been a key player for a side that relies too much
on older legs and established names. Cassano would have been a breath
of fresh air that could have inspired the Azzuri to an extended stay in
South Africa. Without him, I don’t see them making it past the round of
16.

So those are my
views concerning a quartet of traditional World Cup contenders; that
this time around will be coming back from FIFA´s showpiece event
empty-handed. For a competition like this, you have to take your best
men. And in my opinion, none of these teams are doing that.

The Super Eagles
continued their preparations for the World Cup with a 3-1 win against
North Korea in Tembisa, Johannesburg yesterday. It was the Swedish born
coach’s third game in charge and Aiyegbeni Yakubu was on hand to open
scoring for the Super Eagles in the 16th minute before Obinna Nsofor
extended the lead from the penalty spot in the 62nd minute. A momentary
loss of concentration between Elderson Echiejile and Joseph Yobo
allowed Jong Tae-Se to pull one back for the North Koreans but Obafemi
Martins restored Nigeria’s two-goal advantage with a 90th minute
header. Martins had only been on the pitch for three minutes when he
scored.

The game, which was
played at the Makhulong Stadium in Johannesburg, was however marred by
a stampede which broke out shortly after the start of the second half.

According to police
reports, at least 20 people, including one policeman, were injured
during the stampede forcing the match officials to stop the game for
around five minutes to attend to the injured and ensure the safety of
fans in the overcrowded main stand where the fencing had been removed.

The match itself
saw Lagerback making a few changes from the side that had played a 1-1
draw with Colombia in their previous game as he restored the duo of
Yobo and Danny Shittu in the heart of the defence with Chidi Odiah and
Taiwo at the right and left side of the defence. Dickson Etuhu and
Lukman Haruna, whose work rate keeps increasing with every game, along
with Sani Kaita who played from the right side of midfield and Nsofor,
on the opposite end, were once again in the middle while Osaze
Odemwingie and Yakubu led the forward line.

Great start

The predominantly
Nigerian crowd at the venue were handed the best of starts after a
sweet interchange of passes between Yakubu and Nsofor ended with Yakubu
slotting the ball into the back of the net.

In the 24th minute
Taye Taiwo’s audacious freekick from well over 40 yards almost proved
more than a handful for the Korean goalkeeper. But two minutes later,
the Olympique Marseille defender almost gifted the ‘Chollima’, as the
North Koreans are known, an equalizer when he was too slow to prevent a
cross across the face of the Nigerian goal by the crafty Mun In-Guk.

The second half saw
Lagerback introducing Elderson Echiejile, Kalu Uche and Yusuf Ayila for
Taye Taiwo, Sani Kaita and the enterprising Dickson Etuhu. Nsofor
almost extended Nigeria’s lead four minutes after the restart but his
deflected shot fell into the hands of the Korean goalkeeper.

Stampede

A minute later, the
match had to be stopped after a stampede broke out in the stands. Five
minutes following the restart, the referee awarded a penalty to the
Super Eagles after a Korean defender inadvertently handled the ball and
Nsofor was on hand to make it 2-0 for Nigeria.

A mistake in
defence however saw Jong getting the better of Enyeama in the 64th
minute, and three minutes later, the Koreans were denied a penalty
after the referee erroneously awarded a free-kick for a foul by Chidi
Odiah. A red card to Cha Jong-Hyok for a second bookable offence
however left room in the Korean defence which Uche capitalised on to
run rings round the backline before crossing for Martins to nod into a
gaping net.

The game was the last warm-up match the Eagles will play before
their opening match against Argentina on Saturday, June 12, 2010.

Nigerian youngsters
wishing to turn to football as career have an opportunity to do so as
the Nigerian arm of renowned Aspire Academy for Sports Excellence,
based in Doha, Qatar, has thrown registration open for this year with
the project beginning next month.

Lamine Savane,
director of the project in Africa, told journalists in Lagos at the
weekend that the aim of the programme is to help youngsters fulfil
their dreams of playing football while at the same time getting
educated.

“We are here in
Nigeria because we believe there is a large pool of football talent
that need to be developed for the benefit of the game in the country,”
he said. “A lot of these children are yearning to play football but do
not have the opportunity to do so. Our aim is to give them that
opportunity and also to make it possible for them to get some
education.”

He noted that
Nigerian arm of the project, which started in 2007 with eleven young
Nigerians awarded educational scholarship at the academy in Doha, was
impacted positively on the families of the players. He stated that one
of the players in that first set, John Felagha from Bayelsa State, was
one of the goalkeepers in Nigeria’s silver winning U-17 team at last
year’s U-17 World Cup hosted by Nigeria.

Not a scam

Also speaking at
the occasion, Sam Ahmedu, a retired colonel in the Nigerian Army and
director of the project in Nigeria, said progress have been made by the
project in the country. He stated that at the moment, five of the
current set of players under scholarship with the project, have been
invited to the current Golden Eaglets squad being handled by Monday
Odigie.

“This project is
not like others you have where young players are exploited,” he said.
“Like we have always said, this is not one of those projects used to
siphon players abroad to be used for the national of Qatar. The Qataris
who are funding this project can afford to go to Brazil for instance
and buy players and get them to become Qatari citizens. It just one of
the ways they want to reach and help youth in different parts of
Africa.”

Giving details of
preparations for this season, Ahmedu said only children who are 13
years old are eligible to take part in the project.

Presently, there
are eleven Nigerians at the academy in Doha with one of them, Jasper
Uwaegbulam from Imo State distinguishing himself. Only recently he
scored four goals in match against the Qatari U-18 team.

The most entertaining goal celebration during the 2010 FIFA
World Cup Celebration Award will be presented by Coca Cola.

During the 2010 FIFA World Cup, all players’ goal celebrations
will be uploaded on to a Celebration Award section of www.fifa.com and fans
will be invited to vote for the most outstanding player celebrations online.

The eventual winner will be rewarded with the first ever FIFA
World Cup Celebration Award, to be presented by Coca Cola.

Players are being asked to “release their African rhythm” and
create some iconic moves that will rival those of the legendary Bebeto of
Brazil doing the cradle dance at the 1994 World Cup; Marco Tardelli’s fainting
run after scoring in the 1982 final against West Germany; Brian Laudrup’s
signature posture in 1998; and Cameroonian, Roger Milla’s corner flag jig in
1990. These spur-of-the-moment celebrations have become embedded in history and
in fans’ hearts.

As an added incentive for players, Coca Cola will contribute
$1,500 to fund the ‘Water for Schools’ initiative in Africa each time a player
celebrates a goal.

Coca Cola will also donate, on behalf of the winning player, an
extra $50,000 to the ‘Water for Schools’ programme to mark the historic
occasion for an anticipated total contribution of $300,000.

Celebrations for water

Coca Cola is using the occasion of the first FIFA World Cup on
African soil to raise awareness of the vital role clean drinking water plays in
developing communities.

For every 10 goal celebrations in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, it is
estimated an entire school could gain clean water access, benefitting nearly 500
children.

By participating in the voting, football fans can have a hand in
supporting clean water initiatives that will leave a lasting legacy of water
sustainability in Africa and beyond.

The Coca Cola award was inspired by Cameroon’s Roger Milla’s iconic
corner flag dance in the 1990 tournament.

Emmanuel Seuge, Group Director, Worldwide Sports and
Entertainment Marketing, The Coca Cola Company, said: “The award has been
created to give players and fans the chance to not only show their passion for
football, but also to tackle the hugely important issue of water sanitation.”

The RAIN community water projects throughout the African
continent by The Coca Cola Africa Foundation reflect the company’s water
stewardship goal of returning to communities and to nature an amount of water
equivalent to what the company uses in all of its beverages and production.

The strategies to achieve this include: reducing the water it
uses; returning all water it uses for manufacturing to the environment, at a
level that supports aquatic life and agriculture; and replenishing healthy
water herds.

The World Cup will finally get underway today in South Africa
after six years of hard work by the continent’s southernmost nation.

In terms of organisation and planning, South Africa has proven
to the watching world that they are right up there with the best, and they look
set to prove their organisational skills when the opening ceremony begins in a
few hours time in Johannesburg.

But their national team is far from being one of the best sides
in the world, and once all the commotion of the opening ceremony is done and
dusted, the hosts, in a traditional and timely manner, will officially kick-off
proceedings while at the same time trying to uphold an age-old World Cup
tradition by qualifying for the knock-out stage of the competition.

From Santana to Parreira

And as they head into today’s World Cup opener against Mexico,
who impressed many by defeating defending world champions Italy 2-1 in a recent
friendly, the South Africans will be doing all they can to ensure they don’t
become the first host nation to crash out of the World Cup in the first round.

Their performance at last year’s Confederations Cup, where they
finished a respectable fourth, was remarkable; but they subsequently went
downhill resulting in the sack of their Brazilian coach Joel Santana. The
team’s former handler Carlos Alberto Parreira was brought in to tinker the side
and the former World Cup winning coach has transformed Bafana Bafana into one
with far more organisation, discipline and, more importantly, self-belief.

As a result, Bafana Bafana will kick-off against the Mexicans in
high spirits, after a run of 12 matches without a lose, a streak they will need
to extend by another three games if they’re to stand a realistic chance of
advancing from Group A where they will also be up against two former world
champions, France and Uruguay.

El Tri out to win

But the Mexicans won’t just sit down and roll over as they
themselves have a streak of their own to protect, having made the knock-out
stage of the World Cup in their previous five attempts. There are no doubts as
to whether or not Mexico have the quality within their squad to outplay South
Africa for large parts in today’s encounter, as they did to a certain extent
against England a little over a fortnight ago, but the problem has been
converting their dominance with possession into goals, a situation that has
seen them leaving matches with plaudits from neutrals for their attractive play
but nothing to show in terms of results.

They will have to replicate their display against the Italians today if they
hope to emerge victorious. And with Giovanni Dos Santos, with his quick-feet,
and Carlos Vela, with his enthusiastic attitude, as well as Manchester United’s
Javier Hernandez, along with the experienced Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who remains a
force to be reckoned with even at the age of 37, El Tri will be hoping to
silence the vuvuzelas of the thousands of yellow clad South African fans who
will be cheering for Bafana Bafana inside the magnificent 96,000-capacity
Soccer City.

One of the biggest upsets in World Cup history occurred back in
1950 in Brazil when an American team, comprising of amateurs and part-time
footballers, defeated England 1-0 to send them packing from the tournament.

The Americans will be hoping to repeat that feat on Saturday in
Rustenburg against an England team desperate to add another World Cup title to
the one they achieved on home soil back in 1966. It must be noted however that
the Three Lions have only advanced beyond the quarter finals once since 1966,
but they will come into the game with a team built around players plying their
trade in the English Premier League, most notably Wayne Rooney who they will be
depending upon to score the goals that could possibly lead them to glory.

Operation get Rooney

Rooney is however also renowned for his fiery temper and has
been booked on a number of occasions for taking matters into his own hands, but
US coach Bob Bradley insists his side will not make the Manchester United star
a target on Saturday.

“I get asked that question about Wayne Rooney all the time,”
Bradley said in a report published in English newspaper, The Sun. “But I have
tremendous respect for Rooney and what he brings to England; his effort, his
competitiveness and his movement. His influence on that team is great and he is
such a strong character. So yes, we are very aware of him and understand that
at this level we must compete. But wind him up, target him, foul him, provoke
him? No, we don’t enter into any of that.”

Rooney will no doubt be key to England’s World Cup campaign, and
Capello, who revealed on Thursday that he already has his starting line-up for
Saturday’s match, said Rooney had been banging in the goals and looking
extremely sharp in training.

On two different occasions he missed the chance to play in the
finals of two big tournaments in his young career. Now he has a rare chance to
showcase his football talents at the highest stage.

Lukman Haruna, who also has an Igbo name, Ifeanyi- his mother
hails from the South-Eastern part of Nigeria- is the new sensation soccer
followers across the country are banking on to help the Super Eagles stop the
La Seleccion of Argentina tomorrow at the Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg in
our opening group game of the South Africa 2010 World Cup.

Haruna was one of two key players who missed the final of the
CAF U-17 Championship in Togo in 2007(Daniel Joshua was the other player) after
they were knocked out by knee injuries. He was the captain of the team but he
watched from the sidelines as an extra time pile-driver from Kabiru Akinsola
propelled gave the Golden Eaglets to a lone goal victory over host Togo at
Stade Kegue in Lome.

And less than a year after being fingered for playing a part in
the Flying Eagles’ elimination at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt, Haruna has
found himself a key figure in the Super Eagles’ quest for success at this
year’s Mundial. Surprisingly, it took barely a week of training and two
friendly games for Eagles handler, Lars Lagerback to include him in his World
Cup squad, while former coach, Shuaibu Amodu had the opportunity of working
with the former Eaglets’ skipper for almost two years, yet he was only good
enough as a training material. Haruna played some part in Nigeria’s
preparations during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers but he never got the chance
to prove his mettle under Amodu.

Instant impact

No other Eagles player has enjoyed media frenzy more than the AS
Monaco midfielder in the past one week, which is not surprising because he
seems to possess that important quality that has been lacking in the Eagles
midfield for a long time now- creativity. Even Yakubu Aiyegbeni is already
hoping the young midfielder would help him to achieve his tall dream of
becoming the top scorer in South Africa! With Haruna in the Eagles, the loss of
John Mikel Obi to injury is not expected to have a damaging impact on the
Eagles, like the absence of Didier Drogba may have on Cote‘d Ivoire.

Most people were already giving Haruna the nod ahead of Mikel
(his idol) for the Eagles playmaker role before the Chelsea midfielder decided
to pull out of the competition last weekend. Mikel has not been convincing
going forward, and that is where Haruna has shown promise in the last three
friendlies against Saudi Arabia, Colombia and North Korea. Indeed, Haruna is
one of our few options to produce goal out of nothing against Argentina from
either set plays or in the run of play. He is said to have emerged the best in
shooting practice among the Eagles as the ferocious power of Taiye Taiwo is
fast fading into oblivion.

Talented but fiery

But Lagerback has our own version of Wayne Rooney in the Monaco
man. Talented, yet fiery. The British media have focused their attention on the
need for the Manchester United striker to keep his cool as opponents could wind
him up to be sent off, with their opening game against the United States
tomorrow at Rustenburg looming. They believe Rooney’s dismissal would spell
doom for the Three Lions.

Our Eagles cannot afford to play with numerical disadvantage
against Argentina, so it is hoped our Swedish coach and his technical crew must
have emphasized the need to maintain calm and get the job done for Haruna ahead
of this game. He has so much to prove to Nigerians with his talent. We only
hope he would deliver.

On paper, Nigeria and Argentina are not in the same class.
Argentina has won the World Cup twice, while Nigeria has never advanced beyond
the second round; but such is the weight of expectations on these two sides as
they head into Saturday’s Group B opener in Johannesburg.

The pressure is even more on the Argentines who come into the
game as outright favourites no thanks to the immense quality they possess in
every department of the field from a defence line marshalled by Inter Milan’s
Walter Samuel right down to a forward line boasting of the world’s best player,
Lionel Messi, and an embarrassment of other riches such as Carlos Tevez and
Diego Milito.

“People talk a lot about Messi, forgetting that there are other
very good players in the Argentine team, such as Tevez and Milito,” said
Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins. “It’s a team game and we also have our own
stars for the day.”

Left-back, Taye Taiwo also echoed the views of his team-mate.
“We know Messi is a good player and we can’t allow him to roam round the park
just like that,” he said. “But we also have our great players. They’ve got a
couple of great players and we’ve also got a couple of great players.”

Self-destructive Maradona

On paper, Argentina should be contending with the likes of
Brazil and Spain but in Diego Maradona, they have a coach who many consider as
the biggest obstacle to their quest of winning the World Cup for a third time.
It is for this singular reason that Nigerians back home will be glued in front
of their TV sets confident of the Super Eagles chances of scraping out a result
against the South Americans even though that is something that has never been
accomplished by a Nigerian side at the World Cup.

In the Super Eagles’ three previous tournament appearances, they
have met the Albiceleste on two occasions, most recently a lone goal defeat in
2002 which was preceded by a 2-1 loss eight years earlier in the United States
which marked the last of Maradona’s 91 caps for Argentina following which he
was disgraced out of the World Cup after testing positive for banned
substances. Argentina also defeated Nigeria 2-1 at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in
2005 as well as 1-0 in the final of the Olympic Games in 2008.

Nigerian domination

But it hasn’t always gone the way of the Argentines as both
sides played out a goalless draw at the 1995 FIFA Confederations Cup before
Nigeria defeated them 3-2 at the Atlanta 1996 Men’s Olympic Football Tournament
with a side captained by the legendary Nwankwo Kanu. Now 33, Kanu, if he plays
on Saturday, will be meeting the Argentines for the fourth time, the first of
which was at the 1993 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Japan where the Golden Eaglets
defeated their Argentine counterparts 4-0 before that slim loss in 2002, and he
believes the encounter at Ellis Park can go Nigeria’s way.

“Argentina have the big-name players and everyone respects
them,” Kanu told Kickoff.com. “We also acknowledge that they are good and great
players. But Argentina also have the same respect for us because they know the
quality of our team and know that there is plenty that we can come up with at
anytime. Yes, it will be tough but I believe we can overcome on the day. It is
the World Cup and things do happen.”

The fear of Lagerback

Under Lars Lagerback, the Super Eagles appear to have a newfound
confidence and don’t seem as predictable as they were under erstwhile coach
Shaibu Amodu. The Swedish strategist will be hoping to come out unscathed once
again against the Argentines after overseeing a 1-1 draw back in 2002 which
sealed Argentina’s elimination from the tournament. No wonder the Argentine
team has been working overtime at their training sessions as revealed by their
defender Gabriel Heinze.

“We’re all really good without any problems and fired up to get on the
field. We’ve been practicing at a very good level, and you’ll see it on
Saturday,” the defender who plays alongside Taiwo at French champions Marseille
told reporters in Pretoria shortly after Wednesday evening’s training session.
Nevertheless, Heinze says his teammates should beware as the Super Eagles “are
a strong and direct outfit” under Lagerback. “They are very athletic and
physically strong, and they have some quick players,” he continued, before
adding: “We know many of them from playing them in European clubs.”

The hopes of
Nigeria retaining the COPA Coca-Cola football trophy, won last year
came crashing yesterday as the country’s representative were defeated
3-1 by Uganda in a penalty shoot out.

The Nigerian team
held their Ugandan counterparts one all at regulation time, but failed
to hold on in the ensuing penalty shoot out and thus got eliminated at
the quarter final stage of the competition. Former Super Eagle player,
Victor Ikpeba, and coach of COPA Coca-Cola Nigeria team however rained
praises on his boys for giving the match all their best but stating
that it was unfortunate that the boys lost through penalty shoot out.

Ikpeba who spoke
with journalists after the Nigeria team was eliminated said the
tournament has helped the young players to show case their talents in
the game of football. The former Super Eagles striker added that the
game has helped to bring unity among different African states and the
championship players have had the opportunity to learn from each other.

He congratulated Coca-Cola and the participants at this year’s
competition, and stated that some of the young footballers will soon
rule Africa sometime in the future. He used the opportunity to plead
with the team’s sponsor to continue the sponsorship of the game while
also soliciting that they should take the game round other
participating countries in order to give the hosting team a sense of
belonging.