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The answer to the
above question is no, judging by the structures Bio, the sports
minister and chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), has
found himself with.

There is absolutely
no wisdom in pouring pure water into a dirty container and expect human
beings to consume such. It is criminal. Just as it is useless talking
to a wall, there is no sense in proposing fresh, proactive,
life-changing and intelligent ideas, to “demi-semi” illiterates, who
are visionless, inept and morally bankrupt – to say the least.

The truth,
therefore, is that Bio has no business doing business with majority of
those with him in the NSC, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and
the sports ministry. They must be thrown “over-board”, or advised to
resign honourably. Bio must not be allowed to swim with sharks.

Reports reaching us
from Abuja, confirm that the cool-headed, calm, media shy, but very
astute ex Federal Transport Minister, is already being perceived as an
enigma, within the sporting fraternity.

Even union leaders,
bear testimonies of his effectiveness while he was at the transport
ministry. We are made to understand that he still rides his personal
cars and goes about his duties without the usual fanfare exhibited by
his predecessors.

So, is this the
“messiah” we have been praying for? Is this the God-sent fellow to
rescue Nigerian sports? Well, only God has that answer for now, and of
course, time will tell.

The fact is that
truth is bitter, and in most cases very repulsive. Most human beings
hate it and would rather listen to and accept that which is not true.

For instance, as a
fanatic and apostle of grass roots sports development, I absolutely
agree with Bio, that he would focus, vigorously, on sports development.
Minister, you have an ally here. An organism or organization that does
not continue growing or that has stopped growing will eventually die.
No more, no less.

If this were to be
true of Nigerian sports, and of course it is true, if we are not to
continue deceiving ourselves, then, football, which is my area of
interest and specialization is “dead” in this great nation of ours. And
this is very pathetic. Did I hear you say, “but it is said that we have
the best league in Africa?” Whoever said that should not only be
sanctioned, but remanded somewhere. Why?

Last week
Wednesday, 12th of May 2010, marked 20 years of professional league
football in Nigeria. The statute that established the Football
Association to administer the league, stipulated that all the football
teams registering to partake in the league had seven years within which
to be transformed into football clubs, with all the required
paraphernalia like a club house, formation of other sports teams like
basket ball, tennis, etc as part of the club; formation of functional
Board of Trustees and so on and so forth. But alas, what do we have
today?

A crawling twenty- year old

Check very well and
you will discover the travesty, the bankruptcy we find ourselves in as
a nation. Can you imagine a twenty year old still crawling? That is the
state of the Nigerian football league.

So, one is tempted
to ask what all those who had been through the glass house in Abuja did
while there? I believe Nigerians deserve an explanation. What can
people like Taiwo Ogunjobi, Patrick Ekeji, Sani Lulu and Bolaji Ojo
Oba, and of course the big masquerade himself, the untouchable sacred
cow of Nigerian sports-the one and only Amos Adamu, say about this?
Nigerians deserve to know.

Kudos must however
be given to Adegboye Onigbinde for the efforts he made to transform
IICC Shooting Stars to 3SC. The whole idea then was to establish a
truly functional sports club. But some “alamala” politicians (apologies
to Kojo Williams), would not let him.

Are these the same set of people Nigerians will allow Bio to have around him?

By the way, I
whole-heartedly welcome the idea of the forthcoming National Sports
Summit. I believe and pray that several issues will be dealt with and
Nigerians will be able to decide how sports should be administered in
this great nation.

Let me warn once
again, Bio please tread softly. Watch out for the “banana peels.” May
the God of grace be gracious unto you, and may He rescue Nigerian
sports from the grips of the enemies of this massively blessed nation,
Amen.

The football season
has come to a close around Europe, save for the Champions League final,
which comes up tomorrow. We won’t waste precious column space talking
about the finales and if that has anything to do with a certain London
club winning the English Premier League crown, then I stand guilty as
charged. One can only imagine the words that would have flowed on this
page had Manchester United retained the premiership for an
unprecedented fourth time. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.

One measly point separated the two sides and condemned all Manchester United supporters to a year of taunts from Blues fans.

The other Drogba

Some of this
sentiment must have contributed to the reported clash between some fans
in Maiduguri after the last games in the English Premier League. The
first emotion upon reading the article was astonishment – thousands of
miles away from the actual action, there was such high feelings as to
cause a violent disagreement! It’s not the first time this has
happened. We’ve heard of or read stories of stabbings, street scuffles
and arguments among rival supporters of European clubs. But it never
ceases to amaze. Of the two men injured in the Maiduguri conflict, one
was nicknamed Drogba. While his more famous namesake was scoring a hat
trick, he was being carted off to a clinic. Again and again, there is
proof of the worldwide appeal of the English Premier League. The
implication of this popularity is that fewer and fewer Nigerian
football enthusiasts identify with teams in our local leagues.

In a very
unscientific survey I conducted recently, I asked some football fans to
name five teams in the Nigerian League and not one could come up with
the correct answer. Yet our Nigerian Drogba feels the need to engage in
a largely meaningless scuffle with a Manchester United supporter. While
I’m not saying that there should be a clash between fans of Enyimba and
Bayelsa United, it would certainly be heart-warming to see some kind of
positive emotion associated with the local league. I repeat, I am not
advocating that Nigerian soccer fans should start widespread fighting
and stabbing in the name of supporting the Nigerian League.

Let it not be said
that I am a promoter of violence. It would be nice to see the Nigerian
League hold the same appeal as foreign leagues.

Solaja’s timely intervention

Moving away from
Maiduguri’s Drogba and his kind, I’d say it was uplifting to hear about
Kunle Solaja’s book launch. The book, “Super Eagles through the Ages,”
gives a historical record of the national football team from 1949.
There is such a paucity of information about sports in the country that
any publication aiming to fill this gap must be lauded. It is
noteworthy that the publication came from an individual and not from
the Nigerian Football Federation.

Can we say they
have made up for it in a little way by attending the launch and
purchasing numerous copies of the book? Commendable, no doubt but they
need to build on this and actually spearhead such initiatives. The NFF
ought to sponsor more efforts such as these, as opposed to relying on
the private sector and a few committed individuals.

There’s no reason
why we shouldn’t, for example, have a football museum. Not only could
entrance fees and sales of memorabilia generate revenue, but museums
also naturally serve as resource and education centres. Up to date
websites could provide much needed instant information for the general
public. And it shouldn’t stop at football.

The importance of keeping records cannot be overemphasized. It is
our responsibility to ensure that the next generation does not forget.
Only then can we have Maiduguri Odegbamis and Lokoja Okochas instead of
the Drogbas of Maiduguri.

Sunday saw Barcelona and Internazionale crowned champions of
Spain and Italy respectively; in my view, both clubs were worthy winners of
their league titles.

Let’s start with Barça. After a historic 2008/09 season which
saw them win an unprecedented six trophies, it was inevitable this year would
be a letdown. There would be no way Pep Guardiola could inspire his group of
players to do it all again. However, their surprising defeat in the Copa del
Rey aside, the Blaugrana actually came close to another impressive trophy haul.

They narrowly lost to Inter in the Champions League semi-finals
and made sure they would not end the season empty handed by winning La Liga on
the final day with a record points total.

At the centre of their latest contest was a duo that has to rate
as one of the best of all-time; Xavi Hernandez and Leo Messi. These two players
have an understanding which led to a large percentage of the goals netted by
Barcelona this season.

The Spanish midfielder finished the season as the king of
assists, and what can be said about Leo? Wow! 46 goals in all competitions this
season, and he is not even an out-and-out striker. Simply incredible.

I will express my sympathy for Real Madrid manager Manuel
Pellegrini. His team set new marks for points and goals scored but the
Merengues finished the season empty-handed. Even with Cristiano Ronaldo at his
best, they could not overtake Barcelona on the final stretch in the race for
the league title. The “Chilean Engineer,” as he is known, will now have to find
a new job as Jose Mourinho is expected to waltz into the Santiago Bernabeu
before the start of the new campaign.

Which leads me to Internazionale. They were the best team in
Italy this season and were worthy champions. For the good of Italian football,
I would have liked Roma to win, since it isn’t healthy for one team to claim
five straight titles.

However, the Nerazzuri were better, faster, and stronger, and
deserve to celebrate another Scudetto. Diego Milito was simply outstanding in
the last month of the season and it is fitting that he has been selected by
Diego Maradona to represent Argentina at the World Cup. Inter’s other top
performers like Walter Samuel, Lucio, and Wesley Sneijder will be there. They
will go to South Africa as treble winners since I believe Inter will beat
Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in Madrid.

As far as Jose Mourinho is concerned, he has proven once more
that in the present day he is the best coach on the planet. Give him the
resources, and he will give you success. Guaranteed. He now has collected 16
trophies in 10 years in management. Statistics like these do not lie.

One final word about England’s FA Cup final. I grew up watching
these games on television and always considered them to be a showpiece of the
football season. Having watched this last weekend’s match between Chelsea and
Portsmouth from afar once more, I became disillusioned with everything this
game is supposed to represent.

There were empty seats, the fans were lethargic, and the pitch
was embarrassingly poor. It didn’t look like the home of football. It didn’t
even look like a field that should host a final of any sort.

CNN Sport correspondent
Pedro Pinto will anchor CNN International’s coverage of the FIFA World Cup in
South Africa.

He wrtes for NEXT every Monday

The game of rugby
in Nigeria has come a long way. It has made some progress from the
period when little was known about it to the present where it has a
thriving league and has become part of the National Sports Festival.

Looking at what is
happening now, it is difficult to imagine that just under ten years
ago, the vast majority of Nigerian sports fans hadn’t the faintest idea
what the game was all about. This was due principally to the fact that
even though the game had been in existence in the country for more than
two decades, it had not been given the decisive push that would make it
visible enough to attract the attention of the public.

The efforts of
individuals like Ntiense Williams, Kayode Oguntayo and Kelechi Mbagwu
have been instrumental in giving the sport a new lease of life. Their
decision, a few years ago to come together under the auspices of the
‘Friends of Rugby’ to transform the sport, proved pivotal in attracting
the interest of young men and women who now fancy the game.

Concessioning trouble

Sadly, these modest
gains are in danger of being eroded. The ‘Friends of Rugby’ has
splintered with Oguntayo and his associates in the Racing Club pulling
away leaving Mbagwu and Williams to continue with the original idea.
Oguntayo and associates now run the Nigeria Rugby Football Federation
(NRFF) courtesy of the concessioning of the sport by the National
Sports Commission (NSC) last year.

That concessioning,
done with the aim of further improving the lot of the game, is proving
to be a double-edged sword. While it has managed to sweep away the
ineffectual board of the federation and the incompetent secretariat
whose ineptitude stank to high heavens and put in place individuals
with sufficient knowledge of the game, passion and administrative
acumen, it has caused acrimony within the rugby family.

Matters have been
made worse by the ban on Nigeria’s participation in international rugby
tournaments by the International Rugby Board following Friends of
Rugby’s protest of the process that threw up Racing Club as winners of
the concessioning move.

It is not
encouraging that the men who have the will and resources to engineer a
revolution of the sport are at each other’s throats. I have known
Williams for years and can vouch for his passion for rugby. That
Nigerian journalists have come to embrace the sport and give it more
coverage is the result of his persistence. Mbagwu for his part has
spent his personal funds to ensure that the game does not die. So has
Oguntayo.

Indeed, my first
encounter with Oguntayo and his team inspired me to think that perhaps
in the hands of these young men rugby would be safe in Nigeria. Their
awareness of issues pertaining to the sport and their technological and
organisational savvy were a welcome departure from the drab and
mediocre world of past rugby federations, to whom planning and
organisation proved to be rocket science.

Calling truce

We must move
forward. In the interest of the sport, truce must be called. The
warring parties must bury their egos and work together for the
development of the game. There is too much at stake for us to allow the
present scenario to continue to play itself out.

One of the reasons
the IRB slammed a ban on Nigeria was because it was not too convinced
that the process that brought the present board into being was wholly
transparent.

The present
leadership of the NSC should find a way to work out an arrangement that
sees the estranged comrades close ranks and take Nigerian rugby to the
level. New Sports Minister, Ibrahim Bio, has shown, in the few weeks
that he has been in office, that he is not wanting in either courage or
vision. A united rugby family will bring a breath of fresh air to the
scene and encourage former and present Nigerian rugby players in the
Diaspora, to explore ways in which they can form a synergy with their
brothers at home to propel the game forward.

Inter Milan coach
Jose Mourinho will either be sitting in the dugout at the San Siro or
Real Madrid’s Bernabeu stadium next season, the Portuguese coach said
on Wednesday.

“My only options
are Madrid or Inter,” he said in an interview with sports daily Marca,
when asked if he would leave the Italian champions at the end of the
season.

“To get me to leave
this club after two years of incredible work, only Real Madrid could
achieve that. If I go, I will move with a clear conscience having
changed the club.”

Mourinho is on the
brink of a winning an unprecedented treble of trophies for an Italian
side. With the Italian Cup and Serie A titles in the bag, he leads
Inter into the Champions League final against Bayern Munich on
Saturday, at Real’s Bernabeu stadium.

When Mourinho was
asked if he would be coaching Real next year, he replied: “I don’t
know; all I say is that if you are a coach or a great player to not
play in a club like Madrid, leaves a hole in your career. I want to
coach Real 100 percent. If it is next year or later,I can’t say.”

The future of Real
coach, Manuel Pellegrini, is uncertain after he finished the season
without a trophy on Sunday, when they ended up second in La Liga behind
arch-rivals Barcelona.Real director
general, Jorge Valdano, has said the club would sit down and discuss
whether the Chilean would complete the second year of his contract in
the coming days.

Ahead of the
departure of Super Eagles for London to begin the final phase of
preparation for the 2010 World Cup, Joseph Yobo, assistant captain of
the squad has called on his team mates to shape up.

Yobo, who spoke on
Tuesday in Lagos at the unveiling of the world’s biggest football by
telecommunications company, MTN Nigeria, said the time had come for the
Eagles to wake up from and reclaim its place of prominence in football.

Fighting like men

The Everton of
England defender said the players owed it to Nigerian football fans who
had invested much emotion in supporting the squad these many years, to
raise their game in South Africa: “In the 1990s and early 2000s, people
talk so much about us. Winning was a habit and we’ve got to get that
winning habit back. That was a great time but, like with any great
team, which cycle had to come to an end, which it did quite quickly for
various reason – retirements, players coming in and out, change of
coaches and players lacking the right motivations.

“So now we’re
facing another terrain where our fans deserve nothing but our absolute
all. We wanted to do that at the Cup of Nations but we just couldn’t
patch things up. A lot of the good work that made the golden
generations needs to return; we must fight and die for our national
colours on the pitch,” Yobo said.

The Eagles
defender’s comment comes at a time belief in the squad is low but he
says that with the right mental attitude, team work and self- belief,
the team can get back to winning ways and once again regain the
confidence of Nigerian football faithful.

Yobo, who has
endured a difficult season marred by injury and a well publicised tiff
with his club manager, David Moyes, is hoping to make the cut when
Eagles coach, Lars Lagerback trims his squad down to the final 23
players by May 30.

Mental toughness is key

Even though he is
just 29 years, he is one of the experienced players in the squad
alongside Captain Nwankwo Kanu. If he gets Lagerback’s nod and gets on
the train to South Africa, Yobo and his colleagues in the Eagles
defence will have their work clearly cut out. They will have to cope
with the explosive pace of the mercurial Argentine, Lionel Messi, who
looks unstoppable at the moment.

“People have talked
about Messi but we need to show we are not there for him to have fun.
He is an incredibly talented footballer but so are all the other
players coming to the World Cup.

“He is special but
we will treat all our opponents with the same determination and
hopefully build a team spirit that will make us Super Eagles again,”
Yobo said.

He maintains that the key to not only stopping Messi but doing well at the World Cup is mental toughness.

“Strong mental
attitude, a great team work and self-belief can take us all the way in
South Africa,” he said. To achieve that he says everyone must be
focused and cast aside every other consideration:

“How much you earn,
where you play, what you have achieved at club level is not an
essential ego to move us forward, now we must prove on the pitch that
we are good then take it forward. All these years we talked more than
we displayed on the pitch, which I think has stalled our success and
growth. If we show that we are good enough, then the fans will be with
us – quite frankly everyone should be given that chance to show what
they are capable of,” he said.

The former
Marseilles of France player calls on Eagles coach, Lars Lagerback to
pick only the best players to represent Nigeria in South Africa.

“I know we are all
too keen on the World Cup but only the best is good enough for the
country. Last time in Japan we did not step out of the group phase, so
if we do that this time it will be a step farther. Then we will take
every game as it comes after that as it will be the knockout stage of
the tournament.”

The Super Eagles will play in Group B alongside Argentina, Greece, and South Korea in the preliminary rounds of the World Cup.

Skipper of the
Ghanaian national football team Michael Essien insists the Black Stars
will be going all out to enjoy their football as they have nothing to
lose at the World Cup in South Africa.

The Black Stars
will be competing at their second World Cup tournament following their
debut outing four years ago in Germany where they made it all the way
to the second round before losing to Brazil. They will be looking to
re-enact that feat this time around in South Africa where they will be
coming up against Germany, Australia and Serbia in the first round.

On paper, the Black
Stars have a realistic chance of advancing to the second round but
Essien isn’t solely thinking about that as he wants the team to have
fun in the process and give something back to underprivileged children
in the society.

Essien made this
assertion while declaring his support for the ‘1Goal: Education for all
project’, which is a project run by the Global Campaign for Education
and which is part of a large global education initiative.

Asked about his fondest World Cup memories, the Chelsea midfielder, who is an ambassador for the 1Goal Project said:

“The only thing I
remember was the last World Cup in Germany. It was our first ever World
Cup. We really had fun and it was a good experience for us and we are
all looking forward to going to South Africa and to enjoy our football
and maybe the kids can learn something from us.”

“Every country
knows how to play the game now so I don’t think there will be an easy
game out there. But like I said it is going to be fun and we’ll all go
out there and enjoy it,” he added.

Education for all

The 1Goal project,
which is backed by FIFA, seeks to get every child into school by 2015
by rallying support from footballers and fans across the world. The
campaign is backed by over 140 of the biggest names in football
including Super Eagles captain Nwankwo Kanu, John Utaka, Alessandro del
Piero, and Rio Ferdinand, as well as entertainment icons such as
Shakira and Kevin Spacey.

An estimated $16
billion a year is needed to make universal education a reality, but
currently only $4 billion is spent on primary education and 1GOAL is
aiming to use the first World Cup to be staged in Africa to help
actualize the United Nations’ target of ending poverty through
providing education for all.

“I think education
is the key to success. I was lucky growing up, my mum worked incredibly
hard to make sure me and my four sisters could get an education. She
did not get the chance to go to school but she gave us the
opportunity,” said Essien.

“It is great to have the World Cup for the first time in Africa. The
continent has been dreaming about it and now the World Cup is coming to
Africa. I think the 1Goal education project will be good for the kids
after the World Cup because we could see a lot more kids in school.”

Barcelona have
moved swiftly to reinforce their squad, snapping up Spain striker David
Villa from Valencia for 40 million euros on Wednesday, three days after
winning a second consecutive La Liga title.

After a Valencia
board meeting, President Manuel Llorente said they had accepted Barca’s
offer for the prized striker, who scored 21 league goals last season to
finish his fifth consecutive campaign as the club’s top scorer.

“There was a big
offer from England that was not from Chelsea but Barcelona’s was the
best for us and the footballer,” Llorente told a news conference at the
Mestalla, without specifying which Premier League club had made a bid.

“Villa has delivered a lot (to Valencia) and he deserves this chance,” he added.

The 28-year-old is
Spain’s second-highest scorer with 36 goals from 55 matches, eight
short of the record held by Real Madrid striker, Raul, and he will be
spearheading Spain’s World Cup campaign in South Africa next month.

Barcelona confirmed
the deal in a statement on their web site (www.fcbarcelona.com), saying
Villa would sign a four-year contract with an option for one more year.

The player, who
Barca said “guaranteed goals”, will travel to the Catalan capital on
Thursday and will take a medical before being presented on Friday at
1130 GMT.

Nicknamed “el
guaje” (the kid), Villa will join a formidable Barca forward line that
already includes La Liga’s leading marksman Lionel Messi, Swede Zlatan
Ibrahimovic, and Spaniards Pedro and Bojan Krkic.

France striker Thierry Henry spent most of last season on the bench and is expected to move on.

Responsible decisions

Barca sporting
director, Txiki Begiristain, told the club’s TV channel on Wednesday,
Villa was a similar player to Messi in that he could play as a centre
forward or drift in from the right wing into goal-scoring positions.

“He has the profile of a player who makes very good diagonal runs and moves very well into space,” Begiristain said.

Valencia have been
forced into the sale by the precarious nature of their finances. They
are burdened with debts of more than 500 million euros. They have a
half-built new stadium, and have yet to sell their current one, the
Mestalla.

“The board’s
principle objective is to make sure we have economic viability for the
future,” Llorente said, adding that he did not rule out further sales.

“We are obliged to
take responsible decisions. Considering our situation, it is
responsible to sell this player. As everyone knows we could have done
this deal last year but we thought at that moment it was best to keep
our squad together to try and get into the Champions League.”

“We have achieved that aim and finished third in the league, and he
has contributed a lot towards this. We think it is good sale and
necessary for the economic situation of the club,” he added.

Barcelona will need
to keep the euphoria in check if they are to hold onto the La Liga
title in what promises to be a nerve-jangling final day of the Spanish
season on Sunday.

The champions are
at home to Real Valladolid (1700 GMT) and have a one-point lead and the
head-to-head advantage over chasing Real Madrid.

At the same time,
their arch-rivals visit Malaga, where a victory and a Barca slip up is
the only way Real can avoid finishing a second consecutive season
without a trophy.

Both Valladolid and Malaga, along with three other sides, are fighting to avoid relegation to the second division.

Last weekend’s
nervy 3-2 win away to Sevilla saw Barca’s players celebrating on the
pitch having overcome what had been considered the toughest obstacle
left for them, but captain Carles Puyol sounded a note of caution.

“It’s a difficult
game against a side that is fighting to stay in the league. It won’t be
a stroll in the park,” the Spanish international told reporters. “We’ll
have to control the anxiety.” Barca have the mixed blessing of playing
in front of their own fans at the Nou Camp but face a wily opponent in
the shape of former Spain boss Javier Clemente, who has been brought in
to try and save Valladolid from relegation.

“Miracles don’t exist in football, but surprises do,” Clemente told daily Sport.

Guardiola, who
played under Clemente with Spain at the World Cup finals in 1994, will
be without suspended playmaker Xavi but could have Andres Iniesta back
from injury as a replacement.

Calculators and pens

A victory for Real
in Malaga would see them finish the season with 98 points which is
enough to have taken the title every year since the league began. But
it will not be enough if Barca also win to move onto 99.

Coach Manuel
Pellegrini is having to prepare for the weekend with the local press
talking up the possibility of Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho being
brought in as his replacement next season.

“I have a year left
on my contract and whether we win or lose (the title) should not
condition Madrid’s future,” the Chilean told reporters.

“You can’t say this
has been a lesser project when you consider how many points we have
achieved.” At the foot of the table, the three relegation slots will be
decided on Sunday (1700) with Valladolid, Racing Santander, Malaga and
Tenerife tied on 36 points, three ahead of bottom club Xerez.

With the
head-to-head rule deciding matters for those who finish level on
points, fans will be reaching for their calculators and pens to work
out the complicated consequences of each goal as events unfold during
the evening.

Lars Lagerback beat off competition from Glenn Hoddle to win the nod as Nigeria’s hastily appointed coach for the World Cup in South Africa.

Parachuted in after Nigeria fired his predecessor Shaibu Amodu in early February, Lagerback will be coaching at his third successive World Cup, but in circumstances far removed from his previous two assignments.

His Scandinavian sensibilities are sure to be tested in the hurly burly of the animated Nigerian camp. Already since he took charge there has been a mini crisis over where the team would be based for the finals and he has had a government commission poring over the preparations.

It is the first overseas job for Lagerback, who came through the ranks of the Swedish football association, coaching first the junior teams and then the national B side.

Former Sweden coach Tommy Soderberg took him on as his assistant at the national team in 1998 and the pair began a joint coaching arrangement the following year.

After a miserable Euro 2000, where Sweden failed to survive the group stage, they qualified for the 2002 World Cup in Asia.

In Japan, Sweden topped a group featuring England, Nigeria and Argentina, only to exit in the second round after losing to upstarts Senegal on a golden goal.

The pattern repeated itself two years later at the European Championship in Portugal where Sweden again headed a tough group, which included Italy, then went out on penalties in the quarter-finals against the Netherlands.

Soderberg stepped down from the dual role to take over the under-21 side, leaving Lagerback to successfully take Sweden into the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, where they again made the knockout round but got beaten by the hosts.

That was followed by qualification for Euro 2008 but elimination in the group phase.

When Sweden failed to reach this year’s World Cup finals, Lagerback resigned, leaving him free to take up a five-month contract with Nigeria.

Though he was given only weeks to get to know his new squad, the 61-year-old Lagerback was confident, saying last month: “In three weeks you can do a lot.”

REUTERS