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All the advantage
the Eagles may have in the coming world cup may well hinge on the fact
that they will be playing on African soil.

It has been an
eventful period for the team in the last four months. An uninspiring
performance in Angola led to calls that saw Coach Shaibu Amodu relieved
of his duties, denying him for a second time the chance of leading the
team to the World Cup finals. Former Sweden coach, Lars Lagerback
signed on as new coach on February 27, 2010 and was been given a
mandate to lead the Eagles to the semi finals of the World Cup.

On April 18, he
released a tentative list of 44 players from which he is supposed to
pick his final 23 players for the Mundial in South Africa. The list
itself had one or two surprises and if there is a level playing ground
in the training camp then maybe some unheralded players may just make
the cut.

While Nigeria’s
list is still provisional, Argentina have gone ahead to name a starting
eleven barring injuries, who will face Nigeria in their opening match
on June 12.

The players named
by Argentina coach, Diego Maradona, include: Sergio Romero; Nicolas
Otamendi, Martin Demichelis, Walter Samuel, Gabriel Heinze; Jonas
Guiterrez, Juan Veron, Javier Mascherano, Angel Di Maria; Lionel Messi,
Gonzalo Higuain or Carlos Tevez.

He said in an
interview on an Argentine radio station: “”I have tried many
full-backs, I had Emiliano Papa and Javier Zanetti but I have now
settled for playing four centre-backs in defence. I’m very happy with
Nicolas Otamendi, Martin Demichelis, Walter Samuel and Gabriel Heinze.
The performance against Germany showed how good this group are
together. There will be alternatives in the squad however such as
Clemente Rodriguez.” He justified the line up with this comment: “The
attitude of the boys in the last game showed the spirit that we have in
this team, it is a spirit that you’ll always find in Argentine
football. In fact we went to Uruguay and won, we kept [Diego] Forlan
very quiet that night.” History with Argentina Qualification for the
World Cup was fortuitous to say the least. It was a topsy turvy
campaign and at the last, our destiny was in the hands of Mozambique
and Tunisia. We could say it was not easy qualifying for South Africa.
But we qualified because Tunisia faltered on the last day by losing in
Maputo; the Eagles played their part in beating Kenya in Nairobi 3-2
with an Obafemi Martins’ goal nine minutes from time.

We are now here and
Argentina will be our first foes in Johannesburg. In Nigeria’s history
against Argentina, there has only been one occasion that Nigeria got
the better of the Argentines and this was at the U23 at the 1996
Olympics, where a Daniel Amokachi inspired side came from behind to
beat the South Africans 3-2. Daniel is now an assistant coach to the
Eagles and he will need to inspire this team to such great heights.

Where everybody
fears or respects Lionel Messi in unequal measures for his prowess on
the ball and it is understandable, Nigeria has a chance like every team
to the World Cup if it can just get its act together.

The centre backs
against the Eagles Playing a defence of only centre backs and the names
mentioned by Maradona brings up opportunities that the Eagles should
exploit. First of all, the average age of that defence is 29 and added
is the fact that they have had long and strenuous league campaigns.
That itself is an advantage in disguise – they can be exploited with
explosive pace and passes in the gaps that will be created by reduced
agility. Yes, age in defence leads to a lot of experience but pace is
the name of the game in today’s football.

Can Lagerback
devise a method to exploit these? Their full backs will not be doing a
lot of over-lapping, that is for sure. That can also be exploited if
our full backs can push forward at every opportunity if the attackers
are keeping the defenders busy in the middle of the pitch. As it showed
in their friendly match against Germany early this year, the times that
the Germans tried to stretch the play by going through the wings,
Maradona’s men had challenges but unfortunately, the Germans do not
have the pace that Nigeria can boast of in the attack. This is one of
the reasons why it has been suggested that Nigeria may have to play
with a two-man sitting defensive midfielder system.

This ultimately
means that the Eagles must come up with a plan to narrow their play and
make it expansive at the same time; then they will have a chance
against the genius, Lionel Messi and his cohorts. We know from
experience that even very good defences are troubled when you stretch
them.

The oldest lesson
in sport is – put genius in a foot race with desire, and desire will
win every time. The Eagles must be desirous of victory over Argentina
but more importantly, that desire must be shown by their actions on the
pitch and in this, Lagerback has to get his selection right, choosing
the right players with the right desires to prosecute the World Cup. If
he does this, he will have achieved something greater than his
predecessor. He must recognise that a footballer who consistently turns
in eight out of 10 performances is far better than one who gets full
marks one week and half marks the next.

Finally Maradona
suffered a dog bite recently and he told www.goal.com: “The dog bite
was my fault.” If Nigeria beats Argentina on June 12, it will be his
greater fault.

They say once
bitten, twice shy, will Nigeria be able to bite the Argentine legend in
Johannesburg on June 12 where it hurts most? – His ego! It is possible
because there is one thing that Nigeria can arguably boast of, a better
coach in Lars Lagerback. They also say that the World Cup is about
coaches because the best teams will be represented with the best
players in the world. Will Lagerback prove a better coach than Maradona?

– It is all to play for in South Africa.

The cry of
Nigerians over the charade at the Nations Cup in Angola was that the
team was totally bereft of guile and had more of brawn. West Africans
are known to be physically gifted, but lacking in technical quality.
Lars Lagerback can add that bit of guile that will make the physical
nature to become intimidating. The Eagles as presently constituted are
still good enough to scrap for at least a second round appearance but
that is only if we will use all our opponents’ defects to our own
advantage.

So maybe a shake-up
in the Eagles team will be good and lead to a wake -up; or maybe the
shake-up will be just that – a shake-up.

South Africa coach,
Carlos Alberto Parreira, struggling to prevent an ignominious early
exit by the World Cup hosts, expressed frustration on Friday at the
difficulty of setting up strong pre-tournament friendlies.

Stymied by the bad
planning of the South African federation and the final stage of
European competitions, the hosts returned on Friday from a training
camp in Germany still short of the challenging preparation games they
need to improve.

“I tell you the
real truth, we worked very hard in Germany to get one single first
division team to play with us. Even the reserve team for Bayern Munich.
But nobody wants to play with us,” the Brazilian coach told a news
conference.

The Icelandic
volcanic ash cloud that severely disrupted global air travel added to
Parreira’s problems with both China and Estonia pulling out of
friendlies in Germany.

South Africa have
played North Korea and Jamaica in the last week, managing only a
goalless draw with the former which pushed them down to 90th in the
FIFA world rankings.

They beat
79th-ranked Jamaica 2-0, but Bafana Bafana (the Boys) still looked
unconvincing, especially in goal-scoring power. The Jamaican game was
their third victory in 16 matches.

The camp included
only players from the domestic league, but Parreira’s problems are
compounded by the fact that most European-based South African players
spend the majority of their time on the bench for their clubs and lack
match fitness.

Local excitement

FIFA and local
organising committee officials have expressed concern that a poor
performance by South Africa and an exit after the group stage would
undermine vital local excitement for the June 11-July 11 tournament.
They would be the first World Cup hosts not to make the knockout second
round of the finals if this happens.

Parreira asked
people to “be realistic” about the home team’s chances. South Africa
“should not put pressure on our boys. We have to give our best and
fight for the country”.

Hundreds of fans blowing vuvuzela trumpets welcomed the team when they landed back in Johannesburg on Friday.

Orlando Pirates
midfielder Teko Modise told reporters the team were playing well, but
needed to break the goal drought. “I think the one thing we are lacking
now is scoring goals. Scoring goals will bring us more confidence,” he
said.

Kaizer Chiefs’
midfielder Siphiwe Tshabalala agreed, “As a team we’ve being doing well
defending and keeping shape but I think we need to start going more
forward and scoring goals,” he said.

South Africa hope
to play friendlies against Bulgaria, Colombia and Denmark in May and
early June ahead of the June 11 opening match of the tournament against
Mexico.

Parreira named a
provisional 29-man World Cup squad on Friday. One notable absentee is
Spanish-based defender Nasief Morris, left out just before last year’s
Confederation Cup for disciplinary reasons and still not rehabilitated
despite efforts at a reconciliation.

First choice
defender Morgan Gould, who underwent ankle surgery in February but is
attempting to work his way back to fitness, was also excluded.

Full back, Samuel
Inkoom, fled home as a teenager, helped Ghana beat Brazil in the world
under-20 final and has run the gauntlet of angry fans in his country.
Nothing worries him, apart from Swiss traffic laws.

The outgoing,
confident Inkoom, 20, joined FC Basel at the start of the season and
his only real difficulties have been with the highway code.

“The driving here
is more difficult, there are a lot of rules,” he told Reuters after a
five-minute trip in a Volkswagen Scirocco from FC Basel’s St Jakob Park
stadium to his comfortable but unassuming flat.

“They have a limit
which you are supposed to go at, if you go faster than that, they will
flash you, they fine you and you have to pay. In Ghana, you’re free,”
added Inkoom, who had to restrain himself from pulling across two lanes
of oncoming traffic, a normal manoeuvre back home, as he left the
stadium car park.

Inkoom broke into
the Ghana team last year when he played in the final match of the World
Cup qualifying campaign against Mali and was ever-present in the team
which finished runners-up to Egypt at the African Nations Cup in Angola
in January.

He played in the
team which won the under-20 world championship in Egypt last year,
beating Brazil on penalties in the final, and believes that victory
could inspire the senior side to win the tournament in South Africa;
something no African team has done.

“I believe that we
are going to live the ultimate,” he said, bristling with confidence.
“If you are determined and focused in football, I believe you can
achieve what you want.” “We are united and we have the quality. If you
see the senior and junior players, it’s amazing. Michael Essien is
great, you can ask him anything you want, anytime.

Stephen Appiah is
the same, he is a good captain, he encourages players. Milovan Rajevac
is a very good coach, he comes to you and shows you the plan, he goes
through it with you one to one, he shows you what to do, he makes us
understand football,”

Steamy port

Inkoom’s new home,
in a quiet Basel suburb, is a world away from the teeming streets of
the steamy port of Sekondi where he grew up.

Like thousands of
children across Africa, Inkoom learned his football on the streets. His
life changed when, as a teenager, he was spotted by a scout from a
football academy in the centre of the country.

“My father was a
teacher and he told me I couldn’t go, he wanted me to go to school,”
said Inkoom. “So I ran away from home. One day, I just took some things
and left. Then, my father would come and watch me play and he would
argue with my coach telling me he wanted me to come home.”

Inkoom, who says
his parents are now among his biggest fans, ended up being signed by
Ashante Kotoko, Ghana’s most popular club, where he quickly became a
firm favourite.

He was spotted by
FC Basel, joining the Swiss club at the start of the season. He does
not intend to let the opportunity slip and has shunned the lifestyle
which has sent so many players down the wrong path.

“I prefer gaining a
lot of energy for my work,” said Inkoom, who spent the interview with
one eye on his performance in a recent match against FC Luzern.
“Instead of going to a night club, I prefer to sleep and watch my
matches and the mistakes I made, to learn from them.”

Angry fans

No African country
has ever reached even the semi-finals of the World Cup, but Inkoom said
that expectations in the West African country, who reached the second
round on their first finals appearance four years ago, are high,
possibly too much so.

“There is a lot of
pressure on the national team; everybody wants you to do something for
the country,” said Inkoom, who felt the fans’ wrath after a 2-2 draw
with Mali. “But you will not find it easy, they will assault you, they
will go to your family… everybody knows where you live and they will
go straight to your house.

“They follow the team with their hearts, sometimes they don’t have
money and fight to get money to buy tickets to come to watch you…so
they get angry if you lose. I believe it’s part of football. If they
insult me, it doesn’t bother me.”

Diego Maradona
admitted during the week that he was having problems selecting his
World Cup squad from the array of talents that constantly churn out
promising performances for their respective clubs around the world.

In a team where
Inter Milan trio of captain Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambiasso, and big
striker, Gabriel Milito, are still looking up to the heavens to
convince the Argentine coach they are good enough to be in his squad
for South Africa, it would certainly be easy to agree Maradona has a
big problem on his hands. The three players were critically involved
for their Italian club as the Nerrazuri earned a berth in the final of
the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 38 years.

As part of the
efforts to prepare his team for their World Cup campaign, South Korea’s
coach, Huh Jung-moo, is already considering the use of oxygen tents to
aid their acclimatisation for the challenge in South Africa, after
learning they will be playing their second group game against Argentina
in Johannesburg, which is around 1,700 metres above sea level. That is
outside the fact that they still have Ecuador, Japan, Belarus, and
Spain to play between May 16 and June 3.

Both Japan and
Spain will also be playing at the World Cup and consequently, it makes
an interesting plan for the Koreans who had also played Zambia and Cote
D’Ivoire to test their might against African opposition. Nigeria’s
third group opponents, Greece, still have two build up games against
another two teams campaigning in the competition, Korea DPR and
Paraguay. Such is the importance some of our opponents have attached to
the global competition.

Different fate

But the same cannot
be said of Lars Lagerback, the Super Eagles coach, who surprisingly
named a squad of 44 players – including six home-based players, whom he
would only have the opportunity of meeting for the first time on May
20, barely 21 days to the kick off in Johannesburg. The rationale
behind the number of invitees were questionable abinitio, considering
some of the names who found themselves on the list. Granted that
Lagerback will need to rely on experienced players after being given a
mandate to guide the Eagles to the semi finals of the first Mundial to
be hosted on Africa soil, but even the veterans may lack match fitness
as over 50 percent of our top players are not seeing regular action for
their respective European clubs.

The Nigeria
Football Federation may not have a say on the fate of our players at
their clubs, but it has certainly thrown spanners into Lagerback’s
preparation by failing to organise friendly matches to help the Swede
decide on who merits to be in the final squad. Interestingly, the
Eagles coach will only meet his players eight days after the FIFA
deadline for the submission of 30-man provisional list for the World
Cup.

Greed or shrewdness?

The scheduled
friendly against Colombia will only come up on May 30, and there are
still issues concerning the venue as well as appearance fees. The snag
is partly because of the demand of the NFF as hinted by its spokeman,
Demola Olajire.

FIFA gave $1million
dollar for each of the 32 participating countries to support their
preparation, and they will also receive $8million for playing in the
group stage of the competition. Yet, the NFF is waiting for other
countries to make lucrative offers to play our Eagles. Reported
proposals from countries like Paraguay, Ecuador, and North Korea have
suffered futility. China backed out of a friendly with South Africa,
but the host announced Jamaica replaced China barely 48 hours later,
and they won the fixture 2-0 at Kickers Offenbach Stadium, last
Wednesday.

Explaining the inability of the NFF to organise any friendly match for the Eagles in an interview on BBC, Olajire said:

“We have always
received appearance fees, as well as other essential welfare packages,
so we cannot descend to a step lower. Nigeria seriously needs these
friendly games, but we cannot back down on our demands for the team.
These friendlies offer us the opportunities of preparing the Super
Eagles for the World Cup, as well exploiting the brand Nigeria, Super
Eagles, and World Cup participation.”

It is not the first
time Nigeria has appointed a new coach months before the World Cup, but
the Eagles could be having arguably the worst pre-World Cup preparation
ever.

Bora Milutinovic
took over from Phillip Troussier barely five months to the 1998
Mundial, but the team still played Holland, Yugoslavia and Germany in
build up games, albeit with some awful results. And even in February
2002, when Adegboye Onigbinde replaced Shuaibu Amodu about four months
before the Korea/Japan edition, the Eagles still played teams including
Kenya, Scotland, Paraguay, and China, with the last two taking part in
that year’s tournament.

Lagerback may not
openly express his frustration at the level of ineptitude at the NFF,
yet he would have something to allude to if he fails to lead the Eagles
past the group stage in South Africa. Besides, he would only need to
walk away with a handsome $1.3million after his World Cup adventure
with Nigeria.

Chelsea are on the
verge of wresting back the title from Alex Ferguson and Manchester
United, but the Blues must ensure that they get a victory over
Liverpool today at Anfield.

Liverpool’s season
should not be defined at this point in time because it will seem very
demeaning for a 19-time English league winner, 5-time Champions League
winner, and numerous FA Cups – in short, the most decorated club side
are in danger of missing out on playing in the Champions League for the
first time in six years and that has all been under the watch of Rafael
Benitez.

The Spaniard is
rumoured to be on the way to Juventus; how the Bianconneri can even
think of Benitez’s name as a likely coach for them is bizarre to say
the least, but we have to put that aside.

Chelsea would have
eased a sigh of relief and contentment when the Reds were taken into
extra time in their Europa League match against Atletico Madrid on
Thursday night and their eventual loss on aggregate. If that has not
drained the last powers of this great team, then nothing else will.

Chelsea will also
be banking on the fact that Liverpool will do all in their power to
disallow Manchester United, their arch enemies from winning a 19th
title thereby usurping their record as joint top winners with the Red
Devils on 18 victories, and the small fact that Ferguson wants to win a
fourth consecutive title, a new record that is unlikely to ever be
broken in a hurry.

Liverpool will be
without a player feared by John Terry and the other defenders, Fernando
Torres. Steven Gerrard is also not in his best form, but these are not
guarantees. If Carlo Ancelotti is to win his first English league
title, then he, and his team must take nothing for granted.

In the first leg, a
cagey match was settled by second half goals from Nicolas Anelka and
Florent Malouda. Anelka, a former Liverpool player scored first in the
60th minute when he finished off a sublime low cross from Didier Drogba
as Chelsea defied their critics with a performance of grit and quality.
Substitute Malouda sealed the win in injury-time when he slid home
another low cross from Drogba.

While Chelsea have
scored for fun and amassed an amazing 93 goals, Liverpool have managed
61, which incidentally is Chelsea’s goal difference.

Matches between
these two teams have been tactical ones with the superior on the night
cancelling out the other. In the days of Jose Mourinho as coach of
Chelsea, the likely score line would have been 1-1. In these climes,
with a victory the only result that will lead to a league win, today’s
match may see both teams opening up attacking wise and that will make
it a great spectacle to watch.

Liverpool still
have a mathematical chance of sneaking that lucrative fourth UEFA
Champions League spot but that is only if Aston Villa, Tottenham and
Manchester City all contrive to lose their matches.

Unfortunately
these three will face off in the last two weeks so a bad result for one
will mean a positive one for the other but Liverpool still have a
mathematical chance so then they will not turn the other cheek when
they are slapped on the other.

Battles to watch: Didier Drogba vs. Jaime Carragher

The Ivorien is
stuck on 25 goals, one behind Wayne Rooney, who is out injured. What
better place to score the goals that will most likely win Chelsea the
Premiership and the individual accolade as the league’s highest goal
scorer than at Anfield?

Meanwhile
liverpulldian, Carragher is a hard as nails defender who doesn’t give a
quarter. It does not matter to him, whether they are out of the league
race or in it, he will face the obstacle the same way, preventing the
opposing striker from scoring. It is always a physical duel between
both.

Florent Malouda vs. Glen Johnson

The England hopeful
versus the Frenchman, who won March’s player of the month could decide
the outcome of this match. One of the reasons Chelsea are where they
are is because of the form shown by Malouda. His contribution has been
goals, assists and defence.

Glen Johnson was
shown off on slack defending against Atletico Madrid when his tame
header, intended for Reina turned into the away goal that knocked his
team out of the Europa Cup. He will need to focus more on defending
against the duo of Ashley Cole and Malouda. Reckon that this is where
the match will be won and lost.

Steven Gerrard vs. Frank Lampard

England buddies,
but that is where the similarity ends. Lampard has scored 20 goals
again this season to make it five seasons consecutively that he has
netted 20 goals and above. Gerrard, long the saviour of Liverpool seems
to be waning in pulling the chestnut out of the fire these days. He has
also not been able to feature alongside Fernando Torres for long
periods during the season and that may have contributed tellingly to
the dismal outing of Liverpool in the league.

Today, Gerrard has another chance of showing that he still is one of
the finest midfield players in the world. Expect to see tackles fly
between these ones.

High-flying
Atletico Madrid fancy a champagne-splashed trip to Neptune after the
small matter of cup finals in Hamburg on May 12 and Barcelona on May 19.

Atletico’s teenage
goalkeeper David De Gea has never had the chance to celebrate at the
Neptune fountain where the club’s fans traditionally gather to party
after a title triumph.

After the La Liga
side ousted Liverpool in their Europa League semi-final on Thursday,
and with a King’s Cup final to come, the 19-year-old could well get to
do it twice.

“I have never been
to Neptune to celebrate and I rather fancy it,” De Gea told reporters
after Diego Forlan’s strike in added time at Anfield set up a final
against Fulham.

When Quique Sanchez
Flores replaced Abel Resino as Atletico coach last October the club
were in disarray in 15th place in La Liga. They had also just been
hammered 4-0 at Chelsea in the Champions League.

Six months on and
the former Real Madrid and Valencia defender has lifted the club into
the final of both the Europa League and the domestic cup.

They could even eclipse La Liga giants Real and Barcelona as Spain’s most successful side of the season.

Atletico’s
heart-stopping semi-final success against Liverpool sparked wild
celebrations in the Spanish capital into the early hours of Friday
morning, with flag-waving and horn-blaring fans driving triumphantly
through the city.

Several hundred
gathered at the Neptune fountain near the Prado museum, traditional
site of Atletico’s title celebrations down the years.

Trophy drought

They last won a
trophy in 1996 when they claimed a Spanish league and King’s Cup
double. They take on Sevilla in the King’s Cup final.

“Who would have
though it (six) months ago,” captain Antonio Lopez added. “It’s for all
the Atletico fans, the families and the club.” Atletico’s spectacular
turnaround under Sanchez Flores will have been bittersweet for
Liverpool striker Fernando Torres, who moved from boyhood club Atletico
in 2007 seeking silverware.

The 26-year-old,
sidelined with a knee injury but hoping to be fit for the World Cup,
watched from the stands as his beloved former club dashed Liverpool’s
last chance of a trophy this campaign.

Sanchez Flores said
his players were giddy after Uruguay striker Forlan snatched the
crucial away goal to send Atletico into the final after a 2-2 draw on
aggregate.

“I can’t describe
what the dressing room was like after the match,” the former Valencia
and Benfica coach told a news conference.

“They were like
school kids and it’s great to see them so happy.” La Liga leaders Barca
or second-placed Real could be left watching Atletico’s progress with
envy after a trophy-less season following elimination from the
Champions League and the cup.

“Atletico is poised
to clinch an unforgettable double and become the big winners of the
season — and at the expense of their wealthy neighbours to boot,”
Marca sports daily trumpeted in an editorial on Friday.

“Reaching two finals could have enormous significance for the club.
It should give them a base which will consolidate them among the elite
and prevent them slipping back into their bad old ways ever again.”

What other highly
rated clubs in the UEFA Champions league could not do (at least up till
now), the recent Icelandic volcanic ash saga and Jose Mourinho have
managed to attain; and that is to cause, in a very unprecedented and
unpredictable fashion, the loss of Barcelona FC to Inter Milan in the
Champions league.

Barcelona contended
with nature and the natural and lost! As has been rehashed, the
volcanic ash wreaked a lot of havoc globally. From the high and mighty-
prime ministers, presidents, and governors to the lowliest packer of
fruits in Kenya all suffered significant hardship either in lost
revenues (ranging in millions to paltry sums), or inability to attend
to matters of state and the inconvenience of being held stationery in
one place with no option of movement.

The football world
was apparently not left out. Who would ever have thought that a raging
volcano in Iceland would contribute in part to the loss of the former
holders of the UEFA cup and perhaps the greatest team (in terms of
quality and class) to a certainly lesser rated Inter-Milan?

The journey
Barcelona made to keep their first leg semi final appointment last week
at the San Siro was to say the least an arduous one. It was an 1100
kilometre, 2-day coach (a.k.a. Luxury bus) journey across 3 countries,
beginning from Spain and ending in Italy. This must have been worse
than a Lagos to Dakar trip by road! And the roads are even better.

It could not have
been a pleasant trip for a team that was going to defend its title.
True, the coach and even the players themselves tried to downplay the
effect of the trip as being a contributing factor to their loss but
there is no denying the fact that it played some role. After all body
no be wood (the body is not wood).

Perhaps the matches
should have been rescheduled because the circumstance in my opinion
gave something of an unfair advantage to the opposing teams. Other
sporting event like the MotoGP race scheduled to hold in Tokyo was
postponed. After all, Europe as a continent has been known to suffer
from severe weather sometimes including snow storms and matches have
been rescheduled on such occasions so why not now?

Understandably,
there may be time pressures with the World cup coming up and the
domestic leagues rounding up in most of the European countries.

One understands,
that there exists a larger sister (Katla) of the Eyjafjallajokull
volcano that erupted last week which scientist are closely monitoring
and have indicated can also erupt at anytime.

The prayer then, is
this, (at least from the fans of Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Athletico
Madrid, and Hamburg) that it would will hold its power and not let rip
anytime soon (not before their matches this week) so that they would
not suffer similar fatigue on the return legs of these championships.

But through all the
ash and the smog, credit must however be given to the superior tactical
skills demonstrated by Jose Mourinho and implemented by his team over
the two legs. Pep Guardiola will surely realise now that Barca’s goal
to overturn a two-goal deficit became impossible immediately Inter won
the first leg 3-1.

On Wednesday,
Mourinho set out his team in what Italians will joyously refer to as
Catennacio – superior defending stratagem. Jose Mourinho was formerly a
translator to the late Bobby Robson and later as assistant coach to
Louis Van Gaal with the Catalans.

It reinforces my opinion that the Barcelona defence is its weakest
point; when tested it will fold. I was proved right. Arsenal fans can
now forget about the football lesson Barca taught us a few weeks back
and refer to the lesson Barca itself has now been taught by a superior
power – the volcano and Jose Mourinho – ‘the special one,’ who got a
special result at the Nou Camp on Wednesday.

Super Eagles
forward, John Utaka, is eager to claim a place in the Nigerian team to
this summer’s World Cup after a season plagued by injuries and
off-field upheavals.

He has also
showered praises on Portsmouth manager, Avram Grant, for giving him a
new found belief in his abilities as a footballer.

The Nigeria
international has been synonymous with the Super Eagles since the 2002
World Cup but has found himself in the international wilderness
following a serious loss of form.

He was however
recently recalled to the Super Eagles by new coach Lars Lagerback ahead
of the team’s preparations for South Africa 2010 having made his last
Super Eagles appearance as far back as June 2009 in a World Cup
qualifier against Tunisia.

“I’m happy to be
back with the squad and like always, I will give my best for Nigeria.
I’m also looking forward to the World Cup, where I believe we will do
well,” said Utaka. “I have the confidence and determination and so I’m
optimistic I will be in South Africa.”

Grant’s influence

Grant was named as
Portsmouth’s manager in late November after the club released erstwhile
manager Paul Hart, and Utaka told his club’s web site: “His coming was
a big boost for me. He told me to go out and enjoy myself. He gave me
more confidence.” “He’s a good manager because he has worked at some
top clubs previously and he knows a good player when he sees one,”
added Utaka, who is at home either as a centre-forward or as a winger.

He however reiterated that his best position was playing as a center-forward.

“I’m a
centre-forward, a top-nine. I only have to get a good run in that
position and with the right support and delivery; I will be scoring
consistently for both club and country. I have never doubted what I can
do on the pitch. This is a gift, a talent,” said Utaka.

Setback

This season hasn’t
however been the best for the Nigerian international and he is quick to
blame it all at the much publicized problems that have plagued
Portsmouth.

“We changed owners
and managers at will, and everybody came with his own ideas and his own
players. There was no stability at the club,” said Utaka.

“Also, some people will not care to know that I suffered injuries –
hamstring, groin. It’s also a fact that even if you are not playing, it
does not mean, you’re not a good player. It does not take away your
quality,” he added.

The duo of
Josephine Omaka and Ogho-Oghene Egwero top the list of athletes still
in contention for the N1, million jackpot up for grabs in the ongoing
Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) Golden League Meetings.

The Meet which enters its third leg this weekend is billed for the Sports Complex of Yaba College of Technology, Lagos.

Other contenders

Others still in
contention include Biola Onakoya who remains undefeated in the 400m
events, Magret Etim in the 200m and Ishaku Mohammed in the 800m amongst
others still in contention for the N1 million prize.

Speaking on his
arrival in Lagos, Egwero pointed out that he is not under any form of
pressure as he is ready to continue his winning streak. “It’s been a
good year for me so far and I hope to continue the way I started, I
want to improve on my time and hope for the best” he said.

Ogho-Oghene
Egwero’s 10.32 secs 100m win in Ibadan made it two victories out of two
legs for the Doha World Indoor 2010 60m semi-finalist.

We are ready

Meanwhile,
Technical director of the AFN, Sunday Bada confirmed to NEXTsports that
all arrangements have been put in place by the Federation to ensure a
successful athletics meeting. “We have made adequate arrangement for
the meet, you would agree with me that each leg of the meet as
witnessed one form of improvement or the other so Lagos would not be an
exception” he said.

Bada added that the
Federation has equally been able to secure some sponsorship for the
Lagos Meet pointing out that the corporate world are beginning to see
the seriousness in the federation’s drive to change the face of
athletics.

“Two companies have
given us support and we expect more to come, at least they are
beginning to see that athletics is a strong brand” he said.

Looking back at the
two legs already concluded, Bada opined that the League is achieving
the aim it was set for. “We want to keep our athletes in shape for the
big event we have later this year and so far they have be showing great
signs of improvement both at home and those abroad” he said.

Just like the
previous legs, an all comers event is meant to herald the league with
races meant to begin from 9am today. The race is meant to give more
upcoming athletes an opportunity to compete.

Elite Athletes returns

According to Bada
some elite athletes who have not been part of the league has already
shown interest to participate in the Lagos leg.

They include Godday
James, Saul Weigopowa, and Emem Edem. Already Godday James have
confirmed his participation to NEXTsports stating that it would a nice
thing for him to compete.

Some of the events
that would be competed for in Lagos include the 100 metres, 400 metres,
800 metres, 400 metres hurdles, Triple Jump, High Jump, 4×100 metres
and 4×400 metres for men.

The women would
compete in 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres, 1500 metres, 5000
metres, 400 metres hurdles, Long Jump, 4×100 metres and 4×400 metres.

The top three athletes for each event are to receive cash prizes of N20,000, N15,000 and N10,000 respectively.

The Super Eagles
yesterday made progress, moving from 22nd position to 20th in the
latest rankings released by world football governing body, FIFA.

The Eagles however remain the third best team in Africa as Egypt maintained the top spot on the continent and 13th in the world.

Cameroon also improved on its standing by one spot, moving up to 19th in the world and second on the continent.

The current
position occupied by the Eagles is the best attained so far this year
as it was previously ranked 21st in February and 22nd in March.

It should be noted
that the Super Eagles have played just one low quality friendly match
with Congo Democratic since after the Nations Cup outing in Angola.

Portugal and North
Korea were mooted by the NFF but did not materialise while talks with
Cyprus, Wales and Iceland have only been rumoured on the pages of
newspapers.

Playing top quality grade “A” friendly matches is one of the important criteria used by FIFA in rating the teams.

Top ten teams

Meanwhile Dunga’s Brazil has replaced European champions Spain at the top of the world rankings released on Wednesday.

The upward movement
by the Samba Boys brings an end to Spain’s five-month stint at the
summit, with Vicente del Bosque’s side slipping back into second place.

Despite a topsy-turvy ride under coach Diego Maradona,

Nigeria’s World Cup
group opponent; Argentina rose two places to seventh, while Portugal
move into their highest ever placing in the rankings system in third.

Argentina’s rise
sees Fabio Capello’s England drop to eighth place, while France is down
two places to 10th. Holland is in fourth place, with Italy in fifth,
Germany sixth and Croatia ninth.

With none of the
leading countries in action in the past month, FIFA has credited the
movement inside the top 10 to “the devaluation of past results”.

According to the statement posted on the organisation’s website:
“some teams have actually gained ranking points in the past month due
to the fact that the devaluation of poor results has led to a greater
weighting of successful matches.”