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With 70 days to the

beginning of the World Cup, the Eagles have fallen to 22 after being

ranked 21 in the last ranking. World Cup opponents, Argentina did not

move from their 9th ranking even after defeating Germany in a friendly

last month while Greece fell a slot but are still 11 places better than

the Eagles. South Korea remain on the 49th position.

Ranking is all theory

Ajibade Babalade, a

former Super Eagles defender believes the rankings are theoretical: “It

doesn’t matter what the ranking is now. During the period in review we

did not play any match. Let us wait until April when we play the

Colombians, and see how it will reflect on us then. We should not

forget that the FIFA ranking is just a measurement on paper, the game

is played on the pitch within 90 minutes.

“Just like

Argentina is ranked above us, it is not just today, even when we were

No. 5 in the world in 1994, I am sure they must have ranked above us,

and Greece is a former European champion which am sure is still rubbing

off. But all these are theoretical we should just prepare very well to

play them at South Africa. While Argentina might turn out to be a tough

nut, I think we should be able to take on Greece, and not overlook the

Koreans.”

According to Nduka

Ugbade, a defender in the famed 1994 Eagles squad, “The Super Eagles

should put the FIFA ranking aside and concentrate on their World Cup

preparation.

“Well, it’s all

about the quality of friendly games you play during the international

free days and we could all remember that we just managed to make a late

arrangement for our Team B to play Congo DR. Though we won the game, we

all know the quality of the opposition and normally you don’t really

expect that game to help us move up in the FIFA ranking.”

Concentrate on South Africa

“We can’t do

anything about that now and we should just forget about it and

concentrate on our preparation for the World Cup. Regardless of our

ranking, that may not necessarily determine how we are going to perform

but we can only use the ranking as an indicator that could give us some

hints about how our opponents are performing. We need to prepare well

if we are to do well at the world Cup. That is the most important

thing. There are criteria set for the rankings and Nigeria might not

have fulfilled these,” says Rabiu Yusuf, Zamfara United coach.

“I believe there are criteria used by FIFA in the rankings, so the

ranking is mainly a reflection of how well the country has fulfilled

those criteria. For instance, a lower ranked country is likely to jump

upward on the FIFA ranking table if they play and defeat a higher

ranked country.

“To me, the ranking is just a guide aimed at making

each country do better. Nigeria’s fall to 22 does not mean the country

does not have the talents or the players to execute international

matches. Greece and Argentina leading Nigeria doesn’t mean we can’t

beat them even today. All we got to do is assemble our talents and with

the right technical crew, the best will come out of them. FIFA’s

ranking shouldn’t be our headache now. Bringing the best of out of the

Super Eagles should. The proof of the current ranking will be put to

practical test when the World Cup kicks off in South Africa come June

11, then all theory must be set aside.”

Will United keep
Chelsea at bay without Rooney? The point difference is just one but
Wayne Rooney will miss this match with a sprained ankle. All those that
have been saying that the Red Devils is a one-man team will get the
chance to be proven right or wrong.

After the loss in
Munich to Bayern, United need to get back on track quickly and that
means that players like Dimitar Berbatov must start to deliver.

Chelsea, on the
other hand, do not have the distraction of the Champions League, but
United welcome Bayern to Old Trafford next Wednesday, so there is no
let-off. The Blues have scored 12 goals in their last two outings and
will believe this is as good as any time to be playing Alex Ferguson’s
men.

No further injury
concerns for Carlo Ancelotti means that he can field the same team that
destroyed Aston Villa 7-1 but herein lays the challenge: Didier Drogba,
with 24 goals in the league, was left on the bench for the duration of
the match. Chelsea may be without Didier Drogba has he sat out the last
two days of Chelsea training after picking up a knock. If he is
available, it will inevitably lead to questions about the compatibility
of playing him and Nicolas Anelka. But like they say in football, you
do not change a winning team. Point to note is that during the Africa
Cup of Nations Cup with Drogba absent, Chelsea recorded all wins. So if
he stays injured, that will save Ancelotti having to make a decision on
who to field. That means the showdown between the two highest goal
scorers would not be on show.

Alex Ferguson has
to rally his troops as they performed below par in Munich. Apart from
Darren Fletcher and Wayne Rooney, all the other players had an off day.
He also has to look at the failings of Rio Ferdinand, who is still not
back to his commanding best after a series of niggling back injuries.

Chelsea last won at
Old Trafford in 2005 when the Red Devils formed a guard of honour for
Mourinho’s team. If they get a win tomorrow, expect Chelsea to honour
their players. Let no one be fooled, the result of tomorrow’s match
will still not determine who will win the Premiership. The drama will
continue until the last match of the season.

Arsenal vs. Wolves

The Gunners were
taught a footballing lesson by Barcelona on Wednesday but they got away
with a 2-2 draw, quite commendable. If this is the new Arsenal, then
kudos to Arsene Wenger for his training this set of players. They have
shown a fighting spirit, which was ruled out before the season began;
they were hammered by Chelsea and Manchester United and then the injury
to Robin Van Persie. But every time, they have risen like the
proverbial phoenix. Their comeback against Barcelona showed that there
is still life left in their season.

There are fears
that Andrei Arshavin, William Gallas, and Captain Cesc Fabregas may not
be available for upwards of four weeks. Arshavin has been ruled out for
three weeks, while Gallas, who rushed back to action, might even miss
the World Cup.

Cesc Fabregas is
facing a scan to determine the extent of damage on his shin. He
suffered the injury firing home the 85th minute penalty against
Barcelona on Wednesday.

Scans taken are not
decisive yet but the Arsenal captain said on his team’s website: ‘I am
not good. I fear the worst, which is that I broke something but we will
have to wait. I hope I will be able to wear the Arsenal shirt again
this season”. Arsenal’s season may just peter out with all these
injuries, but do not rule out the Gunners.

Wolves are on a
good run themselves and everybody seems to have conveniently forgotten
Mick McCarthy’s decision to rest his first team against Manchester
United some weeks ago. His team have not lost in the last five and drew
their home game against Everton the last time out. At the Emirates,
they will have to show the same steely discipline that has seen them
clear the relegation waters with five points. Anything positive they
get tomorrow will be a bonus in a season which has seen them skirting
the basement places for a large part of the season.

The Vice chairman
of Kwara United football club, Abdulrasaq Owolabi Wopa, had reiterated
the stance of the club at meeting their target of getting a continental
ticket, particularly a Champions League slot, tomorrow at the Ilorin
Township Stadium when they take on Kaduna United on Saturday.

Justin Tenger is
right now under a load of pressure, the title chasing Ilorin team has
lost three of it last five matches, a situation that doesn’t show how
serious they are to mount a challenge, though they are just three
points behind second place Kano Pillars who are on 45 points.

Perhaps they can
count on Kano slipping up in Kaduna tomorrow the way they did against
Heartland at the midweek, when they lost 2-0. Kwara will be level on
point if Pillars losses tomorrow.

A must-win for Pillars

On the other hand
Pillars will put out all the stop to make sure they came out with a
result from Kaduna, baring fatigue. When they take up Ranchers in
Kaduna on Saturday, it will be their third match in seven days, and two
consecutive away matches on the trot.

The 2-0 in the
rescheduled match against Heartland in Owerri dealt just a slight blow
to their ambition. Enyimba; the table topper is still at touching
distance- two points away.

Last Saturday
Pillars had the honour of being the first team Lars Lagerback watched,
when they defeated Gombe United 2-1 in an entertaining match,
characterized by missed chances.

After the duel the stand-in captain Abdulwasiu Showemimo said the team is focused on the Kaduna trip .

“We now have one
difficult away match with Ranchers Bees. We need to get a result from
this match to stay in contention for the league title”.

But his assertion
now hold new significance, having lost to Heartland, a slip at Kaduna
might see Kwara United playing at home, catch up with them.

Kaduna have made
their stead a fortress sort of, they have only dropped points in three
matches; all their ten victories are from there. But would this count
for a Kano Pillars team that went goal wire there last season
pummelling them 3-0, plus from the 12 away matches the Kano based team
have played, they have gone undefeated in six of them- winning one and
drawing six.

Gombe is difficult terrain

Playing in Gombe is
always a very difficult task, any club that has ever visited the Col.
Abubarkar Umar stadium knows it is almost impossible to win there. It
will also be very difficult to draw there. This is what Dolphin will
have to contend with on Saturday.

This is a clash of
two neighbours on the table, both are tied at 34 point, but Dolphin
lead on goals difference. The Port-Harcourt team is 11th, while Gombe
follows closely at 12th, so this is a really tie breaker.

Key players return

The Dolphins team
will be boosted by the return of certain key players who were either
away on national assignment or out with injuries.

Emma Nwachi, Mutui
Adegoke and John Huan have all returned from the Super Eagles B camp
and would have played the game against Sharks last week if not for
their late arrival to Port Harcourt.

Injured players like Jonah Abutu and Sunday Mbah have also resumed training and may be fit enough to make the trip to Gombe.

Abutu and Mbah had missed the game against Sharks due to injuries sustained in the previous home match against Zamfara United.

Apart from the returnee, the team has vowed to take the game to Gombe and put up a real fight.

China Acheru, the Port-Harcourt side’s spokesperson, said all they
ask for is for the match to be played in the spirit of fair play, “we
hope they won’t score with penalty conjure up by the referee like they
did against us in 2004, or score against us with a ball that did not
cross the line like they did in 2005.”

With
one of the highest prizes for a Five-a-Side Championship in Nigeria,
many footballers are rushing to register for the Gulder Five-a-Side
football tourney which closes to registration next week.

In a statement by
the organisers, co-coordinators from the 24 zones that will host the
event report that Nigerians are looking forward to seeing the best of
Five-a-Side football on display.

The competition,
which will kick off next month, will be organized on a zonal basis,
with the best 12 teams coming to Lagos for the final round of matches.

Some of the
co-coordinators for the event include former Super Eagles goalkeeper
Etta Egbe, who is in charge of the Calabar zone; Ndubuisi Opara, who
coordinates the Owerri zone and Yomi Peters who takes care of the Lagos
Mainland Zone. Others are Sylvester Odigie for Benin, Ayo Owolabi for
Warri and Ralph Chidozie George for the Enugu Zone.

The Gulder
Five-a-Side tournament will see each team having eight players and four
officials. It will be held in three regions comprising eight zones
each, with Lagos demarcated into Epe, Lagos Island, Badagry, Apapa,
Mainland, Ikeja, Ikorodu and Iyana-Ipaja. The East has Port-Harcourt,
Calabar, Aba, Umuahia, Enugu, Owerri, Onitsha and Asaba, while Mid-West
is made up of Warri, Benin, Akure, Oshogbo, Markurdi, Abuja, Ibadan and
Abeokuta.

The sponsor,
Nigerian Breweries PLC, has undertaken to fully kit the 12 finalists
that will emerge from the three regions in the competition. The kits
will include football boots and jerseys, amongst others.

The overall winner
will receive N5 million for their effort, just N2 million will go to
the runner up side and N1 million to the third placed team, in the
competition.

The registration
and participation for the competition is open to all who can access the
24 cities that will be hosting the games, which will be played in
enclosed venues with Astro turf endorsed by FIFA.

Players who seek to
be part of the team that will be registered upon fulfilling the
requirement of providing 50 uncrushed Gulder cans or 50 Gulder bottle
labels, must be 18 years and above, and must not be registered in any
of the national professional and amateur leagues organized by the
Nigeria Football Federation and the Nigeria Professional League Board.

Registration forms can be downloaded from www.gulder-nigeria.com

FIFA and Confederation of African Football executive board
member Jacques Anouma, who is also president of the Cote d’ Ivorie Football
Federation, has given me and every right thinking person a reason why we don’t
need a financial manager or accountant to manage our affairs.

A financial manager since 1978, who has managed various
multinational companies and some Ivorian ones, Anouma worked with the likes of
accounting firms like the moribund Arthur Andersen Consulting that gave pass
marks to financially dead companies. Then, last week, employed a man whose last
yearly wage was £250,000 and decided to pay him £2 million per annum.

Impossible? Well the man Anouma employed is not a ghost, he is
Sven-Goran Eriksson, the former manager of Notts Country football club campaigning
in the lower echelons of the English league hierarchy.

Before he ‘hammered’ or ‘caught mugu’ last Sunday, like my
brothers in Ojuelegba will say when they have done a successful ‘419 job’,
Eriksson was earning a basic salary of £250,000-a-year – as manager at the
lowly League Two club as director of football.

The Swede’s contract with the club, which was to last for a
five-year period, was on a basic salary of £4,800-a-week, with bonuses to
reward success. Eriksson could eventually end up taking home up to £1 million
gross a year. That would have happened if he won titles, and if he introduced
some of the home grown talents into the first team.

Anouma sins

Shouldn’t Anouma, as an accountant, have asked for Eriksson’s
last wage at his last place of work before determining his new salary?

If he did this, then how did he arrive at the new salary?
Especially against the backdrop that, before he took the Ivorian job from the
lowly Notts County, Eriksson was sacked in his last three jobs for
non-performance. He was sacked as manager of England, Manchester City and
Mexico.

In fact, he had been pushing his resume across the globe
including Nigeria looking for a club or a national team to coach without luck,
before he finally ‘hammered’ last Sunday.

Worldwide, his wage has been roundly condemned, but, not
surprisingly, Eriksson justified it, saying he does not believe he is being
paid “that well”.

Asked how he can justify his huge wage in country where the
average daily wage is £3, Eriksson said, “I don’t think I am paid that well.
But I’m happy. I don’t think I’m even close to what the England manager has.
But that’s okay for me; I have no problems with that. What is most important is
to do a good World Cup.

It’s a World Cup and a good team, a lot of good football players
and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Asked if it was right that a country with severe financial
difficulties should be spending so much on a football manager, he told
TalkSport “Of course. Are you going to say the same thing if we go into another
context, shall we say a surgeon? If they have the money to employ a top-class
world surgeon to go in and do some work for them, are you going to say that
they shouldn’t pay that surgeon the money?”

Swedish connection

Ah well. Nigeria also recently employed a Swedish coach, Lars
Lagerback, and like Eriksson his salary and the circumstances surrounding
employment are also causing controversy. Before becoming the Eagles’ coach,
Lagerbäck was paid 2.4 million Swedish Krona for 2008. That’s equal to $325
000. We mustn’t forget that in the same year, he paid taxed to the tune of 1.4
million Krona ($190, 000), so of his total income of 2.4 million Krona, he paid
taxes of approximately 58% of his wages.

Yet for the few months that he will working in Nigeria,
Lagerback will be paid $1.5 million.

Or could it be that Anouma, who this reporter has met and who
has claimed that he loves Cote d’ Ivore, has done what Glen Hoddle and John
Shittu accused the panel that interviewed coaches in Nigeria did?

Hoddle alleged he had been assured by the panel that he will
coach the Eagles, but he was then dropped because he refused to tell the world
that he is being paid $1.5million whereas he will be paid $900,000. Doing the
mathematics, he was supposed to give a kick-back of $600,000. Is Anouma playing
the same game in Cote d’Ivorie? Until he comes to justify why Eriksson’s value
has shot up over night without any noticeable achievement, we may have to
believe that African sports administrators are selling their conscience and
soul for money, like common whores.

Barcelona versus Arsenal, what a memorable night for football.
Barcelona showed once again why they instil fear into their opponents, with
their style of play, players, and coach. Arsenal will have their share of
problems, but Barcelona will too. What are they exactly? Here are a few of
them:

Arsenal’s Pains

Andrey Arshavin, the Russian magician, will probably miss the
highly-charged return leg in Spain. Arsenal’s captain Cesc Fabregas will also
miss it, along with injured first-team choice William Gallas. That, with the
fact the Arsenal’s most dangerous striker Robin van Persie will be missing,
restricts Arsene Wenger’s choices to zero.

No one from the Gunners’ camp would like to see the one
dimensional Arsenal that this lack of first team players may cause at the Camp
Nou. It will only make life much easier for the Catalans-and they would love
that.

On top of that, the vulnerability of the Arsenal defence was
exposed by Barcelona-those long balls proved too hard to decode for Alex Song
and Thomas Vermaelen.

Zlatan Ibrahimovich’s two goals will certainly ring the alarm
bells for Wenger, and the players and will push them to improve their game and
mutual understanding in training.

Barcelona’s Pains

Barcelona, similarly, will miss both their first-team starters
at the back: Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol -hardly a problem you can easily
disregard.

The hopes of Arsenal are raised even more by other significant
factors. Despite the razor-sharp attack, Barcelona is vulnerable in the air, as
we all saw. The absences of the short Arshavin and Fabregas may prove to be not
as important as initially thought.

Another potential problem-causing issue for Pep Guardiola’s team
is their weaker physiques. We all saw how they pushed themselves to the limit
until the 70th minute at the Emirates, and then they crumbled. The reason they
conceded the first goal was more due to fitness than to psychology.

The team’s physical energy limits were drained due to their
incessant attempts to win the ball and keep it in their possession. Every time
when Arsenal won the ball, or attempted to make a counter-attack, at least
three Barcelona players were at them, trying to close them down, and win the
ball back. While being a very effective part of total football, this tactic is
very tiring to the players.

Wenger ingeniously kept the extremely quick Theo Walcott for the
closing part of the game, when the players clad in yellow were beginning to
breathe heavier. The potential choice for the England national side was a big
pain for the Catalans, ripping through the left side of their defence like a
knife through butter. The England manager, Fabio Capello, who was watching the
match, must have been impressed.

Conclusion

Barcelona are the clear favourites. Arsenal has much to avenge
for against this specific enemy, but it will not be about that this time. It
will be about proving their worth against probably the best team in the world.

Abdullah Sani Lulu,
the president of Nigeria Football Federation, ate humble pie last week
when he admitted the Hampshire Hotel, Ballito, Durban, may not be the
ideal place for the Super Eagles to camp for the South Africa 2010 FIFA
World Cup. Lulu told journalists at a media briefing at the Lagos
Sheraton Hotel that the Nigeria Football Federation has given the
management a three-point ultimatum to put things right, or they will
start looking for alternative accommodation.

Lulu had before now
given the Hampshire Hotel a passmark. So also did the Super Eagles
coach, Lars Lagerback. Their views contradicted sharply with that of NFF
scribe, Bolaji Ojo-Oba, who described the hotel as not the best they
could get for the Eagles after three visits to South Africa.

The criticism around
the Hampshire includes the lack of facilities that will enable the team
prepare properly for their matches. Some analysts say the management of
Hampshire will have to work miracles to build an Olympic sized, or
fairly big swimming pool, within three weeks, for example.

They also argue that
the possibility of providing visible and invisible security, a
functional gym, and other facilities within this period is very remote.

Lulu’s sudden
turn-around is probably due to pressure from all quarters on the NFF
following NEXT on Sunday’s exclusive story on the state of the hotel.

Many though, doubt
Lulu’s sincerity on the NFF getting a new hotel within three weeks.
They fear that the NFF will argue that since the championship is just
about a month away, it is not expedient to start looking for another
hotel, and that rather, they should just let the Eagles stay at
Hampshire Hotel in Ballito.

A senior football
official who asked for anonymity said he could not understand why the
NFF went for a clearly unsuitable hotel. “FIFA is taking care of all the
expenses,” he said. “So why can’t we just make sure that our team is in
a place that will allow them prepare and rest properly between
competitions.”

Given the urgency of the situation, the NFF, working with the staff
of Nigeria High Commission in South Africa needs to start looking for a
new abode for the Eagles immediately.

When Kadiri Ikhana blew the lid in 2008 that the Nigeria Premier
League will continue to suffer decline because of corruption, it caused such a
stir that the then board chairman, Oyuki Obaseki, could only accuse him of
running down the system.

“Corruption in football in Nigeria is so visible that you can
even feel it. It is a sort of cartel that needs to be checked for our football
to grow,” Ikhana, who did not exonerate himself from the rot, had declared
shortly after guiding Kano Pillars to their first Premier League title.

But Obaseki, who believed he has done so much to develop the
domestic league, cursed the people who are “trying to destroy his
achievements”. Two years on, the decline is so bad that we could not even raise
a team that could face Niger in the African Nations Championship (CHAN)
qualifiers, out of over 500 players playing in the NPL.

It was coach Okey Emordi, who led Enyimba to the 2004 CAF
Champions League success, that failed with our first CHAN Eagles team, when
they crashed to Ghana in 2008. But if Ghana could boast of having a great
football pedigree that can match our record, the same cannot be said of Niger,
who are now rejoicing after qualifying for the 2011 CHAN, their first ever
international competition since their Football Association was founded in the
mid 1960s. The Mena achieved the feat after a 2-0 aggregate win over two legs
against our Home Eagles.

The extent of failure

To explain the extent of the failure in our system, The Niger
Premier League, which produced the players that eliminated our team in the CHAN
qualifiers, has suffered a lot a since its inception in 1966, owing to
financial problems in the poor country. As recently as in 2005, several major
clubs dropped out of the championship for financial reasons, and because of the
2005 famine afflicting the south centre of the nation. Indeed some of the
Nigerien players have had to come to Nigeria for greener pastures. For
instance, goalkeeper Rabou Saminou played for Enyimba for three seasons, after
joining from Sahel SC, Niger’s most successful clubside, while defender Ismael
Alassane, is still currently on the pay roll of the Aba outfit.

Even the Niger Football Federation had turned to our country’s
football supporters to raise funds for the Mena, during the 2010 Nations Cup
qualifiers.

Fire brigade approach

Since Okey Emordi’s failure, nothing has been done by the NFF to
prepare another team for the next CHAN. Not until after our poor performance in
Angola in February did it emerge that Shuaibu Amodu would be demoted to manage
the Home Eagles for CHAN.

Niger, on the other hand, recognized its limitations and
appointed Ikhana to work as the technical consultant of the country’s football
body. It is paying some dividends. The Nigeria federation believes we can
always have our way against ‘small’ opposition and this belief backfired, like
it did in the last edition.

Amokachi’s credentials

Mention Adoulmalik Mou and you might be asked who he is. He is
the history-making coach of the Niger team. But for those who follow football
in Africa and beyond, the name Daniel Amokachi would definitely sound familiar.
It is often said that being a good footballer does not necessarily translate to
becoming a good coach.

That is probably the case with Amokachi, who bungled the chance
of showing what he is capable of doing as a coach. Da Bull has an impressive
track record of having represented Nigeria at the highest level of the game,
playing a key role in the 1994 edition where the Super Eagles endeared
themselves to the world with their beautiful brand of African football,
crashing out in the 16th round. He even scored twice; one of his goals, against
Greece, will stand out as one of the most memorable strikes at the competition.

Amokachi also featured in the 1998 in France. He would also be
remembered for helping the U-23 Eagles to win the 1996 Olympic Football gold in
Atlanta, where our Dream Team defeated Brazil and Argentina en route their
success. At club career level, he holds the record of having scored the first
goal of the UEFA Champions League while playing for Club Brugges in Belgium,
where he also won the Ebony Award given to the best foreign player featuring in
the Jupiler League. What more, he also enjoyed success in England and Turkey,
helping Everton to win the FA Cup in 1995.

Coaching flop

But with all these accolades, the former Besiktas of Turkey has
failed to justify that he has the ability to be a good coach. He has had
coaching stints at Nassarawa United and Enyimba, both as assistant coach. But
because of his accomplishments as a former international footballer, he often
took the shine off the coaches in charge. He worked under Zakari Baraje at Nassarawa
and of course Maurice Cooreman at Enyimba. Amokachi also assisted Austin
Eguavoen to the 2006 Nations Cup in Egypt and took the same role under Shuaibu
Amodu to the 2010 Nations Cup in Angola. He looked like the active man on the
sidelines during the Eagles matches, but he fumbled when he handled his own
team.

The NFF insisted it was Amodu’s team but Amokachi, who was known for his
bravado during his playing days, has had his ego bruised and his technical
frailties exposed.

Having forced Tiko United of Cameroon to a 2-2 draw in the first
leg encounter of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League,
Heartland Football Club of Owerri are ready to end the Camerounian’s ambition
on the continent at the Dan Ayiam Stadium in Owerri today.

For Heartland, the encounter is almost a done deal. One, their
opponent, who are appearing on the continent for the first time after almost 50
years of existence, do not have Heartland’s pedigree in the round leather game.

Tiko United have never won any major title, both away and at
home, until 2009 when they emerged the surprise winners of the Cameroun
national league; whereas, their host has five NPL title to its credit as well
as the six previous appearances in the continental event.

Two, Heartland will want to avoid the embarrassment of getting
eliminated in the second round by a debutante. It will be recalled that
Nigeria’s other representative in the competition this season, Bayelsa United,
were eliminated at the preliminary stages by another league debutante, Gazelle
FC of Chad.

Added to this, Heartland are known for their formidable home
form. In 2009, enroute to the final of the money spinning competition, the team
won all its home matches, twice defeating eventual winners 2-0 and 2-1 at the
group and final stages respectively.

“We will conquer for
Nigerians”

Already, Kelechi Emetole, the head coach of the Naze
Millionaires, as the 2009 silver medallist are known among fans, has boasted
that the visiting Tiko United will get drowned in goals.

Emeteole, the reigning Nigerian coach of the year, in a comment
to www.cafonline.com on the likely outcome of the encounter in Owerri, said:
“We can conquer. We’ll conquer, and we’re ready to conquer for Nigerians. All
we need is their prayers and support.” The ‘Caterpillar’, a name he bagged
during his active playing days, maintained his wards realise Tiko can stop them
from moving into the next stage and are ready to avoid their visitors trap.

“We’re talking of modern day football, and if you can defeat an
opponent on his home pitch, who says they cannot also do same on your ground?
At the moment, we’re looking at the possibility of confronting SuperSport
United of South Africa in the final round before the group stage.

“But we’re very careful to note that the team that can stop our
dream is Tiko United and I learnt they have been preparing very well, so we
must be careful not to stray into their trap.”

Poor team

Despite being optimistic about the team’s chances against their
visitors, Heartland’s current squad is poorer than the team which stormed the
continent to place second last season.

On the home front, Heartland are stuck at the 12th place with 33
points, 14 points behind NPL leaders, Enyimba FC, an offshoot in the
performance which saw the team grabbing the League second place in 2008 and
2009.

With Heartland’s poor run in the local league, forcing Emetole
to admit that the absence of Uche Agba, who now plays for Tunisian club CS
Sfaxien, and Nigeria’s FIFA U-17 World Cup silver medal winning star, Stanley
Okoro, may have strongly affected the team.

Still, the quartet of John Owoeri, Musa Koformata, Ikechukwu
Ibenegbu and Signs Chimbabo will provide enough danger for the visitors.

Tiko: a hard nut to crack

However, after eliminating 13 times Burundi Premier League Champions,
Vital’ O FC, from the continent this season, Tiko United may just grab another
upset at Heartland’s home turf today.

In the first leg encounter, played at the Price Louis Rwagasore
Stadium, Bujumbura, in Burundi, the Gérard Mbimi tutored Tiko side forced their
host to a 2-2 draw in front of their home fans.

And with Edingue Tombe and Njounkou Job who grabbed the Cameroonian’s two
away goals in Burundi still making the squad troubling the defense of the
Nigerians, Tiko may just create an upset.

Wayne Rooney could
be back in action in two to four weeks after initial indications
suggested he suffered a sprained ankle rather than a break during
Manchester United’s defeat by Bayern Munich.

The England striker
will not know the full extent of damage until undergoing scans on his
return to Manchester, but the 24-year-old left Germany with positive
reports that his injury might not be as bad as first feared.

Rooney stayed in
Munich overnight with the rest of the United side that lost 2-1 in the
Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday and arrived at
Munich airport on Wednesday afternoon wearing a protective boot,
limping across the tarmac with the aid of crutches.

If reports by Sky
Sports News prove to be correct, the Barclays Premier League champions
will be without their top scorer for crucial matches at the business
end of the season, but at least Rooney should be in shape to make the
World Cup finals.

England boss Fabio
Capello voiced his concerns after seeing his talisman land awkwardly in
a challenge with Mario Gomez at the end of the match in Germany.

Capello intends to
speak to the former Everton striker later on Wednesday or on Thursday
morning, once a clearer picture has emerged.

If the results show
ankle-ligament damage, Rooney could face longer on the sidelines and
leave Capello’s plans for South Africa 2010 in tatters.

Alex Ferguson is also facing the dilemma of how to face Chelsea in Saturday’s pivotal Barclays Premier League title clash.

A statement on the
United website read: ‘Rooney did not travel back on the team bus from
the Allianz Arena, instead departing separately with security staff.
His right foot was encased in a protective boot.’

To add to Rooney’s
woe, he was selected by UEFA for a random drug test after the match,
meaning United’s medical team were unable to attend to his injury as
quickly as they would like.

Reuters