Nigeria Content Online

After a guided tour
of all the nook and crannies of Hampshire Hotel, Ballito,
KwaZulu-Natal, where the Super Eagles of Nigeria will camp for the
South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup, which begins from June 11, the
General Manager of the hotel, Rodney Bull, still finds it difficult to
show this reporter, Aisha Falode of AIT Television, and two other
journalists based in South Africa, rooms in the hotel with two separate
beds.

All the rooms we
inspected had single beds. Falode and this reporter insisted on seeing
rooms with double beds, since players normally stay two in room.

For the umpteenth time we asked again. “Just give me a minute, they will get the keys,” Mr. Bull responded.

We were in Ballito for about two hours, and we never saw the rooms with separate beds.

Are the boys going
to be sleeping two on a single bed? We could not answer the question
since Bull did not show us rooms with two separates beds, nor inform us
that the hotel is making arrangements for rooms with two separates beds
before our boys arrive.

But it wasn’t just
absence of double beds in the rooms that arose our curiosity. The
swimming pool in the hotel is the size that you find in most residence
buildings. Small swimming pools that at best, could only be used by two
or three adults at most at a time. When we asked Mr. Bull if the hotel
has another pool elsewhere, he said no. Any plan to build one before
our boys arrive, the answer is also no.

So assuming after training about five or six of our boys and they want to swim, what will happen?

“That is the pool we have. The players and the other guests in the hotel will use it.”

We looked at each other in amazement. Share pool with guests? Other guests in a camp for players competing in the World Cup?

We got the biggest
shock when we got to the gymnasium. Apart from its small size, it
lacked the equipment and facilities one finds in a modern gym for
average athletes, how much more of those campaigning in the World Cup.
Like the swimming pool, Mr. Bull told us our players will share the gym
with other guests.

The rooms, the
swimming pool and the gym are not the only problem with the interior,
when we visited last month. Men were still at work, putting finishing
touches to ensure that the hotel is ready for the Eagles. A manager who
identified himself as Vijay promised that the hotel will be 100% ready
before the Eagles arrive Ballito.

Nature of Ballito

When the Nigeria
Football Federation said it has found a base for Eagles in Ballito,
anybody who is familiar with South Africa will be delighted, because
Ballito is a holiday resort renowned for its excellent hotels.

Established in 1954
as a private town by the Glen Anil Development Corporation, it is about
40 minutes away from Durban. The town has been voted as the most
popular holiday resort many times. Ballito boasts an abundance of
sporting clubs and hotels.

As we drove to
Ballito, we all commend the NFF decision to get a base for the Eagles
in such a popular and exclusive holiday resort.

But our
commendation soon changed into condemnation when our driver pointed at
the hotel from the highway, “that is Hampshire Hotel.” He pointed to
the right, “we just need to turn at the untarred road and we will be
there in two minutes.” No, this can not be the hotel for our Eagles.
Maybe this is just the hotel annex, and the main hotel should be
somewhere.

One thing that
struck one was that the hotel was still under construction, the
security is porous, there is no fence, and there is no plan to
construct one, and it is located by the roadside. In Nigeria where
hotels are very expensive, when Eagles are playing the World Cup
qualifiers in Lagos, they stay in TransCorp Hilton, Le Meriden, Lagos
Sheraton or Eko Holiday Inn and Suites when they play in Lagos. So, in
South Africa, why take them to hotels in the category of two or three
stars?

Ballito is just 40
minutes away from Durban, the city with the highest population of
Nigerians in South Africa, so who will stop fans from invading the
hotels? With Nigerian police that apply force, it is a Herculean task
controlling fans from invading Eagles camp when they stay in fenced
hotels in Abuja and Lagos. How will it be with the South African
police?

If the hotel is not
good enough, the training pitch located at Ashton International
College, Ballito, a few minutes from the hotel, is in terrible shape.
Joe Erasmus, who introduced himself as Senior College Head, said the
entire community is delighted to have the Eagles in Ballito. Erasmus
said the school has made history after being chosen by the Eagles.
Asked how the Eagles will train on a pitch that is in bad condition. He
replied that he didn’t want trouble, so he would rather not comment on
that. But there has to be a miracle between now and June 3 before the
Eagles could train on the pitch.

Our opponents’ hotels

Whereas the Eagles
are still talking about the suitability or not of hotel and training
pitch, their opponents have put that behind them. Argentina, the
country Nigeria will play come June 12, seem to have the best base of
all the 32 teams competing at the World Cup.

Diego Maradona and
boys have chosen the University of Pretoria’s High Performance Centre
(HPC), which is Southern Africa’s first elite performance sports
facility. It boasts of world-class training facilities, medical
services, accommodation, nutritional food, scientific expertise,
research and hospitality. The facility has local and international
reputation for excellence and success.

Greece, another opponent of the Eagles, will be staying at Beverly Hills Hotel, Umhlanga Rocks,

KwaZulu Natal. This
hotel is renowned for its superb personal service and luxury
accommodation. It overlooks the Indian Ocean, and offers glorious views
of miles of unspoilt beaches.

South Korea,
another country in our group, will be based at Hunters Rest, a paradise
beautifully situated in the foothills of the Magaliesberg just outside
Rustenburg. This 6000-hectare resort, boasts many splendid facilities
that help to make it one of the most sought after destinations in South
Africa.

For Algeria, they
have chosen Zimbali Hotel, a 370 hectare (925 acre) residential and
resort estate, located on the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal. The hotel
overlooks the incredible Indian Ocean. Its golf course is the first in
Africa to be designed by former British Open and South African Open
champion, Tom Weiskopf.

Our not so rich
neighbour, Cameroon, will be based at The Oyster Box Hotel in Umhlanga.
A review of the hotel by Sunday Tribune gives an insight into what it
look like: “The grand dame of local hotels, the Oyster Box, is about to
step back on the stage – not treading gently but making a sweeping
entrance. It’s been no ordinary revamp. The new Oyster Box Hotel
splashes of colour, elegant bedrooms, a cool blue terrace, exotic
detail and attentive staff like porter, Smanga Mthethwa.”

Another not so rich
neighbour, Cote d’ Ivore, will be based at Riverside Hotel and
Conference Centre. This unique hotel and conference centre is situated
on the banks of the Vaal River (See box for list team hotels and Google
their names for information and images).

Lagerback on Eagles’ base

Surprisingly, the
Eagles coach, Lars Lagerback, was said to have inspected the Eagles
hotel and was said to have been pleased at what he saw, said the Media
Coordinator, Idah Peterside.

“We visited the
hotel and the coach is very happy with it. The place has been renovated
and put in the right shape for the World Cup and it has been approved
by FIFA. So, we don’t foresee any problems. We also looked at the
training ground and the pitch is in good shape,” Peterside said.

If Lagerback is
satisfied, as Peterside told the media, then the Swede’s standard and
taste must have taken a spiralling fall from the time he took Sweden to
World Cup in 2006.

For the Germany
2006 World Cup, Lagerback chose The Park Hotel, Bremen, as base. The
hotel is one of the Leading Hotels of the World, a perfect combination
of a country idyll and city life (See image of Park Hotel and compare
with Hampshire Hotel).

A diplomat with the
Nigeria High Commission in Johannesburg said he was disgusted when he
saw the hotel. He claimed that NFF members did not contact the High
Commission before they settled for the hotel.

He said the hotel is insecure, and it does not befit Nigeria.

“Go and look at
where other countries are staying and look at where Nigeria is staying;
it does not befit us. There is no security, the gym and the pool are
sub-standard. Well, we don’t have any problem with NFF, we will get in
touch with Rotimi Amechi.

“The Presidential
Task Force seems to have all the money. We will get a befitting hotel
for the Eagles. Lulu and NFF members can stay in Hampshire Hotel,”
said the diplomat.

When the first and
second list of ministers were released during the week and Sani
Ndanusa’s name was missing, sports buffs and fans celebrated.

For all his knowledge of sports, Ndanusa short’s spell was one we never pray to experience again.

His failure in all
area of sports administration and management strain the descriptive
power of any adjective. There are rumours of a final list, and members
of the sports family are praying that Ndanusa’s name will not be on
that list.

A look at the
present list reveals who may likely be the sports minister if
background is anything to go by. But who really cares about background.

Ndanusa’s failure has proved that being in sports for long does not make you a better manager.

The school of
thought that usually argues that the reason we have not fared well in
sports is because our past administrators do not eat, drink and sleep
sports before their appointment has been defeated, at least for now.

Ndanusa had a good
knowledge of sports before he was appointed, yet he is reputed as being
the worst sports minister ever since we returned to civil rule, and
that is why many are praying that he does not come back.

We will always
remember Abdulrahman Gimba for pulling down the Amos Adamu hegemony in
sports, Isaiah Mark Aku will be remembered for his battles with the
sports cabal which he won, Isa Muhammed, with all his faults, will be
remembered for leading Nigeria to win the Abuja 2003 All Africa Games,
these are guys without a background in sports.

But what can we remember a bonafide member of the sports fraternity for if eventually he does not come back.

Agenda for the next minister

One of the first
agendas for the new sports minister is to clean the mess that Ndanusa
left. This begins with salvaging our preparation for the Commonwealth
games. As today, Ndanusa and officials of the National Sports
Commission have not done anything about Team Nigeria’s preparation for
the games.

The only thing
related to the Commonwealth Games is planning to pull Team Nigeria out
of the control of the Nigeria Olympics Committee. As at today,
officials of the National Sports Commission are planning to join the
Commonwealth Games Association. The reason for this is simply parochial
and pure nepotism. The calculation is, if Ndanusa does not get elected
as the president of NOC, he will be the president of CGA.

While millions of
Naira is being spent on this project, and hosting of association
chairmen who will vote for Ndanusa in the election, athletes are crying
for training grants and money owned them since 2008. For Nigeria to
have a good appearance in New Delhi, the new minister of sports must,
as matter of urgency, pay athletes that are being owned. The likes of
Damola Osayomi, Nurudeen Salem and Halimat Muhammed, and a host of
other track and field athletes have made up their minds to boycott the
games unless their money is paid. Apart from athletes, officials and
ex-athletes are owned millions of naira. One keeps wondering what
happened to all the money appropriated for athletics in the last few
years if the federation has so much debt.

Government
resources that are being wasted on Ndanusa’s inordinate ambition to
become the NOC president can be used to pay the athletes.

But it is not just
athletics, the other sports like boxing, basketball, volleyball,
tennis, weight-lifting, wrestling, judo and other are facing similar
problems, if not worse.

The states of our
stadia are terrible. There are no facilities and equipment for
athletes, and one could go on and list the challenges.

The new minister
may not be able to solve these problems due to the shortage of time as
the administration ends in May 2011, but the new minister can avert the
pending disaster of the Commonwealth Games by paying athletes their
dues so we could win a medal or two in New Delhi.

The minister must also probe the Hoddlegate scandal and get to the bottom of the bribery scandal.

Was Glen Hoddle
lying or did the members of the panel actually demanded bribe from him.
I tend to believe Hoddle’s story because if Hoddle had played the ball,
he would have gotten the job and everybody would have kept quiet.

The new minister
must unveil the member of the panel that demanded money from Hoddle, he
must also let Nigerians know why Lars Lagerback who was earning about
$300,000.00 per annum in Sweden suddenly increased in value and he is
now going to earn $1.5 millions in five months. Who negotiated on
behalf of Nigeria, did they ask for Lagerback’s last pay slip. If they
did and saw what he earned, why the astronomic jump in salary, or was
it a case of Lagerback co-operating where Hoddle did not give them a
separate invoice for his wage and the kick back.

The task before the new sports minister is huge and I don’t envy him
at all. So who will miss Ndanusa? The cabal that are feeding from
sports, his election spin doctors and sports marketers.

If the Super Eagles
of Nigeria eventually lodge in the Hampshire Hotel, Ballito, Durban,
for the South Africa 2010 World Cup, and play in the final slated for
Soccer City, Johannesburg, on July 11, the Nigeria Football Federation
(NFF) would have saved $627, 000 (N94.3 million).

As the NFF
continues to insist on the Hampshire Hotel as base for the Eagles, it
emerged yesterday that it is the world football governing body FIFA,
and not the NFF, that will be paying for the Eagles accommodation
during the World Cup. Every player in the World Cup irrespective of
where they are from is eligible to $400 (N60,000) per day for hotel
accommodation and feeding.

Apart from the 23
players for each team, FIFA will also pay for 27 other officials
including coaches, media officers of the federation; 50 people in all.
Anyone not among the 50 will be responsibility of the federation.

This is clearly stated in FIFA regulation governing participation in the World Cup, under Article 36.

With Nigeria
settling for Hampshire Hotel which cost about 738 South Africa Rand
(About $100) per night, including breakfast, the NFF will be able to
save up to $350 on each player per day. Since the players are going to
pair two in a room, the NFF will be spending about $100 day per room
for two players thus saving $700 per day on the 23 players. Also, since
the 27 other people will probably be officials, coaches and the
federation’s media officer, who will stay alone, the NFF will save $300
on each of the 27 officials per day.

The Eagles will
move into the Hampshire Hotel Ballito on June 3. If the team crashs out
in the first round which ends on June 25, they would have stayed in the
hotel for 23 days, and the windfall that accrue to the NFF will be
$193, 200 on the players, and $186,300 on the officials.

But if the Eagles
make it to the final at Soccer City on July 11, and they continue to
stay at Hampshire Hotel, they would have stayed in the hotel for 38
days and the NFF would have made a total of $319,200 on the players and
$307, 800 on the officials. This amounts to $627,000 for the 38 days
that the Eagles will be in South Africa.

Other provisions in Article 36

The only
responsibility of the NFF and other participating member associations
will be adequate insurance cover for the whole delegation, players and
officials; board and lodging during the final competition in excess of
the amounts paid by FIFA and costs associated with additional members
of the association’s delegation in excess of 50 people.

Apart from the
$400 that FIFA is paying for each delegation per day, FIFA will bear
the costs of the following: a contribution towards the preparation
costs incurred by the participating member associations in accordance
with a set tariff to be fixed in due course by the FIFA Organising
Committee; business class air travel costs for 50 people from each
participating member association between a city to be designated by the
FIFA, a contribution towards the costs of board and lodging for 50
people from each participating member association in accordance with a
set tariff to be fixed in due course, (the tariff which was set
recently is $400 per head) starting five nights prior to each team’s
first match and ending two nights after its last match.

The FIFA Organising
Committee will determine these rates based on an average of rack rates
in the official venue-specific team hotels; doping control expenses.

Mum is still the
world from the NFF as its secretary and chairman are not reachable, but
a member of the board confirmed that FIFA has approved $400 per day for
all the member of delegation, that the 50 people will be entitled to
that amount. He also confirmed that all 50 will travel business class
at FIFA’s expense.

On why they federation settled for such hotel when FIFA has approved
$400 and they could get hotel that is five star for about $200, the
member said it is only the Chairman and the secretarye,Taiwo Ogunjobi
as well as others who inspected the hotel and made the choice that can
comment about that.

Initiators of the
inaugural Deloitte Street Child World Cup have stated that they plan to
hold future street child games in countries hosting major sporting
events, such as world cups and the Olympics.

Another Homeless World Cup?

The Street Child
World Cup is meant to, among other things, create a platform for the
youngsters to share experiences of their respective countries. With
themes such as home, safety and health, the youngsters will share
stories and discuss future aspirations with each other.

The tournament,
which was initiated by UK human rights organisation, Amos Trust, and
facilitated by Umthombo, a nongovernmental organisation working with
street children in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, witnessed more than 70
homeless teenagers from nine countries compete against each other in
South Africa from March 15 to 22.

In the first event
of its kind which was won by India, football teams made up of street
children (mixed with boys and girls playing together) from Brazil,
England, India, Nicaragua, Philippines, South Africa, Tanzania, Ukraine
and Vietnam, featured a series of seven-a-side indoor matches, while
the winning squad took home an impressive trophy.

Reaching out to children

Umthombo CEO, Tom
Hewitt, said, “Events like these are a good way to reach out to
children living on the streets. The tournament is fantastic; it
celebrates the potential of street children. The youngsters are
thrilled to be taking part in such a competition”

The tournament’s
Head of Media, Joe Hewitt, explained why the event was held in South
Africa: “It’s fitting that the inaugural tournament is staged in South
Africa in 2010, to coincide with the FIFA World Cup here. The FIFA
World Cup is something that should be for all. These children should be
involved in it in some way; they should be given a special opportunity
to be involved as flag bearers and ball crew members.”

Fully Endorsed

Some of the
influential personalities who have endorsed the Cup include South
African Archbishop, Desmond Tutu; AC Milan and England midfielder David
Beckham; Bafana Bafana captain, Aaron Mokoena; Manchester United
manager, Sir Alex Ferguson; UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown; and
Filipino professional boxer, Manny Pacquiao.

In a statement,
Tutu said, “The Deloitte Street Child World Cup demonstrates the
tremendous potential of every single child, and especially street
children, who are so often treated as less than human. I am proud that
the first ever Street Child World Cup took place in South Africa.”

His enthusiasm was
equally shared by Ferguson, who has visited South Africa a number of
times with his team, to play Soweto giants, Kaizer Chiefs, and Orlando
Pirates in the annual Vodacom Challenge tournament.

“I am delighted
that the first Street Child World Cup took place in South Africa where
I know there is a huge passion for football. No child should have to
live on the streets and I fully endorse this campaign giving street
children a voice to claim their rights,” Ferguson said.

Super Eagles coach,
Lars Lagerback had told reporters that the Home Eagles were unlucky to
have crashed out of the African Nations Championship against the Mena
of Niger in Kano last Saturday, but the Swede will not be disillusioned
on the task ahead of the World Cup in South Africa.

When Shuaibu Amodu
threw out the possibility of the Premier League players making the
African Nations Cup in Angola, many had criticised him for branding
them training material. The call for home-based players’ inclusion was
further stressed after the lack-lustre performance of our Eagles at the
Nations Cup where they finished with a record seventh bronze medal. But
after their inability to show class over two legs in the CHAN
qualifiers, Lagerback will have to rely on his underperforming
Europe-based players.

There were claims
that fatigue was responsible for the first leg defeat in Niamey after
the team travelled by road and arrived the Niger capital barely 24
hours before the encounter, but they failed to redeem their battered
image in the return leg, against a country ranked 163 by FIFA. Though
it could be argued that the players did not have enough time together
and that the weather in Kano was more of an advantage to the Mena than
to our Eagles, the performance at the Sani Abacha Stadium may have
confirmed the demise of football in Nigeria. The obituary of the round
leather game in the country was also evident after the Nigeria Premier
League champions, Bayelsa United were shown the exit door in the
preliminary stage of this year’s CAF Champions League by a certain
Gazelle FC from Chad.

Flops

As it stands,
Lagerback must shift his attention to Europe and look at the current
scorecard of our players across that continent, it will be a great
surprise should our Eagles go beyond the first round of the World Cup
in South Africa, where they have been grouped alongside Argentina
(their first opponents) as well as the duo of Greece and South Korea.

Of all our outfield
regular players who featured at the African Nations Cup in Angola, only
the quartet of Mikel Obi, Onyekachi Apam, Dickson Etuhu and Taye Taiwo,
who has struggled to impress fans at the national team level, are
playing regularly at club level – barely 72 days to the World Cup in
Johannesburg. Little wonder our Swedish handler admits he will have to
take bench warmers to the Mundial.

Nigeria will be relying on the experience of the likes of Joseph
Yobo, Obafemi Martins, Osaze Odemwingie, Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Nwankwo
Kanu, who all boast of decent curriculum vitae but Lagerback will soon
realise that it takes more than a name and past achievements to make a
strong impression at football’s biggest stage. The Eagles will not
surprise any fan in South Africa and for Lagerback, $1.5million is
surely a good package that any smart coach will be happy to earn in
three months.

Former England
manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has been appointed Cote d’ Ivore coach for
this year’s World Cup finals, the Cote d’ Ivore Federation (FIF) said
in a statement on its website (www.fif-ci.com) on Sunday.

The FIF said it had
considered several candidates since Bosnian Vahid Halilhodzic was
sacked in February after failing to lead the team to the African
Nations Cup semi-finals.

“The executive
committee analysed the profile of several candidates before choosing
Sven-Goran Eriksson”, FIF said (www.fif-ci.com).

“His mission will
be to guide our team during the World Cup and to make sure it fares
honourably, which will be difficult in a competition featuring the
world’s best 32 sides.”

Cote d’ Ivore has been drawn in World Cup Group G along with Brazil, Portugal and North Korea.

The 62-year-old
Eriksson managed clubs in his native Sweden, Portugal and Italy before
coaching the England national team from 2001-2006.

He joined Premier League Manchester City in 2007 and had an unsuccessful spell in charge of Mexico from 2008-09.

He was appointed director of football at English League Two (fourth
division) club Notts County last year but stepped down in February.

p>With eight million
naira up for grabs, many clubs are jostling to participate in the
maiden edition of the Gulder Five-A-Side football competition. The
competition, which will kick off next month, will be organised on a
zonal basis with the best 12 teams coming to Lagos for the final round
of matches. The registration and participation for the competition is
open to all who can access the 24 cities that will have the distinct
privilege of hosting the games, which will be played in enclosed venues
with Astro turf endorsed by FIFA. The forms for the event are available
on the website, www.gulder-nigeria.com, and registration had since
commenced from 18th of this month and will close on the 9th of April.

The Corporate
Affairs Adviser, Nigeria Breweries Plc, Yusuf Ageni, had earlier
disclosed that players who seek to be part of the team that will be
registered upon fulfilling the simple requirement of providing 50
uncrushed Gulder cans, must be 18 years and above, and must not be
registered in any of the national Professional and Amateur league
organised by the Nigeria Football Federation and Nigeria Professional
League Board. Although it is still not clear whether the deadline for
registration would be extended, consideration may be given on the
ground that some teams have complained of inability to access the site
due to heavy traffic. It was learnt that the large amount to be won may
have contributed to the interest shown by teams willing to participate
in the competition. With technical support from Mastersports
International Ltd., and invaluable endorsement from those who matter in
Five-A-Side Football in Nigeria and Europe, the competition will start
off in 24 cities nationwide from where 12 teams will emerge in a
knock-out fashion for the super showdown in Lagos.

Bayern Munich could
not have picked a worse time this season to face Manchester United in
the Champions League quarter-final first leg today.

The Bavarians, who
had enjoyed a successful run in three competitions following the winter
break, are stuck in a rut after their second successive Bundesliga
loss, 2-1 to VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.

They could also
take on United, 11 years after losing the 1999 Champions League final
2-1 when the English team scored two goals in the dying minutes,
without their best player this season.

Dutch winger Arjen
Robben pulled a calf muscle against Stuttgart and is doubtful for the
match while midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger is suspended.

“Maybe it turns out
not to be that bad but it looks difficult for the match against
Manchester,” Bayern coach Louis van Gaal told reporters.

Robben was also
outstanding in midweek, scoring the extra-time winner against Schalke
04 which sent Bayern into the German Cup final.

“It would be extremely bitter if he is missing from such a top game,” said Bayern defender Philipp Lahm.

Van Gaal, however,
does have playmaker Franck Ribery fit as well as central defender
Martin Demichelis, who injured his face in Argentina’s friendly against
Germany this month.

Striker Mario Gomez also looks to have recovered from a muscle injury, though he lacks match practice.

United have no new
injury concerns with top scorer Wayne Rooney and defender Rio Ferdinand
likely to be fit after being rested from Saturday’s 4-0 victory over
Bolton Wanderers, their seventh straight win in all competitions.

With a huge Premier League game against Chelsea next Saturday, it was no surprise that Alex Ferguson opted to rest to duo.

He said Rooney, who
has scored 33 goals this season, was left out because of a bruised foot
while Ferdinand has struggled with a back problem and picked up a groin
strain in training.

“They were just a bit tender,” Ferguson told MUTV.

“Wayne’s got a bruise on his foot. If he’d played and got a whack on it, then he would have been doubtful for Tuesday.

“We’ve got a big
week. We have to use our squad in situations like this. I’ve no qualms
about that at all. They’ve all done their job well and I’ll have Rooney
and Ferdinand available for Tuesday.”

Ferguson, seeking
to lead United to their third Champions League final in a row, will
also be delighted with Dimitar Berbatov’s form.

The Bulgarian
striker, yet to convince many United fans of his worth, scored twice
against Bolton and seemed to revel in the responsibility of leading the
line on his own.

Portuguese winger
Nani, enjoying his best season, was another on top form and Bayern will
have to work hard to prevent him and Antonio Valencia from delivering
the crosses that Rooney, in particular, has been thriving on.

Probable teams:

Bayern Munich:
22-Hans-Joerg Butt, 5-Daniel van Buyten, 6-Martin Demichelis,
21-Philipp Lahm, 28-Holger Badstuber; 7-Franck Ribery, 17-Mark van
Bommel, 25-Thomas Mueller, 23-Danijel Pranjic; 18-Miroslav Klose,
11-Ivica Olic.

Manchester United:
1-Edwin van der Sar; 2-Gary Neville, 5-Rio Ferdinand, 15-Nemanja Vidic,
3-Patrice Evra; 17-Nani, 24-Darren Fletcher, 18-Paul Scholes, 13-Park
Ji-Sung; 10-Wayne Rooney, 25-Antonio Valencia.

Reuters

Barca can’t get tired now

Messi did not score
against Osasuna so we may expect the little Argentine maestro to make
up for lost time against Mallorca. It was the often criticised Zlatan
Ibrahimovic that needed to rescue Barcelona from a poor position.

Pep Guardiola was
not impressed with his team and let that out to reporters after the
match. “We struggled to tighten up and support each other. We lacked
the fluency I had imagined. I have made a mistake; I imagined a game
that has not happened. In the sixth minute I decided to change it. When
Pedro plays with Dani Alves, both are good.” But the performances were
not good on the night. He commended Ibrahimovic for rescuing the
situation:

“When he scores we
do well, because he is a goal scorer. His quality depends on himself
and nobody else.” While Mallorca have surprised all Primera League
watchers with their displays this term, they have not faced an
opposition like the Blaugrana in some time. They currently sit in the
fourth position and have contributed goals from all around the park
with Aritz Aduriz accounting for nine goals. Since they will be playing
at ONO Estadi, they will have the support of their 12th man to bolster
them. Barca cannot afford any slip up with the fixture of games before
them. They play Arsenal, Bilbao and Real Madrid in the next two weeks.

Valencia are doing
well amidst their catalogue of financial woes and have a banker in
David Villa. Villa has scored 18 goals in 26 appearances and is
rumoured to be for sale, more goals will mean more money in the
transfer market. Zaragoza may have to go down again this season to
learn how to stay up.

They have always
had squads that pundits say are too good to go down but they have been
relegated in 2002 and 2008 although to their credit, they got promoted
back to the elite division immediately. They are just two points above
the relegation places. Their Nigerian striker, Ikechukwu Uche who might
have helped in scoring the goals is still out injured.

Season defining match on the cards in Serie A

Roma need to beat
Inter to get to within a point of the leaders and defending champions.
That is a tough task but if there is any side in Italy that has the
Indian sign over Inter, it is the Romans. Leaders Inter Milan ended
their recent dip in form with a 3-0 victory over last place, Livorno to
move four points clear at the top of the table while Roma were made to
work hard for their victory over Bologna.

Their last two
matches in the Serie A have been hard fought draws with Inter having to
come from behind to take a point. Francesco Totti is in a race against
time to be fit for the encounter.

The Giallorossi
will be right back in the Scudetto race if they can beat Jose
Mourinho’s men but Inter have developed more steel with the Portuguese
tactician pulling the strings. The Romans have David Pizarro, Philippe
Mexes and Daniele De Rossi back from bans to bolster the team.

Mario Balotelli
continues to be a bone of contention for Mourinho but as long as Jose
continues to get the results, Super Mario will continue to be on the
sidelines. The Italian of Ghanian parentage seems to have lost his
place to another out of favour player, Ricardo Querasma, who started
against Livorno in Inter’s 3-0 win. He had an assist in that match.

Bundesliga

Bayern will hope
to bounce back from a first defeat in 19 matches when they host VFB
Stuttgart at the Allianz Arena. As negotiations with Franck Ribery
continue, Louis Van Gaal will have an eye on Manchester United’s visit
on Tuesday in the quarter finals of the Champions League. Bayern are
coming off the back of a hard fought 1-0 victory over Schalke 04 in the
semi final of the DFB Pokal Cup on Wednesday with another wonder goal
from Arjen Robben winning the game.

Bayer Leverkusen
have faltered in the last weeks and are following the trend of between
1997 and 2002 when they choke in the run in for the title. Becoming
runners-up in 2000 and 2002 were heart-breaking for supporters as on
both occasions the team had the Bundesliga title within grasp as they
have had all this season before losing to Nurnberg two weeks ago –
their first loss of the season. Visitors, Schalke 04 will be a hard nut
to crack and sit second on the log.

The Super Eagles
captain needs no introduction to most Nigerians. Nwankwo Kanu has had a
very successful football career, starting on our shores. He has been
written off several times, only to bounce back in the most unexpected
way. The question is: what part does luck play in this?

Kanu and the fairy god mother

Good fortune has
certainly smiled on him throughout his career. That’s not to take away
from his achievements in any way but in football as in other things in
life, sometimes you need that little bit of luck. We know of other
great sportsmen who have not achieved half as much as him or have seen
a major tournament crown elude them – German international, Lothar
Matthäus never won the UEFA Champions League despite his many other
titles; Tennis legend Ivan Lendl won many Grand Slam titles and broke
many records during his amazing career, some which still stand today
and some only recently broken by either Pete Sampras or Roger Federer,
but he never won at Wimbledon. Yet Kanu is the only Premier League
player at this time to have won Olympic Gold, the Champions League,
UEFA Cup, Premier League and FA Cup. This is no mean feat! Perhaps he
might yet win the World Cup. We shall discuss this another time,
whether Kanu should represent Nigeria in South Africa.

Going back to his
good fortune: Kanu won the Champions League at Ajax and moved to Inter
Milan only to find out about a heart condition which was successfully
treated. Any other player might have been released from their contract
or become familiar with the bench but he went on to add to his CV with
the UEFA Cup. At the Olympics in ‘96, he was our Golden Boy,
spearheading the comeback against Ronaldinho’s Brazil. Arsenal came
next and Kanu often turned out to be the match winner. Nigerians grew
impatient with him as he slowly became the Gunners’ benchwarmer (at
£20,000 a week, I would gladly warm the bench with my bare hands.)
Again, he came away with a more robust CV. Please note that Arsenal
have not won the Premier League since. Perhaps Wenger should invite him
back for a few games in the hope that his luck will bring that elusive
trophy.

The career paths

Not a few were
surprised at his joining West Bromwich Albion (WBA), newly promoted to
the EPL and prime candidates for a relegation battle. They did not
disappoint. Followers of the EPL know that any club lying at the foot
of the table at Christmas definitely ends up in the lower division.
Well, WBA became the first team to avoid the drop. Mr. Good Luck, two
words as opposed to our acting president, then moved to Portsmouth FC,
became their top scorer that season and in the next, scored the winning
and only goal in the FA Cup win, Pompey having not won it for almost
eighty years. This also put them in Europe for the first time. Kanu did
it again over the weekend, scoring Pompey’s winning goal. He has barely
played all season. This is the man that everyone loves to debate on his
‘laziness’ on the pitch. With his club’s ongoing financial troubles,
many are wondering what will happen to Kanu now but I’m sure he’ll pull
a rabbit out of the hat. It won’t be the first time.

He’s also doing his bit to help others, establishing the Kanu Heart
Foundation to treat Africans with heart ailments. That is an indication
that he is aware of his responsibility to give back to others as he has
been given so much. I will borrow from de la Rochefauld: “nature
creates ability, luck provides it with opportunity.”