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It is a changing
world and sports, in particular football, cannot be left out of the
evolution game. There are a few things I feel should change in
football, prominent amongst which is the offside rule but since I don’t
have any idea for an alternative, I will hold my peace on that
particular issue for now. There is however another football rule which
I believe should be reconsidered by the football authorities and that
is the penalty shoot-out.

Shoot-outs were not
endorsed by UEFA or FIFA until the 1970’s and apparently, the FIFA
committee that reviewed and accepted it then “was not entirely
satisfied” with the process.

How many times have
we in knock out games sat at the edge of our seats, praying desperately
for a goal because we knew that if there was no goal from either team,
the ultimate end would be a penalty shoot-out? Why the desperation? I
want to make a guess and state that it’s because we realised this was a
very unfair way to determine the winner. A penalty shoot-out is more a
matter of chance rather than a reflection of the hard work or skills of
the players. Rotarians cannot be too happy with the penalty shoot-out
as in my opinion, it fails one of their cardinal 4-way test questions –
is it fair to all concerned? The English national team would, I
believe, also welcome the idea of change as they are one of the
national teams known not to have enjoyed much luck during penalty
shoot-outs.

Not down to skill

Defending against
or playing a penalty in a shoot-out is quite frankly difficult – no
matter how well prepared the goalkeeper and the players are. No keeper
(again presumably), wants to be in a situation where he is left facing
the opponent alone so to speak. It goes against every rule of warfare
that when it is possible for you to face the opponent together – you
send out alone the one person who may not necessarily be the ablest
member of the team – in fact sometimes, he may be the weakest link!
Football after all is a team game.

My grouse against
the penalty shoot-out is its unfairness when used as a decider for a
match. Where both teams have played their hearts out trying to score
through the normal 90 minutes and they are then requested to play extra
time, and then penalties – the likelihood in my opinion is that you
would not get a ‘real’ winner. The physical condition of the players at
this stage invariably means they are not in peak condition. To ask even
the best striker in the world to shoot and score a goal (even if
one-on-one with the keeper), is asking a bit too much.

The adrenaline
is pumping and as the international bestselling author Malcom Gladwell
stated in his book Blink, “most of us, under pressure, get too aroused
and past a certain point, our bodies begin shutting down so many
sources of information that we start to become useless”. Actions taken
under such conditions are typically not the best. Considering the fact
that only players on the pitch at the end of play time are allowed to
take part in the penalty shoot-out, it means that if all substitutions
were made by the end of full time or during extra time there are no
fresh legs on the pitch. The referee and the other match officials
though not ‘active’ participants on the pitch during the penalty
shoot-out are also at this point tired.

Letting fair play decide

So, these are my
suggestions – laughable but plausible? Why can’t the winner of a match
be determined by the team with the least yellow cards i.e. fair play?
Or the team with the best statistics in terms of ball possession,
attempts at goal et al? Are these more subjective than the penalty
shot-out? No, considering that everyone can see and count how many
yellow cards each team has received during the match and in the case of
the stats, these are hard facts. Will either of these in any way hamper
the competitiveness of the game? Again the answer would be no. I rest
my case and await a call from FIFA.

I have been quizzed
repeatedly as to why football is my subject choice for this column. I
have never really asked myself this question on a ‘scientific basis’ –
all I know is that I enjoy everything associated with football whether
it is watching the game or writing about it. I have therefore taken
some time out to reflect on this issue and the result of my ‘time out’
is outlined below.

Simple dynamics

The frenzy and
passion associated with football as a sport is not in doubt. Very few
polo, hockey or golf lovers kill their wives or themselves or go on
hunger strike because their teams or players lost a match but it has
happened repeatedly in football. And before the cynical minded ones
start off thinking football lovers are probably more emotional than
most, let me add that we are not – it is the dynamics of the game. It
is like opium; it is highly addictive and engenders a deep passion that
equals perhaps that of religion. Football is loved and followed all
over the world and it cuts across all ages, class and races. Even
cricket loving nations like Australia place some premium on their
football teams judging from the nation’s reaction to their team’s
qualification for the 2010 World Cup.

The joy of football
is that it is egalitarian and easily accessible whether you are playing
or watching it. Anyone anywhere can pick up a ball and play. The
accessibility of the game is (permit me to say) unrivalled by any other
sport – for swimming, you need a pool of water, for golf you need the
ever expensive kit and clubs (never mind miniature golf!), for Polo –
don’t even go there.

There are some
sports that are deliberately not accessible to just anyone. Not
football though. The unparalleled demonstration of raw skill is another
drawing point – you can teach a man to hit the ball on the golf course,
swing the bat in cricket but in football you need to have the raw
talent first which can then be refined through training. Whether you
are in midfield, attack or defence everybody has a role to play. If you
have a good attack and your defence is leaking like a basket full of
water, then God help you.

A perfect football
team is one with an impregnable defence, tight midfield and excellent
attack. Let me quickly add that such a team does not exist on the face
of planet earth but some teams do tend to come close. My beloved
Arsenal on a good day will deliver sublime and exciting football for
the enjoyment of all.

Warfare and unpredictability

The game is almost
like warfare with a need to be tactical. Players are deployed in the
format (whether it is 4-4-2 or 5-3-2) that is best suited to their
talents and to match the expected formation of their opponents. You can
have all the skills of Pele or Diego Maradona but it can only take you
thus far.

Real Madrid
currently has 2 of the best players in the world – Kaka (2007 winner of
FIFA world footballer of the year) and Cristiano Ronaldo (winner in
2008) yet they are shockingly out of the 2010 UEFA Champions League
which leads to another point regarding the beauty of the game – it’s
not exactly logical – 2 plus 2 does not necessarily always equal four!
If you hate mathematics believe me football is the game for you.

One may at the
beginning of the football season guess that Manchester United will win
the Barclays Premiership league (since they have won it ‘gazillion’
times already!), but wonders have been known to happen in football and
it could jolly well end up being Arsenal holding the cup aloft at the
end of the season.

Unlike in other
games where a ‘comeback’ of individual players is possible a la Michael
Schumacher to Formula 1 at age 41years or George Foreman’s return to
professional boxing at age 38, in football whilst possible it may not
be feasible and if done it is usually in another guise probably as
coach or trainer. The physical demand of the game is such that most
individuals think twice about making this decision.

Merchandising is
huge in football so, identifying with your team even if you are not in
the same physical location is not a problem. How many sports have
branded mugs, wristwatches, bed sheets, bean bags…!

So, there you go. Football for all!

Many football
buffs, and commentators who are not crazy about the beautiful game have
used all manners of adjectives to condemn the Confederation of African
Football’s decision to ban Togo team from participating in the next two
editions of African Nations Cup. How insensitive and ‘anti-people’ can
a body that administers what they call ‘the people game’ be.

The Togolese team,
which was in Angola for the African Nations Cup, had been attacked in
the northern province of Cabinda on January 8, a few days before the
championship began. Their bus was attacked by rebels linked to the
Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda. Two officials of
the team lost their life, the players were traumatised, while some were
injured, having been held at gun point for hours.

To honour the dead,
the government told the players and officials to fly home and bury
them. After the burial, the players asked CAF to reschedule their
matches so that they could participate in the Championship, but CAF
turned down their request.

After the Nations
Cup, CAF banned Togo from the next two editions of the championship
because ‘the Togolese government decided to call back their national
team’.

“The decision taken
by the political authorities is infringing CAF and CAN [Cup of Nations]
regulations. Therefore, a decision has been taken to suspend the Togo
national team for the next two editions of Africa Cup of Nations, with
a fine of $50,000.00 handed to the Togolese national football
association, in conformity with article 78 of Africa Cup of Nations
Angola 2010,” CAF had said, announcing the ban.”

Global condemnation greeted CAF’s decision.

Drogba over Eto’o

With the ban on
Togo still fresh in our memory, CAF got another red card from football
fans, this time over the African Footballer of the Year Award.

Unlike other
confederation, CAF remains the only confederation that still selects
its best players from players playing outside its continent.

And the award has
never been devoid of controversy. Between 2004 and 2006, Austin Okocha
who was then at the top of his game in England, winning accolades of
the global media and all manner of awards, was ignored by the CAF award
panel. The panel had preferred Benni McCarthy at one stage and Samuel
Eto’o at the other.

About three years
ago when the award took place in Lome, Togo, Didier Drogba was widely
tipped to win the award but the prize went to Mali’s Frederic Kanoute.

CAF and many
Africans were embarrassed when Drogba told the media after the ceremony
that officials of CAF had informed him that he won the award, but if he
is not present at the ceremony in Lome, the award will not be given to
him. Drogba missed the awards ceremony because he had a crucial
quarter-final match to play 48 hours later in the Africa Cup of
Nations, which was ongoing at the time of the ceremony.

CAF’s only defense
to Drogba’s allegation was, “Any player who is absent at the award
ceremony will not be taken into consideration in placements of African
footballer of the year.”

Accra 2010

As if CAF could not
fall lower, the choice of Drogba over Eto’o as the African Footballer
of the Year in Accra, Ghana last week took the organisation to a new –
lower – level.

No doubt, Drogba is
a world class player that deserves to win the award, if not the World
Football of the Year, but not for 2008/09 season.

It was a season the
Chelsea striker will love to forget in a hurry. Save for his goal in
the final of the English FA Cup against Everton, Drogba began the
season with injury. No sooner had he recover from injury that he had a
fight with then Chelsea coach Felipe Scolari. It was toward the end of
the season when Guus Hiddink came that Drogba played a part in
Chelsea’s season.

Eto’o on the other
hand was a pivotal member of the Barcelona team that won the Spanish
League, Spanish Cup and UEFA Champions League, in which he scored one
of Barca two goals against Manchester United; he thus became the second
player to achieve the feat of scoring in two Champions league finals.

In the national team, both players led their team to qualify for the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The Champions League

Eto’s gave a good
reason why he is the uncrowned African footballer of the year, in the
clash between Chelsea and Inter at the Stamford Bridge on Wednesday
night with a five star performance for Inter by scoring the lone goal
that separated the men from the boys, while Drogba, who was expected to
do same for Chelsea left the stadium in disgrace after getting a red
card for the third successive season in Champions League; it dates back
to the 2008 Final, between Manchester United and Chelsea (United won
6-5 on pens after the game ended 1-1): Drogba was red-carded in the
extra time for slapping Nemanja Vidic. He was also red-carded in the
2009 Semi-final, Chelsea 1 Barcelona 1 (Barcelona won on away goals
rule).

CAF award or no CAF award, Eto’o has spoken with his legs, we all know who is the best in Africa, shame on CAF.

Globacom league
side, Niger Tornadoes FC has been fined and suspended by the Premier
League for violent conduct by its supporters after their home game
against Bayelsa United football club in Minna over the weekend.

Centre Referee Gabriel Adigwe and his assistants were allegedly attacked by fans suspected to be those of Niger Tornadoes FC.

In a statement from
the league board’s media department, Tornadoes were fined N1 million
only payable before their next home match against Gateway FC.

The club will play
its subsequent home games behind closed doors until the Disciplinary
Committee of the NFF meets, while Ahmed Ibrahim Katun, Niger Tornadoes
Supporters Club Chairman and one Abdulrasheed Yusuf, also of the
Tornadoes Supporters Club were placed on indefinite suspension for
bringing the game into disrepute. The management of Niger Tornadoes was
further directed to identify other perpetrators.

The club was also
fined another N400, 000.00 for allowing its fans to attack the Centre
Referee and Assistant referee; N200, 000.00 each for the assaulted
Referees.

Al-Hassan Saleh Yakmut the secretary of the board expressed dismay over the incident.

“I’m totally
displeased with the incident in Minna and this is becoming a recurrent
decimal and shall necessitate stiffer disciplinary measures including
banishment which shall further be placed on any club found wanting,” he
said.

Referee’s experience

Gabriel Adigwe, the referee, who was attacked, told KickOffNigeria.com that he fears he has been ‘psychologically damaged’.

“Immediately after
the final whistle, fans rushed into the field and attacked us. There
were police officers around but they were not effective. I was
viciously punched a number of times on the back of my neck, close to my
ears.

“I almost
collapsed, but I was afraid that if I fell down, they will trample me.
My hands are swollen from trying to cover my face from the blows.

“The AR2 was also punched twice in his back and stomach,” Adigwe said.

“After the police
fired tear gas, they (the fans) fled and started throwing stones at us.
It met one person on the head. He was seriously bleeding; the blood
gushed out of his head and poured on my shirt.” “We waited for about 40
minutes in the dressing room before we left the stadium.

“The fans said they have to beat me up to teach me a lesson because
I don’t help them in their home games. They say that every time I come
to their home games, they always play draw. I am seriously damaged
psychologically and I don’t know if I can do any match after this
without the fear of being beaten again.”

Super Eagles
midfielder Mikel Obi has admitted Chelsea are battling to regain their
winning mentality after stumbling against Blackburn Rovers on Sunday in
the race for the Premier League title.

The Blues, who were
knocked out of the Champions League by Inter Milan last week, were
hoping to step up their chase for the English league crown but El-Hadji
Diouf’s second half goal cancelled Didier Drogba’s early strike,
allowing Blackburn to share the spoils.

The result left
Chelsea four points adrift of leaders Manchester United and Mikel, who
was in action against Blackburn, bemoaned his team’s lack of desire to
put things right in the second half.

“We are very disappointed,’ Mikel told Chelsea website after the game.

We played well in
the first half and we knew that Blackburn are going to come out and
fight, which is exactly what we did in the first half.”

Losing control

Mikel said his side lost focus during the second half, leading to Blackburn’s equaliser.

“We know it is
always difficult to come to Blackburn but we fought for the second
balls and gained control of the game, but in the second half we did not
do enough defensively and that cost us. We didn’t keep the ball and we
didn’t fight as hard as we did in the first half and this is why we
drew the game. The pitch was not good but that is not an excuse,” he
said.

Chelsea had several
chances to blow Blackburn away in a commanding first half performance
after Drogba’s 6th minute goal but they failed to put the game to rest.
“If we had scored a second goal in the first half then I think it would
have killed the game but we didn’t and in the second half we lost
control of the game,” Mikel said. The former Lyn Oslo player however
believes his side can get back to winning ways when they travel to face
Portsmouth at Fratton Park.

Getting it right

To return to winning ways, Mikel believes the team will need the support of the fans and coaching staff.

“We are all
professionals and when things are not going well we mustn’t be down.
This is when we need everyone to show support and to be together; team,
fans and coaching staff, and hopefully we can put things right by the
end of the season,” he said.

“It has been
really, really difficult but the manager has been there for us and we
all are sticking together. We have a game against Portsmouth and we
have to go there and win.”

Mikel denied
reports that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich had, at a meeting with the
team last week, voiced his frustration and threatened to sack some
players after their Champions League ouster.

“We know we have to
win something but the meeting wasn’t about that. Everybody came to show
their support; the owner came to show his support. That is what we need
at the moment and that is exactly what he did,” Mikel said.

“He came to cheer us up and tell us to keep going and although we
didn’t win the last two games we have a game on Wednesday and we have
to put things right.”

Grant set to compound former club’s woes

Chelsea face a
tricky test against Portsmouth at Fratton Park, as they look to rescue
their fading chances of winning the English Premier League title.

After enjoying a
long spell at the summit of the table, the Blues’ season have witnessed
a dramatic setback where they now look to battling for a second place
finish, following their damaging weekend draw at Blackburn.

They, however, have
the chance to reduce Manchester United’s four point lead to one, if
they bounce back to winning ways tonight, when they face their former
manager, Avram Grant, who is the current boss of embattled Portsmouth.
Grant won 36, drew 13 and lost five of his 54 matches in charge of
Chelsea from 2007 to 2008, guiding them to the UEFA Champions League
title before surrendering the crown to Manchester United in Moscow.

Bottom-placed
Portsmouth, who appeared to have lost the battle to escape relegation
after having nine points deducted from their total, could benefit from
the London opponents’ dwindling form. Chelsea have only won three of
their last seven league games and with influential defender, Branislav
Ivanovic missing through injury, Pompey may fancy their chances of
getting at least a point from the game.

In the other games
scheduled for tonight, Manchester City will host Everton in what is
expected to be another huge game at the City of Manchester Stadium
while Aston Villa will host Sunderland at the Villa Park.

Blackburn and Birmingham will also battle at Ewood Park.

Serie A: Inter face struggling Livorno

This is about first
against last but 17-goal man, Diego Milito, may miss this match and the
upcoming Roma match to injury. Trouble may also continue to brew in the
Inter camp between hot-head forward Mario Balotelli and Jose Mourinho,
as Balotelli went on camera to say, after not being part of the Inter
team that beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, that the plaudits should be
for the team and not to the coach: “Whose victory was it? No way! It
was the team that won at Stamford Bridge, not Mourinho.” The youngster
has however, been re-instated into the first team. Inter have won one
match in five on the domestic scene in what can be described as a lull
but Livorno’s record reads one point from a possible 15. Inter have
already beaten the Amaranto twice this season, once in the league and
in the Cup with Livorno yet to register a goal against the champions.
Normal service should resume with a win for Inter almost guaranteed.

Bologna vs. Roma

Roma are just four
points off the summit and travel to face a Bologna team who are sitting
uncomfortably in 14th position, waiting to pounce. Roma defenders,
John-Arne Riise and Juan, are confident their side can catch Inter and
win the Scudetto this season. “The comeback is possible. Inter are the
favourites, but we believe,” said Riise. “It will be fundamental to win
in Bologna to give us every chance in the head-to-head on Saturday”.

Juan agreed, and said that his faith lies in the fact that Roma have
another card up their sleeves with the likely return of Francesco
Totti. “For us, it will be an advantage to get our captain back. We
hope that he can get back to his best,” the Brazilian explained. Inter
will be tired. They are playing a lot and are still active on all
fronts. Inter travel to Stadio Olimpico to face Roma on Saturday

Parma vs. Milan

After missing
another opportunity to leapfrog Inter, the Rosseneri will have another
chance when they travel to Stadio Ennio Tardini to face Parma. Milan
will be missing Alexandre Pato and Allesandro Nesta. These absences
have become the key to whether Milan will win the Scudetto or not.
David Beckham is out for the rest of the season. Though the
Leonardo-tutored side have earned more points on their travels than at
home, they will have to be wary of a youthful Parma side.

La Liga Barcelona will be ‘Messi-less’

Defending
champions, Barcelona, face lowly Osasuna with Lionel Messi looking
virtually unplayable. The Barca wunderkind has scored 25 goals in 27
matches and has eight goals in three matches going into this match.

A last-minute own
goal from Gerard Pique cost Barcelona two points in the reverse, as
they had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Osasuna. If Messi plays well, the
question is now how many goals will be scored by the ‘Flea’ as he
continues to conjure magic with his boots and he has added scoring
goals with his head.

FC Groningen of
Holland star, Femi Ajilore believes he can fill the void in the
offensive midfield position of the Super Eagles as Nigeria hopes for an
impressive outing at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Ajilore has
endeared himself to his club’s fans after churning out eye-catching
displays playing behind the strikers. The former Midtylland of Denmark
ace has enjoyed a brilliant form of late, orchestrating his side’s
triumphs with three goals in his last two Eredivisie league games.

After netting a
brace in his side’s 3-0 win at NAC Breda the previous weekend, the
midfielder headed home the second minute winner that ensured another
three points against Roda JC Kerkrade. He was particularly unlucky not
to have made it two as he struck the woodwork with a rasping 20-yard
effort after bursting through the midfield in the only real chance of
the second period.

Delight

“I was happy to
score again and it was even more special that it gave us the win. I was
only sad not to have made it two goals because I had another chance
that hit the post, so it could have been a brace as well. All the same,
I’m happy with my performance and it’s been very good for the team”, an
elated Ajilore told NEXTSports from Holland.

Ajilore who made
his debut for the Eagles in the international friendly against Colombia
in Cali in November 2008 is confident he can continue with such
performance which he hopes could earn him a place in the country’s
squad to South Africa.

“ We have some
players who can also play the ( offensive) role in my club but the
manager believe I can do the job. To have scored some vital goals
playing from that position really makes me happy and I really feel
comfortable doing it.

Feeling good

“ I’m feeling good
at the moment and I think some extra personal efforts after training
sessions on my physical condition and my game has really been paying
off and my coach was really impressed with my performance again on
Sunday.

“I have played in
that position for the Super Eagles, that was during the World Cup
qualifier against Mozambique and I remember some good moments.
Normally, you need to play more games to get used to it but our people
want instant result because of our passion for the game.”

Ajilore also said
he has heard positive comments about the new Eagles coach, Lars
Lagerback after discussions with a couple of his club mates who play
for Sweden.

“I don’t really know him but I spoke about him with some of my
colleagues who have played under him in the Sweden national team. We
have a couple of them playing here and they said he (Lagerback) has
been here to see them play. They told me he is a well-organised coach
and that he is tactically good. So I hope he will bring that into the
team to help the team make a good impact at the World Cup.”

The Nigeria
Football Federation yesterday vowed to battle former coach, Shuaibu
Amodu, in court rather than call for an amicable settlement.

The coach, who was
seconded to home-based Eagles, took the federation to court to demand
for his wage and allowances. But the NFF has ruled out the possibility
of an out-of-court settlement with Amodu over the case that is now
before Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), for alleged breach of
contract.

Speaking on the
issue, the special adviser to NFF president, Tunde Aderibigbe, revealed
in an interview with brilafm.net that officials of The Glasshouse are
ready to meet Amodu in court if he fails to follow official directives.

“If he has expressed his willingness to go to court, I don’t think we can stop him. There is nothing we can do about it.

“For now, what he
told us was that he was going for leave, after which he will resume at
his new posting. He has been our employee and he’s our employee until
his contract expires. If he decides not to return, no problem. We shall
tackle it head on,” he declared.

Amodu’s demands

Amodu is demanding
a compensation of 300 million naira (about $2 million) from the NFF,
after he was side-stepped for the World Cup.

According to media
reports, Amodu is asking for 135 million naira for the remaining part
of his contract, which is to end in July.

He is also asking for another 165 million naira as bonus for qualifying Nigeria to the 2010 World Cup.

The coach also
qualified the Super Eagles to the 2002 World Cup but was eventually
axed, after a squabble with the country’s top officials allowing
Adeboye Onigbinde to lead Nigeria to the World Cup.

Amodu was
redeployed to the country’s B team, made up of players from the
domestic league after he led the Eagles to third place at the Nations
Cup in Angola in February.

Africa’s football governing body, the Confederation of African
Football (CAF), has held a review of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, which
ended in Angola in February.

A workshop on the tournament, which commenced at the body’s
headquarters in Egypt on Tuesday and ended yesterday, was declared open by the
CAF Deputy General Secretary, Hicham El Amrani.

In attendance at the event were some of Africa’s brightest
technical minds, including former Super Eagles coach, Adegboye Onigbinde who is
a member of CAF’s technical committee. Other technocrats at the event included
Ghana’s Ben Kouffie, equally a member of CAF’s technical committee, as well as
Hassan Shehata, the coach who led Egypt to three consecutive Nations Cup
titles, including the last edition held in Angola.

Identifying key
challenges

According to the organisers, the aim of the workshop was to
provide a technical and tactical analysis of the African flagship competition
held in Angola, to help identify key challenges in the pursuit of developing
the game on the continent.

El Amrani was quoted on the CAF website as saying that the
workshop represented a testimony of CAF’s commitment towards the development of
the game to an appreciable standard. He said the symposium gives to coaches, as
well as technical directors, a great opportunity to exchange their know-how,
whilst observing some modern trends in the game.

“For CAF, this event is of our dearest concern, as it provides a
platform for the major players who brought a significant role in the success of
the tournament to come together, exchange ideas and forge ahead. “With the
first ever World Cup on African soil few months away, we are hopeful that this
symposium will serve its purpose, especially to the continent’s coaching
license system launched in 2009,” he said.

The CAF’s Director of Development, Abdel Moneim Hussein who was also at the
event, said the workshop is significant since it provides a platform for
technical people to share and review their performance during the 27th edition
of the continent’s biggest football spectacle.

New Super Eagles coach, Lars Lagerback may have identified the
defence as his main concern ahead of the World Cup, but two former members of
the national team, Samson Siasia and Nduka Ugbade believe the current form of
our players for their respective European clubs is not adequate ahead of South
Africa.

Nigeria’s first group opponents at the World Cup, Argentina,
would fancy their chances of assembling players who are not only enjoying
regular competitive action but also making waves in Europe with goal-scoring
performances. The quartet of Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Carlos Tevez and
Sergio Aguero have hauled in more than 70 goals at the club level this season.

It appears an intimidating scorecard considering the fact that
our Eagles trio of Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Obinna Nsofor and Obafemi Martins have
only managed a combined total 15 league goals albeit with some injury problems
in the course of the campaign. Osaze, who has just begun a new season with his
Russian Premier League side, Lokomotiv Moscow netted only seven goals in 23
appearances for his team last season.

Siasia, who himself scored for the Eagles in their 2-1 against
Argentina in Nigeria’s maiden appearance at the 1994 World Cup held in the
United States admits he is worried about the current performance of our
strikers with just about two months to the beginning of the global competition.

It is discouraging

“You have to be worried as a coach when you look at the
performance of our strikers just like you will naturally be happy if the goals
are flowing ahead of the World Cup. It is better when the players are showing
good form and we are hoping to see that from them as the World Cup gets
closer,” said the former Flying Eagles coach.

Ugbade, who also played alongside Siasia in the Eagles squad
that won the 1994 African Cup of Nations in Tunisia, insists the players must
improve their form for the Eagles to have any chance of qualifying for the
second round of the Mundial.

“We would have just about three weeks to prepare as a team for the World Cup
and currently things are not at the level you expect from the players. I hope
they would attain the high level of fitness as they would be moving to the
national camp for the World Cup preparation immediately after the end of the
season,” Ugbade said.