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The battle at the top of La Liga is extremely close, and with
the league remaining the only avenue of silverware for Real Madrid, only a win
will do today when they travel to play Getafe.

Madrid have won nine straight matches in the league, and they
are looking forward to overcome Getafe this evening to make it ten out of ten.
But recent history suggests the title-chasers may be in for an uncomfortable
night at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez. In the last five league meetings since
Getafe were first promoted to the top flight in 2004, they have recorded three
wins, a draw, and lost just once – 0-1 in 2007 to Madrid.

With the derby against Athletico Madrid at the weekend, and the
El-Classico fixture two weeks after that, a slip up against Getafe today will
count in the long run. Jerzy Dudek, the Real Madrid second choice goalkeeper
has already warned his team mates, saying they have to concentrate hard,
because Gatafe is a complicated side and “‘they will be motivated’. Last season
Real Madrid had lost a 3-1 at the Getafe ground, a defeat that contributed to
dismissal of Bernd Schuster, Madrid’s coach then.

Gonzalo Higuain, who was Madrid’s top scorer last season with 22
goals, will this evening mark his 100 appearance for Real Madrid, and he will
want to celebrate it with a match winning appearance, he has already scored 20
league goals this season, five behind the Barcelona prodigy Lionel Messi.
Looking ahead of tonight’s clash, Higuain said he will just like to enjoy
himself, and help his team win irrespective of what his personal objective is.

“My objective is to beat the number of goals I scored last year.
I’m only two away, but aside from my personal aims; my main goal is to help the
team. If we are champions and I score goals, then so much the better,” the
striker told AS.

Higuian scored the goals that downed Getafe in the first leg
encounter this season; Madrid won 2-0.

Despite having a better head to head in recent meetings, Getafe
knows playing Real Madrid is not going to be a stroll in the park, particularly
taking into consideration that they have only won once at Coliseum Alfonso
Perez in last five league matches; they lost two matches and drew another two.

“They (Madrid) are out of the Champions League and the Copa del
Rey and this will make them 100% focused. As well as that, they have players
who are used to pressure and solving difficult situations. It’s going to be
difficult, but nothing more. This is sport. At the Bernabeu Getafe already took
them on toe-to-toe and this is the intention tomorrow. We need to be very
careful not to make any mistakes,” Getafe forward Miku said of the match.

Battle of the giants as
Napoli, Juventus clash

Serie A fans are likely to witness a fiery battle this evening
as Napoli take on Juventus in a match neither side can afford to lose.
Currently, three points separate both teams. Juventus are in sixth position on
the league table, while Napoli trail in seventh place, a position it occupies
jointly with Genoa.

In the last 11 days Juventus have thrown away a 3-0 lead against
bottom-placed Siena, lost 4-1 to Fulham at Craven Cottage, and fallen 1-0 to
Champions League spot rivals Sampdoria, a situation that has made Alberto
Zaccheroni’s position as Juventus coach untenable.

Walter Mazzarri’s men are fresh from holding Milan to a 1-1 draw
at San Siro, but that came after two consecutive defeats and they are without a
victory since beating Livorno 2-0 in January. Since January they have only
notched up four draws and a 3-1 defeat to Fiorentina at home.

Juventus lost at Napoli last year when Amauri’s opener was
overturned by Marek Hamsik and Ezequiel Lavezzi.

Going into this evening’s game, question marks hang over
Alessandro Del Piero, who sprained his ankle against Sampdoria and will require
a late fitness test. Also Nicola Legrottaglie is suspended and Momo Sissoko is
on compassionate leave.

Napoli on their part will be without Fabiano Santacroce, former Liverpool
full-back Andrea Dossena and Salvatore Aronica for the game.

Despite scepticism from sections of the western press, and some
European football pundits about the ability of South Africa to host the FIFA
World Cup, Hristo Stoichkov, former Barcelona star and Bulgarian international
said South Africa is up to the test, and will not disappoint the world.

Stoichkov went to South Africa less than a year ago to take up
the coaching position at Mamelodi Sundowns, but he resigned after failing to
lead the club to the league title. However, the Bulgarian has only words of
praise for the country.

“Having seen the infrastructure here, I’m sure they will not
disappoint. South Africa will pass this test.” Stoichkov said of the South
Africa’s hosting ability.

Stoichkov, who led Sundowns to second place in the Premiership
only a point off the pace of champions Supersport, waved away the possible
concerns of tourists who will travel to the country for the FIFA World Cup.

Beautiful country

“Before coming here, I had read a lot in the newspapers, a lot
of negative things.

However, what I have experienced is something different to what
I read.

“I have been staying in South Africa for many months now, and I
think it’s a very beautiful country. It’s very nice here, I like it a lot,” the
man who was joint top-scorer at USA 1994 told FIFA.com during an interview. “I
don’t like comparing places because places are different. Barcelona is
different from Johannesburg, so is Cape Town. I don’t mean that in a bad way,
but people must understand that places are different. In those three places,
you find different people with different cultures, so of course the experiences
will be different,” he said. “I walk around a lot, I go to many places. I have
made many friends here. I meet people in the streets and my experience has been
good with them. Like any country in the world, there are places you don’t have
to go to. And, this applies to Madrid, Barcelona or London.”

In South Africa, Stoichkov is widely admired for his role at the
1994 FIFA World Cup as well as for his time with Barcelona. The quick-thinking
and skilful Bulgarian was part of what is now fondly referred to as the Catalan’s
“dream team,” which dominated Europe in the early 1990’s. He also endeared
himself to Sundowns supporters after he turned around what had initially looked
like an average season for the club and had them fighting for league honours
until the last week of the campaign.

Chances of African teams

Talking about how he thinks the African teams will perform at
the World, the former player hinged Africa’s hope on Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.
He doesn’t rate Nigeria as one of the African teams that might perform well.
“You have Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, very good teams. Then there’s South Africa
whom I think will have a point to prove. Those three African sides will be hard
to beat.” Although he is hesitant to predict which country will win, Stoichkov
doesn’t expect a surprise. “You have countries like Brazil, England, Spain,

Italy, Argentina – they are all favourites. All these teams are
organised and will be dangerous. Then you have the African teams whom I believe
will fight very hard in this tournament.

The legendary player turned coach, who has also led the
Bulgarian national team and Celta Vigo in Spain, rates Barcelona’s Lionel Messi
high and insists the in-form Barcelona maestro is the player to watch in this
World Cup. “He is the best player in the world at the moment. He is playing for
the best team [Barcelona] and he is very good.

“At the moment, if you talk about the best players, you have to
mention [Wayne] Rooney,

Cristiano [Ronaldo], Kaka, [Andres] Iniesta and few others that I might have
forgotten. Of course you will have the African guys like Didier Drogba and
[Samuel] Eto’o,” he said.

These are certainly the best of times for Barcelona star Lionel
Messi who has extended his lead in the game beyond the pitch by becoming the
highest earner in world football, putting an end to David Beckham’s two-year
reign as the world’s best-paid footballer.

The 22-year-old Argentine forward pockets an estimated £29.6
million annually, closely followed by Beckham at £27.3m, while Real Madrid
hotshot Cristiano Ronaldo sits in third place with his estimated earnings
having hit the £27m mark.

A £3.6 million bonus earned by Messi for winning the treble last
season with Barcelona took him ahead of the England star, according to the rich
list.

Messi was also ranked as the fourth highest-earning sports
person in the world, behind golfers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, and
basketball star LeBron James.

Carlos Tevez takes the title of highest earner in English
football, coming in seventh place overall at £13.8m.

The ‘Special One’ leads
the pack

Jose Mourinho, whose Inter team last week knocked his former
club Chelsea out of Europe, saw his stock rise further as he topped the list of
football’s highest-earning managers.

The Portuguese manager and self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ earns
£11.7m a year, with Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini in second place making
£10.8m. Former Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari, now coaching at
little-known big spenders Bunyodkor in Uzbekistan, comes in third at £8.5m.

Fabio Capello edges past Guus Hiddink into fifth, the pair being the only
two national team coaches on the top 10 horizon.

Super Eagles defender, Olubayo Adefemi has said Lionel Messi and
the Argentina squad will face a hard time when they come up against Nigeria at
the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

The Flea, as the World Footballer of the Year is called, has
dominated global headlines with his scintillating performances that have
culminated in a goals spree for Barcelona. Messi has a remarkable goal tally of
34 strikes in all competitions this season for the Spanish champions and he
will be expected to confirm his status as the best player on the planet by
leading Argentina to glory at the World Cup. As a matter of fact, Barcelona has
68 goals this season and Messi accounts for 64 in terms of goals and assists.

Lack of credible
defenders in La Liga

Yet, Adefemi, who has come up against the diminutive player at
international level on two different occasion says the youngster will not be
able to bully the Eagles like he does to his opponents at club level.

” I have seen some of the games and I would not accept Messi can
easily be going around our players like he mesmerises his opponents in Spain.
Sometimes you look at the quality shown by the opposition in the Spanish
League, you just have to laugh at how they allow him such pace and ease,” said
the Boulogne defender who has lost in two different meetings with the Barcelona
star.

Adefemi was in the Flying Eagles squad that lost 2-1 to a
Messi-inspired Argentina U-20 squad in the final of the 2005 World Youth
Championship in Holland, and the U-23 Eagles that surrendered the Beijing
Olympic football gold medal to Argentina in 2008. Messi was once again the
anchor man as he provided the pass Angel Di Maria converted for the only goal
of the game.

“We all know he is a good player no doubt, I think people can
still remember how we made life difficult for him at the Olympics. We lost both
games narrowly because it was a close fight. I expect another big fight at the
World Cup and honestly we will have to wait and see if he can enjoy those easy
moves he is having in La Liga.”

The other Argentine
strikers

Messi is not the only Argentine in top form as the trio of
Gonzalo Higuain, Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero have plundered close to 70
goals in the league in between them at 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 12 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 and he has not scored in the two-week old
new Russian league season.

Concern about Nigerian
strikers

Samson Siasia, ex-Eagles international and former national
coach, who had 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 just over
two months to the start of the global competition.

“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.

Nduka 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 with their form for the Eagles to have any chance of qualifying
for the second round of the Mundial.

“We will 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 attain high level of fitness as they will be moving to the national camp
for the World Cup preparation immediately after the end of the season,” he
said.

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.

It is no longer
news that athletics in Nigeria has gone downhill but one person that
cannot hide his anger at the present state of the sport he loves is the
former national champion and long jumper, Yusuf Alli.

He is even angrier
at the present board of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) which
he feels should have the interest of the sport at hand and should do
all within its power to develop the sport but has failed to do so.

Forget the Games

In an interview
with NEXTSports, Alli, who won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games
in Auckland, New Zealand in 1990, says he doesn’t see Nigerian athletes
performing the same feat in this year’s edition of the event taking
place in India in October:

“I remember that
last year, February to be precise, I met with Sani Ndanusa (immediate
past Sports Minister and Chairman of the National Sports Commission and
Ekeji at the Chinese Restaurant here in the National Stadium and I said
Commonwealth Games is next year, let’s have a programme; the proposal
is still on the table, nothing came out of it. When it is two days to
the Games then we start preparing.

“I bet you we
cannot win anything; we don’t learn from our mistakes. The only person
I think will do well is Blessing Okagbare because of her own personal
talent and training but in terms of our own preparation, I don’t see us
doing well. Commonwealth Games is not something that you will just go
and do anyhow; you will only reap what you sow.”

Winning Commonwealth gold

He says the needed
preparation is lacking and gives his personal experience on how he was
able to win a gold medal in New Zealand:

“I remember my
preparation for the 1990 Commonwealth Games when I was living in
Missouri, Colombia, a very cold area in the United States. I left and
came to Bauchi in Nigeria to train and I won the competition. It’s all
about training; Ijebu-Ode is scanty, there is no organised programme,
you don’t know who the coach is so how do you want to win the
Commonwealth Games? Look at Britain; do you think they are sleeping?

“They are already
planning towards London 2012 and it is some of them they will still use
for the Commonwealth and they will win it. You might have all the
talent but sometimes these things go beyond talent. The authorities may
say because I’m not part of them that is why I am talking; Track and
Field is my life; this is my house and you cannot burn it down and I’ll
be happy. They should sit up and prepare for the Olympics and forget
about the Commonwealth Games.”

Killing the Grand Prix

“When you look at
the present state of athletics in Nigeria, it is very sad; it took this
country over 20 years to get to where we got to. I know how the late
A.K Amu fought to have a Grand Prix event in Nigeria. Nigeria has lost
that Permit Meet and it is very sad because it might take us more than
10 years to restore our glory. If you’re talking about Nigeria now,
people don’t want to hear it because you can’t bring athletes from
their countries and not pay them.

“That is the result
you get when you take our sport and put it in people’s hands because
they are personal friends. The people that are there should know that
you don’t toy with other people’s lives. We are the same people that
complain that everything in Nigeria is football but athletics has been
killed so people now will go and play football.”

Minister of Super Eagles

Alli, who still
holds the national record in long jump with 8.27 metres which he set
about 21 years ago said, the sport didn’t fare any better under the
tenure of Sani Ndanusa, former Minister of Sport who was dropped last
week by the Acting President, Goodluck Jonathan in a cabinet reshuffle:

“Did we have a
minister of sports before? We didn’t. He was not even minister of
football; he was minister of Super Eagles. Ndanusa came to this sport
and I thought he was going to do well but he did nothing; all Ndanusa
and Director General of the National Sports Commission, Patrick Ekeji
did was to disorganise our sports. I don’t see one thing they did. It
was during his era we had the Nigeria Olympic Commission (NOC).

“Ndanusa used to stay in the corridor of the NSC looking for money
for his federation when he was President of the Nigeria Tennis
Federation and I thought that when he came in, the first thing he would
do would be would give federations their subvention; I remember that
Ekeji said if they removed Ndanusa, he will resign. He should resign
now and let us see.”

First, the needful
disclosure. I am a Catholic and as such immunised from any accusation
of trying to run down the Catholic Church. The child sex scandal that
is ravaging the Catholic Church in Ireland, Brazil and Germany is
enervating. Let’s not assume that sexual abuse is not in the Catholic
Church in Nigeria. What I can say is that it is not largely directed at
children; but to teenage females. What irritates in the revelations in
these countries and in earlier scandals in the U.S.A is that the Church
is aware and tries to cover up by coercing the victims to sign vows of
silence. What is behind such callous effort is known as the brotherhood
morality- to sustain the integrity of the clergy or the group.

The brotherhood
morality is manifest in the disgraceful effort by the Athletics
Federation of Nigeria (AFN) to rubbish the career of Vivian
Chukwuemeka, the shot put athlete. We should be grateful to Olukayode
Thomas for the story in last Sunday’s NEXT which unravelled the
scandal. The story calls to question the integrity of the drug testing
procedure.

In this country of
mini-dictators, it is improbable that an individual could challenge an
institution and emerge victorious. If AFN was not walking from answers
to questions, the fact that there was a mix-up in the bottle number of
Vivian with that of an unnamed (or is it unknown) athlete would have
been enough proof for the AFN to call off its inquisition. How can the
athletics body say that the mix-up was not “sufficient to invalidate
the adverse analytical findings?” Did AFN test for DNA that makes it to
be sure that urine sample (in spite of the mix-up) is definitely
Vivian’s?

More so, Vivian
paid for a representative to be present at the testing in South Africa;
yet her representative was denied audience.

Was AFN not on a
fishing expedition? Vivian was accused of having failed a drugs test
and when she went for a hearing organised by AFN, she was presented
with the Orwellian charge of “aggravation of violation” (translation:
an athlete, Amaka Ogoegbulam, alleged that Vivian gave her the drugs
she took.) Yet, she was convicted over “adverse analytical findings.”
Which clinic took the test given that University of Free State Doping
Control Laboratory did not conduct the test because the number did not
match with her name?

Protecting Amaka

Is Amaka a kid they
are protecting? If Vivian gave Amaka the drugs, was she obliged to
ingest? Is she not of age to know the consequences of her action?

I am disappointed
that the defence of the doping officer, Femi Ayorinde, is that as an
assistant director, he has all the money he needs. How much does an
assistant director in the civil service earn to inoculate one against
temptations? Does Ayorinde think we are kids? How can he say that it is
not possible to manipulate samples? Yet, one happened with Vivian’s
sample which he dismisses as typographical error. Why was there no
typographical error in the samples of Amaka and the other accused,
Toyin Augustus?

And why was Toyin
not named initially as being one of the four that failed the drugs
test? Which documentation did Toyin provide to back her claim of taking
drugs for cervical cancer? What eventually led AFN to ban Toyin after
accepting her excuse which made her avoid the suspension clamped on the
other three?

I urge Mercy Nku to
speak up as she could offer clarity in the mess? The allegation that
Ayorinde apologised after Vivian accused him of switching her sample
and number with that of Uche Emedolu at the Gateway National Sports
Festival deserves investigation. And if Mercy validates the allegation,
Ayorinde should be prosecuted.

It is not
sufficient to dismiss Vivian’s allegations as that of a drowning lady.
We are in Nigeria and know that sexual harassment is rampant in this
country. People in authority now see satiation of sexual desire as one
of the perks of office.

The Police should get involved in this case as AFN president,
Solomon Ogba, is awaiting a petition. So, if Vivian does not petition,
these allegations against AFN process and its officials would be swept
under the carpet. Folks, that’s brotherhood morality at play!

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.

Despite scepticism from sections of the western press, and some
European football pundits about the ability of South Africa to host the FIFA
World Cup, Hristo Stoichkov, former Barcelona star and Bulgarian international
said South Africa is up to the test, and will not disappoint the world.

Stoichkov went to South Africa less than a year ago to take up
the coaching position at Mamelodi Sundowns, but he resigned after failing to
lead the club to the league title. However, the Bulgarian has only words of
praise for the country.

“Having seen the infrastructure here, I’m sure they will not
disappoint. South Africa will pass this test.” Stoichkov said of the South
Africa’s hosting ability.

Stoichkov, who led Sundowns to second place in the Premiership
only a point off the pace of champions Supersport, waved away the possible
concerns of tourists who will travel to the country for the FIFA World Cup.

Beautiful country

“Before coming here, I had read a lot in the newspapers, a lot
of negative things.

However, what I have experienced is something different to what
I read.

“I have been staying in South Africa for many months now, and I
think it’s a very beautiful country. It’s very nice here, I like it a lot,” the
man who was joint top-scorer at USA 1994 told FIFA.com during an interview. “I
don’t like comparing places because places are different. Barcelona is
different from Johannesburg, so is Cape Town. I don’t mean that in a bad way,
but people must understand that places are different. In those three places,
you find different people with different cultures, so of course the experiences
will be different,” he said. “I walk around a lot, I go to many places. I have
made many friends here. I meet people in the streets and my experience has been
good with them. Like any country in the world, there are places you don’t have
to go to. And, this applies to Madrid, Barcelona or London.”

In South Africa, Stoichkov is widely admired for his role at the
1994 FIFA World Cup as well as for his time with Barcelona. The quick-thinking
and skilful Bulgarian was part of what is now fondly referred to as the Catalan’s
“dream team,” which dominated Europe in the early 1990’s. He also endeared
himself to Sundowns supporters after he turned around what had initially looked
like an average season for the club and had them fighting for league honours
until the last week of the campaign.

Chances of African teams

Talking about how he thinks the African teams will perform at
the World, the former player hinged Africa’s hope on Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.
He doesn’t rate Nigeria as one of the African teams that might perform well.
“You have Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, very good teams. Then there’s South Africa
whom I think will have a point to prove. Those three African sides will be hard
to beat.” Although he is hesitant to predict which country will win, Stoichkov
doesn’t expect a surprise. “You have countries like Brazil, England, Spain,

Italy, Argentina – they are all favourites. All these teams are
organised and will be dangerous. Then you have the African teams whom I believe
will fight very hard in this tournament.

The legendary player turned coach, who has also led the
Bulgarian national team and Celta Vigo in Spain, rates Barcelona’s Lionel Messi
high and insists the in-form Barcelona maestro is the player to watch in this
World Cup. “He is the best player in the world at the moment. He is playing for
the best team [Barcelona] and he is very good.

“At the moment, if you talk about the best players, you have to
mention [Wayne] Rooney,

Cristiano [Ronaldo], Kaka, [Andres] Iniesta and few others that I might have
forgotten. Of course you will have the African guys like Didier Drogba and
[Samuel] Eto’o,” he said.