Nigeria Content Online

My opener this week
is a conclusive headline that those grey-haired clowns at FIFA have
done it again. England with the best commercial and technical
presentations for the hosting of World Cup 2018 lost out to Russia in
what was an amazing climax to an exercise that ordinarily should not
end in controversy.

FIFA, a cesspool of
corruption, did not need the London Sunday Times’ reproachful reportage
to wave its devilish wand once again and thrust on the world another
bewildering pronouncement given its questionable and crooked agenda.

Some critics have
blamed the expose’ of cash-for-vote journalism of reporters of the
London Sunday Times for England’s loss; that piece of journalistic
‘over-adventurism’ cost England £15 million – the bidding cost and a
potentially humongous money making event in the shape of hosting the
World Cup in 2018.

Opinions are always
going to be divided on issues like this, but a global organisation like
FIFA ought to show respect for peoples’ time and resources by setting
out clear and unambiguous parameters that will aid potential bidders in
reaching weighted decisions, whether it is to participate in bid
sessions or not. It’s all so tacky and vexatious when FIFA conjures new
and sometimes outlandish reasons as considerations for imperilling the
interest of hot hosting favourites now and again.

Suspicion of arm-twisting

This bid that went
to Russia raises a suspicion of espirt de corps on the part of FIFA
Executive Committee determined to punish England whose reporters blew
the lid on the cash-for-vote imbroglio in the first place. A suspicion
of arm-twisting by Russia cannot be dismissed completely, given the
Secret Service credentials of Russian leader Vladimir Putin considering
the many skeletons in FIFA’s closet.

FIFA needs to
follow IOC’s example. Quite frankly, there is nothing wrong in
spreading the World Cup hosting rights. What is troubling is the modus
operandi of the world football ruling body. Too many of its actions and
pronouncements raise questions that even their biggest admirers cringe
at.

Meddling in Nigerian football

It is hoped that
FIFA will at some point shape up and improve its image the way the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) has done after the Salt Lake
scandal in order to restore some confidence in the body.

This takes me
directly to the fact that FIFA’s interference in Nigeria’s football in
the last three years as well as it’s annoying pronouncements has almost
left our football prostrate.

I know for certain,
even if proof of such things are a bit difficult, that visiting FIFA
officials have left here happy since 1995 the way policemen do at
roadblocks. This has been the case since Nigeria made her first
attempts to host an age-grade World Championship. One day FIFA
Vice-President Jack Warner almost cursing says Nigeria cannot possibly
be ready to host a football event and that his organisation will put
this or that country on standby.

Next visit, Warner
literarily climbed the rooftops to hail Nigeria for having performed
another world “wonder”! The initiated know what has passed and what
cultivated a great “apostle” for Nigeria in Jack Warner. Host we must,
he declared.

Leaving it at that
would just have been fine but FIFA has moved into who runs Nigeria’s
football and how it is run contrary to its non-interference standpoint.

FIFA’s interference in 2007

I will spare the
details but it will suffice to say that since 2007, FIFA has made
itself both umpire and judge. Its General Secretary, Urs Linsi,
literally moved his secretariat to the Ibro Hotel, Abuja to personally
conduct the removal of the Ibrahim Galadima-led NFA board and install
Sani Lulu as Chairman, using all the instrumentality and paraphernalia
of the Nigerian government. The NSC was under the Chairmanship of Bala
Kaoje, the Minister of Sport was the launch pad. Since then, Nigeria’s
football has remained permanently engaged in reverse and has been
suffocated by crises and intrigues. At that time government was not
interfering in football but it was Kaoje, Minister of Sports at the
time who not only declared NFA Congress open but practically pulled
down the Galadima Board with the active connivance of FIFA using Linsi.

Lulu’s Board’s,
superintended by a top FIFA official, went all the way to doctor NFA’s
statutes in a direct violation of all procedural rules since FIFA was
behind it.

Before now, the
same FIFA had granted tenure elongation to Ibrahim Galadima’s Board, an
occurrence which aggrieved stakeholders, who were then used as a weapon
against the hapless Galadima and his Board. There was interference and
FIFA had no reference precedent for that I must state here.

I have decided to
save the gory details of intrigues and horse trading, which
characterised the conduct of the 2007 NFA election that brought a
wasteful and retrogressive Sani Lulu to lead our football. With the
active connivance of a corrupt and spineless FIFA who threatened bans,
whenever they perceived an assault on their interests, that is when
Government interference comes up.

FIFA aided the
plundering, wastage of government – nay tax payers’ – money for a
needless exercise; an election into the NFA having already taken place
in Kano.

A report was duly
submitted and accepted by FIFA through Jerome Champagne that Ibrahim
Galadima was duly elected Chairman of the NFA. This was pure
interference contrary to the spirit and letters of non-interference by
third parties preached by FIFA, a body that is itself a meddlesome
interloper.

Till next week then.

After
Newcastle United chalked up their biggest home win over local rivals
Sunderland for more than half a century in October, crushing their
biggest rivals 5-1, the first question manager Chris Hughton was asked
was whether he thought the victory had made his job safe.

Such is the
quicksand that the north-east club has been built on in recent years
that even a result that once would have warmed their fans through the
coldest of north-east winters proved only a short-term reprieve for an
honest, straightforward, likeable and successful manager.

Earlier that week
the club had issued a statement supporting Hughton following widespread
speculation about his future in the wake of a 4-0 home defeat by
Arsenal in the League Cup.

When they followed
the Sunderland success by beating a full-strength Arsenal at the
Emirates – with an earlier win at Everton and a 6-0 thrashing of Aston
Villa also in the bag – one might have thought that Hughton had proved
his credentials for a club desperate for some continuity.

Can’t seem to learn
from the past Newcastle’s revolving door managerial policy in the
previous 12 years had seen 10 managers come and go.

Kevin Keegan, Kenny
Dalglish, Ruud Gullit, Bobby Robson, Graeme Souness and others all came
and went on the back of often reasonable Premier League showings before
the combination of Joe Kinnear and Alan Shearer failed to prevent their
relegation in 2009.

In the 24 years Alex Ferguson has been at Manchester United, Newcastle have changed their manager 14 times.

Yet after all that,
chairman Mike Ashley said via the club’s statement on Monday that he
wanted a more experienced man in charge.

Having worked as a
coach at his former club Spurs for 14 years, and under 10 different
managers, having spent two as Ireland’s assistant boss and two at
Newcastle in various guises, Hughton is hardly wet behind the ears.

Ashley, who tried
unsuccessfully first to win the fans over and then to sell the club,
initially hedged his bets by making Hughton caretaker for at the start
of last season before appointing him full time in October 2009.

Decent record

Hughton duly
secured the Championship title and had made a decent fist of gaining a
foothold in the top flight, helping develop Andy Carroll into an
England striker and getting the best out of midfielders Joey Barton and
Kevin Nolan.

Newcastle’s home
record was poor, with defeats by Blackpool, Stoke City and Blackburn
Rovers not going down well in the wake of last season’s unbeaten home
campaign in the Championship.

Yet after 16 games
they are 11th in the standings. Liverpool, Everton, Villa and
Birmingham City, all top-half finishers last season, are below them.

Yes, they have been
inconsistent – sandwiching a 1-1 draw at champions Chelsea with a 5-1
loss at Bolton and Sunday’s poor show in the 3-1 defeat at West Brom –
but so have just about every other team in the Premier League this
season.

Four more points would put Newcastle in the Europa League places, four fewer would have them in the relegation zone.

If they finish the season in 11th place will Ashley be casting around again for a new man?

Barcelona have
agreed a record shirt sponsorship deal with the Qatar Foundation worth
£25 million a season through to the end of the 2015-16 campaign.

The deal is the
biggest for any football club, Barca said, and will net the Catalan
side about 165 million euros in total, including £12.5m for the
remainder of the current season.

The Qatar
Foundation, founded by Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of
Qatar, in 1995, has projects focusing on education, scientific research
and community development. It is also engaged in several corporate
joint ventures.

Last week the tiny
Gulf state was chosen by football’s governing body FIFA to host the
World Cup in 2022 when it will become the first Arab country to stage
the finals.

Barca are one of
the few clubs in world football not to have a corporate logo on their
first-team shirts, instead displaying the name of the United Nations
Children’s Fund, UNICEF – for which they actually paid the charity
£1.25m a year.

Under the agreement
announced on Friday, marketing experts will seek to find a way for both
logos to be displayed, although if that was not possible the UNICEF
name would be moved to another part of the shirt, a club spokesman said.

“With this accord,
Barca becomes the undisputed brand leader in world football, far ahead
of international rivals,” Javier Faus, a club vice president, said.

The agreement also
includes a commitment for Barca to play one friendly per season, not
necessarily in Qatar, and the Qatar Foundation will take part in joint
projects with UNICEF and the club’s own foundation.

A study by
consulting firm Sport+Markt published in October showed new deals for
English Premier League clubs Manchester United and Liverpool, with
insurance brokerage AON and bank Standard Chartered respectively, were
the two most valuable contracts in 2010/11 at £19.75m each.

Real Madrid’s £19.25m deal with Internet bookmaker bwin was the next biggest.

Michel Platini,
UEFA president and a FIFA executive committee member, said there was
“something beautiful” about the philosophy behind the decision to award
the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar.

He added that there
was “nothing illogical” about the Qatar decision, arguing the Middle
East had been rejected as hosts several times in the past.

The Frenchman,
however, pondered alternatives to the current voting system in which
World Cup hosts are chosen by the executive committee, which currently
consists of 22 members.

Platini said he
felt that FIFA’s executive committee had been won over by the thought
of taking the World Cup to new regions as he was quizzed about last
week’s vote in Zurich.

“Russia asked why
they didn’t have the right to organise the World Cup and said it had
already been held 10 times in Western Europe,”

New frontiers

Platini told
reporters. “I think maybe the executive committee were sensitive to
this.” “The same thing applies to Qatar and the Arab world. Morocco has
applied to host the World Cup four times and lost, Egypt have also
failed and Qatar asked when will the Middle East have this opportunity?

“Maybe, the members
of the executive committee thought it was a good opportunity to go to
that part of the world once and for all, a region that has never hosted
the World Cup, so if we’re talking about developing football worldwide,
which is ultimately the goal of institutions such as FIFA or if we’re
talking about European football, which is the goal of UEFA, well it’s
something beautiful.

“That doesn’t mean
that UEFA has different objectives, we voted for Poland and Ukraine (as
Euro 2012 hosts).” He added: “We opened new frontiers by taking the
World Cup to Africa and maybe the executive committee felt it was time
to open more new frontiers. There was nothing illogical about this.”
Qatar was awarded the World Cup despite worries about the fierce summer
heat, which it says will be countered by the use of air-conditioned
stadiums.

“In the 1994 World
Cup in the United States, the temperature in Dallas, if I’m not
mistaken, was 45 Celsius and nobody criticized us at the time,” said
Platini.

“It’s a long time
and we’re talking about this with (FIFA president Sepp) Mr Blatter.”
Platini said that holding the tournament in January, the Qatari winter,
could be an alternative as well as staging some games in neighbouring
countries.

“I agree, football in the Gulf in January that would be easier than June, why not, it’s possible.

“However, many
things would have to be changed in the calendar, what would we do to
re-organize ourselves and how much rest time would be given to the
players?

Would we have
February off and re-start the season in March?” Platini also pondered
the suggestion that the FIFA Congress — where representatives of
FIFA’s 208 member federations have a direct vote — could choose the
World Cup hosts, rather than the executive committee.

“The difference is that South America only has 10 votes, so maybe they would never get the World Cup,” he said.

“I think we can think about this issue, maybe we can elaborate a
different system.” “The next time we will do this will be in 10 years’
time.”

Super
Eagles boss, Samson Siasia has said that Joseph Yobo will remain as the
captain of the national team for the time being. Siasia said a final
decision on the Super Eagles captaincy will be made only after the team
convenes sometime in the first quarter of 2011.

Yobo was deputy
skipper under erstwhile Super Eagles captain Nwankwo Kanu but has since
slotted into the role full-time following Kanu’s subsequent exclusion
from the national team in the aftermath of the 2010 World Cup in South
Africa.

“He (Yobo) has been
the captain even while Kanu was there, and I think he has been doing a
good job otherwise he wouldn’t have been selected in the first place,”
said Siasia.

“I haven’t had the
chance to gather all the players together under one roof but the moment
I get that opportunity I will see how things go.

“But for now he is still the captain,” he added.

The legendary Kanu,
a former two-time African Player of the Year award recipient, has
overtime refuted reports that he had called it quits with international
football but Siasia won’t be drawn into confirming or denying whether
the Portsmouth forward remains in his plans for the Super Eagles team
he plans to build ahead of the 2014 World Cup.

“I don’t want to
say anything about Kanu or whether he is in my plans or not,” said
Siasia. “He is one of the best players to have ever played for Nigeria
and everyone respects him for that.”

Yobo has been a
regular fixture in the Super Eagles side since making his African Cup
of Nations debut at the Mali 2002 tournament where the Super Eagles
finished in third place.

He has since gone
on to make four further appearances at Africa’s showpiece event as well
as two appearances at the FIFA World Cup.

Now 30 and with 75
international caps, Yobo is still waxing strong for Turkish side
Fenerbahce, a side he joined at the start of the season on-loan from
English Premier League side, Everton where he was previously the deputy
to club skipper Phil Neville.

Qualities of a skipper

But does he possess the qualities Siasia wishes to have in whoever gets to emerge as the skipper of his side?

“A good captain
must be a natural leader, that is, he must command the respect of his
teammates both on and off the pitch and also give this same respect to
his teammates,” said Siasia.

“He should be able
to communicate to me or to any other coach in the team any problems the
players may have. He should also show a great deal of commitment not
only during matches, but also during training so as to bring out the
best in others.

“He should also be
a regular as it makes no sense to have a captain who is most of the
time on the bench both for club and country,” added Siasia.

Based on the
national team’s outings beginning from January’s African Cup of Nations
in Angola, many came to the conclusion that Yobo commands the respect
of most of his team mates.

He is also a
regular fixture in the Super Eagles even though the case was not the
same prior to his move to Turkey as he had been frozen out of the
Everton starting-eleven by club manager David Moyes.

Though he is no longer as fast as he once was, the former Marseille player, still shows a lot of commitment on match days.

Asked whether he thinks Yobo has the needed qualities, former Super Eagles midfielder, Etim Esin said, “I think he does”.

“I have had the opportunity of watching some of their training
sessions and he shows a lot of commitment. “I think he has done well as
captain but the decision rests with the coach,” Esin added.

After
a long period where locally-based players in the Nigeria Premier had
very little chances of making it into the Super Eagles, new tactician
and former Super Eagle Samson Siasia has promised that there will no
longer be a distinction between home-based and professional players.
The new coach who was unveiled on Wednesday, December 1 in Abuja told a
panel consisting of Charles Anazodo, Daniel Amokachi and Colin Udoh, on
Tuesday, on a programme on Super Sports – a cable football channel:

“We need the local
players to change their mentality. This has to be done to wipe away the
memories of times when local players will be invited to national camps
and will be dispersed as soon as the foreign players come in. That is
why we will have weekly sessions with them. Because I remember in our
days, we would report to the national camp on Monday and go back on
Thursday to play league matches for our club sides ­­— we need to get
back to that point.”

Mikel Obi’s role in the Super Eagles

He also addressed
the issue of the seeming feud with Mikel Obi and why the Chelsea
midfielder missed out on a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics. When
he was asked on insinuations that Chelsea spoilt Obi’s game, the coach
replied: “I never said anything like that, never.”

Siasia then added
that the seeming feud with Mikel started when people tried to force the
player on his Beijing Olympic team. “I said at a press briefing that I
do not need to choose Mikel. What I told (Mikel) Obi was that ‘Mikel,
you have to play one game. If you don’t play this game, you won’t go to
the Olympics — as simple as that. He then refused to come for the last
qualifying match and that was the aspect that I addressed. I have
spoken to Mikel and I do not have any grudges against him — he is doing
very well. If Mikel cannot play as an offensive player, we will have to
find another player that will do it. Do we have to force him to play in
that position? We have more than 150 millions Nigerian including young
players that can play that role so must we force him to play it? If he
is doing well in that position (defensive midfield), let us leave him
there.”

Getting new players into the Eagles

The coach also
reiterated his drive to get players, though not born in Nigeria but
doing well in their clubs into the national team.

“There are just a
couple of Nigerians that are doing well abroad,” he said. “But we have
others that we haven’t touched yet; why don’t we go to those guys? We
should go to them and see how well they respond. Let us ask them if
they want to play for Nigeria and if they want, we can integrate them
into the national team, but if not, we will leave them alone. We cannot
force them.”

Siasia has
reportedly made contact with Arsenal youngster, Phillip Aneke,
Sunderland’s on-loan defender, Nedum Onuoha and Emmanuel Emenike, a
striker with Turkish side, Karabukspor. When he was then asked if all
these players that are being scouted will make it into the national
team, Siasia said, “Not all the players will react to practice, to our
system.”

South Africa debacle

It got more
interesting when Siasia was asked on what he would have done
differently with the Super Eagles team to South Africa. “I won’t have
played with three defensive midfielders,” the new coach retorted. “We
all know that Nigeria’s strength is offensive football,” referring to
the 1994 era, when the national team was seriously offensive-minded.

“But because you
are an offensive midfielder does not mean that you will not have to
track back to defend — it is all about the tactics that are employed.
You have to play compact — if you cannot do it the way that I want you
to do it then I have to find somebody else who will. How can you play
three defensive players in a team and expect to score goals? Who will
pass the players to the attackers?”

Siasia was also
confronted with the fact by a caller on the programme that Nigerian
coaches have been known to collect bribes to field players for the
national teams.

“Well, I can only speak for myself — I do not collect bribes,” he
said. “That is why we were looking for the correct emolument.” Anazodo
added jokingly that N5 million (Siasia’s monthly salary) was plenty
enough to dissuade the coach from seeking for bribes.

Spurs are on a high
at the moment and no deficit in particular seems too big to be
overhauled. They have been four goals down to Inter Milan, two goals
down at the Emirates against Arsenal and have come back to almost draw
and win those games respectively.

So if Chelsea scores first today, there
will be no jubilation on the Blues’ bench as their London rivals have
under Harry ‘Houdini’ Redknapp, shown they are capable of escaping
supposedly daunting situations, but it was not like these in years past.

For 16 years, from 1990 to 2006,
Tottenham did not win one match against their neighbours but all that
has changed under Redknapp. They have more fortitude even with some of
their players in rehab.

Where Chelsea need today’s match like a
drowning man needs oxygen, Tottenham will want to show the defending
champions that they are capable of contesting the title with the likes
of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City.

Head 2

Head – Tottenham vs. Chelsea

1.

2009/10 PRL Tottenham

2

– 1 Chelsea

2.

2009/10 PRL Chelsea

3 – 0 Tottenham

3.

2008/09 PRL Tottenham

1

– 0 Chelsea

4.

2008/09 PRL

Chelsea 1 – 1 Tottenham

5.

2007/08 PRL

Tottenham 4 – 4 Chelsea

6.

2007/08 PRL Chelsea

2 – 0 Tottenham

7.

2006/07 PRL Chelsea

1 – 0 Tottenham

8.

2006/07 PRL Tottenham

2

– 1 Chelsea

9.

2005/06 PRL Chelsea

2 – 1 Tottenham

10. 2005/06 PRL Tottenham 0 – 2 Chelsea

11.

2004/05 PRL Tottenham

0

– 2 Chelsea

12. 2004/05 PRL Chelsea

0 – 0 Tottenham

13. 2003/04 PRL Tottenham 0 – 1 Chelsea

14. 2003/04 PRL Chelsea 4

– 2 Tottenham

15.

2002/03 PRL Chelsea 1

– 1 Tottenham

16. 2002/03 PRL Tottenham

0

– 0 Chelsea

17.

2001/02 PRL Chelsea

4 – 0 Tottenham

18. 2001/02 PRL Tottenham 2 – 3 Chelsea

19. 2000/01 PRL Tottenham 0 – 3 Chelsea

20. 2000/01 PRL Chelsea 3

– 0 Tottenham

21. 1999/00 PRL Tottenham 0 – 1 Chelsea

22. 1999/00 PRL Chelsea 1

– 0 Tottenham

23. 1998/99 PRL Tottenham

2

– 2 Chelsea

24. 1998/99 PRL Chelsea 2

– 0 Tottenham

25. 1997/98 PRL Chelsea 2

– 0 Tottenham

26. 1997/98 PRL Tottenham 1 – 6 Chelsea

27.

1996/97 PRL Tottenham

1

– 2 Chelsea

28. 1996/97 PRL Chelsea 3

– 1 Tottenham

29. 1995/96 PRL Tottenham

1

– 1 Chelsea

30. 1995/96 PRL Chelsea

0 – 0 Tottenham

31. 1994/95 PRL Chelsea

1 – 1 Tottenham

32. 1994/95 PRL Tottenham

0

– 0 Chelsea

33. 1993/94 PRL Chelsea 4

– 3 Tottenham

34. 1993/94 PRL Tottenham

1

– 1 Chelsea

35. 1992/93 PRL Chelsea

1 – 1 Tottenham

36. 1992/93 PRL Tottenham 1 – 2 Chelsea

37.

1991/92 PRL Chelsea

2 – 0 Tottenham

38.

1991/92 PRL Tottenham

1 – 3 Chelsea

39. 1990/91 PRL Tottenham

1 – 1 Chelsea

40.

1990/91 PRL Chelsea

3 – 2 Tottenham

41.

1989/90 PRL Chelsea

1 – 2 Tottenham

42. 1989/90 PRL Tottenham

1 – 4 Chelsea

24 wins

for Chelsea and four for Tottenham since 1989

Top scorers

Chelsea Tottenham

D. Drogba 7 R. Van der Vaart 6

F. Malouda 7 G. Bale 5

S. Kalou 6 R. Pavlyuchenko 4

M. Essien 3 A. Hutton 2

N. Anelka 3 A. Lennon 1

Occasion maker

The return of Frank
Lampard – Frank Lampard is expected to make his first appearance after
being sidelined for over three months with groin and hernia problems.
The over 20-goals-a-season poacher’s runs into the box have been sorely
missed over the last two months.

Quotes

John Terry, Chelsea
captain – “Manchester United didn’t start the season well, Arsenal have
lost at home to teams they probably shouldn’t have and I don’t think
any team can say they are playing that well at the moment.

“The good thing is
we are still in with a very good chance. The encouraging thing is it’s
all still in our hands to change things. And we certainly have the
ability to go to Tottenham and Arsenal and get great wins. We’ve done
it in previous years and we can do it again now.

“We all know we’ve
not played as well as we can over the last few weeks, but we have a lot
more to give and hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later.

“We have three
tough games coming up. Hopefully our big players are prepared to rise
to the challenge and put their necks on the line.

“It is at times
like this, when things are not going so well, that you have to dig deep
and make things happen because no one in this game is going to give you
anything.”

Harry Redknapp,
Tottenham manager – “Of course we’ve got a chance. How can I sit here
and say we can’t when we’ve beaten Liverpool and won at Arsenal?

If it’s only
Chelsea or United who can win it, why are we bothering? Chelsea, a
month ago, looked absolute certainties but they’re struggling to get
results. They’ll get stronger when they get some key players back, but
so will we.

“I’ve said:
‘Listen, there’s no reason why we can’t have a go. I said last year we
should target the top four. I’m not going to say we’ll win the
championship now, but we’ve got a chance. Arsenal and Manchester

City have a chance, too. Chelsea and United are favourites, but nothing’s impossible.”

Facts

Tottenham went 16
years and 32 matches without a league victory over Chelsea, but since a
2-1 win in 2006 they have won on two further occasions. They have lost
just one of their last five encounters with the

Blues.

Chelsea’s last Premier League win at Tottenham was 2-0 in August 2005 – Asier Del Horno and Damien Duff scored the goals.

This is the 142nd meeting between the teams.

Tottenham have won 49 times, Chelsea 59 and there have been 33 draws. Referee: Mike Dean

Doubts

Tottenham

Younnes Kaboul

Injured: Tom
Huddlestone (ankle), Ledley King & Woodgate (both groin), Nico
Kranjcar & Rafael van der Vaart (both hamstring), Jermain Jenas
(calf), O’Hara (back)

Chelsea

Frank Lampard (groin), Yuri Zhirkov

Injured: Alex (knee), Benayoun (Achilles), Jose Bosingwa (hamstring)

Likely line-ups

Tottenham:

Huerlho Gomes,
Alain Hutton, William Gallas, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto, Aaron Lennon,
Wilson Palacios, Luca Modric, Gareth Bale, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe

Chelsea:

Petr Cech, Jose Bosingwa, Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry, Ashley
Cole, Michael Essien, Mikel Obi, Frank Lampard, Florent Malouda, ,
Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka

Olympique Lyon’s
embarrassing 2-2 home draw with Hapoel Tel Aviv in their final
Champions League group game on Tuesday exposed the defensive frailties
the French side will have to eliminate to go further in the competition.

Substitute
Alexandre Lacazette salvaged a point for Lyon with a last-gasp goal but
the home players were booed off their Gerland pitch by an angry crowd.

Goalkeeper Lloris
was forced to make several spectacular saves as centre backs Cris and
Pape Diakhate delivered a dismal performance.

Both were caught
out in the 63rd minute when Shay Abutbul’s defence-splitting pass found
Ben Sahar, who scored a well-deserved equaliser a minute after Lisandro
Lopez opened the scoring for the home side.

Eran Zahavi put Hapoel ahead with a bicycle kick in the 69th minute.

“We enjoyed
possession, we took risks and eventually we conceded a goal on a
counterattack,” said full back Aly Cissokho. “We lacked coordination.”

Lyon, who had
already qualified after winning their opening three Group B games, have
conceded nine goals in their last three outings.

They finished
second in Group B on 10 points, three adrift of Schalke 04, and will
take on a team who finished top of their group in February.

“It is true that we
have been having defensive problems for a while,” Cissokho said. “Nine
goals in our last three European matches, it’s a lot for a team that
has qualified.” Lyon, who reached the semi-finals last season and will
be playing in the knockout phase for the eighth consecutive year, now
have two months to get their act together.

“We still make too many mistakes and we need to correct this,” midfielder Maxime Gonalons added.

Coach Claude Puel, however, refused to panic.

“We lacked aggressiveness but there were no consequences,” he told
French TV Canal Plus. “We worked hard, we have an ambitious squad. You
(the media) can bury us, we will show our worth in 2011.”

Bulgarian striker
Dimitar Berbatov would be happy to stay with Manchester United until
the end of his career, the player’s agent said on Saturday.

“I’m almost sure he
(Berbatov) will finish his competitive career with United,” Emil
Danchev told Bulgarian TV +. “He is a very balanced person and he knows
what is best for him.” Berbatov, whose contract with the Old Trafford
side expires in 2012, came under fire for not scoring enough goals in
the first two seasons following his 30.75 million pounds move from
Tottenham Hotspur in 2008.

The former CSKA
Sofia striker was also criticised for being inconsistent and not
working hard enough for the team but the 29-year-old has rediscovered
his killer instinct and is top of this season’s Premier League scoring
charts with 11 goals.

“There are
different characters at United and there’s big competition too.
Berbatov sets an example to everyone in the team,” added Danchev, who
has always represented the player.

Premier League record Last week,

Berbatov became
only the fourth Premier League player to score five times in one match
when he helped destroy Blackburn Rovers in a 7-1 win to follow in the
footsteps of childhood hero Alan Shearer, Andy Cole and Jermain Defoe.

In September, he
became the first United player to score a hat-trick against Liverpool
since Stan Pearson achieved the feat in a 5-0 victory over their
Merseyside rivals in 1946 when the Bulgarian’s goals secured a 3-2
victory at Old Trafford.

However, Danchev held out very little hope that Berbatov would change his mind and return to international football.

Bulgaria’s all-time
leading scorer, with 48 goals, quit the Balkan country’s national team
in May citing fatigue and family commitments for his surprise
announcement.

“He decided to make way for some younger players in the team,” Danchev said.

FIFA
President, Sepp Blatter, has rejected allegations of corruption at
football’s governing body after Russia and Qatar won the right to host
the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, calling England “bad losers” for their
reaction. “To be honest, I was surprised by all the English complaining
after the defeat. England, of all people, the motherland of fair play
ideas,” Blatter told Swiss weekly magazine Weltwoche. “Now some of them
are showing themselves to be bad losers. You can’t come afterwards and
say so and so promised to vote for England. The results are known. The
outcome came out clearly.”

Roger Burden, the
acting Chairman of the Football Association, withdrew his application
for the permanent position last week, saying he could no longer trust
FIFA members after the failure of England’s bid to host the 2018 World
Cup. He added that England’s bid team in Zurich, which included Prime
Minister David Cameron and the second in line to the throne, Prince
William, were promised votes which had not been delivered by FIFA
executive committee members. Cameron made a jibe at FIFA on Wednesday
when he was asked in parliament what he thought about football’s
governing body after his experience of England’s World Cup bid. “I
certainly learned one thing which is when it comes to breaking
promises, politicians have got nothing on football management,” he
said, laughing.

The arrogance of the west

Blatter said the
reaction of the losing bidders showed some did not understand his drive
to expand football’s frontiers. “I really sense in some reactions a bit
of the arrogance of the western world of Christian background,” he
said. “Some simply can’t bear it if others get a chance for a change.
What can be wrong if we start football in regions where this sport
demonstrates a potential which goes far beyond sport?”

England’s bid
chief, Andy Anson, has suggested Blatter influenced committee members
before the vote by reminding them of British media stories which
alleged corruption against them and led to two being banned. Blatter
rejected the corruption allegations and said he was being targeted by
anti-FIFA journalists. “There is no systematic corruption in FIFA,” he
said. “That is nonsense! We are financially clean and clear.” But
Blatter said FIFA could not act as if nothing had happened, adding he
wanted to set up a taskforce to look into compliance issues, without
giving details. “We need to improve our image. We also need to clarify
some things within FIFA,” he said.

Asked about calls by Cameron for a radical reform of FIFA, Blatter
said: “Prime Minister Cameron is heartily invited to make his
proposals.” Blatter admitted football had become politicised. “Football
has become a monster which has to be tamed by FIFA. We do that and we
do it well. In particular after the World Cup in Africa because nobody
believed in it,” he said. “The awarding of the World Cup has become a
political issue. Heads of state pay court to me.” Asked if he would
still be FIFA president to open the Qatar World Cup in 2022, Blatter
said: “Definitely not. If God wills it, I will be invited to the
opening party on crutches or in a wheelchair.”