Nigeria Content Online

Cristiano Ronaldo
challenged Barcelona to try and score eight goals past his Real Madrid
side when asked for his views on the champions’ earlier 8-0 thrashing
of Almeria in La Liga.

The Portugal
forward scored a hat-trick in his side’s 5-1 hammering of Athletic
Bilbao at the Bernabeu, taking his tally for the season to 14, one
ahead of Lionel Messi in the La Liga goalscoring charts.

The Argentine World
Player of the Year had netted a hat-trick in Barca’s romp over
struggling Almeria, but Ronaldo was less than impressed with their
efforts when questioned by Spanish television pitchside at the Bernabeu.

Huge score-line
over Almeria “The 8-0 win; It doesn’t tell me anything,” Ronaldo said.
“Let’s see if they score eight against us on Monday.” “I’m pleased to
have scored but the most important thing is that the team won. I’m
fighting to win the league. The top scorer’s award isn’t important to
me.” Unbeaten Real Madrid will travel to face second-placed Barcelona
on November 29 with a one-point advantage over the champions.

Barca’s victory
over Almeria equalled their record away win achieved in 1959, when they
won by the same score line in Las Palmas, but their coach Pep Guardiola
refused to read too much into it with Madrid their next opponents in
the league.

“We didn’t look to send a warning out to anyone here today,” Guardiola said.

“We played to a
great level as we have in other games. In the first half (when they
scored five) we had the same number of occasions as in other games, and
today we put them away.” The victory led to the swift sacking of
Almeria coach Juan Manuel Lillo, a good friend of Guardiola’s.

“It has been an uncomfortable situation for him and me,” Guadiola added.

“I have known him for many years. He’s a fantastic person and a
great coach. We’ve just beaten the side with the third best defensive
record in the league.” Pull quote – The 8-0 win; it doesn’t tell me
anything. Let’s see if they score eight against us on Monday

Three Nigerian
teams will compete at this year’s edition of the Emirates Airline Dubai
Rugby Sevens Tournament coming up from 2nd- 4th December 2010 in the
United Arab Emirate.

The three Nigerian
teams; Cowrie RFC, Racing RFC and the Black Stallion (the national
team) are part of the 32 teams that would be competing at the tourney
which runs concurrently alongside the official IRB HSBC Sevens World
Series Dubai 7’s Tournament. Joseph Mbu, the Coach of Cowrie RFC, said
his team has been training hard for the tourney and they are focused on
having a good showing this time around at the yearly tournament. “I
intend to remould the team, and get them playing ‘smart rugby’,” he
said. “Forwards need to have a better understanding on when and when
not to go in to contact, and better improvement of ‘core skills’
especially from the half backs (scrum halves and fly halves). The hope
is to get a team that plays more expansive rugby, without jeopardising
our commitment to defence.”

Target in Dubai

He continued “I am
very optimistic about this year’s sevens tournament in Dubai, but
ultimate success is making a cup/plate final. This will greatly depend
on the stamina and fitness of the starting team; never the less the
team and management are aiming for a finals position, barring any
injuries.”

Cowrie Rugby Football Club are featuring for the second consecutive
time in the popular Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens Tournament and
the team is billed to depart on Monday 29 November 2010 to conclude
preparations and acclimatize before the event kicks off on Thursday 02
December 2010. The ‘Friends of Rugby’ sponsored female team is yet to
be confirmed by the organizers for the female version of the
tournament. The Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens Tournament is a
curtain raiser event to the official IRB HSBC Sevens World Series Dubai
7’s Tournament, which has only 16 countries listed by the International
Rugby Board to play in a 8-Leg IRB Sevens World Series. The countries
are: Dubai, South Africa, New Zealand, USA, England, Scotland, Hong
Kong and Australia. The tournament will run between December 2010 and
June 2011 in a league format.

Everton’s
Nigerian-born striker, Aiyegbeni Yakubu, is confident he can rediscover
the goal scoring form which saw him enter the record books of the
Liverpool-based English Premier League outfit.

In his debut season
with Everton, back in the 2007/08 campaign, Yakubu became the first
Everton player to score over 20 goals in a league season since Peter
Beardsley. However, the Nigerian international’s progress was truncated
by a serious Achilles injury in a November 2008 game against Tottenham
at White Hart Lane and had a slow return to fitness. This season,
Yakubu has found the back of the net just once, scoring the winning
goal against Stoke City, but he believes he is not too far off from
hitting peak form and insists he is in the mood to bolster an Everton
side that has scored just 14 times in 13 Premier League games this
season.

“I always believe I
can score and I believe I can score goals like I did here before,” he
said. “Even when I don’t score I feel I am not under pressure because I
honestly believe I will score no matter what. As a striker you need
goals, they give you that confidence. When you start scoring you start
to look fresher in games. For me to score means a lot and I think there
is more to come. I think my fitness now is really good, much better
than last season, even better than two seasons ago. When you are fit it
shows in your performance on the pitch. You aren’t tired, you want the
ball and you want to run. If you play for Everton, you have to be fit.”

Fighting for the chance

Yakubu, who over
the course of his football career has appeared for Nigerian side,
Julius Berger; Israeli side Maccabi Haifa; and the England based trio
of Derby County, Portsmouth and Middlesbrough, recently started seven
consecutive games but returaned to the bench for Everton’s last two
outings against Arsenal and Bolton Wanderers. He came off the bench to
play in those two games but feels the competition for places within the
Everton first team will drive him towards those heights once more. “We
have competition in the team,” he said. “Louis Saha is a good striker;
then there is Jermaine Beckford and Victor Anichebe, so I have to fight
for my place. For me, it’s a challenge. When you have people behind you
and by your side and they are watching you and looking to take your
place then it is a challenge. You have to work harder on the pitch and
give everything. For me to play, I have to take my chances when I get
them. I need to keep working hard and hopefully I can start scoring
regularly.”

Hopefully, that may come to pass when Everton travels to the Stadium of Light to take on Sunderland on Monday, November 22.

Current
League leaders, Dolphin FC, will face a stern test this weekend when
they confront local rivals, Sharks FC, in the star fixture of the
Nigeria Premier League, which enters the third week this weekend.

The game is billed
for the Sharks FC Stadium, and is one of the three games that would be
shown live on Super Sport 9. Games between the two sides have always
attracted sentiments from football fans in the Garden City who have
their loyalty divided between both sides. Currently, Dolphins have a
perfect record of two wins from two games, while Sharks though unbeaten
have two points from the two games played so far. Stanley Eguma,
Dolphins manager, says it will be a game like any other game but his
side will be careful against their city neighbours. “First we thank God
that we go into that game at the top of the table with six points from
two matches,” he said. “We also know that games against Sharks are
always difficult games and we will be careful but not concentrate too
much because eventually it is a game like another we will play in the
League this season.”

Anything can happen

“The season is
still early and anything can happen,” he said. “We are still trying our
best to gel as a team and soon our fans will really get the best out of
us.” Meanwhile, Sharks media officer, Confidence Idaa, believes his
side now know how to beat Dolphins. “Whatever happened in previous
seasons will count for nothing now,” he said. “We are in a new season
and we have started well. We will beat Dolphins on Saturday.” Idaa said.

Last season in the derby, Dolphins and Sharks ended it 1-1 at the
Port Harcourt Liberation Stadium; and at the Sharks Stadium, it was a
dramatic goalless draw with Sharks failing to score twice from the
penalty spot. NPL chairman, Davidson Owumi, has also said the league
will be keeping a close watch on the match to avoid any sort of
violence. “We will be keeping a close watch on the match and we will
not hesitate to apply stiff sanctions on anybody who is found to have
acted in a way that brings the game into disrepute,” he said. “So we
urge both teams to control both their players and their supporters and
give Nigerians and the rest of Africa a fantastic derby game that we
can be proud of, and may the better side win.”

The
National Association of Grassroots Football Developers of Nigeria has
concluded arrangement to stage the 4th edition of C. Woermann Youth
Football Championship.

As part of their
contribution to the development of football at the grassroots, the
association will use the opportunity to showcase the talents and skill
of young football players across Nigeria. The tournament, which is held
once every year, is scheduled to hold at the Legacy Pitch of the
National Stadium, Lagos, from November 21 to 24, 2010.

According to the
National Coordinator of the group, Ossy Nwokeabia, the aim is to give
grassroots football one voice and an avenue to showcase and sharpen the
skills and talents of young aspiring footballers who would have in the
first place been hidden from the eyes of the world. “C.Woermann Youth
Football championship is grassroots oriented,” he said. “We want to see
how we can contribute our quota to the development of the round leather
game. Grassroots football has been neglected, nobody cares about the
grassroots, but they have forgotten that grassroots is the bedrock of
meaningful sports development.”

A history of involvement

Nwokeabia has been
involved in the development of sports, especially football, at the
grassroots for the past six years. He is also the coordinator of Colin
Edwin Global Sport Limited, a grassroots sport development organization
that aims to bring to limelight the efforts of footballers who are
aspiring to go professional. This year, the group organized the maiden
edition of the Collin Edwin U-13 Youth Football Championship, which was
won by Soccer Pro Football Academy.

They also held the Colin Edwin
Football Tournament for Women earlier this year, where Oluwasanmi FC
came out tops at the tourney. Sixteen youth teams from across the six
geo-political zones of the federation are expected to feature in this
event. Last year’s edition was won by SAF football club of Enugu and
the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, Ugonna Anyaora currently
plays for FK Haugesund in Norwegian Premier League.

England’s
abject performance in their 2-1 defeat to France at Wembley, on
Wednesday, created a huge media backlash the following morning,
although one fact was largely overlooked.

While Fabio
Capello’s experimental team was outclassed for virtually the entire
match, there were some very good English Premier League players on
display at Wembley. The trouble for Capello was they were playing for
France. Fullback Bacary Sagna, who provided the pass for Mathieu
Valbuena’a goal, which put France 2-0 ahead, and Samir Nasri, who
largely ran the match with a brilliant midfield display, both earn
their keep playing for Arsenal.

The London club also had two players in
the England team – fullback Kieran Gibbs winning only his second cap,
and the largely anonymous Theo Walcott, who was replaced at halftime
after a frustrating night on the right wing. Chelsea’s Florent Malouda
also had a huge impact, creating Karim Benzema’s opening goal after 16
minutes. But the French trio’s performances, along with those of the
outstanding Yoann Gourcuff and Benzema, continually illustrated the
technical gulf in class between the sides.

Arsene Wenger,
Arsenal’s hugely successful French manager and ideally placed to judge
the merits of the two sides, told The Sun newspaper: “It’s despairing;
the (England) team were without fight. As soon as England won the ball
back they lost it again. They lost the ball straight away on the first
pass. They avoided tackles. There was only one team on the pitch. The
richness of a country’s football is assessed by the depth of its
players. When there are five players missing for England you don’t see
much in reserve to take up the challenge. There were too many players
not at the right level to take on this French team.” Former Ireland
international Tony Cascarino, writing in The Times, criticised the
tactics used by Capello, despite the experimental nature of his team.

Capello gave first starts to striker Andy Carroll and midfielder Jordan
Henderson, and instead of starting with his usual 4-4-2 formation,
Capello opted to start Carroll as a single front man. “Andy Carroll can
play up front with anybody,” Cascarino wrote. “The trouble last night
was that he was up front with nobody.”

Vastly superior

France, like
England, are rebuilding their team after a similarly disappointing
World Cup but they displayed vastly superior technical ability on a
rainy night and a slippery pitch. While Laurent Blanc’s team passed and
moved with speed and intelligence, England was largely static and
passed poorly and played like 11 individuals who had only just met.
Even allowing that Capello was experimenting – only three of the
starting line-up played in their World Cup defeat to Germany which saw
them eliminated in the second round – their tactics looked askew.

This frailty again
raises doubts about Capello’s ability to create a side good enough to
challenge for the European title in 2012 and whether the Italian is
still the right man to lead England.

France replaced Raymond Domenech after their World Cup failure, and
under Blanc have shown visible signs of improvement, winning their last
four games and topping their Euro 2012 qualifying group. England, by
contrast, stuck with Capello after the World Cup, and although England
have started their qualifying campaign with two wins and a draw,
Wednesday’s poor display shows he is a long way behind Blanc in his
plans for the future.

According to most of the British media on
Thursday, that future should be very short-lived. Few criticise him for
making changes to the side and playing some young players, but the
media were unanimous in criticising the performance England produced as
a result.

For
boxing to take back its pride of place in Nigeria there is the need to
promote and revive the sport at the grassroots, veteran Coach Paul
Onwuachi, also known as Whitehorse, has said

Whitehorse blamed
the performance of the boxers who went to the Commonwealth games in
Delhi on neglect of sports at the grassroots.

“If the fighters
had attended tournaments and had opportunities to fight in numerous
bouts before-hand, they would have done us proud but as the case is,
most the boys may have just been involved in three or four tournaments
and then they would say that they are ready to fight. It is not done
like that”.

Going back to the basics

The coach who has over 40 years experience in the sport called on the Boxing Federation to go back to the grassroots.

“There is the need
for us to go down so we can come up. In the 70’s there was the school’s
sport from where we could catch the talents young but now it is no
longer like that.

“We are complaining
about the performances of our boxers in Delhi but one thing we forget
is that we had four years to prepare for this tournament but we did not
capitalise on it. Instead we waited until the last minute before we
started to prepare”.

He further went on to say that a lack of exposure to tournaments affected the boxers.

“How many boxing
tournament are organised within Nigeria not to talk of taking these
boxers outside to compete with other people?

If in each title
level within Nigeria one person is able to come from each state to
compete with others you know he has more people to compete against and
when at the end he emerges champion, you will know he is worthy to be
called a champion”.

Patience is key

On the way forward,
the coach who has trained the likes of Bash Ali advised that the sports
ministry should go back to the grassroots and pick talents. “We should
not always wait until there is a big tournament before we start to run
around. This fire brigade approach has not helped our sports to
develop”.

He also advised that monetary gains and short term gains should be shelved for the future gains.

“We should not just be thinking about the money we can get. Most
boxing promoters want to spend N20, 000 now and make two million
immediately but that is not going to happen. When we get our acts
right, Nigeria will then become one of the places where sports could
become very lucrative.”

The
Super Eagles may still get to test their mettle against their Iranian
counterparts as there are plans to get both national teams to play one
another in 2011, according to the Iranian Football Federation (FFI).

The Super Eagles
had been billed to take on Iran later today at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium,
but the tie was cancelled on Monday at the instance of the Nigeria
Football Federation (NFF).

Initial reports
suggested that strained diplomatic relations between the two countries
over a recent arms cache impounded last month in Lagos may have been
the reason for the cancellation. The NFF’s acting Secretary General,
Musa Amadu, in a letter to the FFI however said the unavailability of
the country’s top players was why the NFF called off the game.

Regardless of the
cancellation, Amadu, according to the FFI, has suggested playing two
friendly matches against the Iranians next year.

“The Nigerian
Football Federation secretary general Musa Amadu sent us a letter in
which he stated their key players cannot accompany the team. Amadu
suggested playing two friendlies in 2011,” said Abbas Torabian Director
of the FFI’s International Committee in a report published by the
Tehran Times.

Compensation

Torabian however said this won’t stop the Iranians from seeking compensation from the NFF over the cancellation.

“We sent a letter
to Nigeria Football Federation and claimed compensation after the match
was cancelled unilaterally, they answered our letter swiftly,” Torabian
told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).

“The Nigerian side
have admitted that Iran was right and the African country would pay
compensation to us.” This view was also corroborated by the FFI’s
president, Ali Kafashian.

“We have had a contract with Nigeria and the game was an important test before the Asian games,” Kafashian told the ISNA.

“Therefore, we will definitely sue the Nigeria Football Federation and demand compensation.”

Amadu declined to confirm or refute claims by Torabian that he had suggested friendly games between Nigeria and Iran in 2011.

Speaking to NEXT
yesterday, Amadu said: “That is what he (Torabian) is quoted as saying
but the fact of the matter is that the game will not take place on
Wednesday.

“Further
speculation will not make the game go on, so if people want to
speculate now or in the future they are free to speculate,” he added.

Amadu also refused
to comment on plans by the Iranians to claim compensation from the NFF,
but he was quoted on a Nigerian website as saying: “All I can say at
this time is that both federations are discussing and we hope to reach
an amicable and reasonable settlement.

“We want to find a solution that will not damage the relationship
between the two federations, and we hope to have all that resolved at
the earliest possible time.”

There
are a lot of similarities between England and France, apart from being
connected by the Euro tunnel. They have both won the World Cup once,
when they hosted in 1966 and 1998 respectively. The two national teams
also had forgettable World Cup experiences.

France’s
capitulation in the first round of the tournament under former coach,
Raymond Domenech, takes the cake. The performance led to an 18-match
suspension for Nicolas Anelka, who was believed to have led a players’
revolt against Domenech. The Chelsea forward has since retired from the
national team while the new coach, former defender and 1998 World Cup
winner, Laurent Blanc, has the arduous task of rebuilding Les Blues.

England under
Fabio Capello flattered to deceive during the 2010 World Cup
qualifiers, crashing out 1-4 to Germany in the second round. But the
Italian gaffer has the questionable call against Frank Lampard’s goal
in that game to thank for still being the England coach. Most football
fans had called for the Italian to resign after the tournament, but now
they are calling for a complete revamp of the Three Lions.

This friendly match will therefore help the two coaches gauge the level of their developments – post the 2010 World Cup.

Big names missing

France will be
without Franck Ribery and Patrice Evra while England will be without
John Terry, Ashley Cole, and Frank Lampard with Capello inviting a slew
of youngsters and hopefuls into his squad.

The surprise
inclusion has to be Jay Bothroyd from Cardiff in the Championship
division, even though he has scored 15 goals in 16 games for the Welsh
team. Bothroyd will become the first player from that level to receive
a cap since David Nugent of Preston, in March 2007. Tottenham’s Younes
Kaboul has also been invited for the first time into the French squad.

In predicted zero
degree conditions, the 60,000 capacity sold out arena will be hoping
for fire works from both sides to warm a very cold evening. The last
game for Blanc as a French player was against England in 1998 and it
ended 1-0 in favour of the French. Most of the current team will gladly
take that result against an English side that is trying to find an
identity under their Italian coach.

The El Classico preview

Monday, November 29
is the date for the eagerly awaited league match between defending
champions, Barcelona and the newly revamped Real Madrid team under new
coach, Jose Mourinho.

Today at the
Estadio da Luz in Portugal, majority of the all-conquering Spanish team
(made up of mostly Barcelona players) will come up against the
arch-protagonist of the Madrid team, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Spain’s coach,
Vincente Del Bosque said, “If Barcelona against Real Madrid is good
advertising for football, I hope that Portugal against Spain is as
well.”

There are
intriguing match-ups in the duel as Ronaldo will be playing against
defenders and midfielders he will be expected to get past in the El
Classico.

Portugal will be
fired up for today’s match after losing out to the world champions in
South Africa. A David Villa goal settled the round of 32. The match
will also be about promoting Spain and Portugal’s joint bid for the
2018 World Cup but Portuguese fans will nevertheless expect to witness
a great game between the two neighbours. Both nations, though quite
fierce rivals, have put their differences behind them to present a
united front.

New Portugal coach
Paulo Bento wants to continue his reign by claiming a famous scalp. “We
want to fight, we want to play, we don’t want to watch Spain playing,”
said the former Portuguese international, who took over from Carlos
Queiroz after Portugal made a very poor start to their Euro 2012
qualifier campaign.

“They are the best
squad at the moment, but we want to take advantage of this match to
create our own identity. It is important to not let Spain impose its
playing style. We are very motivated.”

Manchester United winger Nani wants Portugal to put their World Cup failure behind them and use the match to get stronger.

“As a team we are
not the best in the world, but as a group and as players were are
amongst the best,” said the player, who missed the World Cup because of
injury.

“We have to take advantage of these matches against the best (teams) to get stronger.”

The battle of South America

There cannot be a fiercer national rivalry than the one between Argentina and Brazil.

There is the norm
that any match between sides from both countries cannot be lost as it
is a question of pride. Even when the result is 0-0, it will not be
called a dull match. The last time they met, La Albiceleste was beaten
by the Selecao, 3-1 at the Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires.

The balance of
results in the ferocious rivalry is impressive, but Brazil have enjoyed
the better results in the last ten years. Brazil have 35 victories
against Argentina’s 33 while 28 draws have been recorded.

Brazilian coach,
Mano Menezes, has also called up the Selacao’s forgotten man,
Ronaldinho after an 18-month absence from the national team. Menezes is
unbeaten in three matches in charge as he tries to graft a team of
mainly youthful players, with some experience, which is why he has
called up the AC Milan man.

But Menezes has warned that there is an air of expectancy on the shoulders of the two-time former world player of the year.

“We have been
evaluating everything we did until now and we understood that, for this
moment, we could think about him (Ronaldinho) again.

“Ronaldinho is in a
good moment for the position we need. Experienced, he will bring value
to the Selecao. It’s a position we need to improve and I’ve already
talked about this. He can add something.”

Menezes also explained the specific reasons for inviting Ronaldinho.

“The talk with
Ronaldinho is about the level of motivation and the presence of the
player. But I can say that I told him that he will not be compared to
other players, he will be compared to himself. We evaluate him as one
of the best players in the world.”

On the other side,
Argentina’s new call up, Andres D’Alessandro has confessed that he is
ecstatic at being called up into the national team. D’Alessandro plays
for Brazilian side, Internacional said the derby is always different.

“Argentina versus Brazil is always different,” he said.

“It’s two of the
most important national teams in the world. Brazil versus Argentina is
always a special match. But I think it’s a normal rivalry, between two
of the best national teams.”

The match will be played at the Khalifa Stadium in Doha.

Marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie has reversed his decision to retire and will continue to run competitively.

The Ethiopian great
dropped out of his first New York City Marathon on November 7 because
of a knee injury and immediately announced he was quitting athletics.

“On Saturday he
travelled to Wollega (in Ethiopia), where there was a race being held,
and he said that as long as he is healthy he will continue to run,” his
coach Woldemeskel Kostre told Reuters by telephone.

“Local reporters asked him and he told them he will continue running.”

Gebrselassie, 37,
regarded as the best male distance runner of all time after setting 27
world records, was in Wollega as a celebrity starter for Sunday’s Great
Nekemte 10-km run.

“As long as he has
the desire and the willingness he can keep running until he’s 45,” said
Kostre. “People here have been urging him to continue running.”
Ethiopian television reported that Gebrselassie said he would continue
to prepare for the 2012 London Olympics.

Not the first time

The veteran also
performed a retirement U-turn after calling time on his track career
following the 2004 Athens Olympics when he finished out of the medals
in the 10,000 meters.

Dubbed ‘The
Emperor’ in Addis Ababa where he is revered, Gebrselassie won 10,000
gold at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics and claimed four consecutive world
titles at the distance.

He has been equally impressive on the roads and set the world marathon record in Berlin in 2008.

In a statement on
Monday, Gebrselassie’s manager Jos Hermens said he had had a chance to
think things over since his sudden decision to quit.

“Many people, also
close to Haile, asked him to come back on his decision. When he made
his emotional decision, he did not foresee the impact that it would
have for his people and the youth in Ethiopia,” Hermens said.

“Haile agreed it was not the time and not the way to stop.”

Reuters