Nigeria News

I remember precisely that when Nigeria qualified for the World Cup last year, the Governor of Lagos State, His Excellency Babatunde Raji Fashola took time off in our Monthly Physical Planning Meeting to say that he feared that things might go wrong because there were no preparations. The Governor, himself a football player, and an ardent lover of the world number one sporting event feared that Nigeria may go to South Africa to concede goals that will bring shame to the football loving nation and Africa. Governor Fashola understands that going to the World Cup is no tea party. (more…)

In France and Nigeria, politicians have stepped out of line by acting as though their national teams’ World Cup disasters are major affairs of state that should divert them from other, truly vital issues of life. They are not. And pretending otherwise just smacks of political opportunism.

If soccer players need to apologize to anyone for on- and off-field performances, then it is to their longtime supporters — to the ordinary men, women and kids who root for them, not to politicians whose sudden interest in the misfortune of a national squad is suspiciously timed.

Yes, Nigeria had a poor World Cup. It hasn’t won a World Cup match since 1998 and again went without a victory this time.

But no, that doesn’t mean Nigerian players should now be made to sit in disgrace in a corner, banned from taking part in any international soccer for the next two years — which is what the West African nation’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, has decreed.

“The nation has been punished enough. Enough,” said Rotimi Amaechi, head of a presidential task force on the nation’s World Cup team. “People have had heart attacks, people have had all sorts of issues because of Nigerian football. We now want to reorganize and get back to what it used to be when it was the pride of the nation.”

Sounds serious. Way too serious, in fact. Losing is as much a part of sports as winning. Nigeria’s government should perhaps be explaining that simple fact to disappointed fans not whipping up emotions by taking an extreme view of defeat. The hundreds of death threats that were e-mailed to midfielder Sani Kaita after he collected a red card in Nigeria’s 2-1 loss to Greece showed how ugly things can get when soccer passions spill over.

Media reports out of Nigeria say the government will also be investigating allegations of soccer corruption there — there’s nothing wrong with that if the probe has no hidden political motives. And the government won’t be faulted if it catches soccer bosses with their hands in the till and misspending money that should have gone toward the sport.

But the best way to get the national team, dubbed the Super Eagles, to play better can hardly be by stopping it from playing at all. Two years out of international soccer, if it really comes to that, would mean Nigerian players missing the next African Cup of Nations and perhaps even the 2012 Olympic Games. That hardly seems likely to position them nicely for the next World Cup in Brazil in 2014, if they even qualify.

Whether the Nigerian president really does have the power to clip the wings of the Super Eagles, who are not meant to take their orders from government, remains to be seen. But the end result may be the same if soccer’s international governing body, FIFA, determines that Jonathan is sticking his nose into matters that shouldn’t concern him. FIFA takes a very dim, if at times also selective, view of political meddling in soccer and could respond by suspending Nigeria. That would mean no international soccer for all Nigerian teams, including clubs.

France’s government is also making a political mountain of the national team’s World Cup fiasco. France’s players made fools of themselves by rebelling against their coach Raymond Domenech and the French Football Federation at the World Cup, even refusing to practice one day. And French lawmakers have subsequently looked foolish, too, by acting as if this really is a major issue for France.

They grilled Domenech and outgoing federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes on Wednesday. But they let the pair off the hook by holding the hearing behind closed doors. That was unfair to fans, because instead of speaking to lawmakers, to whom they owe no explanation, Domenech and Escalettes should have spoken to and apologized directly to the French public — which they still have not fully done.

None of this is to say that soccer players and officials shouldn’t be held accountable — to fans — when they play or act poorly. And politicians of course should have a say when matters in sports go beyond the field of play. That could be the case with doping, for example, which is both a sports and a public health issue.

But let’s not turn World Cup players into political footballs just because they disappoint.

Millions of Nigerians put aside the rilvary  between the two countries to celebrate with Ghanians on  their historic feat of advancing to the quarter final of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the first ever by an African Anglophone country.

Reports reaching the Tide newspaper from Nigeria say shouts of joy erupted across communities in the commercial capital city of Lagos after the match, which Ghana won 2-1 against hard fighting United States.

‘Fans here celebrated as if the Nigerian national team, Super Eagles have won’, said Vincent Obi, a journalist who resides in Aguda area of the city. Football fan, Innocent Okoronkwo told ‘PANA’ that a particularly excited fan in his Ajegunle neigbourhood declared free drinks for those present at a beer palour where many converged to watch the match.

I will say 75% of the fans at the beer palour were supporting Ghana,” he said, noting that a few rooted for the US. In a rare scene on Lagos roads, several vehicles were seen flying the Ghana flag after the Black Stars victory.

The reports, however said local newspapers – perhaps still too shocked by the Super Eagles early exist- seemed not to share the enthusiasm generated by the victory, as most largely tucked in the report of the victory in their inside pages. One even gave more prominent to the qualification of Uruguay, Ghana’s next opponent – than that of Ghana.

40 years after, Uruguay books quarter final place’ was the main headline on the back page of the leading Guardian newspaper on Sunday. But the Nation newspaper managed to find a space for a tiny headline on the victory on its front page, where it proclaimed: ‘Ghana through to quarter finals.

’ Ghana remains Africa’s hopes in the competition in which five of the six African representatives were eliminated in the first round. Nigeria’s Super Eagles is one of the five African teams that fell by the wayside, after they failed to win even a single match in the group stage.

Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, has agreed to visit Nigeria for seven days to educate Nigerian coaches on modern tricks of the round leather game and the best way to identify hidden talents in the country

This was the outcome of his meeting with Nigerian officials on Thursday at the Redisson Hotel, Sandton, Johannesburg.

Wenger met with the Nigerian representatives led by the Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Alhaji Ibrahim Bio.

Others at the meeting were the Director-General of the NSC, Patrick Ekeji, and a former skipper of the Super Eagles, Austin Okocha.

After the meeting, Ekeji told our correspondent that the deliberations went well with Wenger.

Ekeji said, “Wenger is passionate about Nigerian football and he believes we can do better in the future if we work towards that.

“He has agreed to be with us to give our coaches useful tips to help our young players.

Football development is vital and we just have to embrace it.

“We know that Wenger is a coach that grooms young players and that is what we are looking at in Nigeria at the moment.”

Wenger however urged Bio to contact the management of Arsenal for a convenient time that will be fixed for the programme.

“The meeting was okay and I believe we can work it out soon,” he said.

Cameroon 1 Denmark 2

Ghana 1 Australia 1

Netherlands 1  Japan 0

South Koreans face a daunting task ahead of them tomorrow as they face the Argentine National Team in a Group B world cup match

Messi, the 2009 FIFA world player of the year, made a major impact on day two of the World Cup with a dazzling performance in a 1-0 win over Nigeria. He failed to score, but only because Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama made some spectacular saves.

The Barcelona forward’s darting runs and ability to draw in opponents will be key to Argentina’s bid for a third title, and he looks determined to silence those who say he struggles to reproduce his brilliant form for Barcelona when wearing his country’s colors. (more…)

As the  Argentine team prepares to face South Koreans in a Group B match this Thursday, Argentine Coach Diego Maradona will see a familiar foe in the Korean Team

South Korea coach Huh Jung-moo was the man assigned to stop Maradona when the countries met in their opening match of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, a game long-remembered in Buenos Aires for the Koreans’ strong-arm tactics against their skipper.

“I remember Huh very well,” Maradona said after the draw pairing the sides together was made in December. “In 1986 the Koreans played taekwondo, not football, against us.” (more…)