Category Archives: The Gaffer
Delicate Balance
As the Super Eagles get ready to battle the Harambee Stars of Kenya tomorrow in Nairobi, the task to be performed is as delicate as porcelain. Taking a second look at the first leg of the encounter in Calabar back in March when it took a last gasp equalizer to rescue a point for the Super Eagles, only a novice would not be apprehensive about the likely outcome of this match.
While Nigeria is on the upward climb and currently is the King of African football, the truth is that nothing will motivate the Kenyans more than beating us tomorrow. Apart from the potential FIFA World Cup ticket at stake, they have an axe to grind with us. From newspapers reports, they didn’t like the reception accorded them the last time they were in Nigeria.
I Love This Game!
In consecutive seasons of the UEFA Champions League, the favourites will not be in the finals! Like last year, the draws from the semi-finals pointed to the possibility of Real Madrid squaring up to Barcelona to enact the much loved ‘el Classico’ at the topmost level of European club football. However, Chelsea and Bayern Munich ‘connived to deny us that dream.
This season up till about nine days ago looked promising again for the ‘dream’ finals at Wembley. The wheels came unstuck for Barcelona first at the Allianz Arena in Munich when they uncharacteristically shipped four goals against a dominating and well drilled Bavarian side. As if that was not tough enough to take, Bayern completed the rout at Camp Nou by putting the Messi less Catalans to the sword.
A Lesson to Be Learnt
Unlike most Arsenal fans, I was not agitated or angry over Robin Van Persie’s exit from the Emirates in the summer of 2012. What engaged my mind was the fact that a major rival had gained a supreme attacking firepower with Arsenal being the loser in the real sense of it. And tonight, with three goals in the match that clinched the 20th league title for the Red Devils, RVP justified the huge confidence Sir Alex Ferguson had in him to have parted with such a big transfer for a 30 year-old.
Looking at the second goal he scored from the long racking ball from Wayne Rooney, one couldn’t but marvel at the quality of the Dutch striker. He took the ball one-time with his famous left foot and it nestled in the top left corner. That second goal will surely count among the best goals of this season.
On the Match Again!
The exploits of the Super Eagles of Nigeria at the last Africa Nations Cup are still fresh in our memories. Like many outstanding teams of the past, they must now focus their attention on the new challenge ahead of them. Getting soaked in or carried away by past successes had been the albatross of potential greatness in some of our past teams.
I could recall the euphoria that followed our triumph at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in the United States of America after the ‘Dream Team’ won the gold medal of the men’s football event. It was as if Nigeria had won the FIFA World Cup. Being the first African country to achieve that feat didn’t help matters as we were celebrated by all and sundry.
Arsenal: The Way Forward
My last post on this blog was about Arsenal and Arsene Wenger. Since then, they lost the CL match at home to Bayern Munich, struggled to beat Aston Villa and conceded two ‘silly goals’ in three minutes to red hot Tottenham at White Hat Lane to drop off the pace for Champions League qualification. It is not that loss that’s annoying but the manner of it. For 30 minutes or so, Arsenal stood strong against the powerful strike force of Bale, Adebayor and Lennon but without any clear-cut offensive play.
In over half an hour of play, Arsenal could not muster any solid shot at goal against an average Spurs defense. If this does not cut a pathetic picture, I wonder what would. Tottenham were organized in the middle of the pack and very, very quick in counter attack. With Bale and Lennon running riot both centrally and on the wings, Arsenal had no answer to the quick fire counter attacks that resulted in the two goals that downed them within a space of three minutes.
