Football

CHELSEA WINS CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2012

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CHELSEA, CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE

BY Adeola Aderounmu

Chelsea FC is crowned as the champion of Europe after beating Bayern Munich in Germany.

It was a coincidence that the venue of this year’s final landed at the Allianz Arena in Munchen.

Didier Drogba became a legend on the 19th of May 2012. He scored the equalizer in the 88th minute after Muller had sent the Germans jubilating in the 82nd minute. Drogba’s header was powerful. It was a stunner.

Then Drogbra went on to take the last penalty kick which won Chelsea the match and sent fans across the world into ecstatic celebration.

Chelsea’s dream of glory came true after 9 years of intensive search by owner Abrahamovic.

Chelsea could have won the cup in the past but bad officiating robbed them of a deserved victory against Barcelona under Mouriho. Then John Terry missed a final kick (was in 2008 or 2009) that would have won Chelsea the cup. Manchester United stole that victory.

Under the most unprobable conditions Di Matteo stepped in and won the Champions league cup with Chelsea.

CHELSEA, CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE 2012

CHELSEA, CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE 2012

This victory is well deserved. Chelsea defended in many games as they struggle to find the best pattern under Di Matteo. But they were very precise in their attack and Drogba especially had gone the extra mile converting half chances and rare opportunities. It paid off last night at Allianz Arena.

Plus the winning of the FA cup, Chelsea have re-written the history of their club and football.

I send my congratulations to Chelsea as a team. They showed the power of determination and perseverance.

I send my congratulations to Nigeria and Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi. His name is now written in gold (just as Jose Mouriho said a few years ago that he found gold when he found Mikel).

The best congratulation goes out to Didier Drogba the best and sharpest attacker in the world. At 34 this is a rare feat.

To Chelsea fans around the World enjoy the best of 365 days of Glory.

David Mark: Kettle Calling the Pot Black

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By Adeola Aderounmu

David Mark has described the Nigeria Football Federation as the most corrupt government agency in Nigeria. This is because he is frustrated with the misfortune of the Nigerian Super Eagles that even failed to qualify for the concluded 2012 Nations Cup in Gabon/Congo.

No doubt corruption is the number one problem in Nigeria and as things are now that disease will continue to see more Nigerians slip below poverty level.

David Mark incidentally is one of the most corrupt government officials that have walked the surface of the earth.

How he got the courage to pronounce corruption on fellow corrupt people is a mystery. David Mark can continue to deny to his grave but he was the one who told us that telephone in Nigeria is not for the poor.

The corrupt attitude of people like David Mark (whether he accepts it or not is irrelevant) is the reason why my family’s land telephone (00234 88 5432) disappeared into thin air. David Mark was part of the evil that ran the Nigerian Telecommunication into irreversible coma.

In summary David Mark along with his mentor Ibrahim Babangida were parts (and in fact are still parts of the evil cartel) that are running Nigeria into penury and widespread poverty.

If Nigeria was a “real country” and not an aggregation of “disjointed nations” David Mark should be cooling off in detention. In China he would have been beheaded for his role in corruption.

But he sits on top of the Nigerian senate pointing fingers at other corrupt institutions like the senate that he heads. Only in Nigeria..!

The Nigerian senate is occupied by looters who are carting away billions of dollars daily in salaries, contracts, allowances and estacodes while over 90m Nigerians live in permanent penury and irreversible hopelessness.

In Nigeria like I have pointed out a million times on this blog, corruption is the king. Even the president is probably stealing as I am writing this. He has depleted the external reserves and he is borrowing money to finance his extravagancies. Nigeria’s president cannot travel in normal aircrafts; he is still buying more presidential planes. He cannot live in a normal house; corruption is embedded in Aso Rock, Abuja. The presidency and other government arms and agencies in Nigeria are borne of corruption and live in permanent corruption.

Nigeria is runned by thieves and gangsters and David Mark does not have the moral rights to call the NFF the most corrupt government agency. There is no shame in being a looter of treasury and there are no consequences for serious crimes in Nigeria. Phone calls from the so called high places have overturned several judicial processes. The judiciary is a huge joke as revealed by the recent Ibori case. Ibori was declared innocent in Nigeria because he stole to make way for Yar Adu, Obasanjo and Jonathan. Useless people altogether!

If things were right, the one who threw the stones and the ones in the glass houses should be serving life sentences.
Nigeria will remain in coma until all these anomalies are addressed and the question is BY WHOM?

One day the people will rise up and take what is theirs. That day, sense and reasoning will prevail.

Nations Cup Final. Zambia: A New Shot At Glory

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By Adeola Aderounmu

I remember in 1994 that Zambia played the Nations Cup Final against Nigeria. Nigeria won that final game thanks to the exploits of the likes of Emmanuel Amuneke and Sunday Oliseh. That year was the height of glory for Nigerian football at the senior level. Since then it has been a nose dive.

Zambians will take a new shot at glory. They have to overcome the elephants of Ivory Coast. It will not be an easy game. The likes of Didier Drogba and Kolo Toure are near the end of their international careers. This is probably their last chance to lift the most prestigious cup on the continent.

The two countries are seeking cup glory for the first time. When the tournament started book makers did not tip Zambia to be in the final. On paper therefore it will be easy to say that Ivory Coast will win on Sunday the 12th of February 2012.

But football is not won by bookmakers or by wishes. It has to be decided on the field of play, in 90 minutes.
A team appearing in the final has a 50% chance of winning the game. So Zambia has the same chance as the Ivorians. This is the beauty of football.

What is not beautiful with African football is the over-physical nature of the African footballers. They are too rough in many circumstances. They don’t play like that when they are back in Europe. In the Tunisia-Ghana match for example there should have been at least 4 red cards. But the referee was acting like a timid lamb.

In general the games are rough and untidy.

The games should not be rough or too physical because it is played on African soil.

It must also be pointed out that some players make the game ugly by their filming. Drogba was filming a lot in the game against Mali and the referee even became tired. The referee should have given Drogba a yellow card instead of waving play-on.

The attendances at the competition have been dismay. E-Guinea and Gabon have disappointed when it comes to the promotion of football. I don’t know why the turn outs have been poor especially after the host nations were bundled out but I do know that there are ways to ensure full capacity in competitions of this nature. CAF and FIFA should look into that for future competitions.

In any case kudos to the host nations and may the better side win come Sunday.

Good luck Zambia!

Nigeria Failed to Qualify for 2012 Nations Cup..!

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Adeola Aderounmu

Nigeria has failed to reach the African Nations Cup Competition that is slated for Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in 2012.

P W D L GF GA Pts
Guinea* 6 4 2 0 13 5 14
Nigeria 6 3 2 1 12 5 11
Ethiopia 6 2 1 3 8 13 6
Madagascar 6 0 1 5 4 14 1

*Guinea Qualified Table source:BBC

There is no need for over reaction to this expected outcome. The deed was done in Ethiopia when Nigeria drew 2-2 with the Ethiopians. Guineans thrashed Ethiopians 1-4.

Out of necessity Nigerians Madagascar at home 0-2 but it was too late. Guinea sealed her place at the Nations Cup when it thrashed Nigeria 1-0 at home in October 2010.

Football is a team work and this has been over flogged in debates. But the final phase of the teamwork is reflected on the pitch over a period of 90 minutes.

The teamwork is not about the footballers only. It is about the structure and the operations of each country’s football federation.

When something as serious as Nigeria missing a Nation’s cup goes wrong, a lot of issues are brought into questioning or focus.

What is the current level or standard of football in Nigeria?

What are the statutory functions of the Football Association?

What has the Football Association done in the last 1, 2, 5, 10 or 20 years to promote the development of football in Nigeria?

How do we make selections for the national team? Do we have a neutral selection process or are we still in the primitive era of using influence, position and bribe to secure player’s position in the national team?

How old are our players in the age-group competitions? How can we optimize the potentials of our players to the best result possible?

Going back to the Football Association, who are the people running the association? Do they know what football is or are they in the association because they stupidly belong to one geographical region in Nigeria?

Have we ever in the history of Nigeria allowed technical know-how and professionalism guide our judgments and decisions in the running of our sports in general?

The problem as it turned out to be is not peculiar to football. Nigerian Sports if practically dead!
We are hardly seen in world championships-field and track, athletics and so on-yet we still foolishly adhered to that rotten title-Giant of Africa.

It is a sad situation. Nigerians should cry for Nigeria not just because the glory of Sports is gone-but also because the glory of the country belongs to the past.

All these national ailments can be traced back to our collective mentalities-how we do things and how we let bad things pass for good.

Nigeria’s problem has become not just an ordinary labyrinth; it is also a convoluted one.

It is hard to make amends because so far no ruler or person in authority has been bold enough to start the cleansing process while the guilty are in their current positions. Nigerian government is in love with witch-hunting and shadow chasing.

But maybe someday, someone would realize that in everything that we do we need a fresh start.

In the sport Ministry maybe we can start by seeking the services of professionals to run to our football associations. Maybe we now need a blue print to help us develop football in Nigeria. When I was young we had reasons to pursue excellence in both our academic and sports activities.

There were local and regional competitions to look forward to, both in sports and academics. These things were good for our bodies, minds and souls.

[03-05/09/10: Nigeria 2-0 Madagascar
03-05/09/10: Ethiopia 1-4 Guinea
08-10/10/10: Madagascar 0-1 Ethiopia
08-10/10/10: Guinea 1-0 Nigeria
25-27/03/11: Nigeria 4-0 Ethiopia
25-27/03/11: Madagascar 1-1 Guinea
03-06/06/11: Ethiopia 2-2 Nigeria
03-06/06/11: Guinea 4-1 Madagascar
02-04/09/11: Madagascar 0-2 Nigeria
02-04/09/11: Guinea 1-0 Ethiopia
07-09/10/11: Ethiopia 4-2 Madagascar
07-09/10/11: Nigeria 2-2 Guinea] Source: BBC African Football

Nigerian youth today don’t realize what they have missed and how their childhood and future have been stolen from them. It is almost a crime against humanity that children and youth are deprived of their fundamental human rights.

Rather than cry over spilled milk Nigerians should take a look inward and ask themselves-what went wrong? What went wrong was not the game in Abuja which ended 2-2. Several things have gone wrong before that game that was played under tension and pressure.

If we find out those things that are/went wrong and how long we have coped pretentiously with those anomalies, then we are probably on a good start to finding the solutions. Hopefully someday we will also stop repeating our mistakes.

Congratulations to the Guinean National Team for this great achievement. The 10m inhabitants must be jubilating for their triumph over a country of 150m people.

Being a giant in whatever field at all is a measure of achievements and golden strides. For Guinea this is a gigantic achievement. Let those countries living on past glories wake up for their slumbers. The world is moving forward, never backwards.

In Gabon and Eq. Guuinea come 2012, African giants in football will be clashing. Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa and Egypt have a lot to learn from the history that will be made in 2012.

Mr. Jonathan, No, You can’t suspend Nigerian Football!

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Adeola Aderounmu

Is Goodluck Jonathan A Dictator in the Making?

There are reports that Goodluck Jonathan has suspended the Nigerian Football Team from participating in future competitions for the next 2 years. According to him this will allow Nigeria to reorganise her football.

Sometimes I wonder if Nigerian politicians are from planet earth. Does Mr. Jonathan know FIFA rules concerning football? Do we have advisers in Abuja? Does Nigeria have a Ministry of Sports that Jonathan can consult for information and knowledge about football?

You cannot suspend your team from International competition. If you do, FIFA will help you by extending the suspension for another 2 or 4 years.

Nigeria does not need to suspend her national team from International competition to be able to do things the right way. Common sense shows that that is a negative approach.

There are ignorant people running football in Nigeria and we have said it many times without number: let those who know about football run our football. Let seasoned administrators and tested hands handle our sports. There are trained sports administrators in Nigeria. Look for them.

And when it concerned football look for our ex-internationals at home and abroad. They can do things right. Bring back Stephen Keshi, call on Oliseh among many others. The list is endless!

Segun Odegbami has been in this field for decades. Look for him and people like him scattered across Nigeria. Let those who know football run our football.

Mr Jonathan does not need to suspend the National Team. That is bad judgement and an indication of dictatorial tendencies. We are supposed to be under civilian rule, not tyranny or military rule. You can’t wake up from a bad dream and say the National team is dissolved.

Please get this right. There are thousands of football talents in Nigeria who can take our country to greater heights. Catch them young and play them with their real ages!

I think the most important thing is to eliminate politics from our sports. Until then, we are only chasing shadows like Mr Jonathan is doing now.

On the other hand, rather than using such a strong hand on our football, Mr. Jonathan should use his strong hand and will to bring prosperity to Nigeria. I don’t think football is our problem.

Corruption is eating Nigerian deep, ever since 1960 anyway. If you are such a principled man, please leave the footballers alone and go after your likes-politicians who are looting and carrying away our national wealth.

Over 70% of Nigerians are living below the poverty level, please divert your energy away from the footballers and think of how you can reduce the percentage of Nigerians living under acceptable conditions of human existence.

There are loads of problems facing us in Nigeria. Football is the least of them. Go to Jos and live among the people for 1 weeks, try to understand their rotten mentalities and why they continue to kill one another.

Go to Borno and see the basis for the emergence of Boko Haram.

From East to West, from North to South, please go around and see what you can do to bring better the good life of the 50s and 60s. This country is dying, leave the footballers alone and focus on how to create employment opportunities, how to build good roads, how to make water flow into our homes and our to ensure that my children get quality education.

Above all, suspend that 10 billion naira that you are about to waste on a common party! Divert the fund into procurement of cancer testing machines for Nigerian decaying hospitals. Save a life today Mr Jonathan. The children are crying!

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