Nigeria To Host Argentina In November

South American giants Argentina have proposed to tackle Nigeria in a friendly on either November 14 or 18. Officials have even proposed Nigeria as the venue for this game.

NFF marketing chief, Idris Adama, disclosed to Goal.com: "This is a marvellous opportunity for us and we have passed on the proposal for the team handlers to also assess it. Hopefully, we should have a deal on this."

This historic match is most likely to be staged in the capital city of Abuja, officials told Goal.com

Argentina are expected to parade their key stars for this trip to Africa - Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.

The Argentines hope to use this game to further familarise themselves with the African style of football as well as the playing conditions on the continent as the World Cup will be played in Africa for the first time next year.

The world champions in 1978 and 1986 were earlier linked with a London friendly against the Eagles in August, but officials informed Goal.com that Nigeria coach, Shuaibu Amodu, has instead asked for an African opposition for that window.

Nigeria have clashed with the Argentines twice at full international level, losing both games at the 1994 World Cup and eight years later at the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup.

The two countries have also clashed at Olympic level. Nigeria beat Argentina 3-2 in the final of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, only for the South Americans to avenge this defeat by pipping the West Africans to the gold at last year's Games in Beijing.

The Nigerian Team list

The Full squad:

Goalkeepers - Vincent Enyeama(Hapoel Tel Aviv/ISR); Austin Ejide (Bastia/FRA), Dele Aiyenugba (Bnei Yehuda/ISR)

Defenders - Joseph Yobo (Everton/ENG); Danny Shittu (Bolton/ENG); Obinna Nwaneri (FC Sion/SWI), Taye Taiwo (Oly Marseille/FRA); Chidi Odia (CSKA Moscow/RUS); Elderson Echiejele (Rennes/FRA); Dele Adeleye (Sparta Rotterdam/HOL); Dennis Aogo (Hamburg/GER); Olubayo Adefemi (SC Rheindorf Altach/AUS); Chibuzor Okonkwo (Bayelsa United), Onyekachi Apam (Nice/FRA)

Midfielders - John Mikel Obi (Chelsea/ENG); Sani Kaita (FC Kuban/RUS); Seyi Olofinjana (Stoke City/ENG); Kalu Uche (Almeria/SPA); Yusuf Ayila(Dinamo Kyiv/UKR); Ebenezer Ajilore (FC Groningen/HOL); Dickson Etuhu (Fulham/ENG)

Forwards - Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth/ENG); Obafemi Martins (Newcastle/ENG); Osaze Odemwingie (FC Moscow/RUS); Obinna Nsofor (Inter Milan/ITA); Ikechukwu Uche (Getafe/SPA); Chinedu Obasi (Hoffenheim/GER); Joseph Akpala (Club Brugges/BEL)

Golden Eaglets coach Sacked

Golden Eaglets coach Henry Nwosu has been given the boot by the Nigeria Football Federation.

Nwosu's position has been under threat since performing dismally at the Dubai Invitational tournament this month and the NFF Technical Committee, at their meeting in Abuja on Thursday, approved his dismissal.

The committee, headed by Taiwo Ogunjobi, met in Thursday in Abuja and recommended the replacement of the former Green Eagles captain.

A press statement by NFF spokesman Ademola Olajire after the meeting noted that "the U-17 team had been performing dismally and therefore recommends Nwosu’s replacement."

Nwosu's assistant, Monday Odigie has asked to take temporary charge of the team pending a substantive appointment.

Nigeria are defending Under-17 World champions, but under Alphonsus Dike, failed to qualify for the African championships, leading to Dike's dismissal.

Nwosu was asked to take charge but has come under unrelenting criticism over his selection and tactics

Amodu submits 29-man list

Nigeria coach Shuaibu Amodu has submitted a 29-man list of players to prosecute next month's upcoming friendly matches against Ireland and France, as well as the 2010 World Cup qualifiers in June.

The squad list, and Amodu's programme for the summer, were approved by the committee, which also pointed out that the coach was "quoted out of context on the issue of quality of players in the Super Eagles," and implored the players to and the nation to regard the result of the last match as "a challenge and stepping stone to higher heights."

Consequently, the committee resolved to move forward from the 0-0 draw in Maputo.

"Considering the possible factors that might have contributed to the poor performance of the Super Eagles in Maputo, it was agreed that the unsatisfactory result be put behind us while we make concerted efforts to ameliorate the effect of such factors in future.

"The Committee and the Super Eagles Head Coach affirmed implicit confidence in the players and their sense of patriotism," the statement read.

Martins to miss Tunisia clash

Obafemi Martins may miss Nigeria's 2010 World Cup qualifying games against Kenya and Tunisia in June in his bid to help his club Newcastle avoid relegation from the English Premier League.

Martins flew to Milan last week where a specialist confirmed that he needed an operation on a troubling groin problem.

But after discussions with manager Alan Shearer, the striker has opted to postpone the procedure and play through the pain barrier to help preserve Newcastle's Premier league status.

The Nigerian international will fly to Italy for the surgery at the end of the season and is expected to be fit for the start of the new campaign.

Martins has also opted against the use of pain-killing injections after being told by the specialist that it could lead to long-term damage.

Instead, he has advised Shearer that he will only be involved when he feels properly able to perform at a high standard.

Martins will now be rested between matches in an attempt to manage his injury, and will most likely now be used as a high-impact substitute like he was against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.

With Yakubu Aiyegbeni also injured, Nigeria coach Shuaibu Amodu will need to dig deep to find goalscoring forwards, although Joseph Akpala is also available

Flying Eagles To Train In Spain

Nigeria's Under-20 coach, Samson Siasia, has disclosed to Goal.com that he plans to finalise his preparations for the World Youth Championship in Egypt in September with a residential training camp in Mallorca.

"I have made the necessary arrangements for this camp. The weather in Spain in August will be the same with what we will encounter in Egypt the following month," Siasia told Goal.com

He also said that his build-up for Egypt 2009 will also include playing in an invitational tournament in Malaysia next month, while he also plans to take on another Egypt-bound team, the United States of America, in a friendly prior to the start of the competition.

"The USA will train in Italy before they leave for Egypt, so we could play them either there, in Spain or in Cairo," he said.

Nigeria are drawn in a first round group along with Spain, Venzuela and Tahiti.

"Spain will be the favourites in our group, but we will take all three teams very seriously. Our first two games against Venezuela and Tahiti will be very crucial. I expect a very tough tournament," Siasia told Goal.com

KANU SCORES

Super Eagles and Portsmouth of England striker, Nwankwo Kanu literally came back from the dead on Saturday when he ended a long goal drought by scoring against Bolton Wanderers.

The lanky striker who has had a turbulent season consigned to the bench came off the bench for David Nugent to score the decisive goal and secure the three maximum points at stake.
Kanu’s goal was the silver lining in a rather drab encounter.

However, the woes of compatriot, John Utaka continued as he sat out for the duration of the match as an unused substitute.
Kanu’s goal provided some respite to the team’s relegation battle and will also gladden the hearts of Super Eagles coach, Amodu Shaibu as he prepares for the June World Cup qualifiers against Kenya in Abuja

Martins explains Saturday withdrawal

Newcastle United forward Obafemi Martins insists he made the correct decision not to play during the Premier League fixture away at Stoke City on Saturday.

The Nigerian international withdrew from the Magpies squad at 11am on Saturday morning, much to the frustration of manager Alan Shearer who had only hours to reorganise his prearranged tactics.

However, according to the British broadsheet The Guardian, the 24-year-old cleared the air with his boss during a meeting on Monday.

"I understand why the manager was frustrated because he had to change his plans," Martins is quoted as saying.

"But I woke up in so much pain that I knew I could not give 100%, so I decided I couldn't play. I didn't want to let the team down.

"And, with so many important games coming up, I needed to think about staying fit for the future."

It is claimed that the former Inter star has been playing through the pain barrier due to a groin injury aggravated while playing for Nigeria recently because, it is suggested, he wore soft ground boots on a hard surface.

Apparently, Martins trained throughout the week leading up to the game as he did not want to disappoint Shearer, who had claimed the forward could be key to the Magpies' survival, but appeared to do so anyway.

Venezuela To Prepare For F/Eagles In Spain

Coach, Federation President Speak On U-20 W/Cup Draw

The Venezuelan U-20 National Team, the Vinotinto will camp in Spain, as part of preparations for the U-20 World Youth Championship coming up in Egypt in September.


The team is grouped alongside Nigeria, Spain and Tahiti in Group B and already the coach of the team, Ceasar Farias believes the Flying Eagles have an advantage over the other teams in the group.


“We are in a very hard group. Especially Nigeria who will be playing on their home continent and are well adapted to the heat,”


The coach who refused to predict how far his team will go in the tournament, however insisted they will not be pushovers


“We are not going to Egypt to be extra at the tournament. We are going to work so that we can earn respect for Venezuela”.


Football Federation, Seraph Boutureira reckons his country’s group is a very difficult one with two World Champions. He argued that even though Nigeria are yet to win this competition, they had reached the finals on two occasions and won the U-17 trophy. Spain on the other hand, according to Boutureira, were runners-up to Nigeria at the last U-17 World Cup and have won the U-20 trophy before in 1999.


“Even we have take into account that if Tahiti are in the World Cup, it is because they are also good so we cannot underrate or take them for granted,” Boutureira said


He also reiterated the need to adequately prepare knowing fully well the quality of opposition they will confront.


“It is very important for us to carefully choose the squad that will be able to with stand the opponents, because our rivals have a great soccer tradition and we, as newcomers to the World Cup, must continue working to overcome all difficulties”.


The Vinotintos are expected to play two friendly matches while Farias carries out an extensive search for players to beef up the squad before finally moving to Spain for the final phase of camping.

NFF REJECT WESTERHOF,INSIST ON AMODU

FOOTBALL:
The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, have reportedly rejected National Sports Commission, NSC’s attempt to have Clemens Westerhof join the technical crew of the Super Eagles for the remaining games of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.


A football website,Goal reported yesterday that the NSC suggested the name of the former technical adviser of the Eagles during the meeting called Tuesday by president Umaru Yar’Adua to suggest the way forward for the Nigerian national team following the drab barren draw played in Maputo late last month against Mozambique.


The NFF.according to the report by goal insisted under-fire Eagles boss,Amodu Shaibu is capable of securing the world cup ticket for Nigeria.


“One of the reasons Westerhof succeeded was that he enjoyed the backing and confidence of top government functionaries led by then Vice-President, Augustus Aikhomu. He also did not achieve what he did in a year. We forget that he even lost the ticket to the 1990 World Cup in Italy. But we stuck with him even after that and after a couple of years, he produced the goods,” a top NFF official reportedly told the website.


“Amodu has been in charge for just about a year and in seven competitive games, he has won six and drawn one. We should therefore not do anything that will distract him at this point.”


Officials said government is very interested in Nigeria’s qualification for the 2010 World Cup as it would form part of the celebrations of the country’s 50th independence anniversary next year.


They have therefore asked the NFF to come forward with any requests they believe will ensure the Eagles qualification for South Africa 2010.


Lulu, it was gathered, is open to an increase in the win-bonus of the team, but made it very clear that he does not have a budget for this increase unless the government could help out in this regard.


For a victory, each player is paid $5,000 while a draw fetches them half that amount.
“We are studying this proposal seriously,” another top NFF official informed Goal.


A foreign training tour,aqccording to the website has also been proposed in between the home game against Kenya and the crunch clash in Tunisia.


When Complete Sports sought confirmation from NFF boss,Sani Lulu,he was evasive in his reply.
‘’I don’t want to discuss what we disscussed with the president with an outsider.It is not right to do so and that will not be respecting the president’’,Lulu said.


But another member of the NFF told Complete Sports nothing of such was discussed at the meeting.


‘’No,that is not true.I was at the meeting and the NSC officials did nothing like that albeit before the meeting it was speculated that they were planning to draft Westerhof to the team’’,said the official who did not want to be named.


The Carthage Eagles of Tunisia top Group 2 with three points after a round of matches while Nigeria and Mozambique are two points behind. Kenya are bottom of the standings with no points after their home loss to the Tunisians.

Amodu wants patience for 'average' Eagles

Nigeria coach Shuaibu Amodu has played down the high expectations of fans for his wards by saying the team is 'average' at this time.
But he insists that they will qualify for the World Cup by grinding out results.

"The entire team is not the best of teams yet,"Amodu told KickOffNigeria.com. "We are little more than average as a team because we are still in the team building process.

"But most of the players are still coming up in their various clubs and our expectation is that as long as they keep playing for their clubs and playing for Nigeria, big clubs will see them and they will gather more experience.

"The team does not pass the pass the ball as well as we would like them to as there is a lot of pressure to win.

"With time, they will improve and get better as a team."

Time, however, is a commodity that Amodu has precious little of and he knows it, with World Cup qualification a must.

"Nigeria cannot afford not to go to the World Cup," he admits. "Other teams need it, but we need it more. If we can win all our games, fine. If we cant, we will just get the results that will take us through.

"That is the important thing for now, and the players realise it."

But the coach insists that fans and media must cut his players some slack and ease up on the virulent criticism.

"There is too much negativity directed at the team and it is not good for the psychology of the team."

Nigerian coach feels the heat

Nigeria coach Shuaibu Amodu admits that he is feeling the pressure following the Super Eagles 0-0 draw away to Mozambique which has left them two points adrift of Tunisia in the race to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Amodu and his players have faced an unrelenting fusillade of criticism in the wake of that result, which came a day after the Carthage Eagles claimed a 2-1 road win in Kenya, and the coach concedes that the pressure is now on.

"We knew the amount of pressure we would face back home if we did not win that match. That is why we did everything we could to make sure that we got a good result.

"But man proposes, and God disposes.

"Now we will have to face pressure from the very first game, until the last game," Amodu said.

The Super Eagles next engage Kenya in Abuja on June 6, before facing a potential ticket decider against Tunisia on June 20 in Tunis.

European Clubs Picked Nigeria Team Versus Mozambique

Coaches of European clubs picked the Nigerian team that tackled Mozambique in a 2010 World Cup qualifier against Mozambique, according to a newspaper report.

Nigerian newspaper, ThisDay, reported Monday that coaches of the European clubs of several Nigerian players influenced the selection of the Super Eagles first team against Mozambique in Maputo on March 29 after they sought and got guarantees from coaches of the national team.

Quoting sources from players within the team to Mozambique, the newspaper reported that some of the European coaches demanded that their players start the game, while some wanted their players to play the full 90 minutes.

"This would account for why a player like Mikel (Obi) would come in late after being allegedly treated for throat infection in London, train seriously only once with the team and still get to play the full 90 minutes, even when it was apparent he was not in the best of his form," said one of the sources.

Nigeria could only manage to scrape a goalless draw with the Mambas of Mozambique and are now under pressure to win their next game, at home to Kenya in June, if they are to stay within striking distance of Group B leaders Tunisia.

However, Nigeria coach, Shuaibu Amodu, has often maintained that he alone decides the team and that the moment he gives in to outside interference, he ought not to be in charge of the Eagles. click here to read the full report

Nice's Nigerian Apam Extends Contract

Onyekachi Apam’s contract with the club based in the South of France was to have ended in 2012 but his performances, as well as interest from several top French clubs like Lyon and Olympique Marseille, saw his contract reviewed.

“The player is happy because the new contract gives him more security. He also deserves it because he has worked very hard,” said the player's representative, Friday Nwankwo-Kujah.

Last season Apam, 22, cemented his place in the starting team at Nice.

The previous season he made 22 appearances after he was promoted from the second team while for the 2007/08 campaign, he started 30 league games out of a possible 38 games.

Flying Eagles draw Spain

Nigeria's Flying Eagles have been drawn against Spain for this year's FIFA World Youth Championships in Egypt.
At the draw, held on Sunday night in Luxor in Egypt, Samson Siasia's wards were pitched in Group B and will play in Cairo along with their Group A counterparts.

The draw was conducted by Fifa Director of Competitions Jim Brown, assisted by Shawki Gharieb, assistant coach of Egypt's national team, Aya Medany, the female modern pentathlon world champion, and a trio of distinguished former Egypt internationals: Hazem Emam, Hady Khashaba and Taher Abou Zeid.

The Fifa Organising Committee earlier approved a request of the Egyptian Local Organising Committee to seed and assign to a particular venue to the hosts along with the European and South American champions, as only European and South American teams have emerged as champions in the history of the Fifa U-20 World Cup.

Group A (Cairo)
Egypt
Trinidad & Tobago
Paraguay
Italy

Group B (Cairo)
Nigeria
Venezuela
Spain
Tahiti

Group C (Suez)
USA
Germany
Cameroon
Korea Republic

Group D (Ismailia)
Ghana
Uzbekistan
England
Uruguay

Group E (Port Said)
Brazil
Costa Rica
Czech Republic
Australia

Group F (Alexandria)
United Arab Emirates
South Africa
Honduras
Hungary

Fed Govt to take over Nigeria's WC campaign

Nigeria's 0-0 draw in Maputo means Tunisia lead Group 2 after their 2-1 victory away in Kenya while both the Super Eagles and Mozambique are on a point apiece.Only the group winner will qualify for the World Cup to be staged for the first time ever in Africa. "Tunisia's victory in Nairobi has put us in a tight corner and we can't fold our hands to see the yearnings of Nigerians going down drain," Director-general of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Patrick Ekeji, told the daily paper Sportsday.
"We are going to be involved in everything they do henceforth. I was a coach and I can still make some vital contributions to the technical crew. "We are going to pay absolute attention to the Eagles preparations." Another top official of the NSC said if it meant sitting on the Eagles substitute bench to ensure qualification to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he will not hesitate to do so. Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany and NSC officials said this was partly so because the parastatal, then headed by former Sports Minister Samaila Sambawa, did not intervene in time. "We have learnt from the Germany 2006 mistake and we have to act fast now," said another top official. "It is not that we want to take over NFF responsibilities but when the chips are down, all of us will be liable for Nigeria's failure to go to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. "If they like, let them call it interference, but the ultimate intention is to qualify for the World Cup." Amos Adamu, who is on the executive committees of both CAF and FIFA, has also lashed out at the stuttering start by Nigeria in the final round of the qualifiers.
"We have started badly and we must check our team now, otherwise we may miss the 2010 World Cup, like we did Germany 2006," said Adamu, who was former boss of Nigerian football. Nigeria Sports Minister, Sani Ndanusa, has already set a semi-final target for the Super Eagles at next year's World Cup. The Eagles have featured at three World Cups. They reached the second round of the tournament in 1994 and 1998 but failed to go past the first round in 2002. Nigeria coach, Shuaibu Amodu, has come under fire since the result in Mozambique, with some critics even calling for his dismissal. However, NFF president, Sani Lulu, has publicly backed Amodu, insisting he remains the best Nigerian coach.