Calabar: Paradise Of Fear?

Following the alleged killing of a soldier in Calabar, the Nigerian Army officials have besieged the major street of Calabar (Ndidem Usang Iso Rd) and residence and business owners along the road now leave in perpetual fear for the past three days.

This development has become really disturbing especially when football lovers hoping to catch a glimpse of the Champions League match between Liverpool and Inter Milan yesterday were all sent home in what seemed like a partial curfew at gun point.

Stories have it that the entire mayhem resulted when a soldier's girlfriend was patted in the ass by a guy passing by. The soldier is said to have protested and this may have provoked the boys who teamed up to beat him up along with two other soldiers who were with him. The soldiers are however said to have tried to call for back-up  when their assailants took to their heels. However, one of them was said to have ran after the fleeing hoodlums who later realized he was alone and cornered him. This time beat him to death.

Since then, despite the soldiers destroying every visible structure with semblance of a pub, they have continued to intimidate residents and passers-by  so much that 6 o'clock in the evening is no longer save to be seen along Ndidem Usang Iso Road in Calabar.

I am however worried that if this is not stemmed at the bud, another Odi community may soon surface, this time in the hitherto peaceful city of Calabar, Nigeria's preferred tourism destination. Again has the Nigerian Army lost control of it's soldiers? How come a group of soldiers can easily leave the Barracks to cause so much destruction and yet accountable to know one? The hoodlums who perpetrated this heinous act should be sorted out and brought to book but in a civilized manner for it is a shameful thing for this to continue to happen in this country. This Jungle justice must stop!

 

You can get other details on this story from The CalabarGist Blog

Samuel 'The Nigerian Nightmare' Peter Makes History

Samuel peter had to overcome so many hurdles to get to conquering the world. From denials of winning James Tony that he had to fight twice to finally be allowed a shot at the World Heavy Weight title bout.

Beating Mcline was however not enough to earn him the coveted title of 'The Heavy weight Champion of The Wold', he still needed to overcome runaway Oleg Maskaev to finally strip him of that title.

March 08 2008 for Samuel Peter was to be a history making day and so much has been said with pundits doubting whether Peter's punches were capable of knocking the dreaded Oleg out. I also did.

Samuel sure has one thing working for him, and that is discipline being a devout Christian and married, so the chances of getting into trouble like others do is reduced.

The City of Uyo in Nigeria was agog despite the fact the fight was being staged in far away Cancun, Mexico. The entire country virtually stayed up till 4.30am Nigerian time as no one was willing to miss the chance of seeing history being made. My mobile phone alarm woke me up at exactly 4.30am, my friend Dr. Mfon drove me straight to the local viewing center as they wasn't any light in town for the past 3 days. PCHN aka NEPA has taken the light following a 'drizzle'. By the time we got there it was as quiet as a grave yard and we had to hurriedly drive to the local pub 'Crab' and there we met a crowd already seated for the bout at that time of the day. Impressive!

The fight finally started at about 5.00am with Samuel Peter dominating from the word 'go'. You need to see the reaction of the crowd especially at the third round when Peter started delivering those right handed punches he's known for. It turned out unlike what Oleg said before the fight, Samuel isn't just a Bull, but a Bull which wouldn't carry the rider on it's back but chooses to trample on him.

It was in the 6th round that Samuel finally proved that a new world champion has arrived. Oleg had tried to jump into Sam with a right, but unfortunately Sam was waiting with his trademark right fist. That sent Oleg staggering backwards. This time Samuel saw Maskaev's legs were wobbling and went for the kill hitting out about 7-8 straight punches without even a single reply from Oleg. He was dropping and out of orientation. The umpire had to intervene to save his life. This was after Peter had already won all the previous rounds. Oleg Maskaev was roundly beaten. Samuel Peter was then declared the World Heavy Weight Champion with a technical knockout.

English Teams Set To Dominate Europe- When Will FIFA and UEFA Stop This Bias?

So far Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea are through to the last eight of the Champions league. We all expect Liverpool to go through and that will make four English teams in the last eight. Imagine one country producing four teams while the rest of Europe will share the remaining four slots.

It only telss us that English football is probably the best, hardest and most difficult. It also shows that the level of competition in English is far higher than in many other European countries.

The reason the world Footballer of the year award will not be given to a player playing in English is just dicrimination.

For about four seasons now, England has continued to dominate other countries in representatiopn at this level of the champions League.

I am definately not a Manchester United fan but i do not believe than Lionel Messi perfomed better to have come ahead of Christiano Ronaldo in the world Player award. Pushing Chritiano Ronaldo and Messi down below messi was the height of dicrimination.

This season we are likely to see and all England Finals. Maybe then, it will become glaring enough to the entire world that English has just been suffering from the Bias of those in UEFA and FIFA.

Arsenal outclassed AC Milan with a style that suggested they can reach a second CL Finals

Arsenal outclassed AC Milan with a style that suggested they can reach a second Champions League final in three seasons
Can they get to the Final again. Ancelloti agreed that his team was Outclassed by Arsenal. Does this mean that this Arsenal this is unbeatable especially when they are complete. You can actually count the number of games they have lost this season on your finger tips.
In all these games, they team lost , they was always an injury crisis, or resting of players for a different championship. Ofcourse by the time the big players are deployed it was usually over.
Yesterday we saw an Arsenal team without Kolo Toure and Van Persie make history in San Siro. Doing what no English tem has ever done and in Style. Though it is too early to say, but Is this another run to the final for Arsenal?

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Was Everton's Cahill Wrong?

Wonders they say shall never end. They way we think in Africa is probably defective if what happened in the premiership last weekend when Cahill (Everton) scored his first goal since the end of December and chooses to celebrate in a manner he enjoys.

The celebration has since become an issue of press discuss so much so that despite not being penalized by the officials, a section of the press is calling for his head.

Sean Cahill's Elder brother is said to have been jailed in January for for six years in January for grievous bodily harm with intent.

Granted that FIFA tries to stay away from every form of political displays in football and one could justify the penalty on the Egyptian supporting the fighting in Gaza in the just concluded AFCON. To this extent, he had displayed a message that meant only that. But how does the crossing of hands signify a handcuffed hand. It is very ambiguous and the press should give him the benefit of doubt.

Besides, thought it was a free world? Has his action infringed on any body's rights? The English press should spare us some of this unnecessary hype. Cahill is a human being and even what he did was in solidarity with his Sean's case, i think that it's his right to do so.

 

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Emmanuel Sheyi Adebayor, Suffers Racism On Facebook

Guys, racism on facebook?

Racism has always been a part of football, but i don't know why i was so pissed to hear what some people are doing to Adebayor on facebook.

This post was culled from Asenal-Mania. Please read and leave your comments.

"If chanting about Eduardo's injury isn't bad enough, they have now lowered themselves to the level of racist chanting. I only heard the other day about the racism suffered by Avram Grant's family at the Carling Cup final and hopefully they will be punished for that but if anyone ever hears the dirty c**nts chanting this little number, then I suggest that it is reported just like this dirty group on facebook should be -
adebayor....adebayorrr....his dad washes elephants and his mum is a whore!!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid= ... amp;ref=nf
The description of this group is also highly offensive and not only should the group be banned, but the creator and everyone in it should also be banned.
Not only is it a blantant racist remark to assume that because Emmanuel Adebayor is from Togo in Africa, his father must therefore wash elephants, it is also highly disrespectful to a man who is no longer with us. For those who dont know, Emmanuel Adebayor's father passed away not so long ago which just makes this chant even worse than it already is.
Can you imagine how Emmanuel Adebayor himself would feel on a football pitch if he was subjected to this chant? Its disgraceful and I really think something needs to be done about this, its completely overstepping the mark.
I think if they are caught chanting this they should be thrown out of all cup competitions and the league until they can learn that this kind of behaviour is completely unacceptable."

Eduardo will Be Back In Nine Months

After a gruesome tackle and injury to Arsenal forward Eduardo Da silva, and a successful surgery following a fractured dislocation of the left Fibula and ankle joint many feared he might not be able to play again.

Two days later information from the club's medical staff has it that it would take him about 12 weeks to stop using clutches, and this will lowed by slight weight bearing exercises in about 6 months time. He should be recover fully and be ready to run again in about Nine months.

This is in tandem with Arsene Wenger's initial fear that this could mean the end of season for Eduardo. Arsenal is now even more depleted and this endangers their title hopes. Though Injury prone Robin Van Persie would be back in a week's time haven resumed training with the team this week. Whether he'll be fit to play just yet is yet to be decided. But we are sure Arsene will not want to rush him this time.

The team is now depleted both in the front and behind with Kolo Toure and Djouro still out.

We join everyone to wish Eduardo a quick recovery. If Arsene Wenger wins this league it will be wonderful as it now appears more difficult especially as rival United isn't having the same kind of problems.

Nigerian Football Fans Will Not Accept Oliseh

"The FA has been and will always be the bane of our football, i think these peoples' brains are in their anuses, they employed Voghts, gave him an impossible contract, did not know how to sack him and now prefer Amokachie (with respect to him) over Keshi. I remember Keshi's zero tolerance for the FA's inept handling of football matters way back in his playing days, and i think that is why they do not want him but would rather want an Amokachie who will not rock the boat. When will the FA relegate their personal gains to our common gain in football matters?
"
by Oluwole (A forum member)

Apart from Prefering Amokachi, they are also considering Sunday Oliseh and shamefully, a section of Nigerian sports writers are clamouring and singing Oliseh's praises. The same Sunday Oliseh who called our bluff in this country, and even had to be banned from the National team by the late Ishaya Mark Aku for misconduct. The way the press is going, it is as if we all have Amnesia and have all forgotten the kind of insult Oliseh gave to Nigerians when he was needed.

I wonder whether it is what they intend to get from him that is causing this. They say, the devil you know is better than the Angel you don't know. I would even prefer an Amokachi to Oliseh, based on the fact this is one man who usually gave all without grudge. He never insulted our sensibilities throughout. We behave in this country as if we do not have a histroy. A country without history is inexistent.

Let Oliseh go back to his job in Belguim for all I care. The NFA should make a choice between Keshi, Amokachi and even Westerhoof if still available.

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Spurs and Juane Ramos Secures Carling Cup Glory

Spurs have been extremely impressive since the arrival of Ramos. From the 5-1 thrashing of Arsenal at the Lane to finally lifting the cup. In a very long time they have not enjoyed the kind of run they current enjoy in cup competitions. Spurs' success is their fourth League Cup win and first since 1999, the last time they won a major trophy. It also means their boss Juande Ramos has still never lost a cup final as a manager after five triumphs in Spain with Sevilla.

From a goal down they impressively staged a come back to lift the Title and become the first team to do so in the new Wembly. Non of the goals came from open play. Didier Drogba opened scoring putting the Blues ahead witha fine free kick right into the left corner of spurs's net. Second came from a spot kick expertly taken by Berbatov to level scores and bring spurs back into contention before an extra time rebound from a Jermaine Jenas free kick was headed home by Woodgate.

This leaves Chelsea now with three competitions to chase after as they were before now the only premier league side still in four competitions.Which ever way one chooses to look at it, Avram Grant has done a good work with a team many thought will stumble following the exit of Jose Mourinho. With a good chance on the Premier League, Champions League and the FA Cup Grant can't be said to have perfomed badly in his first half season with Chelsea.

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Become An English Football Club Owner for Just 35 pounds

First Website Community Football Club Takeover In History was completed a few days ago giving me the reason to come online to write tis peace. I am writing not necessarily because of the ingenuity of promoters of the idea but to make a comparison of situations like this and where we are still dragging along in Africa.
Something like this goes to tell that we in Africa should begin to take football management more seriously if this could be achieved by a website community.

Imagine that we all know that football has become very big business and a very strong tool that a community website has staged such a crazy takeover idea of football club.

Ebbfleet United FC as the new club will be called, will have no manager and team selection will be carried out by members and the coach shall only suggest a team list but this will be vetted by members by vote o player will have to play well to be voted for across the world.

Members of the site www.myfootballclub.co.uk
have paid for 75% holding in the club and the rest is to be spread over 2 years. The General public still have a chance to become members at a cost of 35 pound which has to be renewed yearly to retain membership.

Ebbsfleet United shareholders met on Monday night (18 February) to agree the takeover of the football club by the 28,250 members in 72 countries of MyFootballClub, to become effective today (Tuesday 19 February). This marks the world’s first website-community takeover of a football club and indeed is the first website-community takeover of any business. MyFC, which launched on 26 April 2007, has purchased a 75% stake in the club and members have so far contributed £1m.

The 75% stake in the football club will cost £625,000, with £400,000 paid upfront and the rest spread over two years. Almost 2,000 members have already renewed their membership beyond the first year, that money being ringfenced until the season of that extended membership begins.

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Again Berti Vogts Resigns From His Job

Berti Vogts the coach who lead Nigeria to her worst African Nations Cup in recent times is said to have left his job. According to an interview with the tactician on Complete Sports website, the man
the man left blaming his departure on the NFA chairman LULU sighting loss of faith and can no longer work together.

However, he did not fail to express his lack of insight of the game of football when he said “The country expects the title win - without yielding a goal,”.
How on earth can a coach spill out such an insult? I expected him to shamelessly run away from the public glare but waiting around to make such an inciting statement only shows the man lacks everything it takes to be a coach.

A coach doesn't go making unguided utterances after leaving his job. Mourhino left and we haven't heard any such insults on Chelsea despite all the friction that existed between him and Roman Abromovich.

Imagine coaches like Arsene Wenger, Sir Alex ans so on coming out in the press in this manner. It is almost impossible. Those are coaches who are not just good but professional.

Yes strikers are expected to produce goals but i am also aware that a coach can make his players achieve anything. Examples are abound on this. While a coach expects his players to score, he also have to put in place the right game place that will show how this goal is expected to be achieved.

You don't just say go and score but the technique and how must be worked on. Good coaches read opposing teams and plan how to eek out goals from the most difficult situation. Except one never watched the super Eagles, you can not fail to see how directionless Mr Vogts was in all the games.
For the second time Berti Vogts resigns from a coaching job. Is he the only one? Why does he always resign from his job? First it was Scotland now Nigeria.

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Arsenal VS Ac Milan : Preview

Arsenal has lost thrice this season and in all have come back with a win. They have been outstanding in the league despite being ruled out from the start of the season till now. They had a first champions League Final taste in a season when everything at home seemed to be going bad for the team. They were the exact opposite of what they were in the league when it comes to Europe.

Last season the team was knocked out of all all competitions within just 13 days and some are afraid this could repeat itself this season having already been knocked out of the Carling Cup and FA Cup by Spurs and Manchester United respectively.

However the team is confident the can bounce back from a disappointing 4-0 defeat at Old Trafford especially with all first team players except Alumnia available for tonights tie.

On paper, clearly the gunners are the underdogs in today's game as youth, hunger and quality come against experience and maturity and quality.

On the other end Ac Milan comes into this game with a boost of returnee players like Kaka and Alexandre Pato.
The team has everything apart from experience and quality but have failed to get it right in Seria A unlike their Champions league second round opponent.

The team is said to have started slowly in the past 3 or 4 seasons in the same pattern only to pick up in march and April and this is getting close to April but can it always be that way. The Gunners in comparison to this Milan team is no march but in the past we have seen this same inexperienced team go past teams like Juventus, Real Madrid etc.

In all of this one thing is sure. Quality football is in the offing and the entire football enthusiast across the world is waiting to see which one pays off- Youth/Experience or Hunger/Maturity ?

Arsenal (from): Lehmann, Sagna, Gallas, Toure, Clichy, Eboue, Fabregas, Flamini, Hleb, Adebayor, Eduardo, Fabianski, Senderos, Bendtner, Gilberto, J Hoyte, Traore, Walcott, Denilson.

Full draw for FA Cup quarter-finals

Full draw for FA Cup quarter-finals:

Sheffield United or Middlesbrough v Cardiff City

Manchester United v Portsmouth

Bristol Rovers v West Brom

Barnsley v Chelsea

Matches to be played on the weekend of 8 and 9 March.

With two of the big four(Arsenal and Liverpool) knocked out at the weekend, the stage is set for a likely repeat of last years final with Chelsea and Manchester United in poll positions to make it to the final. A cursory look at the FA Cup Quater Finals Draw gives these two an edge.

Porthsmouth for one had an unimpressive qualification to the Quater Finals and unless the lift their game, Manchester united will be so glad to send them out of it.

Barnsley, haven shocked liverpool will not be taken for granted by Chelsea . The Semi Finals qualifiers may look like this; Manchester United, Chelsea, Bristol and Middlesborough.

If United and Chelsea are not drawn together in the Semis, we should expect a final cracker of the two. United may now have an opportunity to pay Chelsea FC back in their own coin. This time without a Mourinho on the sidelines.

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Let's Move from Ghana To Old Trafford

It;s been a while since i last posted on this blog. I hope guys didn't get too disappointed haven stayed off blogging fot 1, 2, 3, 4 days. Whoop! I couldn't believe it my self. I guess the Valentine wind blew hard and refused to move on from my domain. I had a swell time though. But now i'm back and as usual to talk about all that's been going on in the past couple of days.

Much has gone on in the NFA and Berti Vogts seems to be on the winning end. The Nigerian Football Association has never disappointed me as they usually take the line of action I expect them to take: a foolish one.

Last i heard was that Mr. Vogts has gone to FIFA to fight his impending sack and i am not against this but only against the fact that a country like Nigeria could have been cowed into signing such a tight end contract with the German tactician(If you call him that).

It's been all NFA. Question here is, is it still necessary to sack this man? If so can we afford to pay the alleged $1.5 million? Is that a good investment for us? It is really annoying, embarrassing and an insult to note that the same NFA who cry out all the time for paucity of fund have pushed themselves into this kind of trap. I am aware Nigeria wasn't too desperate for Vogts. To have signed such a contract depicts us as a country of fools. Well we can limit that to the people in the Glass House.

Still on the home front, our mediocre local teams Eyimba, Gombe and co will be out on the continental games and from indications so far, we are set for another shameful run. Not trying to be a prophet of doom. Just stating the obvious.

Today the most important thing in the world of football will be staged at Old Trafford and all eyes will be focused there from the blast of the whistle.

Manchester United will be looking to revenge their defeat by Arsenal in the FA Cup Final about 4 seasons ago. Arsenal is much depleted for injury. However both teams may field a relatively weak team but i suspect both Managers are just trying to out smart each other. So let's braze up for an explosive encounter. In essence, enjoy your selves and hope the NFA gets it right. They are saddled with vogts and he is proving to be a big Lumb to vomit.

Emmanuel Adebayor VS Christiano Ronaldo

These two players have been everything including outstanding this season and Adebayor has already won the Golden Boot for being the first to score 10 premiership goals.

Currently both players are 19 goals a piece and gunning for the second golden both at first to hit 20 goals.

From indications, who do you think will hit 20 goals first?
Many Bookmakers have tipped C. Ronaldo to win the Highest Goal scorer award for this season but currently it dosen't look likely anymore with Adebayor haven scored consistently in his last 9 games and looks set to continue with this fine form baring all unforeseen circumstances.

The golden boat is very widely open and available for both players grasp as much as the league title is also open for the big three. (Steven Gerrard thinks Liverpool are no longer title contenders).

Who do you think will be the highest goal scorer and in extension hit the 20 goals mark first.

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