EAGLES WORLD CUP HOPES HANG IN THE BALANCE

Nigeria’s chances of making the second round of the 2010 FIFA World Cup hang in the balance after losing 2-1 to Greece in their second match played on Thursday at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein. After going up in the 16^th minute courtesy of a Kalu Uche free kick, the Eagles lost Sani Kaita to a reckless red card and were condemned to their second defeat in as many games by conceded two goals in the 44^th and 71^st minute.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria started the match brightly, making incursions in the Greek eighteen yard box. Kalu Uche atoned for his miss against Argentina in the first match when he converted a free kick in the 16^th minute of the match.  It was a cagey match afterwards with the Eagles attacking force of Osaze Odemwingie and Yakubu Aiyegbeni not showing enough bite to really trouble the Greek defence.

On the 33^rd minute, the match turned on its head in favour of Greece when ?Nigerisa was reduced to 10 men after Sani Kaita committed a reckless foul by stamping in foot on a Greek Player. On the eve of the crucial encounter, Lagerback had told journalists that he was satisfied with Kaita’s performance so far. The Swede must be regretting his comment by now. After then, Nigeria’s goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, was called into action repeatedly as Greece attack made forays into the Eagles eighteen yard box. The Greek showed more attacking intent when Geogios Samaras replaced Sokratis Papastathopoulos in the 38^th minute. After sustained pressure, Greece finally got their deserved goal in the 44^th minute when Greek striker Dimitrios Salpingidis left foot drive was deflected into Enyeama’s goal by Lukman Haruna foot.

Chunedu Obasi replaced Odemwingie at the start of the second half to strengthen the Eagles attack. But it was Greece who pushed forward, asking questions of the Eagles’s defence. Kalu Uche could have put Nigeria 2-1 ahead in the 48^th minute with a deceptive flick from outside the left corner of the Greek 18 yard box. It took a smart one hand save from Greek goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas, to parry the ball which looked destined for the roof of the net.

Nigeria’s hopes of mounting any serious onslaught were dealt a blow as Taye Taiwo was pulled out with what looked like a groin injury in the 54th minute. He was replaced by uwa Echiejile. At this time, the Eagles had lost control of the midfield and were already playing too deep and inviting more deadly attack from the Greek strikers. Just like it was in the first half, Enyeama was called into action. He made a spectacular save in the 55^th and 60^th minute to stop Greek defender Sotiros Krygiakos from scoring. A swift counter attack from the Eagles saw Obasi run solo with the ball into the Greek area to lay a pass for Yakubu Aiyegbeni only for Tzorvas to save. Obasi, who started the move, squandered the rebound by shooting waywardly. Enyeama made another full stretch save in the 68^th minute to deny Samaras header. More holes began to surface in the Eagles defence when Greece forward Theofanis Gekas hit the bar on a rebound ball but was ruled offside by the referee. Three minutes later, Greece was not to be denied a goal when Vasileios Torosidis perched on a rebound ball from Alexandros Tziolis shot to score in the 71^st minute. Greece piled more pressure on the Eagles. It was only Enyeama who denied them from inflicting more damage. Despite the four minutes of added time, there was no miracle for the Super Eagles. They looked truly and well beaten by a more tactical Greece side.

LAGERBACK EXPECTS TOUGH MATCH AGAINST GREECE

Super Eagles coach Lars Lagerback, says he expects the match against Greece to be a tough one, but believes his team would fly. He stated this at a press conference in Free State stadium, on the eve of the crunch encounter which could decide the fate of the Eagles in South Africa 2010 World Cup.

“The Greek team have many good players, strikers, midfielders. But we try to prepare with our starting eleven,” Lagerback said when asked about the quality of Otto Rehhagel’s team. “I see it (the match against Greece) as a positive challenge. Everybody in the team wants to go out and play a good game,” he said, while adding that the team is working more on its attacking prowess during training.

Although the Eagles lost their opening match 0-1 against Argentina, many Nigerians have expressed satisfaction with the performance of the Eagles and are full of optimism that the Eagles will do better against a tactically efficient Greek team, a thought that is not lost on Lagerback. “We hope that we can do more to live up to the expectation of Super Eagles fans in the Greece game,” Lagerback said.

Eagles coach also expressed satisfaction over the team’s attitude towards Thursday’s match and hinted that they have been working on defending set pieces better than they did against Argentina, whose goal came from a corner kick. Although he felt Gabriel Heinze’s goal should have been disallowed because of the foul on Chinedu Obasi, Lagerback admitted his defenders were a ‘little bit passive’. “We talked about it with the players and said we can do better with adjustments with the corners,” he noted. Obasi, who had a forgettable game against Argentina says the Eagles are focused on winning the match against Greece. “I don't know much about Greece. But we just have to focus on our game and do our homework,” he stated.

With a minus two degrees temperature forecast in Bloemfontein on Thursday, Nigerians are hoping that Lagerback and his Eagles team would not freeze against Greece. They would be praying for the Eagles to soar and secure a victory. At the USA ’94 World Cup, a Clemens Westerhof-led Eagles team ran away with a 2-0 win against Greece. Would it be more of the same on Thursday with Lagerback's Eagles? One hundred and forty million Nigerian fans wait with bated breath.

40,000 players tested for drugs At WOZA 2010

In its bid to reduce doping to its barest minimum, the world soccer body, FIFA, says it has conducted 40,000 tests on players so far this year through its affiliates, national associations and confederations.

Prof. Jiri Dvorak, the FIFA Chief Medical Officer, said at the world soccer body's daily press briefing in Johannesburg on Sunday, that its out-of-competition and in-competition testing programmes were designed based on statistics and risk assessment of doping in football.

Dvorak, who admitted that positive doping cases in football was comparably low compared to other elite sports, said that FIFA was continuing its stringent fight against doping.

He said that FIFA, in conjunction with the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA), launched the ``Say no to doping'' at the ongoing World Cup in South Africa. Dvorak said FIFA had spent about $40 million on the testing exercise at $41,000 per test.

FIFA Medical Commission also said that no positive results have been recorded so far on the 32 teams competing in the 2010 World Cup. 18 teams were tested in their camps in Europe, while 14 were tested in South Africa , adding that random tests would be conducted on two players per team after every game in South Africa , to bring the total to 256.

According to the commission, only four positive tests were returned between 1994 and 2009 in 6,964 controls in 57 final rounds in FIFA competitions including Olympic tournaments.

It said that FIFA medical officers were expected to submit medical reports on injuries and diseases daily to the FIFA Medical Research Commission (F-MARC). The commission also observed that medicine in general, and in particular sports and emergency medicine were of the highest standard in South Africa

CAN THESE EAGLES FLY?

Johannesburg

Nigeria 0 - 1 Argentina. That wasn’t the score most Nigerians expected. With the likes of Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuan, Diego Milito and Carlos Tevez in the star studded Diego Maradona led team, many feared a whitewash. For some others, the score line was a flattery. They feel the Eagles would have conceded more goals were it not for the man-of-the-match performance from Vincent Enyeama, who made crucial saves to keep the score respectful.

On board the South African bound airline to Johannesburg, Nigerians were divided about the changes Lars Lagerback has brought to the Super Eagles. Going by their first match against Argentina in the 2010 World Cup, a group praised Lagerback for bringing more cohesion and tactical organization into the Eagles’ game. The other group believed that it would have still been the same team if the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) had left Shuaibu Amodu in charge. After all, only Lukman Haruna was the new player in the post Lagerback era, they argued. “Boye, if NFF pays me N39 million for one month for six months, I can coach the Super Eagles, maybe even better than Lagerback,” one said. His argument was that Lagerback’s ‘new Eagles’ is the product of good renumeration package for the coach, who can now afford to hire extra tactical know-how from elsewhere to assist him. Simply put, if Amodu was being paid as much as Lagerback, he would produce better results. It went on and on until one threatened to eject the other out of his hotel room if he continues asserting that these Eagles, despite losing the match, played well against Argentina because of a new tactical orientation from Lagerback.

It remains to be seen if these Eagles can fly in their next two remaining group matches. But from what we have seen against Argentina, just maybe. “Oh, but your team played well yesterday,” one Brazilian fan told me at Johannesburg airport when he realized I was Nigerian. “Yeah, yeah, “I replied him. “Hopefully, the Eagles can win their next two matches.” Three points is what counts. Lagerback’s Eagles played with promise of better things to come and seem to have the right mentality to win their next matches against Greece and South Korea. Then, they would make the second round for the third time in their World Cup history. Who knows, anything can happen from there. Did I hear you say we could get to the semi-finals? Well, it’s possible. Don’t write these Eagles off yet. With the Argentina match, they have shown that they could still pull a pleasant World Cup surprise for Nigerians. If they are able to win their next match, it would now be a matter of how far they can go in the tournament.

P.S. Some renowned Nigerian players refused to talk to Nigerian journalists after the match against Argentina. Instead, they preferred talking to the foreign media.

DESTINATION SOUTH AFRICA!

32 teams. Eight groups. Nine cities. 64 matches. Millions of fans worldwide. And one goal: the FIFA World Cup. After six years and billions of rands spent, South Africa finally welcomes the football world to the 19th FIFA World Cup, the first ever to be hosted by an African country.

Although the loss of Nelson Mandela's 13 year-old great granddaughter on the eve of the tournament meant that the great Mandiba would not be there, the opening ceremony was spectacular and befitting of a World Cup that has been known for its high entertainment value. Musical icons such as R-Kelly and Shakira gave us some great music. And then, our own Femi Kuti was there live representing. when he performed his hit song 'bang bang bang' to the delight of the 91,000 capacity crowd in Soccer City stadium, Johannesburg. The hosts, South Africa, also were able to come out unscathed, with a point in their opening match against Mexico, which ended 1-1.

For the records, 2 goals made it the first time in the four fixtures between South Africa and Mexico that there have been fewer than three goals. The three previous games were all played in USA, with Mexico winning the first two, 4-0 and 4-2, and South Africa extracting a measure of revenge with a 2-1 victory in 2005. 10 of the last 12 FIFA World Cup Opening Matches have featured two goals or fewer. The exceptions were 2006, when Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2, and 1998, when Brazil beat Scotland 2-1.

In Capetown, Raymond Domenech and his French team would be biting their nails for not being able to snatch a victory in the dying minutes of their match against Uruguay, who ended the game with ten men. Final score, France 0-0 Uruguay

For the records, 17 players have now featured in four FIFA World Cups, with Thierry Henry becoming the latest with his second half appearance in Cape Town. He is the first Frenchman to achieve the feat.

Now over to Nigeria Vs Argentina. Can the Eagles stop Lionel Messi and co?

Let the game begin!