Visa denials may stop Home based Eagles from Obama Cup

Nigeria’s participation in an invitational Obama Cup in the United States of America is hanging precariously in the balance following a withdrawal of most of the teams from the competition and the visa denial of some of the Super Eagles team B players Ijaw boy has scooped.

The country’s ‘B’ team are scheduled to depart for the US this weekend for the tournament, but according to reports from the glass house the trip s now “dicey” as the American consulate in Abuja has only released a handful of passports with entry visas belonging to the team.

“The trip is very dicey now and we would have to wait till the end of weekend to really confirm whether the team will take part in the competition,” disclosed a top official of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

It was also gathered that only two countries are now confirmed for the eight-team competition which kicks off next week Tuesday.

Last week, the NFF media officer, Demola Olajire dismissed media reports that said the competition was a scam on a paid broadcast station.

It would be recalled that the friendly encounter against Guatemala in Miami, USA, also fell through after local media reported that Guatemala officials were unaware of the game.

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Flying Eagles to play Saudi Arabia in a two match clash

NIGERIA’s U-20 team, the Flying Eagles, will test their readiness for next month’s African Youth Championship with a friendly against their Saudi Arabia counterparts in Dubai.

Top NFF official, Emmanuel Ikpeme, disclosed that besides the Saudi Arabia tune-up match, the U-20s will also take on AYC hosts Libya this weekend in a two-match contest.

The Libya match was scheduled after the game against the Egypt U-20 team also slated for this week was cancelled following the civil unrest in that country.

Nigeria will finalise their build-up for the African Championship with a training camp in Turkey. The Flying Eagles, which won the AYC a record five times, are drawn in Group B of this year’s tournament along with world champions, Ghana, Cameroun and The Gambia.

Adedoja leads govt delegation to Sudan for CAF seat

Sports Minister and Chairman National Sports Commission (NSC) Prof. Taoheed Adedoja will lead government delegation to Sudan next week in the bid at ensuring that former Nigeria Football Association (NFA) chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima is elected into the Confederation of African Football (CAF) executive committee Ijaw boy has scooped.

The delegation will include Nigeria Football Association (NFA) chairman, Aminu Maigari, possibly Nigeria’s ambassador to Sudan, former NFA boss, Big.Gen Dominic Oneya (rtd), NFA vice chairman, Mike Umeh among others.

An impeccable source in the glass house disclosed that the decision to have a government presence in Sudan was taken after a 10 hours meeting at the Eko Hotel, Lagos between the leadership of the NSC and the NFA after the Eagles nervy 2-1 win over Sierra Leone in an international friendly on Wednesday night.

Those present at the meeting are Adedoja, Maigari, Umeh, Galadima, NFA acting scribe, Musa Amadu among others.The essence of having a government presence in Sudan, venue of the CAF congress on February 23, 2011, according to sources is to convince CAF executives, especially, Isaa Hayatou that Galadima is the Nigerian government choice.

“It is very important to have government delegation because it will not be seen that anybody is fighting Dr. Amos Adamu. The government wants to prove that there is no group trying to oust Adamu at all cost,” the source said.

Adedoja has asked Maigari to meet with him today so as to settle all logistics before he travels to the US this weekend.The source revealed that Oneya has agreed to head Galadima’s campaign committee and will handle all logistics with regard to the election.

The choice of Oneya, according to my source was because he is the next most senior Nigerian in CAF after the FIFA ban ended Adamu’s membership of the CAF executive committee seat unceremoniously.

“Oneya is a member of Nations Cup organising committee, the highest committee in CAF, aside this, he is also very influential,” the source said.

Yon ain't seen nothing yet - Obi

JOEL Obi shone like a million stars on Wednesday night in his Super Eagles debut, but the Inter Milan youngster has boasted Nigerians are yet to see his best in a green shirt.

Obi, 19, posted one of the most impressive Eagles debuts in recent times by providing an assist for Nigeria’s second goal against Sierra Leone added to his overall enterprise in midfield.

“I don’t think I played to my capacity in that match.But all the same, I am very happy that we won the match. It is good for me to start my debut on a winning note,” Obi told MTNFootball.com.

“Coach Samson Siasia told me to take it easy in the match and to just play simple and that was just what I did.”

The Inter Milan ace said he was delighted to start for a team overflowing with talent.

"Nigeria is blessed with talent and I would say I am lucky to be playing in the first team even if this were just a friendly,” admitted the Owuachukwu-born attacking midfielder.

“I left Nigeria when I was only nine years old and for me to get the opportunity to play for the country having not featured in the Nigerian league or any of the age-grade national teams before means that I must continue to work even harder to stay in the team.”

Obi picked VVV Venlo of Holland flying forward Ahmed Musa as his best player of the match and hopes to play alongside him in subsequent matches.

“Ahmed is another thing. His speed on the ball is delightful. I love him because he plays good football and I am particularly in love with his speed. I hope we play together again because I really enjoyed myself playing with him”, he said

Emenalo leans on Faith

Chelsea's Nigerian coach, Mike Emenalo, has broken his silence on the crude treatment being metted out to him by his boss Carlo Ancelotti at the club.

The USA 94 defender, who was appointed the club's assistant coach after Ray Wikins' contract was not renewed by the owner of the current English Premier League and FA Cup champions wrote on his Facebook wall that he would do his best despite being ignored by the Italian gaffer.

"Though Ancellotti doesn't consult me as other coaches do, I'll do my best and leave the rest for God," Emenalo wrote.

"Roman Abramovic saw potential in me before giving me the appointment so there is no reason why Carlo will consult with the goalkeeper trainer instead of his assistant."

Abramovic's decision to promote the under-qualified Michael Emenalo as Wilkin's replacement has also caused issues, while complaints have been made about fitness levels.A failure to qualify for next season's Champions League is a real possibility following Chelsea's worst run of results for over a decade. This would only intensify thoughts any players hold about an exit.

Emenalo, who has been with the Blues since October 2007, occupied the position of head opposition scout before being promoted to assistant first team coach and succeeded Ray Wilkins in the role. Chelsea say the move is in “recognition of his efforts”.

NFF, SIASIA MAY CLASH OVER TESLIM BALOGUN STADIUM

The Nigeria Football Federation and Super Eagles coach Samson Siasia are heading for a clash over the venue for next month’s key Nations Cup qualifier against Ethiopia, Ijaw boy has scooped.

While NFF President, Alhaji Aminu Maigari, has confirmed that the game will be held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, Siasia is not willing to expose his wards to the harshly critical Lagos fans again.

Siasia was apparently displeased with the attitude of the Lagos fans who booed his team even when they were leading Sierra Leone in Wednesday night’s friendly match.

The former Flying Eagles coach, who began his reign as coach of the senior national team with a nervy 2-1 win over the Leone Stars, also believes that the artificial turf was one major reason his team failed to impress and will have to decide with the players if the game could still hold at the Teslim Balogun Stadium.

"Mikel couldn't feature in the friendly because of the artificial turf,” he said. “Also others who were nursing one injury or the other were not comfortable with the artificial turf. But nothing has been decided yet. I will have to discuss this with the players if we should go back to Abuja for our next game against Ethiopia next month," he said

But Maigari insists that the NFF intends to bring more Super Eagles matches to the Centre of Excellence, which is regarded as the home of football in the country.

"There's no way that the Eagles will play only one game in Lagos. We intend to bring more matches to Lagos where we believe is the home of football in the country. The game against Ethiopia is a must win for us and we won't see the boos from the fans as a setback in achieving that aim.

“The fans reaction in that game should not be seen as anything negative, but something that will make the team stronger when they play in front of them next time. The team will get better with time and impress them.

"We want the best for the Super Eagles and all the national teams. Our goal is to maintain Nigerian football’s steady development, although to ensure we continue our development, we have to improve our structures,” he added

Yobo: Eagles Will Improve Against Ethiopia

Super Eagles captain, Joseph Yobo, is confident his side will put their experience against Sierra Leone to good use when they host Ethiopia in a Nations Cup qualifier next month. He told Ijaw Boy that the Eagles would not let Wednesday’s nervy performance deter them.

Are you disappointed that the Super Eagles could not easily overrun the Leone Stars?

No, I’m not disappointed. As a matter of fact I’m satisfied with my performance and the most important thing was that we won the game.

They gave us a good fight and I’m happy because this gave us a big boost ahead of the game against Ethiopia.

But you must be disappointed that your team conceded a goal so late in the game…

The goal we conceded was unfortunate. After the substitutions were made, we lost our shape which was not good for us.

We’ll be more formidable when the full squad regroups. We are gradually getting used to each other.

Could you tell us briefly how convincing Siasia’s plans were when he met with you in Turkey?

We spoke at length on the transformation he intends to bring into the team and as the captain of the team, I saw it as a duty to back him up with all the necessary support he could get from me and the players.

He is well experienced on the job; he’s the coach and I’m a player in the team but it’s a collective responsibility on our part to help the team back to its glorious heights again.

We share opinions and views and I’m just looking forward to having a swell time under him by making things work out.

With the new faces in the Super Eagles camp now, what would you say will be the future of Nigerian football?

The future is very bright no doubt, I think we should be looking forward to big things in the future. We just have to put everything we’ve got into the big qualifier coming up in March against Ethiopia at home to rekindle our hopes of qualifying for the Nations Cup next year.

You have played for the Super Eagles for around a decade now, aren’t you bothered that you are yet to win a major tournament with the national team. And what are your targets as skipper of the former African champions?

I have always desired to win laurels for the national team and I wanted to put an end to the drought at the last Nations Cup in Angola, but unfortunately I got injured in our group game against Benin Republic. With that setback, we still played to the semi-finals of the tournament but lost out again. This is the time for us to win something. We have a new coach and a young team that is ready to make a statement once again. That’s the motive right now and I hope that will give us the necessary push to succeed in the task ahead. I have done almost everything for the national team and what’s left is to win something before the curtain falls on my career.

Having moved to Fenerbahce of Turkey on loan from Everton, do you miss England at all?

Not really (laughs).