Sports

…Understanding Odemwingie’s Frustrations

Published

13 years ago

December 28, 2012

A few days after I was named Super Eagles Media Officer, I messaged three players: Joseph Yobo, Vincent Enyeama and Osaze Odemwingie.

My intention was to let them know I’d need their cooperation to build a bridge between the media and the squad.

In Osaze’s case, however, I added something extra. And in his joking reply, he promised me I would get my biggest headache from him. When the headache came, it turned out to be anything but a joke.

The first real crisis I had to manage involved none other than Mr Odemwingie himself.

I was sitting in a meeting at SuperSport when I got a message from a friend in Chicago asking if I’d seen what Osaze was tweeting about then coach Samson Siasia.

The moment I saw the fiery tweets, I rang him up and asked him to take them down. He dug his heels in, but after a few minutes of back and forth, he relented. By then, it was too late, the damage had been done.

And I spent the rest of my brief time in the post managing the Osaze/Siasia rift until it was finally settled in the latter’s final days as coach.

Osaze and I have come a long way. It’s been 10 years and counting. In that time, I have come to know the young man as a combustible fireball crackling underneath wooden floorboards.

Osaze Odemwingie does not do half measures. It is at once his greatest virtue, and his biggest frailty.

When he suits up in that green and white shirt, or any other for that matter, he leaves it all out on the pitch. When he calls someone out for not doing their job, he spares nothing. And when he is backed into a corner, he comes out swinging.

This latest, messy episode with Stephen Keshi is Osaze coming out guns blazing from inside of a corner, ten years in the making.

It is the culmination of years of frustration with the Nigeria set-up, and things he has been continually unhappy about. All catalogued in his initial tweets.

Being left out by Shuaibu Amodu for his first few games in charge despite a fine showing at the 2008 Nations Cup, only for him to speak out, get played and win multiple Man of the Match awards.

That was followed by getting into a tiff with Siaisa at the Olympic Games because he dared to complain about a shortage of kit; then left out again by Lars Lagerback at the World Cup after being named Nigerian Player of the Year for his performances.

Odemwingie’s current scrap with Keshi dates back to a qualifying game in Rwanda, when the forward was first to be hauled off in what was a generally bad team performance.

From what he told me, the manner of the substitution left him with a sense of déjà vu. And so he ignored attempts by the manager to make contact. On this occasion, I was involved, again, in brokering peace.

But with fences mended, both coach and NFF were left unconvinced about the player’s commitment to the cause when he failed to turn up for the friendly against Venezuela in Miami.

Osaze himself offered little to me but to say he opted out for ‘personal reasons’. In any case, both Chelsea’s John Mikel Obi and Victor Moses did the same too.

Odemwingie had hopes of making the Nations Cup squad. He was a striker in form, had mended fences with his coach, had spoken to his team captain and was in regular communication with the coach.

Three days before the squad was announced, player and coach had been on the phone discussing schedules.

With the Odemwingies expecting their first baby, Keshi was not sure about the player’s focus and was giving no guarantees.

Osaze was willing to make adjustments to his schedule. That, unfortunately, did not seem to be enough. And there were rumblings of ‘conditions’ attached to his return. Osaze denies it vehemently.

In the end, the decision was taken. He was cut. Ostensibly because there were doubts about his total commitment to the team.

Whether anyone likes it or not, the final decision on who makes a squad is up to the coach. Not the player, not the federation, not the fans, not the media. The coach. But, in making that decision, it is also in the coach’s unwritten job description to inform at the very least the senior members of his squad who have been axed.

It is a hard task to carry out under normal circumstances. It is even harder in situations like this. But that action defines the man manager. It is a sign of mutual respect.

This is where Odemwingie lost it. To find out in the media that he had not been considered for a 32-man squad was the final straw.

“For me, it was very disrespectful,” he told me. “I’m packing my bags and done with the national team. But I needed to tell them my mind.”

As much as I may fault Keshi for not making that call, I find it even harder to agree with Odemwingie’s route to self-immolation.

In his unbridled tirade, Odemwingie has swung at coaches past and present, his captain, the NFF, the media and even a section of the fans. Going off the reservation doesn’t even begin to describe it.

While we both agree that certain things needed to be said, his method, medium and timing has cost him more than just brownie points. He is reduced to looking like a petulant child throwing his toys out the pram because daddy said no.

The tragedy for me is that, just like Osaze’s fractious rift with Siasia, this could have been avoided.

And Osaze, for his full-blooded, decade-long service in the green white green, deserves better than to be remembered this way.

Unfortunately, I doubt this particular saga is anywhere close to running its course. Therein lies the bigger tragedy.

Udoh writes for kickoff-Nigeria.

Colin Udoh

Sports

Arsenal must win trophies to leave legacy – Arteta

Published

2 days ago

January 12, 2026

The Tide

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said that the Premier League leaders must win trophies if they were to be remembered like the “Invincibles” side that last won the title for the Gunners in 2004.

Arsene Wenger’s side romped to the title 22 years ago without losing a single league game.

Arsenal headede into last night’s clash at home to reigning champions Liverpool with a five-point lead at the top of the table after Manchester City and Aston Villa dropped points against Brighton and Hove Albion and Crystal Palace, respectively on Wednesday.

Arteta’s men, runners-up for the past three seasons, have two more points and four more goals than Wenger’s ‘Invincibles’ managed after 20 games.

But the Spaniard said those stats matter little unless Arsenal go on to win the league.

“No, because ‘the Invincibles’ won a lot,” Arteta told his pre-match press conference on whether his side can be considered better than Arsenal’s last title winners.

“They won consistently, and they created a history and a legacy, and we have to do that.”

The lone major piece of silverware won by Arsenal in six years under Arteta remains the 2020 FA Cup

“There are a lot of stats, but in the last two or three years we have managed more points and more goals than ever before. But at the end, we have to translate that to major trophies,” he added.

“Probably doing what we are doing now would have been enough (in 2004), but now it’s not, and we have to make the margins even bigger.”

Arsenal lost 1-0 to Liverpool at Anfield back in August in what was billed as an early showdown between title rivals.

The defending champions headed to the Emirates 14 points off the top after a difficult second season for Arne Slot, but Arteta insisted the Reds remain a superb side.

The Gunners were without sidelined defenders Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera but were“monitoring the load” on Kai Havertz as the Germany forward intensified his training while continuing to recover from a long-term leg injury.

Sports

AFCON: Osimhen, Lookman Threaten Algeria’s Record

Published

2 days ago

January 12, 2026

The Tide

Nigeria sharpshooters Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman will provide a stern test to the flawless record of Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane, a son of French football icon Zinedine Zidane, in the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals in Morocco.

Zidane is the only first-choice goalkeeper amongst the eight quarter-finalists to have kept a clean sheet in all of his tournament matches so far, but the task facing him in Marrakesh tomorrow will not be easy.

Former African player of the year award-winners Osimhen and Lookman have tormented defences during the tournament, scoring three goals each.

Zidane, 27, kept clean sheets in group matches against Sudan and Burkina Faso before being rested against Equatorial Guinea.

He was recalled for a last-16 clash with the Democratic Republic of Congo and once again was unbeaten during a dramatic extra-time victory.

Former Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane, his Spanish wife and another son have been among the crowds in each match Luca played for the Desert Foxes.

“It is special when your family come to watch,” said Luca Zidane, who began his career with Real Madrid B in 2016 and now plays for Spanish second-tier side Granada.

Born in France, Zidane represented his country of birth at five age-limit levels. Under FIFA rules he could also play for Spain or Algeria, where his grandparents were born.

Zidane chose Algeria, debuting in a 2026 World Cup qualifying victory over Uganda last November and, when an injury ruled first choice Alexis Guendoez out of the AFCON, he was promoted.

“I am proud to represent Algeria and play in the Africa Cup of Nations. It is a great experience,” he told reporters.

“I try to be myself, to build my career on my terms, step by step,” he said.

Algeria have been an AFCON bogey team for Nigeria, winning four and drawing two of nine meetings, including a 5-1 drubbing of the Super Eagles en route to winning the 1990 tournament at home. But the current Super Eagles appear to be in the mood to get this one over the Algerians.

The Desert Foxes have put successive group-stage exits behind them under Bosnian coach Vladimir Petkovic and substitute Adil Boulbina unleashed a thunderbolt to eliminate DR Congo.

Nigeria are the 12-goal leading scorers in Morocco with Osimhen, Lookman and Akor Adams forming a potent frontline.

But coach Eric Chelle will be concerned that the three-time champions have conceded four, the most among the eight title hopefuls.

Sports

Palace ready To Sell Guehi For Right Price

Published

2 days ago

January 12, 2026

The Tide

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has said that the club would sell captain Marc Guehi this month if his asking price is met.

The England defender is out of contract in the summer and Manchester City have emerged as contenders to sign him during the January transfer window.

Palace blocked a proposed £35m move to Liverpool last summer but risk losing the 25-year-old for nothing at the end of the season.

City’s interest in Guehi has progressed following injuries to defenders Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias during Sunday’s draw against Chelsea.

“I’m not naive,” said Glasner, as reported by Tidesports source. “If a massive offer comes from City and Marc wants to do it, it will happen.”

Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid are among the European clubs to have shown an interest in signing Guehi on a free transfer, and he can sign a pre-contract agreement with an overseas club from this month.

“If you’re just valuing sports, everyone in the club will say Marc has to stay,” Glasner added. “The chairman will tell you the same. But it’s not one-dimensional. If you see the financial situation, it’s very important.

“If somebody comes, there will be a moment when the club says ‘now the financial issue is more important than the sports issue’.

“There will be a threshold where the club has to say it will happen, as long as Marc says ‘I want to leave’, because the final decision is always with the player.”

Guehi helped Palace finish 12th last season and win the FA Cup to qualify for Europe for the first time in the club’s history.

The Eagles then won the Community Shield in August, beating Premier League champions Liverpool on penalties, and are 14th in the table and through to the knockout phase play-offs in the Uefa Conference League.

“The chairman rejected many offers in the summer because we want to play a successful season and wanted to win the Community Shield,” Glasner added. “Therefore, Marc is important, and then he rejected the offer.

“The threshold at that time, the money we got offered was not above it. Maybe it was close, but it was not above.”