Sports
Super Eagles: Why Oliseh Must Not Fail
Sunday Oliseh (left) and Nigeria Football Federation President, Amaju Pinnick
Last Wednesday, Nigeria
gave Sunday Oliseh a chance to put in practice all his talk as the new coach of the Super Eagles.
Reactions have been varied over Oliseh’s appointment but in general, they have been favourable.
The former Eagles skipper is widely regarded as a very knowledgeable and tactically sound coach going by his work as a TV pundit and with the FIFA Technical Study Group.
He is also known as someone who does not compromise his high standards as we all saw when he took on the country’s sports officialdom at the 2002 AFCON in Mali.
But again there are those who have questioned his very limited experience as a coach and also if he could go past the many pitfalls that go with holding down one of the toughest jobs in African football.
Quacks today parade themselves as coaches in Nigeria. They are not willing to develop and empower themselves, they are unprofessional and neck-deep in the rot that is Nigerian football now.
That explains why national team coaches are forced to train their call-ups from the domestic league on the basics – from how to kick the ball, passing and positional play.
There are also the numerous sentiments that have affected their judgment and decisions – from what they will be paid for playing a particular player to the pressures the high and mighty exert on them to pick players from them.
A person like Segun ‘Mathematical’ Odegbami is therefore living in the past to have said he would have led a protest march were a Nigerian not hired to replace Keshi.
The former Eagles skipper must have been overcome by patriotic fervour to have contemplated such.
This is because Odegbami ought to know more than most that besides the excess baggage the Nigerian coach comes with, he lacks the tactical acumen at a time when matches are now won on the bench than the pitch.
These coaches do not study their opponents and so they do not have clear and well-thought-out tactics to beat the other team.
Nigeria stars are not playing in the top leagues or some of the top clubs in Europe and some do not even get to play regularly for their foreign clubs.
But it still remains a very lame excuse for how badly the Eagles have played for many, many years now.
A good friend, the Slovenian coach Ivo Sajh, who led Kano Pillars to reach the last four of the 2009 CAF Champions League, told me has applied for the Eagles top post because “Nigeria have not had a coach for the past 10 years!”
The NFF has now displayed the will that they wish to change things for the better.
They must now support Oliseh all the way because he probably remains one of a handful of Nigerians who could get the Eagles flying again.
He in turn has to instill discipline and commitment in his team as well as groom younger players, who are hungry to make a name for themselves.
Were the Oliseh gamble to fail, we would all have to put aside national pride and seek help overseas.
That is why Oliseh cannot afford to bungle the chance a whole nation has now presented him.
.Audu writes for Africanfootball. Com.
Samm Audu
Isaako All Stars FC of Opuoko and Khana Khana AllStars Football all in Local Government Area of Rivers State will tomorrow engage in a friendly football match at Opuoko Mini Stadium.
Chatting with Tidesports in a telephone interview yesterday the Chairman of Khana All Stars Saro Tap-le said that the encounter is not going to be an easy game in spite it is an AllStars game.
He express his side readiness for the encounter stating that the opportunity as come for them to showcase their talents.
However, the chairman explained that AllStars game is not about winning but the excitement, love, unity and friendship it creates is more important.
” Tomorrow game is not going to be an easy one despite is a AllStars game. We are going there in a full force to do what we know how to do best and to showcase our talents.
“As Chairman of Khana All Stars I believes we have an edge over the Isaako All Stars be we are training so hard for the encounter” Tap-le said.
Also speaking the Chairman of Isaako All Stars Mina Zaasi Iloori sees the match as an opportunity to build relationships.
” My brother it is an AllStars friendly game I think winning is not important but the paramount thing is the relationship we are going to create among both teams and my community at large
” We are training hard because of the encounter because I will not be in my house and somebody will rob soap in my eyes.
” As I speak with you we are just coming from back training ground to ensure all my players are fit for the match.
” I am using this medium to call on football fans to come en mass to Opuoko Mini Stadium tomorrow and enjoy the best of round leather game.
I promise the game will be an exciting display of football talents and sportsmanship”, Iloori said.
Kiadum Edookor
Thierry Henry has called for the return of the away goals rule in the aftermath of the bombastic Champions League semi-final between Inter Milan and Barcelona.
The visitors at the Estadio Olimpic Lluis Companys came within milimeters of clinching the first leg of the final-four clash after former Arsenal star Henrikh Mkhitaryan netted late in the second-half.
But the linesman was quick to raise his flag, and semi-automated offside ruled out what would have been a thrilling conclusion to the high-octane 3-3 draw.
The hosts came from behind twice to share the spoils, chasing Inter Milan from the first minute of the game after Marcus Thuram stunned the Barcelona faithful into silence with his neatly flicked goal.
Denzel Dumfries doubled Inter’s lead 20 minutes later, but it took just three more for the Blaugrana to finally get on the scoresheet courtesy of a moment of magic from teenage starlet Lamine Yamal.
Ferran Torres drew Barcelona level ahead of the break, but Lamal was forced to play catch-up again in the second-half after Dumfries scored his second.
In light of the impressive effort from Inter, Henry wondered if the team should have got more from the fixture ahead of the second-leg at the San Siro.
‘I know it’s been like that for a very time, and we have to accept it,’ Henry said of the removal of the away goals rule, ‘But off air I was talking to Jamie (Carragher), and I was like, “how can you score three goals away from home and you don’t have an advantage?”
‘Away goals for me were massive, you score three goals away and you still don’t have an advantage 0-0 at home,’ Henry shrugged.
UEFA took the decision to scrap the rule which gave goals scored away from home the ability to act as a tiebreaker in the case of level scorelines ahead of the 2021-22 season.
Current FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsene Wenger claimed during his time as Arsenal manager in 2015 that the away goals rule ‘encouraged the team at home not to attack’ and that ‘the weight of the away goal (was) too big today’.
Without the rules, the tie at San Siro will go to extra time and penalties to decide which teams books their spot in the Champions League final.
But based on Wednesday evening’s performance, Henry seemed to give Inter a fighting chance against the newly minted Copa del Rey champions.
The 2025 London Marathon set a new world record for the number of finishers despite hot conditions on Sunday for its 45th edition.
A total of 56,640 runners crossed the finish line at the end of the 26.2-mile route, Guinness World Records has confirmed.
The number surpassed the previous record of 55,646 set by the New York Marathon in November.
Hugh Brasher, chief executive of London Marathon Events, said he hoped the high number of finishers inspired people to apply for the 2026 race ballot.
“The London Marathon was already the most popular in terms of ballot entries, with 840,318 people applying for the 2025 race,” he said.
“It is also the world’s largest annual one-day fundraising event with more than £1.3bn raised for charity since 1981.”
The number of people applying for the ballot to enter this year’s race broke the world record of 578,304 for the 2024 edition.
Of UK applicants 49% were female, while there was a 105% increase in applications from people aged between 20-29.
Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa surged to victory in the elite women’s race in a world record for a women’s only field, while Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe triumphed in the men’s event.