Tuesday, 3 June 2014

NIGERIA 0-0 GREECE( PLAYER RATINGS)

Enyeama 8
Only one word to describe him: flawless. 
Toss up with Omeruo for Man of the Match

Ambrose 7
Started at right back switched to the opposite flank with Echiejile off injured and proved equally competent

Echiejile 6
Bounded up and down his flank, providing an attacking outlet, till he was forced off with injury

Omeruo 8
Peerless.
Ran the back four. Organised like a real leader even when the more experienced Joseph Yobo came on. Man of the Match

Oboabona 7
Made two decisive tackles to deny Fetfatzidis, and looked sharp and composed

Onazi 7
Had a job to do, did it with gusto. 
How he didn't pick up at least one yellow card though, has got to be a mystery. Chased down Karagounis at every turn

Mikel 6
Took a while to get going. A few poor touches to start with, but looked much better in the closing stages

Musa 6
Didn't quite look in it for long periods. But when he did get a chance, should have won a free-kick and was unlucky not to get a goal, when he rasped in a shot

Moses 7
The most dangerous of the players in green. If only he would play with his teammates a bit more.

Odemwingie 5
Game to forget for him. Uncharacteristically poor first touch for most of the first-half, settled down better when switched to the right.

Emenike 6
Starved of supplies for most of the game. Was forced to drop deep to forage for himself. Proved a heavy handful for the Greek defence.

Odunlami 6
In for the injured Echiejile and deployed at right back, defended better than in last game, and almost set up a goal with a fabulous cross.

Yobo 6
Much better than his Craven Cottage performance. Steadier, calmer and may have lost a hard of pace, but stayed with Fetfatzidis in one dangerous break to deny a goal.

Uchebo 7
Despite his goal against Scotland, was ridiculed by many, but proved that his selection was not a wrong choice with silky, unhurried touches.

Nwofor 5
Offered a lot less than he did against Scotland.

Babatunde 5
For some bizarre reason, kept running into cul-de-sacs. Industrious, but too many giveaways, many of them a result of making a beeline for traffic.



posted from Bloggeroid

SUPER EAGLES 23 MAN SQUAD FOR BRAZIL 2014

GOALKEEPERS: Vincent Enyeama, Austin Ejide, Chigozie Agbim

DEFENDERS: Joseph Yobo, Elderson Echiejile, Juwon Oshaniwa, Godfrey Oboabona, Azubuike Egwuekwe, Kenneth Omeruo, Efe Ambrose, Kunle Odunlami

MIDFIELDERS: John Mikel Obi, Ogenyi Onazi, Ramon Azeez, Michael Uchebo, Reuben Gabriel 

FORWARDS: Osaze Odemwingie, Ahmed Musa, Shola Ameobi, Emmanuel Emenike, Babatunde Michael, Victor Moses, Uche Nwofor 



posted from Bloggeroid

Monday, 2 June 2014

CAF BOSS HAYATOU REFUTES CLAIMS

FIFA vice-president Issa Hayatou has labelled claims he received bribes to vote for Qatar's 2022 World Cup bid as 'ridiculous allegations'.

Hayatou was named in an article by The Sunday Times on June 1 as one of the football officials that received gifts from former Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Mohammed bin Hamman to vote for Qatar in 2010.

But the Cameroonian president of the Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF) 'denied categorically' those claims in a statement on Sunday and revealed he had been given less than 24 hours to respond to The Sunday Times via email.

"The email expressed fanciful allegations that Mr Hayatou would have received valuable gifts from Mr Bin Hammam and would have also been greatly pampered during a tour in Doha in December 2009," read the statement, which was released on CAF's website.

"The CAF President never attended events from invitations of Mr Bin Hammam either in Doha or Kuala Lumpur."

The statement added: "Mr Hayatou has never received any money from Mr Bin Hammam, the Emir of Qatar or any member of the Qatar 2022 Bidding Committee."

Hayatou's statement concluded with a threat of legal action against The Sunday Times and a challenge for the British newspaper to present their proof of his wrongdoing.

"Mr Hayatou will not allow journalists once again to attack his integrity and reputation. Such allegations are meant to discredit not only him as a person but the

whole continent," the statement read.

"Like in 2011, the CAF president is waiting for the famous evidence from The Sunday Times and reserves the right to take legal action against any of those responsible for the smear campaign against him."



posted from Bloggeroid

ONAZI DENIES MATCH FIXING INVOLVEMENT

Nigeria midfielder Ogenyi Onazi has denied involvement in match-fixing, after being implicated by an undercover operation.

Onazi, 21, was caught on camera - planted by English newspaper The Sun - meeting with player agent Henry Chukwuma Okoroji and an alleged match-fixer, with the player reportedly present to benefit the agent's chances of securing a fix.

The Lazio man said he turned down the advance to organise a yellow card, or a penalty, after discovering why the meeting was set up - only attending as he was led to believe it was an 'endorsement proposition'.

"My attention has been drawn to a publication relating to issues about match fixing," 



posted from Bloggeroid

I AM STILL THE BEST - PELE

Brazil icon Pele claims he would be the best football player in the world if he was still running around in the current era.

Pele is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time after winning three FIFA World Cup titles with Brazil in 1958, 1962 and 1970.

The 73-year-old also netted 77 goals in 92 appearances across a 14-year international career, and is thought to have scored over 1,000 times throughout his club career.

During his 18 years at Santos, Pele's goals helped the Brazilian club to 26 titles, including two Copa Libertadores trophies.



posted from Bloggeroid

ETO'O IN COMICAL CELEBRATION AGAIN

Samuel Eto's gave Cameroon a shock lead against Germany on Sunday night as the two countries prepare for the World Cup.

The 33-year-old striker nipped in ahead of defender Mats Hummels to poke the ball past Germany goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller on the hour mark.

Eto'o, who was forced to rubbish claims he is nearing the end of his career after Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho questioned his actual age earlier in the season, raced towards the corner flag to do his comical 'old man' celebration.




posted from Bloggeroid

SWEDEN 0-2 BELGIUM

A brilliant solo effort from Eden Hazard after Romelu Lukaku's opener were enough to give Belgium a comfortable 2-0 win over Sweden in their penultimate World Cup warm-up game in Stockholm on Sunday.

Despite training twice a day for most of the week, there was no sign of tiredness from the Belgian players as they dominated the opening exchanges, with Kevin De Bruyne almost giving them the lead after 15 minutes, only to see his shot hit the post.

Lukaku, who scored 15 goals for Everton in last season's Premier League, broke the deadlock in the 34th minute when he fired a fizzing left-foot drive past Andreas Isaksson after Kim Kallstrom surrendered possession deep in his own half.




posted from Bloggeroid