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Super Eagles Players Appeal To Referees For Fairness

Super Eagles captain, Joseph Yobo has appealled to the Referees officiating at the ongoing 2013 Africa Cup Nations (AFCON) to be fair to the teams in the remaining matches.

Reacting to Friday’s controversial penalty awarded to Zambia at the 86th minutes, Yobo said that while he would not want to question the officials, he would want to appeal for fairness.

``I don’t want to question the decision of the referee, but I want to make a passionate appeal to the referees to be fair in their decisions, so that the best team will always win.

“It was a bizarre officiating, the worst penalty award I have ever seen in my entire football career, only God knows why they are doing this to us,” Yobo said.

Another Super Eagles player, Azubuike Egwueke, said he was shocked from the bench area when the referee pointed to the spot.

“It was like a dream and I was asking whether it was a penalty award or free-kick against Zambia.

`` CAF should help us plead with the referees to be fair to the team,” he said.

On his part Ogenyi Onazi, who was alleged to have caused the penalty, said he’s still at a loss over the referee’s call.

“The opposing Zambian player was the one who was pulling me, shoving and almost pulled down my pants and we were not even in the 18 yard box when the referee called for a penalty.

``CAF should please tell them to stop killing African football”, he said.

Meanwhile, the Super Eagles will on Sunday morning depart for Rustenberg from Nelspruit, where they will play their final game against Ethiopia on Tuesday.

Super Eagles will play their ``must win'' last group match against Ethiopia at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenberg.

 

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Fans Advise Keshi To Reinforce Eagles’ Attack

Football stakeholders in Ilorin have advised Coach Stephen Keshi to reinforce the Super Eagles attack, ahead of the team's make-or-mar encounter with the Walya Antelopes of Ethiopia on Tuesday.

Scores of football fans, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin on Saturday, said that the team had so far performed poorly.

NAN reports that the 1-1 draw the team played against the Zambians would be the second in a row after its earlier 1-1 draw with the Stallions of Burkina Faso.

The Stallions had meanwhile, trounced Walya Antelopes 4-0, to boost their chances of advancing to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

The Eagles would have to defeat the Walya Antelopes by a wide margin, without conceding any; to stand a chance of progressing to the Quarter finals of the tournament.

Alloy Chukwuemeka, the General Manager of the Abubakar Bukola Saraki FC of Ilorin, said the performance of the Eagles in the championship was below average.

He stressed that the team’s attack should consist of Ike Uche, Ahmed Musa and Emmanuel Emenike for the desired results in the team's subsequent matches.

``The defence is better, especially with the removal of Joseph Yobo from the line. You can see that his omission was not felt at all.

``Let him combine Uche, Musa and Emenike together, instead of substituting one for the other,” the ABS manager said.

In the same vein, Coach Tunde Kazeem, the Director, Kwara Sports Council, also described the team’s performance as unimpressive.

The coach told NAN that he was, however, optimistic that the team would qualify from the group stage.

He harped on the need for Keshi and his technical crew to be on their feet during matches in order to appropriately direct the proceedings from the sidelines.

``All departments needed to be reinforced.

``The issue of substitution and the time to do so is a decision that should be left to the coaches.

``They are also monitoring as well. I noticed that their game is improving with each match; their performance against the Zambians was an improvement on their performance against Burkina Faso,” he added.

Mr Kunle Alao, said that the Eagles should strive to score as many goals as possible, to avert the disappointment of having a slender lead being cancelled out through an equaliser.

``If Nigeria had scored more goals in the first place, the issue of a shock equaliser at the dying minute would not be,” he said.

Meanwhile Julius Ogunro the Special Assistant on Media to Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, the Minister of Sports has said that the team was improving with each match.

``I urge fans to be patient and not relent in their support for the Super Eagles.

``The team will surely defeat the Walya Antelopes of Ethiopia to boost its chances of playing in the quarter-finals of the AFCON,’’ he added.

 

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Why Pep Guardiola Chose Bayern Munich

For months it seemed Pep Guardiola was leaning towards a move to the Premier League with Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea showing interest. But after months of speculation regarding his future, he left the Premier League reeling and chose to coach German giants Bayern Munich.

However, the Spaniard shocked the entire football world by signing with Bayern. Pep had his choice of a number of big teams, so why did he choose the Bundesliga leaders?

Although England was the most likely destination for Guardiola, his appointment means great things for German football. Bayern Munich in particular has had consistent runs in the Bundesliga and the Champions League but has lacked a killer instinct, which could have propelled them to numerous League titles, and Champions League honours.

With the team having only won one honour in the past 3 seasons, Pep Guardiola is the man to change all that. With 14 trophies in 4 seasons to his name, Guardiola can combine great coaching with a superb and talented squad to take Bayern Munich to the top of the football world.

Also, Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge revealed Pep turned down big money offers from other clubs to join Bayern. “If it were purely down to money, then Bayern would have had no chance,” he said. “I think he was impressed with our overall concept.”

Bayern Munich has no ‘Messi like’ player but they do boast a talented German core and other immensely talented players.
With the likes of Ribery, Robben, Gomez, Lahm, Neuer among others, Pep Guardiola will have a great squad at his disposal and this is unlikely to be the last we hear of them going forward.

Guardiola’s appointment will bring more deserved spotlight to the Bundesliga and give German football the recognition it deserves.

Like Barcelona, Bayern Munich also boasts a successful youth system. With the likes of Owen Hargreaves, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Philipp Lahm, Thomas Müller and Bastian Schweinsteiger coming through the system, Pep Guardiola can expect a wave of intriguing talent coming through the ranks in Munich.

“I’ve always found English football fascinating,” Guardiola said on the 150th birthday of the FA, further speculating that he would end up in England.

The Premier League’s elite suffered a painful reality check when Guardiola turned his back on them. The reasons for not choosing an English club are debatable.

Running a club under Roman Abramovich, arguably deterred Pep from joining Chelsea and arguably Arsenal’s transfer policy and Manchester City’s Champions League failures also deterred Pep from joining.

What does the future hold for Pep Guardiola after his 3-year contract at Bayern is up? Could we see the Premier League as a destination for Pep?

Could he be waiting on Sir Alex Ferguson to bring an end to an illustrious career at Manchester United before he takes the helm at Old Trafford? Only Pep has the answers to these questions, but the next three years at Bayern Munich are sure to be eventful and entertaining for the Bayern fans.  called from: hereisthecitycom
 

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