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SidelinEVISTA

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Contents

Editor’s note6

Meet theTeam 7 43

22 SidelineNEWSREEL n27

38

Hero in

Retro

Month

Sideline Health44

30

Luminary14

Your LostNotes Ones

Blog post of the

Month’sChamp

12

Editor’s Meet the team

It's always a big honourto write you on welcoming notes; your dedicated

followership and loyalty when remembered, always

cause affectionate ripples in the walls of my heart....

To this, I can’t adequately thank you enough. Your

reception has been teeming and highly commendable.

In pages to follow lie tasty features dutifully

served by our team for your entertainment.

Keep calm, relax and read....

Taiwo Salisu@taiwostow

E D I T O R I A LTaiwo Salisu

Editor Managing contributor and co-creator of content for all topics covered

in this issue.

Kehinde SalisuCo-Editor

Supplementary contributor, co-creator of content, co-writer and editor of news material, management of interviews.

C O N T E N TYemisi Falade

Research Manager Generator of material from factual events, critique of written reports,

management of research information through collection, cross-referencing, screening, editing and storage.

Yomi ArulebaContent Manager

Provider of content for medical stories as well as vetting of screened news material prior to editing and publishing.

Folajimi Onatoye Research Assistant

Observer and reporter of issue circulation statistics, reader preference, changes in demand and so on.

Oyindamola BadejoResearch Assistant

undertaker of research activities relevant to topics as well as compilation of audience metrics;

population size and density, demographics etc.

Tolu Adeleke Correspondent

Executor of interviews after scheduling, news material sourcing and organisation

Sorefunmi OlubukolaJournalist

writer of news obtained from correspondents and researchers in areas relevant to Luminary

Chika DikeArts & Cartoons

Manager of graphic appearance and interactivity of the magazine, provider of content for cartoons and featured jokes.

P U B L I S H I N GHigh Q

W E BTeniola OmoleWeb Architect

Manager of the magazine's online presence, web portal and electronic newsfeed.

SIDELINE VISTA is a monthly publication of Jericho Media. This is a pilot issue and someinformation displayed do not exactly represent real life events. This issue is limited in supply

and intended only for promotional, registration and regulatory purposes. Any form of reproduction of this material without the express consent of Jericho Media is a

civil wrong and may attract litigious action against offenders.

Copyright © 2013 JERICHO MEDIA info@jmcorp.com

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Month’sChamp In this serial’s issue, we recognise and laud the

deftness of our reader – Amarachi Eche Okoye – who answered correctly, all five questions asked in the previous issue’s Q & A segment.

Light skinned and of average build, Amarachi isn’t one who would naturally elicit a second stare from anyone, except of course for the semi-permanent scowl on her face. Her thin, nasal voice laced with an Eastern Nigerian accent is one which innately endears, taking away every memory of the scowl you once saw.

Chatty and effervescent if rightfully stirred; Amarachi stretched a supposed 30-minute interview with SidelineVis-ta to a little over an hour. ‘Please, Please, Please…’ she pled, every time she was reminded about how little the time she had left was in answering the interviewer. Amarachi none-theless, trudged on and on; giving us superfluous details about how spiritedly she searched for the quiz’s answers. ‘I asked my younger brother first, he knew only question 1 and 4 then I sought my husband’s counsel and annoyingly, he knew nothing waving my questions off with disregard and urging me to find something more interesting to do.’ She added, ‘My senior brother finally saved the day when he offered to check Google for the answers. We sat in front of his laptop and determinedly searched the answers on the search engine. Our efforts finally paid off.’

‘I hate appearing a loser; giving up and calling things in. This feels triumphing and reminds me of what I can achieve in life by sheer determination. I feel very honoured’.

‘I’m really not a lover of the sport of football but looking at sharing perspectives with one who looks at the sport from a different angle sure interests me. Seeing blog posts, write ups and feature stories that shed light on health events and their consequences on athletes and supporters is very creative.’

She was awash with praises for the tabloid, urging us to ‘...keep the light burning’. She went on to add how enthusias-tically she looks forward to having her photograph spilled over the leaves of the ‘Month’s Champ’ segment in this issue.

Three entries containing correct answers to the asked ques-tions was received, but Amara’s was received the quickest.Amara is a fashion designer who shuttles between Eastern Nigeria and Lagos. She’s however domiciled in Lagos cur-

rently. She alluded to having an idea about the weekly run show on radio. Most amusing was her expression when she was told she had the opportunity of winning super fabulous prizes week in week out on the program.

She asked if we were the Central Bank and why we had to be giving so frequent- ly in this manner.

We must say we had loads of fun chatting with this very ‘eastern’ lady and we use this story to speak to ladies who have taken the stereo- type and accepted football follower- ship as astrictly male affair.

‘‘I hate appearing a loser’’

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12

LuminaryLuminaryLittle did he know of his impending thigh strain; all he did was put a decent

right footed strike to push his team a goal ahead of the intense Valencia side that had for a few minutes, given AC Milan’s backline a very torrid

time. Long story short, he is in the dugout and would miss vital fixtures in the weeks to come.

The Situation Room

The Interview

Receiving a through ball from Andrea Poli, Robson de Souza (Robinho) darted inwards immediately, giving a powerful right-footed strike on the edge of the 18-yard box of Valen-cia’s goal to send AC Milan a goal up.

This came right after a defensive debacle from Valencia’s end, in which a cross was poorly cleared as a swift turnover and counter-attack was mercilessly launched.

The strike from the forward that put the ball to the far right of the goalkeeper was one taken with a lot of energy; the impact being a moderate thigh strain that was latent until signs of walking difficulty by the player became evident to his team’s medics. He was beckoned to show up on the sidelines for further assessment before the manager reluc-tantly took him off and made his first substitution of the game.

Current reports state that the player was hit with a mod-erate thigh strain sufficient to keep the forward away from the action for a few weeks.

A few hours before the game, Robinho called a press con-ference. He emphasized the urgency of winning and the impetus donning the AC Milan jersey places on him.

He said, “I am happy to know that the club wanted me to

extend my contract.I hope this will be Milan’s year and mine, too. This season is important for me because there is also the World Cup. I have already said that Milan is a team I could play 10 years

for,

“Any match against Valen-cia is difficult – the stadium is mag-nificent, the fans are pas-sionate. It will be im-portant to play well

this evening, There is always the desire to win with the Milan shirt and even if this is a pre-sea-son tour-nament, the aim remains

the same: to win. The Mestalla is a stadium I have played in before, and I am delighted to be here again.”

Fortunately he spurred Milan on to an early lead but yielded to pains in his thighs after they gave way in such unspectacular fashion shortly after celebrations.Robinho joined the Rossoneri from Manchester City on 31st August 2010 for a fee of 15 million pounds. Here, he has enjoyed numerous team appearances bagging collec-tive honours of the Italian Serie A and Supercoppa Italiana in 2011. After being mired in huge controversies with the club concerning salaries and contract expiration, he signed a new contract that will keep him till 2016.

‘‘I’m delighted to

be here again’’Area hit by the thigh strain

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SidelineNewsreel SidelineNewsreelRebel Suarez back in training

Recent reports indicate Liverpool striker Luis Suarez returns to training after the latter’s infamous decision to leave the club as declared publicly in the summer. He was recently seen training with the club’s first-team squad – a pointer to a possible reconciliation with manager Brendan Rodgers. Rodgers on the other hand has stated that Suarez would need to apologize to his teammates and the club before he could return to training after complaining about the player’s attitude and pre-season performances. Pictures Friday in British media showed Suarez taking part in warm-up routines and laughing and joking around with teammates at Liverpool’s Mel-wood training ground. The club hasn’t yet said whether the player has made an official apology.

De Guzman absent for new season start

Dutch midfielder Jonathan de Guzman has been ruled out of Saturday’s Premier League opener against Man-chester United after suffering a concussion during train-ing with his national team. The Swansea player cur-rently on loan from Villarreal, was ferried to a nearby hospital after colliding with teammate Dirk Kuyt before Wednesday’s friendly match between Portugal and the Netherlands. He will be sidelined for up to 10 days.

Gibson’s start to the new season doubtful

Darren Gibson may be ruled out of opening games for the new Premier League Season after a knee injury he sustained in Ever-ton’s 2-1 friendly defeat of Betis on Sunday. The Irish midfielder felt a problem during the warm-up but started for Roberto Mar-tinez’s team before being replaced by John Heitinga. This event is possibly a huge loss to Everton’s midfield, especially with uncertainties hovering Marouane Fellaini’s stay at the club after being linked with a move to Manchester United.

Baysse sidelined for six months

St. Etienne defender Paul Baysse will be out of action for at least six months due to a knee injury. The player who is a summer signing from Brest, suffered a tear in his anterior cruciate liga-ment in a friendly against Grenoble last weekend. Bayasse would require an operation may not see him return to match fitness un-til 2014. He made 18 top-flight appearances for Brest last season, scoring twice.

Gundogan out till September

Ilkay Gundogan will be sidelined for two weeks after disturbing a back injury while playing for Germany. The Borussia Dortmund midfielder had to be taken off during Germany’s 3-3 draw with Paraguay on Wednesday due to discomfort in his spinal region. He will miss his team’s Bundesliga home games against Eintracht Braunschweig on Sunday and against Werder Bremen on August 23.

Balotelli in fitness race for Milan

Mario Balotelli may be absent for Milan’s crunch UEFA Cham-pions League play-off after an injury sustained in a preseason friendly against LA Galaxy on Wednesday. Milan medics confirm he has “a muscular problem in his right thigh” and will undergo more tests on the team’s return to Italy from the United States. Balotelli could also be ruled out of Italy’s friendly at home to Ar-gentina on August 14.

Mauri suspended for six months

Lazio captain Stefano Mauri has been penalised with a six-month ban by the Italian soccer federation for his complicity in a match-fixing scandal. Mauri was accused of rigging the Serie A games between Lazio-Genoa and Lecce-Lazio in May 2011 and for failed to report match-fixing. This judgement was levied against eight others. He was found guilty for his role in the Lecce match. Mauri says he will appeal the ban.

Fabregas injures ankle in friendly

Spanish and Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas has injured ankle and could be out of Spain’s squad for next week’s friendly against Ecuador. Fabregas was stretchered off eight minutes from the end of Saturday’s 3-1 friendly victory over Malaysia XI.

Reyes’s absence for new season’s start likely

Sevilla may begin their 2013/14 league campaign without key player - Jose Antonio Reyes. The 29-year-old Spaniard has been ruled out of action for about two months after tearing a posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Reyes was knocked out early in the UEFA Europa League qualifying match against Montenegrin side Mladost Podgorica last week.

Podolski: A bigger problem than before

Arsenal have been dealt another fitness blow as news just emerging from sources state that Lukas Podol-ski’s hamstring injury is worse than first feared. The 28-year-old was stretchered off during Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Turkish side Fenerbahce; a result which sealed their place in the group stage of the UEFA Cham-pions League. Arsene Wenger initially told the media the player would be out for three weeks, now expects Podolski to be out for up to ten weeks.

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SidelineNewsreel SidelineNewsreelKompany ruled out for a month

Belgian central defender Vincent Kompany could be out of Manchester City’s derby with United next month. Manager Manuel Pellegrini stated that the defender would face a month out of action as he battles with a groin injury. The Manchester City captain, who got injured in the 4-0 mauling of Newcastle on Monday, has gone through relevant tests and scans on which high-lighted the severity of the injury.

Rafael, Nani, Young & Hernandez all out of United’s ensemble

Defending champions Manchester United will be miss out a number of key players that are still recuperating as they confront Chelsea on Monday. The players are; Ash-ley Young, Luis Nani, Rafael Da Silva and Javier Hernan-dez. They have been out of action with varying degrees of injury. Manager David Moyes confirmed that Rafael will be out of action for up to four weeks with the ham-string injury he picked up at the Community Shield.

Leye shocker for Zulte Waregem

Senegalese player Mbaye Leye may be out for the rest of the season after twisting his knee in last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Oostende. Tests showed a torn cruciate ligament in his right knee and the Zulte Waregem player is expect-ed to be out for seven to nine months.

Thiago Alcantra ruled out for seven

Bayern Munich’s Thiago Alcantara would be out of action for at least seven weeks after an ankle injury sustained in a do-mestic league match. The Spaniard ruptured a right ankle liga-ment during his side’s 2-0 win over Nurnberg on Saturday. He will undergo surgery. Thiago, Bayern Munich’s summer sign-ing from Barcelona, is expected to miss the future Bundesliga fixtures against Freiburg, Hannover, Schalke and Wolfsburg, as well as the start of the UEFA Champions’ League group stage.

Schalke 04 dealt massive Huntelaar blow

Dutch striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar has been ruled out of action for several weeks with a knee ligament tear. The 30-year-old suffered a partial ligament rupture in his right knee during his side’s defeat to Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday. Hunt-elaar who has made 60 international appearances for Nether-lands, has been a very key to Schalke’s campaign since arriving three years ago, nicking in 80 goals in 121 matches.

Accident earns Higuain ten in his face

Gonzalo Higuain – Napoli’s star summer signing has under-gone surgery to put ten stitches to his face after a rock climb-ing accident during tourism in Capri. The 25-year-old Argen-tine is being treated in a hospital after receiving eight stitches to his jaw area two to his eyebrow. Higuain, who joined Napoli from Real Madrid for €37m in the summer, is expected to re-sume for training later in the week.

Hamburg lands cautionary suspension to two

Struggling Hamburger have landed midfielders Dennis Aogo and Tomas Rincon suspensions from the squad against the Bundesli-ga match with Hertha Berlin because two practice-free days were misused by both. Defender Aogo, flew to the Spain to meet his agent while Venezuelan midfielder Rincon went there for family reasons after coach Thorsten Fink gave his team two days off following their heavy loss.

Juventus without Marchisio

Juventus would be without midfielder Claudio Marchisio for the opening month of the Serie A season because of a knee injury. The 27-year-old was forced out of the 4-0 victory over Lazio in the Italian Supercup on Sunday just 21 minutes after a challenge from defender Stefan Radu. The experience gave the lad a knock. The player would be absent from upcoming games against Samp-doria, Lazio and Inter Milan as well as their opening UEFA Cham-pions’ League group match.

Malaga unsure for Messi

Lionel Messi will be out of Barcelona’s upcoming league game at Malaga on Sunday while he recovers from a muscle injury in his left leg. Barcelona told the media on Saturday that even though Messi’s progress is satisfactory; Coach Gerard Martino would leave the Argentine forward out of his squad as a necessary precau-tion. Messi bruised a muscle in his left thigh during the first half of Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup.

Saintfiet accuses Keshi of racism

Malawi coach Tom Saintfiet has alleged Nigeria’s Ste-phen Keshi of racism after Keshi described him as “a white dude” who should go back to his native Belgium.Saintfiet said the Football Association of Malawi had lodged a complaint to FIFA and were awaiting their response.The row began when Saintfiet expressed safety con-cerns over Nigeria’s southern city of Calabar, the venue for a decisive World Cup qualifier between the coun-tries next month.In response, Keshi said: “I think the coach of Malawi is crazy. ... He is not an African person, he is a white dude. He should go back to Belgium.”

Del Piero opts out of Sydney friendly

Alessandro Del Piero has been forced to pull out of Sydney FC’s final friendly against Italian side Reg-gio-Emilia after failing to pass a fitness test following an injury knock.Del Piero took to twitter to apologize to his fans about why he would not participate in the match. He stated: “I’m sorry, but after my last control I was not given the ok for the match against Reggina. But I will still be at the stadium tonight.”The former Juventus player, who moved to the Austral-ian league last season, arrived in Reggio late on Tues-day night after being delayed by medical treatment but was met with a tumultuous reception from waiting fans.

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SidelineNewsreel SidelineNewsreelFifa seeks clarity on Russian gay law

Football’s world governing body FIFA has asked Russia – 2018 World Cup hosts, to explain in more detail its new law that bans “homosexual propaganda” after it met protests from athletes and activists.“In the context of the adoption of the federal law ‘on prohibition of propaganda of non-traditional sexual re-lations’ in Russia, FIFA has asked the Russian authorities for clarification and more details on this new law,” the federation said.Russian President Vladimir Putin ratified the new law in June but this currently casts a shadow over the nation’s preparations for the World Athletics Championships and next year’s Winter Olympics all being held in Moscow.FIFA whose request comes right after the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC), said its statutes and code of conduct “foresee zero tolerance against discrimination based, among other things, on sexual orientation”.It added that all guests, irrespective of their sexual lean-ings are expected in a FIFA World Cup host country to be comfortable whether they are fans, players, officials.Russia on the other hand, has committed to provide all visitors and fans with a warm welcome and ensure their safety.

Capoue out for four weeks

Tottenham midfielder Etienne Capoue will be sidelined for four weeks after a scan revealed a sprained an ankle in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Arsenal. The French, which joined in the offseason from Toulouse, was taken off on a stretcher in the 72nd minute at Emirates Stadium.

Ankle injury keeps Goetze out

Midfielder Mario Goetze faces several weeks on the sidelines after a right ankle against Chelsea in the UEFA super cup. Bay-ern said that Goetze was injured in a tackle. He’ll have to wear plaster for a week and may not be able to return to full train-ing until about 10 to 14 days later. Fellow team mate Bastian Schweinsteiger earlier Saturday withdrew from those matches due to an ankle injury. Javi Martinez and Arjen Robben will miss training for several days with less severe knee injuries.

Muntari says sorry for Lesotho outburst

Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Muntari has apologized to team coach Kwesi Appiah after disputes arose between the two af-ter a World Cup qualifier. The player who plies his trade in AC Milan had been unhappy at the coach’s choice to replace him for Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu in the qualifier against Lesotho in Maseru.The coach was quoted as saying, “Apart from what happened on the pitch, Sulley also said some things to the coach in front of the other players that would sound very ugly to our listen-ers if we should repeat the same words.” The player nonethe-less rendered an apology before the next day. He said in his statement,”I write this letter to render my sincere apologies to the Management, Technical Team and the entire players of the Black Stars for my after the Lesotho/Ghana match which was played in Maseru on Sunday, 17th June 2013.” Muntari will hope to be called by Kwesi Appiah for the Ghana’s big game against Zambia on September 6 after previously be-ing frozen out of the squad.

Weligton to miss two months

Brazilian defender Weligton will be sidelined for two months after having surgery on a broken collarbone. The 33-year-old center-back suffered the injury during a recent friendly against Aston Villa. This is Weligton’s sixth season with Malaga. He helped the club earn promotion in his first season in 2007/08 and reach the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League last term.

Alonso breaks foot in training

Midfielder Xabi Alonso will be out of action for up to three months after fracturing a metatarsal in training. Another Real Madrid player, Brazil’s Marcelo, was operated for the same fracture in October 2012 which forced him to miss a total of 19 matches last season. Alonso, 31, also underwent surgery in the offseason on his back and missed Real Madrid’s preseason and their Spanish league opener last weekend.

Afellay ruled out for 4 months

Barcelona midfielder Ibrahim Afellay will be out of action for four months after undergoing extensive surgery on his right leg. The club’s official statement says Afellay had surgery on Thurs-day to treat a “chronic injury related to the muscle and tendon” in his right thigh. The 27-year-old has suffered a myriad of knee injuries since joining the squad in 2010. He underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left knee in October 2011. Afellay was on a brief loan to Schalke last season and was injured at the German team as well. He has returned to Barcelona but has not featured regularly.

Brown Ideye returns to form

Nigerian striker, Brown Ideye is back to goalscoring form after hitting in a stunner during club duties at Dy-namo Kyiv.The player got on the score sheet in the 52nd minute of Dynamo Kyiv’s 3-2 first leg playoff victory against Kazakhstani club, Aktobe at the Ortaliq Stadi-on. Ideye reacted in lightening fashion after receiving a brilliant defence-splitting pass from teammate, Lukman Haruna from the edge of the box. Keeping his composure and rounding the Aktobe keeper, he slammed it home into an unguarded net. Five minutes later, the 24-year-old Nigerian showed he was in supreme form when his sublime pass found teammate, Younes Belhanda who promptly fired in Dynamo Kyiv’s third goal on the night.

Bocchetti sidelined for six months

Spartak Moscow have been dealt an injury blow with the news that Italian defender Salvatore Bocchetti faces around six months out as he requires knee surgery. The 26-year-old sustained the injury in last weekend’s goalless draw with Rubin Kazan and tests revealed a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and a strained fibular collateral ligament. Spartak also announced that Brazilian striker Ari has completed his move to league rivals Krasnodar after putting pen to paper on a three-year deal.

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Not many would reckon with him as legendary but truly, he was. Reputed for springing off benches to appear on score sheets and skew the final result

of the match; many today don’t dare that close. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer holds stories in Old Trafford’s folklore. We serve you an ear-full

Ole Gunnar Solskjær otherwise known as ‘baby faced assassin’ is a retired Norwegian footballer, who was associated almost entirely with Man-chester United in his professional days. He com-

manded renown as a potent striker and less as a winger. He is most famously known for the winning goal he scored for Manchester United against Bayern Munich in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final, earning the moniker, ‘super sub’. is now a football manager, currently in charge of Molde.

Born 26th February, 1973 in Kristiansund, Møre og Roms-dal, Norway. Solskjær served with the Norwegian Army for a year before proceeding to third division side Clausenen-gen. He commanded admiration for his impressive stats of seventeen goals in six matches as a seventeen-year-old. He proceeded five more seasons with this side averaging more than a goal each game within this period. So impressive and influential was his stay that about 70% of the total goals scored by his side in the league were scored by him. This was in 1994.

His feats earned him a transfer to top-flight side FK Molde where he scored 20 goals in the league that year. The next season saw him take this a notch higher, bringing a goal tally to a smashing 31 in 38 games, sparking interests natu-rally from Hamburg and Cagliari who were turned down. He eventually signed for Manchester United in the sum-mer of 1996 where he was expected to be reserves cover for current strikers Eric Cantona and Andy Cole.

Flying off to dazzling starts in his first season, he ended with a handy 18 goals, overturning existing premier league fortunes and securing the title for the Old Trafford side during the final weeks of the season. He was tagged ‘The Baby faced Assassin’ by contemporary British media for his youthful looks and lethal finishing on the ball.

He commanded repute as one player who changes the outcome of the game when coming from the bench. He was described by then manager Alex Ferguson as, ’one who has a knack for sitting on the bench and never taking his eye off the ball’; hence the moniker ‘super-sub’.

Another crest in his career was his self-sacrifice of obtain- ing a red card for a foul committed on goal bound New-castle player Robert Lee. This event saw the match tied at 1-1 – a result that sustained Manchester United’s title ambitions. This etched the Norwegian player’s name on the slabs of Manchester United folklore and the hearts of faithfuls.

His influence lingered on modestly as seasons unfurled.

Playing time was however significantly reduced since the signing of Dutch striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Determinedly, he paired up with the Dutch player on few opportunities he was privileged to start in, forcing strikers Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole to the bench and ultimately out of Old Trafford. This didn’t go on for long nonetheless.

He began his first ordeal with dwindling physical form and injuries in the fall of 2003. Here, he battled with

knee problems but nonetheless, bounced back to top-flight action in spring of the next year. He nicked the man-of-the-match award in an FA Cup semi-final game against Arsenal within that period. In the fall of that same year, he underwent a knee injury that kept him out of action for the entire period of the succeeding season. United supporters

nonetheless flooded games with chants in his honour.

In winter of 2005, he made a surprise comeback to the reserve team games with many turning out to watch the player.

His pre-season tour success with Manchester United in 2006 set the chimes in his favour as he began the glim-mering season with a flying start, scoring virtually in every game.

Internationally, his pair-up with Tore Andre Flo in the na-tional team was seen as one of the greatest ever striker partnerships. He featured prominently in the !998 World Cup and Euro 2008.

This wasn’t unhindered as he had to exit several times to have a troubling knee injury operated upon that same year. Undergoing a minor one a year later – which wasa success, Solskjær unfortunately failed to recover and announced his exit from on the 27th of August 2007.

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Seven days later, a testimonial match in his honour was held. He, at his exit time held the record of the highest number of goals (28) scored as a substitute in United’s history.

Today, he’s taken on a new football role –a managerial one. Develop-ing his acumen as a reserves team manager with Man-chester United where he won the Lancashire and Manches-ter Senior Cup, he went on to

manage FK Molde (his former Norwegian club before his transfer to Manchester United) where he’s enjoyed winning the domestic league title in his first season. He’s currently their manager.

Ole is also a football ambassador. He was knighted by the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav by King Harald V of Nor-way.

The award was given to him in a ceremony on 25 October 2008 in his hometown of Kristiansund making him the youngest ever recipient of the knighthood, usually bestowed upon notable members of soci-ety in their later years.

While at Manchester, he’s played as an ambassador, play-ing with students at the Manchester United Soccer School in Hong Kong during a 2006 pre-season tour. In 2009, the Norwegian parliament awarded Solskjær its an-nual Peer Gynt Prize for his work as worthy ambassador of sport and for his “great social commitment” in a ceremony at Vinstra Hall.

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LostOnes LostOnesE

asy going Antonio never had life going on this smoothly. Earning a decent wage with a reputable Spanish club, earning five trophies in fifteen months with his club’s near leg-endary state, nursing both a football career

pointing skywards and a woman laden with his child; life seemed indeed every second worth living for.

Beginning his life’s sojourn in Spain’s most populous community – Andalusia and child to modest indigenous parents, Antonio was almost entirely associated with football from a very tender age. Seeking to establish himself as a gifted kid, he landed himself a learning opportunity with Sevilla football club’s youth training system where he would spend fourteen years of his life.Antonio established himself as a gifted left-footed play-er who operated best from the flanks as a defender or midfielder. Forming strong alliances with Jesus Navas, Jose Antonio Reyes and Kepa Blanco, he shot up to first team relevance in record time, attracting attention from the bigwigs.

In the coming season, Antonio seemed as incendiary as a two-ton nuclear bomb; waiting to burst out in fits of class, fine form and talent. He marched gallantly with his team to all relevant competitions they were playing for most memorably the UEFA Cup in which they won. He played a crucial part in this success, converting a penalty kick that buoyed the side and spurred them on to wrest the title. This time, talent scouts were already enthralled.

Attracting attention and fuelling speculations of an impending move Real Madrid, Manchester United or Arsenal, Sevilla decisively rejected every offered bid from these sides. The club was satisfied.

Seeing the season end on a tepid note, Antonio was determined to make the next count even more. Shortly after his renewed zeal, life begins to the deal the first of its ominous blows.

In their opening game of the season at home, Puerta struggles with an ailing system that eventually yields and causes a collapse – not once but several. He comes down in his team’s penalty area, clutching his chest tightly and collapsing every time he tried to get up. The onslaught continues thirty-five minutes later, requiring the active help of two other team mates who beckoned on the medics to come after it is evident he’s unrespon-sive.

The manager, leaving no other option accessible, raises another in his stead; all things being ok, Antonio attempts to get up to his feet. He does a decent job at this, coming off the pitch as his manager calls for substitution, walking all the way to the dressing room by himself.

Here, he suddenly passes out – making this the second time within the hour.

Spirited efforts from a surge of health professionals revived the ailed player, jumpstarting him to life and sustaining his health with a procedure known as cardiopulmonary resus-citation colloquially referred to as CPR.

Three days later, he departed the land of the living.

Quakes across the entire crust of the world football at the receipt of this tragedy; Puerta in death seemed more powerful. Mourners, sympathisers, comrades, kinsmen, commentators and spectators were brimming with odes.Heart wrenching images of the player tore through the

sky and spectator stands – a young man kissing his fingers. Puerta had indeed departed.

His funeral seemed mimicking of a state one. Football play-ers from all teams, kinsmen, relatives and commentators were in attendance performing traditional rites in the wake of his transition; but these didn’t end here.

Young, ambi-tious, prom-

ising and modest, Antonio Puerta was the name he popu-larly went by. as with stories of the dearly departed, he seems powerful now more than he ever was. exisiting today as a palpable energy in the reclusive prov-ince of Seville. We project a vista of his life and times in the succeeding leaves...

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LostOnesEuropean football governing body, UEFA, postponed an up-coming match of Sevilla two weeks further. A fixture with AC Milan in the super cup final featured all 22 players on the pitch with jerseys inscribed with the letters ‘PUERTA’. They also wore black armbands for mourning reasons.

Sevilla consequently retired the number 16 jersey the deceased once wore and conditioned its removal from re-

tirement on the occasion that Puerta’s unborn child would one day play for the club (there was already an expectation of a son). This gallantry was reversed as the Royal Spanish Football Federation permitted players top wear only jer-seys numbered from 1-25 with no room for manoeuvre. A friend of his while at the club wore this in his honour. Not deterred, they erected a monument in his honour before their stadium’s entrance to honour his sole effort at ship-ping the team to its first ever European Cup victory.

They also declared a one-minute silence held in honour of him before every league of the season he died.

Fellow team mates Sergio Ramos – who wore a shirt in his honour at Euro 2008 finals, and Jesus Navas wore shirts with inscriptions in his honour on Spain’s 2010 FIFA World Cup victory. The inscriptions translated in English, ‘always with us’.

Antonio Puerta Perez was aged 22 years at the time of his death. He passed on at exactly 2.30pm in the afternoon of 28th August 2007. His doctor reported the cause of death to be a condition known as ‘asarrhythmogenic right ven-tricular dysplasia’ an incurable hereditary condition that afflicts the heart. His premature demise as well as its cause puts his at par with likes of Marc Vivien Foe, Renato Curiand Serginho. He said he died from multiple cardiac arrests that caused irreversible brain damage.

He has today, joined the annals of global football’s growing list of dearly departed.

He is fondly remembered as one who still lives in our hearts and minds.

His wife eventually delivered a son.

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Featured FeaturedThe Current European football transfer market:

Global Football’s undoing?Environmentalists took to the Copenhagen Summit when the global climate seemed transitioing, Conservatives picketed the Wall Street in response to income inequality in the United States...

Soaring transfer market figures, debt-ridden clubs...yet no voice?

Ta-ta-tam! My room’s door voiced as my frantic brother tapped it repeatedly and darted in, jolting me from my reverie.

‘Yemi! Football has gone haywire ooo!!! Real Madrid has signed Bale for that craaaazy amount!’

I asked him to go over what he had just said slowly and re-state this ‘gist’- my mind all this while having clearly under-stood what he just said, was in a severe ‘unbelief’ because as far as I knew it, this couldn’t be true.

‘What are you waiting for? Come and see the club’s unveil-ing on TV right now.’

I scurried over a few books and clothes on the floor and raced to the living room.

Staring hard at the two suited men on TV, each tugging the ends of a white shirt with the inscription ‘bale 11’ on it, an avalanche of thoughts stampeded the gates of my mind and offhandedly I muttered, ‘this is unbelievable...’

Europe has always been El Dorado to world football. Ti-tans, Olympians, minions were famed for majestic reigns in history on the greens of the continent’s football stadiums before the eyes of great multitudes amidst tumults. But what’s most spectacular isn’t its presence of bigwigs and grand media buzz, it’s the cult following every football team here enjoys. So profound is this culture that new and extant human relationships are benchmarked by team support and common football interests.

These are no happenstances.

Beginning exactly 128 years ago within England and its local football authority – the FA, the concept was generally to keep players registered to their teams before the start of new seasons. This morphed into systems where bargains could then be made to exchange registered players be-tween two teams. Long story short, many other European countries adopted this practice and it has become com-

YEMI BADEJOmonplace today.

Now to the matter; we well know that every professional footballer in club football carries a ‘market’ value. This is the fair value below which a club cannot sell otherwise it

would make a loss. It is actu- ally a com- pen-sation the club is willing to receive for the termination and transfer of a player’s contract to another club. This amount is usually moderate.

Looking back a few years, top-tier clubs were willing to accept 500,000 to 10 million pounds as bids for players whose pedigrees had been established. Thus, there were no uncertainties about under-performances and ineffec-tiveness when these players eventually moved. Today we can all agree the story isn’t very much the same again. While increased sponsorships and television rights have made minefields out of domestic leagues, it has also left an offensive tinge of inflation and greed in the air. Clubs

today cannot sell players without raising eyebrows.

I’m certainly not advocating undervaluing talent. You see, when a buying club is made to table astronomi-cal bids for a player whose quality isn’t fully determined, two things are bound to happen. First, he becomes very

popular and hyped. Sometimes this pays off as it serves a stimulus to perform better. Second, the bidding club earns a reputation as a ‘big spender’ and would almost never get a fair deal for any other player in the transfer market again as selling clubs would start overvaluing their players. These repercussions could turn either way.

Zinedine Zidane who was sold for 46 million pounds in 2001 went on to become the world’s best player two years later. Fee is justified.Cristiano Ronaldo was sold in 2009 for 80 million pounds right after he had become the world’s best player. Fair deal.

Edinson Cavani was tagged and bagged for 55 million pounds this year right after he nicked in barely 3 goals in about 7 games for Uruguay at the FIFA Confederation’s Cup. Fee is outrageous.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was bought four years ago for 59 mil-lion pounds after he was declared the local league’s best foreign player. This is a huge rip-off. Bad deal.

A litany of similar stories could be told over and over again that point to this binge but I’d leave it here.

Teams outside Europe unfortunately have caught-on, bringing to the fore unethical overvaluations of budding players and stringent transfer policies that harshen con-ditions for these athletes and make it almost impossible for these players to depart to their desired clubs.

While I agree that inflation has played a major role in today’s price differential between what we have and what we used to have, there’s no shadow of doubt that clubs today are motivated by sheer greed. There’s a rea-son for this. Club ownership interests today have shifted from groups of shareholders to powerful individuals

who plough in their personal finances to help their newly ac-quired business compete and become relevant in the market. ManchesterCity, Monaco, Chelsea and Liverpool are

classic examples. Rich men take over struggling club en-tities for a few billion pounds, put in their personal funds to increase the funds availability for player trading and pen down a few ‘star’ players for amounts you are sure only the government has.This has gone on for a few years now; governing football bodies are aloof, tax authorities are jubilant, public ana-lysts are irate and supporters are mesmerized.

What this bodes is a huge credit based system with clubs piling up huge amounts of debt; many of whom may not be able to pay up. Portsmouth FC of England ran into a problem of this sort a few years ago when it seemed unlikely they would pay Arsenal and Chelsea for play-ers they purchased on credit. They were consequently banned from the market till this was sorted.

When a club starts owing, the first to suffer are the shareholders whose share values start dipping, then the players whose wages default, then the sponsors whose reputations start tinkering, and then the supporters whose followership prestige starts becoming a thing of embarrassment, after all, no one wants to have a debtor as a friend. These things operate in a vicious cycle.

‘‘Clubs today cannot sell players without raising eyebrows’’

34 35

Chelsea declared a profit of only 1.4 million pounds last year for the first time in the history of the newly takenover entity of 10 years. When compared to how much was spent on player transfers during this period (700 million pounds), your mouth would certainly gape open. Good thing here was that Chelsea had since been delist

ed from the London Stock Exchange (a decision made by the new management at the time of acquisition) and is no longer a publicly trading company.

This malignant trend unfortunately has already begun its course in the annals of these clubs’ financial records today, albeit latently.

Governing bodies ought to be more far-seeing than they are now by pre-empting and forestalling future disasters through meticulous inquiries and investigations launched into these incredulous transactions.

Bearing all these in mind, it becomes necessary that we who still behold our beloved sport – football on such high grounds in our hearts must run each other over to desper-ately redeem our pride from the hands of avaricious she-nanigans (oops!) perpetrated by today’s clubs’ administrative villains who have debased our fiery passion for this God-given sport to a charade and public ridicule of reckless spending.

Well, Gareth Bale only 48 hours ago, moved to Real Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur for a world record fee of 84.7 million pounds and believe it or not, he’s that Welsh kid you saw in Southampton six years ago.

After watching him delightedly bare his teeth and shirt number to flashing lights and cameras, I wandered off to my room and purposed in my heart now more than ever before to write this piece…

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SidelineNotes SidelineNotes...and once again, our blog post for the month that ranks an all star mark on our grade sheets...

http://sidelinenote.blogspot.com/2013/01/not-of-glass-or-brass-but-of-classreal.html

Today, We speak of an attacker who redefines convention and changes what we know foot-ball to be. Lionel Messi. A trail blazer whose blaze eclipses what we once had of football in such conspicuous fashion. Diego Maradona, Pele, Johan Cruyff, Marco Van Basten, Zinedi-ne Zidane, Ronaldinho Gaucho can all rest as luminaries of a ancient era, Messi today de-

fines what the new is.

From the Sidelines exam-ines highlights of his career. Not goals, records, wages and followership but some-thing seemingly insignificant and almost unnoticeable about this prodigy. His pro-fessional health & fitness.

2005/2006 SeasonMessi sustains a muscle tear in his right thigh on 7th March 2006 in the 23rd minute of the 2nd leg second round UEFA Champions

League game against Chelsea in which Barcelona drew 1-1 to qualify on a 3-2 aggregate to qualify for the next round.

Messi sustains a broken metatarsal on 12th November 2006 against Real Zaragoza. He was sidelined for 3 months but returned on 10th March to nail a hat-trick against Real Madrid in the traditional El-Classico league match.

2006/2007 SeasonMessi enjoys a virtually injury free season with no major health event to worry about.

2007/2008 SeasonMessi sustains a muscle tear in his left thigh on 4th March, 2008 against Celtic in a Champions League game. He was sidelined for six weeks. This injury made it the fourth of its kind occuring in three seasons for the footballer.

2008/2009 SeasonMessi as once before enjoys a virtually injury free season.

2009/2010 SeasonMessi enjoys a second consecutive injury free season.

2010/2011 SeasonMessi sustains a sprain in the internal and external ligaments of his ankle on 19th Sep-tember, 2010 courtesy a reckless tackle by Atletico Madrid defender - Tomas Ujfa-lusi. At first glance, commentators opined that a broken ankle had occurred and the forward might be out for 6 moths with a broken ankle. He returned two months later on 20th November, 2010.

2011/2012 SeasonMessi once again enjoys a virtually injury free season.

Looking at this you are compelled to admire the chap’s fitness and minimal proneness to injury. Agile, fast, dexterous and influential. Amidst these accolades and sterling performances, here, you have your typical legend.

From the Sidelines seconds any motion directed at erecting a huge golden effigy of Lionel Messi at the front of the Nou Camp stadium. Hail the Maestro!

38 39

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I worry greatly for the future of club football. Talent is unsustainable; money is preponderant; rising charlatans.

Tuvi Imeh, Jos, Nigeria.Last time we saw a super cup final that intense was a long time ago. #BringBackOldTimes

Roland Zaleya, Cape Coast, Ghana.

England is definitely going to win the world cup now…

Joe Greene, Freetown, Liberia.

Neymar cutting in from the left, Messi from the right; now all they need is Guardiola back and you have a life-time legend Barcelona.

Lagat Onyango, Nairobi, Kenya.

David Moyes, I will personally imprison you if you don’t meet up Ol’ fergie’s expectations.

Theo Barakatu, Kaduna, Nigeria.

Keshi get us the desired results and stop trading words with Malawi’s head coach

Nick Koruna, Abia, Nigeria.

Moyes still can’t get his hands on blue-chip players in this transfer.

Ndyaku Christian, Gulu, Uganda.

Sad to have such a youngster pass away again. Heart problems are a leading cause of football player deaths. FIFA’s gotta look deeper into this and initiate more elabo-rate protocols for detecting this early in susceptible athletes. Spandam Keshar, Elmina, Ghana.

Spain no longer world’s best. Brazil has indeed come to stay; nice bravery boys.

Remi Adelakun, Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Kano Pillars in automobile crash that wounds almost the entire team. We need to really start looking after our own. Accidents this frequently? Why?

Dikko Akhumzi, Epworth, Zimbabwe.

Even Segun Odegbami is enthusiastically rubbing his palms to watch Chelsea this season…*shrug* talk of class.

Tola Adeoye, Lagos, Nigeria.

Yeah Anichebe, been long since I heard about you. Great luck on your transfer to West Brom, you should thrive.

Kojo Reuters, Cape Coast, Ghana.

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Graph showing substance use relative to total samples taken

SidelineHealth SidelineHealthDoping on the rise again?Sampler’s axe; athlete’s haven...never ending paradox...

Recent reports making the rounds have raised dust about this phenomenon we once thought was defeated in football. New stories indicting players for drug use are rife.

Last month, two cases of doping were discovered sepa-rately in the Jamaican and Tahitian international football teams but neither specifically named any player. Doping possibilities are rumoured to exist behind years of German football success investigations reveal. A Zimbabwean player was suspended after being found positive to doping tests. A Moroccan player has been provisionally suspended for 30 days after failing a doping test. Australian club Essendon has been slapped with a world record fine of 1.2 million pounds and a ban of 6 months after being found guilty of trying ‘experimental’ supplements on players.

These items portend a disturbing streak.

Football unlike many other sports enjoys a low incidence of drug abuse or performance enhancing medications but suffering more from recreational drug abuse. Testing is not scheduled and frequent in this sport because being a team sport, enhanced individual performance isn’t a determinant of overall success. Testing protocols have not been adopted by many countries’ football governing body (Albania, Argen-tina, Australia, England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain being the most famous adherents) largely due to a lack of enforcement by the overall football governing body (FIFA) which has conservatively released a banned substance list that is reviewed annually. Though since 2006, they ratified the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) protocol.

Substances consumed by athletes aimed at boosting physi-cal and mental performance is used to gain unfair advantage in competitions. These unfair advantages include; quick reaction time, low fatigue rate, increased muscle strength and so on. Footballers are not exempted from these practic-es. Many of them settle for highly sophisticated substances that leave trace amounts too little to be detected by most conventional testing methods; encouraging long term use of these substances. More dexterously, two or more other sub-stances are employed to mask the use of such performance enhancers so that urine tests reveal only these ‘masks’ that aim to increase the absorption and digestion of the enhanc-er.

The cumulative adverse effects of these substances howev-er, build up and pre-dispose these players (often after many years of retirement) to systemic anomalies and chronic diseases. A phenomenon of this sort is happened in Italy after investigations revealed the mysterious deaths of about 4 retired footballers in the past 19 years. On recreational drug use, it’s more of professional negli-gence, low ethics and moral standards. Diego Maradona so far has been the most famed in this area. Former Chelsea player Adrian Mutu follows closely after. When recreational drugs are used, they often bear no advantage to the ath-

lete’s perfor-mance. Rather, they portend the greater risk of unstable mental behav-iour in users and a potential hazard to fellow team-mates. These cases often entail substances (Co-

caine, Opium, Morphine, Heroin etc.) that are regulated and prohibited by most countries’ Drug Laws. Maradona and Mutu’s cases involved use of Cocaine.On banned substance use, the first reports given above clearly typify this. A number of cases through history show a recurring decimal of violation amongst footballers. Two years ago, Ivorian defender Kolo Toure was banned for six months after testing positive for Ephedrine – a stimulant. Unfortunately, the account given by the player points to use of his wife’s pill to control his weight; he earned a suspen-sion of 6 months.

‘Football Clubs who usually are protective of their image, pre-empt investigators from testing institutes by putting away players they suspect’ a statement of UK Independent Sampling Officers (ISO) read.

CasesIn Serie A, Inter Milan’s Mohamed Kallon and Parma’s Ma-nuele Blasi were banned after testing positive for nanrolone

in September 2003.

In the 2002-03 season, Rushden & Diamonds goal-keeper Billy Turley was let off with a mere warning after being found to have taken the anabolic steroid nandrolone.[15] He was later banned for six months for testing positive for cocaine, which is deemed to be a recreational drug, becoming the only player so far to be banned after a domestic league match.

Middlesbrough’s Abel Xavier was banned in No-vember 2005 from football for 18 months by UEFA for taking anabolic steroids after testing positive for dianabol after a UEFA Cup match on 29 September 2005. He is the first player in Premiership history to be banned for using performance-enhancing sub-stances, as opposed to recreational drugs.

In January 2007, Stan Lazaridis, playing for Perth Glory, returned a positive drug test for prescription alopecia medication, which is banned due to its po-tential as a masking agent for other perforomance enhancing substances. He was found guilty by Aus-tralian Sports Anti-Doping Authority and was given a 12-month suspension from football. He had not taken the prohibited substance to mask a perfor

mance enhancing drug but for legitimate therapeutic pur-poses as prescribed by his doctor.

The tribunal, however, held that an anti-doping violation had occurred and ordered the player ineligible to play for 12 months, backdated to the date of hispositive test.

KS Besa defender Alban Dragusha was suspended for 24 months by UEFA after testing positive on 19 July 2007 for a high concentration of nandrolone metabolites after a UEFA Cup match in Belgrade.

On 29th October 2004, English club Chelsea FC sacked striker Adrian Mutu after testing positive for cocaine. The player admitted the use of the substance was to enhance his sexual performance. Chelsea demanded a damages fee of 13.8 million pounds being a fraction of what was paid to buy him from Parma his former club.

DID YOU KNOW?

44 45

1. Which of the following players has been indicted with prohibited substance use?a. Marc Vivien Foe b. Nicolas Anelka c. Mohammed Kallon d. Ivan Campo

2. In which year did FIFA adopt the World Anti-doping Agency’s protocol for player testing?

a. 1995 b. 2006 c. 1987 d. 2001

5. Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or award how many times?a. 2 b. 4 c. 6 d. 3

3. Outside exhibition matches, the maximum number of substitutions a coach can make is…

a. 3 b. 7 c. 5 d. 4

4. Which would be fall under recreational drug use?a. Nandrolone b. Betamethasone c. Ephedrine d. Heroin

Please send your correct answers tocontact@thesidelinereel.com

Our Q & A Booty is a brand new Samsung s4 galaxy phone

48 49

Giggles Giggles

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Pep Guardiola talks less and thinks more. Jose’s the converse.T.O. AC Milan loyalist

C’mon! You hardly managers with experiences from varied football cultures turning out commercial successes consistently. Mourinho’s veteran, Pep’s lucky.B.B. Made of Manchester

Two handsome men that don’t deliver the same charm to their football; Guardiola’s certainly more attractive. Z.D. Arsenal’s only

Porto, Chelsea, Inter, Madrid…drab playing styles, silverware nonetheless. M.N. Rabidly Anfield’s

Jose delivers sparks, glimmers and raises hopes; Guardiola conceives reigns and founds dynasties.J.K. Unattached

Bright starts never substitute for experience. Fathers over sons.H.L. Ex-White Hart Lane sage

When possession styled play fails, any more ideas? Better to pull out old tricks and save the new ones for later. Efficiency over entertainment. Way to go Jose!G.A. Arsenal’s truly

First, I’m not sure he’s as multilingual as Jose. Second, I don’t think he is as intelligent.N.M. Red Devil

Truly, there’s no basis for comparison; Science is applicable, art is aesthetic. Jose is greater.Y.U. AC Milan from antiquity

Young and promising, the other’s old and beaten. After taking the sky in record time, the galaxy as the next only seems natural. True Catalan.H.K. German football enthusiast

50% 50%

Last month, we had an avalanche of responses with stands that vacillated between the intelligent, amusing and out rightly derisive. We bring you a

snapshot of some of these reviews and the state of play in our chat rooms with the screaming stats…

So, this month we ask...

vs

who would you rather field more often?

Louis SAHA, Everton

Michael OWEN, Liverpool

fromthesidelinesradio

frmthesidelines

Please send your verdicts to the underlisted addresses

54 55

Opinion OpinionSuper Falcons: Giants locally, Neonates

globally…

‘…and it’s a goaaaal. Goaaaal!’ croaked the commentator above the stadium’s public address system as Mercy Akide – Nigeria’s towering striker, had just nicked in a goal to bring the humiliating score line to 8-0 against the female Moroccan football team in the Women’s African nation’s Cup.

The year was 1998 and Nigeria from the outset of this game, incised and shredded whatever resembled a Moroc-can defence. It was a horrendous whitewash indeed.

The onslaught didn’t end here.

Nigeria rampaged through the entire tournament leaving many teams giddy in their wake and scoring a total of 28 goals, conceding none. You begin to wonder if the backline was rendered in bronze and steel.

This luminous feat qualified the Super Falcons for the FIFA Women’s World Cup the next year and Nigerians were by every means keen. Ceremonial honours and fanfare greet-ed the team’s departure to the United States of America – the host nation of the tournament.

Nigeria trudged out gallantly against the North Korean team in the two’s opening group stage game. Nigeria emerged victorious with a single goal margin win. The final score was 2-1. We were not surprised. We colourfully spurred them on from home.

Our next fixture was reputed to be apocalyptic as we were billed to face the host country USA who was famed for a relentlessly raging attack. We nonetheless saw ourselves equal to the task in every way.

The game eventually flagged off before a teeming multi-tude of 65,000 in the Chicago climate. Seconds, minutes, several minutes, Nigeria seemed in straits. We were denied possession in every square metre of the pitch. The Ameri-cans had a real go at us. By the final scream of the referee’s whistle we were submerged in our own dung. We were behind, way behind. The final score was a 7-1 defeat.

Being human, what I find most amazing about our stock is that though we display high levels on intelligence in life subsistence, we exude very remarkable qualities of forgetfulness and short-term memories. We can be very very forgetful.

Spectators at home began jibes and banters about how weak and amateurish our Falcons were.

At times like this, every man touts to have a divine knowledge of football. They begin to analyse match scenarios in hindsight and proffer what should have been done. Utterly sad indeed!

Three days later, ‘our girls’ saved our faces and humbled Nordics the Danish team. We went on nick a total of six points that qualified us as the group’s second placed team. We were billed to meet Brazil in the knockout phase of the tournament.

In an encounter replete with goals from either side, Nigeria eventu-ally bowed out with a 4-3 loss. Our girls returned coyly. We embraced them nonetheless (we are appreciative people when it comes our very own). Setting our gaze on future competitions, we were optimistic.

Nigeria won the local continental tournament again the following year but bowed out embarrassingly in the Olympic games of the same year. Two years later, a sterling display saw us clinch the Afri

can Nation’s Cup for the third time in a row but the World Cup of the

following year; we were chased out of the competition in the quarter finals.

Football evokes intense feelings that vacillate between neg-ative and positive extremes. A sterling display from your favourite team can endear you so romantically to the sport, a lacklustre feat and your ire erupts. This yo-yo streak has pre-dominated the followership of the Nigerian Falcons. We see behemoths today, charlatans tomorrow. A number of reasons come to the fore upon close scrutiny.

The Nigerian Falcons draw heavily on individual playing styles coupled with team co-ordination. Each player ad-vances the ball as far her abilities take her, waiting team mates in position are eager to

receive the sent pass and further advance the ball. This leaves voids that are not efficiently covered in the event of a turnover. This flaw is evident when ‘our girls’ attack. When defending, each player closest to the ball attempts a tackle and is drawn out of position. This leaves canyons in

defence which swiftly attacking oppositions effectively cap-italise on. Most African teams who we usually confront in local tournaments lack effective co-ordination to swoop in on this debacle, so it always turns out that in every match

we win locally, we invariably enjoyed all the ball possession.

More organized and tactically astute teams always expose these tactical problems. Our coaching crew who may have a smattering knowledge of things like this in theory cannot translate these to realities because they require the whole team to understand; not a few experienced foreign trained players.

Until this is dealt with, we would keep enduring peaks and troughs in our blood pressures as spectators. Recent tournaments in Africa have seen us gradually lose our ‘indomitable’ ground as multiple successive title hold-ers; 2008 and 2012 being stark pointers. I love our Falcons with all of my heart, but oh boy! It can be a tall order sometimes cheering a sitting duck.Local invincibility; global vulnerability.

Girls! Wake up please.

OBIORA NJOKU

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OpinionDanny Welbeck: Ripe for Oscar Awards?

Oh! You certainly know him; ‘Nigerian’ looking, towering, punk styled and lanky. A blossom-ing acting career seems brewing in the offing for the 22-year-old Longshire-born English forward; one in professional stuntsmanship

bearing in mind recent ‘displays’ in the Premier league.

Swift, efficient and tactically apt, Danny emerges every manager’s choice when strict compliance to tactical regi-men is desired. Balancing team midfield and attack with his individual attributes, he easily ousts more popular Wayne Rooney in crunch fixtures for playing time.

British players have always been reputed to possess a method-ical ap-proach to kick-ing the ball. Po-sitioning, mentali-ty, co-or-dination and strategy – tenets gleaned

from blue chip corporate English bureaus at the wake of the Industrial Revolution; Danny is not left out here. This contrasts what obtains in ‘heathen’ cultures where kicking the ball is made to appear more of an art. Such cultures refer particularly to the Iberian and Portuguese ones. ‘Rabona’, ‘Trivela’, ‘Nutmeg’ ‘Elastico’ (which Ronaldinho is most famed for) describe a few of native theatrics. The style difference between both cultures often turns out respon-sible most times for the ‘loss of adaptation’ newbies face after having crossed the Iron Curtain to either side during transfers. Football theatrics encompass on and off the ball situations; many of which demand dramatic art ability. On the ball, Brazilians would almost be universally tipped as ancestors; Pele, Ronaldinho, Denilson, Ronaldo de Lima. Off the ball in the way of dives and deception, the scale would favour Spaniards more – most notably Barcelona’s Pedro Rodriguez

Ledesma.Here, we’ve got a footballer with British efficiency and Spanish cunning – a quality shared with fellow team mate Ashley Young. Tough match, high pitch tension, threatening score line and ex-pectant fans jitter the English forward and pronto, he’s on the floor feigning a fall from a non-existent and fictitious tackle made by the opposition player. Mixed reactions erupt from the stands as his

team’s manager and coaching crew cry foul from their docks push-ing evidently for a favourable referee call for a challenge that never occurred on the player. The referee makes a call and blows for a spot kick booking the unfortunately framed player. United earn a penalty and convert the opportunity. Replays are all over the mega screens demonstrating such acting ability from Danny and the wrongness of the referee’s call. The crowd jeers.

Post-match interviews with the player have him speaking repeat-edly of how United deserved the game and how hard he worked. (Huh?) He signs off lauding the credibility of the referee’s call and the tenacity of the opposition. Great work of art indeed!

Hollywood thespians ceremoniously gather annually at an event at the beginning of each year, to celebrate, monumentalize and cri-tique outstanding works of art. This event, The Oscars: The Amer-ican Academy Awards features celebrities from every life walk. Reports have it that submission of art works for review and nomi-nation into award categories have begun already in anticipation of next year’s. Is Manchester United submitting video reels of Danny’s stuntmanship art for review? I think they should.

BOYO WHITLER

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Spectacles&AcesSidelineMoments

Reaching this stage with us is indeed noteworthy, we must thus congratulate you on your progress so far. As you may well know, football has had its very generous share of peaks and valleys that interplay in varyiing trends throughout the space of 90 minutes. We’ve explored a notable few, bringing to the fore

handfuls of such evocative events and reeling their magic, real time effects and untold dimensions to the larger community.

We have colloquially dubbed these ‘Sideline Moments’ - an expression that conveys our most unique presenta-tion in this issue. Sit tight, relax and enjoy the engaging graphic action whose curtains are now being unfurled for your viewing pleasure.

They are in counts of ten with the least scintillating starting from the tenth all the way to the first - which is the most.

Jerzy Dudek’s save of Andriy Shevchenko’s penalty kick10

Story: The penalty shootout was next after Liverpool showed incredible resilience levelling the game 3-3 after being three goals down at the end of first half. Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez had told his wife before the game that he was going to win the champions league before he turned 45. Tension was high, very high indeed.

Period in history: Summer of 2005

Spectacle: Seeing Jerzy Dudek do the ‘spaghetti legs’ in an attempt to distract pen-alty takers. It worked; the first penalty flew over the bar, the second was struck out by him.

Ace: Saving the last AC Milan penalty after Liverpool had just wasted two.

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Spectacles&AcesLuis Nani’s high foot Lionel Messi’s dubious goal 9 8

Story: Manchester United had already secured a convenient draw away and were hoping to win at home to scale past Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League’s sec-ond round knockout games. All seemed well with United dominating the game before an aerial ball saw Nani jump with his leg outstretched, attempting to kick the ball be-side Higuain’s chest. Replays almost insinuated Nani intended to kick the player. The referee sternly sent him off. This drew the ire of Manchester United fans who already thought ‘they’ had won this game.

Period in history: April 2013

Spectacle: Aerial ball trap looking like a flying kick at Alvaro Arbeloa’s chest.

Ace: Real Madrid capitalised on the one-man deficit to overturn the game in the next fifteen minutes.

Story: Argentine forward Lionel Messi replicated Diego Maradona’s ‘hand of God’ goal of 1986 in a league match against Espanyol when he attempted heading in a corner but craftily used his palms instead. Mainstream media were full of accolades; oppos-ing fans, scorns, when many believed a year before that he dived to get Asier Del Hor-no sent off and give Barcelona the edge in knockout stages of the Champions League.

Period in history: June 2007

Spectacle: Images in the media that compared both his goal and Maradona’s

Ace: The goal put Barcelona ahead and went on to show Messi really personifies the legend especially since this was the second time he successfully did this.

Spectacles&Aces

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Spectacles&Aces Joe Hart protects Rio Ferdinand . Pierre Wome’s ‘golden’ penalty kick7 6

Story: The Manchester derby had seen a show of goals flying in. United had gone two goals up but was neutralised from the resilient Manchester City side. The winning goal came from a long range set piece from Robin Van Persie who was profusely congratulated by team mates. Rio Ferdinand chants victoriously before fans of the home team – Manchester city and was stoned above his left eye which bled conspicuously. A perturbed fan rushed at Rio Ferdinand but was treated as an intruder and warded off by Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart who should have been depressed about the score line. This went down well with a few spectators and earned their respect on social media platforms after the match.

Period in history: December 2012

Spectacle: Racing man in mufti causing a stir

Ace: The protective instinct of the young English goalie towards his national team captain

Story: Cameroun had trudged against all odds into the men’s football finals of the 2000 summer Olympics in Sydney. They faced a buoyant Spanish side that were tipped to be the tournament’s favourite. The game ended 2-2 after extra time and crept to the shootout. Cameroun nicked in all four attempts before Pierre’s while Spain had nicked in just 3 and wasted one. The left back confidently approached the penalty spot knowing fully well that scoring this would earn Cameroun their first ever Olympic football gold medal. He struck the ball well, sending the keeper to the wrong direction but seemed a little in shock until he was mobbed by jubilant team mates who already had their shirts off in triumph.

Period in history: 2000 Summer Olympics

Spectacle: His seeming unawareness at his team’s joy

Ace: Earning Cameroun their first ever Olympic gold medal in this sport

Spectacles&Aces

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Spectacles&AcesSpectacles&Aces Mourinho’s rage at Chelsea’s disqualified goal Mirko Vucinic’s popular strip5 4

Story: Blackburn had put up a very decent defensive peformance against Chelsea’s repeated attack. It finally gave way when a through ball found right back Juliano Beletti in position to nick the ball in. Chelsea went agog in celebration of the goal hoping they would come out strong enough to oust table leaders Manchester United but were horrified when the linesman’s flag stayed up, disqualifying the goal. Replays stated otherwise and drew additional ire from the already fuming Chelsea head coach Jose Mourinho. He relentlessly protested before four match officials who eventually warned him off. Chelsea drew the game 0-0.

Period in history: 2007 Summer Premier League games

Spectacle: Mourinho’s unending rage at the match officials. He pointed a replay screen to them and told them to have a look

Ace: Blackburn came all the way to Stamford Bridge to ensure they were not humiliated. They succeeded.

Story: Juventus struggled hard to find the back of the net but seemed futile in every attempt. The game went on to the final 20 minutes when it appeared fortune smiled on them. They scored two goals to nick a win against resistant side Pescara. The tow-ering forward being a part in the triumph celebrated one of his goals with a strip off of his shorts, revealing white underwear. FIFA who has penalised celebrating shirt re-movals with referee bookings has no current provision for short removals; the referee nonetheless booked the Serbian.

Period in history: April 2013 Serie A League match

Spectacle: The strip-off most definitely

Ace: Juventus earned a highly valued three points so in a way, we can understand his excitement.

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Spectacles&Aces Spectacles&Aces John Terry’s head cleared with the ball Nigeria’s U-17s are world champions3 2

Story: Chelsea fights head-on in a Carling Cup final with bitter rivals Arsenal. The score 1-1 and the game approaches its end. A corner kick is sent into Arsenal’s 18-yard but is quickly defend-ed, John Terry attempts heading the rebound as Abu Diaby clears the ball with his foot; clearing his head with it. John Terry is knocked unconscious and immobile for several minutes. Some think he’s dead.

Period in history: February 2007 Carling Cup final

Spectacle: The visible shock of nearby Arsenal and Chelsea players. A stretcher is vehemently beckoned.

Ace: John Terry was successfully revived and returned before the game ended but had no memory of the incident.

Story: Coach Yemi Tella guided a group of underrated boys to the world cup finals in a fashion reminiscent of epic sports movies. The team sailed through every stage of the competition easily, delivering results that were redolent of class. This seemed great for the Nigerian spectators as they bore memories of the Nigerian squad that made it to the FIFA World Youth Championship final but were unfortunately short changed by winners Argentina.

Period in history: September 2007 U-17 World Cup finals

Spectacle: Seeing Spain goof all their three penalty attempts

Ace: Nigeria was bestowed a consolation for the near miss of two years back. It was also a relief from what was being obtained at the senior team level.

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Spectacles&AcesWhen Fabrice Muamba died for 78 minutes1

Story: Bolton Wanderers were visitors to Tottenham Hotspur in a quarter final match of the FA Cup. Everyone’s attention was on Gareth Bale’s dart along the left wing and a swinging cross he attempted delivering but went out of play. When the Bolton keep-er steps in to make a goal kick punt, the game is momentarily halted as the referee’s attention turns to the Congolese midfielder who lies face down on the floor clutching his chest and breathing laboriously. Things don’t seem to get better as this is initially thought to be a slight problem. This goes on for several minutes.

Period in history: March 2012 FA Cup match

Spectacle: When a Tottenham fan runs into the pitch to give a helping hand to the developing emergency.

Ace: when it turns out the running Tottenham fan is a consultant cardiologist and offered vital life support to Fabrice and prevented a death. The British FA decided to review and amend their rules that formerly prevented fans from entering the pitch during match time.

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Credits CreditsRobinhohttp://www4.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Robinho+AC+Milan-+v+Brescia+Calcio+Serie+3F2KO6Kb8rTl.jpghttp://d.yimg.com/i/ng/sp/em-pics/20110216/15/3185822613-16022011154233.jpghttp://www1.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Robinho+AC+Milan-+v+Genoa+CFC+Serie+prhpbJGxROel.jpg

Luis Suarezhttp://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Football/Pix/pic-tures/2013/5/31/1370020804357/-Luis-Suarez-008.jpg

Jonathan de Guzmanhttp://thepremierleagueowl.com/wp-content/up-loads/2013/06/jonathan-de-guzman-swansea-620.jpg

Darren Gibsonhttp://resources0.news.com.au/imag-es/2009/12/02/1225806/022624-dtstory-darren-gibson.jpg

Paul Bayssehttp://dailyfootballclub.fr/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Baysse.jpg

Ilkay Gundoganhttp://sabotagetimes.com/wp-content/uploads/Ilkay-Gun-dogan-1.jpeg

Mario Balotellihttp://www.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Balotelli-AC-Getty.jpg

Cesc Fabregashttp://www2.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Cesc+Fabre-gas+New+Zealand+v+Spain+FIFA+Confederations+GTld-mi_BzYSl.jpg

Lukas Podolskihttp://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article8340990.ece/ALTERNATES/w460/v2-web-arsenal-getty.jpg

Vincent Kompanyhttp://images.footballfancast.com/players/300px/man-city/Vincent-Kompany.jpg

Man utd logohttp://www.examiner.com/images/blog/EXID42482/imag-es/ManU_Logo_JpegSmall.jpg

Mba Leyehttp://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Photo/competi

...the following are Picture links used throughout this entire issue, we profoundly appreciate these sources...

tions/DomesticLeague/01/94/66/07/1946607_w2.jpg

Thiago Alcantrahttp://i.eurosport.com/2013/06/21/1031224-16614872-640-360.jpg

Klaas Jan Huntelaarhttp://answers.bettor.com/images/Articles/thumbs/extralarge/Schalke-insist-Klaas-Jan-Huntelaar-will-stay-at-the-club-and-hon-our-his-contract-Bundesliga-news-90225.jpg

SV Hamburghttp://uefaclubs.com/images/Hamburger-SV@2.-other-logo.png

Higuainhttp://i.huffpost.com/gen/1270941/thumbs/o-HIGUAIN-570.jpg?1

Claudio Marchisiohttp://www.ilblogdialessandromagno.it/wp-content/up-loads/2012/12/Claudio-Marchisio.jpg

Lionel Messihttp://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Football/Pix/pic-tures/2008/04/23/MessiMichaelReganAction460.jpghttp://img.bleacherreport.net/img/images/pho-tos/001/535/259/137126574_crop_north.jp-g?w=340&h=234&q=75

Tom Saintfiedhttp://www.channelstv.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/nffnewdirector.jpg

FIFA Logohttp://news.shaftfmonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/FIFA_logo.jpg

Mario Gotzehttp://media.bundesliga.com/media/images/12_bl_com/628x353/diagola_goetze_628+.jpg

Xabi Alonsohttp://i762.photobucket.com/albums/xx268/unamadridista/un-amadridista9/2013-01-15cinco.jpg

Sulley Muntarihttp://todaygh.com/files/2012/05/Sulley_Muntari.jpg

Salvatore Bocchettihttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Salvatore_Bocchetti_2013.jpg/240px-Salvatore_Bocchetti_2013.jpg

Brown Ideyehttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Brown_Ideye.jpg

Ole Gunnar Solskjaerhttp://www.icons.com/blog/image.axd?pic-ture=2011%2F10%2Fsolskjaer+resized.jpghttp://thomspor85.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/solsk-jaer-red-card.jpghttp://static.sportskeeda.com/wp-content/up-loads/2012/11/Solksjaer-948453.jpghttp://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/pho-tos/000/958/375/1210800_display_image.jpg?1306182890

Andriy Shevchenkohttp://www.theasiankop.com/wp-content/up-loads/2013/05/dudek-1.jpg

Antonio Puertahttp://swotti.starmedia.com/tmp/swotti/cacheYW50B-25PBYBWDWVYDGE=UGVVCGXLLVBLB3BSZQ==/imgAnto-nio%20Puerta2.jpghttp://www.football-cover.com/football_wallpaper/anto-nio_puerta.jpghttps://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2js7IOQIpAY/ScJ9jY5h-1VI/AAAAAAAAAO0/3FwELpcqZxk/antonio%252520puerta.jpghttp://u.goal.com/228300/228379.jpg

Puerta’s wifehttp://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/21300000/Ai-tor-Antonio-Puerta-wags-21352253-340-499.jpg

Edinson Cavanihttp://www.franskfotball.com/franskfotball/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Edinson-Cavani_2732857.jpg

Zlatan Ibrahimovichttp://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2010/08/30/c65f4fe65d7948c6b8c23bbf6fd399fb.jpg

Adrian Mutuhttps://static-secure.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Football/Clubs/Club_Home/2009/8/3/1249334850481/Adrian-Mu-tu-001.jpg

Mohammed Kallonhttp://www.sierraconnection.com/kallon.jpg

Substitution imagehttp://www.soccerclassroom.com/wp-content/up-loads/2012/12/soccer-substitution-rule.jpg

Louis Sahadu8znpjowa92.cloudfront.net/wp-content/up-loads/2011/02/louis-saha-everton.jpg

Michael Owenhttp://www.theoffside.com/files/2010/09/michael-ow-en-liverpool.jpg

Danny Welbeckhttp://talksport.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/tscouk_old_image/Danny_Welbeck_2.jpg?itok=piyWuPwS

http://cdn2.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/im-age/18831923/179190874.0_standard_352.0.jpg

Andriy Shevchenkohttp://www.theasiankop.com/wp-content/up-loads/2013/05/dudek-1.jpg

John Terryhttp://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/04_02/082terryD-M_468x331.jpgLuis Nanihttp://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/03/06/article-0-187653B8000005DC-926_634x496.jpg

Joe Hart/Ferdinandhttp://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multimedia/ar-chive/00363/118157366_football_363997c.jpg

Pierre Womehttp://www.arhiva.serbia.gov.rs/g3/images/football3009.jpg

Jose Mourinhohttp://www.flickr.com/photos/doro-thy201305/8933621616/sizes/z/in/photostream/

Marko Vucinichttp://in2eastafrica.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Juventus-striker-Mirko-Vucinic-waves-his-shorts-as-he-cele-brates-after-scoring-against-Pescara.jpg

Nigeria U-17http://mediablackberry.com/temp/27327.jpg

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