FIFA hammer dangles on Nigeria

Unless there's a last minute resolution of the recurring crisis in Nigerian football, the reigning African champions will be hammered by FIFA. 

A possible ban for an unspecified period may be placed on the West African country.
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The administrator of a club known as Nembe City took the Nigerian football federation to court and got an injunction to sack the entire board. His name is Robson Baribote.
The order instructed the sports minister to appoint a sole administrator to manage the affairs of Nigerian football pending the final court judgement to be delivered on 11th July, 2014.

On his arrival from Brazil,  the NFF president was arrested by the police and quizzed for several hours before being released later in the day. The police wanted to know how the government fund was spent on the World campaign of the country.

FIFA has now instructed the Nigerian government to reinstall the board members of NFF not later than 8th July, 2014. Failure to do so may force the Zurich based association to ban Nigeria from taking part in international football.

The state FAs have  finally sacked the entire board of the Nigerian Football Federation after passing a vote of no confidence on the Aminu Maigari led body. An electoral committee has been inaugurated to oversee elections in August.

FIFA Awards for 2013

The Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) has announced the top three nominees for the 2013 World player of the year which is known as "Ballon d'or award".

Lionel Messi is in the running to win his 5th successive award in a row.  The Argentine and Barcelona player is currently sidelined with an injury.  He has scired plenty of goals for both club and country in 2013.

He also led Barcelona to the Spanish primera liga title in May.

Cristiano Ronaldo is also on the list that was released in Zurich, Switzerland.  The Portuguese star was instrumental to the qualification of Portugal for the Brazil 2014 World cup. The former Manchester United player scored four goals against Sweden in the play off games that were played last month.

He led Real Madrid to the semi final of the UEFA champions league and his club finished as runners up in the Spanish league and King's cup.

He's the joint top scorer in the on going Spanish league with 15 goals.

Frank Ribery won the UEFA player of the season award after helping Bayern Munich to win a treble. His club won the UEFA champions league, German Bundesliga and German cup.

The Frenchman was also pivotal to the qualification of his country for next year's World cup in Brazil.

Jurgen Klopp, Heynckens and Alex Fergusson are I three nominees for coach of the year award while Neymar's goal against Japan was nominated for the Puskas goal of the year award. 

The award night will be held in January 2014.

Ronaldo favoured to win Ballon d'or

Cristiano Ronaldo is leading the race to win this year's FIFA Ballon d'or award. The Portuguese star helped Portugal to qualify for Brazil 2014 World cup in a grand style.  The 2008 World best player scored a hat trick against Sweden in Stockholm after his eye catching flying header gave his team a 1-0 win in Lisbon 

Ronaldo continued his scoring spree by netting his 68th goal of 2013 in Real Madrid's 5-0 thumping of Almeria over the weekend. 

FIFA's decision to extend the voting of the award winner till next Friday is an indication that the soccer ruling body want to ensure that Ronaldo gets the award ahead of Lionel Messi who is currently nursing an injury.

The incitement by FIFA that voters can edit their previous choice is another pointer towards Ronaldo's quest to win the award for the second time in his career.

Latest FIFA rankings round up

The monthly Coca Cola FIFA ranking for the month of September has been released. Spain is still on the number one spot despite playing a 2-2 draw against Chile in a friendly international.

Argentina has moved to an all-time high on the log. The 'Albaceleste' has been very impressive in their World cup qualifiers by winning 90% of their games. Their latest win was a 5-2 win over Paraguay in Asuncion.

Germany dropped to the third spot on the log despite their recent win in the Brazil 2014 qualifiers.

Uruguay are 4th,Colombia is placed 5th while Belgium now occupies the 6th spot.

Portugal are ranked 7th even though they went down 3-1 against Brazil on Tuesday.

World cup hosts,Brazil are now 8th in the world. The Confederations cup champions defeated Australia and Portugal in their recent matches.

Netherlands are ninth while Croatia are 10th.

Meanwhile,England has slipped to 17th. The three lions have now recorded their poorest rating in 12 years due to an uninspiring World cup qualifiers campaign.

In Africa, Cote d'Ivoire remains the highest ranked team. The Elephants have dropped to 19th in the World. Ghana is Africa's number 2,while Algeria is in the third position with a global rank of 28.

African champions Nigeria surprising dropped to the 36th position in the world,but 4th in Africa. The Super Eagles of Nigeria have won their last three games.
Stephen Keshi's men defeated South Africa 2-0,Malawi 2-0 and Burkina Faso 4-1.

Cuba vs Nigeria preview

Flying Eagles of Nigeria

The FIFA under 20 world youth championship in Turkey has reached its second round of matches in the group phase. Cuba will take on Nigeria on Monday evening. The North Americans surrendered a 1-0 lead against South Korea. The Spanish speaking country are making their debut at the tournament while Nigeria have been to this tournament on nine occasions.
The flying eagles lost to Portugal by 3-2 on Friday. The 2005 silver medalists came from 2-0 down to tie the match at 2-2 after 67 minutes, but Bruma scored the winning goal for Portugal two minutes later.

Nigeria will have to beat the Cubans if they intend to progress beyond the group stage of Turkey 2013. Players like Abdul-Jeleel Ajagun and Kayode Olanrewaju are some of the players to watch out for.

Coach John Ibuh has promised Nigerians that the team will go out for an outright victory.

Kick off time: 15:00 GMT
Date: 24th June,2013.

African teams turned apart in Turkey

The African teams at the ongoing FIFA under 20 world cup in Turkey have started on a poor note. The 2009 World youth champions,Ghana lost 3-1 to France in their opening group match. The West Africans were losing finalists at the African youth championship in Algeria.

Nigeria were also beaten by another European opposition. Portugal defeated John Obuh's tutored team by 3-2 on Friday. The 2011 African youth champions came from 2-0 down to tie the game at 2-2 after 67 minutes of action, but they conceded a third goal two minutes later.

Mali surrendered their 1-0 lead against Paraguay on Saturday. The West Africans settled for a 1-1 draw.

On Sunday, Egypt were beaten 2-1 by Chile. The African youth champions took the lead in the 10th minute,but goals from Cuevar and Bravo ensured that the South Americans grabbed all three points despite playing with a man down in the last 10 minutes of the game.

FIFA under 20 world cup roundup

The 2013 FIFA under 20 world youth championship has commenced in Turkey desppite violent protests across the country. France defeated Ghana by 3-1 on Friday after South Korea secured a 2-1 victory over Cuba.

The North Americans took the lead through Reyes in the opening minutes of the game before South Korea scored twice in the second half.

In the other group B match,Portugal defeated Nigeria by 3-2. Bruma scored a brace for the Europeans while Abdul-Jeleel Ajagun replicated the same feat for Nigeria.

The Portuguese team led 2-0 at half time before Ajagun's brace made it 2-2 in the 67th minute.

Two minutes later, Bruma scored the winning goal for the 2011 losing finalists.

Other results:
Colombia 1-1 Australia
Turkey 3-0 Slovenia
Spain 4-1 USACopyright 2013 Chat Soccer @ChatSoccer1

Namibia vs Nigeria preview

The Brave Warriors of Namibia will host the Super Eagles of Nigeria in a FIFA World cup qualifier on Wednesday night. The South African team has four points from four games while their visitors are on top of the group with 8 points.

The Namibian national team coach resigned from his position on Monday morning after receiving death threats from unknown persons.

Roger Palmgren masterminded a draw against Malawi in Blantyre last week.

These two sides have met five times between 2001 and 2013. The African champions defeated Namibia on those occasions. The two previous meetings in Windhoek ended in a slim 1-0 win for Nigeria.

The first leg of this tie ended by the same goal margin in Calabar. Ahmed Musa is expected to lead the attack of Nigeria together with Brown Ideye and/or Joseph Akpala.

Sunday Mba,Mikel Obi and Ogenyi Onazi are some other players that will feature in the match.

Steven Keshi is expected to lead Nigeria to another win after last Wednesday's triumph in Nairobi.

Meanwhile, fans of the reigning African champions have warned the team not to underrate the 'Brave Warriors' of Namibia due to the resignation of Roger Palmgren.

Kick off time: 19:00GMT
Date: 12th June,2013
Venue: National stadium, Windhoek,Namibia.

Follow this writer on twitter @inspiredMichael http://twitter.com/inspiredMichael

Super Eagles soars in FIFA rankings

Owing to their impressive showing at the just concluded African cup of nations in South Africa, the Super Eagles of Nigeria have climbed up the rankings.

The Federation of International Football Association released the monthly CocaCola sponsored rankings on February 14th,2013.

Nigeria has moved to 30th in the world after gaining 22 spots, while the African champions are now the 4th best team in Africa based on rankings.

Nigeria was ranked 52nd in the world and 10th in Africa before South Africa 2013. If the African kings can win their World cup qualifiers and put a decent showing at the confederations cup, they will be among the top 20 in the world.

Meanwhile, Burkina Faso are now 55th in the world. The runners-up at AFCON 2013 were ranked 92nd before the tournament.

Top 4 in Africa
Ivory Coast(12th)
Ghana (19th)
Mali(25th)
Nigeria(30th)

Messi wins Ballon d'or again

Lionel Messi has been named as the World player of the year 2012. The mercurial Argentine and Barcelona midfielder has now won the award on four consecutive occasions.
Messi won 42% of the vote cast by captains and coaches of national teams across the world.
Cristiano Ronaldo finished in the second spot with 21% of the votes while Andres Iniesta came third with 10% of the votes.

Barcelona failed to win the Spanish primera liga and UEFA Champions League in 2012. Argentina didn't participate at any major competition in that year.

The criteria FIFA used to select the top three nominees was not obvious. Diego Forlan was the best player at South Africa 2010, but Messi was given the world in a year Inter Milan won the Champions League while Wesley Sneidjer led Netherlands to the World cup final in that year.

Who is a true World best player?

The Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) will name the best player on the planet in January 2013.

Lionel Messi,Cristiano Ronaldo and Andreas Iniesta are the three best players for the year 2012. The trio made the shortlist after the initial 100 players were enumerated some few months ago.

For a player to be regarded as the best in the World, such a footballer should have contributed to success of his club and country. In a World cup year, the best player of the tournament should be the likely winner of the FIFA Ballon d'or award.

Continental tournaments like European Championship, 'Copa America', Asian games, African Nations Cup and CONCACAF Gold cup should also be considered before the world's best player will be chosen.

In 2012, Spain defended the European Chamionship in Ukraine and Poland after a 4-0 thumping of Italy in the final. Andreas Iniesta was HIGHLY instrumental to the success of the reigning World and European champions. The Spaniard was also a vital part of the Barcelona team that won the Spanish Kings Cup.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a couple of goals for Portugal at Euro 2012 and his country lost to Spain on penalties after a barren draw. Ronaldo also helped Real Madrid to capture the La Liga for the first time in four years.
Although the Madrid star has been in poor form with regards to FIFA 2014 World cup qualifiers.

Lionel Messi has win the previous three editions of the FIFA award. His country(Argentina) didn't play any continental tournament in 2012. Messi scored a lot of goals for Barcelona, but that wasn't enough for them to win the UEFA Champions League.

A player like Didier Drogba single-handedly won the UEFA Champions League for Chelsea. He also propelled Cote d' Ivoire to the final of African Cup of Nations 2012. Drogba ensured Chelsea defeated Liverpool to win the FA cup. His goals were enough to deny the Teranga Lions a spot at South Africa 2013.

If the criteria for the FIFA shortlist is purely based on the performance of players for club and country, then Drogba,Iniesta and Ronaldo should have made the final three.

Reality
Spain's Iniesta deserves the 2012 FIFA Ballon d'or award. UEFA has already named as the best player in Europe for the year 2012. Since Messi is playing for Barcelona in the same continent, there is NO reason why captains and coaches of national teams should vote for him ahead of Iniesta.

From the crew at Chat Soccer, ANDREAS INIESTA is our WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2012.

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International friendlies Roundup

Venezuela were beaten 3-1 by the Super Eagles of Nigeria in an international friendly match that was played in Miami,Florida. The South Americans dominated the first half,but the falied to convert their chances while Austin Ejide was equally fantastic between the sticks. The Israeli-based keeper was in a superb form for the Nigerians.

Four minutes after the restart, brown Ideye scored the first goal of the match after he tapped in a close range effort that was created by Nosa Igiebor. The Nigerians doubled their lead after another three minutes when Igiebor fired a thunderous volley from 40 yards. The Venezuelan keeper was helpless as his side trailed 2-0 after 52 minutes.
The South Americans piled a lot of pressure on the Nigerian defence and they got a consolatory goal before Onazi made it 3-1 for the Africans.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the man of the friendly roundup as he scored 4 goals against the Three Lions of England. The PSG forward scored a stunning over head kick to condemn Roy Hodgson to his first defeat during a 90 minute game. The Swedes emerged 4-2 winners on the night.

In Riyadh, Argentina played a disappointing 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia while Netherlands and Germany settled for the same scoreline.

The 'Azurris' of Italy were beaten at home by France. The match ended 2-1 in favour of the 1998 World Champions.

Meanwhile, South Africa were shocked at home by Zambia. The reigning African champions defeated Bafana Bafana of South Africa by 1-0. Burkina Faso defeated DR Congo 1-0.

2014 World Cup host, Brazil played a 1-1 draw against Colombia while Romania overcame Eden Hazard's Belgium by 2-1.

FIFA Ballon d'or award nominees 2012

The Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) has released a list of the top 23 players in the world for the year 2012. The players were nominated by coaches and captains of the member nations of FIFA. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the two top players that are sure of making the top 3 list later in December. Another notable player on the 23 man list is Radamel Falcao of Atletico Madrid. The Colombian striker has scored three hat tricks this season and he was responsible for his team's Europa League success last Summer. The Latin America striker is the World's most potent striker at the moment. Other players that made the shortlist are Ike Casillas,Xavi Hernandez,Alexander Iniesta,Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney,Robin Van Persie and more.

Going by a comment made by Joseph Sepp Blatter some few months ago, a member of the Spanish national team may be declared as the winner of this year's award. Spain defended their European title in Poland and Ukraine after a 4-0 win over Italy.

Flamingoes knocked out of Azerbaijan 2012

Nigeria's under 17 women team have been knocked out of the on going FIFA Under 17 women's world cup in Azerbaijan. The 2010 quarter finalists played a goalless draw against France in Baku. The two teams couldn't score any goal throughout the 120 minutes of action. The Flamingoes finished as group winners but they failed to overcome a French side that could gather just 5 points from their group games. Nigeria's senior team will defend their Championship title in Equatorial Guinea later this month.

Blatter backs Spanish players for FIFA World player of the year.

FIFA president, Joseph Blatter has thrown his weight behind the naming of a Spaniard as the World player of the year 2012. The Swiss executive backed up his claims with the excellent performance of the reigning World and European champions at Euro 2012.


Andreas Iniesta was named as the UEFA player of the season. The Barcelona midfielder was instrumental to the success of Vincente Del Bosque's men in June.

North Korea sets new record at Japan 2012

North Korea produced a stunninbg result when they hammered Argentina 9-0 on Thursday. The Japan 2012 compettion had witnessed 4-0 wins by USA and Germany before this latest record breaking win. The 2006 winners scored seven goals in the first half before they added two more goals after the interval. A draw will be enough for the Koreans to advance to the last eight. Kim Un Hwa scored five goals in the match. She also scored a goal against Norway in her first game. The Asians defiled the hit weather and went ahead to humiliate their South American counterparts that look unorganized throughout the match.

Kim Un Hwa

Ghana mauled by USA at FIFA under 20 women's World cup

Ghana's under 20 women team were battered 4-0 by the USA on Monday. The Americans showcased their superiority over Africa's second representative at the on going FIFA under 20 World cup in Japan. USA's Maya Hayes scored a hat trick on a day Leon of Canada equalled her record in Canada's 6-0 thrashing of Argentina in another match that was played on the same day. USA took full control of the match throughout the game and the Ghanaians were unable to match the former champions in any department of the game. The attacking flare of the Americans was too great to be ignored.

Meanwhile, defending champions defeated China by four goals to nil to share the top spot of group D with the USA. The Germans are now unbeaten in their last seven matches dating back from the 2010 edition which they won in Berlin. 

Falconets of Nigeria flew over Korea at Japan 2012

Nigeria's women under 20 national team popularly known as the Falconets flew over their South Korean counterpart in Saitama, Japan. The 2010 runners-up defeated their Asian foes by two goals to nil on Sunday afternoon. The match was played after Brazil and Italy had settled for a 1-1 draw in the opening match of the FIFA 2012 Women under 20 championship currently going on in Japan. The South Koreans created some problems for Nigeria in the opening 10 minutes of the game. The Nigerian keeper made her first save as early as the 8th minute, but 7 minutes later the Africans took the lead through Ngozi Okobi in the 15th minute.Francesca Ordega's cross from the right side of the penalty box was tapped in by Okobi.
In the 34th minute, Yeo Minji (adidas Golden ball winner at the last under 17 tournament) got injured and she was replaced by Lee Sodam.

Second Half
The game become more competitive as the two sides tried to get some goals in the game. After series of tackles and goal attempts from them, Nigeria increased their lead through Desire Oparanozie in the 67th minute. Ebere Orji provided the assist for Oparanozie to nod home stylishly. The two teams continued to search for more goals in the game, but the Nigerians ended the match with a 2-0 win and moved to the top of group B. Brazil and Italy played a 1-1 draw in the other group match.

FIFA under 20 Women's World Cup preview

This year's FIFA under 20 women tournament commences in Japan on Sunday. The biennial football tournament was inaugurated in 2004 by the world governing body, FIFA. Germany are the defending champions after their 2-0 win over Nigeria in 2010. Nigeria became the first African team to parade a team in the final of any Women tournament on the global scene. The city of Miyagi will host the opening ceremony of the sixteen team tournament. Japan will square up against Mexico on the opening day at 7.20pm local time (10.20 UTC) on Sunday 19th August,2012.
The city of Miyagi was badly affected by the earth quake that occurred in March,2011. The Japanese people will have the opportunity to prove to the world that they can overcome major disasters and re-group to achieve greatness. The host nation's senior team are the reigning World champions. They also finished as silver medalists after a 2-1 defeat to USA at the London 2012 Olympics. The under 20 side have never gone beyond the quarter finals of previous editions. In 2011, Japan were crowned as the Asian under 19 champions in Vietnam.

Japan-under 19 champions of Asian football

 Mexico will be willing to go beyond the group phase of this competition. The Central Americans also got to the last eight at Germany 2010.

Other matches
New Zealand will meet Switzerland in another group A match that will be played on the same day. Last tournament's runner-up, Nigeria will be up against South Korea. The Africans won all their qualifying matches prior to this tournament while their opponents sneaked into the competition after the Japanese were named as the hosts of this mundial. Nigeria's Francesca Ordega said "Our opening game against South Korea will give us an indication of how far we can go, and it could also give us a real confidence boost.Make no mistake, I haven’t come to Japan to admire the skyscrapers; I’m here to win the World Cup."
Brazil will face Italy in the opening match of the competition at 15:00 local time (06:00UTC) on Sunday.

Watch Out
Brazil's Thais Guedes was part of Brazil's ill-fated London 2012 Women soccer campaign. She is the captain of the South American giants while Yeo Minji is also expected to be a star performer in Japan. She was named FIFA's best under 17 women player at Trinidad and Tobago 2010. 

Falconets resume training in Abuja.

Nigeria's under 20 Women's team,popularly known as Falconets will commence preparation ahead of the FIFA Under 20 Women's World Cup that will be hosted by five cities in Japan. The tournament will be held in August 2012. Nigeria lost the final of the 2012 edition to Germany by two goals to nil after impressive wins over USA and Mexico. Brazil,Italy and Korea Republic are Nigeria's opponents at this year's edition. The Falconets scored a total of 13 goals during the qualifiers that included a 6-0 aggregate victory over Zimbabwe. The team manager has invited 35 players to camp. The final 23 man list will be selected from the invited players.