SS tracks Nigerians in big Euro leagues

Four of the best leagues in Europe have set SuperSport alight in the past three months and have become talking points among Nigerian football fans with their countrymen taking centre stage.

The German Bundesliga, French Ligue 1, Spanish La Liga and the glamorous English Premier League are home to a number of top Nigerian performers.

SuperSport has constantly given live coverage to the exploits of Yakubu Aiyegbeni, John Mikel Obi, Dickson Etuhu, Osaze Peter Odemwingie, Obinna Nsofor, Taye Taiwo, Chinedu Obasi and Kalu Uche in these leagues.

In England, the quintet of Yakubu, Mikel, Etuhu, Odemwingie and Nsofor has been the shining light on SuperSport’s live broadcasts of the English Premier League.

Odemwingie of West Bromwich Albion leads the pack in terms of goals with four from eight games, while Mikel has been the main man in the middle for Chelsea with more than 10 appearances this season.

Recently, your World of Champions captured Etuhu’s 50th game at Fulham and has continued to follow Nsofor’s battles to save West Ham from going down in the English top-flight.

In France, Taiwo has been one of the mainstays of Olympique Marseille’s top half of the French Ligue 1 log display with three goals in 10 games.

Obasi’s return from injury to feature in four games for TSG Hoffenheim also enjoyed live coverage on your World of Champions alongside Babangida’s lone appearance for Mainz in the German Bundesliga.

In Spanish La Liga, Kalu Uche commands the main coverage of SuperSport for the Nigerian territory after his three strikes in seven games in Almeria’s fight to keep their Primera Division status this season.

Your World of Champions will continue its coverage of the Nigerian stars in the four leagues this weekend.

SuperSport has the broadcast rights to the English Barclays Premier League, the German Bundesliga, French Ligue 1 and Spanish La Liga.

Broadcast details:
Saturday, November 20, 2010
16:45 – 19:00 HD2N Barclays Premier League Week 15: Birmingham City v Chelsea (live)

Saturday, November 20, 2010
16:45 – 19:00 SS3N Barclays Premier League Week 15: Birmingham City v Chelsea (live)

Saturday, November 20, 2010
19:00 – 22:00 HD2N Barclays Premier League Week 15: Liverpool v West Ham (live)

Saturday, November 20, 2010
19:00 – 21:30 SS3N Barclays Premier League Week 15: Liverpool v West Ham (live)

Saturday, November 20, 2010
19:55 – 21:55 SS5N French Football League Week 14: Toulouse v Olympique Marseille (live)

Saturday, November 20, 2010
20:55 – 23:00 SS7N Spanish La Liga Week 12: Almeria v Barcelona (live)

Sunday, November 21, 2010
17:30 – 21:00 HD2N Barclays Premier League Week 15: Fulham v Man City (live)

Sunday, November 21, 2010
17:30 – 19:55 SS3N Barclays Premier League Week 15: Fulham v Man City (live)

Monday, November 22, 2010
21:30 – 00:30 HD2N Barclays Premier League Week 15: Sunderland v Everton (live)

Monday, November 22, 2010
21:30 - 00:00 SS3N Barclays Premier League Week 15: Sunderland v Everton (live)

Betis job, a huge opportunity - Finidi

Former Nigeria international Finidi George has been officially presented as the new director of international football at his Spanish former club, Real Betis.
This is a major achievement for an African football star coming on the heels of Zinedine Zidane’s recent appointment at Real Madrid.
Finidi will work closely with first team coach Peter Mel in his new role
An elated Findi told SuperSport.com that he was pleasantly suprised when he got the call to join the staff of Real betis after leaving them ten years ago.
"It is very good," he said.
"I am very impressed. They made me an offer that I wasn't expecting.
Real Betis was home to me for four years and I am quite familiar with the people there."
“I am going to focus on football outside Spain like Africa, Europe and other places where there are good players who can come to Betis.
It is an opportunity that the club has given me and willing to work to bring good players. I know the coach very well and I actually played with the assistant coach Roberto Rios and the trainer Jesus. They have big plans for the future and believe I can add value with my profile and my global access," the former Super Eagles star toldSuperSport.com on his way to the club's training on Thursday morning.
Finidi joined Real Betis in 1996 from Ajax in a deal worth $7.6 million scoring 38 goals in appearances before moving on to Real Mallorca, Ipswich in the English Premier League before ending his career at Real Mallorca.
He has been living in Spain and is very fluent in Spanish and Dutch
He began his career as a central midfielder with home team Sharks in Port Harcourt, joining his older brother Alari George and attracted the attention of national selectors.
He would spent two seasons with Calabar Rovers returning to Sharks in 1993. His younger brother Igeniwari also began with Sharks and after impressing as a junior Nigeria international was killed in bizare circumstances following an FA Cup game.
In Port Harcourt where he grew up and began his career, most revere him for his creativity in midfield but it was as a winger that he gained global recognition for the accuracy of his crossing even rated ahead of David Beckham and Luis Figo at his prime.
Dutchman Clemens Westerhof recognized this and Finidi 's crosses brought out the best in Rashidi Yekini making him Nigeria's all time top scorer.
His coach at Ajax, Luis Van Gaal had to convert Mark Overmars to the left wing and Finidi responded with memorable many assists that cemented his place as an Ajax legend.
He made a goal scoring international debut for Nigeria against Burkina Faso in a thrilling 7-1 defeat in which he set up 3 goals, scoring the last after coming on for Austin Eguavoen at half time. He also scored twice in the World Cup qualifiers inclding the key goal against Algeria in 1993 that secured Nigeria's first ever qualification for the USA 94 Fifa World Cup .
He transfered to Ajax from Sharks in time for the 1993/94 season at a fee of just $100 000. He literally walk into the first team and as winger provided the ammunition for Jari Litmanaen, Patrick Kluivert, Frank Rijkaard, Frank and Roland De Boer and compatriot Nwankwo Kanu as Ajax won three consecutive Dutch titles, the Uefa Champions League in 1995 and losing on penalties to Juventus in 1996 before his big transfer to Real Betis.
Finidi featured for Nigeria at the Senegal 92 (bronze), Tunisia 94 (gold and Cup,) Nigeria/Ghana 2000 (silver) and Mali 2002 (bronze).
He also represented Nigeria at the USA 1994 and France 98 World Cup and was vice-captain to Sunday Oliseh when the team qualified for the 2002 World Cup but both of them were controversially ommitted from the final squad.
His goal against Greece is best remebered for his "dog" celebration and is often replayed
1988-89 - Sharks,Port Harcourt
1990–1993-Calabar Rovers
1993- - Sharks,Port Harcourt
1993–1996-Ajax : 85 appearances(18 goals)
1996–2000-Real Bertis : 130 appearances(38 goals)
2000–2001-Real Mallorca : 31 Appearances(5 goals)
2001–2003-Ipswich : 35 Appearances(7 goals)
2003–2004 -Real Mallorca : 14 appearances(0 goals)
1991-2002-Nigeria 60 Caps (5 goals)

Mazembe retains Orange CAF Champions League title

TP Mazembe completed a successful defence of the Orange CAF Champions League after holding Tunisia’s Esperance to a 1-1 draw in the final second leg on Saturday at the November 7 Stadium in Rades near Tunis.

 

Mazembe were winners in 1967 and 1968, and their successfully defence lands them a place in the in the historic books of African football with respect to the foremost club competition.

 

With a 5-0 win from the first leg held in Lubumbashi a fortnight ago, Les Corbeaux were highly tipped to annex the title and they prove their worth by coming from behind to hold the 1994 winners and cruise on to the title.

 

Esperance who displayed a spirited output in their quest neutralize the huge deficit from the first leg started on a high note and their efforts yielded dividends minutes later.

 

On 23 minutes, Ghanaian-born Harrison Afful broke the deadlock to set the tone for his club’s dream of masterminding the biggest upset in the annals of continental club football.

 

However, their chances were dealt a major blow as defender Aymen Ben Amor was given the marching off orders a minute later and his exit really affected the play of the ‘Blood and Gold’.

 

Mazembe, cheered on by a handful of loyal fans resumed the second more purposeful thanks to their numerical advantage.

 

Seven minutes past the hour mark, Deo Kanda equalized for the Congolese with a strike that effectively killed off the hopes and aspirations of the hosts.

 

Both sides had equal share of the remainder of the exchanges with Mazembe having the last laugh after South African referee Daniel Bennett brought proceedings to an end.

 

By the victory, Mazembe claimed the 1,500,000 US Dollar prize-money and will represent the continent at the FIFA Club World Cup scheduled for the United Arab Emirates in December.

 

Esperance, losing finalists in 1999 and 2000 received 1,000,000 US Dollars for emerging runners-up for the third time.

Chelsea appoint Michael Emenalo to replace Ray Wilkins

Chelsea have promoted Michael Emenalo from his position as chief scout to assistant first team coach. Emenalo, who has been with the Blues since October 2007, succeeds Ray Wilkins in the role and Chelsea say the move is "recognition of his efforts". The 45-year-old represented Nigeria at the 1994 World Cup and won 14 caps. Emenalo, who briefly played for Notts County in the mid-1990s, will continue to scout for the first team while he updates his coaching qualifications. The Nigerian's playing career also took him to the United States, Spain, Germany and Israel. 606: DEBATE To replace Wilkins with this guy still feels like the wrong decision! I hope I am wrong!  A biggish club within the M25 Assistant first-team coach Paul Clement, who was alongside boss Carlo Ancelotti in the dug-out at Stamford Bridge for the defeat against Sunderland on Sunday, was expected to step up to fill the role. Former AC Milan defender Paolo Maldini, had also been linked with the job, as had Mauro Tassotti and Alessandro Costacurta who worked under Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti at Milan. Ex-Chelsea first-team coach Steve Clarke and former West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola, who was a fans' favourite during his time as a player at Stamford Bridge, were also thought to be in the running.

I need 3 years to rebuild Eagles -Siasia

Nigeria’s new coach, Samson Siasia, has said he will need, at least three years, to rebuild the Super Eagles into a formidable force. Siasia will take over the Eagles on December 1 on a four-year contract and with the perennial underachievers yet to win a major honour since 1994, the former international striker has admitted he had his work cut.

“It is going to take two, three years for us to assemble a formidable team,” Siasia said.
“It should be a gradual process, trying to build a new team with the old and the new players. Gradually, we will mix them up until we find the ones who we need, actually the ones who would play the way we want them to play. That time, I would come out and say publicly we have a team.

“But right now, we just want to focus on how to rebuild the team. Yes, the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) could set targets, but if we want to be realistic, targets won’t be realistic, if you don’t have a good team. “As a coach, we need time to build a very good team. If we are looking at where we are coming from, then we have to work on how to rebuild this team.”

Siasia would, therefore, call on the fans to be patient with him as he goes about rebuilding the national team ranked 33rd in the world. “The fans must come out in large numbers to watch us play. They must exercise patience too. What we lack here is patience. We want results immediately.

“Nigerians want to see us getting to the finals like Argentina and Germany. We cannot say because we want to build a new team, we should forget about the players who are there now in the Super Eagles. That is the team we have right now.“ The Eagles’ new handler further said he was ready for the daunting challenges ahead.

“I have been waiting for this job for almost three years now and that was before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I was to be the coach of the Super Eagles after the interview conducted for the job. But that time, I said no, I wasn’t ready. Now that I am ready, I am not intimidated at all. I am ready for this job”. he declared matter-of-factly.