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PAGE 44, SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 18, 2016 Mourinho defends Pogba’s poor display M United ANCHESTER manager Jose Mourinho has urged midfielder Paul Pogba to forget his world-record price tag and concentrate on producing the goods for the team. United broke the world transfer record to bring Pogba, 23, back to the club from Juventus last month in a deal worth an initial 89 million pounds ($115.7 million, 103.7 million euros). Pogba produced disappointing performances in United’s losses to Manchester City and Feyenoord, but Mourinho pointed to the France midfielder’s busy close season as a mitigating factor. “The world-record player is always a question that will be open until somebody breaks the record,” Mourinho said, in comments published by British newspapers on Saturday. “I think there are clubs that paid 20, 30, 40 (million pounds), which is a bigger deal than what Man United paid for Paul because you make a relation between what you pay and the club revenue. “You realise that other clubs paying 20, 30, 40 is a much bigger thing than what Man United did and I just want Paul to forget that and to play his football. “Euro final, no preseason, holidays, come back — it’s normal that in the first week he had the very good impact in the first game (in United’s 2-0 win over Southampton). “It’s normal that after the first game he has a little decrease, but I am full of trust with him because I know the player he is. “I know that he is a very good guy with a lot of ambition, so the form will come naturally and will come with the team. The team improves, Paul improves. No problem.” United visit Watford in the Premier League today, when they will be seeking to bounce back from their back-to-back defeats by City, in the league, and Feyenoord, in the Europa League. Megalectrics acquires EPL broadcast rights Nigeria’s radio platform, Megalectrics, owners of Beat, Classic, Naija FM, and Lagos talks radio station, have announced that an exclusive rights deal has been acquired from talk Sport. Federer didn’t help me beat Djokovic, says Wawrinka STAN Wawrinka said his success at the US Open was not based on tips from Roger Federer. Asked if Roger gave him suggestions during the tournament, Wawrinka denied and said: “In the past Roger gave me suggestions, helping me a lot’, Stan admitted. ‘This time that wasn´t the case. Obviously many people congratulated me and supported me but I did not need to ask Roger what I had to do against Novak.´ He is World No. 3, does he believe he can become World No. 1? ´No (laughs). I won three Grand Slams, but I’m not consistent enough during the year. If you look, Novak [Djokovic] is making a final or winning every tournament that Bringing Megalectrics on-board as a new broadcast partner in Nigeria, the radio platform will broadcast at least five games each week, continuing Nigeria’s love affair with the Premier League. Megalectrics, has also he’s playing.’ ‘I can play amazingly, I can win a Grand Slam, but I’m not playing well enough in the year.’ Meanwhile ATP Stuttgart event confirmed that in June 2017 also Stan Wawrinka will play. He joins Roger Federer in the field. Pele, Eto’o rate Messi better than Ronaldo BRAZIL legend Pele and former Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o pitched their tents with Xaxi on his claim that Lionel Mess was better than Cristiano Ronaldo. Xaxi came under fire from Ronaldo after the Barcelona midfielder made the remark. recently launched a new talk format radio station, Lagos Talks 91.3FM, which will join the company’s popular music radio portfolio and will be the key driver of EPL live matches As a global audio partner of talkSPORT, Lagos Talks; Beat FM and Classic FM will broadcast official live commentaries from all 380 Premier League matches to listeners in Nigeria. Managing Director, Megalectrics, Chris Ubosi said, “Knowing that Football is one factor, which unites Nigerians, we’ll like to reignite that synergy and bring our audience closer to their favourite clubs and players.” WARNING SIGN... Wawrinka nest big thing in tennis FALSE START... Paul Pogba struggling for form at Manchester United. As for Eto’o’s personal opinion in the everlasting Messi versus Ronaldo debate, the Cameroonian unsurprisingly favoured his former teammate in the eternal argument. “I’ll always go with Messi because of the things I’ve seen him do. “That doesn’t take away from the fact Cristiano is making history in football. But I go with Messi because I’ve been closer to him.” Speaking at a Q&A session in Glasgow titled ‘An Evening with Pele’, the 75-year-old said that over the last decade and a half Messi’s incredible feats and statistics mark him out as the best player in the world, over Ronaldo. ‘I could mention some names but what has happened in the last 10 to 15 years, I think Messi is the player who was the most consistent all those years, no doubt,’ said Pele. ‘We have had a lot of good players. Then Cristiano Ronaldo came late but it is different because Messi is the more organised, he scores goals.’ ‘Cristiano Ronaldo is like the Ronaldo from Brazil, a match for Barcelona he is a good scorer no doubt, but to me as a player it is Messi,’ Pele added. The two players have dominated the World Player of the Year prize in recent memory winning every edition since 2008, with Messi winning on five occasions and Ronaldo on three. The last player to win the award aside from Messi or Ronaldo was Brazil midfielder Kaka in 2007. FIFA also announced this morning that they had ended their association with Ballon d’Or, making it highly possible that FIFA will relaunch their own World. De Bruyne not far from Messi— Guardiola BARCA FACES... Eto’o and Messi during PEP Guardiola would not put Kevin de Bruyne in the same class as Lionel Messi – in his mind there is nobody who comes close. But he would sit the Manchester City midfielder ‘at the same table’ as the Argentinian. De Bruyne’s performance in the 4-0 rout of Bournemouth was one of the great displays the Etihad Stadium has seen in its short history. Having scored the opener, De Bruyne created Manchester City’s three other goals, much to the delight of his manager. “Every time he passes, he makes the right decision, we are extremely lucky to have him and I hope he can continue to play his amazing football,” said Guardiola. •De Bruyne
SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 18, 2016 — 45 Iwobi’s dangerous and powerful, says Wenger ARSENAL manager, Ar sene Wenger said striker Alex Iwobi is making tremendous progress and the Gunners are benefiting from physical power and instincts. Iwobi made two assists in Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Hull City in Saturday’s English Premier League match. “He has a presence in the game now,” said Wenger. “Going forward he’s absolutely dangerous every single time. He plays well through the lines and breaks them with the ball at his feet. “Overall his confidence is higher. His physical power has a big impact too.” And, in terms of team performances, Wenger has insisted his side are getting stronger as the campaign goes on. He added: “[Last weekend] we won in the last minute against Southampton. We got a good 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain and we came [to Hull] and won, so overall it’s been a very positive week. “We are at a different level compared to a month ago and you can see that in our game. We knew at the start of the season we were a bit short physically but now we’re getting stronger.” FIFA U-17 WWC: NFF begs Flamingoes to fly despite hardship in camp PLEDGE TO NIGERIA...Flamingoes coaches Bala Nikyu and Ann Chiejina Agumanu NIGERIA Under 17 play ers rounding off preparations for the FIFA U-17 Women World Cup have been urged to concentrate despite “certain circumstances” they are going through. The team will fly out on September 26 to Jordan where the tournament will hold from September 30 to October 31. Nigeria Football Federation deputy general secretary, Emmanuel Ikpeme said the team is capable of winning the tournament and make history as the first women team to win a title for Nigeria at the world level. Nigeria is drawn in Group C with Brazil, DPR Korea and England. “There should be no excuses for failure. As a champion team, you should never allow certain circumstances you might be facing in camp now deter you from achieving your goal,” Dr. Ekpeme told the players in Abuja. “”It’s no big deal to qualify for the World Cup because the Nigeria U17 girls always make it to the global stage. But it will be a big deal if you go to the World Cup and make a statement. “You have the responsibility to continue to work hard, be disciplined and you will definitely accomplish what no other women’s team has ever done in Nigeria and in the whole of Africa – winning the World Cup”. Rio Olympics: Nigeria Hospitality House a success — Abdullahi CHIEF Executive Offic er and Project Coordinator of Nigeria House at the recently concluded 2016 Olympic Games, Mohammed Abdullahi has described the experience of the Hospitality House in Rio as successful despite not hitting the ground before the commencement of the Olympics as planned. He said the house became a reality in a posh area of Rio beside the world’s famous Copa Cabana Palace Hotel overlooking the famous beach from a Penthouse. “It was a wonderful experience and the house was located in an area where thousands of tourists throng daily. The Nigeria House was the only house from an African WELL DONE...Wenger and Iwobi during a match situation country within the Copa Cabana axis of Rio. It was also the most expensive area in Rio as a tourist centre.” Abdullahi said notable Nigerians like the wife of Olympic football bronze medal winning coach, Samson Siasia was a guest of the house, while Nigeria’s most popular artist in Brazil Olumide also came to sing and entertain people daily. He too was a guest of the house with his family throughout the period the house lasted. “In spite of starting midway into the Games, we had remarkable presence of well meaning Nigerians like the new president of SWAN, Honour Sirawoo who spent a night in the house. Top echelon and directors of the ministry of Youth and Sports also visited. The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) president and 1st vice president of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Solomon Ogba was also at the house, presidents of the Afro Chamber of Commerce and his counterpart at the Brazil-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce visited the house to brainstorm and seek collaboration on future opportunities for business forums beyond the Olympics. Others included members/ delegates of the Performing Art Association of Brazil Republic who attended a cinema show of Nigerian film at the house,” Abdullahi stressed. Wither Nigeria? By Brig.-General (Dr.) Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia OH Nigeria! The 2016 Rio Olympic Games has exposed our inad equacy in sports planning, preparation and execution. Nigeria and her well-wishers are embarrassed by the results. Every Nigerian that has made comments so far wants Nigeria to start preparation for 2020 Olympics in Japan early while we should select a few games in which we can excel. For example boxing, athletics, football, rowing, archery, wrestling and weightlifting. Facilities available today in the country are enough to prepare boxers, track and field athletes, footballers and with small investment to include rowing, archery, wrestling, weightlifting etc., for the Games. Some years ago, in 1987, I led a Nigerian contingent to Nairobi, Kenya for the (4th) All Africa Games. On arrival, all the leaders of each country met and inspected the facilities available for the Games and at the end of the inspection, they rejected facilities for tennis, hockey, tracks and boxing on the ground that they were substandard. We requested and met the President, His Excellency Daniel arap Moi. I spoke on behalf of others that the facilities were substandard and they should improve on them. In his reply. He asked us how many of our countries have won more medals at the Olympics than Kenya. Of course there was none, Kenya remained the leader. He dismissed us by saying the Kenyans won their gold medals through practice on those facilities. It is known and proved that practice makes an athlete perfect. The military introduced rehearsal to whatever they do so that on the D-Day, they can perform beautifully well. In 1988, I was also Chef de Mission of the Nigerian team to the Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea. I met many Nigerian athletes who represented other countries such as Britain, Canada, etc. In particular, in one of the races, 400m men, the announcer said “Lane 1, Akagbusi, Great Britain, Lane 2, Suleiman, France, Lane 3, Ezeani, Canada and Lane 4, Innocent Egbunike of Nigeria. It was clear that Lanes 1-4 were occupied by Nigerian-born athletes. That race was won by Ezeani of Canada. At the end of the race, I invited Ezeani and asked him where he came from, he told me his father said they came from Imo state in Nigeria. Why are you competing for Canada, I asked him? He told me he was a Canadian, that all efforts made for them to return to Nigeria was foiled by the Nigeria Civil Service Commission which could not offer his father an appointment even though he had a Masters Degree. When his father waited in Nigeria for some time and there was no news from the employment agency, he returned to Canada to take up citizenship. Nine months or thereabout after going back to Canada and taking up citizenship, he got a letter from the Nigerian employment agency asking the father to send 10 copies of the original application back to the agency. His father looked at the paper and the cost of posting, he laughed and said the cost of posting could have been used to make more than 100 copies in Nigeria. So since then they have not returned to Nigeria. I am aware that Great Britain was represented recently by an athlete called Osagie in 800m and Adeoye in another other events, Jimoh and some other girls represented the USA while (Francis) Obikwelu represented Portugal and was the European champion for a number of years. Where do we go from here you ask? My answer to that question is that we should accept the principle that the behaviour and competence of a society or group is a reflection of the quality of leadership it gets, that means whoever is in charge of sports must have a temperament for victory. There are a lot that can be done if we practice hard, we would always win. A swimmer told me in Munich in 1972 that he has to swim over 30,000 kilometres of water in preparation for his 100metres freestyle competition at the Olympic Games. In other words, there is no miracle in sports, but practice and practice and practice! (Nduka) Odizor was trained to play tennis in Nigeria and for a long time, he played in the circuit as a professional tennis player and I remember that he represented Nigeria in a number of competitions. We must plan, prepare and go in for competitions. Every athlete should be trained by a competent and fit coach. As Chairman of the National Sports Commission, I decided and took 170 coaches to Bauchi to test their fitness and only four made it. So how do you expect an unfit coach to coach someone to be fit. The sports authorities should first have somebody who is fit, appoint people, regardless of where they come from, that are competent to train Nigerians for international competitions. Recently, President Buhari said “change begins with me”. So the need for change is of paramount importance. We must start our preparation tomorrow. The above was put down by Brig.-General (Dr.) Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia, two-time governor of former Midwest/Bendel state and former Chairman of the defunct National Sports Commission. He turned 84 yesterday and yours truly visited him at his Benin city home two days earlier, not for the birthday celebration but on the way out of the present state of our sports. Because I told him I was coming, he prepared this piece that he discussed with me. He also went outside this written piece to reveal so many things about himself and what prompted him to promote sports in the then Midwest/ Bendel that has made it the standard to judge not only Edo and Delta which made up the old state he governed but the entire country as it were today. His success, he said is attributable to the his military discipline and passion for sports coupled by the fact that he also trained as a coach. Even as he celebrated his 84th birthday joyfully with family and friends, part of him remained sore, that he is seeing his legacy go down the drain. “I built the Afuze training camp to develop our sports men and women but today they have conspired to destroy that place. The football pitch has been turned into a cassava farm”, he told me. At this stage I felt pity for him and shame for our country. C M Y K
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