THE passion, enthusiasm, indeed the frenzy that the European Champions League final, on Wednesday, between Manchester United and Chelsea football clubs threw up among Nigerians is a comment on the deep and continuing Eurocentrism of Nigerian football fans, in the absence of a similarly engaging local football league. About the same time as the Champion league final in Moscow, Glomobile, the telecom company that sponsors the local league was sending, via SMS, a Predict and Win promo in which it asked Nigerians to predict the winner of the Nigerian Premier League involving such teams as Bayelsa, Pillars and Heartland. This did not generate any excitement at all.

The English Premiership and European leagues have since filled the vacuum that exists at home. This much was clear on Wednesday, May 21. Very early in the day, the streets of Lagos had been taken over by Manchester Red and Chelsea Blue colours. Football fanatics decorated their cars with the colours of their favourite teams. In Mushin, young boys wore Chelsea Blue and they dared anyone in the neighbourhood to show up in Manchester Red.

In Nigeria, supporters of English clubsides have associations with presiding Chairmen and Secretaries; they have special uniforms and it is not unusual to run into a big owambe party, with a musician on the bandstand, all put together by fanatics of English football celebrating their club's victory. In Ikeja, on Wednesday, some streets had red or blue banners flying in the sky. By 7.30 p.m Nigerian time, about fifteen minutes to the kick-off of the match in Moscow, Lagos streets had been deserted. Ordinarily at such an hour of the day, Lagos roads are congested with traffic.

And on Wednesday evening, he almost had a heart attack. First, he could not touch his pepper soup. His beer went cold and flat due to neglect. His eyes were glued to the TV set as if his life depended on it. When Man U missed two great chances in the first half, he slumped in his chair. When Chelsea equalised through Lampard in the dying minute of the first half, he was so sad, he blamed Man U defenders. He kept insisting that Sir Alex should take out Rooney who in his estimation was not playing well. We had to keep reminding him that Chelsea is not in Moscow to allow Man U run away with the prize. And besides, Moscow is home more or less to Chelsea with Russian owner of the club, Roman Abramovich, in the stands, keeping an eye, like Mike, on his investment.

As it turned out, Chelsea dominated the second half, sending Mike into paroxysms of fear. Two deadly shots one of them designed by Didier Drogba bounced off the bar in front of Man U's goal. But our Man U supporter was confident. Again he drew attention to the fact that Sir Alex had changed from a suit to a track suit. "Now, the war will begin", he boasted. We had to point out to him that the man was actually wearing a rain coat because it was raining heaviiy in Moscow. When Ryan Giggs was brought in to replace Scholes, Mike and the Liverpool fan who was now rooting for Man U, said: "Baba is here. Baba will change the game!"

Didier Drogba nearly spoiled the fun when in the later part of the match, he slapped Vidic. The red card that threw him out of the match and the stadium (he didn't show up to collect his medal) gladdened our hearts. Drogba is richly talented, but he is too much of a prima donna, and this stands in the way of the spirit of sportsmanship. And then the penalties came. The rain and passion-soaked match ended with Van der Sar saving Nicholas Anelka's final attempt for Chelsea and the Red Devils breaking loose in a celebration dance across the world. In all parts of Lagos, there were victory dances. Even yesterday, MBI, a Nigerian TV channel showed images of parties thrown by Man U fans. Our friend Mike ordered a round of drinks to celebrate the success of his investment: "by tomorrow morning, in fact even now, Man U stocks will go up," he said. On my way home, I saw Chelsea fans holding on to their jerseys as if a tragedy had befallen them. Man U fans from Obalende all the way to Campus Square and in neighboring areas spilled onto the streets and did victory laps. By now, it was around 12 midnight and it was instructive to see Nigerians expending so much energy on something that does not really concern many of them.

There are business opportunities involved also: all those traders selling Man U T-shirts and emblems can do a lot more selling the jerseys of Nigerian football teams if they are given the chance to express themselves locally. The private sector used to be actively involved in Nigerian football: sports-loving companies can be encouraged to explore the business potentials that have been demonstrated. The Moscow final was a great moment for English football, and for the European Union: a thriving local league can provide great opportunities for national branding and even foreign relations. Beyond all of this is the human dimension of the Moscow event: the bitter rivalry between Manchester United and Chelsea, the competition, the contrasts of victory and defeat, the unraveling of Drogba, John Terry and Ronaldo when it mattered most and the heroism of Van der Sar: all of which is a beautiful reflection of the depths of the human essence.