₦airaland Forum

c0dec what are you on the run from?

سنظل قربك وتحت اقدامك ما حيينا، انفاسنا بخور يبارك طهرك، وقلوبنا تمائم على صدرك يا عمان..... وستلهج كل المعابد والمساجد، كل السنابل والحقول، والمواليد والكهول، والفراش والعصافير، وتلاميذ المدارس واجراس الكنائس.. بالدعاء قربك.. رعاك الله يا ..عاصمة الياسمين و الفل.. رعاك الله يا ست الكل، ويا ليلى الملايين..!

I showed Chippla's article to someone and he laughed it off as government propaganda...

Alessandro Del Piero's hat-trick thrashed Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia and made him the most prolific Juventus player of all time.

A place in the quarter-finals was open to either side following the eventful 2-2 draw at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, a game that was marred by crowd trouble that saw play halted for almost an hour when tear gas was deployed.

Fiorentina gave teenager Davide Brivio his debut in midfield, while Juventus brought back Gianluigi Buffon after a toe injury further delayed his return to regular first team football.

Sebastien Frey was tested twice early on by Pavel Nedved and Adrian Mutu, while at the other end Giampaolo Pazzini’s snapshot skimmed the upright.

However, it was Del Piero who opened the scoring with an historic goal. The captain spun round between three defenders and swept in the finish for his 183rd official strike in a Juventus jersey. He is now the most prolific player in this club’s history, leaving behind Giampiero Boniperti’s record.

Del Piero further enhanced that tally six minutes later, as he curled a perfect free kick over the defensive wall and past a totally static Frey.

Although he didn’t actually score the third, Del Piero created it for Mutu. He combined with Nedved and his strike was parried into the path of the Romanian for a simple tap-in.

Frey kept the scoreline down with a save on Marcelo Zalayeta, but the Viola were dominated in every area of the field and toothless in attack without Luca Toni. Coach Cesare Prandelli introduced the hitman for the second half in place of Pazzini.

But the Bianconeri continued to create chances and Del Piero’s hat-trick was denied by a fantastic Frey reaction save from six yards, then soon after the Frenchman repeated the trick on his header.

The referee pointed to the spot after Alessandro Gamberini’s slight nudge on Zalayeta and Del Piero stepped up to convert the soft penalty and make this already historic evening even more special.

Fiorentina scored a consolation goal from a set-piece, as Valeri Bojinov timed his header perfectly to nod Manuel Pasqual’s free kick past Buffon. The Bulgarian striker had also netted in the first leg.

The visitors were livelier in the second half, as the introduction of Toni, Manuel Pasqual and Riccardo Montolivo brought them closer to their classic line-up. Nonetheless, the tension was high and Toni was fortunate to escape a red card for a dangerous tackle on Patrick Vieira. Frey rushed off his line to close down Zalayeta and prevent a fifth Bianconeri goal.

Juventus await the result of the Roma-Napoli tie to discover who they will be facing in the quarter-finals.

My happiest and saddest moments were in a stadium. I don't think I will elaborate because having read thru this thread, it will make me look shallow.

You are referring to 1936 I assume? O you are trying to relate it to Naija?

Forza Alex!

He beat Boniperti's record. That record had stood for almost 50 years. That is so that people will understand the impact of what Alex acheived yesterday!

How can the bible be against trousers when there were no trousers in biblical times?

O goody. So we'll get to see him at ManU hopefully?

Never had a problem with my good old fashioned 3310!

Photoshop at the end of the day

What time is today's episodee?

This thread not dead yet?

The law being proposed will make Catalunya a semi autonomous republic. They'll have their flag, language, institutions, the whole hog legally.

That is like the first step to independence.

That looks like 20 questions...

Catalunya is one of the regions that make up the Spanish federation, the others being Andalucia, Basque, Castilla and Gallicia.

Now now Kola, this is getting personal. Abi is it a Yoruba thing?

2 days ago, many Spanish people remembered really dark moments of their history. A General of the Spanish Army said: "I always highligheted that the members of the army must not enter in political debates, which obviously belong to the politicians. On the other hand, it's our obligation to alert about the serious consequencies that the approval of the new Estatut de Catalunya (major law of Catalunya) can have on the Army and its members. The most worrying questions are: idiom, the term of nation refering to Catalunya and justice. If these limits were overpassed, something that seems unlikely yet, the 8th article of the Constitution should be applied". He also said that a big part of the army shared his opinion.

The 8th articles of the Spanish constitution says that the Army has to defend the unity of Spain. But, this General forgets that this is not anything that the Army can choose, because they have to obey the civil institutions ALWAYS and they can not interpret an "attack" to the Constitution by themselves.

All this is going on because of the debate about the new major law of Catalunya, still in the Spanish parliament. This debate is raising the olders stereortypes and hatred in Spain, mostly promoted by the Spanish conservatives, the 2nd political party of Spain, the Partido Popular (now leaded by Rajoy, and party of Aznar, which was founded by Fraga, a minister of Franco).

The Spanish army doesn't have a very democratic background. They did a coup d'etat in 1936 that finished with a horrible Civil War and 40 years of dictatorship. In 1981, the Guardia Civil (police body of the army) entered in the Parliament with guns and kidnapped the governement and all the members of the congress, while the tanks went to the streets in Valencia and arround Madrid. Only the King Juan Carlos I could stop that coup d'etat.

The most worrying is that the General Mena said that a big part of the army shared his opinion. The general Mena has been automatically fired by the Spanish left government. But I think it's not enough, because this words make me think that this 'conspiracy' is bigger and they should know who is behind these anti-democratic ideas. An army cannot, and should not give opinions on the political issues.

I also think that the Parliament should investigate the Partido Popular and the official Catholic Church, that were very blurry about their opinions. The conservative party said that "in the frames of the polemic about the Estatut, it's impossible to avoid expressions of any kind". So they refuse to condemn, and moreover, they understand and somehow back the words of the General of the Army. Something far from strange in a party founded by a minister of Franco.

I would also like to know if the hierachy of the Church shares the opinion of their radio station, COPE, where they say that they understand the General Mena and, not only this, they defend the intervention of the army in case they think it's necessary to do it. Something unbelievable. They are saying that the Army should decide whether it's right or wrong what the Parliament decides.

IMO, the Spanish parliament should start an investigation to know who is behind all this. Memebers of the army, politicians of the right, members of the church and civil connections in general.

I'm not exagerating, the history of Spain in the last 2 centuries is worrying enough to pay attention to all these signals.

No pasaran!

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. Also, they say familiarity breeds contempt.

I say, you have to learn how to handle things.

This is a tough one. I'd love to be with my girl all the time, but from experience, I know that there are times I'd best give her her space.

c0dec:
funny how these guys are all getting injured at this time.

nonda, muntari, now essien

Forget Nonda. His country ain't going to the World Cup.

Muntari and Essien are stupid, ditto the Ghanaian crew. If they really are injured, why don't they make the trip to camp and let the national team doctors look at them. Why did they just sit back at their clubs and plead injury? Mark my words, Essien will play for Ch€£$k¥ before the end of the Nations Cup.

Sharon is the history of the Israeli state. He was injured fighting for Jerusalem in 1948. He led an incursion across Sinai and into Egypt during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. As Defense Minister, he was saddled with responsibility for the massacre of Palestinian refugees at Sabra and Shatila in 1982. The White House today called him “a man of peace,” but within his own country he is known as a warrior, and one finally willing to make the kinds of concessions that only a warrior can make.

So what now? A blogger I know in Israel, Lisa Goldman of On the Face — and certainly no fan of Sharon — said the country feels “rudderless.” Sharon forged his own unique brand of diplomacy, of aggressive, rude disengagement, claiming that he would never relinquish the temple mount, then relinquishing Gaza.

Is (was?) Sharon a mirror of Israel, a fighter who is painfully learning how to give things up? Is he, like Bob Dole or Germany’s Helmut Kohl, the last of the leaders who fought in the old wars? Who has the stature to do what needs to be done next?

Personally, I think that the man will die soon. Maybe within the coming month. And I wish him eternal rest. The truth however remains that Sharon is/was a dinosaur, a creation of the circumstances that lead to the creation of the state of Israel. And ultimately, a victim of the times. 10 years ago Sharon was unsympathetic about the fate of Yithzak Rabin, but now he has also come to give land away to the Palestinians. Why is that? Because when he finally got into the hot seat, he realised what Rabin saw then: the state of Israel cannot continue to fight with the Palestinians ad infinitum! They have to make peace.

When Netanyahu becomes Prime Minister again, he'll reach that realisation. Insh'Allah.

1. Buy made in Nigeria goods, whenever you can afford to, and whenever they are of comparable quality to foreign goods. Personally, I would advice that we buy quality. No point patronising something that is crap simply because we want to be patriotic. We are no longer in 1960. This is 2006.

2. Try to be part of the solution and not the problem. Too many Nigerians are guilty of this, why support Obasanjo's 3rd term agenda when we all know that it will create problems for the vast majority of us?

3. Support your country and compatriots. Don't be a sell-out. My dad used to tell me that when it is my family involved, I should hold my peace, support my brothers, and then correct them when the outsider has gone. I will stretch the same advice to my fellow Naijamen. We tend to wash our dirty linen in public too much and it makes the world laugh at us.

4. Don't supress your creativity/ideas, you just might be the next Mandela. Too many Nigerians suffer from a stunning lack of self confidence. We tend to follow what we feel are established routes to success. It is rather difficult to see young people fresh out of school for example, striking out on their own.

5. Love your neighbour as yourself. You never know who will help you out. Need I say more?

6. Do not put all your eggs in one basket.

7. Look at what other countries that are developed are doing right and try to promote it around your environment. You know, we need to copy for example the good parts of American culture, like not trying to extend the president's tenure in office, instead of copying the bad parts like Nollywood, sorry, Hollywood.

8. Do not be afraid to stand up for what you believe in. Be the Dreyfus of our generation. To be honest, I think this is the hardest one to follow. If I was asked to go to Kirikiri because of my beliefs, I'd probably say no thank you.

9. Be yourself. Don't let anything or anyone tell you how to live your life (unless you have no other option).

10. What is right isn't always popular and what is popular isn't always right.

Difficult ask, these tips...

Thanks Bb!

Someone called me yesterday after the Palermo-Juve game to tell me that Juve are worse than -*spit*- Ch€£$k¥!

This is getting boring and predictable. It's the same I hear almost every week. The same negative crap, just for the sake of it. I'm talking about the way people tell me that we are boring! Why do I get the feeling some journalists have written their match reports before the match has even started? Why do I get the feeling that some people have made up their minds before a ball has been kicked?

Capello no gameplan? That's laughable. No one plays as tactically cold and effective as Capello does.

My friend says that we win only because we have superiour players, and that we should try and play like Barcelona does! Oh yes, we only win because of superiour players! Think to yourself for one moment, ' how does Barcelona win'?


That's right due to their superiour attacking players. If there's someone who isn't tactically astute it's Rijkaard, with his Ajax tactics of simply throwing everbody forward. Teams like that get caught out against tactical teams, like Ch€£$k¥ in 2005. And if they aren't careful, it will happen again this season.

Now I know Capello hasn't been great every match, but you can't argue with his winning ways. His record speaks for itself! Did you see the game against Palermo yesterday? He has created such a stable winning team. Look at how 'easily' we turned around the match yesterday, where's the credit for that?

It's almost as if people are blaming Capello for winning!

Yes we lost two games in an ugly fashion this year, but those are only two games. The one against Bayern we turned around the following matchday. Face it, Milan did not tacticaly outclass us. They scored a weird goal (Seedorf's) and the other two came from set-pieces and you know who was our guard, Chimenti! The only problem we made in this game was not creating chances and it can be excused to being surprised, being lazy or Milan just knowing how to shut our attackers.

The game against Bayern was immediately corrected in the following matchday. The law of minimum effort applies again here. The team did not want to make an effort to get the three points in München!! Their goal was to qualify from the group and that's it.


Back to Capello's gameplan. I for one think it's very effective, they way he organises the team. Bla bla, predictable 4-4-2. That's not true. For starters it's more of a 4-2-2. With Mutu(normally Nedved) and Camoranesi as offensive midfielders, not as wingers. They play in the middle much more than they play on the side, Mutu and Camo cut in more then they cut out.
The sides are being occupied by the backs, they offer our width. It's what (normally) allows zambrotta and Chiellini some space, but most people do not want to see that. IT doesn't work like that always, but you've got to keep in mind that Palermo for example play with offensive wingers, you can't let your backs run forward and neglect the defence in such a situation..

Anyway, people should stop with this anti-Capello (generally anti-Italian) bias and be less spoiled and watch the games more objectively. I know this post won't make me popular, but I hate these silly comments.

So sorry for what happened to you. Unfortunately, this is such a a common incident especially in Lagos...

I was arrested last year when my company sent me on assignment to Lagos because I had a laptop. This was not up to a kilometre from the airport. I blamed myself because I had taken a bike instead of a cab all in a bid not to get tied up in the hold up. I had forgotten what Lagos was like. The only thing that saved me was T9. We were on the way to Area F when I sent a text to an uncle of mine who came down immediately and threatened to close the police station and fire all of them!

I am currently on leave from work, and since my girlfriend works in Lagos, I felt that it would be a nice surprise that I go to visit her. I drove down on Wednesday and picked her from work (she works in VI). After we finished from the cinema, I was taking her home to Ikoyi and decided to go thru the fastest way that I know, Obalende. Do you know that some policemen had blocked off the access road just in front of King's College? I stopped living in Lagos 2 years ago when I got my current job in Abuja, but I felt that my knowledge of Lagos roads was still sharp. Unfortunately, in my bid to get my girl home on time, we got arrested for driving on an 'illegal' road! After the usual parting of money, they let us go. The next day before leaving Lagos, I drove past that place just to see how far, to my utter shock, the road block was gone!

What rubbish is that?

really?

So what exactly is the point of this thread?