₦airaland Forum

Action resumes this weekend. In the champions league:

US Bitam(Gabon) vs Enyimba - Sunday, 20/03

Wydad Casablanca(Morocco) vs Kano Pillars - Sunday, 20/03

In the confederations cup:

Kaduna United vs Foullah Edifice(Chad) - Sunday, 20/03

Sunshine Stars vs Tiko United(Cameroon) - Sunday, 20/03

Good thing we got Shaktar, I'd have preferred we got Schalke though. 1st leg is at home and it's best we end the tie here and make the deciding tie in Ukraine a mere formality. The good thing is that we'll have a full strength going into this tie.

Spurs Vs Madrid - Definitely, the end of Spurs!

usbcable:
I would choose CR7 as being better because
1. he has succeeded in 3 different clubs and 3 different leagues
2. he plays for real madrid

But seriously,
messi just like SAF and giggs would always be amonsgt the greatest and obviously plays for the most entertaining and complicated team to play against presently. But, on a difficulty level CR7 has done better considering point 1 above,.

So is Raul remembered for the 4 CL goals he has scored for Schalke this season or for everything he achieved at Real Madrid? All these talk of going to some other league to prove yourself doesn't just hold water. What of Totti, Del Pierro, Maldini, Giggs, Scholes? I guess they all have to go play in some other league before they're considered great footballers?
Besides, CR was just a prodigious youngster when he left Sporting CP, he was hardly in the first team let alone prove himself. It's just like saying Fabregas proved himself at Barca before joining Arsenal.


Messi has since moved beyond the CR comparison. He's now being compared to true legends of the game and quite a number consider him the greatest of all time.
I'll tow the line of Juan Carlos Garrido(Villareal's coach). "Comparing Ronaldo with Messi is a sacrilege"

Umph! It gets gloomier

Lean Back - Terror Squad

Nice. . . We the best!

R I P Nate dogg. Really sad

This Is War - 30 Seconds To Mars

Nice one guys. Ozil. . . This boy's something else

Congrats guys. I'm happy for y'all. The only problem now is that J Mouth won't allow our eardrums peace; first manager to led Madrid to CL Q/final in 7 years. Congrats all the same

AjanleKoko:
Thanks, Stealthy for the correction.
Another correction. Ajax-Althletico Madrid in 1996 actually ended 1-1 in Amsterdam, not 1-0 in favour of Athletico. I must be getting old

Lord knows we need that kind of a lucky break

I think Milan vs Deportivo in 2004 would also go down as one of the greatest CL comebacks. Milan had won the 1st leg at the San Siro 4-1. Depor stunned the defending champions 4-0 at the Riazor to qualify for the S/finals where they lost to eventual champions, Porto 1-0 on aggregate. That was a great Depor side with Juan Carlos Valeron at his prime(still plays for Depor), Diego Tristan, Walter Pandiani, Albert Luque et al. Depor were great in the CL back then, whatever happened to them now

holydante:
Hi Fellars,

Tenks @ ''The Man in the most safest secluded zone'', you make a dark skinned guy blush crimson

Get well King Eric, what a form you have been in presently. Thank Providence it was discovered at this stage.

The likes of Sammy Okwaraji, Marc V. Foe, and Jarque et all, who knows, they all could have been alive today strutting their stuff or giving analysis in the Media if such medical facilities were at their disposal.

I sure do wish them Gods grace as they rest in Peace (including Nate Dogg Ol'g who passed on today)


AjanleK and Stealthy, that was some good memory lane you guys took us down to.

What an enigma that Eto'o is (anyway we cant always live in the past though, i wish him well)

As an aside to Usb-unportable , goal.com is a site that wont see me approach it for footie info. it smacks of poo(no offeinse)

We are Barcelona (Japan will rise again)

Can't believe we've lost Nate, my God! Back in the days, Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg, Warren G and the entire Dog Pound crew, they were the guys to roll with. I remember how he was tagged the 'King of Collabos' because you could hardly find any track that wasn't laced with his unique voice. All the good artistes are passing away, it's really sad.

usbcable:
@medjai,
so you can now quote goal.com(india version) abi?
and when it said CR had performed better than messi some time ago you all cried and laughed at using the india version.

SMH, double standards.

Usb, I check other sites and it was pretty much the same thing, they all fingerrrd Madrid

ps: cant believe fingerrrrd is a censored word

NFF lifts ban on Salami, Akpan
http://allafrica.com/stories/201103160863.html

Madrid should break that jinx tonight

Get well soon, King Eric. . .

Ibime:
Aw did Bayern shell 17milla on this scrawny fella Luis Gustavo. Dude doesn't even close down opponents, he's slow, and offers no presence.

Not another 17milla wasted like Tymoschuk, I hope!

Not his fault. He was assigned a duty that could consume even the most experienced of midfielders not to talk of a newbie like himself, just his 2nd CL appearance - shackle Wesley Sneijder.
He did that job impressively in the first leg but this time, he met a vexing Wes. and well, the rest is history. I think Bayern lost this game tactically.

coded guy:
Whats d diff btw bayern and arsenal?

not much I guess. Quality stuff from Inter by the way

eyoniggar:
DK I am here with to support you in this time of agony.

aww! Eyo, that's so touching


Hahahaha. . . Maga don pay! Another bash

BB all the way

holydante:
whether it is serious or not, the alleged party must confound the allegations outrightly, reports has it that the radio station has retracted the statement with apologies to Valencia and Barca, although it claimed that ''its Madrid that wants to make the doping request to the football administration in Spain''

I guess the only way we can silence them is to make sure we wrap up games that we have control over and distance ourselves with enough points to make a rubbish of their huge and expensive toys, and get fired up to win the upcoming classico and CDR finals

While we win the trophies, let them do the talking

We are Barcelona

Spanish Radio Station Apologises To Barcelona & Valencia For Doping Allegations
Cadena Cope have gone on the back foot over their insinuations,

Spanish radio station Cadena Cope has apologised to Barcelona and Valencia for insinuating that the two clubs could be involved in doping due to their involvement with "dubious doctors".

The Madrid-based broadcaster also suggested that Real Madrid asked the Spanish Football Federation to take doping tests more seriously, and to keep in mind Barcelona's connections with the doctors.

However, both clubs denied the allegations and Cadena Cope has now issued an apology.

Juan Antonio Alcala, the columnist who made the allegations, said on Monday: "Maybe I have been naive about this. I was given to believe that this information came from Real Madrid. If I have to apologise and go down on my knees then I will do so.

"I am convinced that Barcelona are doing nothing illegal. It is not our intention to put in doubt the triumphs of Barca."

The station also released a statement, adding: "Given the possibility that our information could harm or defame those clubs, Cadena Cope apologises to Barcelona and Valencia, and the fans of both clubs if anyone interpreted the information in that way."

http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/2175/la-liga/2011/03/15/2395405/spanish-radio-station-apologises-to-barcelona-valencia-for

Victor Anichebe, Solomon Okoronkwo, what exactly do we need these guys for? Anichebe is yet to score a goal for Everton this season. Solomon Okoronkwo, only God knows where he plays and we have a Brown Ideye that's scoring with ease for Sochaux not called up.
Nnamdi Oduamadi has only featured once(as a sub) for AC Milan and he's being invited to the national team. This list is a huge joke, a put off.

Only 26% of Nigerians have access to the internet At a time when the world has been totally shrunk into a global village, it's nerve crippling to note that internet penetration is still this low. Just about a quarter of Nigerians have access to the internet, that's real bad.

-Cost of computer: If the cost could come really down such that anyone could afford it, then there'll be a composite growth in internet usage.

-Cost of internet connection: Not many people can afford N 5,000 monthly.

Results-
Ocean Boys 1 vs Shooting Stars 0. Christopher Chigozie scored his 7th goal of the season as Ocean Boys grabbed all 3 points in this tie.

Lobi Stars 1 vs Plateau United 0.

Heartland 0 vs Sharks 0.

JUTH FC 2 vs Rangers 0.

Crown FC 2 vs Gombe United 0.

Kaduna United 1 vs Warri Wolves 0.

Sunshine Stars 1 vs Bukola Babes 0. Ibrahim Ajani netted his 10th goal of the season to give Sunshine victory. Bukola complained of poor officiating as Sunshine Stars were awarded two penalties and have threatened to pull out of the league if this tie is not investigated.


The league has now reached half way and will now go on a two weeks break.

Stealthy:
We suffered from 4 things in this match:
1. Pep's decision not to rest players
2. Our over-playing/over-passing the ball and not killing off the opponent.
3. Pep's sentimental choices
4. Lack of real squad depth

1. Villa should not have played this match at all - he contributed almost nothing all through. My suggested line-up had Afellay with Pedro & Messi for attack in this match.

Also, most of the players started to look tired after about 70 mins. But by then Sevilla had equalized and Pep couldn't take anyone out.

2. This is the 3rd match in recent times when we could have buried the opponent in the 1st half, but we allowed them a leg back in. The other 2 instances were in the 2 legs against Arsenal. Just as we did on Tuesday, we dominated the 1st half, but kept trying to look for the perfect goal, only to allow the opponent to score early in the 2nd half. I would have expected Pep to notice these issues and rectified them.

If our boys had been shooting the way they were in the last 15 mins all match, we would have tested Sevilla more. We even started to cross the ball late in the game - is there any rule against doing that before things become desperate?

3. I don't know why Pep is so sentimental to La Masia boys. This season, it's clear that Bojan should not be ahead of Afellay & Nolito, but he gets more chances than those two combined since he's a la Masia product. His ball-control is atrocious. However, Pep keeps using him. This match, it was like we were one attacker down.

It was the same with Busquests last season. Yaya was clearly better, but Pep kept him on the bench because he wanted Busi to make the Spanish WC squad (of cos Busi has grown tremendously since then).

4. We don't have real game changers on our bench. Look at the subs Manzano made - those were tactical subs, which changed the game completely. We have players who could be potential game changers (Thiago, Afellay, Nolito, even Soriano). however, these guys play too infrequently to give us the explosive effect when called upon. I hope Pep has learnt his lessons now. These guys need more game time to have the confidence to come into a match and change things.

Our 2 subs (other than the forced sub for pedro) were like-for-like in Maxwell for Adriano and Keita for Villa. How on earth does Pep expect the team to score when he takes out Villa for Keita? Wasn't Afellay on the bench?

This is good news for Madrid and they now have a good chance to catch us in the league. If we drop 2 more points away to Villareal, the difference could be only 3 points going into the next Classico. Fortunately, RM also have some tough away trips and we hope they can drop points away to Bilbao, the derby with Atletico and Valencia.

As per tactics, Manzano hit a birdie with his last night. He started with a 4-2-3-1 formation. He played 2 DM's - Medel and Zokora. The gameplan was to contain and stifle our fluidity but it didn't work as we had Sevilla on the backfoot for major parts of the 1st half and had gone a goal up. In the 2nd half, he brought on Kanoute for Zokora and played a 4-4-2. This allowed Negredo to be able to drift and link up well with Navas. At this point, they took the game to us and they got a goal. Then we came back pressing and pressing and he took off Negredo and brought on Romaric to once again shore up the midfield and make things tight.
Despite all these, we still created chances and could have won.

medjai:
I guess Maxwell will be returning to the starting line up tonight. Adriano did well in midweek but he was poor up front, especially his final ball. Maxwell edges him as regards that. Adriano just squares the ball aimlessly. Besides, Maxwell should no problem checking Jesus Navas who has been tepid all season.

This was my comment before the game.

I think Adriano was just there, he wasn't so great. He lost the ball a couple of times and at times found it hard containing Negredo and Navas linking up. Again, Negredo's cross from which Navas scored came from his wing.

usbcable:
*Singing*
Jesus I thank you O.
you do well I thank you O.
you don make our life better.
, (fill i the rest yourself)
.
.
now next week athletico should allow us a win and getafe giv you guys hell i n camp nou.
hala madrid.

We know how to make up for lost points. There's a certain fixture known as El-Classico. . . rings any bell?

We took a point when we could have taken all 3. It's all good. I think we did well. It's just one of those games when the result won't just go your way. Kudos to Sevilla. They gave a fight and crucially for them, Negredo, Navas and Rakitic showed up for them.

^^Bojan you mean. Well, talking about fringe players stepping up their game, he certainly has.
I remember saying he showed some good flashes when he came on against Zaragoza.

Stealthy:
http://www.goal.com/en/news/11/transfer-zone/2011/03/11/2390513/official-sao-paulo-sign-luis-fabiano-from-sevilla-on-four

Well, I guess this is Sevilla's idea of preparing for Barca!

I find it really stragne that Sevilla is selling Fabiano for such a small fee. I recall Milan & Marseille trying to buy him recently and Sevilla dug in, trying to get about $25m. Now, they sell him for a fraction of that.

In spite of Fabiano's exit I still expect us to have a tough test at Sevilla - they're the kind of inconsistent team that can lose at home to Osasuna but beat RM or Barca the next day. This season has been one of their worst in recent times, but we still need to be wary.

I expect Pep to start to do some rotations in the team. If I was in his shoes, I'd put in one non-regular in each match - surely, we can't lose so much potency with just one starter missing.

So, in this match, I'll recommend Villa to be on the bench (he's been looking jaded lately). Milito can also start ahead of Abidal.

Here's my line-up:

Valdes

Alves-Pique-Milito-Maxwell

Xavi-Busquests-Inesta

Pedro-Messi-Afellay

Against Getafe next weekend, I expect Pep to rest Messi and most of the starting 11. There will unfortunately be another international break after that and once club play resumes, we're away to Villareal, then UCL midweek, then home to Almeria, then UCL midweek, then away to Madrid, then CDR final (in Mestalla against Madrid). It's going to be another tasking period and Pep had better get the subs to start playing as part of the main team more regularly.

I don't like UEFA's timetable though - in the earlier rounds, there're several weeks between matches, but in the later stages, where the matches are tougher, there's only one week between matches. That's pretty dumb IMO.

Imagine if we draw Madrid in the UCL QF! There will be 4 classicos in 4 weeks! I'm sure UEFA will love that!

I hope our players are able to excuse themselves from the international matches as much as possible. I won't like a repeat of the situation where Messi played 90 mins in a useless match, while the Spaniards also played large parts for Spain, only for us to go lose a UCL match because our boys were too fatigued after 60 mins.

The last lap of the season, always the most difficult. Squad rotation is a must at this stage and our fringe players have got to up their game. I'm glad Messi will not play for Argentina during the internationa break. I'm really concerned for him. Since the World Cup, he has hardly had any rest and once the season ends, there's the Copa America and I'm sure he'll play all of Argentina's matches. Abeg, make dem pity the boy.