Heartland Lay’s
Siege on Sharks Fc
As the Globacom Nigeria Premier League enters its third week with some juicy matches across the nation, one game that will surely concern the Owerri soccer Fans is the South-South vs South-East derby between Heartland Fc of Owerri and Sharks Fc of Port Harcourt at the Dan Anyiam Stadium today by 4pm.
Heartland are yet to win a game since the inception of the 2013/14 league season after drawing their opening game against another Pot Harcourt side Dolphins before losing 1 0 to newly promoted Crown Fc of Ogbomosho in Ibadan last Sunday.
Coach Kelechi Emetole would love to see his lads get on to winning ways after the dismal performance which saw the former Federation Cup Champions score only one goal and concede two in two games.
Meanwhile, Heartland skipper Chinedu Efugh (Chicago) is still side lined with a knee injury and will not be able to feature in today’s encounter but the quartet of Keita Bilikoman, Zoumana Doumbia (Malian Internationals), Roland Koffi and Alexandreo Kouassi (Ivorian junior Internationals) may be making their home debut as Koffi alongside three others were singled out for their good performance in Ibadan last Sunday.
In other games billed for this weekend, Rangers International of Enugu in arguably the biggest game of the week will be at home against the league champions, Kano Pillars while in a war of the northerners newly promoted Taraba Fc will test their might against El Kanemi Warriors of Madugiri.
The two opponents that have faced Heartland fc, Crown Fc and Dolphins of Port Harcourt will settle their scores in Crown’s adopted home, Ibadan, as the two Sunday games will see the leaders Akwa United entertain Kaduna United in Uyo while Lobi Stars of Markurdi takes on the Savannah Scorpions Gombe United as two Nigerian sides, Warri Wolves and Bayelsa United are engaged in CAF Continental assignments.
Man United, Chelsea await Champions League ¼ Final Draw
Manchester United and Chelsea will represent the Premier League when the draw for the Champions League quarter-finals is made today Friday March 21 at 11:00 GMT.
United overturned a 2-0 deficit against Olympiakos to book their spot while Chelsea overcame Galatasaray.
Quarter-final dates
They will face a stiff test in the last eight with champions Bayern Munich, and Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid impressing in the last 16.
Atletico Madrid, Paris St-Germain and Borussia Dortmund make up the eight.
Coach Pep Guardiola’s Bayern remain favourites to retain their title after defeating Arsenal 3-1 on aggregate.
Barcelona and Real Madrid both looked very strong in reaching the quarters. La Liga champions Barca eased past Manchester City, while Real, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale in blistering form, brushed aside German club Schalke.
Atletico Madrid, who lies second in the Spanish league, defeated seven-time European champions AC Milan 5-1 over two legs.
Ligue 1 leaders Paris St-Germain have the potent strikeforce of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani.
German side Dortmund make up the line-up. They have had a mixed domestic season so far, but coach Jurgen Klopp’s men have the experience of reaching last season’s final.
Champions League quarter-finalists:
Atletico Madrid
Barcelona
Bayern Munich
Borussia Dortmund
Chelsea
Manchester United
Paris St-Germain
Real Madrid
Debate: Odemwingie vs. Musa
Following his brace against West Ham United last weekend, calls for Peter Odemwingie to return to the national side will increase like never before. The veteran’s excellent form threatens to bring another divisive issue before Stephen Keshi ahead of the World Cup.
In this feature, two of Nigeria’s finest footballs debate whether a return for the former West Bromwich Albion forward would represent a wise move for the Big Boss.
As soon as Peter Osaze Odemwingie dispatched his brace at the weekend against West Ham, we all knew what was coming next.
Many strikers have been known to have an impeccable sense of timing. On this evidence, you cannot say Odemwingie is left out. His goals came on the back of a week which had seen the legendary Jay-Jay Okocha add his voice to the growing lobby of ex-players who seem to assume their opinion on the composition of the Super Eagles’ World Cup squad is needful. It was an emphatic statement.
Already, the pro-Odemwingie camp have installed him as a shoo-in for the right-sided attacking position, ahead of erstwhile occupant Ahmed Musa. This is rather short-sighted and reactionary. While there is merit, and it is clear to see that Odemwingie is in reasonably good form, let us not forget under what circumstances he left the national team setup almost two years ago.
A victim of Keshi’s cull of disgruntled elements and megalomaniacs in 2012, his ‘sour grapes’ comments after the Super Eagles’ victory at the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013 were petulant and immature. There is some indication that he and the Big Boss have indeed mended fences, but does that then mean that he is to be handed the key to the city?
Talking pure stats, Odemwingie’s goals-to-game ratio this season is 0.208, only slightly behind Musa’s 0.212, but significantly the CSKA Moscow man has chalked up four times as many assists in only nine more appearances.
Then again, Stephen Keshi has made it a point to emphasise that he is building for the future. The inclusion of Odemwingie would totally go against the ethos of hunger, vigour and freshness that Keshi has made a point of espousing since he took over the team’s affairs. Ahmed Musa’s game has its flaws, but he puts it all on the line when he wears the shirt. Frankly, none of his kinks will be ironed out by asking him to take a backseat to a returning ‘prodigal son’.
Many speak glowingly of experience, and while Odemwingie has clearly accumulated more appearances for the Super Eagles over a long career, it is worth asking: is experience an end or a means?
There is far more to experience than age. Experience is knowing, over the course of many games, what to do at the right time. It is the ability to make decisions in a split second without compromising the team.
To be continued
FIFA U-17 GROUP RESULTS (19/3/14)
New Zealand 0 — 3 Spain
Paraguay 0 — 10 Japan
Mexico 4 — 0 China
Colombia 1 — 2 Nigeria
FIXTURES (22/3/14)
Zambia — Costa Rica
Venezuela — Italy
Canada — Ghana
S/Korea — Germany
23/3/14
Japan — New Zealand
Paraguay — Spain
Nigeria — Mexico
Colombia — China
DAME EMILY MEMORIAL CUP
22/3/24
Ahiazu — Aboh
24/3/14
Owerri-West — Ngor Okpala
NPFL GAMES WEEK 3 (21/3/14)
Heartland — Sharks
22/3/14
Rangers — Kano Pillars
Taraba Fc — El kanemi
Crown Fc — Dolphins
23/3/14
Akwa Utd — Kaduna Utd
Lobi Stars — Gombe Utd
CAF CONFEDERATION CUP
Warri Wolves — CA Bizertan
How Mine — Bayelsa United
NATIONAL AMATEURE GAMES
Patros Fc — Barton (Police) Fc @ Njaba
Bekwara Fc — Nek United Fc
Bussdor Fc — Lobi Feeders @ Nkwere
EPL WEEK 31 Games (22/3/14)
Chelsea — Arsenal
Cardiff City — Liverpool
Everton — Swansea
Hull City — West Brom
Man City — Fulham
Newcastle — Crystal Palace
Norwich — Sunderland
West Ham — Man United
23/3/14
Tottenham — Southampton
Aston Villa — Stoke City
