Football Nigeria -- Eagles Etcetera

The 2019 Summer African Cup for Nations (AFCON) will most certainly be a referendum on Coach Gernot Rohr's tenure as manager of the national team of Nigeria. Here we use the word referendum as an imaginary given that it is the NFF that will ultimately make the decision. Nonetheless, the larger public is watching and as their emotion tilts from one end to the other, so also will be the emotion of the decision makers. Make no mistake about that. Rohr is currently in his fourth year in charge. He began his tenure in 2016 and his fourth straight year as manager ranks him, already, fifth longest-serving manager tied with two others (Ember and Chukwu) out of 29 managers who have managed at least five Nigerian games consecutively. Rohr is ahead of Otto Gloria and Shuaibu Amodu. Gloria won the AFCON and Amodu qualified the team to the World Cup two times and finished in the medal rounds of the AFCON. The only managers ahead of Rohr's longevity are Westerhoff, Tiko, Keshi, and Les C...

FIFA’s decision to establish a new global competition has become major news because it threatens to turn international team soccer on its head. This week’s announcement that FIFA has accepted a proposal worth billions of dollars from a wealthy United Arab Emirates (UAE) businessman to establish a competition between national league teams will surely fill-up FIFA’s purse but it also comes with serious challenges and possible consequences. First, lets describe what this new competition will be like before we delve into possible problems. The Competition The competition set to start in 2023 and run in 4-year cycles will have footballers, contracted to clubs in a national league, represent the country where the league plays. Thus, English Premier League players such as  Sadio Mane, Mohammed Salah, Paul Pogba, DeBruyne, and Sane will wear the colors of the English national team. France will have Neymar and Edison Cavani among its fold. Nigeria cannot suit up Alex Iwobi, Victor Mo...