Super Eagles send bold warning to rivals

The Super Eagles might be down but they sent a bold warning to their southern African rivals — Angola and Zimbabwe — last week that they are not out of the running for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany. The Nigeria Football Association boosted the Super Eagles' technical department by drafting former internationals Samson Siasia and Daniel Amokachi as assistant coaches. Siasia, who led the Nigerian Under-20 side to second place at the World Youth Championships in Holland, has been rewarded for his work with his promotion into the senior national team. Amokachi, known as The Bull during his playing days, will join Siasia as another assistant coach.

They will work alongside caretaker coach Austin Eguavoen and the Nigerians expect to appoint a foreign manager before their next World Cup tie against Algeria. The NFAfired coach Christian Chukwu after the team's 1-1 draw against Angola at home in their last World Cup qualifier. That result swayed the race for the sole World Cup finals ticket from the group in Angola's favour following the Negras Palancas' 1-0 win over the Super Eagles in Luanda. While both teams have 15 points Angola lead the group because they have a superior head-to-head aggregate to the Nigerians and will go to the World Cup finals if they win their last two matches. Angola host Gabon and then travel to Rwanda in their last two matches and victories in both games will give them the ticket to Germany next year irrespective of what happens to the Nigerians. But the Nigerians, who have been to the last three World Cup finals in the United States in 1994, in France in 1998 and in Japan/Korea in 2002, are not giving up the fight. They have just demonstrated their commitment to the battle by drafting Siasia and Amakochi into the Super Eagles' technical team.

Ibrahim Galadima, NFA chairman, told international journalists last week that the recruitment of Amokachi and Siasia showed that the Nigerians were ready for the World Cup battle. "We have strong faith in them and we are confident they will not let Nigerians down," Galadima said. And Siasia was straight to the point when he talked to the BBC about the challenges that lay ahead. "Having been [at the World Cup] before, we understand the feelings of being at the World Cup and I hope Austin, Dan [Amokachi] and I can help the country qualify for Germany," he said. And just to demonstrate their drive to have everything in place before the Algeria game, the Nigerian football leadership said they were scheduled to interview prospective foreign candidates for the manager's job. "There's no going back on a foreign manager," Galadima said. "We are meeting with the three short listed candidates in London. "We hope to have him here by 1 August and he will get to work immediately," Galadima said The Nigerians were scheduled to interview the three shortlisted candidates on Wednesday. Siasia and Amaokachi are very popular in Nigeria. Siasia impressed his country when he led the national Under-20 team to a silver medal, losing to Argentina in the final, of the World Youth Championships.

Nigeria lost 2-1 to Argentina in the final with the South Americans scoring from spot-kicks. But Nigerian football, being the controversy-ridden game that it is, was playing true to expectations. Reports two weeks ago indicated that Siasia had not been paid for eight months for his work with the Under-20 and had no idea when the money would come. "The NFAchairman has promised me that I will be paid soon but I don't know when," said Siasia. The NFA said they had now secured the funds to pay Siasia and other national coaches. Despite the problems Siasia, who is scheduled to leave for a holiday in the United States, said he was still willing to work for his country. While the Nigerians are boosting their technical team, the Zimbabweans are still trying to repair of the damages caused by the fall-out between the country's football leadership and assistant coach Moses Chunga. Chunga was sacked two weeks ago for allegedly attacking the national association as a broke entity. The dismissal of Chunga, a very popular figure in Zimbabwe football, has left the game here reeling from the scars of the fallout. Zimbabwe still have a chance to qualify for their maiden World Cup finals.

The Warriors trail joint-leaders Angola and Nigeria by three points but will go to Germany is they finish level on points with Angola. The Warriors have a better head-to-head aggregate than Angola following their 2-0 win over the Negras Palancas in Harare in March. Angola won the reverse tie 1-0 in Luanda last year with Flavio heading home the goal that made the difference. Zimbabwe and Angola are the only two nations that could deny Nigeria a ticket to travel to Germany next year. Such a scenario, unthinkable at the beginning of the campaign, could be a national disaster in Nigeria. Zimbabwe and Angola have never played at the World Cup finals. Zambia, too, have never been to the World Cup finals but have a very good chance going into the final two games. The Zambians appeared out of the race when they suffered a 1- 4 defeat in Togo but their 2-1 win over Mali and the Togolese' 2-2 draw against Senegal pushed Chipolopolo back into contention. Zambia host Senegal at home in their next match and then take on whipping boys Liberia away in their final match. The Togolese, led by Monaco striker Emmanuel "Sheyi" Adebayor, have been impressive and their draw in Dakar cost Senegalese coach Guy Stephane his job. Adebayor scored both goals.

The Togolese' good run has not gone unnoticed by the world. Their football federation has just signed a two-year sponsorship deal with German sportswear manufacturers Puma. The contract, which is worth over US$600,000, gives Puma the option to renew the relationship with Togo until 2010. Kit will be supplied to the Hawks, Togo's national team, as from 1 January 2006. Horst Widmann, Puma's vice-president, said the impressive form of Togo in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers was influential in their decision to do a deal with the West Africans. "We have the hope that the Togo national team will give a good account of themselves during their future matches," said Widmann. "The team is young, very dynamic and holds a lot of promise for the future, through their talented players. "They will not only go to Egypt, to shine brilliantly at the African Cup of Nations, but they will surely come to us in Germany for the World Cup." Puma is also expected to provide training facilities and technical assistance for Togo's youth teams as part of the sponsorship deal. Zambia are sponsored by American sportswear giant Nike. The Zambians complained bitterly about the way the Moroccan referee handled the tie which they lost 1-4 in Lome. Their coach Kalusha Bwalya was also sent off and was briefly banned from the touchline by world governing body Fifa. The ban has since been lifted. Zambia will be praying that the Togolese drop more points at home against Liberia and away against the Congolese in Brazzaville. For Togo the success of the national team could not have come at a better time.

The West Africans were reeling from a bloody uprising that was sparked by disputed elections following the death of their longserving ruler Gnasibbe Ayadema. The team's fine run has given the people of this country renewed hope. "That has always been the power of football, the reason why this game is special and the reason why it is different from the rest of the sporting disciplines," said Footballers Union of Zimbabwe patron Shepherd Chiware. "If you look at the wonders being done by the Togo national team and the impact that their success have on their nation then you can understand the power of football. "Every where on this continent, football is mending bridges and I think the Angolans are a lot happier at this point in time than they have been because of the success of their national team. "Here in Zimbabwe we see it at every home game when we have 50 000 people at the National Sports Stadium and you look at all their faces, after the Warriors' victory, and you can see hope. "People forget about the fuel problems that they have or any of the social challenges that they face when it comes to the national team.

"I think the Nigerians understand the impact that the Super Eagles' failure will have on their country and that is why they are working hard to have everything in place for their final World Cup matches. "It's unbelievable when you try to think about this game and its power." Chiware said he would like to see a situation where other countries, like Togo, Zambia, Angola and Zimbabwe qualified for the World Cup finals. "We can't just have the same teams going to finals — Tunisia, Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa and Senegal. "We need a new set of representatives at the World Cup finals and it feels good to realise that countries that have never been to the World Cup before now have a big chance to qualify. "Just imagine if we have Cote d'Ivoire, Zambia, Angola and Ghana at the finals? It will be very good for our football as a continent."