Super Keshi, Super Eagles!

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Monday, February 11, 2013

I just love it when someone who has been unnecessarily criticized, castigated and labeled as arrogant simply for believing in his own competence gets the last laugh. Its amazing how people suddenly chew their words and suddenly embraced the person they once crucified once the glory becomes his.

Coach Stephen Keshi  and team captain Joseph Yobo
at press briefing after the match.

Stephen Keshi, the Nigerian Coach who led our Super Eagles to winning the African Cup of Nations yesterday had gone through so much as people rubbished his competency and strategies of the game. But I admire the man for his doggedness and refusal to be influenced by anybody. Football in Nigeria has really been a mess as politics has crept into it and factions here and there are trying to make things work their own way for selfish reasons. People did not believe in Keshi and his boys at the beginning  

Even right from the very first game where the performance was not impressive, many had started 'disowning' the team and telling them to pack their bags and get ready to be coming home. 

People called the Super Eagles names; 'Super Chickens' and 'Super Pigeons'.

After yesterday's final where we won the cup, people started mouthing their support for the eagles; some started screaming that FC Barcelona should bring their team to come and contend with the Super Eagles!

Not only have the Super Eagles Team won the AFCON cup after 19 years but they have equally set some records. Stephen Keshi has set a record as a player who once lifted the cup years back and is now lifting the cup as a coach to a winning team. Also, he sets the record as the first black coach to lead a team to winning AFCON. 

Again, this team was quite an unusual one because it consisted of a number of indigenous players, one of them being Sunday Mba who scored the winning goal of yesterday's match. Also everybody assisting the coach were Nigerian, no foreign input was included. 

Amazing.

The same Keshi that was ridiculed and bad mouthed, is now flying high with his boys; all over the place people are singing his praises and raising him in esteem; even on screen, the fans waved his name in the air. All across Nigeria, he's been seen as a hero.

Sunday Mba

Even Sunday Mba was also ridiculed and believed to be a player who had nothing to offer. But his heroic feat at the final is enough to change his status from indigenous to international player. He had on another ocassion almost scored another goal which was deflected by the Burkinabes.

I listened with chuckles to this early morning's radio broadcast on different stations as humbled commentators and on-air personalities who had lambasted Keshi ate their words, swallowed their commentary arrogance and congratulated him. Nigerians sha!

There's been a heavy debate that Burkina Faso star player Bance
may be related to Yoruba actor Mr. Latin...lol

There are lessons to be learned from what Stephen Keshi and his boys have been through.

• Never listen to people, only listen to your own heart.
• When the going gets tough and all is looking lost, keep going because its not over yet.
• Anytime people bad-mouth you over your hard work, just ignore them and take it that they are ignorant.
• Treat your team like family and keep up their morale when the world outside is deflating it (I got to know that Keshi knew how to always  sweet-talk his boys before every match).
• Nothing is impossible, even when you stick to your guts and ignore your detractors.

Goal Keeper Enyeama, out of joy of winning attempts to carry the referee
and ends up just ramming his head in the man's butt...lol

The Burkina Faso team with their assortment of 'blonde-haired' dudes gave Keshi and his boys a tough time. I made note of their love for dyeing their hair and beards blonde on twitter and asked the question why and was told that it was 'Babalawo behaviour' (Thanks to Coy-Introvert for that!). I later got to understand that Burkinabes sabi 'jazz' well well.

Our Report sheet

Well, if they applied jazz, we applied God, chikena!

And so to end this I'll say; 'To God Be The Glory' 

*Roll credits!*

SOCCER DEATHS: IS SOCCER JINXED?

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Friday, April 11, 2008

This entry is a bit of a surprise to I myself but I just couldn’t but help noticing something quite alarming in the world of soccer sports. It all started when I came across an online footage of a tragic moment in football. A Hungrarian footballer collapsed suddenly on the field during a game and died on the spot.

His name was Miklós Fehér.

The footage was shocking. One moment the dude was smiling and the next he crashed to the ground. I watched as team players and officials tried to revive him. Then there was panic as the realization that he might be dead sent all his teammates into sorrowful fits as they began to cry…

I googled Miklós Fehér and found out what actually killed him was some kind of heart ailment with some big name. Fehér died from ventricular fibrillation brought on by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. I guessed from the ‘bigness’ of the name it was some sort of nasty killer.

My search them led me to other footballers who had also died while playing on the field. I discovered shocking facts;

Almost everyone of them died of a heart problem!
They were mostly young fellows in their prime.
They died quicker without chance of survival.
With very minimal exceptions, it happened while they were on the field.
Nigeria and other African countries were not left out in the string of football deaths.

It made me ask the question, is soccer a jinxed sport? I’m really not a soccer enthusiast but I can’t help noticing some things which may be overlooked.

Here’s the shocking roll call of some recorded insidents;




1970s
Renato Curi - suffered a heart attack on October 30, 1977 while playing for Perugia in a Serie A match against Juventus. Perugia's ground is named after him.

1980s
Samuel Okwaraji - Okwaraji collapsed and died while playing for Nigeria against Angola in a World Cup Qualifier on August 12, 1989. An autopsy showed that the 24-year-old had an enlarged heart and high blood pressure.

1990s
David Longhurst - suffered a heart attack on the pitch while playing for York City against Lincoln on 8 September 1990. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. To honor his memory, York City named one of the stands at the Bootham Crescent stadium after him.





1997: Emmanuel Awanegbo, a Nigerian playing in Germany, died after only 12 minutes of play. The death was attributed to cardiac arrest.

1995: Amir Angwe, 29, a striker for the Julius Berger Club of Nigeria, collapsed a minute before the end of an African Cup Winner's Cup semi-final match with Maxaquene of Mozambique. Doctors believe he died of a heart attack.

2000s
February 2000: John Ikoroma, a 17-year-old Nigerian youth international, suffered a heart attack during a friendly match in the United Arab Emirates. He was in a trial match for Al-Wahda against Kazakh Club Astona when he collapsed 20 minutes before the final whistle. He died in hospital.

Eri Irianto -The Persebaya Surabaya's midfielder passed away at 1:45 AM on April 2, 2000 in Dr. Sutomo Hospital in Surabaya, East Java after heart failure. Eri was taken to the hospital during halftime of Persebaya's league match against PSIM Yogyakarta because he said that he was having trouble breathing. He had some treatment at the hospital but there was nothing the doctors could do to save his life.



Marc-Vivien Foé - collapsed while playing for Cameroon on June 26, 2003 whilst playing in the FIFA Confederations Cup semifinal between his country and Colombia, and died shortly afterward in hospital. An autopsy later revealed the cause of death was a heart attack caused by an enlarged right ventricle.








January 25, 2004: Benfica's Hungarian international striker Miklos Feher, 24, collapsed during a Portuguese league match against Vitoria Guimaraes and never regained consciousness. The autopsy revealed he had suffered from a heart malformation.
In memory of him, Benfica have retired the number 29 shirt which he wore during his time at the club.








October 27, 2004: Brazilian Serginho, 30, collapsed during a Brazilian first division match between his club Sao Caetano and Sao Paulo and later died. His death caused a huge controversy after the autopsy revealed that his heart weighed 600 grams, twice the normal size. Sao Caetano, the club's president and the doctor were sanctioned by Brazil's sporting authorities.






Matt Gadsby of Hinckley United collapsed on the pitch on September 9, 2006, during a Conference North game against Harrogate Town and died soon afterwards in Harrogate District Hospital. Medical tests revealed he died from a heart condition known as Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy, an inherited condition that affects the muscle of the right ventricle of the heart.






Cristiano Junior collided with Mohun Bagan goalkeeper Subrata Paul in the 78th minute of the Federation Cup finals while scoring his second goal after chasing the ball into the box, staggered away, then collapsed. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. The game continued after Junior was taken off the field. He was dead on arrival at Hosmat Hospital. Dempo won the Cup, 2-0. He was the highest paid footballer in India










Antonio Puerta: 22 year old Sevilla FC player Puerta died on August 28, 2007 of multiple organ failure, stemming from prolonged cardiac arrest, three days after suffering from several heart attacks during a league game against Getafe CF on 25 August, 2007.





Chaswe Nsofwa: Zambia-born player signed by Hapoel Beersheba, died on August 29, 2007 from sudden heart failure during a training match against Maccabi Beersheba.






VIDEOS OF THE SAD MOMENTS
SERGINHO'S DEATH


ANTONIO PUERTA'S DEATH


MARC VIVIEN FOE'S DEATH


MIKLOS FEHER'S DEATH