Ranty Martins Soleye: The dream to play for Nigeria!

Nigerian Ranty Martins Soleye is one of the best strikers on the Indian football circuit. The 25 year old Ranty after eight years with I-League champions Dempo SC has left Goa to join aspiring Kolkata side Prayag United SC for the new season.

But Prayag United isn't the only ambition for Ranty in the future as he dreams to play for the Nigerian national football team, the Super Eagles, one day while continuing his club career in India.

Speaking to the local The Guardian Nigeria, Ranty praising the I-League said, "I know that many people will begin to say that what is in India league. But I want to say here that the league in India is very strong. It is stronger than what we have in Nigeria because it is improving every season."

"More so, I want the handlers of the national team (Super Eagles) to look at the quality of the individuals and not where they play. I know my quality as a striker and I want the coaches, particularly Stephen Keshi to give an opportunity to prove myself. I won’t disappoint him," Ranty added.

It will be interesting to follow if a Nigerian striker playing in India will be given a chance to play for the Super Eagles with their star players playing in some of the biggest leagues in Europe.

Interesting was also to read Ranty's high opinion of the I-League. He further said, "The Indian league looks tougher, even though we have a lot of power play in the Nigerian league. The league over there is more tactical than what we have in Nigeria. I watched one of the league matches in Nigeria recently and it does not really impress me."

Who will participate in the 2012 Nehru Cup?

The All India Football Federation is set to organise the 2012 edition of the Nehru Cup from August 23 to September 2 at the Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. Besides hosts India four other nations will take part in the Nehru Cup which will be held three decades after the first edition in 1982. Also it will be part of the AIFF celebrating its Platinum Jubilee (75th anniversary).

But there is confusion on who will participate in the tournament this year with invited country football associations telling their respective national media that they will participate after accepting the AIFF offer. The only thing which is clear is that the AIFF is preferring to have two African and two Asian sides joining India in a five team competition.

The AIFF had send out more then 10 invitations across Asia and Africa. After it became clear that Nigeria wouldn't like to take part, Cameroon and Kenya were approached with Kenya having since accepted the invitation while Cameroon had given positive feedback about an interest to participate. Another nation doing the rounds as possible back-up is Senegal.

Meanwhile within Asia the nations of Afghanistan, Jordan, Maldives, the Philippines, Syria and Thailand are said to be amongst the nations approached with Jordan, Maldives, the Philippines and Syria all willing to participate.

Currently the AIFF seems to favour Cameroon and Kenya plus Syria and Jordan taking part in the tournament. But the AIFF will soon have to take a final decision on who it would like to see participate in the tournament, so the search for a title sponsor and television broadcaster can go ahead in full flow, then on the 75th anniversary it wouldn't show Indian football in good light without one of these or even both.

Nigeria not interested to play Nehru Cup?

The head coach of the Nigerian national football team Stephen Keshi has told local Nigerian media that he would rather play African opposition on the August 15 FIFA match date then take part in the 2012 Nehru Cup in India to prepare for the final playoff qualification for the 2013 African Cup of Nations in South Africa next year.

Keshi said, "I will want to play against another African team in August during the FIFA free window so as to prepare the team for the final round of the qualifiers."

It is known to Keshi that the Nehru Cup in India would be a tournament with numerous group matches for his team to play, but with the European season set to start by mid- August and the Nehru Cup slated for August 23 to September 2, it would mean that Nigeria could only field a national team with local players and those playing in Africa who would be released by their clubs.

It is clear that the Nehru Cup organisers need to cross-check with what team Nigeria would come to India, if they agree to participate. A second or third string surely would be god for the reputation of the tournament.

Messi's Argentina to play in Kolkata & Dhaka

In great news for fans of top class football the national teams of Argentina and Venezuela will face each other in a South American derby on September 2, 2011 at the Saltlake Stadium in Kolkata. This was officially announced yesterday at a press conference by the tour organisers Celebrity Management Group at the Oberoi Grand hotel in Kolkata.

Kolkata's CMG have signed a contract with Argentina to organise two international friendlies for the South Americans in the subcontinent. So besides the game on September 2 against Venezuela in Kolkata, the Argentinians would play at Dhaka's Bangabandhu National Stadium against Nigeria on September 6. Both the matches are taking place on international FIFA match dates.

"The Argentina Football Association has indeed signed a contract to bring in the full-strength squad including Messi and Carlos Tevez among others," said CMG's Bhaswar Goswami.

"The contract guarantees their participation," he added.

The Argentinians are set to arrive on August 30 on a four/five day visit before flying across to Dhaka. The team would not only play the match; but also have some obligations as per the contract while in Kolkata like attending a charity program, a gala dinner, a football clinic for children and an open public training session.

Though the game is on a FIFA match date, how Argentina can guarantee the participation of their stars will have to be seen as due to the Copa America next month the quota of international matches will be close to full.

For both Kolkata and Dhaka it would be the biggest international friendly in their history with a former World Cup winning side to play, though Kolkata has been Argentina, Uruguay and other nations in action in the Nehru Cup in the past.

A big stumbling block ahead of the game could be the venue, the Saltlake Stadium. But there new West Bengal Sports Minister Madan Mitra has guaranteed all possible help to bring the stadium up to a certain standard which is suitable for the football stars. Focus would be laid on the changing rooms, toilets and the media enclosure, while there are also plans for special VIP hospitality at the game. But the stadium needs to be cleared by FIFA and for own India matches the stadium does not fulfil the minimum criteria.

Best dribblers in world football

German weekly sports magazine Sport Bild came out this week with a list of the top 20 dribblers in world football. The list of players includes a number of players from across the decades, whose name some might not have heard, while being a German publication they could have been a little pro-German players too.

I totally agree with Maradona on top, but the question is if Messi has done enough to be number two in such a ranking???

Would you agree??? Or would your list include a different set of players.


Top 20 Dribblers

01. Diego Armando Maradona (Argentina)
02. Lionel Messi (Argentina)
03. Garrincha (Brazil)
04. Stan Matthews (England)
05. Ronaldinho (Brazil)

06. George Best (Northern Ireland)
07. Reinhard 'Stan' Libuda (Germany)
08. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Germany)
09. Ronaldo (Brazil)
10. Zinédine Zidane (France)

11. Brian Laudrup (Denmark)
12. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
13. Pierre Littbarski (Germany)
14. Ryan Giggs (Wales)
15. Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria)

16. Allan Simonsen (Denmark)
17. Kevin Keegan (England)
18. Kaká (Brazil)
19. Mehmet Scholl (Germany)
20. Romário (Brazil)

Group B: Argentina top, South Korea move on

Argentina are somewhat through from Group B, but who would join them in the knockout stages, will it be South Korea, Greece or can Nigeria spring a surprise.

(matches to kick off simultaneously)

Nigeria 2-2 (1-1) South Korea
Goals: 1:0 Kalu Uche (12'), 1-1 Jung-Soo Lee (38'), 1-2 Chu-Young Park (49'), 2-2 Yakubu Ayegbeni (69', penalty).

In a thrilling game at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban South Korea and Nigeria played out a two-all draw which resulted in the Asians moving on into the knockout stage as Greece was beaten in the other match.

But until the end anything was possible in an open game. After some exchanges Nigeria took the lead through a Kalu Uche goal in the 12th minute. Nigeria could have doubled their lead in the 36th minute when Uche's shot hit the post, but only two minutes later South Korea equalised. Once more defender Jung-Soo Lee scored of a free kick to give the Koreans a deserving draw at half time.

After the break South Korea took the lead through another dead ball situation. Chu-Young Park's free kick in the 49th minute beat the wall and surprised keeper Vincent Enyemea who had moved a step into the middle. Nigeria seemed shocked after losing their lead, but came back strong towards the end of the game. First Yakubu Ayegbeni missed a chance to score into an empty net, but he made amends a few minutes later by scoring of a penalty. Towards the end it was an even more open game with both sides looking for the winner. Nigeria had the best chance through Obafemi Martins, but the striker put the ball wide. In the end the South Koreans would celebrate their second place in the group, which earns them a pre-quarterfinal match against Uruguay.


Greece 0-2 (0-0) Argentina
Goals: 0-1 Martin Demichelis (77'), 0-2 Martin Palermo (89').

Argentina ended their Group B campaign with a 2-0 win against Greece at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane. It meant Argentina have won all their three group matches, while the Greeks travel home.

Argentina coach Diego Armando Maradona left out some of his regular first eleven players to give some of the bench players playing time ahead of likelier tougher assignments in the knockout stages. Greece meanwhile new that they had to better South Korea's result to have any chance of moving on, but their defensive tactics wouldn't help in their quest.

Argentina were in control from the start with Greece having the odd chance in-between. The Greeks were able to hold the Argentinians to a goalless draw until the 77th minute when defender Martin Demichelis on his second attempt blasted the ball in. Greece was beaten and substitute Martin Palermo would be there to double the score a minute from time after Lionel Messi's attempt it blocked by the Greek keeper Alexandros Tzorvas.

World Cup 2010: Goalkeeping blunders

One of the things that the 2010 FIFA World Cup will sadly be remembered for will be the goalkeeping blunders and mistakes across the board. Some keepers have not made it to the list but remain potential candidates as the tournament progresses and some are a threat to their own teams. One never knows.

Here a list of the blunders so far

Robert Green (England) - The keeper from West Ham United committed the biggest blunder of the tournament so far. The tragedy was that Green tried to collect the ball from a weak long range effort from Clint Dempsey of the USA, but he allowed the ball to cross the line. And then Green was further humiliated by his coach Fabio Capello as he changed his keeper bringing back David James for the second game against Algeria.

Fawzi Chaouchi (Algeria) - The Algerian keeper Fawzi Chaouchi, who plays at home for ES Setif, allowed a weak shot from Slovenian captain Robert Koren to drop infront of him and then the ball move past him into the goal which sealed Slovenia's win. Chaouchi was dropped by his coach for Rais M'Bohli, who had a great game against England.

Justo Villar (Paraguay) - Justo Villar, who plays for Spanish second Division outfit Real Valladolid, had a good game against Italy, but one mistake would gift the defending champions a goal for a draw. After a corner Villar ran through under Pepe's corner with Daniele de Rossi putting the ball in from close range.

Myong-Guk Ri (North Korea) - The keeper from North Korea made a solid performance against Brazil, but was once caught off guard. In the 52nd minute Maicon overlapped and took an attempt which went into the goal between the keeper and post as the keeper had moved into a more central position expecting a cross. A small, but decisive mistake.

Alexandros Tsorvas (Greece) - The Panathinaikos Athens keeper misjudged a free kick from Nigerian midfielder Kalu Uche expecting one of the players inside the box to make contact and saw the ball fly past him into his own goal.

Vincent Enyeama (Nigeria) - Enyeama had a solid performance against Argentina and Greece, but one mistake allowed Greece to win the game. The keeper who plays for Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel could only block a Alexandros Tziolis shot and Vassilis Torosidis is there to score of the rebound. After the game Enyeama was seen crying, not willing to accept his own mistake with team mates trying to console him.

Eiji Kawashima (Japan) - The Kawasaki Frontale keeper gifted the Netherlands their win against the Samurai Warriors. In the 53rd minute of the match Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder took a shot goalwards and Kawashima is flying to parry the shot, but he deflects the ball into his own net. The goalkeepers action looks weird and it seems like the ball swerves in such a way that it surprises the Japanese keeper.

Richard Kingston (Ghana) - The Ghanian keeper who was this season keeper number three or four at Wigan Athletic in the English Premier League was not able to hold on to a free kick of Australian midfielder Marco Bresciano allowing the ball to fall for Brett Holman and he hits it past the keeper. Thereafter Kingston would make an exceptional save to deny Australia victory.

Group B: Higuain wins it for Gauchos, Greece make history

Group B entered a decisive day with the winner of Argentina vs South Korea likely through while the loser in Greece vs Nigeria can plan their trip home.

(to be updated after the second game)

Greece 2-1 (1-1) Nigeria
Goals: 0-1 Kalu Uche (16'), 1-1 Dimitrios Salpingidis (44'), 2-1 Vassilis Torosidis (71').

It was a do or die match for both sides and they gave it everything they could to win this crucial tie. In the end Greece beat Nigeria 2-1 at the Free State Stadium and in the process scored their first ever World Cup goal and win.

It was a fast paced encounter, but with many mistakes on both sides. Nigeria took the lead in the 16th minute through a Kalu Uche free kick from the left which is wrongly judged by keeper Alexandros Tsorvas and with no contact flies into the Greek goal. Nigeria thereafter dictate the match, but don't get any further chances. They weaken themselves in the 33th minute after Sani Kaita hits out at Vassilis Torosidis and for this he gets a straight red card. Greece coach Otto Rehagel realises the chance and brings on Samara to strengthen his attack and thereafter Greece suddenly are the more dangerous side, but they miss numerous chances before they score in the 44th minute through a Dimitrios Salpingidis shot from outside the box.

Greece come out stronger after the break, but around the hour mark both sides go into attack looking for the winner, but Nigeria were hampered by the fact of being a man down. And Greece scored the winner in the 71st minute. Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama could only block a Alexandros Tziolis shot and Vassilis Torosidis is there to score of the rebound. Nigeria is beaten as they thereafter look to tired with a man down to get back into the game, while Greece has chances to score more.


Argentina 4-1 (2-1) South Korea
Goals: 1-0 Chu-Young Park (16', own goal), 2-0,3-1,4-1 Gonzalo Higuain (33',76',80'), 2-1 Chung-Yong Lee (45+1').

Argentina overcame a rather weak South Korea 4-1 in their second Group B match at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg.

Argentina controlled the affair in the first session as South Korea couldn't play as well as against Greece as they seemed to have too much respect against their much more famed opponents. Initially Argentina played around the ball a lot, but chances were not coming their way. In the 16th minute Carlos Tevez earned them a free kick on the left close to the corner flag and the resultant Lionel Messi free kick went in off the shin of Chu-Young Park with no chance to the South Korean keeper Sung-Ryong Jung. South Korea didn't looked shocked as only a couple of minutes later a Sung-Yeong Ki shot just goes over the crossbar. But Argentina remained in charge and doubled their lead in the 33th minute when a Maxi Rodriguez free kick is headed on by Nicolas Burdisso to Gonzalo Higuain and the Real Madrid striker heads in, but the goal shouldn't have been given as he was offside. South Korea were now shocked and Argentina could have further enhanced their lead. First an Angel di Maria shot is parried away by Sung-Ryong Jung, before a brilliant Messi effort just misses the target. While everyone was ready for the break the South Koreans reduced the deficit as Martin Demichilis isn't careful on a back pass to him, Chung-Yong Lee steals the ball from him and chips it over Sergio Romero into the goal. Suddenly the Koreans were back in the game.

After the break Argentina continue were they left off, but after the first ten minutes the Koreans get back into the game. And Ki-Hun Yeon could have equalised in the 58th minute when his shot just misses the target. The game is now more open as the Koreans seem to believe that they have a chance here, but their defence would let them down. On a counter attack in the 76th minute they would concede a third. Messi combines with substitute Sergio Aguero and places the ball onto the post and Higuain scores of the rebound, but once again the Real Madrid striker scores from an offside position. The Argentinians sealed the win in the 80th minute when Aguero gets the ball to Higuain who scores his third of the afternoon. Aguero could have made it five before full time, while on the other side Korea star Ji-Sung Park tests Romero. In the end it is a deserving 4-1 win.

2010 World Cup: Africa disappoints

The first ever FIFA World Cup on the African continent is currently on in South Africa. But the local sides haven't been able to really convince us that African football has come of age in their first round of matches. Only Ghana was able to win their match, hosts South Africa and Ivory Coast earned draws, while the others in Nigeria, Algeria and Cameroon lost.

Two decades ago Cameroon had made it to the quarterfinals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy and many had thereafter said that African football has arrived on the world stage. It was expected that an African side would make it to the finals of a football World Cup in the coming editions, but since 1990 African sides have shown a lot of potential but not the desired results. And at the end of the day only results count.

Nowadays African players are playing for the best sides across Europe, are key players in their respective clubs but when these players return to their national sides they don't seem to be able to deliver the goods. Are the real leaders on the field missing? Or is it a problem that the whole team isn't of a high standard?

Many hoped that on home soil the African sides could utilise the advantage in their favour, but they haven't been able to turn around the world order of football, maybe not just yet. Lets hope they can turn this around in the coming matches. But what was evident is that these teams lack quality strikers or even top strikers sadly become ordinary like a Samuel Eto'o for Cameroon.

The hosts South Africa have actually been one of the better performers from Africa, while Ghana like in the last World Cup are the only African side which looked like they could get far in the tournament. Their 1-0 win against Serbia came off a penalty, but it as a good game.

Cameroon have been the biggest disappointment, but there seems to be something wrong in their team otherwise such a performance against Japan is unexplainable. They have quality players and talented youngsters, but they showed nothing of that against Japan.

Nigeria faced a strong Argentina, but didn't know how to score otherwise it could have been a more interesting encounter, while Algeria looked overawed by the occasion. In the end they lost due to a goalkeeping blunder but goals of their own looked rather unlikely against Slovenia.

Ivory Coast played better then Portugal, but as a potential candidate for a place in the last eight more should be expected from them. But once Didier Drobga is back in form and his broken elbow no longer a topic, then the Ivorians could be a dangerous outfit as they then have a striker who can deliver the goods. They lacked that against Portugal, still this time around their defence is much stronger then it was four years ago in Germany.

Group B: South Korea impress, Argentina win

In the opening day in Group B South Korea scored a convincing 2-0 win against Greece, while Argentina scored a lone goal victory against Nigeria.

(to be updated after the second game)

Argentina 1-0 (1-0) Nigeria
Goals: 1-0 Gabriel Heinze (6').

Argentina scored an unconvincing lone goal victory against Nigeria in a match which the Albiceleste could have won by a bigger margin, but the Nigerians could have also done some damage had their finishing been better.

Argentina made their intentions clear from the onset with early chances for Gonzalo Higuain and Lionel Messi, and they took an early 6th minute lead as Gabriel Heinze headed in a Juan Veron corner. But it wasn't one way traffic though Argentina was the better side on display. Nigeria had their moments as the Africans did combine well, but their shots were wayward especially Chinedu Obasi whose three good chances went wide of the goal. After around 25 minutes the Argentinians took the tempo out of the match, more intend on ball control making the Nigerians run. The world's currently best player Messi had his moments in the first half as he his two attempted shots were brilliantly cleared by the Nigerian keeper Vincent Enyeama. But the 1-0 lead for the Albiceleste is a dangerous one, then such a result just isn't enough to sleep easy.

The match made a slow start into the second half, but then Nigerian coach Lars Lagerbeck made some changes in his attack around the hour mark and Nigeria looked to get better into the game putting some pressure on the Argentinians, still their finishing was not up to the mark. On the other side with Nigeria having to do more for their attack it gave space to Argentina who had two good chances around the 65th minute first a Messi shot which went wide and then a Higuain shot which was blocked by an alert Enyeama. Nigeria had their best chance up to that point in the 70th minute when a shot from left back Taye Taiwo just about missed the goal. Towards the end it was an open game with chances on both sides. First Messi missed a sitter for Argentina, while Kalu Uche had a chance on the other side but put it once more over the Argentinian goal as did Aiyegbeni Yakubu a few minutes later. In the end Nigeria looked tired and didn't test the South Americans any more.


South Korea 2-0 (1-0) Greece
Goals: 1-0 Jung-Soo Lee (7'), 2-0 Ji-Sung Park (52').

South Korea score a convincing 2-0 opening win against Greece in Group B at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. But the Asians will need to confirm today's performance to have a chance against Nigeria and Argentina. For Otto Rehagel's Greece sadly played old fashion football and they were punished for this.

It was a strong performance by the South Koreans in the first half against a Greece who seemed surprised by their Asian opponents. South Korea have been known as a team to run miles during matches, but now they seem capable of combing well too, but only the last pass was often missing.

The Koreans took the lead through defender Jung-Soo Lee in the 7th minute when he scored of a freekick from nearly the corner spot as Angelos Charisteas didn't mark his man. South Korea were unlucky as a couple of decisions by the referee went against them, once a penalty wasn't given, while on another occasion Ji-Sung Park was through but a foul called against him.

And Korea continued where they left off before the break. Their captain and Manchester United star Ji-Sung Park doubled the lead in the 52nd minute after a blunder from Loukas Vyntra, which enabled Park to break free on the left and score past the Greek keeper Alexandros Tzorvas. After the hour South Korea looked willing to waste less energy, but the teams also looked to slow down giving the Greeks some space and chances to combine. Greece had their best chance in the 81st minute through Bundesliga striker Theofanis Gekas, who turns and shoots goal wards, but is palmed away by the Korean keeper Sung-Ryong Jung. And in the 86th minute Korea could have added a third as Chu-Young Park once more beat Loukas Vyntra, but is blocked still Chung-Yong Lee gets a shot on target which Tzorvas can clear for a corner.