Ronaldo, Eto'o Others for Nwankwo Kanu Testimonial

After 17 years of meritorious service to the nation, former Captain of the Super Eagles, Nwankwo Kanu declared that he was a fulfilled man as he looks forward to his testimonial match in Lagos to officially end his international soccer career.

The testimonial match between Kanu and Friends (a selected World XI) and the Nigerian national team has been slated for June 11, 2011 in Lagos.

Kanu 's friends, mostly his former teammates from Ajax, Inter Milan, Arsenal, West Brom and Portsmouth along with some selected star players will file out against a Nigerian All Star team dating from the Super Eagles teams of 1993/94, the Olympic Gold medal winning team of 1996, and some players of the current Eagles squad who played with Kanu.

Among the notable soccer stars that would grace the event are Patrick Vieira, the Cole brothers (Joe and Andy), Ronaldo, Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o Fils, Togolese Emmanuel Adebayor and many others.

This will be a special day for him and his charity organization, the Kanu Heart Foundation (KHF) as the proceeds of the event will be used to pursue the objectives of the Foundation which is largely to assist Africans particularly children in the treatment of heart related ailments.

"It is going to be a great day and event, everybody will be there and it's going to be a roll-call of World's best players, a roll-call of 'who is who in world football," he enthused.

Continuing Papilo, as he fondly called by fans said, " I'm a fulfilled man, my story has been a good story and I'm happy for that. When my DVD, the 'Story of Kanu Nwankwo' is out, it'll touch the hearts of the young ones.

Some of them believe that there's a short cut to success.

"Some of my friends are planning to have a testimonial for me in June, Kanu said, adding, "I think after 17 years in the national team, they appreciate what I have done and want to give me a befitting send off."

Vanguard

Related stories: Portsmouth coach Ian Woan tags Nwankwo Kanu a magician

Nwankwo Kanu to retire from international football after World Cup

Video - Djimon Hounsou talks about Kanu's road to the 2010 World Cup

Wole Soyinka Condemns Rising Violence

Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Sunday condemned the spate of killing in the on-going political campaign rallies of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) and other political parties in the country.

Soyinka spoke at the formal launch of reclaimnaija.net in Festac, Lagos where he urged Nigerian electorate to reject a directive of the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Hafis Ringim, that citizens should not use cell phones and cameras to record and monitor voting processes.

Also at the launch, the Nobel laureate urged the people of Nigeria to disregard politicians and political parties involved in killing, asking rhetorically that "what is the essence of killing ourselves in order to serve ourselves?"

At another fora, the Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP), Professor Pat Utomi, also on Sunday condemned the rising wave of political violence in the country, saying the trend portends danger for the Aprill elections.

Utomi also called on President Goodluck Jonathan the presidential candidate of the ruliing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to as a matter of urgency convene a national security council meeting to be attended by the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and leaders of the political parties to find solutions to this dangerous political development in the country.

In a statement by the spokesman of the Pat Utomi Presidential Campaign Organisation, Reverend Austin Nnorom, Utomi said "This violence which became manifest with the killing of some aspirants in Borno State has now reached a deplorable peak in daily drawn battles all over the country.

"It is condemnable in states like Ebonyi, Oyo, Niger and others where the state governments have shown enormous insensitivity to democratic norms and in fact all over the country. This development have dangerous consequences for the elections and free and fair elections cannot be possible," Utomi said.

The rising political violence, according to Utomi, "is centered towards intimidating both candidates and voters become more worrisome with the evidence that law enforcement agencies seem impotent to this dastardly act and allow it strive with impunity in the face of such wide spread human rights abuses.

This Day

Related stories: Nigeria's Wole Soyinka on CNN's special African Voices

Nigerian Legend Wole Soyinka on Democracy

Nigeria defeat Ethiopia 4-0

Ike Uche came off the bench to get a brace for Super Eagles in its 4-0 defeat of Ethiopia in the ongoing African Cup of Nations qualifier in Abuja on Sunday.

Before Uche's goals, Peter Utaka, set the goal spree with a brace in the second-minute and 53rd minute respectively.

Uche's goals came in the 77 and 90th minutes.

The victory brightened Eagles chances of qualifying for the Nations Cup, though still second on the table with six points from three matches, one point behind the group leader, Guinea that secured a valuable point with 1-1 game against Madagascar last night.

Nigeria must win its remaining matches to assure of qualification for the tournament.

It will play Madagascar and Ethiopia away before playing Guinea at home.

In other qualifying matches, Ghana was convincing in its 3-0 win over Congo away, while Cote d' Ivoire defeated Benin 2-1 with Didier Drogba scoring both goals for the Elephants.

Niger came from a goal down to secure a 3-1 victory over Sierra Leone also on Sunday, while Sudan beat Swaziland 3-0.

Daily Independent

Related stories: Nigeria to play Argentina in friendly

Super Eagles Move One Step On Fifa Rankings

Obafemi Martins Returns to Super Eagles

Nigeria to play Argentina in friendly

Reigning FIFA Player of the Year, Lionel Messi will be leading other Argentine super stars to play against the Super Eagles in a FIFA-accredited friendly match on June 1st at the Abuja National Stadium.

Disclosing this yesterday at a high profiled international gathering in Lagos, Guinness Nigeria PLC, said that they had struck a deal with the Argentina Football Association (AFA), Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) to organise this great match that would see current world footballer of the year, Lionel Messi, leading the Argentine attack against the Eagles.

Guinness Managing Director, Devlin Hainsworth said the match was a response to the growing calls for the Super Eagles to play a world class fixture against one of the top football nations in the world.

Argentina, apart from being two-time winners of the World Cup, have won the Copa America, more than any other South American country and are at present ranked fourth in the FIFA rankings.

He added that this was just the start of many great days ahead for Nigerian football.

Confirming their participation, NFF President, Aminu Maigari, said that they were happy that the Eagles would have the chance to play against a top-rated nation in Abuja, adding that the game would add value to the national team.

Speaking on behalf of the Argentine FA, Herman Tofoni, who is the head of international relations, said that his country had accepted to play the Eagles on June 1 and added that they hope to continue their dominance over the Nigerian national team on the said date.

Argentina have played Nigeria's Super Eagles three times and won on all occasions. With the likes of Messi and Carlos Tevez set to play against Nigeria, Tofoni said that the domination of Nigeria might just continue.

"We will be fielding a world class team and look forward to our first match against Nigeria on Nigeria's soil. It would be an extraordinary day for football fans and I have the pleasure in accepting the challenge on behalf of Argentina", added the Argentine.

Former Bolton Manager, Sam Allardyce, was one of the international coaches who graced the event and offered a technical overview of what to expect from Argentina and Nigeria when both teams confront each other on June 1.

His presence provided an air of international outlook to the event graced by many great Nigerian players, comprising Austin Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, Segun Odegbami, Sylvanus Okpalla, Edema Fuludu, Tarila Okorowanta, Daniel Amokachi, Waidi Akanni, Ike Shorunmu, Ogbona Kanu and so many others.

Their presence, enlivened the event sponsored by Guinness Nigeria PLC, who delivered an exceptionally packaged event of high international standard.

Siasia cries over Abuja stadium

Super Eagles' Chief Coach, Samson Siasia is asking for a new training ground outside the Abuja National Stadium.

After the team's morning training session yesterday, Siasia, was full of hisses over the water-logged pitch and also complained on the crowd at his training session, which he said was causing distractions.

"The pitch is not properly managed and I can't train there until there is improvement. I'll meet the minister to discuss the issue with him. We can't kick the ball with the way the pitch is. Something urgent needs to be done", Samson Siasia said.

He also cited the huge crowd that thronged their training session, saying "We need concentration in this business, but the huge crowd won't let us be.I'm looking for a quiet place where no one will distract us", he said.

Vanguard

Related stories: Messi hails Enyeama

Lagerback explains Maradona snub

Video - Kelvin Etuhu, Ex-Man City star in drunken brawl

These moments show former Manchester City footballer Kelvin Etuhu taking part in a drunken street brawl which left a man with a broken jaw.

The Nigerian striker, 22 took off his shirt and began punching and kicking 24-year old Owen Fitzpatrick who had earlier been chatting up the soccer ace's girlfriend in a cocktail bar.

During the punch up jealous Etuhu bundled his own girlfriend to the floor as she tried to stop the mayhem. He then fled the scene as she lay "dazed or unconscious" on the pavement before going to hospital. Mr Fitzpatrick also had his watch stolen.

Dramatic CCTV footage captured the heart stopping moments as the 4.30am brawl erupted outside the 235 casino in Manchester city centre.

The footage was released by police after Etuhu, of Wigan, put his head in his hands and sobbed as he was sentenced to eight months in jail after he pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and affray.

The footballer's chauffeur Leonard Rico Richards, 27, of Longsight, Manchester was jailed for four years after he admitted ABH, affray and theft.

Etuhu's older brother Dickson, 28, who plays for Fulham looked on as Judge David Hale told the Premiership star: ''Courts have a public duty to spell out the consequences of public disorder and it is clear just how unnecessary this was.

''Whatever happened in the casino, it was trivial. It's half four in the morning, time to go anyway. The others involved in this incident had taken it on themselves to see if you turned up but you did.

''You could have been driven away but you didn't. You decided it wasn't over and if it hadn't been for that this would never had happened and you would have carried on with your lives.

"But you didn't. You got out and you got involved and you completely lost the plot. Why else would you push your girlfriend over so that she lay motionless on the ground.

He added: ''You had brought yourself up by your bootstraps, you and your family with nothing more than ambition and your talent when you came from Nigeria.

''You were with Manchester City Football Club and like many others it didn't seem to come to anything. You had a chance and you blew it."

Cavendish Press

Related stories: Former Super Eagle Uche Okafor Is Found Dead

Nigerian footballer arrested in Amsterdam

Football player gets 40 lashes for drinking alcohol in Sudan

Victor Agali's lawyer says he is innocent