19th May, 2010
Elijah Onosemuodeâ€
“The fans there acknowledged the trumpets and the carnival spirit. They said they had never experienced something like that before,†said the 34 year-old native of Warri, Nigeria, a major port city on the Niger Delta.
While Nigeria lost in the quarter-finals it was a special way for Onosemuode to adjust to his new home in Canada after obtaining refugee status earlier that year.
The Surrey resident said soccer is a unifying force in Nigeria, a country that is divided along religious and ethnic lines. Thatâ€
“When Nigerians are playing soccer you see people old and young, everybody together. You see Muslims laughing with Christians, everybody is one. You donâ€
Itâ€
There is no doubt the talent is there to succeed. The Super Eagles have several Premier League players including defenders Joseph Yobo of Everton and Danny Shittu of Bolton, midfielder Mikel John Obi of Chelsea, and strikers Nwankwo Kanu of Portsmouth and Yakubu Aiyegbeni of Everton.
The team punched their ticket for South Africa after going undefeated in qualifying matches, although they still needed their last match (a 3-2 win over Kenya) in the final round to narrowly defeat Tunisia in the standings.
“The World Cup isnâ€
The Nigerian Football Federation, NFF, has stated that a semifinal appearance is expected from newly appointed coach Lars Lagerback of Sweden. Nigeria canned its former coach Shaibu Amodu in a controversial move in late February after finishing third in the 2010 African Nations Cup In Angola. Lagerback is Nigeriaâ€
According to Joe Ehizode, 47, a former Nigerian sports journalist now living in Surrey, the way the federation handled the coaching change is nothing new.
“The problem is not that they donâ€
Both Ehizode and Onosemuode said when Nigeria doesnâ€