By Mumini Alao I AM STARTING to write this travelogue at five minutes past midnight of Wednesday, 26 February, 2020, which means we’re already five minutes into a new day, Thursday, 27 February, 2020. I have not had a good sleep in the last three days, yet I dare not go to bed now without …
La Liga Live: At Last, “Mr. Nigeria” Arrives in Valencia Read More »
Exclusive preview by Mumini Alao in Spain ARRIVING in Madrid, the first thing that strikes you as you drive around the city is its huge size. 6.5million of Spain’s 46 million people live in the metropolitan area of Madrid, compared to 5.5million in Barcelona and 2.5million in Valencia where I’m coming from. However, the city …
(Complete Football, October ’91, page 22) FIRST achievers are never forgotten in history. Chief Boniface Jimoh Oni (a.k.a ‘Bee Jay Ooh) can never be forgotten in the history of Nigerian football. And the reason is simple: this was a man with the enviable record as the First FIFA-Graded Nigerian referee; the man who directed proceedings …
Boniface Jimoh Oni, Nigeria’s First FIFA–Graded Referee Read More »
SUPER Eagles coach Gernot Rohr continues to be a deeply divisive subject in Nigerian football discourse. With about seven months remaining on his contract (due to expire in June 2020), the current debate in traditional and social media circles is on whether the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) should renew or cut ties with the Franco-German. …
Gernot Rohr: Manchester United Lesson for Super Eagles by Mumini Alao Read More »
As Coach Gernot Rohr’s Super Eagles prepare to face Samba boys in an international friendly in Singapore on 13 October, 2019, MUMINI ALAO recalls his impressions of the first senior encounter between the two countries in Abuja in 2003…. I HAVE read quite a number of reactions to the Super Eagles 3-0 thrashing by Brazil …
GERNOT ROHR and his Super Eagles couldn’t have wished for a kinder and more amenable opposition in their first game, post AFCON 2019 than Ukraine. The jury was out on the Franco-German to see how his team would fare immediately after the international retirements by captain John Obi Mikel and top goal scorer Odion Ighalo. …
Ukraine Was Cannon Fodder For Super Eagles By Mumini Alao Read More »
“PICTURES don’t lie” used to be a common refrain until Digital technology birthed Photoshop and similar tools that wiped out the cliche. Now, we have to verify any pictures before we’re sure they’re not lying, otherwise we may be fooled or misled. There are no such doubts about the pictures coming out of South Africa …
Xenophobia: War On The Criminals! By Mumini Alao Read More »
I DIDN’T REALIZE that there was such deep-seated animosity between Nigerian supporters of Manchester United and Arsenal until last Saturday when Complete Sports hosted the inaugural NaijaSuperFans hangout at Godwin Dudu-Orumen’s SportShaq in Surulere, Lagos.Due to space constraints at the venue, we had restricted the number of invitees to 70 members of the fast-growing online …
Arsenal vs United is the New Battle Frontier By Mumini Alao. Read More »
By Mumini Alao IT WAS not my first visit to the Sports Zone, the “most popular sports show anywhere,” as Sadiq, the cerebral yet vivacious morning belt anchor on Lagos Talks 91.3FM, likes to describe the programme. But certainly, it was my most enjoyable. Last Thursday morning, August the 8th, I had to leave home …
FOLLOWING NIGERIA’s AFCON semi-final 2-1 loss to Algeria last weekend in Egypt, a debate immediately ensued in traditional and social media on whether Gernot Rohr should continue on the job as Super Eagles coach. It was predictable. When a sports team are deemed by Nigerian fans not to have performed up to their expectation, the …
Pass Mark for Super Eagles and Gernot Rohr By Mumini Alao Read More »
