There are several things on my mind this weekend.
During the week I watched several exciting matches in the European Champions League. One in particular left me flabbergasted. What a beautiful, totally unpredictable game football is.
There was also the release of the list of the 23 best football players in the world from among who would be chosen the World’s Best Player of the Year. There is only one African in the list. One would think that it makes sense that he would almost automatically win the other award of Africa’s best player. But he is unlikely to.
There is also the FIFA presidential election – the deadline for submission of documents is in 48 hours, and the Nigeria Football Federation is still unable to decide which of two persons to nominate. Yet, it is so obvious that some persons are just bent on selling their souls and take a decision they know is obviously not right!
There was also time to join their families and friends in mourning the passage of my moral mentor, Mr. Gamaliel Onosode.
Permit me to start with the Champions League.
What stood out for me was the match between Arsenal and Bayern Munich. It was absolutely bizarre. The match and the eventual result just do not add up at all.
The match came and what happened? Pep Guardiola must still be in a daze. Arsenal were outplayed in all departments of the game. But Bayern lost. Neither team actually created any clear-cut chances with Bayern dominating play with over 70% ball possession and hardly threatened throughout the game.
Uncharacteristically, Arsenal applied a strategy they had never been seen to use before – they fell back into defense for most of 90 minutes conceding their attacking style football for a well-organised defensive system that kept Bayern’s attack away from their goal, and depended on a few occasional counters to hunt for the odd goal.
The elements sided with Wenger and the Gunners. Arsenal got not one, but two goals that came out of nowhere! No one can still fathom what happened.
Arsenal did not look anything like the Arsenal of old. Bayern Munich on the other hand were completely dominant yet they hardly created even one goal scoring opportunity.
The issue is that the final result just did not have any relationship with the match itself. It was so flattering that not even Arsenal would have thought the greatest challenge to them potentially became the easiest match in recent times. They really just did what they never knew how to do.
Bayern Munich, in one match, went from strongest team in the world to a confused bunch that had no idea what to do to break down a well-organised team that came to play a deliberate defensive strategy no one had ever seen them play before.
Ballon D’or
He has not been playing for some weeks due to injury. He will still be out for a few more. Yet it is almost a certainty that unless his closest rivals start to play football made in Mars for the rest of the month of November, the position of the world’s best player for the period in consideration is reserved for only one player – Lionel Messi.
Since last season, after leading Barcelona to win 3 trophies in Europe, his position has been indisputable. His closest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, with whom he has shared the award this past decade can only catch sight of his tail light this time. Not to talk of his teammates and co-contesters for the coveted crown, Neymar and Suarez, both of who are also in the 23-man list.
One man who has shot to the front line of the award is Robert Lewandowski, whose finishing power in front of goal for Poland and Bayern Munich this season has been bewildering to say the least. But he too would have to wait till next year.
Never in the history of football has one player dominated the global game so well and for so long.
Lionel Messi is thus set to make history as the only human to win the title of World Footballer of the Year a record 5 times!
Africa’s Ballon D’Or.
The only African listed in the group of 23 of the best players in the world is Cote D’Ivoire’s Yaya Toure.
Like Messi, Toure has been Africa’s most outstanding and most decorated player this decade. He has won Africa’s Best Footballer trophy a record 4 times and looks set to win it again this year. But will he?
He has not been as outstanding in his personal performance this season as he was two seasons ago when he led Manchester City to win the Premiership.
Fortunately for him, very few African players have also been outstanding in Europe. The only one who might wrest the crown from him, more to break the monotony and monopoly of Yaya than because he has been better, is Pierre –Emerick Aubamenyang of Borussia Dortmund and Gabon.
He has been very consistent scoring great goals for one of Germany’s strongest teams in the past three seasons.
Another rising star is Andre Ayew who is creating some waves in the Premiership this season. Ayew’s turn will come up next year if he keeps away from injury and keeps banging in the goals as he has been doing so far in Swansea City’s colours.
Any way which way, Yaya Toure will still be a serious contender again for the award of Africa’s Best player for the 5th consecutive time.
FIFA Elections
By the time you are reading this the Nigeria Football Federation must have announced the Nigerian they have nominated to contest for the position of President of FIFA.
Nigerians are waiting and watching to see how the drama will end.
It should really be a straightforward and very simple and honest choice, but in this era of anything is possible, anything is truly possible. Because I am involved I would not say anything until that decision is made.
The tragedy is that it is coming so late and so close to the deadline (October 26) that neither of the candidates would have the time now to fulfill the other requirement except of course if the NFF throws its full weight behind the candidate and makes things to happen fire-brigade-style for which Nigerians are masters.
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