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Five things we learned from El Clasico

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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">COMMENT: The events at the Bernabeu have brought the two rivals closer in the standings but they appear to be heading in different directions in other areas</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Real Madrid's 3-1 victory over Barcelona in the season's first Clasico battle was being celebrated long and hard in the Spanish capital on Saturday night, and it is clear to see why.<br /><br />The Blancos recovered from conceding an early goal to register a memorable success over an out-of-sorts Barca, leaving Luis Enrique with much to ponder.<br /><br />For the neutral the match had a little bit of everything, while the opposing camps will also have taken plenty from the proceedings.<br /><br class="mceContentBody " id="tinymce" />The Clasico threw up a whole host of important issues.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Messi needs to reinvent himself to regain his best form</span></strong></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="border-color: black;"><img alt="" src="http://static.goal.com/510600/510641_heroa.jpg" style="border: 1px solid black; vertical-align: middle;" /></span><br /><strong></strong></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Lionel Messi has always been about more than just goals. While he stands on the verge of setting a record mark in La Liga, there can be no quantifying what he has supplied beyond the act of sticking the ball in the back of the net.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">He has for many years now been the man around whom everything brilliant about Barcelona has been based. He was the go-to guy whether 2-0 down or 5-0 up, whether domestic dead-rubber or Champions League final. And, almost without exception, he delivered.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But the Argentine has hit a crossroads in his career.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And while for some that means looking for gainful employment in different colours, for Messi it is more about looking for new ways in which he can best serve Barcelona.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This season, he has been found in an altered role seemingly more by accident than by design. The desire to get more out of Neymar - and now Luis Suarez - was always likely to impact upon the 27-year-old somehow, but it has been as much in the phasing out of Xavi that Messi’s starting position has slipped increasingly deeper.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">With the trusty midfield leader taking a backseat more often than not this term, Messi has had to do more work for himself. No longer is he in the privileged position of having the world’s greatest pass master carving open defences with perfect precision.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But much as any centre-forward starved of possession tends to go looking for the ball himself, Messi’s tendency to come from deeper positions this term has felt more like a result of circumstance than that of any long-term plan.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And it has reflected in Messi’s play. Even disregarding his goals statistics, this is not the player of old.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Far from taking it upon himself to feature more heavily as his team struggled at the Bernabeu, Messi went missing. And Luis Enrique needs to actively find a role in which his star man can thrive.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">No longer the false nine he once was, the Argentine needs to discover a new way of playing, rather than a new style finding him. On Saturday he went looking for nothing, and nothing was Barca’s reward.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Isco is too good for the subs' bench</span></strong></span></span></strong></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="border-color: black;"><img alt="" src="http://static.goal.com/454700/454751_heroa.jpg" style="border: 1px solid black; vertical-align: middle;" /></span><br /><br />When any supremely talented footballer is snapped up by one of the game’s giants, there is widespread fear that they will not be able to thrive on the shorter leash awaiting them on the grander stages.</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Isco’s case is symptomatic of the phenomenon of clubs with big budgets snapping up a rising star and not giving him the best condition in which to find his feet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Two years ago, the Benalmadena native was lighting up La Liga and the Champions League alike with his sensational displays at the heart of Malaga’s attacking approach. Under Manuel Pellegrini he started 46 games in 2012-13, paying the Chilean back with the kind of performances which persuaded Real Madrid to pay €30 million for his services.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On Saturday, the same Isco was very much on display. A fantastic performance combining grace, style and fantastic footballing smarts helped Madrid to see off Barcelona with something to spare. Wherever good things happened for the Blancos, Isco seemed to be.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yet this was only the sixth start afforded to the 22-year-old in 15 first-team fixtures this term. In an environment in which signatures are acquired and transfer fees agreed long before consequences are considered, Isco has found the arrivals of James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos to be of great detriment on a personal level.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When he scrawled his signature onto the contract Madrid offered him in the summer of 2013 he will have well known what he was signing up for. But one cannot help but wonder why he does not receive more game time when he possesses the ability to be the key contributor in games as big as the Clasico.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The absence through injury of Gareth Bale has opened a narrow window of opportunity for Isco. But money talks at Real Madrid, and as such it is hard to see him being afforded continued starts once the €100m man declares himself fit. When Bale is available, the Spaniard gets a first XI spot only once in every four fixtures.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Isco will return to the bench. Maybe not next week, and maybe not the week after. But soon. And it is hard not to feel as though he deserves an awful lot better.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Casillas is still as key as Cristiano</span></strong></span></span></strong></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="border-color: black;"><img alt="" src="http://static.goal.com/511100/511141_heroa.jpg" style="border: 1px solid black; vertical-align: middle;" /></span><br /><br />Top footballers thrive when conditions are put in place for them to succeed. Cristiano Ronaldo has achieved what he has achieved at Real Madrid thanks to the first team being tailored to such an extent that he can be allowed to excel.</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But his equaliser at the Bernabeu on Saturday would never have happened had his side already been two goals down, and it was thanks to Iker Casillas that Madrid were still in touching distance by the time Ronaldo stepped up to the penalty spot in the 35th minute.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While the Spain captain has had a far from glittering 2014, or 2013 for that matter, he will remain a key cog in the Madrid wheel for as long as he is still being picked. Because while the conditions are in place for Ronaldo to shine at one end, so too are they set up for Casillas to claim his share of headlines at the other.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It has never been the modus operandi of Real Madrid to defend first and attack later, and that is what has made them the club they are. But it has also meant that for a period of decades they have been open to exposure defensively, and as a result Casillas has made a name for himself with some fantastic shot-stopping.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Even though he is far from the goalkeeper he could have become, he remains as crucial thanks to the volume of chances opponents continue to be afforded. Thanks to a couple of key stops on Saturday – most notably from Lionel Messi in the first half – Madrid only had one goal to overcome instead of two or three.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Question marks remain over the real reason he has been given the nod over Keylor Navas between the sticks, but now that he’s number one he’s as important as any other player to Madrid’s hopes of success. Even Ronaldo.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All blocks and no brains at the back for Barca</span></strong></span></span></strong></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="border-color: black;"><img alt="" src="http://static.goal.com/511200/511211_heroa.jpg" style="border: 1px solid black; vertical-align: middle;" /></span><br /><br />There’s an old saying which suggests that the best referees are those you don’t really notice. Many of the better spectacles occur when the man in the middle lets the game flow with little regard for how involved he appears to be. He officiates for the good of the game rather than for personal acclaim.</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In many respects, the life of a defender can be looked upon similarly. Some of the modern game’s most outstanding stoppers are those that go about their business with the minimum of fuss. They anticipate danger before it happens, phasing out opposition attacks before the crowd even gets a chance to get excited about the potential goal to come.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While the mastering of the art of a brave block has made a hero of many limited defenders, the very best in their position rarely let it get to that point. The need to throw your body on the line often comes from initially poor positioning or an error in judgement somewhere along the line. It is an admission of failure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is such shortcomings in the Barcelona back-line which have made liars of the statisticians this term. While the three goals they conceded to Real Madrid were the first they have shipped in nine La Liga fixtures, the quality of the defending has not tallied with the results.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Javier Mascherano is a last-ditch tackler supreme, reflecting his upbringing as a midfielder, while Gerard Pique too often appears to be an accident waiting to happen. Barcelona’s best defender is arguably its attacking unit, for when the Blaugrana are hugging possession their underpar rearguard cannot be breached.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In their two major matches of note this term, Barca have shipped a total of six goals to Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid. Whenever a team has fancied its chances on the ball, opportunities have followed. Even Eibar could have had a couple of goals before they were eventually seen off last weekend.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Around €40m was spent on new defenders this summer, but Thomas Vermaelen is still not available yet and Jeremy Mathieu was bumped to left-back on Saturday. Meanwhile, accidents continue to happen at the heart of the back four.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The best form of defence is attack, particularly if you are Barcelona.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Madrid could be Clasico kings for some time yet</span></strong></span></span></strong></span></span></strong></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="border-color: black;"><img alt="" src="http://static.goal.com/511200/511221_heroa.jpg" style="border: 1px solid black; vertical-align: middle;" /></span><br /><br />Real Madrid’s success on Saturday narrowed the gap in the Liga table between leaders Barca and their closest rivals to a single point, but the trajectories of the clubs suggest it is the Blancos who have a significant edge at the moment.</span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Carlo Ancelotti’s side are hitting their stride after a poor start amidst notable changes to their squad. They have netted 38 goals and conceded just six over the past nine games since slumping into the bottom half of the league after losing the Madrid derby to Atletico.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Their European form has been fantastic too, while there are no worries over first-team selection other than in the attempts to keep happy the likes of Isco, Asier Illarramendi, Sami Khedira and – upon his return from injury – Jese Rodriguez, despite limited game time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"We're still growing!" warned Sergio Ramos via Twitter on Saturday night, and he wasn't kidding.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ancelotti’s current position is about as enjoyable as it gets in the stressful world of football coaching, but his opposite number’s garden is not so rosy right now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Luis Enrique knew he would have a job on to get Barcelona back to peak condition after taking over from Tata Martino this summer. Stripped of all assets in goal, lightweight at the back, ageing in the middle and in need of new ideas up top, this was a Barca side which needed its first large-scale revision in some time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A result in the Clasico might have gone some way to buying him time in his attempts to turn a silverware-free Barcelona into a winning one again, but they were shown up to be some way short of Real Madrid’s level at the Bernabeu. With changes needed in all departments, each will have knock-on effects elsewhere in the side, and that will not be to Enrique’s advantage.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What we saw on Saturday may well become the norm for this season at least. Where Madrid are powerful and full of desire, Barca look slipshod and off the pace.</span></div>
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Five things we learned from El Clasico

COMMENT: The events at the Bernabeu have brought the two rivals closer in the standings but they appear to be heading in d...

I told Suarez not to bite me - Pique

Unknown 0 Sport 14:23

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<span style="background-color: white; color: #081f2c; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The defender says he and his Barcelona team-mates have been quick to poke fun at their new team-mate in training as he prepares to make his debut for the club</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Barcelona star Gerard Pique has revealed how he jokingly warned Luis Suarez not to bite him after dispossessing the club's summer signing in training this week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Suarez arrived at Camp Nou from Liverpool in a €95 million over the summer but is yet to make his competitive debut for the club after serving a four-month ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">However, that suspension comes to an end on Saturday, meaning he is eligible to play in Barcelona’s Clasico encounter with Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The 27-year-old has made a big impression on his new team-mates in training, but Pique says that has not stopped him being at the centre of several jokes at his expense over his indiscipline over the summer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pique told ESPNFC: “When we are jockeying for the ball, for example today in a training drill when I had to defend a cross and he had to attack it, I'll give it: "Hey! Don't bite me!" He just smiles. Luis knows it's not right to bite in a football match.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“It's happened, he apologised, he has to accept it and move on. In training he's so competitive, though. He gets a kick and he won't go down. Never. He just continues trying to score even if you kick him or pull his shirt.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The former Manchester United centre-back also dismissed the suggestion any of the squad were concerned the arrival of Suarez could disrupt dressing room harmony.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">He added: “When he arrived, he'd not trained and wasn't playing -- he was "dead" after 10 minutes of training and I'd be like, "What's happened to you, man?!" But after two or three weeks he was fit and now he's really in shape. He showed that with his goals against Oman.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“In training he's unbelievable. Luis has this thing ... let me put it like this: there'll be two or three rebounds off players when he dribbles in the box and suddenly the ball is still at his feet and he scores. He creates goals from absolutely nothing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“This is a different style of player from what we have here. Guys like [Andres] Iniesta and Xavi are really sweet on the ball. You enjoy watching them. With Luis it's the opposite style -- he's fighting, he's working, but finally he scores the goal. Always.</span></div>

I told Suarez not to bite me - Pique

The defender says he and his Barcelona team-mates have been quick to poke fun at their new team-mate in training as he prepares to make hi...

Discover all the Clasico Stats

Unknown 0 Sport 14:18

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<span style="background-color: white; color: #081f2c;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>Saturday saw another absorbing Clasico encounter but what records were set by the players of Real Madrid and Barcelona?</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Find out the facts from Saturday's Clasico which Real Madrid won after beating Barcelona 3-1.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Real Madrid have won two Clasicos in a row with Iker Casillas as captain for the first time in all competitions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- The last team to have scored as many goals in the opening nine games of a La Liga season were also Real Madrid in 1959/60 (33).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Karim Benzema has scored four goals in his last three league games against Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Neymar has scored his last eight goals for Barcelona from just nine shots on target in all competitions.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #081f2c; line-height: 20.7360000610352px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Cristiano Ronaldo has scored in his last 11 games, his best run scoring for Real Madrid.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #081f2c; line-height: 20.7360000610352px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Karim Benzema is the only player to have hit the woodwork twice against Barcelona in a La Liga game (2003-2014).</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #081f2c; line-height: 20.7360000610352px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Real Madrid have scored more fast break goals than any other team in La Liga this season (four goals).</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #081f2c; line-height: 20.7360000610352px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Lionel Messi has been booked seven times vs Real Madrid, three more than versus any other side in all competitions.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #081f2c; line-height: 20.7360000610352px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Toni Kroos is the Real Madrid top assister in La Liga this season with five, three of them from set pieces.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #081f2c; line-height: 20.7360000610352px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">- Cristiano Ronaldo has scored in 16 of his last 17 league appearances (25 goals).</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #081f2c; line-height: 20.7360000610352px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All data supplied by Opta.</span></div>

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Fifa hammer dangles over Nigerian Football

Unknown 0 Sport 14:06

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwb9NU5D7WmRVmdBisH85nEcXiNIgoY5FeXrNuLOpTT6hEWca6DlTBA-oFtJMLhtJ29DKaEg1YxeOTjEse0Wv9LIB58zfpIuFHXwWY_ngGHxF23zhzxSqgu1T12Wp8E_FrKTXfxfeabppI/s1600/471991_heroa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwb9NU5D7WmRVmdBisH85nEcXiNIgoY5FeXrNuLOpTT6hEWca6DlTBA-oFtJMLhtJ29DKaEg1YxeOTjEse0Wv9LIB58zfpIuFHXwWY_ngGHxF23zhzxSqgu1T12Wp8E_FrKTXfxfeabppI/s1600/471991_heroa.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The football governing body is furious that the NFF is embroiled in a civil suit against its football statutes and is set to wield the big stick on Monday</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Nigeria football looks to be, unfortunately, heading into a long, dark night as world football –governing body is set to wield the big stick on Monday (27th October, 2014) against the most populous black nation on earth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Even as the Super Eagles still have a chance of qualifying for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations to defend their crown, despite a poor start in the race; even with the Golden Eaglets, the reiging champions of the world, ready to compete at the African Championship to be eligible to travel to Chile to defend their world title next year, and with the Super Falcons reclaiming their continental title in Namibia on Saturday, non –conformity to simple football rules and regulations has put Nigeria at the danger of a big slam.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On Saturday in Windhoek, Namibia, CAF President Issa Hayatou told Nigeria’s Sports Minister, Tammy Danagogo in clear terms that the world was fed up with Nigeria’s incorrigibility in the area of football administration.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hayatou’s words: “I had to plead passionately with FIFA President, Mr. Sepp Blatter not to take action on Nigeria on Friday, because Nigeria was in the final of the African Women Championship and a ban on your country would have been bad for the competition and our sponsors. We all heard the news of the court ruling on Thursday, and the football world is angry with Nigeria. That is the truth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“The FIFA letter that came to your Federation before the elections of September 30 was very clear about an automatic suspension should there be any interference with the political process, and after the elections went ahead, we all thought you had settled your issues.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The CAF supremo, at a meeting that had Nigeria’s Sports Minister, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Namibia, Ambassador Biodun Olorunfemi, Nigeria’s Deputy President of the CAF Appeal Board, Mazi Amanze Uchegbulam, CAF General Coordinator, Mr. Paul Bassey and CAF Media Committee Member, Aisha Falode in attendance, said there was no going back on suspension of Nigeria this week if football matters are not withdrawn from civil courts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“I appealed to FIFA to give until Monday for Nigeria to put its act together. After that, there is absolutely nothing I can do. It is all very disappointing because we have over 50 National Associations in Africa, but a big country like Nigeria is the one always giving us the biggest headache.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“Nigeria signed to be part of the football world by joining FIFA, and opted to abide by the FIFA –approved Statutes that you have. How many times do we have to tell your country that football matters are not taken to civil courts? If Nigeria no longer wants to be part of the football world, then so be it,” an obviously exasperated Hayatou said. His French words were translated to the rest of the Nigeria delegation by the multi-lingual Paul Bassey.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It would be recalled that FIFA President Blatter and CAF President Hayatou, as well as several National Associations and NFF’s partners and political leaders around the world, congratulated Amaju Pinnick following his victory at the September 30 elections.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">NFF President, Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick, who was, inexplicably, stopped by security operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on his way to Namibia on Friday night with the Sports Minister, monitored the meeting on phone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On Thursday, the Federal High Court, Jos gave a ruling setting aside the FIFA –ordered elections of 30th September, 2014 into the NFF Executive Committee, stoking the fire of anger at the world body’s Zurich headquarters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The NFF Executive Committee, led by Amaju Pinnick, has filed for a Stay-of-Execution of the order at the same court, which the court said it will be hear on Wednesday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Falode, who spoke from Windhoek on Sunday, said it was obvious the Government of Nigeria has to now intervene to avoid the hammer falling on Nigeria football.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“The future of millions of Nigerian youth is being put at risk by some persons who feel they have nothing to lose in the case of a FIFA ban. It is now for the Government to wade in. If we get suspended from international football now, FIFA will not revisit the matter until their 65th Congress on May 29, 2015. That would be too bad for our country’s football,” Falode said.</span></div>

Fifa hammer dangles over Nigerian Football

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Fifa hammer dangles over Nigerian Football

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