NEW ADDITIONS TO THE TEAM

soccerbants is meant to be an all round European soccer blog,but has rather turned into a one team/one league blog. For that reason we happily inform our readers that @uzoma_official @chikeonodugo @Emma_V2 @obokhaiose (all twitter handles), have agreed to join our wonderful blog and write on man utd, Chelsea, Arsenal amd Barcelona repectively. These four guys have been chosen because of their genuine passion and knowledge of the game, and with them we hope to achieve our aim of being the best soccer blog around and eventually become a website. We trust in them and believe you will love their articles, keep giving us your support as we fondly enjoy hearing from our readers. Thank you for the time spent in reading,your comments,your support and retweets for #soccerbants. God bless you..x



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IS GARETH BALE WORTH £100 MILLION ???

After a very successful season personally for Gareth Bale, he was always going to be subject to numerous transfers rumours. He had hinted on several occasions he would stay at least for another year with Spurs,but after hearing Zidane Zidane say "its now or never" to join Madrid, he has now set his sights on the Bernabeu. The deal looks set to happen, there is no doubt in his talent, but for a player who is a mirror image of Cristiano Ronaldo and is the same age as Ronaldo was when he left England,the question is to be asked,Is he worth £100 million. Is he £20milllion more than than what Ronaldo was at the time he left man utd.Is he double the player Luis suarez is?. Stefan El shaarawy had the same effect Bale had on Spurs with Milan in the 1st half of the season, had he continued till the end, would he be worth £100million? . In this article, we take a look at factors that are for and against the motion.
         FACTORS THAT ARE AGAINST THE BALE PRICE. Basically the first thing that comes to mind is that,is he a better player than Ronaldo was in 2009?. The answer is clearly NO. Ronaldo won a champions league,3 league titles,an Fa cup,2 league cups, a balon d'or,2 PFA player and young player of the year awards  and finished top scorer in both the champions league and the league at 24. Bale at that same age has won just the PFA player and young player of the year award (twice) and finished 3rd top scorer in the league this year.He may not have won the best player award this year had Van persie not run out of form mid-season and had Suarez not made a snack out of Ivanovic. Ronaldo played 290 times for united scoring 117 times,while Bale has played 203 times for spurs scoring 55 goals,although he started as a left back. Another factor is the fact that Bale has not played at the highest level for Spurs and Wales. The highest he can boast of is that sole season in 2010/2011,were ironically spurs were kocked out by Real madrid,the biggest, match he has played in would be the 2010 league cup final or a north london derby,thay cannot be compared to an El clasico or a big European night at the Bernebeu. Another factor against his price is the fact that this is his most impressive season in his career so far and hence another question can be asked,Does one season make you worth £100million?. Some will say its more than that, remember maicon,but does cleaning the san siro with the world best right-back (at the time) make you worth £100million?. Lewandowski battered Madrid in the champions league semi-final with 4 goals in one match at 24 but is he worth even £50million now? These are the factors that make Bale's price absurd.






        FACTORS THAT COULD JUSTIFY THE BALE PRICE. First and foremost you're dealing with Daniel levy,the hardest Chairman in the world,a man that many more millions will have to be added to the real value of the player to sweeten his mind to at least start thinking of selling,worst of all,the player now happens to be the best in England and the most sought after footballer in England commercially,you know you have your cut out for you, with him "money talks,bullshit walks" and when i say money alot of money has to talk. Again Bale is British,for some reason they are over priced,examples can be seen with Andy carrol for £35million,Stuart Downing for £20million,Gareth Barry for £6million and Xabi Alonso (a bid Aston Villa foolishly rejected in 2008 to keep Barry). So being that Bale is the best British player around,also adds a few more millions to his price. Another factor is that with this season Bale is getting to his peak, and can single handedly win matches and score in the big games (man utd,man city,Arsenal) so it will be best to pay as much as possible for him to spend his peak years at Madrid and help them win the big trophies. Florentino Perez has been known to spend big and break record transfers,but has been quite for 2 summers now, in that respect,i guess its time to break the record for a fifth time and what better way to do it than, bid for Gareth Bale, a player who with the factors around him will definately break the record. He said "great players pay for themselves" which is very true as the Real brand coupled with the Bale brand will raise mind blowing revenue and also win trophies that will recover the money spent, but with that statement it means we're getting ready to see a new record fee.








     In truth,i feel Bale is worth £50million but the factors that surround him double that amount. As said earlier in the article, his talent cannot be doubted, but his price can be. No matter the school of thought you are,be sure that a new world record fee is around the corner. We can only hope for his sake and that of Madrid that he doesn't end up like Kaka and majority of the British players that go to Spain and flop especially with the tag of being "The most expensive player in the world"



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WHY BALE JOINING MADRID, IS THE BEST THING FOR HIS CAREER

Gareth Bale to Madrid was always something that was bound to happen. Florentino Perez said "he was born to play for Madrid". He has that special something that makes him a Galatico. The deal was expected to happen next summer,after helping Tottenham attempt qualification for the UCL. He made statements which seemed so. But all that has changed within the last fortnight. The people from Madrid both, the media and those associated with the club have been talking up the move, to the extent that even the Engliah media have followed them in doing so. Bale going quiet & not playing in matches have helped to increase the rumours. It is now clear that Bale will move to Madrid for what will be a world record fee.
        In everyway possible, it is the best move for Bale. Madrid is the land of fantasy,the sacred Bethlehem of football, the Mecca of glamour and glory, for any footballer on the face of the earth. Bale is no different. He has said before that it would be a dream to play for madrid ,he also recently stated that his style of play would fit perfectly to La liga.
        In terms of the glamour as already stated, it doesn't get bigger than Madrid. A celebrity club in a way. Madrid is the right place for him to do all his advertisement and make big money because, as seen with Beckham and Ronaldo, Florentino Perez knows how to utilise a celebrity footballer.With Spurs, he is already the face of FIFA 14 in the UK,and also on the cover with Messi officially.He also represents the EPL as its face with BT(The company sponsoring Tv rights in the EPL.Bale will lose this if he signs with madrid). He has also helped himself, by putting in an application to trademark his goal celebration "eleven of hearts" such as the way Ronaldo trademarked "CR7".He has done some work on his hair too (see picture below) & i'm pretty sure he'll be using Ronaldo's hair gel and stylist in Madrid. Bale has also been wise not to destroy his good boy reputation by not handing in a transfer request or ranting about his desire to move to Spain. In truth;Bale after Ronaldo, Neymar and Messi is probably 4th in terms of celebrity footballers right now, and no doubt with madrid he will go higher (he'll definately beat Messi, because let's face it, Messi is terrible at it,maybe he needs help from Xavi & Iniesta).
       In terms of improving as  a footballer,with all due respect to Andre villas boas,Bale has a better chance of improving under Ancelloti than AVB. He has Zinedane Zidane who this generation of footballers watched and wanted to be like him and win things like he did. He also said last season that he sees himself as a Ronaldo in the making. This can be seen in his courage to shot from distance regulaly, the way he takes his freekicks and dribbles. He can learn from Ronaldo face-to-face. He will also have better players in madrid to help him. No more Defoe,Lennon,Dembele,sigurdsson,with all due respect to them,they are not just in the same class with Alonso,Isco,Ozil,Ronaldo. He also doesn't have the pressure on him that he must deliver or else risk the team losing (i don't need to state how many times he saved Tottenham last seaaon). Make no mistake the pressure in madrid is the highest form of pressure in football possible,especially if you're coming with the tag of the most expensive signing in world football. But he is no longer the one who leads the team, that job belongs to a certain Portugese. The price tag pressure is something i feel Bale can cope with, besides all world record signings madrid have made have excelled (Figo,Zidane,Ronaldo) .Kaka is the only exception and his was down to injury and the impeccable form of Mesut Ozil. Bale will definately improve especially if he plays on the right wing of the attack,to enable him play with his stronger foot outside, just like the way Ronaldo does. With Mesut Ozil and also Isco giving the though balls,he'll harvest goals. His speed will be something that will be another asset to madrid's fast game. He will have to improve on his heading ability though, as for a man who has the same height as CR, he should score more from headers.
         In terms of trophies, Bale has not won a major trophy at 24. He has only won 2 PFA Player and young player of the year awards.(something which is easy,since Giggs won the the PFA best player in 2009). A player of his class deserves more and with Tottenham he can only win, maybe the FA or league cup or the fourth place trophy (Arsenal made it look as though this exists due to the way they celebrated 4th place,anyway with no trophies in 8 years its understandable). He certainly has no hopes of winning an international trophy, as Wales, in the most respectful way i can put this, are shit. When Ronaldo was 24, he had won a Champions league trophy, 1 fa cup,2 league cups,3 league titles and had been named the 1st,2nd and 3rd best player in the world. In Madrid he is assured of trophies, and maybe he may just be the missing puzzle in the La Decima jigsaw for Los Blancos. Even his dream of the being the best in the world stands a by far greater chance in Madrid and La liga playing & competing with the best than at Spurs.
       On a lighter note he can take the step and be a successful British player in Spain,something only David Beckham has managed to do, with the likes of Michael Owen,Jermaine Pennant & Jonathan Woodgate (he scored an own goal and got a red card on his debut) failing to deliver.






        As i said earlier in this article,Bale has everything it takes to be one of the best in the world and succeed in Madrid, better coaches,better teammates,  a bigger club. The only problems he will face is the pressure of playing for Madrid with the price tag as the most expensive player in the world and also the language barrier. These are issues that i believe he will deal with in time. Tottenham fans will be sad their hero is going, but madrid fans will welcome and adore their new Galatico (remember at Illaramendi's presentation when they were chanting "we want Gareth Bale") . Madrid fans will be fantasising about Ronaldo and Bale on both wings and how they will terrorise Europe and possibly win La Decima. They can now enter into an argument of "Ronaldo y Bale vs Messi y Neymar" , something La liga will definately enjoy as the top 4 celebrity footballers are in their league drawing interest (to my personal satisfaction, further away from the EPL), and will have possibly the 4 best footballers on the planet in the near future (in my opinion this will happen within the next 2 years). Exciting times for the media,Madrid and La liga, but the most excited and optimistic person here would be the man in question. Gareth Bale
     



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HOW ANCELLOTI'S MADRID COULD AND SHOULD LINE UP

Carlo Ancelloti has finally been appointed as Real madrid,as if we didn't know that was going to happen since the end of May.On the 1st of July he'll take charge of his 1st training session at Real,although not everyone will be present as some of the players are at the confederations cup.However,Ancelloti by now will know that this Madrid squad is built around a 4-2-3-1,and knowing that he is a man who doesn't just change things to please him,i'm pretty sure he'll stick with it at least for the first season and maybe change it later,although he'll change some things tactically in order for Madrid to play the "spectacular football".So all those thinking about him using some of his previous formations like a 4-3-3 system(which madrid fans will hate because Barca use it), 4-4-2, 4-3-2-1, and even a 3-man defence,should not worry,the Italian is smart enough not to change just yet.People should also not expect "tiki-taka",Madrid fans hate it because it's what Barcelona do,that they refer to as boring,expect them to play like,Dortmund,a very attacking team,who will not nessicarily get 70% ball possession,but will demolish teams.Ancelloti will however have to make room for new players and make some changes to the individuals in the starting XI.This article takes into consideration of the players that could possibly join and possibly leave.
             Here is the analysis of how Madrid could line up next season.In goal,Iker Casillas,will be back.Although Ancelloti said that he would have to fight for his place,we all know that Casillas is the favourite madrid and possibly favourite Spanish son,we all know the dropping of Casillas was one of Mourinho's problems,and dropping Casillas,would be the continuation of problems,something Ancelloti will want to avoid.The sad thing is that,for all  the efforts of Diego Lopez last season,he will now be on the bench,but i'm sure he'll get games in the Copa del Rey as the the "cup keeper",and dead-rubber UCL matches and maybe sometimes in the league to give Casillas a rest.At the back,Arbeloa kind of lost his place last season with a string of poor performances,mistakes and foolish things(asking the referee if he was alright against Galatasary and getting sent off),and with Dani Carjaval returning to the club with a string of good performances in Germany(entering the team of the year and by statistics the 5th best right back in Europe),i for one would love to see him replace Arbeloa,but i think Ancelloti will keep Arbeloa,just like the way Del Bosque is keeping him for Spain,and for the sole reason of the experience he has.In the heart of the defence Sergio Ramos,will definitely be there (to me only Thiago Silva can argue that he is a better centre defender than Ramos).Pepe would have been the obvious partner for Ramos 12 months ago,but not now,Raphael Varane has proved to be more thoughtful,less rash,faster,have greater goal threat, and has even been better in Pepe's job of marking Messi.He also proved to have a better understanding with Ramos than Pepe ever did.On the left,although Marcelo,had a poor season with injuries,weight issues and poor displays,he to most Madrid fans is a typical Madrid player and excites more than Coentrao.Although he is not the best defensively,he surely makes up for it in the attacking front.Coentrao is a really good player,make no mistake about it( remember his perfomance against man utd and at the Euros),but i feel Marcelo will get the nod.In midfield.Xabi Alonso will take his place back and will be fresher after not competiting in the Confed. cup.He after Ronaldo and maybe Ozil is the most important Madrid player on the field.He is the pace setter(only Xavi and Pirlo can argue that they are better pace setters).Mourinho only used him for important matches last season because of an injury he had,that is fixed now and hopefully he'll play more this season.Sami Khedira should bring the defensive steel Madrid need,but to me this steel is not needed,as only a few sides really have the attacking threat to burder Madrid.So i feel Luka Modric should partner Alonso,he had a slow start to life at Madrid but turned out to be an important player for Madrid last season.He will add flair to that of Alonso and help Ancelloti bring about the "Spectacular" football Madrid want to play.Although this means Alonso and indeed Modric will have to work on their defensive side to give the team some kind of balance.Khedira,however should be called-in,in matches were a natural defensive steel is needed.On the Right hand side of the attacking trio,Gareth Bale will certainly play there "IF",and that's a big IF,he comes.The Tottenham man has openly said that he wants to play with Cristiano Ronaldo and be like him,and also play in his dream club,Real (everyone seems to say this nowadays).The thing is,he doesn't want to force his way out of spurs and also wants to give on more go at helping Tottenham qualify for the champions league.Tottenham's chairman,Daniel Levy is said to be prepared to decline all bids including a €100million bid,which will make Bale the most expensive player of all time.Florentino Perez,seems more than happy to pay that price "big players pay for themselves",and has made Bale his number 1 target,reportedly wanting to handle this one like the Figo transfer to Madrid.The Spanish media and Real players have certainly been seducing Bale and his agent recently claimed that Bale hadn't signed a new contract,giving Real more hope.Real themselves have left the number 11 jersey vacant,suspicious?.I hope he comes,but i feel its going to happen next summer.Again what Perez wants he gets.That aside,if Bale doesn't come Angel Di Maria,will gladly take his place back,although the new kid Isco,could play there if Di Maria showed the inconsistency he showed last year.Mesut Ozil should retain his place in the centre of the attacking trio,although he tends not to start seasons well and always seems to carry on the summer vacation into the actually season and comes alive in middle or late November,his assists stats,although very high (had the most assists in Europe in all competitions in his first 2 seasons at Real) have been reducing in arithmetic order since his first season.Isco could go in there if such holiday form is shown at the beginning of next season,but Ozil will eventually take his place.Isco will be coming on as a sub mostly,for one of the 3 attacking midfielders.On the left we have Cristiano Ronaldo,arguably the best player in the world.His goals and talent will make him the first name in any team sheet.He is the most important Madrid player. In attack its one of Suarez/Cavani/Benzema.The thing is if Tottenham push the price for Bale,Madrid will have limited resources to land either Suarez or Cavani.If they however sell fringe players(Like Cajellon,Adan and sadly Kaka) like the way they have already sold Pedro Leon and some youth players (although with a sensible buy-back clause) ,they can raise funds.Madrid need a striker,as Higuain's departure leaves them with just one recognised striker although Jese and Morata are set to be added to the first team.Madrid however need a proven goal scorer,General manager Jose Angel Sanchez,said the club will add two strikers to the squad,one expected to be a youth player and one a proven scorer.Suarez is the cheaper and easier option to get but the transfer could carry on for the whole summer as Liverpool will hold out for a large sum,i feel this will go through,but in the same way the Alonso and Modric transfers went through ( a transfer request by the player and very late in august). I also feel Suarez is more suited to madrid,as the flair and flow he will provide with Ozil,Ronaldo and whoever ends up on the right will be devastating + the fact he  scores goals,although not up to Cavani (For their clubs though).Ancelloti will probably use him and Benzema just as the way Mourinho used Benzema and Higuain,the only difference is that Suarez will play more just as Benzema played more under Mourinho.

           REAL MADRID  POSSIBLE XI FOR NEXT SEASON:                                                                                                     


CASILLAS


CARJAVAL SERGIO RAMOS VARANE MARCELO



MODRIC ALONSO





BALE OZIL RONALDO







SUAREZ



If you think this is frightening,look at a possible second XI with Diego lopez---Arbeloa---Raul Albiol---Pepe---Coentrao---Casmeiro---Khedira---Kaka/Cajellon/Jese---Isco----Di maria---Benzema/Morata/Jese. .If Florentino Perez can assemble this squad,Carlo Ancelloti will have the most expensive and arguably the most talented squad in world football.With this squad any coach who fails to produce should be sacked and Florentino is definitely not one afraid to sack anyone.What ever happens in the transfer window though,Ancelloti has no doubt inherited a talented squad and will succeed at Madrid,but the thing is,will he turn them into the best many in the club feel they are?.That remains to be seen,but this squad is the kind many have in video games and win without trouble,now Ancelloti has to win in reality,so world football,get ready,Real are assembling their Galaticos once more,expect this one to be better and hungrier,they are coming for world domination.




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CARLO ANCELLOTI :THE NEW BOSS

I begin this article by saying that as a Real supporter,i would probably have preferred Andre Villas Boas or Michael Laudrup for there successes at there previous and current clubs,but some people will say,they don't have that much champions league experience,but,then again i would have fancied them for the long term.Now back to the man Carlo Ancelloti,the new manager of madrid was finally announced after a month of speculation and seduction.It had been 27 days since madrid last had a manager the longest manager drought in the Perez era(the previous time was 3 days) and indeed the longest in Madrid's history.
       Ancelloti has won trophies in everywhere he has gone to,2 champions league winners medal,a the cup competitions in England and Italy,as well as the league titles in those countries along with the league trophy he won with PSG.Ancelloti however has some weak points,i'll like to comment on here.First of all Carlo is a quiet character,who does not get involved with things like mind games,like Mourinho,but at times,these mind games are actually needed,a good example here can be seen with Sir Alex Ferguson,i may not have been a big fan of the man,but i surely did respect and fear his mind games.He won titles with it (Newcastle 1995,Liverpool 2009).Ancelloti may need that at some point and that is not in his arsenal.Also he may have won trophies in many clubs,but he's Seasons to trophies ratio is not that good for Real standard.He has won 10 trophies in 14 years as a coach,the 10 include 3 league trophies,2 champions league trophies ,2 cup trophies,2 season curtain raisers(super coppa,community shield) and the club world cup.Coincidentally Madrid's longest serving manager Miguel Munoz,spent 14 years at the bernabeu.If Ancelloti should have the same record in the next 14 years,as he has achieved in his first 14 as a manger,would he be regarded as a success at Real? The answer sadly is NO.For a club like Real they target all 3(possibly 4) trophies every season and would hope to achieve the treble at least thrice in such amount of time.They will be aiming to win like 25 trophies or more in that period of time.He also has the tendency to Fail at some point.Infact at Reggiana(he's first job),is the only place he succeded fully,gaining promotion in his first season and staying up in his second season.At parma,he took the team to 2nd place in his first season and 5th in his next season.At Milan,he won just 1 serie a finishing 2nd in 05 & 06.Even the 2 champions league successes,should have been 3,Istanbul should have been the 2nd,Liverpool should never have come back.Jose Mourinho rightly pointed out in 2010 "Ancelloti is a great manager,but i will never be on the losing side,after going into half time 3-0 up in a champions league final". That kind of thing at Madrid will definitely warrant the sack.He also failed to win anything in his last 2 years at Milan.At Chelsea he failed to win anything in his 2nd season and ended up 9 points behind champions man utd in that same 2nd season(it is fait to say he recovered from a 15-point gap and reduced it to 3 with 3 games to go).He also failed to go beyond the quarter-final of the champions league in both seasons at Chelsea.At PSG,he took over in Decemeber 2011 and at the time he took charge,PSG were 3 points clear in the league,but ended up,3 points behind shocking Champions Montpellier.
        So,i know most people would think,i hate my own,but i don't,i always like to look at where to criticize them,in order to see how good they actually are.Now for Mr Ancelloti's strong points.First of all Ancelloti is one who builds his squad on what he has at his disposal and not based on what he wants.He has used different tactics were ever he has gone,playing defensive and attacking.At madrid he has already spoken of how "the most prestigious club in world football needs to win,playing spectacular football,because the history and tradition of this club is to play offensively,spectacularly,and we are going to work hard to play football that will give happiness to the fans".That will definitely go down well with the madrid supporters who complained that Mourinho's madrid sometimes won games,with an inspired goal by Ronaldo,a lovely assist from Ozil,a Fantastic sliding tackle from Ramos or Varane or with a top class save from Iker Casillas.Sergio Ramos did complain about this criticising Mourinho for his inability to be on top,in terms of tactics,because he never played the game.Such thing cannot be said about senor Ancelloti,he was part of the famous Milan squad of the early 90s.During that time he learnt a lot from renowed mangers like Capello,Sacchi and Co.He also has the ability to handle big name players and know that some players are just part pf the club(something Mourinho failed to understand with the sales of Raul,Guti and harsh treatment and spats with Casillas and Sergio Ramos).Ancelloti has managed big names and hot heads,players like Zidane,Stam,Nesta,Lampard,Lavezzi and most of all Zlatan Ibrahimovic.Hence he will fit the bill for madrid.He is a fantastic man-manager as he is the type that will put his arm round a player,and has this father figure status.He also gets repect from the owners he has worked with examples of this Silvio Berlusconi,who crticised him of being too defensive,he also gained respect from Roman Abramovich and Nasser Al-Khelaifi.Also the fact that Zinedane Zidane is going to be part of his coaching staff and is also the sporting director,he will be involved in the two sides of footabll which will help Ancelloti very well,in terms of transfers.Ancelloti also has the tendency to bring out the best in players.He started the work on Zidane,he changed Andrea Pirlo from an attacking midfielder to the pace setter we now know and respect him as,we saw the best of Andrey Shevchencko and Ricardo Kaka whilst he was under Ancelloti,we also saw the best goal scoring records for Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard,under Ancelloti. Who knows maybe we haven't yet seen the best of Ronaldo and maybe there is still something left in Kaka.Madrid supporters will certainly be hoping for that.






Florentino Perez and all madridistas will be hoping the 'Italian Del Bosque" will be the "peace maker" and the man who restores all that the club symbolises and finally end the club's drought for La Decima.So get ready madridistas,a new era is upon us,we should get behind our manager and the players and wrestle back what many in the club feel is there's in the champions league from Bayern and La liga from Barcelona.Spain and Europe,be prepared,Real are a wounded animal and are coming for World domination. HALA MADRID !!!



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THE FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP:THE VERDICT

Well with the group analysis done and dusted,i guess its time i give my personal verdict on the whole tournament.I begin in Group A,the group consists of hosts Brazil,Italy,Mexico and Japan.This group has been called the group of death.The teams are not too far from each other in standard.The first match of the tournament and the group between Brazil and Japan,is going to be a tough one which Brazil will just win,with a score like 3-1.If this was the Mexican team that went to the World cup,i'll say they'll draw against Brazil,but it isn't,its going to be a close game with the Mexicans outstanding defence.A 1-0 victory will settle it.I fancy Italy to take the maximum 9 points.The match against Brazil will be a close one.A game between Neymar and Balotelli and as i said in the Italian article,Balotelli is a big game player and Neymar isn't.Italy would win that game by a score of 2-1,and hence top the group.So at the end its Italy to top,Brazil second.Mexico last because i feel Japan will beat them.In Group B Spain like the Italians will breeze through the group collecting the full 9 points as they did in 2009.It will be difficult but they'll do it.Tahiti sadly will do what i'm expecting Spain to do,but in the opposite manner,they will lose all 3 games,although i'm hoping for an upset from them.The second spot would be fought between Nigeria and Uruguay.Its going to be based on three things,1st who scores more goals against Tahiti,which Nigeria are at a disadvantage because they'll have one day to train before the match especially after a long and tiring trip to Brazil,also without 2 key goal threats Emenike and Moses.Uruguay on the other had have 3 deadly forwards who will want to use this match to win the golden boot.2ndly who concedes fewer goals against Spain and finally who wins there group match which i feel will be a tough draw.Like 2-2.I'm picking Spain to top as already said,then Uruguay to come 2nd because of their 3 front men who will score more than the Nigerians against Tahiti.Then,with what i said we will now have a semi final of Brazil-Spain,Uruguay-Italy.In the first one,its going to be a tough match which Spain will win,they'll hold on to possession as they normally do and render the likes of Neymar useless.The main threats to Spain will be Lucas Moura or Hulk,Moura for speed and dribbling ability,Hulk for power and Speed,Pique tends to get bullied by strong defenders eg Drogba.If Brazil are not having the ball Neymar will be ineffective,a good example of this can be seen in the  Barcelona vs Santos match in 2012.In the 2nd match its going to be very tuff.Italy vs Uruguay,that match will be decided by an error,a big decision from the ref, a piece of individual brilliance or even penalties.But i feel Italy will prevail.Now its a 3rd place match between Uruguay and Brazil,again both sides may want to play fringe players for the game and if that happens,Brazil will win,but if it doesn't,another tight game which Brazil may be lucky to win.The final,will be a repeat of the Euro 2012,final and like last year,Spain will prevail,but this time with difficulty this time,Italy will want revenge,Spain will want to have the honour of holding the World Cup,European championship and the confederations cup, + are still hurting from the last edition.I expect them to pass the ball around alot and as with most of there tuff matches end up winning 1-0.So come June 30th Spain will be Confederations cup champions ending Brazil's run of 2 successive victories in the tournament.






Top scorer in the tournament is a difficult one with many top strikers on show,players Like Hulk,Neymar,Balotelli,El shaarawy,Forlan,Chicharito.These guys score goals but i'm giving this one to one of Suarez or Cavani.They play Tahiti and are both auctioning themselves for clubs.They will look at Tahiti at a match to score like 3 goals or more + the others they will score during the tournament.However i'm going for Suarez,he is the one with the more desire to leave his club, than and will want to use a golden boot award to add to his CV plus he is also more selfish than Cavani






Best goalkeeper i expect it to be Iker Casillas,he has had his troubles this season,but i expect him to start for Spain and lead them to Glory.He has conceded just 3 goals in Spain's last 2 tournaments and i don't see him conceding many more.






Best Player....many people will be expecting Neymar,but no.I doubt this is his tournament,it is definitely going to be Balotelli's tournament.But i'm going for the man who won the best player award at last year's Euros.Andreas Iniesta is that man.As said in my article on Spain.He is the only one of the forward starters who maintained his forn during the past season,and he will be the one to pull the strings for La Roja and together with Casillas will led them to glory






No matter what happens in Brazil,we are definitely going to have a feast of  samba football and hell of fun,with the colourful brazilians and there beautiful ladies,we are going to have a lot to feed our eyes on.If the tournament is up to half the fun we experienced in South Africa 2009,then get ready to love football even more.The Confederations Cup is upon us,lets go out and support our teams.Good luck!








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THE FIFA CONFEDERATIONS CUP:GROUP BY GROUP ANALYSIS

GROUP B
NIGERIA
     The Super Eagles of Nigeria are the reigning AFCON champions and are making their second appearance at the tournament after finishing fourth in 1995.Nigerian football had seen its standard drop a little bit especially after failure to qualify for the 2012 AFCON.They did qualify for the 2013 tournament and won it,and are therefore fortunate to play in the tournament,because if it wasn't for CAF's decision to prevent AFCONs from being played in World Cup years,Zambia would be the ones making the trip to Brazil and representing Africa.The Nigerian players threatened not to participate in the Confederations cup after getting half of the bonuses they are meant to get from World cup qualifiers drawn or won.That issue was sorted out,as they were now paid their remaining money.The team will therefore now get to Brazil on saturday,meaning they have one day to train before they play Tahiti,which would be music to the ears of the Islanders.The Nigerian team is coached by Stephen Keshi,he is a former player of the super eagles and became the 2nd man to win the AFCON as player and coach when he guided Nigeria to the 2013 AFCON glory.He famously handed in a resignation letter after wining the competition,after rumour came out that he would be sacked after the tournament.Neither thing happened and he remained on board.Nigeria seat top of the first phase of their qualifying table with 9 points two clear of nearest rivals Malawi who they play in the group decider in September.The team play a 4-3-3 system.The system is going to be the same as the AFCON winning system.Enyeama in goal.Efe Ambrose-Oboabona-Omeruo-Echijiele in defence from right to left.In midfield Onazi will be the holding midfielder,although he has an injury and is out for the game against Tahiti,he will be replaced by Fegor Ogude in that match or when ever he gets back.Mikel Obi the controller and pace setter while Sunday Mba as the most forward player of the 3 midfielders.In attack comes the real problem for Stephen Keshi.The 3 forward players of the AFCON winning team were Brown Ideye,Emmanuel Emenike and Victor Moses.The last two along with Mikel,Mba and Efe Ambrose were to me Nigeria's best performers at the Nations Cup.The aforementioned Moses and Emenike gave them real attacking energy and impetus and these two are out injured.So what to do for Stephen Keshi? In the Nations cup final Emenike was also out injured.He was replaced on that day by Ike Uche,he didn't make the squad for the Confederations cup.Going with his selections at the recent World cup qualifiers,he is not sure which 2 of 3(Nnamdi Uduamadi,Anthony Ujah and Ahmed Musa) he should go with.I personally will go for the first 2,they will be eager to really prove themselves and will want to take their chances when given.Musa on the other hand has been given many chances on the field which he somehow manages to miss time and time again.I've seen this guy play for both Nigeria amd CKSA Moscow and he tends to miss chances,take on a defender when its not nessecary, give the wrong pass and even when he gives the right pass,it is either missed placed,too early or too late.Don't get me wrong,he has the potential and also has incredible pace but he really needs to work on the problems i mentioned above.Players to watch for the Super Eagles,i'll say,the two strikers Stephen Keshi picks to replace Emenike and Moses,they'll have big boots to fill and many people in the West African country will be looking to see what they do.They have to impress and put in a good show or risk being left in the dark for later events.The Midfield trio of Mba,Mikel and Onazi were excelllent at the Nations cup and will need to be at that again especially when they come against World champions Spain.Sunday Mba has proven to be one who scores important goals,as he scored the Nations Cup winner against Burkina faso and also the winner against Cote D'voire in the quarter final,both goals happened to be scored on a sunday strangely enough,So beware Spain(they play Nigeria on a sunday) and opponents of Nigeria in the 3rd place or Final(both matches will take place on a sunday) if they get there.Onazi had a fantastic season winning the Coppa Italia with Lazio and also had the habit for scoring breath taking goals,Nigerians will hope he recovers in time to face Uruguay and Spain.Mikel is the most famous player for the Nigerian squad and probably the best player in the squad too.He tends to play a more pace setting game for Nigeria rather than the holding one he plays for Chelsea.He did that well at the Nations cup and will also do well to produce an even better performance in Brazil.Another player people should watch out for is the Celtic defender Efe Ambrose,he impressed me alot at the AFCON with his dribbling ability and forrays forward,all the more impressive is the fact that he is a centre back for his club side,Celtic.






One thing i love about African football is that,the other countries tend to support their neighbours.The Nigerian players not only carry the hopes of their country but also the hopes of a continent.I'm a big fan of the Nigerian band they always carry about to all their matches and can't wait to hear their drums and trumpets.All the talk that Stephen Keshi carried 8 home based players and hence Nigeria won't take the tournament serious is nonsense.They will go to Brazil and give it a real good go as they always do and maybe,come June 30th we all will be more surprised than we were when Nigeria won the AFCON,if the Super Eagles emergence victorious in Brazil.



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