World Cup 2014: I am supporting Holland

That Nigerian star of old

For as long as I can remember, probably the earliest was in 1985, the inaugural FIFA U-16 World Championship where out of nowhere Nigeria came tops to take the cup in China.

A very unlike prospect that came second in the group stages and then we took out Hungary, Guinea and West Germany to unexpectedly claim the championship.

This love for Nigerian soccer prowess was rewarded when the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta we took the gold beating Argentina to it – Karma, I say.

On the wane

When the World Cup came to France in 1998, I was going to avail myself of the opportunity and after beating Spain 3 – 2 in Nantes, I was on the coach to Parc des Princes in Paris to was the tension-filled Nigeria v Bulgaria game which we took 1 – 0, only to lose 3 – 1 to Paraguay in Toulouse.

I cannot say I once saw the ball in the stadium on the 19^th of June 1998 but at the end of the match, I had no voice, I had shouted myself hoarse. Much as I would have loved to watch another game, it was an experience of a lifetime ruined by the Nigerian arrangers who for profit treated us too shabbily for words.

Our run in 1998 ended with a 4 – 1 trashing by Denmark in the Srade de France, I don’t think we’ve gotten too far since.

No hope in sight

By 2002, it was Korea/Japan, I was living in the Netherlands, but they were not in it, so I split my allegiances between Nigeria and England, Nigeria did not make it out of the group stage coming last, their best performance being a goalless draw with England. Argentina also came third in that group but England lost to Brazil in the Quarter finals.

The World Cup returned to Europe in 2006, Nigeria did not make to Germany and the Netherlands was out to Portugal in the round of 16 with England losing to Portugal in the Quarter finals that I was left with vacillating opinions in two blogs, both written whilst on holiday in France, the first lamenting our misfortune and the second celebrating the run of the French to the final.

Blog - The World Cup now bores me

Blog - The World Cup now excites me

All Orange, that’s my colour

I donned the Orange strip of the Netherlands when the World Cup came to Africa in 2010, on work days, it was an orange scarf and tie, whilst on other days I had the shirt and face baseball cap. After 10 years of living in the Netherlands and all I had experienced, there was no doubt where I had my football allegiances.

As we danced to Waka Waka (This Time for Africa), none of my thoughts were with Nigeria that came last in their group or England that expired in the round of 16.

I was in Gran Canaria, Spain for holidays when the Quarter finals started and on the 11^th of July, 2010, I found a bar with Dutch supporters and we watched as the game descended in almost farce and in the process Spain won the World Cup.

Dejected and forlorn, I walked back to my hotel unable to acknowledge the celebratory noise of the Spaniards, it was a horrible feeling. But Hey!

Hup! Hup! Holland!

For Brazil 2014, Nigeria of parental descent, England of birth and the Netherlands of experiences are out there doing their stuff. I had already told my friends that the Netherlands would have my support because I believed they would get far and not dash my expectations as Nigeria and England are wont to do.

The Netherlands has already taken the “S” out of Spain with a 5 – 1 bruising defeat of Spain, even I did not expect that pummelling from Holland. England has suffered a defeat from Italy and Nigeria might yet perform against Iran, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Argentina but I am not holding my breath whilst I wish them luck.

For World Cup 2014 it is Hup! Hup! Holland, all the way. That is my team.

Hup! Hup! Holland! You did well

Where we watched it

And so my World Cup ended with a quiet walk from the Dutch corner of Playa del Inglés – Gran Chaparral where the pub offered big screens and commentary in English.

A majority of patrons were in their orange colours with a few errant boys rooting for Spain, I watched the full 120 minutes of the game I would take nothing away from the performance and spirit of our boys – they played their hearts out and only a few minutes would have turned it into the lottery of penalties.

We’ll meet again

That part I would have been unable to watch anyhow, but that is the game of football and 2014 beckons whilst 2018 is when we host the World Cup with Belgium.

Nothing could have prepared me for the feeling of disappointment I felt for my adopted country where I have lived for 10 years only to experience their being beaten whilst holidaying in Spain by Spain.

Just as I shared the excitement of all their victories I found I was not able to celebrate their loss by loving Spain, I received commiserations and congratulated those who I knew would feel my pain but there is no point waiting to watch the presentations or much else.

Viva España

Vuvuzelas were not needed on the main streets, everyone who had a car had their horns blaring at full volume even one of the buses gave a full blast of ululation for the Spanish victory.

I kept my orange vest on and just thought about what might have been, for the third time, our little Dutch nation has just come short and not for the want of trying.

Viva España but the spirit of Dutch football shall never die, we have come this far again, only time with tell when we would lift the World Cup as victors – Hup! Hup! Holland! You did well.

Holiday Snaps: It is hot in Las Palmas

Formula 1 bus travel

I have always loved visiting Las Palmas the capital of the island of Gran Canaria. In fact, it is known in full as Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and it has that dreamy feel of paradise not too far from home and a wonderful experience.

From Playa del Inglés it is just an hour by bus, buses driven as if Fernando Alonso is at the wheel, you must brace yourselves, but it is nothing like plying the swivelling helter-skelter route to Puerto de Mogan to the West of Playa del Inglés.

The English Cut

I have visited a few museums including the Christopher Columbus residences on other visits but the shopping experience at El Corte Inglés translates to English cut is quite good fun, it is big, basically the Harrods of Spain on 6 floors in 2 buildings with a major road between them.

The driver was kind enough to let me out before the Santa Catalina bus station at the long-wait traffic lights at the junction to the road that leads up to El Corte Inglés.

There is no doubt that I feel quite safe shopping there than any of the other shops down in Playa del Inglés, something about prices being in plain view without the hanky-panky of less-than-scrupulous shopkeepers give a sense of safety and security.

Stripping Spanish notepads

I was able to look for a camera and also get Miquelrius notepads which I have not obtained anywhere else, I am not a Moleskin fan at all, Miquelrius, a Spanish firm just has that right feel about them. It has saved me a trip to Barcelona again, I have wondered how to get the notepads especially when the specific type I bought in November 2007 is no more available – the pictures on the website did not convey as well as sight and touch afforded me today.

The Spaniards never expected to meet the Netherlands at the World Cup finals, they seem to have catered for country strips of all the big footballing nations as France (deplorable), Italy (disappointing), Argentina (overwhelmed), Brazil (expendable), England (unfortunate) and Germany (promising) apart from our Netherlands (excellent). Well, Spain was all over the place with every kind of brand, I just could not think of spending EUR 80- on a polo shirt.

For that slight however, I expect Spain to be punished with the relentless dominance of total football by the Netherlands tomorrow, the little shop outside El Corte Inglés was doing orange t-shirts for a pittance, it was not hard to dip my hands in my pockets for one.

Restaurants closed for a nap

Then a walk up to Santa Catalina to Le Muelle the shopping mall of affordables, if one might put it that way, and how I had forgotten that Spanish restaurants do have breaks during the late afternoons that I had to make do with a snack.

The Port of Las Palmas is quite a busy place, with heaps of containers with supplies for the whole island, though I do wonder why when translated signs are put up no one cares to consult native speakers to ensure the English signs are correct. Oh! I forgot; if the British Center (sic) was anything to go by, I have to forgive all the Spanish mistakes, now, that leaves one rather irked if those whose mother-tongue it is, fail to conform to correct usage.

With it being about 30° Celsius beyond the shade, it is no time to walk along the northern beach promenade, just viewing the city from this high level, the fourth, should suffice as I wait to catch the bus 30 back to Playa del Inglés again.

I believe I will pay another visit here before I return home in just about 11 days'.

Nigerian scammers will always be a minority

Those rotten Nigerians

One is saddened to read that 87 Nigerians have been arrested in Spain on suspicion of defrauding at least 1,500 in a postal and internet lottery scam.

In the light of my last blog, these are the kind of people who make our inadvertent commission of being ambassadors of Nigeria a very difficult job.

They put us in inappropriate spotlight that many who do not have an alternative identity have to try harder at proving honesty, capability, eligibility and trustworthiness.

Be smart about scams

I have received many letters saying I have been put into some lottery and I have won a prize but for me to gain access to the prize I have to pay some administration fee to some agent engaged by the lottery firm.

I do not think you have to be too smart to see that there is something fishy about such a proposition, the news story indicates thousands of these letters and emails are written in ungrammatical English.

The question would then be why a “reputable” lottery organisation would engage an unprofessional outfit to manage lottery winnings that probably would reflect badly on their enterprise.

In it to win it

My view of lotteries is simple; you have to be in it to win it, and every lottery I have won has been because I consciously entered in that competition with the hope that my numbers or ticket would come up and win the grand prize or some other prize.

Where lotteries are managed on the Internet, especially in the Netherlands, you have the option to include both your address and bank account number so any winnings go directly into your bank account without the need of an agent.

In fact, the whole scheme of this scam looks quite wrong headed, whilst the administration of winnings might be a costly exercise, informing the winner directly of their winnings should not be too cumbersome.

Most people who register in competitions have the option to opt-out of having their details passed on to agents, if a lottery firm outsources this service, one would expect that the letter or email informing a person of winnings would bear all the official hallmarks of the lottery organisation at first.

No need to pay

Then, the lottery organisation would have paid the agency to handle the winnings, the agency should not then have to charge the winner any administration fees because a percentage of the winnings should have gone to covering the cost of administration – a winner should never have to pay administration costs.

Another question is how a lottery expects to break-even if it randomly chooses non-contributing participants from an email list, I do not believe there is some bottomless cash pool somewhere where someone derives joy from giving money to unknown strangers and then requires them to pay up to get paid.

The Caribbean for one

I remember one prize I won in 1992 before the Internet was popular which was for a 1-week cruise in the Caribbean, but living in the UK I had to pay a fortune to get to the Caribbean and then probably end up as a stowaway on some pirate’s vessel.

It did not take long for me to realise I was being taken for a ride and about to be scammed, I do not do stressful lottery wins, much as a Caribbean cruise for one could never have been any fun at all, the devil is always in the detail processed by a logical brain. The same scam is now rehashed for another medium.

The logic usually does not add up, eventually, the old saying catches up on the deluded or desperate that has been cajoled into a despicable enterprise – it only takes 1 out 1,000 fools answering to make a profit.

The old saying is – A fool and his money are soon parted – if you have not expressly entered a lottery you cannot seriously expect to have won anything and you should not believe you have won anything.

We are good Nigerians

Meanwhile, shame on all those Nigerians, I do hope that the full force of the law is visited upon them and we who keep on the good side of the law continue to prove that those shameful miscreants are the exception rather than the rule.

Most Nigerians abroad are engaged in meaningful activities that build economies, communities and relationships, we who take our ambassadorial jobs seriously would not relent in being the good and exemplary Nigerian.

Punish Spain hard for Sport racism

Abuse again

Hearing that the golden boy of Formula 1 racing was racially abused in Barcelona, Spain was quite disheartening.

Louis Hamilton stirred the imagination of motor racing fans and the general populace when in his rookie year (2007) he lead the championship for almost half the season and it was down to the very last race before a champion was crowned with him coming second in the championship points.

I am of the view that McLaren his team wanted to stage an amazing climax in what really should have been concluded in China at the penultimate race – the rest is history.

Louis Hamilton’s motor-racing skills proved he was not a token equal-opportunities face and it pitched him against a two-time champion who being unable to retain the mystique of his achievements over the young lad turned the championship into a rivalry within the team that cost the team very dear.

They have form

There are some who would say that the animosity Louis has suffered from Spanish crowd stems from the soured relationship he had with Fernando Alonso but that would really be disingenuous to say the least.

The Spaniards have form when it comes to the racist abuse of people of colour and it has been exhibited by people as highly placed as the Spanish coach.

English football players of colour have heard despicable monkey chants which really should have one thinking, who really is playing monkey – definitely, not the one being abused.

Other players of colour in the Spanish league have been subjected to this primitive behaviour of assuming to be of a superior standard of race and rectitude.

A fitting punishing deterrent

It would appear the sanctions that have been levied against the perpetrators and the Spanish sporting authorities have not served as enough a deterrent to stop this loathsome attitude.

If is includes taking to two Formula 1 races out of Spain to more deserving countries with responsible fans, then it would not be a sanction too great to teach a very hard lesson.

The picture of blackened faces with Hamilton Family vests cannot be a costume party joke regardless of the anger fans might have felt about the Hamilton-Alonso rivalry .

To eliminate racism in sport, the pain of punishment must be felt very hard and the one about Hamilton must be taken as a general trend rather than a particular instance.

The same racist Spanish fans of motorsport could as well be football fans doing the same thing – until proven otherwise a fitting sanction and punishment must be meted out forthwith.

Like Hamilton, I love the city of Barcelona but would not condone this behaviour, somebody had better be doing something before a groundswell of indignant inquisition wipes the Spanish of the sporting slate.

We look forward to Louis Hamilton going for goal this season but not with this kind of nonsense coming into the foreground.

Recording the bad history of football - II

No fling with the right-wing

As we prepared for the World Cup in Germany we were warned of the seething and simmering assault on civility as right-wing groups supposedly gathered to rain hail and brimstone on those whose did not have the similitude of the Aryan race.

On one occasion, they were to turn out in support of Iran as a sop to the vituperations about the Holocaust that have emanated from the lips of Dr Ahmadinejad.

We can all thankfully say none of this came to be.

Rather, the Germans, in enthusiasm that would rival a Rio Carnival turned out in support of teams that visited their cities and welcomed their guests with such aplomb, we almost said this is too unGerman to contemplate.

One could almost say, with the departure of the African teams and Trinidad & Tobago, all the fun, dancing, clapping and cheering has died down.

Well, probably only Brazil can really raise a party like no other.

Deep Pains of Spain

So, to now hear again that Spanish fans are up to their disgraceful antics of racist chants, monkey calls and despicable overt unfriendliness to players of another race does sadden one beyond consolation.

This is form for the Spaniards and this has not been knocked out because even the Spanish coach has exhibited such base human instincts masquerading as human superiority.

Both Spain and their coach have been sanctioned for these practices, but the sanctions have failed to yield a civilising effect on the proponents and the fans - only more stringent sanctions like expulsion from international competitions or points deducted from league clubs can drum the basics of 21st Century living into these people.

Countries like England and France have rainbow teams sometimes quite representative the broad range of football talent and ethnic diversity in those countries.

Lauding ethnic team members

The performers always get the accolades and their names or usually synonymous with team excellence - it is just not within the limits good conduct to have to suffer racial abuse on the pitch for any reason whatsoever.

It is however surprising to the value and understanding of history escapes these people as Spain was once subjugated by Africans and during the Spanish Civil War many came from other countries (about 40,000) to fight for the liberation of Spain - they should have a greater sense of fairness, accommodation and tolerance than has been displayed - the sociology of this matter I would leave to the professionals.

Out with this-pain

In the end, you cannot but imagine my glee at the fact the monkey chants and all did nothing to keep them in the World Cup and deservedly so - people who accommodate thoughts that debase humanity deserve no global centre stage not even at the World Cup.

References

Racism fears dog World Cup build-up

Fans praise German welcome

Spanish fans re-ignite racism row

Spain fined for racist chanting

Changing pictures of news

More analysis than fact

Developments from yesterday’s news stories about Nigeria have been myriad. When the last dispatch came through, the crash site was in another location with the possibility of over half of the passengers being survivors.

By which time, credit was being paid to the kind of pilot skill that allows for there to be survivors from a plane crash.

At the same time, on hearing the news of the death of the president’s wife in Spain from the complications of an undisclosed surgery, speculation became rife about why it was in Spain and for what ‘ailment’ in particular.

Crashing close seeking further

Looking at the facts of both events, if the plane was lost from radar 3 minutes after take-off and the Boeing 737 has a cruising speed that ranges from an economical 796km/h to a maximum cruising speed of 943km/h then the plane would have been between 39 to 47km away from Lagos as the crow flies, putting it some 100 km or more South of the initially suggested crash site.

Where the idea of survivors came from one cannot tell, but it appears that it was hope against adversity to help fill the gap between actual event and getting the real facts – a rather cynical ploy of rumour mongering for nobody’s benefit than the responsible agencies that should have shown more competence.

Now, it appears the plane crashed at speed creating a deep crater and leaving no survivors. We await evidence from the flight recorders if they are ever found to reveal the truth of those circumstances.

Heart Surgery is not a Marbellan speciality

On the case of the death of the “First Lady”, the puzzle with all deference to Spanish medicine and their health care system is why any rich Nigerian would go for surgery in the coastal resort of Marbella.

Germany, the United States or the United Kingdom seem to be the usual choices.

A simple search on Google with the words Marbella and Surgery can be rather revealing. If the death certificate reads, “Death by misadventure”, well, many things do carry the risk of death.

The speculation however gathers around augmentation rather than therapeutic – a new YOU in death really does not make good reading.

I suppose the reasons for surgery would remain undisclosed.

References

Airliners.net: Boeing 737-100/200