EPL round up

Here's news on our guys currently in the English Premier League.

John Obi Mikel-Currently enjoying a solid run in the Chelsea first eleven. http://www.goal.com/en/news/1711/chelsea/2008/12/04/996225/chelseas-mikel-happy-with-his-season-so-far

http://www.thespoiler.co.uk/index.php/2008/12/05/youre-only-a-man-if-john-terry-says-so

Didier Drogba- Currently suspended for throwing an object back into the stands at rival supporters http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_4555474,00.html

http://www.fansfc.com/chelseafootballclub/news.asp?newsid=193952

Michael Essien- Still rehabbing from his injury http://www.kickoffghana.com/static/news/article.php?id=2392

Salomon Kalou- Still not a 1st choice for Chelsea but one of Scolari's first options off the bench. http://www.premiershiplatest.com/news/arsenal-swoop-kalou-again-5515966.html

Benjani-Back in the attack for Manchester City http://www.goal.com/en/news/710/manchester-city/2008/11/25/981223/benjani-bring-on-the-new-signings

Yakubu- Tore his Achilles and is out for at least nine months. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article5263504.ece

Victor Anichebe-Looking to impress Manager David Moyes as he is the only fit striker Everton has available. http://www.givemefootball.com/premier-league/vic-will-be-the-new-yak

NBA roundup

Here's news and articles on the guys currently playing in the NBA.

Ime Udoka- Missed the Spurs last game vs Denver as he was battling the Flu. Ime is currently bolstering the Spurs bench and averaging 4.4pts,2.8 rbds and 0.7 assts.
http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/courtside/archives/2008/12/jeff_mcdonald_i_2.html


Emeka Okafor- Recently rediscovering his inner beast as he's averaging 11.7 pts and 10.9 rbds but had 24 and 25 pts in consecutive wins.
Here's a nice article about him and his point guard Raymond Felton.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/bobcats/story/394772.html

Kelenna Azubuike- Currently day to day with a foot injury but averaging 14.3 pts and 1.6 assts for the Warriors.
Here's a write up about him from a Kentucky newspaper.

http://www.kentucky.com/280/story/612402.html

Luol Deng- Just returning from injury but averaging 13.1 pts and 5.1 rbds
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=255626&src=150

Ike Diogu-Not getting many minutes off the Blazers bench as he has to deal with Greg Oden, Joel Pryzbilla and LaMarcus Aldridge ahead of him. Here's a recent article about Ike and his love of video games. http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/11/view_beyond_the_court_explorin.html

Andre Iguodala- Though he has never declared a desire to represent his father's country, we'll still follow up on 'Dre as he hasn't appeared for Team USA yet.
Here's news on the Illinois born descendant of Edo, he is averaging 13.9 pts 6.3 rbds and 5.2 assists. He is not having a great year and here's a writeup on that.
http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20081109/SPORTS03/811090416/1002/SPORTS


DeSagana Diop- The Mavericks big man is averaging 4.9 pts and 0.9 blocks which are not great for him as defense is where he shines. Here are articles about Diop.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/112708dnspomavslede.2b9cf6b.html

http://www.star-telegram.com/287/story/1048830.html

Didier Ilunga-Mbenga- Only played in 1 game so far this season but we expect big things from DJ as soon as Phil Jackson extends his rotation.
http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/11/dj-mbenga-in-the-house-but-not-the-trian.html

and a nice video from FanHouse correspondent Elie Seckbach

http://www.viddler.com/explore/esnews/videos/10/

Cheikh Samb- Not getting many minutes but has seen action in 5 games.

Mouhamed Sene- The Senegalese big man is averaging 3.8 pts and 1.8 rbds for Oklahoma City.

Super Eagles article + Highlights of Colombia friendly

Fifa.com has a solid article about the Super Eagles of Nigeria and their mission to get back to the World Cup after missing out on Germany 06. Check it out here.
Here's highlights of the Super Eagles 1-0 loss to Colombia in a friendly match in Cali Colombia.

Chris Ogbonnaya's rise to prominence at UT

Chris Ogbonnaya has been patiently waiting for his chance to be the #1 running back for the University of Texas Longhorns and it seems this is his year. The senior from Strake Jesuit High School in Houston played behind the usual NFL caliber runners that UT has been producing routinely and spent his time perfecting the other mundane duties that some running backs take for granted such as pass blocking. This season has seen UT coach Mack Brown show his faith in Ogbonnaya and it is paying dividends. With his dominating performances in wins over the Oklahoma Sooners and Missouri Tigers, Chris is taking pressure off Quarterback Colt McCoy as the Longhorns march to the national title game while also making NFL scouts take notice.

African POY list is out

The list of players in contention for the African Player of the Year award has come out and includes Emmanuel Adebayor, Amr Zaki and Didier Drogba.
Zaki is probably the front runner for the award due to his exploits in leading the Pharoahs of Egypt to the 2008 African Cup of Nations title and he has stayed in form so far during the 2008-2009 EPL season with Wigan.
Here's the rest of the list.

Mohamed Aboutrika (Ahli, Egypt),
Amr Zaki (Wigan Athletic, Egypt),
Didier Drogba (Chelsea, Ivory Coast),
Michael Essien (Chelsea, Ghana),
Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal, Togo).

Final draw for 2010 WC qualifying

The final draw for the 2010 world cup qualifiers took place in Zurich with 20 teams divided into five groups of four teams each.
The groups are as follows:

Group A
Cameroon
Morocco
Gabon
Togo

Group B
Nigeria
Tunisia
Kenya
Mozambique

Group C
Egypt
Algeria
Zambia
Rwanda

Group D
Ghana
Mali
Benin
Sudan


Group E
Ivory Coast
Guinea
Burkina-Faso
Malawi

The final round begins March 2009

South African WC preparation improves

After months of speculation and turmoil,Fifa president Joseph "Sepp" Blatter expressed his encouragement at the improvement in the building of World Cup stadia in South Africa. Blatter spent four days touring the country and has seen a great amount of progress by South Africa in preparing for the 2010 tournament. The Soccer city stadium in Johannesburg has show massive improvement as 20,000 seats have been installed so far and the new stadiums in Cape Town and Durban- The Green point stadium and Durban stadium will be testament to the work and vision of the South African organizing committee. We look forward to our South African brothers putting on a great show for the world in 2010.

Essien out with Injury

Ghanaian international and Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien tore his ACL and is out for the majority of the English Premier League season. The 'Bison' suffered the injury in World Cup qualifying loss to Libya. Essien has shown his value to the Blues ever since his arrival from Lyon and Chelsea will miss him even more now that Claude Makalele has moved on to PSG. The absence of Essien will effectively give the holding role to Mikel Obi and give the young Nigerian an opportunity to keep impressing Chelsea boss "Big" Phil Scolari. We wish Michael Essien the best in his recovery and hope to see him on the green grass for Chelsea and Ghana in no time.

Nigerian Consortium wants to purchase Newcastle

The buzz on Tyneside and parts of London is that a Nigerian consortium fronted by Chris Nathaniel of NVA football and entertainment consultants have put forth a bid to purchase Newcastle United. The Magpies are currently mired in turmoil as they've endured a terrible start to their EPL season, problems between manager Kevin Keegan and Dennis Wise, the resignation of Keegan and now the for sale siign being placed at St.James Park by owner Mike Ashley. The bid will more than likely be scrutinized very carefully to make sure it is legit and while some folk will be thrilled to hear of Nigerians in the mix to own an EPL team, others will be dissapointed that the so-called consortium of Nigerian tycoons aren't investing their money in the local Nigerian League among other worthwhile causes in the country. We'll see how it plays out and keep you updated.

Chicago Blackhawks sign Aliu

The Chicago Blackhawks signed their 2007 draft pick, Akim Aliu out of Canada by way of Nigeria. Aliu is a very promising right wing looking to follow in the footsteps of Jarome Iginla and blaze a trail for players of color in the NHL. Look for the Blackhawks to bring Aliu up slowly as they let him mature in the feeder leagues before he tries to become a regular on the Blackhawks team.