HE ONLY place to be this weekend is the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos where arguably Nigeria’s most accomplished footballer ever will be formally “pulled out” of the national team, the Super Eagles. On Saturday, June11, 2011, Nwankwo “Papillo” Kanu will be honoured with a testimonial match that is worthy of a legend.

The star cast is impressive enough. On the field, some of the big names expected to be in action include Ghana’s Michael Essien, Cote d’Ivoire’s Didier Drogba and French 1998 World Cup winner Marcel Desailly. In the stands, all the big wigs of Nigerian football are expected while the special guest of honour is the soccer-loving governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola, who will reportedly lead out the “Super Eagles All-Stars” against the “Friends of Kanu.”

Behind the scenes, the cast behind the Kanu Testimonial is no less impressive as the Chairman of the Organising Committee is the ever-green John Mastoroudes. Who else could bring together such a star-studded ensemble, if not the talented and very shrewd “Papillo.”

The Kanu Story is well documented in world football folklore. It is the story of a young Nigerian boy who started out “begging” for recognition of his football talent, but who has ended up “begging” that the recognition is enough. It is the story of a boy who rose very quickly to the pinnacle of world football within the space of three years (1993-1996);
confronted a serious adversity when he was diagnosed with a heart defect and told he may never play football again  (1996); but overcame the adversity (1997) by going on to play for another 14 years (2011) and still counting! The Kanu story will make an enthralling movie.

My first personal encounter with Kanu was at the African Youth  (Under-20) Championship in Mauritius in 1993. I was covering the tournament at the Indian Ocean country for Complete Football magazine as a young reporter and he was a member of the Nigerian squad coached by James Peters. But Kanu wasn’t a first teamer and he didn’t feature in any of Nigeria’s three games before we got knocked out in the first round.

Kanu approached me and requested me to feature him in Complete Football. “The coaches will not pick me because they say I’m too small,” the tiny-looking chap pleaded. “If you put my story in your magazine, I’m sure they will start respecting me.”

I told Kanu as gently as I could that he didn’t need to lobby me to be featured in Complete Football. “You concentrate on your game and keep working hard,” I admonished him. “It is us journalists that will come running after you later on.”

Kanu may not remember that encounter, but that (work hard) is exactly what he proceeded to do. Later that year (1993), he would go on to emerge as the super star as Nigeria won the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Japan with coach Fanny Amun in charge. After the tournament, Kanu went on trial at Ajax Amsterdam and I happened to be in Holland again at the time as the Dutch giants signed him up alongside his Nigerian compatriot Finidi George.

In 1996, I was also fortunate to travel every inch of the way with Kanu and the “Original Dream Team” as the Nigerian Under-23 team made history by winning the football gold medal at the Atlanta Olympic Games in USA. Kanu, with two dramatic winning goals against Brazil in the semi-final, was captain and talisman of the team.

And in 1997, I was again privileged to be the first to interview Kanu for Complete Football International when he arrived in Nigeria following his successful heart surgery in America that revived his football career. Oh yes, I think I can boast of some modest, starring role in Kanu’s amazing story. Raise up your hand, where ever you are, if you are not proud to be associated with a legend!

In a country where age-cheating in football continues to be a scourge, it is a testimony to Kanu’s commendable exception that he is still playing actively for Portsmouth FC in 2011, 18 years after he first broke into limelight in 1993. Of the Mauritius ‘93 Under-20 team, the Japan ‘93 Under-17 team and the Atlanta ‘96 Under-23 team which he partook, he is certainly the only visible player still in action and, probably, the last man standing. The same applies to his European Championship-winning Ajax Amsterdam team of the mid-90s. Only Clarence Seedorf at AC Milan is still visibly active like our own “Papillo.”

Kanu’s career longetivity not only proves that his “football age” is his real age, (Kanu was born August 1, 1976 in Owerri, Nigeria), it also speaks well for his personal discipline, both as an individual and a professional. Throughout his stay at Ajax, Inter Milan and Arsenal, all big European clubs which could bloat a young’s man ego, Kanu was never reported in any controversy despite all the money he was making. Even when age started catching up with him and he had to step down to smaller clubs like West Bromwich Albion and Portsmouth, he continued to behave with humility, despite his previous achievements.

At the national teams, Kanu’s captaincy of the Under-23 Olympic team and the Super Eagles witnessed a cordial relationship between the players and the establishment as many former officials of the Football Federation (Association?) will easily testify. There were always issues bondering on the players’ welfare as usual, but Kanu never adopted rebellious methods to fight his cause. Yet, he achieved results.

On the field of play, Kanu’s football genius is not in doubt. He is not the quickest player off the mark, but he did with the ball what other players could only imagine. Also, he didn’t score that many goals as exemplified by his lack of goals in six Africa Cup of Nations appearances, which is a very embarrasing statistic for him. But when he did score, it was always something special like the double against Brazil at  Atlanta ‘96; and the famous hat-trick that he scored for Arsenal against Chelsea in the English Premier League in the 1999/2000 season to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win. The winning goal was particularly special as he dribbled past  the Chelsea goalkeeper before finding the roof of the net from the tightest of angles even with several Chelsea defenders on the goal-line.
English football commentators came to label Kanu as a magician. “All his goals are copy-book stuff,” I remember one of them purring on one occasion.

Indeed, Kanu could do lots of tricks with the ball. But, for me, the trick that stands out is what I call the “Papillo Feint.” On the edge of the opponent’s 18-yard box, Kanu would pretend to shoot, then calmly wrap his long leg around the ball and take it away from his bewildered opponent who was probably covering his face or diving to block an imaginary shot. With that singular movement, Kanu leaves his maker for dead, is inside the box and facing the goalkeeper. More often than not, he puts the ball at the back of the net. The “Papillo Feint” is pure magic. I can’t get tired of watching him do it. I hope he does it many times during his testimonial on Saturday.

Kanu is not all about football, however. His Kanu Heart Foundation which he set up after his own heart surgery is a clear proof of his “large heart.” The foundation has saved hundreds of Nigerians (particularly children) with heart defects by sponsorring their treatments abroad. Now, Kanu is planning to build a heart specialist hospital in Abuja and I hear that part of the proceeds from his testimonial will go to the project. Brilliant!

Meanwhile, Kanu is also a very shrewd business man. He may not have a university degree but this chap has a first class brain in business and investment. How he has managed to balance his many business interests with his football career, while also cutting several lucrative endorsement deals will beat most CEOs.

The woman in the popular Peak Milk television commercial was right when she told the young Nwankwo Kanu: “Papillo, I know say you go be great!”

Recently, I had to write a paper on Nigerian football and a bit of history became essential. Here is what I wrote:
“A lot of football players have represented Nigeria in the colours of the national football team. Some of the very famous ones are Tesilimi “Thunder” Balogun in the 1940s and ‘50s, Peter “Baby” Anieke in the ‘60s, “Mathematical” Segun Odegbami in the ‘70s, “Goalsfather” Rashidi Yekini in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and Austin “Jay-Jay” Okocha during the last decade. It is difficult to pick any one player as the overall best of all generations put together, but Nwankwo “Papillo” Kanu is easily the most decorated Nigerian footballer of all time.”
I shall leave Complete Sports editor Dare Esan and his crew to chronicle the numerous awards that Kanu has won in his illustrious career because to do that here will mean I have to write another article altogether. But it suffices to say that Kanu is the only Nigerian to win the African Footballer of the Year award twice (1996 and 1999). He is also one of very few in world football to have won the English Premier League, FA Cup, European Champions League, UEFA Cup, the Dutch League and Cup and an Olympic Gold Medal.

Let us all salute this great son of Nigeria and UNICEF ambassador by turning out en masse for his testimonial on Saturday. My dear Papillo, thanks for the sweet memories.

Ethiopia Draw – We’re All Guilty!

lTHE NIGERIAN sports media is as guilty as coach Samson Siasia, the Super Eagles as well as the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in the shoddy arrangements and lack of focus that led to our 2-2 draw against Ethiopia in the crucial Africa Cup of Nations qualifier last weekend in Addis Ababa.

It’s on record that I repeated several warnings in this column many  weeks ago that Siasia and the NFF should “Beware of Ethiopia.” But last week when the reminder was most needed so close to the match, a production error at Complete Sports ensured that my latest reminder was ommitted. Here is what I wrote BEFORE the Argentina game, but which was errorneously left out:

‘Siasia, Beware of Ethiopia’

lI HAVE  been repeating the above warning to Super Eagles coach Samson Siasia for some time now and I hope he takes heed. Irrespective of the outcome of the high-profile friendly against Argentina, it is the result of our Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Ethiopia this weekend in Addis Ababa that is crucial.

During the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, it was the Eagles’ failure to beat “minnows” Rwanda away in Kigali that resulted ultimately in our failure to qualify for Germany. The match ended 1-1 and the Eagles came back talking about how many times they hit the Rwandan goal-post as if that was what we sent them to do.

This weekend in Addis Ababa, the Eagles must put the ball in the Ethiopian net and win the game, no more, no less.  Any dropped points could be fatal to our 2012 Nations Cup chances and I hope Siasia and his boys realize this.

I am not claiming that the above warning may have led to a different result than we got in Addis Ababa. But the fact that some of us in the media “sensed” the trouble that was looming (I-Soccer editor Qasim Elegbede can testify to this) and ultimately couldn’t prevent it is very frustrating. Surely, we didn’t shout loud enough about the danger that awaited in Ethiopia, even though we are supposed to be the custodians of records and history.

Record shows that the Eagles have always been poor travellers especially to difficult away grounds and I wonder why we decided to take Ethiopia so lightly. I am not close to the current squad, but I have enough experience with Nigerian teams to “feel” the psychological attitude of our footballers even from afar. Complacency and poor match concentration are still  twin evils in the Eagles even with Siasia in charge. Add the “ego-boosting victory” over Argentina last week in Abuja, plus the NFF’s poor handling of the travel arrangements and climatic conditions, we should actually count ourselves lucky that Joseph Yobo saved us from imminent defeat with a late equalizer against Ethiopia.

There’s nothing new to say because it’s very clear to everyone that we run the risk of not qualifying for the Nations Cup for the first time since 1986! A good psychologist would have been helpful to keep the players focused for last weekend’s game in Ethiopia. But now, the threat of elimination should be enough to psyche them up for the next game against Madagascar in Antananarivo.

Nigeria should beware of the “elements” as Segun Odegbami likes to describe mother nature. In 2006, the elements conspired to eliminate three “African giants” Egypt, Cameroun and Nigeria from the World Cup qualifiers and it was “minnows” such as Togo and Angola that went to the  Mundial instead. This year, the elements are at work again as Cameroun, Egypt and now, Nigeria are walking the tight rope in the 2012 Nations Cup qualifiers.

Thankfully, Nigeria’s own destiny is still in our hands. But the “elements” will strike us fatally if we slip up again.

Overheard!

lFan A: Is it because we (Nigeria) beat Argentina silly in Abuja that FIFA are alleging that the match was fixed? Are they saying that Argentina are unbeatable? Haba!

Fan B: I don’t know. But what I do know is that we could not have beaten Argentina 4-1 if they had come with their complete team.

Fan A: What do you mean? Argentina is Argentina! We beat them fair and square 4-1. My brother, 4-1!

Fan B: Stop deceiving yourself. There was no Messi, no Higuain, no Di Maria, no Tevez, no Mascherano and you say you beat Argentina? Abeg, make una comot for here!

Fan A: What about Nigeria? We also were not complete. There was no Osaze, no Shittu, no Sani Kaita, no Kanu, no Haruna Lukman, no Yakubu. Hen-hen, no Yakubu! We too, we no dey complete. I beg, na you go comot for here. Up Nigeriaaaaaa!