The FIFA World Cup in Russia is just four weeks away. Some of the 32 countries participating have named provisional lists of players who will make up their squads.
Russia as hosts, who did not play in the qualifiers, has announced a 28-man team which will be filtered to 23:in time for the tournament.
Nigeria too has released a list of 30 players, among them notable players such as Mikel Obi, the skipper of the team, Victor Moses, Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi. The list is made up of four goalkeepers, ten defenders, eight midfielders and eight attackers.
The highlight of the invitees shows that 28 are foreign based while two, goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezinwa of Enyinba of Aba and attacker Junior Lokosa of Kano Pillars are home based.
The final 23-man list of the players of each of the countries taking part in Russia 2018 are expected to be submitted to FIFA on June 4.
ARSENE WENGER and ARSENAL FC
The story of 68yr old Frenchman football Manager Arsene Wenger cannot be told without that of the 132:year old Arsenal Football Club of England and vice versa. It cannot be otherwise for a club he spent 22 and a half years of his life with having joined the Gunners towards the end of the 1996/97 season.
His first full season at Arsenal in 1997/98 was with a bang, winning the league and FA cup double. He went on to win the league two more times in his career at Arsenal in the 2001/02 and 2003/04 seasons.
The win of 2003/04 season was most dramatic as the club won the trophy without a single defeat and thus became the only team to have won a Premier League trophy for that feat.
Arsenal under Wenger won seven FA cups in 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2014, 2014 and 2015. He was reputed to favour young players who he bought for peanuts and who he honed to be geniuses to be sold by him for millions of pounds years later.
His most expensive buy was Mezut Ozil who he bought for £50m from Real Madrid of Spain. For not buying equality players, Arsenal\’s Nigerian fans nicknamed him Baba Ijebu for his stinginess which must have cost him the premier league title since he won it last in the 2003-04 season while the European honours, even though he was the first to have taken an English club to the final of the Champions League, eluded him throughout his career.
However, one of the remarkable events of his years at Arsenal was the movement of the club from the 93yr old Highbury Stadium to the over 60,000 capacity Emirate Stadium on May 7, 2006.
His last premier league match against Huddersfield last Sunday May 13 was Wenger\’s 1,235th and last game in charge at Arsenal.
Much more to write on Wenger but it is suffice to say he impacted positively on the club while in charge except for the last few years when his and the club\’s fortune in the premiership began to wane. No doubt, Arsene Wenger was a great Manager and we at Radiance wish him all the best in his future endeavours
TENNIS and ROGER FEDERER
36yr old Roger Federer just became the oldest World number one ranked male tennis player for the 6th time in his career despite not playing for two months. The 20 time Grand Slam champion reclaimed the top spit after Rafael Nadal\’s quarter final exit at the Madrid Open last week. Federer has not competed since March 24, when he lost to World number 175 Thansi Kokkinakis in Miami Open 2nd round.
No doubt Federer has been an enigma on the courts since starting to compete in international tennis in 2003 when he emerged number 3. For 4 consecutive years, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 he was number one, number 2 in 2008 regained number one in 2009, was number 2 in 2010, 2012 and 2014, fell to number 3 in 2015, number 2 in 2017 and number one again this year, 2018.
His record shows that he has won 20 Grand Slams from 2003 to date and an all time record of 8;Wimbledon titles. He has won on all surfaces – 67 on hard courts, 17 on grass and 11 on clay. He has reached finals of Grand Slams 30times, 10 of them consecutive and another consecutive 8, the longest streak in history; 43 semi finals and 52 quarter finals.
Roger Federer, who looks forward to a 9th triumph at Wimbledon in June this year, is definitely an enigma in world tennis and he\’s showing no sign of retiring soon. The Swiss loves Italian, Japanese and Indian cuisines. We at Radiance wish him more grease to his right elbow and wrist.
Catch you next week. All the best!
