Of course I watched the match and I believe millions of Nigerians did (My brother Steve Ukpong rang by 2.15 am to find out the station that was airing the match) that is the passion, the sacrifice, that most Nigerians paid, banishing sleep to be able to see what I have always considered ‘…a mere friendly’.

The road where the players bus gets to a Carrefour and a player decides to jump the bus and take what he considers is his own way forward.

So much has been said and written about the recently held elections into the various sports associations in Nigeria.

Saturday, I came across this newspiece that said a Nigerian player had offered 50,000 dollars to his colleagues if they won a match.

Permit me to go back to Marakech, Morocco, venue of the just ended 10th Africa Under 17 Championship.

It came like a bolt from the blue. After 28 matches without defeat, capped with a 6-1 demolition of arch rivals Ghana, the Golden Eaglets of Nigeria were brought down to mother earth with a thud.

“In one breadth you people say there is no money and start sacking coaches, in another breadth, you are interviewing and employing coaches. There is more to this than meets the eye…..”

Yes I am a FIFA Match Commissioner, CAF General Coordinator, Member Technical Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation, yet that is not enough excuse for the volume of thoughts I write on football in my column every week.

It sounded comical.That Jossy Lad, yes the same one, fell ill. That Oyo state government, had spent “four hundred thousand naira on him” without improvement.

Let me quickly say this morning that I will pre-tend nothing happened in Calabar. In far away Ghana, I could not watch the match live, so I had to depend on second hand information.