It was on these pages that I wrote about the avalanche of mails and phone calls I receive on daily basis regarding the Super Eagles. I mentioned the special interest of the Swedish press and the disappointment of the Argentine journalist who could not get anything from me.

It has become fashionable for us to notice the absence of the leadership of the football house in key football functions. Last Tuesday was an exception as friends, well wishers and colleagues turned up in great number to honour a man who has cultivated the passion for record keeping.

For the past two weeks, my phone has been the recipient of a lot of calls from abroad. The most guilty are the journalists from Sweden in search of up dates on their country man who has been given an opportunity to coach a World Cup team.

I do not know for how long Hon Ibrahim Bio was minister of Transport. What I do know is that for the few days that he has been Chairman of the National Sports Commission and Minister of Sports, he has known no peace.

Over the phone she tried to explain her disappointment, how the place was not befitting of the Eagles and how it lacked adequate security.Yet it was only when we got back to Nigeria that I appreciated the level of her worry given the visuals highlighted in her World Cup countdown programme which was further corroborated by a colleague, Kayode Thomas of Next newspaper who also saw the hotel, live.

By Paul Bassey I am not joking. I want to share with my readers today, tips on how to win the World Cup. In doing so, I know that Lars Lagerback is likely to peep and steal some ideas. Well and good.

Even before President Yar’ Adua was sworn in over three years ago, those of us who have sports as their culture medium, braced up for four years of disaster, in the first instance.

Laugh, if you want to. The last time I wrote, I tried to explain why I went to South Africa. One would have expected that should I have cause to do another travelogue it should be a trip to either Hawaii, the beaches and carnival fun of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil or Toyota’s Japan where I heard cars are being given out free to prove that the brakes are now working and you can do 250km per hour, commit suicide and still live to testify to the advantage the embattled motor company.

So what? Yes, so what? A friend in Jo’burg saw me battling with this column and said “ So what is special about being in South Africa?”, aware that I have passed this way a couple of times.

I explained to him that this time was obviously different. Let me start this way. As host of the official World Cup countdown programme in Nigeria, it would have been terrible to see me on the streets of Abuja or Lagos when the world, South Africa especially was counting down to the World Cup.

The count down is on. I believe it is a co-incidence that the last friendly matches preparatory to the World Cup should be in the frame of what is now the 100 days count down to the World Cup. What is not a coincidence is that the organisers of the World Cup have lined up series of programmes aimed at bringing home the reality of an event that is still a subject of doubt in the western media.

Last week I joined Nigerians in the search for a national team coach. I also advised Jay Jay Okocha to forget about his dream of becoming a member of the Nigerian Football Federation.

I believe it was in this column I wrote last week that I do not envy the Nigeria Football Federation ( NFF ), one bit. To lend credence to my fear, the President of the body is reported to have said that the Federation had to bow to the yearnings of Nigerians in choosing a foreign technical adviser for the Super Eagles World Cup campaign. I hope that statement, (if he said it,) will just end there, because no Nigerian will be held responsible if the coach they bring, fails to deliver.

I had planned to use today’s column to share with my readers my experiences in Angola. Concrete experiences that is. While I was in Angola, I could not write freely on hard news and some experiences that had to do with the teams, especially the Super Eagles.

I thank God for the gift of life. I thank him everyday. Friday
was not an exception. I told you how I was seconded to Benguela to help fortify the team on ground for what was expected to be world war four in African football.