International Football + COVID; Wisdom or Folly?

 Prior to the International break in October 2020, the last such break was in November 2019. The long break in action was as a result of COVID-19 which ravaged and is still ravaging the world, with parts of Europe and the United States of America facing an unprecedented surge in the numbers of cases on a daily basis. Club football was halted in most parts of the world in March 2020, and was not restarted until August, about 5 months later, with fans not allowed in stadia in most of the countries till date. For club football to restart, a number of measures had to be put in place. In the initial days of the restart, celebration of goals, for example, was banned in the German Bundesliga. Also, substitute players had to maintain a six-foot distance between one another while they sat on the bench, among many other rules. Eventually, some of the rules were relaxed and a bit of normalcy was restored. 

COVID-19 is a disease transmissible by mere touch or proximity, so measures had to be put in place in order to keep the players safe. Part of the measures taken by football clubs was the establishment of COVID "bubbles"- a group of people primarily resembling a household, allowed to stay together and move together without the necessary social distancing between them. A bubble is formed by a team's senior players and so, their interactions with people outside of the bubble is greatly reduced and care is specially taken when in the midst of others from outside their bubble. Through this bubble system, clubs have been able to effectively curtail the spread of the virus without really losing key players to diagnoses of COVID, and even in the face of a second wave of the virus, football looks set to be allowed to go on.

However, permitting International football to go on seems to have done more harm than good, as players from different clubs and COVID bubbles now have the freedom of intermingling with others, leading to an increase in the rate of infections. As a result, more players have gotten exposed to the virus, just like Liverpool and Egypt winger, Mohamed Salah, also tested positive for the virus after getting into the Egyptian national team camp for an international friendly match. On the 12th November 2020, Croatia faced Turkey in an international friendly match where their captain for the game, Domagoj Vida played the first half before receiving a positive result on his COVID test from the previous day. He had to be substituted, but he had already been exposed to the whole of the Croatian and Turkish teams. The next day on the 13th, England and the Republic of Ireland faced off in a friendly match. Alan Browne played the full 90 minutes before returning a positive COVID test the next morning. Both national teams had possibly been exposed to the virus through the friendly match. Also, Palmeiras youngster, Gabriel Menino had been training with the Seleçao, the Brazilian national team for days before he was confirmed to be positive for COVID-19. 

During the last International break in October, Cristiano Ronaldo tested positive for the virus and missed a number of important matches for his club side while he self-isolated at home. Also, Czech Republic had to invite a whole new squad of 23 players and coaching staff for their Nations League fixture against Scotland in October after their entire national team was exposed to the virus during their camping. These are just a few of the numerous cases that have arisen since International football was restarted. There have been clamours from different corners of the world over the safety of having these International matches at a time like this when the virus is on a rampage.

In addition to the spread of the virus, there's also the case of fatigue and susceptibility to injuries from the players. First, these players are not machines. Following the restart of football in August, some teams had to play up to 3 games every week so as to finish the season as quickly as possible, and within a month of the completion of the 2019/2020 season, the 2020/2021 season commenced. With this, there was very little room for the players to rest and recover the energy they had spent in the last few weeks of the season. Now, some teams play 3-4 matches a week, a good example being Tottenham Hotspur, who played 4 competitive fixtures in 3 competitions over a span of 8 days. Due to the fixture pile up, a lot of players have gotten injured this season compared to other seasons. Already, about 100 players in the English Premier League have gotten injured, with league champions, Liverpool being one of the hardest hit. This surge in the number of injuries is in some cases, as a result of muscle fatigue in these players who had a very short off-season and have a short period of recovery between matches.

Apart from suffering injuries, there's the question of whether the players are being exploited to make as much money off of them as possible, by the bodies in charge of the game. World Cup and multiple Champions League winner, German midfielder Toni Kroos bitterly complained of the futility of the UEFA Nations League matches which players are compelled to participate in, despite the competition having almost no face value whatsoever, having been formed to expel friendly games. For unimportant games as these, players are made to chalk up travel time, with some of them being in the air for the better part of a day. Chelsea's Brazilian Central defender, Thiago Silva had to miss his team's game against Southampton after having only gotten off a 10-12 hour flight from his native Brazil two days earlier. A lot of these players have to travel long distances to play in international matches despite having to play an average of 3 games weekly for their club sides. 

Surprisingly, even in the midst of all this, some international federations have deemed it fit to have their players play up to 3 matches within this 14-day long break. This is absurd, because even during the period pre-COVID, most teams only had to play 2 matches in the same span of days. With the increased number of games on the players, this just seems like an unnecessary measure at this time. 

The way the governing bodies have handled these issues begs the question of whether the players' welfare is important to them, or it's just the revenue they generate that really matters. Personally, I feel that the international break should be abolished until normalcy is restored to reduce the burden on players, as football could suffer damaging losses from the consequences of these breaks.

Salah's College Chronicles Vol. 1

 We go de alright my G, no worry we go run am. Naso we de talk am anytime kasala burst.

October 2017 was when I returned to Ilorin for the commencement of a new phase in my life. I had completed my first year in the University of Ilorin just a few months earlier. The session had been unbelievably tasking and strenuous. It was time to move to the College of Health Sciences.

SETTLING IN

It is worth mentioning that I had made acquaintances with more than a few of my classmates in my first year, but at the time of resumption to the College of Health Sciences, only two of them really stood out as my friends, Mahmud, who I had met in very bizarre circumstances in our first year and was in my department, Anatomy, and Musdhaliph, with whom I had been friends since secondary school and was in the sister department, Physiology. When school fully resumed in November, the first issue was accommodation. Mahmud had secured a place off-campus, whereas myself and Musdhaliph looked to secure a room in the school's male hostel. We spent the first few weeks shuttling between our lectures and a faculty official's office. After many fruitless visits and long queues, when it finally got to our turn to be attended to, Nigeria struck. The Non-Academic Staff of Universities NASU declared a nationwide strike, and just like that, our hopes of securing a place in the hostel died. Luckily, Mahmud had reserved a place for us, and had even been pressuring us for weeks to abandon our search for a place on campus and settle for one off-campus with him. 

I continued attending lectures from town even after I secured accommodation and moved my stuff, and only moved into my place on January 1st 2018. The first week after I moved in was crazy, partly due to the fact that my roommate refused to resume, and the fact that I was living on a diet of bread and soda because I was not interested in cooking, and I had no intention of eating out. I only ate cooked food like twice throughout the period. It really was a horrible period. I ate junk in the mornings and afternoons, and on my way home from school, bread and a fizzy drink would be my last "meal" of the day, even on days I fasted. When my roommate finally resumed a week later, I felt as if I had been awarded a gold medal in the Olympics. We quickly settled in, and things went smoothly.

LECTURES/PRACTICALS AND EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

From my experience in 100l, lectures were a thing to dread. There were too few seats and too many students, it was a recipe for disaster. The environment was never conducive for learning. It was therefore a huge upgrade when I got to the College of Health Sciences and realised I didn't have to sit on the floor to receive lectures.

My basic tactic to avoid trouble was to simply evade notice. I made sure to sit down in the most populated areas of the class, where I would not be required to ask or answer questions in class. I just wanted to attend the classes and go home afterwards. Throughout my first year in the college, only one lecturer knew me from class, and that was because I enjoyed sitting in front and communicating with him as he took us through embryology.

In spite of my unwillingness to get noticed by lecturers, I wanted to do something different from just class work so I volunteered to be the class football coach because I loved football and despite having played a lot of it at a high level for much of my life, I knew I didn't have the strength and stamina to make the team as a player anymore. Unfortunately, my time as coach has been marred by so many near-misses, and my team has only ever won one trophy due to a combination of ojoro from our seniors, and bad luck on our side. I also joined the faculty's academic group, one which represented the faculty at university-level quiz and debate tournaments. I was among the representatives of the faculty at the Interfaculty Spelling Championship which we won in what was one of the highest points of my first year in the college.

Prior to our first practical session in anatomy, we heard things like "if you see cadaver you'll faint" or "cadaver de make girls vomit de cry sef". I don't know if it's coconut head my female classmates have or it was just an exaggeration from those who said it, because nothing slightly resembling their predictions took place. In our first dissection, I was one of the first (I think I was the first, actually) to touch and dissect a body. I did not have night terrors nor throw up afterwards. 

I spent most of my time in 3 places; school, mosque, and the nearby football viewing centre, where I always enjoyed watching football with my guy Toyeeb. We both supported Chelsea but the guy enjoyed arguments too much. He almost got beaten at the viewing centre one day.

STUDYING

From a young age, I hated studying school books, but here, I realised that I had to put in at least a basic effort to read, so that I wouldn't have myself to blame. When the session started, myself and my roommate, Musdhaliph decided to stay indoors and read our books as we saw fit. Few weeks later, we chose to start going to school every night after dinner to read in class. To do this, we would have to trek a distance far more than a Kilometre. When we started our "night class" style, Mahmud joined us some times, and other times, it was just me and Musdhaliph. We'd get to school by 9pm, joke and gist till 10pm, read till 12 or 1am, then head home after sleeping till around 3am. This was our usual schedule and it was followed quite religiously LOL.

At a period, robbers began targeting people on the road around the time we went home, and if any of us raised the topic of robbers attacking us, we'd quickly shoot it down, saying the robbers could not attack three men on the road. Mahmud always said we were only two and he made me understand a while later. That day, all three of us were heading home from school around past 3am when I suddenly saw Mahmud sprint away, and Musdhaliph followed suit quickly. I did not see or hear anything but to avoid stories that touch, I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. On getting home, none of them could say that they had actually seen something that caused them to run. Apparently, Mahmud thought he saw something, but there was nothing outside at that time. 

Another time, it was just me and Musdhaliph heading home at past 3 when we saw a group of women all clad in white approaching from a distance. We quickly ran back into school and stayed hidden until they passed. God no go shame us.

By the end of our first semester, Mahmud and Musdhaliph stopped studying in the same location as me because I was apparently too unserious, and it was rubbing off on them. Welp.

ASSESSMENT/EXAMS

We had our first assessment in December, a genetics test. It went really well for me and it gave me a good foundation to build from. My first heartbreak was also in the first semester, when we were supposed to have a BCM 221 test, but I was supposed to go to Lagos for my ophthalmologist appointment. I explained to the lecturer and he said there was nothing he could do and there would be no make up. I went to Lagos as planned, and on the day before the test, I set out for Ilorin in a perilous journey. Due to a combination of mechanical issues and traffic, I only arrived in Ilorin on the morning of the day of the test. The test eventually did not hold. I had gone through all that stress for nothing, but as always, we moved.

For me, my first semester exams went really quietly until the very end. We had gone for our GNS exam and were left with just one paper, BCM 221. Me and my guys decided to pool money together and cook soup. We had yam flour and semovita already, so we contributed money to get pepper, meat, vegetables and other stuff from the market. I cooked the food on the evening before the exam, and myself, Musdhaliph, Mahmud and Ridwan, Mahmud's roommate ate Semovita and Egusi soup. When the last 2 members of our group, Toyeeb and Slimmy arrived, they made Amala and ate. Mahmud ate from their amala as well. We had an exam by 8:30 the next morning so we decided to go to school and prepare for the exam. Mahmud couldn't make it as he had slept off after loading himself, and he only woke up few hours to the exam. I remember seeing him after the exam and he said "Guy na God no go make me fail this exam, I no Sabi anything". He ended up passing the course, regardless.

During my second semester exams, I had a close shave with wahala. It was ANA 206, a course that had claimed so many scalps in the previous session. I had gone to school with Mahmud and Musdhaliph to prepare for the exam, as usual. We remained in school till after we observed our Fajr Solat and day broke. As we headed home, it started raining and the rain beat us till we got home. On getting home, myself and my roommate decided to sleep for a bit, thinking(or rather hoping) that the rain would not subside soon and the exam would get postponed because we were so tired. The exam was scheduled for 8:30. A few minutes later(according to my mental clock), I heard someone scream from my window and looked out, it was Mahmud who had just finished having his bath and was dressing up who had come to check if we were almost ready so we could leave together for the exam. He was surprised to find us both fully in bed, tucked in. Apparently, the rain was only a slight drizzle, and had stopped almost as soon as it started. I checked the time and it was past 8, I quickly woke Musdhaliph up and we rushed through our preparations and only made it to school in time for the exam by sheer luck, owing to the fact that the students who were to take the exams were too much and a lot of rearranging was going on.

END OF SESSION

By July, I completed my second semester exams and had become very acquainted with life in the college. By the time me and my friends separated, I knew that life was about to get a lot more interesting in the next session, and I was not wrong.

AFCON 2022; THE SUPER EAGLES TAKE FLIGHT AGAIN

    Following a marginally successful third-placed finish at the 2019 African Cup of Nations in Egypt, the Super Eagles of Nigeria resume their quest to qualify for the 2022 edition of the biennial showpiece in Group L with a double header against the Lone Stars of Sierra Leone. Before the global hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Super Eagles last faced the Crocodiles of Lesotho in Matchday 2 of the qualifiers at the Setsoto Stadium in Maseru on November 17 2019 and triumphed 4-2 with Napoli star, Victor Osimhen starring with 2 goals and 2 assists. The Super Eagles had previously overcome next-door neighbours, the Squirrels of Benin Republic by a score line of 2-1 in the group’s opener on November 13 2019 at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.

    On paper, the illustrious names on the squad list of the Super Eagles should break no sweat in dispatching their less-heralded neighbours, but experience has shown us time and again that there are no pushovers in football. Twenty-four players were invited to do justice to the fixtures, with another 7 players placed on the standby list. The first match is billed to take place at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City on November 13, and the second is scheduled for November 17 at the Siaka Stevens Stadium in Freetown. 

    The list released by the Coach, Gernot Rohr, sees the return of several players who missed the friendlies in October such as goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi, midfielders Joe Aribo and Oghenekaro Etebo, and strikers Victor Osimhen and Emmanuel Bonaventure. There’s also a first call-up for 26-year-old Swiss-born shot-stopper, Sebastian Osigwe who plays his club football at Lugano FC in the Swiss First Division. FC Porto left-back, Zaidu Sanusi and FC Midtjylland midfielder, Frank Onyeka, both freshly-armed with UEFA Champions League experience have retained their spots, as have TSG Hoffenheim defender, Kevin Akpoguma, and CSKA Moscow winger, Chidera Ejuke. There is also a return of APOEL FC goaltender, Francis Uzoho to the squad, albeit in a standby capacity following his recovery from a knee injury that kept him sidelined for 10 months. Bordeaux winger, Samuel Kalu was surprisingly excluded from the roster, as was KRC Genk striker, Cyriel Dessers. Leicester City ace, Wilfred Ndidi remains absent as he continues to recover from an abductor injury. 

The squad list in full;

Goalkeepers: Maduka Okoye (Sparta Rotterdam, Netherlands); Daniel Akpeyi (Kaizer Chiefs, South Africa); Sebastian Osigwe (Lugano FC, Switzerland).

Defenders: William Troost-Ekong (Watford FC, England); Kenneth Omeruo (CD Leganes, Spain); Leon Balogun (Rangers FC, Scotland); Semi Ajayi (West Brom, England); Chidozie Awaziem (Boavista, Portugal); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal); Ola Aina (Fulham FC, England); Jamilu Collins (SC Paderborn 07, Germany); Kevin Akpoguma (TSG Hoffenheim, Germany); Tyronne Ebuehi (FC Twente, Netherlands)

Midfielders: Oghenekaro Etebo (Galatasaray, Turkey); Joe Aribo (Rangers FC, Scotland); Frank Onyeka (FC Midtjylland, Denmark).

Forwards: Ahmed Musa (Unattached); Alex Iwobi (Everton FC, England); Emmanuel Bonaventure (Club Brugge, Belgium); Victor Osimhen (SSC Napoli, Italy); Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City, England); Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal CF, Spain); Chidera Ejuke (CSKA Moscow, Russia); Paul Onuachu (KRC Genk, Belgium). 

Standby: Kelechi Nwakali (SD Huesca, Spain); Francis Uzoho (APOEL FC, Cyprus); Samson Tijani (TSV Hartberg, Austria); Abdullahi Shehu (Omonia Nicosia, Cyprus); Ramon Azeez (Granada CF, Spain); Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Katsina United, Nigeria).

    It looks set to be a good and winnable pair of games for the Super Eagles, as the players invited are in good form for their various clubs this season, giving Coach Rohr a positive selection headache. The invited players are expected to report to the camp after their clubs’ fixtures on the 7th and 8th of November. Concerns have been raised from various quarters about the lack of numbers in the midfield, with only 3 primary midfielders getting called up. It is important to note however, that Coach Rohr has opted to play West Brom man, Semi Ajayi, in midfield on a number of occasions in the past. A number of fans on Twitter were of the opinion that the coach should have opted for a lighter defence in favour of bolstering the midfield ranks with the addition of former Arsenal starlet, Kelechi Nwakali, now finally finding his feet in the Spanish topflight with SD Huesca, and Granada CF enforcer, Ramon Azeez. It was postulated that the addition of both men would add some steel to the midfield while Ndidi remains away.

    Following the release of the roster, a number of uncertainties have popped up from among the squad. First, FC Nantes man, Moses Simon, who was originally listed in the 24-man squad pulled out from the squad due to injury. He has since been replaced by Paul Onuachu, who was initially on the standby list. In the past week, first-timer, Sebastian Osigwe tested positive for the Corona virus and it remains to be seen whether he recovers in time to join up with the squad. Experienced defender, Kenneth Omeruo also picked up a hamstring injury while he represented CD Leganes in a league match, and it remains to be seen who gets drafted from the standby list as his replacement.  

    The Super Eagles are expected to get the job done comfortably and pick up maximum points from the two games as they aim to achieve successive AFCON appearances for the first time since qualifying for the 2008 and 2010 editions consecutively. It has been a long wait, and Nigerians hope this time around, the jinx gets broken.