Mourinho plays down Gunners clash

Jose Mourinho has played down the significance of Sunday’s clash with Arsenal in the Community Shield showpiece at Wembley but a chance to strike an early blow against old adversary Arsene Wenger will prove irresistible.

The traditional curtain-raiser for the new English season sees Mourinho’s Premier League champions take on FA Cup winners Arsenal and it should offer plenty of clues as to what awaits both clubs over the next nine months.

Wenger, who signed Chelsea’s stalwart goalkeeper Petr Cech in the summer, believes his squad is now as strong as the 2003-04 Invincibles, who went through the season undefeated to claim Arsenal’s last Premier League title.

On paper, at least, Arsenal look well-equipped to challenge Chelsea come next May, but the sooner he ends a dismal record against Mourinho’s teams the better.

Sunday’s clash will be the 14th time Wenger and Mourinho have locked horns in opposing dugouts and Wenger is still waiting to get one over the Portuguese.

“I think I would ask myself: Why?” Mourinho, who could start with Radamel Falcao leading the line, said in the build-up when conversation turned to his domination of Wenger.

“I would try to answer, not because of a mental block but because I want to find solutions to help my team do it — try to find a different way, try to find the reasons why it goes all the time against my team.”

As barbed comments go, this one was fairly harmless from a man who once dubbed Wenger ‘a specialist in failure’.

Nigerians rally support for U-23 team against Congo

Coach of the U-23 team, Samson Siasia

Nigerians based in Congo have intensified support for the U-23 national team ahead of their 2015 African U-23 Championship second leg final qualifying match scheduled for the Stade du Municipal, Pointe-Noire, on Sunday.

Nigeria won the first leg in Port Harcourt 2-1 but Congo need only a 1-0 win to advance to the 2015 CAF U-23 Championship in Senegal, which will serve as a qualifier for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

However, Nigerians based in Pointe Noire have rallied behind the team to ensure that they come out of the game unscathed.

The Nigerian delegation, led by the Chairman of the Nigeria Football Federation Technical and Development Committee, Felix Anyansi-Agwu, was received by the Consul-General of the Nigerian Embassy, Brazzaville, Mr. Adamu Hamza, who was accompanied by Mr. Adebayo Iyaomiye and the President of the Nigeria Community in Pointe-Noire, Mr. Ezenwabasili Egbuna on Friday.

Members of the Nigerian community in Congo wearing T-shirts with the inscription ‘Nigeria’s U-23 Dream Team, Pride of Africa’ were on hand in large numbers to welcome the Nigerian team, who landed at the Augustino Nero International Airport, Pointe-Noire, at about 12.25pm local time board an Ethiopian Airline flight.

Immediately on arrival, the delegation, with the assistance of the Embassy officials, took the team to Hotel De Fez, where they were accommodated. The team had their first training at 5pm on Friday.

The game, earlier scheduled for 3pm, has been shifted to 3.30pm.

Team coach, Samson Siasia, said they would face a stiff opposition against the hosts but is optimistic they will get the right result from the crucial tie.

“It will not be easy; nothing good comes easy. But we will give it our very best shot and return from Pointe-Noire with victory,” he said.

But Congo coach Claude Le Roy is banking on the artificial turf in Pointe Noire to achieve victory over the Nigerians.

The Frenchman has had successful spells coaching in Africa but he hasn’t led any team to the Olympics.

“We were lucky to only lose 2-1 in Nigeria. But it is going to be far more difficult for Nigeria on an artificial pitch in Pointe-Noire,” the 67-year-old told BBC.

The other final qualifiers are Zambia versus Ivory Coast, South Africa versus Zimbabwe and Tunisia versus Morocco. Egypt and Mali also have ties against Uganda and Gabon respectively.