Exclusive Reports! Human Rights Scandal in America Brews Ahead Of The FIFA World Cup
https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/canadamexicousa2026
Expert Analysis Austin Owen Eguavoen, who once co-captained the Super Eagles with late Stephen Keshi, flies in from Brussels to Prepare the Team for Crucial Encounters, Former Nestle FC and USF Don and Greek-Americans FC Coach Godwin Odiye Says He Is Ready To Serve as An Assistant, Flying Eagles star and now Atlanta-based Philanthropist and Tech Guru Paul Okoku Says “We can not afford not to be at the next WC on my home turf.” And a debonaire Westerhof hexadecimal Jinx? — transfer point for Human Remains and lab refried Blood transported across borders in backpacks in 2016
Dixon, CA — Next to the US Open Tournament at Flushing Meadows, one of the top August-September headlines across the globe was about the appointment of Bruno Labbadia to assume the helm of the Super Eagles midway into the qualifications for the next FIFA WC On North American Shores set for kick off at the Azteca Stadium.
https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/canadamexicousa2026
https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/1be9ce37eb98fcc5/original/FWC26-Match-Schedule_English.pdf
But before the ink evaporated on paper the German who had once starred with Jay Jay Okocha at Eintracht Frankfurt about-faced on the job over Internal Revenue Matters and demand that the NFF redirect 32% to 40% tax of his salary to the administration of President Frank-Walter Steinmeier ahead of upcoming matches in Uyo on September 7 and three days later in Kigali, Rwanda.
NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau explained, “We were doing our best to be flexible in the discussions, but he was adamant that the NFF had to pay the full tax amount as well. We simply cannot do that.”
Now Benin born Eguavoen will return to a job he was fired from last year in his fourth stint at the helm. He previously served Nigeria as coach from 2005 to 2007, in 2010, and in 2022.
https://www.instagram.com/austineguavoen/p/
On the day of Labbadia’s appointment and exactly three decades after we both helped Keshi get treatment for his Knee Injury with the 49ers Team Doctor just before the 1994 World Cup i contacted Odiye to weigh in on the German’s appointment.
Godwin Odiye, who played for the Green Eagles at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal and at the 1980 AFCON Tournament was pessimistic about the Eagles chances of qualification when I contacted him about the Labbadia appointment.
“We will not qualify. We don’t have a good team yet. What is this? I don’t know him. I couldn’t sleep when I heard the announcement” he said of the German Coach Labbadia.
When I called him a few days later he was still cautiously pessimistic. “Maybe the replacement should work on team chemistry and use that to his advantage” said the former Greek American Coach. Odiye who starred for the University of San Francisco Soccer under one of the most decorated NCAA Soccer Coaches Steve Negoesco talked more about a long term plan for the Super Eagles where he could serve as an assistant. He was on that team with my nephew Mark Markbee, eldest son of Minnesota Viking Earsell Mackbee. His late sister Melanie Was a hip-hop dancer for Mill Valley based Todd Rungren. The USF Dons outstanding NCAA Performance with Odiye and Mark Mackbee in the squad was the reason for this Sports Illustrated exclusive. https://vault.si.com/vault/1978/12/18/they-flunked-foreign-affairs-home-grown-and-rated-no-1-indiana-took-a-2-0-lesson-from-san-franciscos-outlanders-in-the-ncaa-soccer-final-the-odd-thing-was-the-way-the-dons-won-the-title-by-taking-over-the-hoosiers-game-and-beat
‘I am scarred of Nigeria with its high level of insecurity. However I am willing to sacrifice if they guarantee hotel safety,” he told this reporter after Austin Owen Eguavoen’s announcement.
His vision includes working with the local players during off qualifications for AFCON and WC qualifiers as a feeder program. “The key to the revival of the National team is to find a good balance between the local players and UEFA players,” said Odiye who paid his way to join the Super Eagles at their 1994 World Cup Camp In Holland. He left the camp on the eve of a friendly in Europe. “I left in the wee hours of the night to Schipol and flew back to San Francisco. Of course Clemens Westerhof was not happy about it because he valued my leadership skills in camp,” he told this reporter.
He said on arrival for the WC where the Eagles reached the Q-final he explained to Westerhof that his groin injury took a month to heal and it would have been a waste of everybody’s time to be in camp.
Interestingly it was the debonaire Westerhof (Now a Nigerian-holland Citizen) who told me soon after his appointment in 1989 and at our interview in a Hotel in Benin (I was the first Sports reporter to interview him in Edo State) that Stephen Keshi would be Nigeria’s best local Coach which he proved at the AFCON Tournament in South Africa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clemens_Westerhof https://x.com/BenjaminEdokpa1/status/1644341971526516736
https://youtu.be/nuC7R9WXNWM?si=jBv8TTMsyrfDhe8Q
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https://x.com/BenjaminEdokpa1/status/1644552095935389698
Eguavoen who was on that ’89 team is now back at the helm for AFCON and WC Qualifiers.
“ We can not afford not to be at the next World Cup on My Home Turf,”said Paul Okoku, Huntsville A&M Alabama graduate and Former Super Eagles midfielder. Father. Philanthropist. Founder of Greater Tomorrow Children’s Fund.who starred on the Team that won the AFCON tournament in 1983.
Okoku was a bit optimistic about Eguavoen in charge of the Super eagles. “In football there is never a right time for a coach. The coach needs to focus on team chemistry. These players are professionals. The coach needs to work on game plan and tactics because basics like ball control is already perfected with their teams. “At this point everything is down to good leadership. I am an advocate for risks and gamble in football. There is never a right or wrong time to change coaches. The new coach has to focus on team chemistry,” Said Okoku who credits former Newswatch Staffer Mark Oganga as the journalist who reported his breakthrough from Saint Finbarrs to the national team.
Okoku’s career highlight was in 1983 when he transitioned from being vice captain of the Flying Eagles to an appearance with the Green Eagles.
On that Flying Eagles squad with Okoku were Humphrey Edobor, Chibuzo Ehilegbu, Dahiru Sadi, Dehinde Akinlotan considered the best midfield formation for the Nigerian team. They were so good that after the Eagles faced elimination from the ’83 AFCON tourney, these four players in addition to defender Yisa Sofoluwe and striker Tarila Okoronwata and goalie Raymond King (Unrelated to Richmond Cabbie raymond Babatunde who died in 1996) were immediately invited to join the Senior National Team at their DUGbe Ibadan camp under coaches Paul Hamilton and Chris Udemezue.
Udemezue and Hamilton were on the coaching staff of the Under 20 Team that played at the 1985 FIFA Under 20 Team in the former Soviet Union. https://x.com/BenjaminEdokpa1/status/1644082247098847238 The goalie for that squad in Russia was Christian Obi who died in a Bus Crash last month.
In an important recall of that 1983 do or die encounter with the Atlas Lions Okoku recalls how after a drawn game and heroics of Morroco’s famous forward Merry Krimau, how the Eagles won on Penalties with goalie Peter Rufai as the hero. https://medium.com/@benedokpayi/africas-best-sports-broadcaster-ernest-okonkwo-who-blessed-footballers-with-labels-such-as-slow-75626a3d8ad3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdelkrim_Merry
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Footnotes.
A Resplendent Tree near the Starbucks location Welcomes Travelers at the Schiphol Amsterdam Airport on the eve of a recent Christmas. As part of their leadership program Kiwanis all over the world assist with the setup of Christmas Decorations at public places in collaboration with government organizations. https://www.instagram.com/p/ClhUIzWI1bA/ https://k03882.site.kiwanis.org/contact/ https://kiwanis.nl/ https://www.kiwanis.eu/ Schipol Picture By Ben Edokpayi.
https://medium.com/@benpayi/city-hall-bank-rolls-kiwanis-festival-of-trees-with-2500-a5af7ba32b7e
