Mohammed Elneny: To Join Arsenal in Coming days

Mohammed Elneny

Swiss champions Basel have confirmed through its website that Egyptian midfielder Mohammed Elneny missed training on Tuesday because of his imminent transfer to Arsenal which they expect to happen in the coming days.

The English media have been awashed with reports linking the 23 year old to the Emirates in the last couple of weeks, and with Basel all but confirming the transfer, it could go through before the weekend.

Arsene Wenger has been his usual cryptic self when asked about the club's transfer plans for this January, the usual line of nothing to confirm yet has been what he has told the media when pressed on transfers.

The transfer fee of Elneny is reported to be in the region of £7.5million, the midfielder has 40 international caps for the Egyptian Pharaoh’s national team since he made his debut in 2011. He has over a 100 appearances for Basel, and boasts three Swiss league titles since joining over three years ago.

The 23 year old's 5ft 10in midfielder is not new to English teams, in the last couple of seasons, he featured prominently in the Basel team that defeated Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham in the Champions League and Europa league respectively.

A player that is blessed with technical ability and a wide range of passing that has endeared him to fans of the Swiss champions. He is more a deep lying play maker than an archetypal defensive midfielder.

His signing would serve as a boost for Arsenal's title push as the North Londoners are short of numbers in midfield following the injuries to Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla in November. Although the former has started running, while the latter is expected back in February according to Arsene Wenger, while Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky have returned to training.

Mohammed Elneny is a breed between Aaron Ramsey and Mikel Arteta because of his running and passing ability.

Zidane replaces Benitez as Real Madrid manager

  

Real Madrid have this Monday sacked Rafael Benitez after just six months in charge. Speculation have been rife for months now that he would not last the first year of his three year contract, following the 2-2 draw with Valencia on Sunday where they led twice, the club scheduled a press conference Monday evening, where his dismissal was announced.

The former Liverpool, Inter, Valencia and Napoli manager's appointment was never a popular one amongst the Madrid fans and some players. He was reported to have ostracised James Rodriguez and Isco from the squad, as they did not feature regularly while his stay lasted.

Despite starting his stint at Madrid with several unbeaten games, he was accused by the fans and media of being too defensive, but he had the positive of being unbeaten and sturdy at the back as his strong points. However, the 4-0 defeat to Barcelona in the first el-Classico of the season at the Santiago Bernabeu did not help his cause, and this further increased the pressure on him, with fans booing his name at the beginning of matches in Madrid anytime it was announced.

Just last week, he accused the media of  targeting him and the club, but in the end the fans ultimately got their way as he has now being shown the way out of the club.

It is another of several managers that Florentino Perez has sacked over the years as president of the club, many had argued that Rafael Benitez was not an improvement on Carlo Ancelotti judging by his style and tactics, little wonder he has lasted just six months at the helm.

He leaves Real Madrid just four points behind league leaders, Atletico Madrid.

With Zidane as the new manager having been promoted from the B team of the club, it remains to be seen whether Florentino Perez got ride of Benitez to assuage the fans, or whether it was a purely sporting decision.

In the end, it is a premature end for yet another manager at the Santiago Bernabeu, with coaches like Fabio Capello, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and now Benitez being coaching casualties at the club.

Can Chelsea still make top Four?

Chelsea's display in the 3-0 win over Crystal Palace must have left many of its fans scratching their head as to why the team never produced such football when Jose Mourinho was still at the club. Though Alan Pardew's team was missing key players like Bolasie, Bakary Kone and Yohan Cabaye, it was still a complete performance by the team from West London. Despite the toxic atmosphere that was ripe at the club when the Portuguese was still at the helm, it was only Willian that stood out from the rest. Since Mourinho’s departure, Diego Costa now has three goals in two league matches whereas it was just one goal in 12 matches prior to that, Oscar has suddenly rediscovered his mojo back, and Cesc Fabregas now remembers how to play through balls and key passes.

Now that the relics of Mourinho’s era is gradually fading away, the damage done still remains, one of which is the position the league's defending champions finds itself.

It is still languishing in 14th position with 23 points after the 3-0 win over Crystal Palace, and more importantly 13 points behind fourth place Tottenham Hotspur.

The statistics reads two wins and two draws in the league since Mourinho was sacked, and Guus Hiddink has superintended over three of those matches.

Although they were on the back foot more most of the match against Manchester United, they still had at least two big chances to clinch all three points against Van Gaal's side.

Over the last couple of seasons, the top four race has been restricted to no more than two clubs, Arsenal have had to fight off Tottenham Hotspur several times, including clinching it over their North London rivals on three occasions on the last day of the season. In 2006, (win over Wigan 4-2, while Tottenham lost 2-1 at West Ham) 2012 (win over West Brom 3-2, while Tottenham overcame Aston Villa 2-0) and in 2013 (win over Newcastle United 1-0, while Tottenham defeated Sunderland 1-0) On these occasions it was the last day of the season, but of more significance, it was a battle between two clubs, there have been the odd battle for a fourth place finish between Everton and Liverpool in 2005, and Everton and Arsenal in 2014.

However, what makes this season intriguing is that there are as many as four to five clubs in the race to finish in the top four. Tottenham Hotspur currently occupies the last champions league spot. While Manchester United are in fifth position. While the likes of Crystal Palace, West Ham and Liverpool are currently closer to the fourth position than Chelsea.

Chelsea will have to make up 13 points over current fourth place team Tottenham, which is four matches, then there is Manchester United who are 5th, but 10 points over Chelsea.

First Eight after 20 matches

1. Arsenal-----------42pts

2. Leicester----------40pts

3. Man City-----------39pts

4. Spurs---------------36pts

5. Man Utd------------33pts

6. West Ham----------32pts

7. C.Palace------------31pts

8. Liverpool-----------30pts

---------------------------------

14. Chelsea------------23pts

There are 18 league matches left for every team. With the inconsistent nature of the league this season, any team is capable of putting a long run of consecutive wins together to prop up the table. Yet for Chelsea, it is not whether they can put a run of wins together, which they are certainly capable off judging by the quality of the players at their disposal, but it is the number of teams that they have to overcome to the current top four position.

Manchester United in spite of their bad spell in the last two months, are still 10 points over Chelsea in 5th place, while Tottenham Hotspur have been consistent all season with just two defeats in the league, they are a team that are hard to beat.

However, even with the permutations; the possibility of finishing in the top four is a task Guus Hiddink believes is still achievable after the win over Crystal Palace.

It will take more than just positive talk though to rewrite the wrongs of this season, the road to redemption might not include a top four finish after all, but the time between now and May will tell. 

Martial Marches Manchester United On

Manchester United returned to winning ways after nine matches following a hard fought win over Swansea at Old Trafford.

Louis van Gaal's side hold their victory to summer signing Martial as he once again scored and assisted Wayne Rooney to get the all important winner.

It was the Red Devils first win since November after what has been a chastising period for the under pressure Louis van Gaal.

Although the performance would not be up there with those served up at the Theatre of Dreams over the years, the win was all that matters for Manchester United.

They started the match very slowly, a start that was in sharp contrast to the verve they showed in the opening 45 minutes against Chelsea on Monday. Instead there was a return to the now popular snooze feast that has become customary from Van Gaal's side this season.

But the second half served up more excitement than Manchester United last five matches at home.

It was Martial that rose to the occasion as he has done several times this season when he opened the scoring. The question of where Manchester United would be without the young French striker is very apt. He has been the only bright spark in attack in what has been an uneventful season so far for the English giants.

However, the joy of that goal was short lived as Swansea's midfielder, Sigurdsson got the equaliser. Memories of the comeback win over Manchester United by the same opponents in August must have flashed the minds of the fans at Old Trafford, as the Welsh side stood toe-to-toe with their more illustrious host.

The Welsh side who are still without a substantive manager was buoyed by the equaliser. Yet, Martial had other ideas, when he set up Wayne Rooney for the winner 13 minutes from time. The Captain still had work to do when he got the ball, as it was behind him, but he had the awareness to flick the ball into the net, to show his critics that he still possess the class to lead Manchester United after a largely disappointing spell in front of goal for the Three Lions record goal scorer.

Louis van Gaal still had to endure some nervous moments as Swansea came close to getting an equaliser after goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski's header went just wide off the post following a frantic closing minutes of the match.

Pressure easing on Van Gaal

If the English tabloids were the only barometer of measuring truth, the former Dutch manager should have been long gone. He was under enormous pressure a couple of weeks ago, and there was intense speculation that he would be sacked if he failed to win against Stoke City, he walked out of his pre match press conference before the Stoke match demanding an apology from the assembled media for the claims that he had lost his job, despite the defeat to Stoke, it is now four points from a possible six for Manchester United, and Van Gaal would be hoping for a run of results that would fetch more wins in the coming weeks as that is what would keep the fans on side after a difficult last two months.

Cech's Gloves saves Arsenal's Lethargy

“He made two big saves, one in the first half and one in the second half and on top of that he gives calm dynamics. Today we needed that”

-Arsene Wenger on Petr Cech

Arsenal had Petr Cech to thank as they claimed a gritty win over Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. Arsene Wenger made three changes to the line up that got the maximum points against Bournemouth on Monday with Mathieu Flamini, Nacho Monreal and Laurent Koscielny coming in for Calum Chambers, Gabriel and Kieran Gibbs respectively.

The Premier League leaders whose lead over Leicester is now two points started brightly in the soggy conditions in North London with Hector Bellerin getting in some crosses from the right, but none of the players could connect with it, as Oxlade Chamberlain missed early on.

It was as good as it got for Arsenal after that as the Magpies seized the initiative at the Emirates with Dutch international Wijnaldum forcing a save from Petr Cech midway into the first half, the Czech goalkeeper also kept out Perez follow up on the shot.

Arsenal’s struggles was typified by the displays of Oxlade Chamberlain and Theo Walcott who were largely anonymous for most of the game with both players accounting for just 33% and 36% of successful duels while they lasted on the pitch. McClaren’s side carried the greater threat throughout the match as Arsenal huffed and puffed with Jack Colback, Janmaat and Sissoko all impressing for Newcastle United.

With a largely lethargic first half, those of Arsenal persuasion would have hoped for an improved second half, instead it was Newcastle United that started on the front foot with Wijnaldum forcing another excellent save from Petr Cech after he ran through on goal.

The display by the gunners was reminiscent of what they served up against Southampton on Boxing Day; the only difference was that the match stayed goalless, before Laurent Koscielny scored the winner in the 72 minute off a Giroud header after a corner from Mesut Ozil.
Newcastle United had six shots on target and 15 attempts on goal, in contrast to Arsenal's three shots on target and a lesser attempt on goal after full time.

Aaron Ramsey could have added gloss to the score line late on, but he contrived to shot wide with just the keeper to beat.

In the end, it was the saves made by Arsenal’s only signing of the season that gave them the maximum points, and not for the first time this season.

Why the Team Needs Help

Although Arsenal are top of the league, their soft under belly was still obvious on Saturday. But for Petr Cech who is a veteran of four Premier League titles during his time at Chelsea, it would have been a case of the same old Arsenal.

The inability of Arsene Wenger to rotate his squad has not been helped by the now seasonal injury crisis that has ravaged the club. That he has prosecuted the matches played in December and today’s match with just about 14 players with about eleven of those playing throughout against Sunderland, Olympiakos, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Southampton, Bournemouth and Newcastle United shows why some of the players were leggy today after a grueling festive football programme.

The January transfer window would come in handy for Arsenal as Wenger cannot continue to call on the same players for every fixture. As such is a recipe for further breakdown and injuries from players. It is no surprise that the club is close to finalising a deal of £7 million for Egyptian midfielder Mohammed Elneny.

With the likes of Danny Welbeck, Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky and Francis Coquelin not expected back until at least February, a body or two from the transfer window could be important to the club’s title push. Alexis Sanchez returns from his injury lay off next week would also serve as a welcome boost for Wenger.

For now Arsenal can celebrate being on top of the league for another week. Next up is the FA Cup third round match against Sunderland at the Emirates, before the tasty league match up against Liverpool at Anfield in eleven days time.

Review: 2015 through the Lens of Football

The year comes to an end in few hours, and for many there have been different chapters to an eventful year, but in football circles, there were moments of Houdini, others of exult as well as despair. They were near misses, and copious moments that left fans drooling for the beauty and ecstasy football can bring to the sub conscious. To cap up the year Away Fans takes a look at how the year panned out from the lens of football.

* Nigeria

The year started with the realisation that the Super Eagles will not be at the Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea, a tournament that passed on successfully after Morocco pulled out of hosting it due to the Ebola epidemic that ravaged Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

But in spite of the Super Eagles failure to qualify, Stephen Keshi still managed to hold on to his job, even if initially he was on a last chance saloon. Eventually, the Amaju Pinnick led Football House gave him a two year contract. But it was one he barely saw out. After the 2-0 win over Chad at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna in a 2017 Afcon qualifier in March, the NFF dismissed Keshi just less than two months into his new contract after facts emerged that he applied for the Ivorian coaching job despite being in the books of the NFF. The football house saw it as a lack of commitment and he was shown the door.

Sunday Oliseh came into the saddle with mixed results. His baptism of fire in Dar's Salaam where he played Lukman Haruna after his years in the wilderness against Tanzania, before realising after 30 minutes that the 2007 Golden Eaglet captain was a shadow of the player he once was. That the Super Eagles escaped with a goalless draw hold much to the display of Carl Ikeme who made his debut between the sticks.

Subsequent goalless draw with Swaziland in a World Cup qualifier spiced up with wins over the same opponent and wins in friendly matches over Cameroon (3-0) and Niger (2-0) and defeat to Congo DRC (2-0) was the highlight of the Super Eagles on the field. However, the retirement of Vincent Enyeama after 102 caps and Emmanuel Emenike was also a key highlight.

They ended the year in 65th position in the FIFA rankings.

Other significant moments included the Golden Eaglet retaining the World Cup in Chile, and the U23 team winning the African Championships to qualify for the Rio Olympics. The Flying Eagles had their wings clipped in New Zealand as the likes of Kelechi Iheanacho and Isaac Success could not replicate their form at that level.

On the club scene, Enyimba FC of Aba clinched their 7th league title under Kadiri Ikhana, while Akwa United won its first ever trophy with the Federation Cup.

However, Kano Pillars, Enyimba, Warri Wolves and Dolphins all failed to make the groups stages of the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup respectively.

 * European Leagues

English Premier League

The year started with Chelsea and Manchester City tied on the same points and goal differential. But that was the closest both teams got to each other for the 2014/2015 season as the West London outfit rode to their fourth Premier League title with three games to spare. It was Jose Mourinho's third league title with Chelsea. And his team also won the League Cup in February. Arsenal ended that season with their second consecutive FA Cup after a 4-0 win over Aston Villa at Wembley in May.

The gunners became the most successful side in English FA Cup history with their 12th triumph.

However, the second part of 2015 has seen mixed fortunes for both clubs.

First Petr Cech joined Arsenal for £10 million after eleven successful seasons with Chelsea. The Czech international helped Arsenal to a 1-0 win in the Community Shield in August. And that defeat set the tune for a disappointing first half of the 2015/2016 season for Chelsea. Jose Mourinho's side lost nine Premier League matches from their first 16 matches.

The last straw was the defeat to Leicester City. After which he was sacked. It was a strange year for Chelsea. With players such as Eden Hazard, Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas, Branisav Ivanovic, Oscar and others suddenly turn to chumps after being champions few months earlier.

Guus Hiddink came into the frame. But the league champions remain close to the relegation zone than the top four.

The surprise package of the year has been Leicester City. Bottom of the table last Christmas, they were top of the table on Christmas day 2015. Despite playing Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool and Manchester City in December, they remain joined top going into the New Year.

It has been a topsy-turvy first half of the season in the English Premier League. With no team so far laying claim to a consistent title push. However, Arsenal ends the year on top on goal difference.

La Liga

It was the MSN show in Spain. With Messi, Suarez and Neymar shooting Barcelona to five trophies in the 2015 calendar year. The Catalans won their second treble in six years after a 3-1 win over Juventus in the Champions League final in Berlin in June. Luis Enrique's side ended 2015 top of La Liga, and they won the World Club title for a record third time in December.

Real Madrid started 2015 at the top of La Liga, but defeat to Valencia in their first league match in January derailed their momentum and they failed to win a major trophy. The trigger happy Florentino Perez fired Carlo Ancelotti, just a year after he won the la decimal, despite the Italian's huge support amongst fans and players. His replacement, Rafael Benitez has not been a popular choice with the Madrid faithful, with the Spaniard repeatedly booed by the fans.

* Bundesliga

The major highlight in Germany was Pep Guardolia announcing in December that he would be leaving Bavaria when his contract expires. He will be replaced by Carlo Ancelotti .The Catalan has built Bayern Munich into a possession juggernaut in the German league. Their dominance have seen the team record back-to-back bundesliga titles, and a third could be on the way.

Wolfsburg did win the German Cup in May, their first ever triumph, and the Volkswagen outfit had the best player in the bundesliga last season in Kevin De Bruyne. Who joined Manchester City last summer.

However, consecutive disappointments in the semi finals of the Champions League against Spanish giants Real Madrid (5-0) on aggregate and Barcelona (5-3) on aggregate have been a stain in Pep's books. It remains to be seen whether he can go one better in his last season in Bavaria. And yet again they sit top of the league as winter champion’s seven points ahead of closest rivals Borussia Dortmund.

Seria A

The Old Lady Juventus won their fourth straight league title without breaking much sweat. Despite the departure of Antonio Conte, they went one better by winning the domestic double in Italy with inspiring performances from Carlos Tevez, Paul Pogba and Arturo Vidal. They could have won an historic treble, but for Lionel Messi's inspired Barcelona. Massimilliano Allegri had a wonderful first season as manager at the Juventus Stadium.

Although they started the 2015/2016 season slowly following the departures of Vidal, Tevez and Pirlo, but as new signings have settled in, they have shot up the table, with just three points from the top.

Champions League

Barcelona won their fourth title in nine years and their fifth in total after a 3-1 win over Juventus in Berlin in the 2014/2015 season.

The return of Manchester United to the Champions League this season after a year's absence was well received. But this was short lived after a disappointing group stage campaign where they lost 3-2 in match day six to Wolfsburg to crash out. They will now play in the Europa League.

Arsenal however showed an unlikely escape when they overcame Olympiacos 3-0 in Athens to qualify for the last 16 after being bottom of the group after four matches.

Real Madrid's 8-0 victory over Malmo equaled the biggest score line in the group stages.

 * FIFA

The year 2015 will not be complete in football terms without referring to what transpired in the world football governing body. The revelations of corrupt practices, and the subsequent arrest and detention of FIFA Executives in their hotel in Zurich during the FIFA congress in June was something nobody envisaged.

The United States Justice department and FBI took the lead in these revelations that led to these arrests, and since then FIFA's Ethics Committee have banned Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini for seven years from football. The first quarter of the coming year will see a new FIFA president elected.

Its being a great year in footballing terms, as the saying goes, more and better of the same in the coming year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Nomadic Stadium Movement makes for inconsistent Eagles

Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna ( Photo:panoramio.com)

There are many factors that have affected Nigerian football in respect of how the national team has fared in recent times. While the obvious maladministration has been talked about more times than many can remember as well as the inconsistency in player selections. No doubt the quality on offer in terms of the players available to the national team selectors leaves much to be desired. little wonder Sunday Oliseh has struggled in his bizarre experiments in the three competitive matches he has superintended over as the team's coach.

However there has been a particular side that few have dwelled on as to why the country's national team has remained like a wave of the sea that goes up and down.

This issue lies in the way the venue of matches is chosen. The lack of a particular venue that is known to all has made for some measure of inconsistent displays by the Super Eagles. What is prevalent now is that there have been different stadia that Nigeria have had to play on, which most times denies the players the familiarity they would have enjoyed in playing in just one stadium that would serve as really a 'home stadium' for the players.

During the great years of Clement Westerhof as coach of the Super Eagles, virtually all the competitive matches during his five year stint at the helm were played at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos. The country's qualification for it first World Cup in the USA was built on a solid home performance in Lagos when consecutive 4-1 victories over Algeria and Ivory Coast went a long way in qualifying Nigeria for that tournament. The spectators in Lagos had a way of driving a team home to victory.

The same was replicated for much of the qualifiers for France 98 as Philippe Troussie successfully guided Nigeria to qualification while matches remained in Lagos.

The qualifiers for the Olympics in 1996 were also played in Lagos. The 0-0 draw and 3-2 victories over Kenya and Egypt came at the National Stadium.

The last time the Super Eagles enjoyed a sustained run in front of Lagos fans was during the 2000 African Cup of Nations when they played all their matches there, but lost the finals to Cameroon under the guidance of Bonfere Jo.

After the inconsistent start to qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup following losses to Sierra Leone in Freetown, Shiabu Amodu came into the saddle, but of more significance, the country's last round of matches were played at the Liberation Stadium in Port Harcourt, thereby setting a trend of moving matches out of Nigeria's traditional home of Lagos. The Super Eagles recorded victories over Ghana, Liberia and Sudan to qualify, and Port Harcourt served as a change of tonic for the team.

The construction of the Abuja National Stadium for the All Africa Games in 2003 led to the National Stadium, Lagos to be abandoned, and it inevitably fell into disrepair. The National Stadium in Abuja has never really attracted a full house because of it location, which is very far from the suburbs where football fans live.

The advantage of the newly built Abuja National Stadium was that the Super Eagles and other teams had the chance of playing on a good pitch.

It was now the new home of the Super Eagles. It qualified for the 2008 Cup of Nations from there. But the heartache of losing out on qualifying for the 2006 World Cup in Germany remains notable. Ironically, the key match in Nigeria's group was played at the Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano. A decision that ultimately backfired, with the team drawing 1-1 against Angola. It was the match that cost Nigeria that ticket.

And such irrational decision of changing venues has in itself cost Nigeria on several occasions. There was the usual hue and cry after that result, with many lamenting the decision to play that match in Kano instead of Abuja.

The qualification for the Cup of Nations and World Cup in 2010 was secured playing in Abuja. It was now the home of the team, but it seldom attracted a full house in the 60,000 capacity National Stadium.

Following Samson Siasia's failure to qualify Nigeria for the Cup of Nations in Gabon/Equatorial Guinea in 2012 after a nervy 2-2 draw with Guinea at the Abuja National Stadium, the unwritten rule to start moving matches across the country became enshrined in the way the football house takes decisions. As it seems a bad result was always a recipe to seek another venue.

One thing the Super Eagles never lacked while playing in Abuja was the complement of playing on a good pitch.

The UJ Esuene Stadium in Calabar subsequently became Nigeria's new home. And like the National Stadium in Lagos, it became something akin to a home for the Eagles. It qualified for the Cup of Nations in 2013 playing all its matches there, and also the 2014 World Cup qualifiers were all played there too.

It seems the certainty that matches would be played in Calabar aided the consistent performance of the Super Eagles as they went unbeaten while their stint lasted in Calabar. However, that all changed after the 3-2 loss to Congo Brazzaville. Since that loss in September 2014, Nigeria has not played any match in Calabar.

Strangely the remaining home matches were played in different venues with contrasting results. The match against Sudan which ended in a 3-1 victory was played in Abuja marking a return to the Stadium. But the key match against South Africa where victory was needed was played in Uyo at the Akwa Ibom Stadium. The team never felt at home in a 2-2 draw against Bafana Bafana a year ago. I doubt if any National team has played three homes matches at different venues for a qualifying campaign of the Cup of Nations.

In March, 2015 Stephen Keshi's last match as Super Eagles coach was played against Chad at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna, in what was largely a bumpy pitch. Since then another venue has been used for Super Eagles matches which was the World Cup qualifiers against Swaziland played at the Adoke Amesiemeka Stadium in Port Harcourt in November.

The lack of a particular stadium where the Super Eagles can actually call home as resulted in several inconsistent home performances and this trend might not change.

However, when the situation in Nigeria is compared to what obtains in other African countries, there is clearly a pattern that is different. As most of the power houses of African football restrict their matches to a particular stadium, and where there is a shift in venue it never more than one city. The Black Stars of Ghana alternate between the Accra Sport Stadium, Accra or the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi. The Elephants of Ivory Coast are at home at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan. Tunisia plays their matches at the Stade 7 November, Rades, Zambia’s matches now takes place at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola. Cameroun’s Indomitable Lions ply their trade at Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaoundé or the State de la Reunification in Douala, while the Desert Foxes of Algeria have settled for the Mustapha Tchaker in Bilda, which has served them well in their recent resurgence in the African football scene.

While the venue of matches is determined most times in Nigeria by financial consideration, it will serve Nigeria football well if the football house would stick to prosecuting matches involving the National team in a particular venue so that the players and coaching staff can enjoy the benefit of truly playing in a home stadium.