Former Eagles Star Christian Obodo Freed after Reported Kidnap

Police personnel of the Delta State Police Command in Nigeria over the weekend freed a former football star, Christian Obodo, who was reported kidnapped over the weekend.

Mr. Obodo, who is visiting his home state of Delta on break from his European base, was reportedly driving alone in his vehicle when suspected kidnappers waylaid him and took him hostage to an unknown destination.

Police spokesman, ASP Charles Mouka, told journalists on Sunday that the kidnapped soccer star was rescued by police in Emevor, an Isokoland township lying between Ughelli and Oleh area of Delta State.

According to him, some of the kidnappers were also arrested in an operation that tracked the kidnap gang to a forest about 1 hour 30 minutes drive from Warri where Mr. Obodo was kidnapped yesterday.

The kidnappers had demanded for as much as $170,000 in ransom money before the police came to his rescue.

Obodo, 28, is a midfielder who has played 21 times for Nigeria since making his international debut in 2004. Last season, he played on loan at Lecce from Serie A side Udinese.

This is not the first time abductors have targeted Nigerian soccer players and their families.

The brother of Everton defender Joseph Yobo was kidnapped in 2008 and freed days later, while last year the father of Chelsea midfielder John Mikel Obi was abducted before being freed after a police raid.

A brief statement from Lecce on Obodo's abduction said, "We hope the situation can be resolved as soon as possible in the best possible way."

Obodo's brother, Kenneth Obodo, who is also a professional soccer player in Italy and is currently in Nigeria, was quoted by Italian news agency ANSA as saying, "Christian is fine. We are in touch with the kidnappers, who want some money.

"We can't give them more than €100,000 (US$125,000). Unfortunately these things happen in our country."

His brother-in-law, Obidike Okechukwu, was quoted by ANSA as saying that the kidnappers had asked for a ransom of €150,000.

A World Cup without Brazil?

A Rio newspaper on Sunday asserted that the European Championship is a World Cup without Brazil and Argentina. It is an expression used on both sides of the Atlantic - but that does not make it fair.

European teams have disputed the last two World Cup finals but the continent also provides some of the dullest teams in the tournament. The phrase is unfair on Africa and Asia, where South Korea have made a consistent contribution to recent World Cups. If they needed home advantage to reach the semi-finals in 2002, then so did England in 1966 and France in 1998 to register their only wins.

The phrase is also deeply unfair on the rest of South America, a continent which gave ample proof of its current strength two years ago in South Africa. Chile came up with their best-ever performance away from home by making the second round. Paraguay reached the last eight for the first time - and gave champions Spain their most even game on the way to the title. And Uruguay got to the semi- finals.

There could hardly be a greater compliment paid to South American football - the team that came fourth in the world only came fifth in the continent's qualifiers. They had to book their place in South Africa via a play-off with Costa Rica.

There are two key moments in the history of South America's national teams. The first is the birth of the Copa America in 1916, and its staging on an almost annual basis until the Wall Street crash of 1929.

Frequent Copa Americas led to an exchange of ideas and a dynamism of competition which rapidly raised standards of play. This helps explain how Uruguay were able to astonish Europe with the innovative beauty of their play when they won the Olympic gold medals of 1924 and 28 - events which led directly to the birth of the World Cup.

The second key moment comes in 1996, when the continent's ten countries were placed in one big group for World Cup qualifying, playing each other home and away in a marathon competition.

This gave South American national teams the type of calendar that European sides take for granted. Previously there could be gaps if two years between competitive matches. Now there was a regular calendar, with guaranteed income from TV. This meant that countries could keep a side together, grow in confidence and tactical nous, and that there was money available to hire good coaches and invest in youth development.

The benefits of the first moment, back in 1916, were reaped by Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. The benefits of the second moment 80 years later have been distributed more widely. Given its small population Uruguay's decline was seen as inevitable but they have been able to recapture some of their former glory. The likes of Ecuador and Venezuela were seen as a joke, a South American San Marino and Faroe Islands. Not any more. Ecuador have now gone to two World Cups and Venezuela are quite entitled to see themselves on the way to making their debut in the competition.

That feeling is all the stronger after they held Uruguay to a 1-1 draw in Montevideo on Saturday. Perhaps the stand-out aspect of the game was the maturity of the Venezuela team. They set out to frustrate Uruguay and deny them opportunities. They were looking comfortable until falling behind to a typically intelligent piece of movement from Diego Forlan.

After the interval, Venezuela were forced to be more ambitious and, as the second half wore on, they opened up with more attacking substitutions. They played with the assurance of a team confident that its moment would come.

Big centre forward Jose Salomon Rondon was the spearhead. Seven minutes from time, errors from two Uruguayan substitutes gave him the opportunity to meet Juan Arango's cross with a header which nestled in the corner and earned the team a point.

When Venezuela first started winning games a decade ago under coach Richard Paez, their football was inclined to be carefree and loose. Cesar Farias has imposed a different mentality. His team have scored four and conceded four in their five matches of the current campaign. Only Paraguay, who have a game in hand, have scored fewer. No one has conceded less.

Farias is also showing impressive man management skills. He is bringing in players based in Europe with a Venezuelan connection. Saturday's side included two such examples - Athletic Bilbao centre-back Fernando Amorebieta and former Switzerland Under-21 attacking midfielder Frank Feltscher.

This Saturday Venezuela host Chile in round number six. European coaches would do well to take notice - their team might even be drawn against Venezuela in the 2014 World Cup.

Euro 2012: 10 European Stars Who Didn't Qualify for the Tournament

In five days, many of Europe's best footballers will take refuge in Poland and Ukraine to partake in Euro 2012. This championship will showcase some brilliant footballers and many of the best playing styles from the continent that created the beautiful game.

But Euro 2012 will showcase just 16 nations. Though the field will be expanded to 24 states in 2016, there are plenty of brilliant footballers that will not showcase their talents in eastern Europe.

There are some obvious cases such as Belgium and Serbia where this is obvious. But there are also smaller nations such as Switzerland and Slovakia where their premier stars won't play among Europe's best.

Not appearing in the European championships has not affected every star, with players like Eden Hazard already completing transfers this summer. But there will plenty of other players that wish they could face giants such as Germany and Spain and possibly defeat them.

Many of these players can consider themselves among the best players in the world. Here are ten of those players who will be missing from Europe's biggest international football party.

Football to be suspended in Italy for years – Prime Minister

Italy’s prime minister Mario Monti on Wednesday called for football in the country to be suspended for ‘two to three’ years after the latest match-fixing scandal

Mr Monti said the idea was a question he was asking ‘as someone who was passionate when football was still football’.

Monti expressed a ‘profound sadness’ after 30 homes of people connected to Serie A and Serie B, as well as the lower leagues, were searched, with Juventus coach Antonio Conte – who recently led Juventus to the Scudetto – among those questioned.

“I wonder if it wouldn’t be a good idea to suspend the game for two or three years, the premier said.

“It’s particularly sad when a world which should be an expression of the highest values – sport, youth, competition, fairness turns out to be a mass of foul play, falsehood and demagoguery.”

The latest arrests come six years after the infamous Calciopoli scandal in which Juventus were stripped of their title and relegated to Serie B.

WORLD FOOTBALL – BECKHAM PAY CUT NEARLY 40 PER CENT

According to figures released by the player’s union on Friday, Beckham has taken a pay cut of nearly 40 per cent to remain at the Galaxy.

Beckham, who ushered in the era of high-paid foreign imports in MLS when he first signed a five-year contract with the Galaxy in 2007, will make $4 million in total this season, compared to the $6.5 million per year he made under his prior contract.

The 34-year-old Henry, France’s all-time leading scorer, now tops the salary table earning $5.6 million in 2012 playing for the New York Red Bulls.

Henry’s Red Bulls teammate Rafa Marquez of Mexico – who like Henry joined the team in 2010 – is now second at $4.6 million.

Beckham’s teammate Robbie Keane of Ireland is fourth at $3.4 million, followed by the Galaxy’s Landon Donovan and Toronto FC’s Torsten Frings, both earning $2.4 million this season.

The remaining players whose wages top $1 million are Toronto’s Julian de Guzman ($1.9 million) and Danny Koevermans ($1.6 million) and Portland Timbers striker Kris Boyd ($1.5 million).

The 37-year-old Beckham inked a new two-year deal with the Galaxy in January, reportedly rejecting a rich offer from French club Paris Saint-Germain

FOOTBALL STAR JAILED FALSELY FOR RAPE WANTS $219k COMPENSATION

A former high school football who was wrongfully accused of rape and sentenced to six years in prison now wants the State of California to pay him for every day he had spent behind bars.

 A one-time promising football star, Brian Banks, weeps after his rape conviction was dismissed in court. He was just 16 when a childhood friend accused him of kidnapping and raping her at school

Attorneys representing 26-year-old Brian Banks said their client is entitled to $100 a day for every day of his incarceration under state law.

Banks was exonerated this week after his accuser, Wanetta Gibson, admitted she had made up the whole story of sexual assault ten years ago and had been reluctant to come forward because of a large settlement she received from the school district.

The Los Angeles Times has reported that Gibson also had been worried it would affect her relationship with her two children, now aged four and five.

Banks, a once sought-after linebacker, collapsed in tears in the courtroom on Thursday when his case was moved to dismissal.

Banks’ exoneration came after Gibson sent him a friend request on Facebook when he left prison in February of 2011 with a tag. In a message, she explained she wanted to ‘let bygones be bygones’.

Banks’s lawyer, Justin Brooks, told KPCC that Gibson and Banks met and she was caught on video saying there there had been no kidnap and no rape, and would help him clear his record.

Yet she refused to repeat the story to prosecutors as she feared she would have to return a $1.5million payment she won after her mother brought a suit against Long Beach Schools.

She was quoted as telling Banks: ‘I will go through with helping you but it’s like at the same time all that money they gave us, I mean gave me, I don’t want to have to pay it back.

 Banks with his mother, Leomia Myers. He served six years in prison for the rape he did not commit

Banks, with his attorneys Justin Brooks and Alissa Bjerkhoel, after the charges are dismissed. It comes after the accuser contacted him to say the rape did not happen

Banks had been recruited by colleges and offered scholarships before the accusation

The 26-year-old has said he does not plan to pursue legal action against his accuser, and Los Angeles prosecutors have said it is unlikely Gibson will be charged with making false accusations, saying it would be a tough case to prove.

Banks was jailed after Gibson accused him of rape in 2002, when he was just 16 and being heavily recruited by a number of colleges, including USC, which had offered him a full scholarship.

He was on the way to the school office to talk about his college applications when he bumped into Gibson, a fellow student, and they went to a stairwell to make out, Brooks told KPCC. He pointed out that they did not have intercourse.

He explained that Banks said something to upset Gibson and they parted on bad terms. She later accused him of kidnapping her, dragging her across the school and raping her in the stairwell.

Investigators tested her but found no physical evidence of rape, Brooks said. Banks maintained they had not had sex and all sexual contact had been consensual.

Wanetta Gibson contacted Banks to say he had not raped her but would not admit it 

as she feared she would have to pay back $1.5 million won against the school

Yet his then lawyer encouraged the promising student to plead no contest to the kidnap and rape charges, warning Banks he could get 41 years to life in prison if convicted.

Expecting he would serve just 18 months instead, he followed the advice and pleaded no contest. He was in prison for six years.

While there, his case was taken on by Brooks, a lawyer who head the California Innocence Project.

‘Brian’s story is so compelling, and his case for innocence so clear, we knew we had to take this on,’ said Justin Brooks. ‘Brian lost a huge part of his life when he was unjustly sent to prison.’

Brooks said Banks has remained on probation under electronic monitoring, has had to register as a sex offender and has had trouble getting a job.

After the exoneration on Thursday, Banks added: ‘My only dream in the world is just to be free… For years, I felt like a toy with the switch cut off, sitting on the shelf.’

Banks continues to train for what he hopes will be a future chance at a football career in the NFL.

‘This is a kid who was a superstar,’ Brooks added. ‘He would be playing the NFL now if this hadn’t happened.’

KESHI EXPLAINS FIGHT IN EAGLES

Some staff of the senior national team have been telling Stephen Keshi their observation in the past two days. 

Ike Uche's attitude in training has changed.  The Nigerian striker who plies his trade in Spain, they say, puts on a stronger character, fights and struggles in training more than ever before. 

Some of these staff have been with the na tional team for long, dating back to the time of Berti Vogts. 

'Uche has never been like this,' they told Keshi, adding 'before now, he was one of the big boys in camp and never showed the kind of seriousness that we are witnessing now.' 

Uche was apparently compelled to change following what he saw of others in camp and the competition now posed by the home-based Eagles. 

Keshi commented on this yesterday: 'This is what we want. The national team must be competitive. They are all fighting to be in the team. Sometimes they overdo it and I always calm them down to avoid injuries and also to make them play their normal game and not to impress anybody because when they play to impress in training something different happens in a match situation. But I like what is happening. Players must be hungry for the national team. Clemens Westerhof did it here and it worked. We are doing the same thing and I know that it will work. Building a team takes time. That's why I can't invite everybody at the same time. Any person who lacks the commitment and who doesn't show hunger  for the national team will be left out even if people see him as a super star. The team we will field against Namibia is shaping up and we'll get it right before Sunday.' 

After Westerhof used home-based players in the Algiers '90 Nations Cup and won a silver many of the top Europe-based players had to struggle to return to the team and the competition to win a shirt in Eagles marked one of the turning points in the Nigeria's football.