RandaFooty: Everything Nigerian football, home and abroad

Chelsea winger Victor Moses has been in the news lately, albeit for the wrong reasons, as sources have revealed the player is not comfortable with the bench role he has been confined to for the last two group matches despite his injury worries. The former Crystal Palace winger started the first group game against Iran but struggled to replicate his pre-tournament form and was subsequently substituted in the game in what looked like a precautionary move by team officials. He did not make the bench against Bosnia-Herzegovina. which raised a lot of questions but he later took to the social media micro-blogging site, Twitter, to explain that he had a slight niggle and would be fit for the last group game against South American giants, Argentina.

After Nigeria's victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina I wrote in my column that we should leave the details of this World Cup to the coaches and players involved. I challenge anyone who is reading this now to say hand on heart they expected Ahmed Musa to be a sensational defensive block by Pablo Zabaleta away from scoring Nigeria's first ever hat-trick at the World Cup. The CSKA Moscow forward has had his critics but his manager, Stephen Keshi, has always trusted in him and stuck by him. To score twice in the same match that had Gonzalo Higuain, Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and even Angel di Maria is not to be sniffed at. Both superb finishes too. Nothing scruffy or deflected.

pic courtesy- supersport.com Super Eagles midfielder, Ogenyi Onazi, says he cannot wait for the World Cup to start, as the team have fully settled in Brazil and have started training after the preparatory time spent in the United States. Nigeria played two warm-up matches during their stay in the United States. A goalless draw against Greece was followed by a disappointing 2-1 reversal against the US men's national team as the Super Eagles rounded off their stay in America. After fully settling in, the combative Lazio player says it is crunch time and he cannot wait for the games to begin. "This is what it is all about. Every player's dream is to be here, to be at the World Cup," he told supersport.com. "I thank God for everything, by His grace we shall do the nation proud. We call on Nigerians to continue to support us as they always have. Nigeria will play their first game in Group F of the Fifa 2014 World Cup against Iran on June 16 i

 Brazil exploded with street parties as its soccer team won the World Cup's opening game on Thursbut scattered violent protests were a reminder that many locals remain angry over the billions spent to host the tournament. Millions of fans dressed in Brazil's canary yellow, green and blue home colors, cheered throughout Brazil's victory over Croatia in Sao Paulo and continued the revelry into the night, with a heavy presence of police and troops to maintain order. The country briefly fell silent when Croatia took an early lead, but fireworks, horns and drum beats reached a crescendo as Brazil rallied for a 3-1 win. Despite worries over traffic and the Sao Paulo stadium, which was completed six months late and wasn't fully tested before the game, there were no reports of major logistical problems before or after the game. Brazil's coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, after the game praised the stadium as "incredible" and "fantastic."

A FAN SPEAKS… As a Nigerian, I was born to support our National team (Super Eagles) but I paid this team no attention for a while until that day at the quarter finals of the 2013 Nations Cup, where against all odds ,  the Super Eagles triumphed and conquered the Elephants of  Ivory Coast  (the proclaimed favorites) .  That resurgence/rebirth in my team breathed life into the nation and fans alike.  Suddenly, you walk on the streets, in the market etc, ‘Super Eagles’ was on every lip, it became a dream for the fans from then on.  The team did not only lift the trophy in that tournament, it went ahead and qualified for the world cup in style .