Spain are European Champions

The Euro 2008 ended yesterday the 29 of June 2008 and Spain are the European champions.Striker Fernando Torres out-muscled Germany's Philipp Lahm in the 33 minute of play to provide the lone score of the game.The Spanish team add another major trophy to their collection for the first time since 1964.They ended up with the best attack in the competition(12 goals scored) and they did not concede a goal from the knockout stage of the competition.David Villa ended up with the golden boats for best striker in the competition with 4 goals.The Spanish team played an attractive brand of soccer and their triumph here will be hail as a victory for the beautiful game of soccer.They were very entertaining and their Iberian build up style of play from the defence all the way to the front line is just beautiful to watch.Midfield play was the key to the team and will continue to be the strength of the team.Their starting four midfielders are excellent ball handlers and their isn't any drop off in play quality when the team made midfield substitutions(strength in depth).Once the Spanish team beat Italy in the quarter-final penalty shoot-out, you had the feeling that the team has finally come of age and nothing was going to stop them this time around.After being branded as perennial underachievers for such a long time, Spain has now found the winning formula and now join Germany,Italy and France as European Nations to be reckoned with come any major competition.The question on everybody's lips now is which competition is harder to win,the world cup or the Euro?The European teams(who else)claim that the Euro is a more difficult competition to win and that there are no minors(whipping boys) in the European championship.French soccer superstar Thierry Henry claimed that the European championship that the French won back in 2000 was more difficult than the 1998 World cup that they had won just two years earlier.Current Argentina soccer coach Alfio Basile recently said that he has been watching the current Euro and was not impressed at all.The South American nations have won a total of 9 world cups,Brazil 5,Argentina 2 and Uruguay 2.The Europeans have won a total of 9 world cups,Italy4,Germany 3,France 1 and England 1.So three teams from South America and four Europeans nations for a total of 7 teams have split the world cup victories amongst themselves.The number of victories for each continent is split equally in half.9 for the Europeans and 9 for the South Americans.In the history of the European nations cup a total of nine teams have split the spoils,Germany 3,France 2,Spain2,Italy 1,Russia 1,Czech Republic 1,Holland 1,Denmark 1,Greek 1.So a total of 9 different teams have won the 13 Euros that have been staged since 1960.For the World cup a total of 7 teams have won the world cup that has been staged since 1930,18 in total.So if winning that Euro is much tougher how come countries like Greece,Spain,Denmark and the Czech Republic(nations that have won the Euro) have not won the World cup?The other side of the argument will be that a country like England that won the World cup back in 1966 has not been able to win the Euro.In their current formats teams need to play a total of 7 games to win the world cup while for the Euro you need only six games.The European championship now features only 16 teams as oppose to the world cup that features 32.So it might be tougher to get out of the group stages in the Euro than in the world cup because the Euro is already narrowed down to 16 teams.Part of the reason that more teams have won the Euro than the world cup is that the European teams are playing against each other and they are pretty familiar with each other's style of play.That is why a team like Greece in 2004 and Denmark in 1992 can spring a surprise and win the competition.When European teams get to the world cup they see a different brand of football.The South American teams do not play as structured a game as the Europeans.You see more individual play in the South Americans way of playing.Traditionally in world cups the South Americans give the European teams quite a few problems because they are much faster.The exception here will be the Italians,they adapt well during the world cup and can take on the South American teams much easily.I have not mentioned teams from Africa,North America,Asia and Australia because so far none of these teams has come closed to lifting the world cup trophy.Apart from Mexico(which actually plays like a Latino team)the rest of the world still has a lot of work to do to be considered as world cup threats.European nations always point to the Italians(4 times world champions and 1 time European champion)as a clear example of how easy it is for a European team to win the world cup than the European nations cup.My answer to this is let the likes of Greece,Czech Republic,Spain,Denmark go win a world cup.The world cup has to be the more gruelling competition.A total of 32 teams(including of cause all the European qualifiers)playing for one trophy over a month period.They are going to be minors in the competition,but which countries do you classify as minors now are days.Ask Argentina in World cup 1990(against Cameroon)and France in World cup 2002(against Senegal)how it feels like to play against so called "minors".Now that Spain has found their winning touch lets see how they perform come South Africa 2010.

Euro 2008

Turkey ended a great run in the Europe 2008, heading home after a thrilling 3 goals to 2 defeat in the hands of the Germans. Reduced to only 14 outfield players due to suspensions and injuries, the Turks took the game to the Germans in the opening half of play and were rewarded with a goal in the 22 minute of play by Ugur Boral. The Germans responded in style though, with Lukas Podolski crossing the ball in for Bastien Schweinsteiger to flick in the equaliser in the 26 minute. That is how the game ended in the first half. Germany took a 2 to 1 lead in the 79 minute of play through a Miroslav Klose header but the Turks came right back with an equaliser four minutes to the end of the match through Semih Senturk. Defense man Philipp Lahm sealed the victory for Germany in the 90 minute of play. The Turks (the comeback kid of the competition) head home with a team that found itself in this competition. Watch out for them in South Africa 2010. This edition of the Germany team has quite a few players that have been hiding in the German Bundesliga. Michael Ballack and Miroslav Klose have been stars in the German national team since the 2002 World Cup. But how about Lukas Podolski and Bastien Schweinsteiger. Both players are deadly in Coach Joachim Low's 4-2-3-1 formation. Podolski can flat out play, has great speed and can both set up goals and finish just as well. Bastien Schweinsteiger is the showman of the team. The Guy has recovered fully from the red card that he picked up during the Croatian game on match day two of the competition. He covers a lot of ground and scores some great goals. The flick in for the equaliser was just a thing of beauty. Defense man Philipp Lahm can defend as well as attack as a winger, scoring the third goal for his side to seal the victory. Germany would now wait for the winner of the Spain versus Russia game scheduled for today,Thursday the 26 of June, to know their opponents for the finals due to take place on Sunday the 29 of June.This classic game will be remembered for something else though.There were quite a few power outages during the second half of the encounter and watching the game somewhere in Douala,Cameroon I thought it was a problem with signals getting to us in Africa.But it turned out the power failure was due to a severe thunderstorm that hit the Vienna area where the satellite feeds were coming from. We got to see the first two goals of the match live and Lahm's late winning goal.Germany's second goal and Turkey's equaliser came when the TV sets were displaying apology's due to power interruption. Never seen anything like this on a live major competition.Spain will be playing in the finals of Euro 2008 on Sunday 29 of June after defeating Russia by 3 goals to 0.It will be Spain's first participation in the final of the European championship since 1984 when they lost to France.Spain dominating a Russian team that had completely ran out of steam after such a brilliant run into the semi-final.The first half ended in a goalless tie, but goals from Xavi Hernandez(50'),Daniel Guiza(73') and David Silva(82')completed a brilliant all around performance of the Spanish team.Andres Iniesta got the man of the match award but Cesc Fabregas was just as brilliant, setting up goals for Danial Guiza and David Silva.Spain's leading goalscorer for the competition;David Villa, picked up an injury in the 34 minute of play and was substituted for Cesc Fabregas.Villa will thus be missing Sunday's final match against Germany.

Childhood

I became aware that I was a living being about the age of three to four years old, I think.This was in Bokwango,Buea in Cameroon.I was actually born in Besongabang,Mamfe in the South West Province on the 13 of April 1962.My parents then relocated to Buea due to my father's teaching job.He was a grade two teacher then.All I can remember from my time in Bokwango was that there were a lots of cows in the area and I was pretty much at home most of the time.We got transfer to Ndongo Camp in Tiko around 1968 and that was when I was to begin school.My father taught at the same institution and my mother worked as a seamstress in Tiko town.So from Monday through Saturday my mother was gone from the house until about 6pm when she returned.She had a store in the Tiko market where she did most of her sowing of clothes.We lived in the Teacher's campus and our closest family friend then was Mr. Orock.At this time our family was made up of Helen, the first child, Dennis, the second,Agi the third, Eric, the fourth, that was me, Olivia, the fifth, Charles & Ebenezar the twin.Betek, the last child was to be born in 1970.Mr Orock,our family friend had Adolfus, the first child,Felicia, the second,Orock the third,Enow the fourth and Mami Sousi,the firth and last child.The headmaster at the time was Mr Ndumbe.Other members of the teachers compound included Mr. Ngide, Miss Asong,Mr.Orum, the lone grade one teacher in Ndongo School, Mr Mokuri who worked for the CDC, so did Mr Taboko and Mr Medal.I remember doing well in my first year of school and passing to class two.In class two I had some difficulties and I believed I had to repeat the class.After that, I pretty much picked up and it was straight sailing throughout primary school.Our childhood was good.We got along well as a family.We used to love pets, dogs in particular.We had a female dog and we would love it when she gave birth and everybody will be fighting to own a puppy.We use to feed them with powder milk and garri, so that they would grow really fat.My mom would then start given them away and we will be very angry.Throughout my childhood, up to the age to 12 years old; when I finished primary school, life was pretty much structured.Sundays, was for church going(Most of our family is Protestant), our mother made sure that we attended service in the Presbyterian church in Likomba,Tiko. I was very active in church to the point of becoming a member of the Christian youth Fellowship,(YP)as it was popularly called then.Monday through Friday was spend in school.School started at about 7am in the morning and ran until 2pm in the afternoon.The school was just a stone throw from where we lived, so we pretty much walked to school.Our dad loved to go out after school was over.He would come to the house, have his lunch and then leave for Tiko Town.We were very happy, because this gave us the time to go and play.We made sure that we got back home before he returns.This was not usually the case, there were surprise early arrivals by my dad and this will get us into trouble.I spend most of the time playing soccer.There was a handball field that we used and also the Ndongo school soccer field, when there was quite a crowd that needed to play.Ndongo is what you call a CDC camp, so there were a lot of children whose parents worked in the Banana and Oil palm plantation.We could get a pick up game going at anytime in the afternoon and all Saturday and Sunday.None of the teachers liked to see their children playing soccer.At that time, I believe they were afraid of us picking up an injury that will cause the family time and money.The punishment for being caught playing soccer was serious lashing.We had a way of getting information on the arrival of any of our parents.Everybody of playing age had some skills.I was pretty good.I will go out and take my chances and play until sunset.If I get caught, I will take the lashes, but this will not discourage me or any of the other kids to go out and play as soon as our parents were gone.There is something about children that make you think only of the thrill of the game and totally forget about the consequences of being caught.

The Formations

As the recent Euro just kicked off,you are going to be seeing a lot of coaches come up with different formations to give their team an advantage in the games.Soccer formation describes how the teams will line up on the field of play,from the defense,the midfield and the forward positions.The formation that is settled on will be greatly influenced by whether the team wants to play either an attacking or a defensive brand of football(soccer).There is also something that is called the number system that began in the 50s with the developing of the 4-2-4 formation.So you can have a 3 number formation like the 4-4-2, a 4 number formation like the 4-1-4-1 and at times a 5 number formation like the 4-1-2-1-2.Coaches will go with the formations that will match the talent that they have available.More that one formation can be used during a match,for example teams would go from a 4-3-3 attacking position when on the attack and switch to a 4-5-1 when on the defense.The types of players you have available will also influence the formation.The formations could be changed as the match progresses due to injury to a key player,substitution to try and get a goal,or substitution to try and preserve a lead.The best coaches are those that will be able to choose a system that will enhance the teams strength while covering its weaknesses.As you substitute during games,the formation is also likely to change.Here are some modern day formations and some of the teams that used them.4-4-2(Greece in their 2004 campaign,France,Italy,Germany,Croatia),4-2-3-1(French and Spanish teams,Portugal,Romania,Russia),4-1-4-1(Turkey),4-3-3(Greece),3-4-3,4-5-1(Austria,Poland),4-1-2-3(Spain),4-1-3-2(Switzerland,Czech Republic,Sweden,Romania),3-3-3-1,4-4-1-1(Italy in their 2006 world cup win),3-5-2,5-4-1,4-3-2-1(Holland) and 5-3-2,this last formation is the one that contains the sweeper or libero position which is fast fading.Remember Franz Beckenbauer,Franco Baresi.These are just some of the formations that you will get to see.You might have noticed by now that the 4-2-4 is not used anymore.It was one of the most offensive at its time(used by Brazil in their 1958 and 1970 world cup winning sides with a team that had the great Pele).It had four defenders,two midfielders and four forwards.You needed very skilled players who could hold that ball for extended period of times.The system put a lot of pressure on your defense and two midfield players when your opposition was on the attack.The 3-5-2 is a popular system today as games are won or lost by the play in the midfield.Coaches will line up five midfielders to fight for possession and for the creation of scoring chances for the two forwards.This system works well if two of your midfielders can play well on a defensive role.It looks like the key in the modern game,especially in the midfield is versatility.Skill and discipline is also needed for the teams to effectively carry out their formations.You need players that can defend very well as well as effectively provide an attack option.Going back in time I remember what is referred to as the pyramid,the 2-3-5.You had two defenders(referred to as fullbacks),three midfielders(referred to as halfbacks)and up front there were two wingers,left and right wingers,two inside forwards and a centre forward to complete the 2-3-5 package.Our primary school used this formation.This formation was popular up till the late 1940s.From the 50s to the 1970s it was mainly the 4-2-4.The modern formations now are plentiful and teams have adapted a caution first approach to the games instead of the attack,attack,attack approaches of the past.After a poor showing in their first outing against Romania using a 4-4-2 French Coach Domenech decided to go with the 4-2-3-1 that served the French national team well during their final run in the 2006 world cup.Italian Coach Roberto Donadoni started with this formation in their match against Romania,playing Toni as the lone striker and Del Piero lining up with midfielders Perrotta and Camoranesi.The four teams that made it to the semi-finals of Euro 2008 are Spain,Germany,Russia and Turkey.Spain and Germany like to line up with a 4-4-2 formation and just play.The Spanish two forwards are David Villa and Fernando Torres.Germany use Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski to spearhead their attack.Russia has been lining up in a 4-1-3-2 with Andrei Arshavin and Roman Pavlyuchenko spearheading the attack.Turkey have lined up like the Russians in a 4-1-3-2 formation with Kazim Kazim and Nihat kahveci playing up front.

Euro 2008

Goals from man of the match Bastien Schweinsteiger in the 22 minute,Miroslav Klose in the 26 minute and Michael Ballack in the 61 minute gave Germany a 3-2 victory over Portugal in the first quarterfinals match in the competition.The Germans led twice by two goals,but the Portuguese kept fighting their way back into the match.First it was Nuno Gomes in the 40 minute to cut the deficit to 2-1 and later on Helder Postiga in the 87 minute to it make 3-2.The Germans just had a powerful presence in the field throughout the match and used a power style of soccer to get the victory.They move on to the semi-finals and will play the winner of the Croatia versus Turkey match that is schedule for Friday the 20 of June.The Friday match between Croatia and Turkey ended with a Turk shoot-out victory.After a goal less 90 minute of play in which the Croatian team dominated, the two teams headed for 30 minute extra-time.This is where all the drama took place. Croatia opened the scoring in the 119 minute with Ivan Klasnic putting in a cross from playmaker Luka Modric.With Croatia thinking they were through to the semi-finals the Turks answered the bell for the third straight game in style with an equaliser just a few seconds to go in the extra-time with a goal from super-sub Semih Senturk to make 1 all.Croatia squandered a lot of scoring chances in the match(Ivica Olic hitting the cross bar from dead close range).Turkey went on to win the penalty shoot-out by 3-1.The Croatians were totally shock and went into the penalty shoot-out with their spirits clearly down.The Turks thus move on to play Germany in the first semi-final schedule for Wednesday the 25 of June.The Russians continue their surprise run to the title with a superb 3-1 extra-time victory over the Dutch.The Russians clearly dominated the match and opened the scoring in the 56 minute of play through Roman Pavlyuchenko.The Dutch got a late equaliser from Ruud van Nistelrooy in the 86 minute to force extra-time.Goals from Dmitri Torbinski in the 22 minute of extra-time and Andrei Arshavin in the 26 minute of extra-time sealed a great performance from the Russians.They move on to play on Thursday the 26 of June, the winner of the Spain versus Italy quarter finals match.The Italians did play Spain on Sunday the 22 of June and the game went into penalty shoot-out that saw Spain through to the semi-finals,where they will play a Russian side that they had beaten during the group stages of the competition by 4 goals to 1.Spain had the upper hand in the encounter that ended in a 0-0 draw after 120 minutes.In the penalty shoot-out Spain's Goalkeeper Casillas stopped penalties from Daniele De Rossi and Antonio Di Natale.Italian Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon stopped Daniel Guiza's of Spain spot kick.Final shoot-out result,4-2 in favor of Spain.After four days of quarterfinals play favorites Germany and Spain are still around,together with gatecrashers Russia and a Turkish side that is depleted with injuries and suspensions.

Job Hunting

After being in Cameroon for about 4 months, I decided that it was time for me to look for a job. My uncle had aided me in preparing a curriculum vitae which is important for job hunting around here. It was early December 2005 and I was given by my Dad a number of companies and people to contact in Douala.Douala is the economic capital of Cameroon and if you are looking for a job, it is the place to start your search. That is where all the major companies are. The list that my dad gave me was handed to him by my late uncle’s wife; Mrs Ebai in Limbe.She has a lot of weight in the community and most of the people in the list she knows personally. I headed to Douala and the first place that I went to was Akintola Williams(now Deloitte & Touche).My elder brother had worked in this place in the early 80s and most of the people that are managers in the firm, he personally hired. The saying around here is that job searching is "man know man». You have to know somebody or else your job search will be doomed from the word go. I went to Deloitte and introduced myself. I gave them copies of my composed documents which included a CV, copy of my Accounting diploma and a copy of my CPA certification. They were impressed and promised giving me a call. They did call me twice for interviews but I never got a job offer. The other companies that I went to were Standard Chartered Bank, Ecobank and Guinness Cameroon. I did not get a call from any of these companies and subsequent follow ups did not lead to any job interviews. There was a company that I did go to that was mentioned to me as an after thought. The feeling was that I would be hired right away but the wages would not be very attractive. I did go to the company though and talked to the owner. He took my documents and promised that I could work for him if by February of 2006 I have not gotten a job offer from another company. This was the last company that I visited. I left for Tiko and spend the Christmas holidays there. Up until the Last week of January 2006, I did not get a job offer from any other company, so I decided to take on the offer of Akale & Co, that is the name of the firm that I could come work for in February. It is an Accounting Firm, the owner being a chartered accountant by profession. The owner is involved in different businesses and his firm has an accounting section that does auditing and tax work in the area. I came back to Douala 2 days before I was to start work. I had arranged to stay with a friend of mine for at least a month or two before I could get a place of my own. I worked for Akale& Co for a total of two months before things got very slow in the company and the owner and I agreed that we should split company. I headed back to the provinces but this time to Buea.I liked the weather in Buea. Places are not as hot as in Tiko or Douala. I rented a "mini-cité" in Molyko Buea, close to the Buea University Campus and started living there for some time. I had saved the money for the two months that I had worked so money was not a problem at that time. I had to look for another job. Since these are the days of the mobile phone, one could be reached from anywhere. You do not have to stay in Douala to look for a job. You can place your CVs with contact information and you will be reached if your services are needed. I stayed in Buea for about 5 months before I got a call from Deloitte& Touche. They had decided to set up a tax division and they needed somebody to come head the division. That will be me. I interviewed with them in late August 2006 and they said I would hear from them real soon. They called me up in the middle of September and I started work at Deloitte on the 16 of September 2006.I worked with them for a total of two full months before personal differences separated us. The salary was decent, the promised job description was great but the reality of working in the firm was different. We parted company after two months and I headed back to Buea. I had kept the "mini-cité" at Molyko during the two months that I was in Douala. During my stay at Deloitte, I lived with my aunt at her place in Bonaberi. I did return to Douala in June 2007 and this time I joined a company called Pro-Service Cameroon. I worked there as a consultant. The company provides travel management and business consultancy throughout the country. I have been at this company for a total of 9 months. It is a start up company so we are still building our clientele. The money is not flowing right now but that would change in the future. I am in charge of the business consultancy part of the business.

Euro 2008

Match day three saw a lot of drama.Switzerland bit outgoing coach Kobi Kuhn goodbye with a 2 nil defeat of Portugal.Portugal had already qualified for the knock-out stages and had finished group leaders,they therefore fielded a team of mainly reserved players.The other match of the day featuring Turkey and the Czech Republic provided all the drama as Turkey got three goals in the final quarter of the game to defeat the Czech Republic by 3 goals to two.Down 2 goals to 0 at the break, the Turks responded with goals from Arda Turan,75' and man of the match Nihat Kahveci87',89' to knock the Czech Republic out of the competition.Croatia showed their strength in depth by defeating Poland by 1 goal to nil.The Croatian team was mainly made up of substitute players.Germany's Michael Ballack thundering free kick shot in the 49 minute of play gave his side a 1 goal victory over ousted co-host Austria.The Germans are through to the quarterfinals and will play against Portugal in match that people expected to see in the semi-finals.Croatia will play Turkey in the other match of this bracket.So between,Germany,Portugal,Croatia and Turkey, we will get one of the teams that will be playing in the finals of the competition come June 29.France and Italy play today,so does Holland and Romania.There is much talk about whether the better strategy for the Dutch would be to allow Romania beat them,thus eliminating the French and the Italians.The Dutch fielded a team of second stringers but still pulled a 2 goal to 0 victory over Romania.The Dutch thus match Croatia with a perfect record after three matches and showed their strength in depth.Italy got a goal in the first half from the penalty spot,converted by Andrea Pirlo in the 25 minute and another goal by man of the match Daniele De Rossi in the 62 minute to complete a 2 to nil defeat of the French.Italy thus sneaks into the quarterfinal where they will meet Spain on Sunday.The Dutch will have to wait for the outcome of today's match between Sweden and Russia to know their quarterfinal opponent.The French and Romania thus fail to qualify for the knock-out stages of the competition.The quarterfinals pairing is now complete after Russia surprised Sweden with a 2 goals to zero defeat last night.Spain kept their group stage record perfect with a 2 to 1 victory over Greece.The second part of the Euro 2008 bracket now features Holland,Spain,Italy and Russia.Holland with play Russia on Saturday the 21 of June while Spain and Italy will continue their Iberian rivalry in a clash on Sunday the 22.Looking at the competition after the group stages at lot of the early favorites like Germany,Portugal,Spain and Italy are still around.So are some outsiders like Russia,Turkey and to a lesser extend Holland and Croatia.The French are home early due in part because they were drawn in the group of death that included the Dutch,Italians and Romania.They are some real tough match ups in these quarterfinals, including today's Portugal versus Germany and Sunday's Italy versus Spain.