TheCable

This is not a script for the show anchored by Bill Cosby. But footballers, like kids, say the darnedest things!

These refreshing quotes are from Victor Akhidenor’s soon-to-be-published two-in-one book entitled: Journalists are like mosquitoes… Nigeria Football Finest Quotes & Notes, and If You Put 11 Herbalists on the Field …Quotes & Notes from Nigeria football.

Hope you will enjoy this piece. We await your own quotes and notes, in form of a reply.

The voice of the game
Football is getting close to basketball; one ball game precision is the key to success.  Pat Ekeji

Football is entertainment; and success will surely come with entertainment.
Joe Erico

Football is about the spectators; they expect to see attacks, to see goals.
Clemens Westerhof

Football is like biscuit; it doesn’t break where you’ve broken it.
Peterside Idah

Age-cheating controversies
Our players come into the limelight at maturity.
Adokiyi Amiesimaka

If Lemmy Isa is an Under-17, my grandfather is 30.
Segun Odegbami

I have never doubted Owubokiri’s talents; what I’m scared of is his age.
Clemens Westerhof

Age is a thing of the mind. The thing there is that the more you get old in the game, the wiser you become. I don’t need to be running to the ball; it is the ball that should run to me.
Rashidi Yekini

We need a national policy on age matters.
Alhassan Yakmut

Gift of the gab
That banana shot was delivered like an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Ernest Okonkwo

Defeat at the hands of Ghana and Cameroon is worse than being taken as a POW by either country.
Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase

We shall wobble and fumble to the final and win the cup.
Fanny Amu

Point of correction: I was not sacked; I was relieved of my job.
Tunde Disu

It’s not easy to play but it’s very easy to talk. I think we should stop talking.
Obafemi Martins

Men in black
Match officials are like Nigerian policemen, whom you must bring very close to you or you cause your own doom.
Chris Isiadinso

I did not become a referee to collect bribes.
Linus Mba

Some referees should be hanged.
Justin Tenger

Referee Mohammed would have made a fine career in the circus where abracadabra is the order of the day.
Tony Ubani

Blowing your trumpet
On my good days, I can dribble past anybody. I don’t respect defenders.
Tajudeen Oyekanmi

I know I am a good player. I am not afraid of football.
Samuel Okwaraji

God has made me to be delivering continental tickets to the different teams I have worked with.
Godwin Uwua

The whites are taking after me; so, if you see them painting their faces and bodies, I started it; if you see them beating the drums and blowing trumpets, I started it.
Rafiu Ladipo

“Tactical” black magic

We were given something to tie on the leg and waist, but I didn’t see the magic.
Willy Okpara

I have seen black magicians change the course of a match. It is not just a myth but a reality.
Yinka Okeowo

Why do you think Egyptian clubs dominate continental championship? It is because Egypt is the centre of civilisation and it is more advanced in magic art than any other part of the continent. Go and read the Egyptian publications titled Oracle of Fortune and Oracle of Love, and you will understand what I mean.
Kashimawo Laloko

We had voodoo priests come into the camp, and some of the boys compromised. Taribo West

If it was not for “tactical” we would not be at SA 2010.
Godwin Dudu-Orumen

Straight talk
The press help to build you and also help to bring you down.
Henry Nwosu

Sports journalists are not experts in sports. They are experts in journalism. There is a difference between the two.
Ademola Onifade

Some players pay money to get projected.
Victor Agali

Patrick Ekeji was our problem in Mali. He was a disaster.
Shuaibu Amodu

I don’t know how to say a spade is an axe or otherwise.
Anthony Kojo-Williams

Extra time
In Nigeria, if you don’t have money, you are in trouble.
Thijs Libregts

I don’t have plans, I have hopes. My life is always planned by God.
Sunday Oliseh

I’m afraid of girls, both Nigerian and Italian.
Obafemi Martins

I would like to be President for a day: I would like to taste that power.
Daniel Amokachi