Jay-Jay Okocha predict Istanbul match with Madrid

Former Fenerbahce player Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha has declared city rivals Galatasaray a difficult team to play in Istanbul as Real Madrid prepare to travel there for their second leg Uefa Champions League quarter final game. Jay Jay spent two seasons in Turkey and knows the temperament of his former club’s biggest rivals as he predicted a tough time for the Spanish giants who will take a 3-0 lead to Istanbul. “If you fly in as a visiting team from a foreign country, [Galatasaray fans] won’t let you sleep, they will come to your hotel and disturb you,” said Okocha at the Heineken Champions Planet in Victoria Island on Wednesday night.

          “And if you have a Galatasaray fan serving you in the hotel, I don’t think you will get the best service. “It’s a really difficult place to go to but I think with the experience of Real Madrid and with the result they have gotten [on Wednesday] they will do well,” he said. 

Okocha was guest of the Heineken Champions Planet's Legends Night where he talked about the game among other topics.

Nigeria announce 30-man squad for June World Cup qualifiers and Confederations Cup

Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi has invited 30 players to prosecute the team’s jumbo schedule between the end of May and mid-July, in which about 10 matches loom. The African champions have a high-profile friendly against CONCACAF champions Mexico in Houston, Texas, USA on the last day of May, before two World Cup qualifying matches in Nairobi and Windhoek that come before the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup tournament in Brazil. Nigeria play Tahiti, Uruguay and Spain in Brazil but will play two more games if they advance to the knock-out stage, before returning to Africa for a 2014 African Nations Championship qualifying fixture against Cote d’Ivoire. Usual suspects Vincent Enyeama, Mikel Obi, Efe Ambrose, Godfrey Oboabona, Ahmed Musa and Victor Moses are called, as well as dark horses John Ogu, Michael Babatunde and Anthony Ujah, while midfield ace Kalu Uche returns after 16 months in the international wilderness. Top scorer of the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, Emmanuel Emenike, back from injury, returns to the fold. There are four goalkeepers, eight defenders, seven midfielders and 11 strikers. The delegation of 12 home-based players and technical/backroom staff will depart Abuja for the training camp in Nuremberg, Germany on May 15 while the overseas-based professionals are expected to join the team in Germany as their various Leagues come to an end. Players in Russia, Ukraine and Norway may only join the team for the matches against Kenya and Namibia, and for the FIFA Confederations Cup tournament. Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama (Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel); Austin Ejide (Hapoel Be’er Sheva, Israel); Chigozie Agbim (Enugu Rangers, Nigeria); Daniel Akpeyi (Heartland FC, Nigeria) Defenders: Efe Ambrose (Celtic FC, Scotland); Elderson Echiejile (FC Braga, Portugal); Kenneth Omeruo (ADO Den Haag, The Netherlands); Azubuike Egwuekwe (Warri Wolves, Nigeria); Ebenezer Odunlami (Sunshine Stars, Nigeria); Benjamin Francis (Heartland FC, Nigeria); Solomon Kwambe (Sunshine Stars, Nigeria); Godfrey Oboabona (Sunshine Stars, Nigeria) Midfielders: John Mikel Obi (Chelsea FC, England); Ogenyi Onazi (SS Lazio, Italy); Fegor Ogude (Valerenga FC, Norway); John Ogu (Academica de Coimbra, Portugal); Reuben Gabriel (Kano Pillars, Nigeria); Sunday Mba (Warri Wolves, Nigeria); Emeka Ezeh (Enugu Rangers, Nigeria) Forwards: Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow, Russia); Brown Ideye (Dynamo Kyiv, Ukraine); Victor Moses (Chelsea FC, England); Emmanuel Emenike (Spartak Moscow, Russia); Michael Babatunde (Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine); Nnamdi Oduamadi (AS Varese 1910, Italy); Anthony Ujah (FC Cologne, Germany); Kalu Uche (Kasimpasa, Turkey); Gomo Onduku (Sharks FC, Nigeria); Obinna Nwachukwu (Heartland FC, Nigeria); Gambo Mohammed (Kano Pillars, Nigeria)