FRANCE 98 – Nigeria play head-tennis

As befits their decisive victory over BULGARIA on Friday, the Nigerian team had an informal training version where recuperation was the order of the day.

Jay-Jay OKOCHA (10), magnificent in midfield on Friday, now took on the role of umpire in a game of head-tennis starring Daniel AMOKACHI (14) and Celestine BABAYARO (3) against Sunday OLISEH (15) and George FINIDI (7).

The skills on display were of a quality which could grace any Brazilian beach or, perhaps more appropriately, a Lagos playground. After a lengthy but good-humoured argument about whether the score was 15-16 or 14-17, Jay-Jay concluded: “OK, boys, that was a beautiful point. But now you can count the score for yourselves. I quit!”

In response to a question on the usefulness of head-tennis, Mr LALOKO, technical director of the Nigerian Football Association said: “It is useful not only for heading. Here we have the processes of football under pressure. The terrain is small, all parts of the body are used, you can have one bounce or no bounce, depending on the rules. Head-tennis is excellent for basic skills. It helps reaction times, concentration, alertness and speed of movement. The competitive element, whether there are teams of two, three or four, is developed by the idea of a game. And also teamwork is encouraged, as well as pleasure. But there should be a maximum of four players, otherwise some players may take it too easy.”