Nigeria’s beach soccer national team captain, Victor Tale, has declared the Sand Eagles ready for their crucial Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations qualifying encounter against Ghana, insisting that the players are responding positively to intensive preparations ahead of the West African showdown.

The Sand Eagles are scheduled to host Ghana’s Black Sharks in Kaduna on Saturday, October 10, in the first leg of their qualifying tie, before travelling to Accra for the return fixture on October 17.

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Tale expressed satisfaction with the team’s preparations, praising the technical crew for their commitment and the players for embracing the training programme.

“The coaches are doing their best, and we the players are cooperating with the coaches. With all the training they have been giving us, we know we will come out in a better way,” Tale said.

The experienced captain stressed that the players have maintained a high level of commitment throughout their preparations, with everyone determined to deliver a positive result against their regional rivals.

“All of us are doing 100 per cent okay, and every training session that the coaches give us, we do it, and they are pleased,” he explained.

The captain, who plays for Kada Beach Soccer Club, is part of the 20-man squad assembled in Kaduna, where the team has been undergoing tactical and technical drills under coach Christopher Kadiri.

Nigeria are seeking a return to the continental finals after narrowly missing qualification in 2024, when Mauritania eliminated the Sand Eagles on the away-goals rule.

Ghana have also intensified preparations, with the Black Sharks departing Accra for Nigeria on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s encounter.

Tale believes the work completed in camp has given the players the confidence needed to compete against their West African rivals.

“Everybody is good to go,” the captain declared.

With a place at the 2026 Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations in Senegal at stake, Nigeria will be determined to establish an advantage before the return fixture in Ghana.

For Tale, the message ahead of Saturday’s showdown is clear: the Sand Eagles have put in the work, embraced the coaches’ instructions and are ready to translate their preparations into a result against Ghana.

As a heated debate rages over the unceremonious exit of multiple award winning attacker, Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal’s national team, I make a bold declaration that the five-time Bollon d’Or winner is simply regarding himself as untouchable.

Doubtlessly, CR7 is an icon and a legend, but that does not mean he is indispensable. It also does not mean he is the Lord over every other person or that he will reign forever. He even lasted this long in the Portuguese team because they gave him lots of respect for all he has done for the country.

However, as Lionel Messi stated in his reaction to the unfolding drama, Ronaldo should have known how to quit when the ovation was loudest. Indeed, Messi acknowledged the giant strides of his biggest rival for global awards and recognition as G O.A.T. but concluded by pointing out where ‘Ciroro’ went wrong.

Unwittingly, like the Biblical rich man who thinks his ideas are sacrosanct and everything about life must revolve around him, Ronaldo is still crying blue murder and keeps alleging that Portugal’s coach, Jorge Jesus betrayed him.

Interestingly, Ronaldo had a similar situation with Erik ten Hag during his second spell at Manchester United, and he also left under a storm. But, while his fans keep slamming the coaches who dare to bench CR7, they fail to note that he is quite conceited and falls out with anyone who tries calling him to order.

That’s because, like the rich man who thinks he’s larger than life, Ronaldo does not like being questioned. He thinks his word is Holy Writ, unquestionable and incontrovertible. He sees himself as a demigod who must be carried like an egg all the time, and other people must tremble at his feet.

That’s not taking away the zeal and passion he has for football, nor his dedication to hard work as the route to success as well as his well-known heart of charity. Good values, no doubt but, of what good is a Greek gift that ends up consuming you?

Must the rich man rubbish anyone he gives a token in the name of charity? Should the rich man see himself as alpha and omega to everyone who looks up to him? Should they keep silent where he errs, simply because they are benefitting from him? That’s what Ronaldo wanted Portugal to do because he has uplifted them.

That’s where Ronaldo got it wrong, and that’s why I stick out my neck today against all the hue and cry his fans are hurling at the coach who brought him down to earth. It’s not about Portugal losing many followers on social media because of his exit, it’s not about corporate bodies pulling out of deals because they feel dividends will stop coming since CR7 is no longer there.

For me, it’s about someone who is happy that things are not going well because he has been sidelined. Yes, the focus should be on someone who took advantage of a whole nation, trying to make them worship him forever – even when he was no longer effective. It’s about someone who thinks no one is better than him and nobody can do what he does. It’s about someone who thinks he’s a tree that can make a forest and damn anyone who thinks otherwise.

So, while his fans threaten karma where it is not going to apply, since no one did him any harm, they should accept the simple truth that C. Ronaldo overstayed his welcome in Portugal’s national team.

It’s also a lesson for us that we should not take people for granted and think that they will keep on respecting (adoring or worshiping) us even when we inconvenience them; thinking they will keep quiet forever because them depend on us for comfort.

Let’s face the reality that Ronaldo had become a liability whose presence in Portugal’s national team was slowing them down. It’s not a surprise that they won their next game 4-2 away without him. It’s a lesson for rich people of the world to know that poor people also have dignity. It’s in the past that the beggar has no choice. Nowadays, poor people beg with dignity because God will always provide a rich person in their life as a helper.

That’s why the Bible says the poor will never cease from the land. The story of Lazarus and the rich man serves a strong inference that each poor man has someone to look up to for help. Any rich man who fails to willingly help the poor man at his doorstep stands to face God’s anger.

At the same time, the rich man should not take advantage of the poor man with promises that are not kept, make him wait endlessly before handing over what he needs, giving him half assistance instead of what he needs in full, thinking the poor man cannot survive without him or telling a third party how the poor man is disturbing him. These are the errors Ronaldo committed subconsciously.

He held Portugal to ransom until a Messiah came in the form of their own Jesus, who is now their national team’s coach. It’s not that he doesn’t like Ronaldo any longer.

No, the fact is that CR7 cannot reign forever. But, unlike Messi, he did not know how to quit when the ovation was loudest. He didn’t want to quit because he loves being the centre of all attention – just like the average rich man in Nigeria (if not the whole wide world).

He loves to be adored, hailed, praised referenced and rated highest all the time – anyone who tries to cut him down to size draws his ire (just like the average rich man would do to the outspoken poor man). The rich man would ask, “Who gave you mouth to talk?” Simply because he’s paying the bills.

All said and done, let’s hope Nigeria’s so-called ‘big men’ learn from this. Like Ronaldo, they give bountifully only when they are worshiped, then stop at the slightest sign of discontent from those looking up to them. Instead of serving with true Agape love, they give only when it’s convenient for them, and they quickly talk about ingratitude once the poor man seeks a way to break loose.