The FIFA World Cup is the ultimate test of validation.
Crystal Palace fans knew Olise. They watched him drag a mid-table side through seasons of otherwise unremarkable Premier League football with through balls nobody else on that pitch could even conceive of, let alone execute.
Bayern Munich fans knew. They watched him put up 22 goals and 30 assists in 52 games last season, win the Bundesliga Player of the Season award, and make one of the most demanding clubs on earth look easy.
The rest of the world? Maybe they knew. But they had doubts. And they just got cleared at this World Cup.
Michael Olise already has five assists in four games at this tournament, the most by any player at a World Cup since 1994. Against Sweden, he nearly scored a bicycle kick so outrageous that the 150,000 social media mentions it generated in 24 hours reached 1.8 billion users. almost everyone around me mentioned the kick when we were talking about the match the next day.
Here is the thing though. None of this made Olise good. He was already good. The World Cup just made it impossible to pretend otherwise.
That is what this tournament does. Club football reaches millions but World Cup reaches billions. It compresses months of nuance into 7 matches of ninety minutes each, creates heroes out of performances that have been quietly happening for years, and forces a global audience that watches fragmented league football to sit down and pay attention at the same time.
Palace fans were not wrong about Olise in 2023. They were just early. And everyone else was playing catchup.
My name is Ajoje. I am a FIFA Licensed Agent and International Sports Lawyer. I write on the Law and Business of Football, a lot. Repost and Follow if you want to read more posts like this.
The median age in Nigeria is around 17 thereabout..
Why should 80+ yr old Men(that have the grim reaper heading their way already) care about the average Nigerian ?
No, tell me…
What do dem Tinubu & Adeboye really stand to gain from caring about you bro…
See, even the man that gave birth to you.. If he makes it to 85
You expect him to care if his 17yr old child/grand-child has eaten ?
If anything, na you go dey care for am at that point.
All he thinks about is his health and de@th.
Na we dey fuck up dey expect sensible things and empathy from people wey dey one-leg-in, one-leg-out.
JUST IN: "NIGERIA 🇳🇬 GEO-POLITICAL ZONE BILL 2026
[1] As of October 1 2026, Nigeria’s six geo-political zones will become official and constitutional organs of government. This means that there will be four tiers of administration in Nigeria - Federal, Zonal, State and Local governments
[2] Nigeria will have six geo-political zones, with each being made up of seven states. Our constitution will prohibit the creation of any more states after these 42
[3] As part of this restructure, we will abolish the federal allocation regime and replace it with resource control under which states will remain the federating units. Revenue distribution will be as follows - States: 50%; Federation account: 20%; Geo-political zones: 15%; National trust fund: 15%. We shall gradually migrate towards this to achieve our targeted goal by 2040
[4] Geopolitical zones will be responsible for maintaining regional police forces to augment the activities of the Nigerian Police Force
[5] Each geopolitical zone will be constitutionally obliged to generate, distribute and transmit electricity within its domain
[6] Every year, the chairman of the geopolitical zone will rotate among the six governors within it. A chief executive will be appointed to manage what will be a civil service structure
[7] Ultimate authority for the governing of each geo-political zone rests with the committee of governors. There will also be committees of commissioners to deal with matters such as education, health, housing, transport, security, etc
[8] Each geopolitical zone authority will be responsible for secondary specialist healthcare. They will build specialist hospitals in areas such as oncology, HIV/Aids, renal failure, dementia, reproductive health, dermatology, etc
[9] These will be the 42 states that make up the six geopolitical zones:
South-South
[1] Bayelsa State - Yenagoa
[2] West Izon State - Patani
[3] Rivers State - Port Harcourt
[4] Cross River State - Calabar
[5] Akwa Ibom State - Uyo
[6] Edo State - Benin
[7] Delta State - Warri
Northeast
[1] Mambilla State - Gashaka
[2] Taraba State - Jalingo
[3] Adamawa State - Yola
[4] Borno State - Maiduguri
[5] Yobe State - Damaturu
[6] Bauchi State - Bauchi
[7] Gombe State - Gombe
Southeast
[1] Anioma State - Asaba
[2] Orashi State - Omoku
[3] Anambra State - Awka
[4] Imo State - Owerri
[5] Enugu State - Enugu
[6] Abia State - Umuahia
[7] Ebonyi State - Abakaliki
North-Central
[1] Abuja State - Abuja
[2] Gurara State - Kafanchan
[3] Benue State - Makurdi
[4] Plateau State - Jos
[5] Nasarawa State - Lafia
[6] Kogi State - Lokoja
[7] Niger State - Minna
Southwest
[1] Odo Oya State - Ilorin
[2] Oyo State - Ibadan
[3] Ogun State - Abeokuta
[4] Lagos State - Ikeja
[5] Ondo - Akure
[6] Ekiti - Ado-Ekiti
[7] Osun - Oshogbo
Northwest
[1] Sokoto State - Sokoto
[2] Kebbi State - Birnin Kebbi
[3] Kaduna State - Kaduna
[4] Katsina State - Katsina
[5] Kano State - Kano
[6] Jigawa State - Dutse
[7] Zamfara State - Gusua
[10] If any state is unable to meet its running costs, its geopolitical zone is constitutionally obliged to step in and bail it out. If not, the federal government will declare a state of emergency in that state"
This is Renewed Hope. May Nigeria 🇳🇬 rise again and be a nation of blessing and prosperity to ALL!🙏
At the beginning of this year, I said to myself that I'm going to be audacious with my steps and decisions, sad that I didn't live up to that for the most part of the first half of the year. Life has presented me with another opportunity to go again.
Cheers to being audacious🥂