Sport

African champions, the Super Falcons of Nigeria have been eliminated from the race to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics women’s football tournament on Monday after forcing the Les Elephantes of Cote d’Ivoire to a 1-1 draw at the Agege Stadium in Lagos. Last week Thursday, both teams had settled for a scoreless draw in Abidjan and with today’s result the Ivorians …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua:   First the highlights: Liverpool underlined their determination to win the Premier League title as they blew away bitter rivals Manchester United 3-1 on Sunday. Manchester City also won 3-1 against Everton on Saturday, but the champions remained in second. Arsenal’s long unbeaten run came to a shock end, while Eden Hazard thrived as a ‘false nine’ …

By: Joseph Aigbonosumua   Goals from Leroy Sane and Riyad Mahrez gave Manchester City a hard-fought win at Watford which re-established their five-point cushion at the top of the Premier League table. BBC reports that City had been frustrated early on by saves from Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster until Sane scored in the 40th minute by diverting in Riyad Mahrez’s …

By: Joseph Aigbonosumua   The Super Falcons of Nigeria have emerged the champions of Africa for an amazing ninth time as they beat South Africa 4-3 on Saturday in a nervy final match at the Accra Sports Stadium. The Falcons were pushed to the wire as they had to go through the extra time and penalty kicks for the first …

By: Joseph Aigbonosumua   The Falcons of Nigeria on Tuesday defeated the Three Lionesses of Cameroon to qualify for the final of the 2018 African Women Cup Of Nations (AWCON). The match ended in penalties with the Falcons winning 4-2. The highly competitive semi-final match in the Ghanaian stadium ended 0-0 after 90 minutes of football. An extra time of …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua:   Nigeria have again left out captain Mikel John Obi from next month’s crucial 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in South Africa after they named a 23-man squad. China-based Mikel Obi, who made his Nigeria debut in 2005, has not played for the country since he captained the team to the World Cup in Russia in …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   Ahmed Musa, the Stand–in skipper of the Super Eagles and 21 other invited Super Eagles players have arrived in Uyo, capital of Akwa Ibom State ahead of Saturday’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against the Mediterranean Knights of Libya. The arrivals enabled Coach Gernot Rohr and crew to organize a full training session on Tuesday evening, …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   Lorenzo Insigne stuck late as Napoli snatched a 1-0 win over an outclassed Liverpool in a Champions League Group C game the hosts dominated in the Stadio San Paolo on Wednesday. Carlo Ancelotti’s side had piled the pressure on Liverpool before finally finding a way through on 90 minutes when Jose Callejón broke down the right …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   Lionel Messi’s Wembley masterclass and a sublime strike from Ivan Rakitic got Barcelona back in the groove as they clinched a pulsating 4-2 victory against Tottenham on Wednesday. Ernesto Valverde’s side arrived in London for the Champions League Group B tie amid a mini-crisis after failing to win their last three La Liga games. But the …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua:   Luka Modric ended Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s decade-long domination of football’s individual awards by being crowned FIFA’s best player of the year on Monday. The Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder starred for both club and country as Madrid won a third straight Champions League, and he inspired Croatia to reach the World Cup final for …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   Anthony Joshua retained his world heavyweight titles by inflicting the first stoppage defeat of Alexander Povetkin’s professional career with a ruthless seventh-round finish at Wembley Stadium on Saturday. A previously close contest turned in Joshua’s favour decisively when he sent the Russian crashing to the canvas with a straight right hand and left hook. Povetkin gamely …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   A tearful Cristiano Ronaldo was controversially sent off as Juventus claimed a hard-fought win at Valencia. The Portuguese forward, making his Champions League debut for Juve, appeared to grab Valencia defender Jeison Murillo’s hair as they tangled off the ball midway through the first half and referee Felix Brych consulted his assistant behind the goal before …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   Enyimba International FC of Aba, Nigeria’s representatives in the CAF Confederation Cup, on Sunday held hosts Rayon Sports of Rwanda to a goalless draw in a quarter-final first leg fixture. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the People’s Elephant were drawn with the Rwandan side in the quarter-finals pairings by the African football body (CAF). The first …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first competitive goals for Juventus on Sunday, with a second-half double by the Portuguese star giving the Italian champions a 2-1 Serie A win over Sassuolo to make it four victories from as many games. The 33-year-old tapped in from barely a yard out after a goalmouth scramble on 50 minutes, and added a …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   Nigeria Football Federation has charged the Golden Eaglets to beat Ghana in the final of the West Africa Football Union zone B qualifiers for the CAF U17 Africa Cup of Nations in Niger Republic with a promise of additional financial incentives. Golden Eaglets/ Photo Credit: NFF (Twitter) The Golden Eaglets will qualify for the tournament in …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   Liberia president and former world footballer of the year George Weah made a surprise return to international football Tuesday at the age of 51 in a 2-1 friendly defeat by Nigeria. The international match in Monrovia was organized to ‘retire’ the number 14 shirt worn by Weah, who was voted world, European and African footballer of the year in 1995. …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   Nigeria U-17 team, the Golden Eaglets recorded a tremendous 5-1 victory over their Ivorian counterparts on Thursday put them back on track in their quest to qualify for the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations to be staged next year in Tanzania. After they lost their opening game narrowly to Burkina Faso in the WAFU U17 B …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   Mexican second-division football club Dorados to replace departing coach Francisco Ramirez Gamez with Argentine legend Diego Maradona who has been hired by the team’s board as announced on thursday by the club “We’ve hired him to come work with us. We want him to stay the rest of this season and next,” said Jorgealberto Hank Inzunza, …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   Former Brazil striker Ronaldo has taken control of Real Valladolid after buying 51 percent of the La Liga club’s shares, it was announced on Monday. At a press conference held in the city’s town hall, Valladolid president Carlos Suarez said: “Today is a starting point. Ronaldo personally acquires 51 percent of the shares of Real Valladolid.” …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   Former Manchester City and Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure rejoined Olympiakos on Sunday, 12 years after making his mark in Europe with the Greek Super League club. The 35-year-old Ivorian international played for the Piraeus-based side during the 2005-2006 season, scoring three goals in 20 matches. He then joined Monaco before moving to Barcelona between 2007 and …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   Nigeria defeated Sierra Leone by 137 runs to dominate African division two of the ICC under 19 World Cup qualifier tournament in Potchefstroom, South Africa. The opening partnership of 148 runs between Olaleye Elijah and Samuel Mba, gave Nigeria a dream start. The opening batsman struck a majestic 110, as he and Samuel Mba 62 put …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   Boxer Curtis Harper has been criticised by his trainer for leaving the ring after the opening bell of a heavyweight bout in protest over pay. The 30-year-old American instantly walked out of the arena when the bell sounded for his bout against Efe Ajagba of Nigeria in Minneapolis. Trainer Nate Campbell said he was “embarrassed” by …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua     Ronaldo has pushed Juventus, the Serie A champions over the billion-euro mark on the stock exchange as He plays his first competitive game in Turin this Saturday According to Calcio e Finanza, a specialist sport and finance website, at the close of business on Friday, Juventus were valued at 1.035 billion euros ($1.2 billion). It …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   The footballers’ Union of Spain on Wednesday threatened to strike over controversial plans by Spain’s football administration to play a La Liga match in the United States, blasting a decision based only on “money and business”. “We are tired of these unilateral decisions that directly affect the players like this plan of playing outside Spain,” said …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   One may be wondering why the Argentina born, Barcelona play maker was not shortlisted among the top 3 players tipped for 2017/18 player of year. Some analyst attributed it to his country’s performance in the Russia 2018 world Cup and his team inability to win the Champions league. You will recall that after an incredible debut …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is to travel to Liberia this week to receive the West African country’s highest honour. The honour is in recognition of his role in the development of the football career of President George Weah. Another of Weah’s coaches in his formative years, Claude Le Roy, is also to be awarded the …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   Laolu Akande, Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday said the Federal Government had conveyed to FIFA a letter recognising Amaju Pinnick-led Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) as the substantive board of the federation. Akande, who tweeted this on his tweeter account, said that the Pinnick-led NFF was the current and only …

Some cattle dealers in Kano who had stocked domestic animals such as goats, rams and cows for sale ahead of Sallah, are complaining of low patronage. Some of them who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Kano‎ lamented that their hopes for brisk business had been dashed as a result of the poor state of …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   Chelsea recovered from the shock of blowing a two-goal lead against Arsenal as Marcos Alonso’s late strike sealed a 3-2 win, giving the blues their desired victory. Maurizio Sarri’s side raced into a 2-0 lead in the London derby before Arsenal drew level in a thrilling first half at Stamford Bridge. Pedro swept home with a …

By Joseph Aigbonosumua   Nigeria’s Falconets was yesterday sent out of the ongoing Under-20 Women World Cup in France by Spain. Falconets were beaten 2-1 by the Spanish women team to qualify for the semi-final stage of the competition. First half goals from Aitana Bonmati and Patri Guijarro gave Spain victory in the quarter-final match. On an overcast afternoon at the …