Lionel Scaloni has kept his promise to leave star forward Lionel Messi out of friendly matches against Iraq and Brazil next month. Argentina faces Iraq on Oct. 11 and Brazil five days later, with three players having the chance to make their debuts in those games. Defender Juan Foyth (Tottenham) and midfielders Rodrigo De Paul (Udinese) and Roberto Pereyra (Watford) were all called up for the first time on Friday. Scaloni is in charge until the end of the year before handing the team to a successor, with Messi’s international future still uncertain. The Barcelona striker’s exclusion does not come…
Author: David Folami
In the 26-year history of the Premier League, it’s difficult to remember many more dramatic shifts in style between Chelsea pre-Maurizio Sarri and Chelsea under the Italian manager. Even Arsenal’s transition from George Graham’s defensive-minded football to Arsene Wenger’s artistic attacking was aided by the one-season reign of Bruce Rioch, who had the demeanour of Graham but preached the importance of playing out from the back and loaded his side with creative talent. Chelsea have not had that type of transition manager and Sarri will have to initiate, and complete, a similar reversal himself. It’s not merely that Chelsea were…
Thomas Tuchel has said he does not believe Ligue 1 football reduces his side’s chances in the Champions League. “Ligue 1 is a very physical league,” Tuchel told a news conference ahead of Saturday’s trip to Nice. “In each team, there are very fast players, dangerous wide men with plenty of speed and endurance. “Le Championnat is very balanced and of high quality. There are teams like Monaco, Marseille and Lyon but also Lille, Nice and Toulouse, who are strong. I do not agree that Ligue 1 is a problem for us. “We have our own limits and we have…
Hertha Berlin stunned Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich 2-0 on Friday for their first win against them in nine years, snapping the champions’ unbeaten run this season and moving the Berliners joint top in the league. Hertha captain Vedad Ibisevic sent Manuel Neuer the wrong way to score with a 23rd minute penalty after Jerome Boateng had brought down Salomon Kalou. Slovak forward Ondrej Duda continued his sensational form with his fifth goal of the season, firing in on the stroke of half-time. Bayern, without injured Leon Goretzka, had their share of chances with Arjen Robben in the first half and…
Unai Emery is confident that Aaron Ramsey won’t let his contract situation affect his performances and called on the midfielder to show his quality amid a stand-off between the club and player over new terms. Emery indicated that he has no plans of dropping the Wales international, though, and said he isn’t worried that his performances could suffer. “I don’t think so,” Emery said ahead of Saturday’s home game against Watford. “I am sure the best for us and the best for him is to take this opportunity to do the best performance each match, to show every supporter his…
Jose Mourinho has refused to expand on his reasons for stripping Paul Pogba of the vice-captaincy or the trigger for a tense exchange between the pair at training but did warn “no player is bigger than the club.” “He’s a player like the others, no player is bigger than the club and if I’m happy with his work he plays, if I’m not happy he doesn’t play,” Mourinho said. “I’m happy with his work this week, really happy. “Manchester United is bigger than anyone and I have to defend that.” Mourinho and Pogba’s training ground confrontation has come amid a…
Everton forward Richarlison could be switched from his regular position on the wing to striker in Saturday’s Premier League game against promoted Fulham, manager Marco Silva said on Friday. He struck twice on his first international start for Brazil to seal a 5-0 friendly win over El Salvador this month to leave Silva mulling the new role for the 21-year-old. “He could be one of the strikers. It is possible, everything is possible. This week I can tell you he worked some moments as a striker. It is up to me to decide tomorrow,” Silva told a news conference. “We…
Jose Mourinho has said the training ground spat with Paul Pogba is nothing compared to some of the things that go on at the club’s Carrington training ground. At a news conference on Friday, the United manager played down the incident by insisting it was lucky camera crews are not allowed in every day. “When you say disruptive or you got on camera me speaking with Paul I am happy that you don’t come here more times because you would get much more than that,” said Mourinho. “I can promise you, much more than that. Much louder, much more aggressive.…
Veteran actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, is presently under heat for her comment, which was aimed at judging what female celebrities wore to the just concluded Africa Movies Viewers Choice Awards held in Lagos on Saturday. The actress allegedly wrote: “The men were well suited looking so modest and handsome while the women were almost nude, though they look so beautiful but you can see that there dresses are either showing their upper thighs or boobs. Except Omotola…her dress is so lovely and divine, with her awesome curves. Other women celebrities should goan learn dress sense from her(sic),” . And many people…
Nicki Minaj has a message to anybody out there who’s rooting for her fall from pop culture grace: you’re giving into one of humanity’s most unattractive qualities. In a preview of her cover story for Wonderland’s Autumn 2018 issue, Minaj, 35, opens up about the fickle nature of celebrity — and how some people are actively hoping the Queen rapper gets dethroned. “I’ve been at the top of this totem pole for a very long time,” she tells the glossy. “Sometimes people just want to see someone who’s been at the top fall, just to see if it can happen.”…
Richard Russell has shared his confidence over Adele‘s next record – as well as revealing what he looks for in an artist before signing them to XL Recordings. Russell is the owner of XL Recordings – home to the likes of Adele, The xx, FKA Twigs, Arca, Sigur Ros, Arca, Thom Yorke and Jungle. Speaking to NME on the red carpet of the Mercury Music Prize, where he was nominated for the collaborative album ‘Everything Is Recorded’, Russell remained tight-lipped about what to expect from Adele’s upcoming fourth album, he did praise her recent ‘Titanic’ themed birthday party. “I went…
Nothing to see here, just Cardi B hanging out with her rival’s ex… The 25-year-old partied with Nicki Minaj’s former boyfriend Meek Mill on Thursday night at the Billboard 2018 R&B Hip-Hop Power Players event at Legacy Records in New York City, where the latter was honored with the Impact Award. Cardi, wearing a lime green fur-lined coat and a light blue wig, and Meek were photographed hanging out together along with rapper Marlo and Pierre “Pee” Thomas, co-founder of the Atlanta-based record label Quality Control Music. The event took place three weeks after Cardi and Nicki got into a…
Davido has announced that he is working with Kiss Daniel on his next single. The DMW boss who cancelled his tour of the United States and has returned home to support the governorship ambition of his Uncle, Senator Ademola Adeleke is back making music and this time he is working once again with Kiss Daniel. He made this known through a post shared on his Twitter page on Tuesday afternoon, September 18 with the caption, ”Kissdaniel x OBO… soon come.” The duo had earlier worked together on the remix of Kiss Daniel’s hit single, ‘Woju’ which also featured Tiwa Savage.…
Big Brother Naija star, Ifu Ennada has joined Belinda Effah and IK Ogbonna for her first role in a movie, ‘The Quest.’ Directed and produced by Dabby Chimere, the movie also stars Ray Emordi and Mercy Mac Joe. Ifu Ennada has been getting movie scripts since she became famous with her activities in the reality TV show. The reality TV star has been on the set of couple of movies in recent times.
Wale is a bit of everything and bit of every other artist and with ”Free Lunch”, he serves a well contrived piece of work that covers Wale the rapper, singer, poet and the one who is bothered about a lot of things. 2018 has been a busy year for the American-Nigerian rapper with ‘Free Lunch’ being his third EP of the year so far, following previous releases in ”It’s Complicated” and ”Self Promotion” with hints that he may be set to retire anytime soon. The past releases have been kept really short allowing room for him to be honest, experimental…
Lil Wayne has finally released his long-awaited album ‘Tha Carter V.’ The 23 track record features artists like the late XXXTentacion, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, Nicki Minaj, his daughter Regina Carter, Sampha, Snoop Dogg, and more was released in the early hours of Friday, September 28, 2018. Producers who worked with him on the album include Swizz Beatz, Metro Boomin, Mannie Fresh, Zaytoven, DJ Mustard, Dr. Dre, among others. Wayne’s mother, Jacida Carter, appears throughout the album, while the track “Dedicate” ends with a sample of Barack Obama talking about Wayne. ‘Tha Carter V’, which is rumoured to be Lil…
Burna Boy is out the visuals to his latest single, ‘Gbona.’ Released in the early hours of Thursday, September 27, ‘Gbona’ by Burna Boy now has a music video to go along with it. The dancehall artist had promised his fans new music ahead of his October concert in London, and he duly delivered with another banging record that is set to grow into an anthem as the festive season beckons. The effect in the Clarence Peters directed video is quite impressive elevating the visuals to a super level.
Desmond Elliot has shared a first look of what to expect from his upcoming movie, ”That Which Binds Us.” What happens when ‘culture’ and ‘tradition’ continue to stand as a justification for oppression in the society? That is one question that veteran actor and lawmaker Desmond Elliot puts to the front burner in his new directed film, ‘That Which Binds Us.” The movie produced by Dayo Amusa tells the story of a widowed woman, Toke Nwachukwu played by Uche Jombo, who has to deal with her husband’s family who invade her home immediately after the loss of her husband, and…
The warning strike called by Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress (TUC), over disagreements on the adoption of a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers was effective in some parts of the country. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that business activities were paralysed in Sango-Ota, Ogun, due to the action as the premises of public institutions remained close. On Sept. 12, NLC issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to either agree with its demand for the tripartite committee deliberating on a new minimum wage to reconvene and complete its assignment. Some of the places NAN…
Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) has defeated Senator Ademola Adeleke of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the race to become the next Osun State governor. The Osun State governorship rerun election took place on Thursday, September 27, 2018, just days after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the original September 22 election to have been inconclusive. This was because the victory margin of 353 votes of first-placed candidate, Adeleke, over second-placed Gboyega was less than the 3498 votes cancelled in seven polling units. The rerun election took place in the affected polling units on Thursday…