To shock the entire footballing world, Wayne Rooney, England’s all-time top scorer, has announced his immediate retirement from international football. England manager Gareth Southgate called Rooney on Tuesday to say he wanted to include the striker in his upcoming squad after his start to life back at boyhood club Everton. However, the Manchester United legend will no longer feature for his country after informing Southgate of his decision to quit international football for good in the same phone conversation. Rooney said: “It was great that Gareth Southgate called me this week to tell me he wanted me back in the…
Author: David Folami
Cristiano Ronaldo has been named as the UEFA Player of the Year after he aided Real Madrid to win the Champions League for a second successive time last season. Ronaldo was shortlisted along with Gianluigi Buffon and Lionel Messi for the award, which was created in 2011. He scored five goals in the quarterfinal victory over Bayern Munich, with a hat trick in the second leg at the Bernabeu. Another treble followed in the first leg of the semifinal against Atletico Madrid, and two more goals came in the final success over Juventus. Barcelona’s Messi scored 54 goals for his…
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has revealed that he had “upgraded” his Manchester United shirt number to 10 after agreeing to Romelu Lukaku’s wish to wear No. 9. Ibrahimovic will be back for United later this season after signing a new contract at the club, despite the striker being currently sidelined by a knee ligament injury sustained in April. “Lukaku called me and said: ‘Bro, can I get the No. 9 shirt?'” Ibrahimovic said. “I said: ‘I’m not on that level that I will make it difficult for you, I just want you to feel happy and feel welcome, so I give you…
Neymar has filed a claim to FIFA against Barcelona for an unpaid renewal bonus as the war that erupted since his world-record transfer to PSG continues, world football’s governing body has confirmed. The wing wizard believes he is entitled to €26 million which Barca were due to pay him this summer as the second part of a bonus for the contract renewal he signed last October. However, the Spanish giants announced after his move to PSG that they would not be paying the rest of the bonus as the requirements of the contract had not been met. Neymar replied by…
Juventus’ general manager Beppe Marotta believes Barcelona are no longer a force the Turin-based club must fear like they would have done few years ago after being drawn with the Catalans in Group D of the Champions League. He said “Every group has its dangers and it’s important that you are in form when you play those games, but Barcelona have weakened now that they have lost Neymar, even if they are still dangerous,” he told Mediaset television. “We’ll have to see how they replace him, but they are bound to have a quality team.” Juve will also battle Olympiakos…
Ronald Koeman praised Gylfi Sigurdsson’s “incredible” goal after the Iceland international aided his side into the group stages of the Europa League after a 1-1 away draw with Hajduk Split. Wayne Rooney was back in action a day after announcing his retirement from international football with England, but it was the home side who threatened early on. The Stadion Poljud was buzzing just before half-time when Josip Radosevic reduced the deficit with a 30-yard effort. The home fans, though, were left in sad silence less than a minute after the restart when midfielder Sigurdsson — who completed his £45 million…
Jurgen Klopp has come out to say that teams in the Champions League will fear Liverpool after they were drawn with Spartak Moscow, Sevilla and Maribor in the group stages. When asked by the club’s website whether teams in Europe would be fearful of his side, the Reds boss replied: “In this moment, for sure. “But it depends on our performance. We had a nice sign last night [in the second leg against Hoffenheim on Wednesday] — the first 20 minutes were probably part of the best pieces of football I was ever part of. That was really impressive. “But…
Manchester City have dashed fans’ hopes about big money moves for Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe before this summer’s transfer window closes. Director of football Txiki Begiristain says neither will join City before the Aug. 31 deadline, but hasn’t ruled out other deals happening. Messi’s contract extension remains unsigned and reports has spread in Spain that he could be interested in reuniting with former boss Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium. “Come on, it’s impossible,” Begiristain said. “He will stay at Barcelona.” “We are out of the race — it is impossible to do it with the time remaining,” Begiristain…
Barcelona have reached an agreement with Borussia Dortmund for the €150 million transfer of Ousmane Dembele, according to multiple reports, although Borussia Dortmund’s chief executive has refused to confirm them. A base fee of €120 million was first reported on Thursday by BeIN Sports, and French newspaper L’Equipe, German outlet Bild, and Spanish reporter Guillem Balague all said the deal would reach €150m, with €30m of that in bonus payments. Joachim Watzke however said the club would not be saying anything on the Dembele situation ahead of the Champions League draw in Monaco on Thursday and cast doubt on the…
Crucial contributions from summer signings Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jordan Pickford ensured a 1-1 draw for Everton at Hajduk Split and progress to the Europa League group stages. This was a case of mission accomplished with Everton through and with tougher tests ahead. As much as football can the most important, some things are more key. When the club announced in May that midfielder Aaron Lennon was receiving treatment for a stress-related illness, it brought into focus the human aspect and the pressures of the game. While the former Tottenham winger briefly featured in preseason, this game saw Lennon return to…
The Biafra Zionists’ Federation (BZF) has said that President Buhari did not tell the truth to Nigerians during his speech. BZF’s leader, Benjamin Onwuka said this recently. He said “We are speaking today in response to the broadcast said to have been made by Buhari. We want to let the world know that Buhari is wasting his time; he has been defeated. “He didn’t start failing today; he supported Hillary Clinton during the US election, but they all failed; he knows it. “So, his broadcast is a waste of time; a compendium of lies; Biafrans challenge him, let him produce…
De-worming of about 10,000 under five Internally Displaced Children in Yola recently began. Mr Ikeotuonye Chukwunonso, May & Baker’s Public Sector Officer in charge of North, revealed this during the launching of the Programme held at Malkohi IDPs camp in Yola on Tuesday. “The company is targeting to de-worm about 10,000 under five children living in various Internally Displaced Persons Camps in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. “The programme is designed to complement Federal and State Governments efforts in providing good healthcare in various camps in the region.” Chukwunonso said. In addition, he said the company had extended the programme with…
The Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari, Sen. Babafemi Ojudu, on Tuesday, August 23, 2017, held a meeting with the Coalition of Northern Youths. “Had a lengthy and resourceful meeting with leaders of the Coalition of Northern Groups today. “They were the youths who some weeks ago shocked the nation by issuing a notice to the Igbos to quit the Northern part of the country on or before October 1. “After the meeting, they resolved to reconsider their position and this will be made known at a press conference on Thursday. “They described their action as pre-emptive because of the…
Samuel Ortom has paid wife of his assassinated aide, Dr Tervershima Adyorough, a visit at Benue State Teaching Hospital, where she is receiving treatment. Gov Ortom told reporters that he would ensure that the killers of Adyorough were arrested. He also told security operatives to do everything possible to arrest the killers. ” They must be brought to book, no matter how long it will take.” He made known his commitment to providing good governance and achieving the targets of his administration within his tenure. He described the late Adorough as a “dependable ally who was committed to the development…
The Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere has warned President Buhari not to treat the Indigenous People of Biafra like Boko Haram. The group’s National Secretary, Yinka Odumakin said that all IPOB has done is call for a sit at home, while Boko Haram has been murdering people and destroying properties in the North-East. “While Boko Haram is a terrorist organization that goes about bombing people and places, IPOB is an open organization. “What IPOB has done is to call for a sit-at-home but Boko Haram is a terrorist group, except you want IPOB to go underground like Boko Haram. “It is…
The Federal Government has commissioned 1,000 kilometres of major gas pipelines, with an additional 1,400km planned for construction before the end of the year. Maikanti Baru, group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), confirmed this in Lagos at the Society of Petroleum Engineers Conference. He said the pipeline project shows the government’s determination to push enough gas to the power sector to ensure effective generation of electricity. According to Maikanti, trememdous progress has also been made in the reduction of flared gas volumes as, “we envisage a near zero flare in the not too distant future, as…
Atolagbe Alege, the Commissioner for Health in Kwara, says no outbreak of a mysterious disease had been seen in the state. A report circulated that a strange disease was taking over the Fulani community in the town, with infected victims defecating a black substance and vomiting blood before dying. “The ministry sees it as a rumour because we deployed a response team comprising of an epidemiologist, directors of public health and the disease surveillance response team,” he said. “The governor has directed the general hospitals across the state to be on standby in case of any unforeseen occurrence,” he said.
Three health workers of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) have tested positive for Lassa fever infection. The Chief Medical Director of LUTH, Prof. Chris Bode, confirmed this recently. Bode said, “Three of the persons who had symptoms have been admitted to the Isolation Ward and are receiving treatment at the Isolation Ward. They are being cared for by a group of professionals, volunteer doctors, epidemiologists, microbiologists, emotional care givers and cleaners all round the clock. “And I want to assure the concerned public that they are responding well to treatment. This current outbreak is effectively being traced on the…
Chris Bode, the Chief Medical Director, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Lagos, on Wednesday said no life was lost to any “strange disease” linked to Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) in the hospital. Bode said: “HPV does not cause sudden mass deaths in humans. “Medical literature informs us that the human papillomavirus causes a number of diseases in man, and the ordinary wart is the commonest of these. “The virus is also known to cause cancer of the cervix in females, genital cancer and cancer of the throat. Occasionally, it can prevent pregnancy. “The virus is found only in humans…
The Kogi State Commissioner for Health, Dr Saka Audu, on Sunday said that the alleged unknown disease has been revealed to be gastroenteritis and therefore called for calmness. The state Ministry of Health, had in a statement, said that the disease took many lives in Okunran, Okoloke and Isanlu-Esa in Yagba West Local Government Area. “The current information available to us is that the disease actually started six weeks ago in Okoloke village in Yagba West, which is a settlement that is predominantly inhabited by Fulani herdsmen. “There have been cases of reported deaths following abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea,…