Alvaro Morata suffered an apparent hamstring injury while playing in an international friendly for Spain against Belgium on Thursday. Morata lasted just 24 minutes at the King Baudouin Stadium before limping off and being replaced by Chelsea forward Diego Costa. The 23-year-old Real Madrid striker went down off the ball and Spain’s medical staff immediately signalled that he would have to be substituted. Morata could be a doubt for Spain’s opening World Cup qualifying match against Liechtenstein on Monday.
Author: David Folami
Luke Shaw has cleared the air with Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho over remarks the Portuguese made concerning the left back’s high wage demands ahead of a prospective transfer to west London when he was in charge at Chelsea. The 21-year-old rejected a chance to join Chelsea in favour of a switch to United in 2014 with Mourinho saying at the time that Shaw would have “killed” the stability of the dressing room if he had paid “that much to a 19-year-old kid”. “We spoke about it. He said it to me at first. I was just going to leave…
There was a significant shift in the Manchester United approach this summer when Jose Mourinho swept through the doors at Old Trafford. The Red Devils had been threatening to splash the cash for a few years, but upon the Special One’s arrival, United finally had the pull to attract the game’s true superstars. That approach appears ready to become a trend, with United earmarking Antoine Griezmann as next summer’s trophy signing. The Mirror reports that Mourinho is desperate to add the France international and that there is an acceptance that they will have to top the £89 million they splurged…
Manchester United forward Anthony Martial has said he endured a “disastrous” Euro 2016 for France despite his country reaching the final. Martial starred for his country but played only 69 minutes for Didier Deschamps’ side, who were beaten in the Stade de France final by Portugal. The 20-year-old, who scored 12 goals for United after being signed from Monaco by Louis van Gaal, told Telefoot: “It was a very difficult Euros. “We didn’t manage to win the title and the coach only played me for 45 minutes — it was pretty disastrous. “After that I spent it on the bench,…
Mesut Ozil has spoken of his desire to wear the Arsenal No. 10 shirt in the absence of Jack Wilshere, amid talks with the Gunners over a new contract. The 27-year-old has taken over wearing No. 10 for Germany after Lukas Podolski’s retirement and has admitted that he would like the same shirt back at the Emirates Stadium. With Wilshere joining Bournemouth on loan for the season, Ozil says that he now has the opportunity to lock down the number he desires. “It has become free and I will definitely have it,” Ozil told German newspaper Express. “I did a…
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has humiliated Yaya Toure by dropping him from his Champions League squad, according to the player’s agent Dimitri Seluk. Toure, 33, will not be eligible to play in Manchester City’s Champions League group games because Guardiola was forced to drop an overseas players from his squad as UEFA rules permit only 17 players who are not “locally-trained” or “association-trained.” “If he wins the Champions League for City this season then I will travel to England and I will say on television that Pep Guardiola is the best manager in the world,” Seluk told the Sunday…
Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic says that Jose Mourinho was the main reason he chose to move to the Premier League. Ibrahimovic, 34, left Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer this summer but insisted that it was because the Portuguese was now in charge of the club that he made the choice to take his talents to England after turning down two previous opportunities. “I was close two times to moving to the Premier League — once with Arsenal and then Manchester City,” he told reporters. “But it never happened and I don’t need to play in the Premier League.”…
New England manager Sam Allardyce saw his period in charge — and England’s 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign — begin with a victory thanks to Adam Lallana’s late, late goal. With four minutes of injury time up, Danny Rose fired a low ball in and Lallana’s low effort sneaked in off goalkeeper Matus Kozacik. England had come closest to a breakthrough when Lallana saw a fine effort cannon back off a post with 15 minutes remaining, but otherwise there was little to remember in a game that saw home defender Martin Skrtel dismissed for two bookings. And there was little…
New captain Manuel Neuer says Germany has room for improvement when the world champions start their journey to the 2018 World Cup on Sunday in their opening qualifier against Norway. Germany’s path to the finals in Russia starts at Oslo’s Ullevaal Stadium, and they also face Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Azerbaijan and minnows San Marino in group C of their qualifying campaign. But having won nine, and drawn just one of their 10 qualifying games to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, standards dropped in their Euro 2016 qualifiers. They suffered uncharacteristic away defeats to Poland and Ireland on the…
Carl Ikeme and Mikel John Obi say their focus is now on Nigeria’s 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifier against Zambia in Ndola on October 3. Both players featured in their country’s final 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification game against Tanzania at the Nest of Champions on Saturday which they won by a goal, but now “look forward” to the start of the qualification for the World Cup in Russia. Mikel, 29, calls on the country “to stick together” for the coming World Cup qualifiers which will see them face Algeria, Cameroon and Zambia. The Nigeria captain also took time…
Online fans will now be allowed to cast their votes for the Player and Coach of the Month Awards according to the Premier League. The votes for the month awards were previously done by just former players and managers but a new system has been initiated which will allow fans to vote. A shortlist of players and coaches will be released and votes will follow after to decide the winner. Votes from fans, the panel- of former players and managers- and the captain of each Premier League club will determine the winner after the shortlist. For the first of this…
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said President Buhari and his economic team cannot bring the economy back to normal. This is in reaction to the statement made by the minister of finance, Kemi Adeosun, saying the government will implement strict fiscal discipline and diversification so as to fight the recession. The PDP also said the Buhari led administration is not taking the right steps that will bring Nigeria’s economy back on its feet. Speaking on behalf of the party, the Director on New Media, Deji Adeyanju, in a statement obtained from Daily Post, said “Yesterday, the minister of finance, Mrs…
Former president Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday, September 3, reportedly held a closed-door meeting with the embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ali Modu Sheriff, at his hilltop residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State. According to Vanguard, Sheriff arrived Obasanjo’s residence around 11:04am in a convoy of four vehicles and headed straight to the ex-president’s inner room, where the meeting took place. The meeting was said to have lasted for one hour. It was gathered that Obasanjo’s security operatives only allowed the SUV that carried Sheriff into the premises and made other vehicles park outside the residence. The agenda…
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is dead, saying no “soul” is left in the party. Obasanjo stated this on Saturday, September 3, while speaking to newsmen shortly after a private meeting with the party’s factional national chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff, at his Hill top estate in Abeokuta, Ogun state. The former president, who is also a former Chairman, Board of Trustees of PDP, said those behind the destruction of the party are going about “unperturbed.” He sympathised with Sheriff, saying he is “carrying a dying baby” on his “laps.” Obasanjo said he told…
Mark Zuckerberg has carved a reputation for himself as the T-shirt and Jean wearing business executive. However, it was a different looking Zuckerberg who was a guest of President Muhammadu Buhari and his Vice on Friday at the Aso Villa Demo Day. “As you know Mark is a very informal person. I had asked him earlier why he wasn’t wearing his T-shirt but he assured me that that was just out of respect for the formality of coming to see the President”, Osinbajo said. “But it is really exciting to have you here today with us, Mark. “I think that…
The Presidency has again blamed former president Goodluck Jonathan for the current economic recession in the country, urging Nigerians to bear the pain as it is the only way to fix the country. It accused the Jonathan administration of mismanaging the country’s resources, saying the result is what is manifesting under the present government. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, stated this on Friday, September 2, in an opinion article titled “What is President Buhari doing with the economy?” Contrary to the opinions of many prominent Nigerians, including the Emir of Kano, Sanusi…
Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg’s trip to Nigeria and Kenya may have turned the two nations against each other as a twitter war is currently brewing between citizens of the two African countries. Reports say Zuckerberg’s Abuja speech on Friday, September 2, may have sparked the clash. The tech genius, at his meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, had said that Nigerians are highly gifted in the Information Communications Technologies (ICT). “We all met with entrepreneurs as part of Demo Day, an initiative for the Nigerian government to fund entrepreneurs with ideas for improving the country,” Zuckerberg…
Former President, Goodluck Jonathan is responsible for the economic pains Nigerians are currently grappling with, including the high cost of food items in the market, according to President Muhammadu Buhari. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, made this known in an opinion piece he titled: “What is President Buhari doing with the economy?” Shehu says: “To avoid repeating the past mistakes, Nigerians must come to terms with what went wrong with the past, how bad things were, what was done wrongly, what the past government should have done, before we come to what…
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has referred to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the armed robber who is “now the one sympathising with the victim.” Reacting to the party’s call for the resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari over the current economic recession in the country, the minister said Nigeria would not have been in its present depleted state if the immediate past administration did what ought to have been done. He stated this in Abuja on Friday , September 2, at a forum with the News Agency of Nigeria. Mohammed said: “While we are not…
The Lagos State Government on Saturday said owners of buildings recently demolished in Ikoyi area of the state were duly served with contravention, removal and quit notices before the exercise was carried out. The Commissioner for Ministry of Information and Strategy, Mr Steve Ayorinde, said in a statement that the government had noted with dismay the disobedience of building regulations and resolved to remove illegal structures. “In our effort to maintain a sustainable and organised environment, the government will not renege on its declared stance of zero tolerance for structures and properties without development permit or approved building plans. “We…