Nigeria coach Emmanuel Amunike says he is disappointed with his team’s loss to South Africa, but the loss will help the team become better. . The Golden Eaglets, who are the defending world champions, lost 1-0 to South Africa in the first semifinal of the on-going Caf Africa Junior Championship in Niamey, Niger Republic. . Eric Mayo’s 27th minute goal was all that separated the two sides in a tie that Amunike says could have gone either way. . “We made mistakes and we were punished but I felt we deserved something from the game,” he told supersport.com . “Congratulations…
Author: David Folami
Bayer Leverkusen stunned last season’s runners-up Atletico Madrid 1-0 in their Champions League round of 16 first leg on Wednesday courtesy of a fine strike by Hakan Calhanoglu. . The Turkey international scored the 57th-minute winner to set Leverkusen, who are struggling for form in the Bundesliga, on the way to their first ever win at this stage of the competition. . “This was a very, very good game from us,” goalkeeper Bernd Leno, who twice rescued his team in the first half, told reporters. . “We showed a reaction to the criticism of the past week. We had some…
Arsenal are in danger of an embarrassing exit from the Champions League after Monaco romped to a stunning 3-1 win in the last 16 first leg at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday. . Arsene Wenger’s team were left shell-shocked as Geoffrey Kondogbia put the French club ahead with a deflected first half strike before former Tottenham forward Dimitar Berbatov marked his return to north London with the second goal after the interval. . Berbatov’s cool finish was a hammer blow to the Arsenal fans who had jeered him for his past allegiance to their bitter rivals and there was worse…
Super Eagles out-of-contract goalkeeper trainer, Ike Shorunmu, has described as unfortunate the Golden Eaglets ouster at the ongoing African Under-17 Championship in Niger Republic. . The reigning world champions lost 0-1 to their South African opposition, Amajimbos, in Wednesday’s semifinal clash at the General Seyni Kountche Stadium in Niamey. . Shorunmu said nobody could have foreseen Eaglets’ ouster in the hands of South Africans as the side were quite impressive in their past matches. . “It’s quite unfortunate for Eaglets to see off their title hope in the semifinal against South Africa. . “I never imagined that they could be…
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney is used to Champions League football in midweek but with Louis van Gaal’s side outside of Europe this season the England star enjoyed some time off with his sons. . Rooney posted a picture on his Instagram page next to one of his sons with the caption: ‘Good to have my little mates back from holiday. Trip to the cinema to see Peppa Pig!’ . The 29-year-old was relaxing away from Manchester United’s disjointed Premier League campaign before they face Sunderland on Saturday. . Van Gaal’s side are currently fourth in the Premier League, despite…
Manchester United are preparing a bid for PSG striker Edinson Cavani. The Daily Star says United will send Radamel Falcao back to AS Monaco at the end of this season and seek to replace him with Cavani. . It is understood PSG are willing get Cavani off the wage bill in the summer to help them meet UEFA’s financial fair play regulations. . And it’s suggested United will go to £300,000-a-week to bring Cavani to Old Trafford. . A source said: “Edinson Cavani has been targeted as the big-name striker the club wants and United are confident of pulling it…
Ahead of a landmark 300th La Liga appearance, Lionel Messi drew glowing praise from Barcelona head coach Luis Enrique. Luis Enrique paid tribute to Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi ahead of his 300th La Liga appearance, describing the forward as “from a different planet.” . The Argentina captain has been the flag bearer for Barcelona for the best part of the last decade, scoring an incredible 266 Liga goals – a record in Spain’s top tier. . Messi, widely recognised as one of the top two players of his generation alongside Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, has won six league titles, two…
With the calamitous start to the season for René Girard’s men in the French Ligue Un, number one choice goalie, Vincent Enyeama has suggested a realistic goal for Les Dogues is to ensure they climb up the top half of the table. . Enyeama who was focal to the success story of Girard’s men last season helping them secure a European spot, but, has seen some bad days in goal for the club this term, concedes the road to realizing last season’s form will be tougher than imagine. . ” Its not going to be easy but we’re believing God…
Erstwhile Dinamo Moscow striker, Ruslan Pimenov has dismissed speculation linking the Russian club with a move for Nigerian and Fenerbache forward,Emmanuel Emenike. . According to reports, Dinamo Moscow was planning a move for the former Spartak Moscow striker but the Pimenov opined that the club had better attackers than Emmenike. . He stressed that Dinamo needs to focus on the growth of their strikers and forget a possible transfer of the Nigerian forward. . Emenike current contract with the Yellow Canaries expires in 2016 after penning a four deal in 2013 with the Nigerian recording three goals in all competition…
West Brom manager Tony Pulis hailed the transformation of Brown Ideye after the striker scored a double in their 4-0 victory over West Ham in the FA Cup on Saturday. . Pulis guided his side to a convincing victory as goals from James Morrison, Saido Berainho and Ideye – who was a target for Qatari club Al Gharafa in January – sealed the win. . Yet the Baggies boss reserved special praise for Ideye, who initially struggled after making a club- record £10 million switch from Dynamo Kyiv but has put aside a return of two goals in his first…
Former Nigeria skipper Joseph Yobo has urged the Flying Eagles to work harder so they could be bigger stars than he and his contemporaries were. . Yobo met up with the Nigeria U-20 at the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos at the weekend on their way to Ghana for two test matches against their Ghanaian counterparts. . “You can be bigger stars than we were, Yobo told the players. . “I left this country for Europe when I was just 17 and before you know it, I was my family’s bread winner. You can also do same and even more,…
Former Golden Eaglets star,Kelechi Iheanacho made a brief return to action. . Tuesday night when he featured for 10 minutes as Manchester City under-19s marched into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Youth League with a hard-fought penalty shoot-out win over Schalke at the Academy Stadium. . The Nigerian starlet,SPORTING Jersey NUMBER 39 came on for Barker for the last 20 minutes to help provide a focal point up front but a tough tackle forced him off and would be replaced by Celina in the 80th minute. . It was Iheanacho’s first game in the competition after recovering from a knee…
Former Super Eagles coach, Christian Chukwu, has asserted that the side’s head coach is not a birthright or preserve for former handler, Stephen Keshi. . The out-of-contract Eagles gaffer on Wednesday lost his concerted bid for the Burkina Faso hot job as the 2013 Afcon runners-up preferred the German, Gernot Rohr for the Stallions. . The Amaju Pinnick led Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) executive board has not been firm on whether or not to offer the former Mali and Togo gaffer a new contract. . Chukwu said the NFF should be firm and prompt on the Eagles job and stop…
Swansea City are investigating allegations a club director made disparaging comments about Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal. John van Zweden reportedly told a Dutch TV crew Van Gaal was “arrogant” after Saturday’s 2-1 home win over United. . “It is disappointing that one of our directors has apparently made a statement in the media in relation to a manager of another club,” Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins said. . Van Zweden joined the board in 2002. Jenkins added: “Our football club prides itself on having a good working relationship with all Premier League clubs, managers and staff. . “We feel…
Midfielder Jon Toral scored a hat-trick as Brentford easily overcame 10-man Blackpool. Toral, on loan from Arsenal, had put the Bees 2-0 up before Charles Dunne was sent off for Lee Clark’s struggling Blackpool side. . Andre Gray made it 3-0 then Toral completed his hat- trick to keep Brentford just a point off the top six. The home team registered 42 shots – 14 on target – while Blackpool had two shots, with one on target. . Former Barcelona trainee Toral, who joined Brentford on loan at the start of the season, scored his first goal since November when…
Steaua Bucharest have been told by Uefa to play their next two home European matches behind closed doors following the racist behaviour of their fans. . Steaua’s fans unveiled a racist banner at their Europa League match against Dynamo Kiev in Bucharest in December. . Uefa punished the Romanian club for what was the third instance of racism from their supporters this season. . They were also fined €20,000 (£14,668) for two further offences: setting off fireworks and use of a laser pointer. . Steaua were knocked out of this season’s Europa League at the group stage and the stadium…
Liverpool will be without Jordan Henderson, Glen Johnson and Mamadou Sakho for Thursday’s Europa League trip to Besiktas. . Henderson has an ankle injury, while Johnson is ill and Sakho’s ongoing hip problem rules him out of the tie where the Reds take a 1-0 lead to Turkey. Captain Steven Gerrard (hamstring) and Lucas Leiva (groin) remain sidelined. . Besiktas’s top-scorer Demba Ba missed Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Eskisehirspor with a calf complaint and is a doubt. . The loss saw Slaven Bilic’s side fall off top spot in their domestic league with Galatasaray moving above them. . And without…
Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard will keep his place for their Europa League tie with Young Boys despite poor form. . The American was criticised for both Leicester goals in Sunday’s 2-2 draw but boss Roberto Martinez said he will continue in the last-32 second leg. . The Blues will assess midfielders Leon Osman and Steven Pienaar, who have not featured since December, as Everton prepare to defend a 4-1 first- leg lead. . Sylvain Distin is fit but Christian Atsu misses out through illness. . Howard’s performance against Leicester City drew questions and only a late own goal earned Everton…
Tottenham face two cup finals in a week according to boss Mauricio Pochettino ahead of a Europa League tie with Fiorentina and the League Cup final. . Spurs meet Chelsea at Wembley less than 72 hours after playing the round of 32 second leg in Italy. . “I think this is our first final before Sunday,” said Pochettino, whose side drew 1-1 in the first leg. . “It’s important now but we are ready and confident to take the game to try to get the victory.” . Spurs have reached at least the last-16 in the Europa League in each…
Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere looks set to be rested for Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 first leg against Monaco after ankle surgery. . Aaron Ramsey (hamstring), Mikel Arteta (ankle), Abou Diaby (calf) and Mathieu Debuchy (shoulder) are unavailable. . Monaco have injury worries over left-back Layvin Kurzawa and winger Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco. Midfielders Jeremy Toulalan and Tiemou Bakayoko and defenders Ricardo Carvalho and Andrea Raggi are out. . Monaco, who qualified for this stage by topping Group C having conceded one goal, have not played Arsenal before but the French league club have done well against English opposition in knockout rounds previously.…