Nigeria captain and goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, has been shortlisted into the final three for the 2014 African Footballer of the Year award. . Caf announced the three finalists for this year’s award on their official website on Christmas Day. . Gabonese Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and the current African Footballer of the Year, Yaya Toure of the Ivory Coast are the other shortlists. . The three men were picked by “head coaches or technical director” of the various national associations, according to Caf. . “Gabonese midfielder Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama and Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure have made the final top…
Author: David Folami
Germany midfielder Sami Khedira has indicated he would be happy to extend his contract with Real Madrid beyond June 2015 if an agreement can be reached. . Khedira, whose season has been disrupted by injuries, is not a first-choice starter under coach Carlo Ancelotti, with Germany teammate Toni Kroos, Croatia international Luka Modric and Spain playmaker Isco all ahead in the pecking order. . Media reports have speculated Khedira could move to Bayern Munich and that several English clubs including Arsenal, where his close friend Mesut Ozil plays, are also interested in securing his services. . Khedira, who joined Real…
Goalkeeper David de Gea believes the busy holiday fixture list offers the perfect opportunity for Manchester United to put some pressure on the Premier League’s top two clubs. . United are third as they prepare to host Newcastle United on Friday, 10 points behind leaders Chelsea and seven behind champions Manchester City. . While a substantial gap, United are on a seven-match unbeaten run and beginning to look like a force again after a sticky start under new manager Louis van Gaal. . Spaniard De Gea, who has been instrumental in United’s upturn, says they must keep the momentum going.…
While professional footballers in the rest of Europe sleep off their Christmas hangovers, the Premier League ploughs on regardless on Friday with a bumper schedule of traditional Boxing Day fixtures. , For the first time in the 2014-15 season, all 20 English top-flight clubs will be in action on the same day, with leaders Chelsea’s home game against high-flying London rivals West Ham United the stand-out match. . Chelsea’s professional 2-0 victory at Stoke City on Monday allowed Jose Mourinho’s side to re-establish a three-point lead over champions Manchester City, who visit West Bromwich Albion on Friday. . The visit…
Algeria’s Sports Minister has appealed to national team supporters not to travel for the Afcon. . There are a few standard hotels in Mongomo where the Desert Foxes will be competing against South Africa, Ghana and Senegal. The best have been allotted to the national teams with the rest deemed to be below par. . “The conditions are inappropriate,” Minister Mohammed Tahmi spoke against the proposed movement of the fans for the 30th edition of the Afcon in Equatorial Guinea at a meeting on Tuesday. . If the pleas of the Algerian government are heeded to, Christian Gourcuff’s side may…
Cape Verde are set to be one of the earliest arrivals in Equatorial Guinea ahead of the Afcon. . The Blue Sharks will leave their camping base for Ebebiyin six days to the start of the 30th Afcon. This has been explained by the need for the team to adapt to the hot and humid climate of Equatorial Guinea by the start of the tournament. . Head coach Rui Aguas has announced a preliminary squad of 30 players who will pitch their pre-tournament camp in Lisbon. According to the coach, the list is a reward for players who took part…
Injured Senegal’s captain Mohamed Diame is in a race against time to be fit for the 2015 Afcon. . The Hull City midfielder suffered a knee injury in their 1-1 draw with Everton on December 3. He had earlier been diagnosed to return by Christmas but further tests have ruled him out into the New Year. He is to wear a brace and sit out for about another month. . The Hull City player, 27, who joined from West Ham in August, hit the ground running with four goals in his first five Premier League games, but knee problems were…
Real Sociedad need to toughen up mentally if they are to reverse a poor away record when they travel to Valencia to face Levante in La Liga on Saturday, according to coach David Moyes. . Sociedad are yet to win away in Spain’s top flight this season and were thumped 4-0 at Villarreal and drew 0-0 at Deportivo La Coruna on their last two trips away from San Sebastian. . With 15 matches played, they are 14th on 14 points, one place higher than when former Manchester United andEverton manager Moyes took over last month. . “It’s very important to…
Jose Mourinho wants to see his Chelsea side adapt to the likely threat of Stoke City when the teams meet at the Britannia Stadium on Monday live on SS3HD and livestreaming on supersport.com. . Title-chasing Chelsea got back on track in the Barclays Premier League against Hull City last weekend, having surrendered their unbeaten start to 2014-15 against Newcastle United a week earlier. . However, with Manchester City hot on their heels, Mourinho’s side travel to Stoke needing no reminder of the corresponding fixture from last season. A stunning Oussama Assaidi strike gave Stoke all three points last term and,…
German World Cup winner Andre Schuerrle has ruled out a move away from Chelsea despite failing to secure a regular starting place this season. . Schuerrle has been troubled by injury and illness since helping his country to the World Cup title in July and says he has no intention of leaving the Premier League leaders. . “The last few weeks I have been able to intensively train and fight myself back into the team,” said the forward in his online blog (www.sportupyourlife) on Monday. “Things are getting better. . “Nevertheless, in a phase with less operating time, transfer rumours…
Barcelona’s star strikers will need to rediscover their scoring touch to stay in the title race in La Liga as the Catalan outfit host struggling Cordoba on Saturday. . In the absence of the injured Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez drew a blank in a 0-0 draw at Getafe last weekend that saw Luis Enrique’s men fall four points behind in-form league leaders Real Madrid. . However, with the European champions playing San Lorenzo in the final of the Club World Cup on Saturday evening, Barca can cut the gap to a single point heading into the new year.…
Barcelona forward Neymar has recovered from a minor ankle problem and is available for Saturday’s La Liga game at home to Cordoba, the club said on Friday. . Neymar has not played since he scored Barca’s second goal in the 3-1 Champions League victory at home to Paris St Germain on Dec. 10 and missed last weekend’s 0-0 La Liga draw at Getafe and Tuesday’s 8-1 drubbing of third-tier Huesca in the King’s Cup. . He trained with the rest of the squad on Friday before being given the all-clear by medical staff as Luis Enrique’s men prepare for their…
Belgian forward Divock Origi will cut short a season-long loan at Lille in January to return to parent club Liverpool, who will pay six million euros for the privilege, according to a source close to the deal. . The 19-year-old, who was bought by Liverpool from Lille in the summer for a reported £10 million after impressing for Belgium at the World Cup, was immediately loaned back to the Ligue 1 side for the duration of this season. . However, the loan agreement included a clause allowing Liverpool to take Origi back in the January transfer window for six million…
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini, without three first choice strikers, has urged his side to conjure up an alternative way of beating Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday. . Edin Dzeko, Stevan Jovetic and Sergio Aguero are all on the treatment table at the Etihad Stadium and in their absence Pellegrini is hoping attacking midfielders Samir Nasri and David Silva can spell trouble for 16th-placed Palace. . “The three strikers are out for tomorrow,” Pellegrini told a news conference on Friday. “None of them are fit so we have to arrange the team without Jovetic, Dzeko and Aguero.…
Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart has signed a new long-term deal with the Premier League champions that will run until the end of the 2018/19 season, the club said on Friday. . Hart has made 276 appearances since joining City in 2006 and has won two Premier League titles, as well as the FA Cup in 2011. . “The club’s growing and I’ve been really lucky to be part of the ride,” the 27-year-old told the City website (www.mcfc.com). . “I just want to keep winning with the team and keep developing. A lot of the boys have…
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger knows all about the ups and downs of football management and expressed sympathy for his beleaguered Liverpool counterpart Brendan Rodgers ahead of their clash at Anfield on Sunday. . Rodgers is facing a stern examination of his managerial credentials this season, with last year’s Premier League runners-up 11th in the table. . Wenger, who has been Gunners boss for 18 years and survived his fair share of challenges, said: “I’ve sympathy for every single manager in the Premier League. Everybody goes through periods where it goes a bit less well. . “Our job is to survive…
Borussia Dortmund and Germany winger Marco Reus has been fined more than half a million euros for driving without a licence for years. . The 25-year-old international, who has been advertising the club’s car sponsor and has also been in ads for a petrol company, received speeding tickets on at least five occasions since 2011 before authorities realised he had been driving without a licence ever since. . “I decided back then to take that road but the reasons I did it are something I cannot really understand today,” Reus, a transfer target for many top European clubs, was quoted…
Javier Mascherano believes that hard work rather than talent has made him a crucial player for Barcelona, who aim to finish the year on a high by closing the gap on Real Madrid at the top of La Liga with a victory over Cordoba on Saturday. . From Pep Guardiola to Luis Enrique, all the coaches Mascherano has worked under during his four years at Barca have relied on his graft and discipline, and the King’s Cup win over Huesca on Tuesday marked the Argentine’s 200th appearance. . Barca have been in transition under Luis Enrique this season but the…
Sunderland manager Gus Poyet appeared to criticise the club’s transfer policy on Thursday when asked if he was going to strengthen his struggling squad in the January transfer window. . “I want more quality. Do I think I’ll get it? I don’t know,” Poyet, whose side face Newcastle United in a Tyne-Wear derby on Sunday, told reporters. . “You know what is missing. It is clear what we need to do. That is down to recruitment. . “So, if you ever get the chance to speak to anyone on the recruitment side and ask them about it, you are lucky.…
Managing Southampton in the Premier League had been a south coast breeze for Ronald Koeman – until this month. . The Dutchman’s Saints have spent almost the whole season in the Premier League top four but four consecutive league defeats and another in the League Cup have been a harsh reality check. . With a frantic fixture list and a squad beginning to creak under the strain, pessimists could argue that Southampton’s almost inevitable descent down the table has begun. . Koeman, however, remains upbeat, even if he will be without the likes of suspended Morgan Schneiderlin and Victor Wanyama…