Unai Emery has backed Petr Cech to keep his starting role against Chelsea and praised the goalkeeper’s performance against Manchester City despite his struggles to play the ball out of the back. Emery, whose style of play puts added pressure on the goalkeeper’s passing ability, said that game has not made him change his mind about starting Cech over newcomer Bernd Leno when they travel to Stamford Bridge this weekend. “For Saturday, the decision for me is easy. Petr Cech can continue to start the match, I believe in him. [But] if Bernd starts, I believe in him also,” Emery…
Author: David Folami
Real Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui said “experts” Atletico Madrid “punished” his team in a 4-2 extra-time loss in the UEFA Super Cup. After the match, Lopetegui told reporters: “A final is typically won by the team who capitalises on circumstances and Atletico are experts in doing that and they deserved to win. “We aren’t happy with the result, it’s not normal for us to concede four goals and we need to improve. I insist that we played well, but they punished us with their goals.” But the coach said he was certain the team were still full of hunger to…
Serie A has postponed the weekend’s opening Serie A fixtures involving Genovese clubs Genoa and Sampdoria following the bridge collapse that killed at least 39 people in the Ligurian city on Tuesday, after calls to postpone all the league’s games. Sampdoria were due to host Fiorentina on Sunday evening while Genoa were scheduled to travel to AC Milan, but both games will now be played at a later date, the Lega Serie A announced on Thursday. A minute’s silence will also be held at the weekend’s other eight Serie A grounds ahead of the start of the new season, and…
Roberto Martinez is considering calling up Manchester United’s Andreas Pereira for upcoming international friendlies, sources have said. However, a source close to the playmaker said he still has his sights set on representing the Brazil national team and would turn down a chance to play for Belgium in the September friendlies against Scotland and Iceland in order to wait for a call from Brazil coach Tite. Former Everton boss Martinez met United manager Jose Mourinho after the Red Devils’ 2-1 victory over Leicester City last Friday and the two spoke about Pereira, sources said. Pereira was born in Duffel, Belgium,…
Roma sporting director Monchi said on Thursday that he believes midfielder Steven Nzonzi is a better player than Malcom, who spurned the club to join Barcelona last month. When asked about how the signing of the France international compares to what Roma would have had with Malcom, Monchi praised Nzonzi. “Don’t you think a world champion is better than Malcom?” Monchi said at a news conference. “I didn’t say I would have signed somebody with the same role. I said I wanted to sign somebody better, and to me, Steven is better than Malcom.” Nzonzi, 29, joined Sevilla from Stoke…
Matias Messi, brother of Barcelona and Argentina star Lionel Messi, has been sentenced for illegally possessing a firearm. Messi received a 2 ½-year prison sentence on Thursday but will not go to jail. He was instead ordered to perform community service. La Capital newspaper in the Argentine city of Rosario says that the decision was reached under a deal with investigating prosecutors. The weapon was found late last year inside a blood-stained boat which Messi crashed in the Parana River. The 35-year-old Messi was held under preventive arrest and later released while he recovered from a fractured jaw and other…
Fernando Torres may still be seeking a first goal in Japan but the Spanish striker is encouraged by the upturn in Sagan Tosu’s results since he arrived in July. The latest result was a fine 0-0 draw at the home of title-chasing Kawasaki Frontale on Wednesday that took Tosu, with just 17 goals in 22 games this season, into 15th in the 18-team league. It was another defensive display by the visitors but it left the former Atletico Madrid, Liverpool and Chelsea striker isolated in attack and without any shots on goal over the 90 minutes. “This was a good…
Kick It Out chairman Lord Herman Ouseley said there has been a “shameful silence” over the criticism of Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling. Sterling was the focus of negative attention in parts of the media for a tattoo on his leg depicting a gun. He has also been in the newspapers for driving an unwashed car, shopping at a discount store and buying sausage rolls from the bakery Greggs. Despite England’s run to the World Cup semifinals yielding widespread praise across the country, Sterling’s performances were often the subject of criticism — and Lord Ouseley has called on English football’s governing…
Manuel Pellegrini has ruled out a move for free agent Yaya Toure, and said his squad is “complete.” “Yaya Toure is a good player, he will always be a good player, but for the moment he is not for West Ham,” Pellegrini said. “For the moment, the squad is complete.” Toure scored 20 goals in the Premier League as City claimed the 2013-14 title under Pellegrini, and the pair spent three seasons together at the Etihad. The former Ivory Coast international then saw his first team opportunities limited once Pellegrini was replaced by Pep Guardiola in 2016, and last season…
Samuel Ortom has said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has subjected state government officials to intense grilling, saying that the persecution was becoming “ridiculous”. Mr Terver Akase, his press sec, who raised the alarm on Wednesday in Makurdi, said “no day passes without the commission adding one more angle to their harassment of Benue officials. “Their latest move is the demand for minutes of the Benue State Security Council meetings.” Querying the legality of their request, Akase asked “does the statutory mandate of the commission include regulation of states’ security affairs?”
Nigerian Governors have said they are not elected to pay salaries only and would not perform magic when there are no funds to implement other projects. Abdulaziz Yari, Zamfara state governor and the chairman of the NGF made the revelation on Thursday, August 16, 2018. “I don’t think you people voted us for only to pay salaries. You are looking for good roads, electricity, education, and others. So, we can’t do magic. It’s only when we have the funds do all those things,” Yari said. Reacting to the discussion on the proposed increased minimum wage, Yari said, “We have a…
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola once verbally assaulted her over savings in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) and Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF). Okonjo-Iweala says as oil prices began to plummet circa 2014, she got the backing of then President Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo to save for the rainy day. However, she adds, powerful state governors were having none of it. “Oil prices had recovered from their 2008 lows and were hovering near $86 a barrel in August 2011. There was no reason not to save more. I sounded the alarm right away and continued…
Goodluck Jonathan’s former spokesperson, Reuben Abati, has claimed that the former administration rescued many of the Chibok schoolgirls that were abducted by Boko Haram terrorists but failed to publicise it due to security reasons. He made the revelation while interviewing President Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, on ARISE TV. He said, “We rescued many of the girls but the advice from the National Security Adviser at the time (Sambo Dasuki) was that we should not publicise it because of the identity of those girls. I witnessed this on many occasions. Those girls were brought to the…
Goodluck Jonathan has called on Nigerians not to lose hope in the face of dire challenges. He said “We must appreciate goodness even when threatened with persecution because evil doesn’t last for long. A leader must be prepared to face a lot of challenges at some point in life, which is what leadership often entails.” Also, speaking at the celebration, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha hailed Jonathan, describing as a reference point for leadership in Africa. There have been calls for former President Goodluck Jonathan to be investigated for alleged corruption.
Retired Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, who served as late General Sani Abacha’s dreaded Chief Security Officer (CSO) in the ‘90s, has announced that if it is the wishes of the people, he’ll run for the office of president of Nigeria in 2019. Abacha was Nigeria’s ruler from 1993 to 1998. “I am not going to announce myself contesting for a presidential seat, but if people say so, that is the wishes of the people”, Al-Mustapha said in an interview conducted in Kaduna, shortly after a meeting with the Leaders Eagle Eye Forum, a group begging him to throw his hat into…
Senators on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have taken to sleeping in shifts at the National Assembly complex to prevent any sinister plans by Senators of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) to impeach Senate President, Bukola Saraki. Senator Philip Gyunka (Nasarawa North – PDP) disclosed that PDP Senators are keeping vigil at the National Assembly complex to prevent anti-Saraki senators from using the cover of darkness to impeach him. According to a report by The Nation, Gyunka said PDP senators are rotating shifts and keeping watch to make Saraki’s removal impossible. He said, “I woke up this…
Aminu Tambuwal has disclosed that he’s under pressure to run against President Muhammadu Buhari, who he said suffers serious health challenges, in the 2019 presidential election. He said, “I have been under intense pressure from various quarters in Nigeria including leaders of the country and friends of Nigeria outside the country to contest the presidency. “But leadership is a collective decision and I have never asked to be made a leader at any time in my life. So, my aspiration will be determined by my people and after that, I will make my political decision known in a matter of…
Olu Onemola who is Special Assistant to Senate President Bukola Saraki on New Media, says his principal is yet to formally declare for a presidential run in 2019. In a statement sent, Onemola said, “considering is not a declaration.” Onemola added that; “At the appropriate time, the President of the Senate will be specific about his aspiration for 2019. Moreover, the Bloomberg interview was 90 percent on the economy, and not politics. “The President of the Senate has been clear that at the right time, Nigerians will know what his plans are.” Saraki recently made the switch from the governing…
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has given out hotlines for inquires and complaints on its activities in Enugu State, in order to carry all the electorate along. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 24-hour hotlines are: 08098820020 and 08104066068. The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Dr Emeka Ononamadu, gave out the numbers during a ‘People and Power Conference’ in Enugu on Thursday. The conference has the theme: “Power of Citizens to Choose Responsible Leaders in a Democracy.’’ Ononamadu said that the numbers should be used by anybody having difficulties with the ongoing Continuous Voters…
“I’m gonna zoom in for you guys, okay?” Queen Bey’s older daughter, Blue Ivy, says profoundly. Sporting cornrows (no wigs) and natural makeup, Beyoncé poses in front of the camera wearing the hottest looks from fall/winter 2018, including a Louis Vuitton dress, a Wales Bonner suit and that epic floral headdress designed by Phil John Perry for Rebel Rebel. The video features Curtis Mayfield’s song “The Makings of You.” Blue may not have known, but her words were the perfect summation of her mom’s intent to bring the world (i.e., the White world) that much closer to the extra-woke, extra-Black…