Naby Keita has said he consulted with Sadio Mane before deciding to move to Liverpool, and hopes to help the club improve on their success last season. The dynamic midfielder has remained close friends with Mane from their time as teammates at RB Salzburg in Austria and both are represented by the same football agency, arena 11. “I chose Liverpool because it is a team I watched often and I also spoke a lot about it with Sadio,” Keita told Liverpool’s official website. “He told me a lot about the team and the club. Sadio is like family to me.…
Author: David Folami
Luis Suarez has said “records are there to be broken” after his goal helped Uruguay beat hosts Russia 3-0 on Monday and clinch top spot in Group A with three straight wins. “I am happy … records are there to be broken,” he said after the game, noting that it was also the first time Uruguay had won three matches in a row at a World Cup. “It’s obviously what we wanted. We wanted to keep growing throughout the World Cup and after winning two matches 1-0, we wanted to do better today.” At the tournament four years ago, Suarez…
Joachim Low’s future as Germany coach will not be decided before next week, German FA (DFB) chief Reinhard Grindel has confirmed as the beaten title-holders returned to Frankfurt, Germany, less than 24 hours after their group-stage exit from the World Cup. The DFB president announced “far-reaching changes” in German football and added he wants to synchronise them with the German league (DFL) after Bundesliga clubs also disappointed in the European club competitions over the past few years. “I spoke with Joachim Low [on Wednesday] evening,” Grindel told Sport Bild after arriving back from Russia. “We agreed to speak in the…
Aliou Cisse believes his side did not “deserve” to advance to the World Cup knockout stage as they became the first team to be eliminated via their fair play ranking on Thursday. The fair play ranking is being used as a tiebreaker for the first time at a World Cup, but Cisse had no issues with the new regulation despite his side ending up on the losing end. “We haven’t qualified because of fair play. We have fewer points in fair play and Senegal doesn’t qualify because we don’t deserve it,” Cisse said after the game. “This is one of…
Wayne Rooney has completed his move to D.C. United, after the MLS club and Everton confirmed on Thursday that a transfer agreement has been reached. “It is fantastic to be joining D.C. United at such an exciting time in the club’s history with the new stadium opening in just a few weeks,” Rooney said in a statement. “Moving to America and MLS fulfills another career ambition for me. I have the hunger to be a success here and will give D.C. 100 percent — as I have always done for every team I have ever played for. “When I visited…
Fred thanked Manchester United teammate Nemanja Matic for welcoming to the club after the Selecao’s 2-0 World Cup victory over Serbia on Wednesday and reckoned the towering midfielder will be a “great teammate” once the two join forces at Old Trafford next season. Fred, 25, signed a five-year contract with the Premier League club after moving from Shakhtar Donetsk for a reported fee of €55 million last week. The Brazil reserve has yet to feature at this summer’s World Cup. However, he found time to exchange shirts and chat with the Serbia midfielder following Wednesday’s match in Moscow. “It was…
France’s best chance against Argentina in the World Cup round of 16 might be that Lionel Messi does not benefit from the same support with the national team as he does at Barcelona, Samuel Umtiti said on Thursday. Umtiti has been Messi’s teammate for two years and he will cross the forward’s path when Les Bleus take on Argentina in a second round tie on Saturday. But while Messi can rely on a reliable Luis Suarez at Barca, he is a bit more on his own with Argentina, with Gonzalo Higuain having notably not scored in his last eight outings…
Dino Melaye (Kogi West, APC) appeared to condemn the national convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) when he took to social media to express his happiness at missing it. The senator took to his Instagram account (@dinomelaye) on Friday, June 23, 2018 to post about how happy he is to be away from the country today which happens to be when the party is conducting its long-awaited national convention which he appeared to call a ‘joke’. He posted, “Happy to be away from the joke going on in Naija today.” The APC national convention, taking place at Eagle Square…
Hector Cuper will not return as Egypt’s coach after his team lost all three group-stage games in their first World Cup appearance in 28 years. The Egyptian Football Association made the announcement on Tuesday, one day after a 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia left them bottom of their group. Egypt also lost 1-0 to Uruguay in their opener and 3-1 to hosts Russia in their second game. Cuper, 62, was appointed Egypt’s coach in 2015 and took them to the final of the African Nations Cup in 2017, when they lost to Cameroon.
Spain coach Fernando Hierro and playmaker Isco agreed their team needed some serious “self-criticism” after La Roja qualified for the last 16 in a 2-2 draw with Morocco on Monday night. A mistake between Andres Iniesta and Sergio Ramos allowed Morocco’s Khalid Boutaib to open the scoring on 14 minutes, with Iniesta making amends by teeing up Isco for an equaliser just five minutes later. La Roja continued to mix some superb passing with sloppy defending, and substitute Youssef En-Nesyri headed Morocco ahead with nine minutes remaining, only for Spain replacement Iago Aspas to make it 2-2 in added time…
The excellent news for Manchester United is that Romelu Lukaku has had a stellar World Cup, with four goals in his first two games as Belgium have dismissed their opponents. Some will quickly counter that they have only so far faced Tunisia and Panama, the latter being by some distance the worst team at the World Cup. Yet Lukaku’s intelligent play and general presence would have unsettled far better sides than the two he and his colleagues have dispatched. His goals have shown the range of finishing that exists within his game. He is surprisingly elusive for such a large…
Antoine Griezmann admitted that Les Bleus’ World Cup Group C-ending 0-0 draw with Denmark was a dull affair but said he didn’t mind because he often plays that way for Atletico Madrid. Griezmann, 27, suffered again as Didier Deschamps’ men failed to click in attack and the French No. 7, who was the centre of attention pre-tournament until his future was resolved, apologised to those who were under the impression that both teams would go all-out to win at Luzhniki Stadium. “Frustrated? No, I am used to playing like that…” Griezmann told journalists in the mixed zone. “At club level,…
John Obi Mikel was left confused and frustrated after Marcos Rojo was not whistled for “a clear handball” late in the Super Eagles World Cup-ending 2-1 loss to Argentina. With the match tied 1-1 and Nigeria finding space between the Argentina backline, Rojo went for a headed clearance that deflected off his hand and led to a video review. Nigeria’s players were adamant it was a penalty, but Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir — who awarded Nigeria a penalty early in the second half that Victor Moses converted — used VAR and stood by his initial decision not to award a…
Gareth Southgate called the decision over whether Harry Kane will feature in their Group G finale on Thursday against Belgium a “complex balance.” The Three Lions have two wins from two matches — beating Tunisia 2-1 in their opener before thrashing Panama 6-1 — with captain Kane scoring five times so far. However, with passage to the round of 16 alongside Belgium already guaranteed, Southgate has to decide what changes to make to his XI in an effort to rest some player and give others from the bench a chance. Speaking to TalkSport, Southgate said: “As a manager you’ve got…
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain believes his positive mentality has been key to dealing with the devastating knee injury he sustained last campaign, which ruled him out of contention for England’s World Cup squad. The 24-year-old scored five goals and provided eight assists for Liverpool in his debut campaign at the club before sustaining a season-ending cruciate ligament rupture in the Champions League semifinal win over AS Roma. The injury meant that Oxlade-Chamberlain missed his third major international tournament for England through injury, after the midfielder was ruled out of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 European Championships. “It’s obviously been really…
Jorge Sampaoli called his team “true rebels” and lauded their mental strength after defeating Nigeria 2-1 to secure passage to the knockout stages of the 2018 World Cup. Argentina appeared to be on their way to victory when Lionel Messi put the Albiceleste up 1-0 in the 14th minute, but Nigeria’s Victor Moses equalised from the spot early in the second half. With Argentina needing to win to advance out of the group stage, it pushed forward. This left them exposed on the counterattack and Nigeria had several opportunities to go ahead, but couldn’t convert. It also survived a shout…
Robert Lewandowski has again said he does not want to end his career with Bayern Munich. Lewandowski signed for Bayern on a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund, where he played for four seasons under Jurgen Klopp, in 2014. “I am now 29 years old and think that I can still play for many years yet if I don’t get injured,” Lewandowski told Players Tribune. “We will see. I know that I have been in Germany for eight years and I remember saying a few years ago that I will not stay my whole career in one league, that’s for sure.”…
Yemi Osinbajo, on Monday, visited Plateau following attacks that left scores of people dead. He said that Special Forces have been deployed to restore peace in the state. “The Inspector General of Police has deployed more personnel to Plateau and the Chief of Defence Staff has announced this morning that Special Forces will be deployed to Plateau. “The Special Forces will complement the Operation Safe Haven’s effort that has been keeping peace in the state,” he said. The vice president expressed sadness over the development. “The president has said in his statement that whatever it takes, those that committed the…
President Muhammadu Buhari has said he isn’t a big fan of the restructuring concept. Buhari said even though he had heard their suggestions for a restructuring of the federation, he wasn’t sold on the idea just yet because calls for restructuring have been largely parochial and sectional. “You mentioned something which is topical these days—the restructuring of Nigeria”, Buhari told his audience gathered inside the Council Chambers of the villa. “Every group calling for restructuring has got its own agenda and I hope that agenda can be accommodated by the constitution. “I assure you that you are not forgotten and…
Dr Oby Ezekwesili has criticised President Muhammadu Buhari yet again for his lack of emotional intelligence in dealing with tragedies in the country. Speaking about the president’s trip to Cross River, Ezekwesili said, “It tells us that the president, unfortunately, is a leader without emotional intelligence. He lacks capacity to empathise with a certain segment of his people. The president cleverly distinguished between deaths in certain states and deaths in other states at an international forum. How can a leader do that? “The president, being comfortable to go and sit in Cross River State today while some maidens were dancing…