Neymar should receive greater protection by Ligue 1 referees, Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery has said. “He touches the ball often, he looks for a lot of one-on-ones, he dribbles plenty, we need the players to be protected. “Football is a spectacle, and Neymar is a player who suffers numerous fouls. The referee needs to protect the players.” Emery warned his players that they could not afford to be complacent despite being 10 points clear at the top of the table. “We are taking it match by match,” he said. “We have several individual and collective goals to target in…
Author: David Folami
Spain coach Julen Lopetegui has a lot of good things to say about the three countries his team will face in the group stages of the World Cup. “Without a doubt, we have a hard, difficult group,” Lopetegui told the federation’s website. “This is a World Cup. Portugal are a great team, Morocco have not lost a game in qualifying. Iran were the first team to qualify for the World Cup. They are going to demand the best of us.” Spain will play their first game on June 15 against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal at the Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi.…
Jurgen Klopp has said Liverpool were “lucky” to not have Simon Mignolet dismissed during their 3-0 midweek win at Stoke City. “First of all, I think was the first time in the season that we were lucky in this situation, to be 100 percent honest,” he told a news conference. “I have to admit that we were lucky. “When I gave the interviews after the game I was 100 percent sure it was the right decision because I thought Joe Gomez was in a covering position. “I didn’t realise, from my point of view, that it was pretty much 100…
Kyle Walker insists England’s players are as tight as club teammates. “You spend so much time with people during club football day in, day out and it feels like that because we have a group chat where there is always banter flying on there. We’re all together in the games room, playing pool, having a laugh and I think it is really bringing the squad together nicely. “When Gareth came in he has put his own stamp on it, he has in his head how he wants it to be and for us it is working. Now it is just…
Danny Mills is of the opinion that Pep Guardiola’s Premier League leaders “almost look unstoppable” at the moment, but he stressed there should be no assumptions they will end up winning the title — particularly with Jose Mourinho in the mix. “They almost look unstoppable. They are playing so well. It is brilliant to watch, and that is down to Pep. “But on the other half of the city you’ve got Mourinho, who is the pragmatist, the defensive mastermind. He is good at what he does, and he is a winner, simple as that. The derby is going to be…
Antonio Conte has been charged with misconduct following his dismissal against Swansea on Wednesday, the Football Association announced. He will have until 6 p.m. on Tuesday evening to respond to the charge, at which point he could face a fine or a further touchline ban. Conte was sent to the stands and then down the tunnel by referee Neil Swarbrick after a number of compaints. The final straw came as he confronted fourth official Lee Mason over a goal kick that was given to Swansea rather than a Chelsea corner. The manager then watched the rest of the match from…
Marcus Rashford will be among the several watchers viewing Friday’s draw for a World Cup the forward believes Gareth Southgate’s England will be well-equipped to fight in the tournament. “Yeah, 100 percent I’ll be watching it,” the forward told Press Association Sport. “Before you know it, it’ll be right around the corner. “The Premier League season is difficult but we have to make sure that each individual is playing at our best to get in the team first for all. “You’ve got to be playing well for your club, and then you’ve got to come together and try and peak…
Vincent Kompany says he knows how frustrating their late showings could be for their title rivals. “I have been in that position myself — [Manchester] United used to do it to everybody else to be honest!” the City captain told reporters. “It’s a long season. We have done it so far and if at the end of the season we have done it consistently then I will be happy about it. But the key thing for us is not necessarily what the other teams think but just to know that you can trust your team, your players. “It’s too early…
Real Madrid temporary captain Nacho Fernandez praised Gareth Bale’s “great performance” as a substitute as Madrid survived a Copa del Rey scare on Tuesday. And Nacho said afterwards that it was “fantastic” to have him back along with the fit-again Mateo Kovacic and Keylor Navas. “We’re really pleased for him and he put in a great performance,” he said. “Kovacic also made his return after a long lay-off, as did Keylor. Bringing new players into the team is fantastic for us.” Mayoral told “El Transistor” that Bale had been keen to get back after 11 games out with hamstring and…
Rio Ferdinand believes Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku is struggling to deal with the added pressure of competing with Zlatan Ibrahimovic for a starting berth. He told BT Sport: “He’ll come out of this. I think that maybe the bigger problem for him is Zlatan Ibrahimovic being there. “Mentally, having a big striker behind you who wants to play, that’s a pressure from within, and sometimes people find that hard to deal with.” Following the 1-0 win over Brighton at the weekend, Jose Mourinho said he “does not care” whether Lukaku scores or not as long as he works hard.…
Laurent Blanc says top teams will want to avoid 2010 champs Spain in Friday’s World Cup draw. Blanc counts Julen Lopetegui’s team among the favourites to win it all in Russia next summer, said the two had been grouped together in a previous practise draw. “We did so many draws, you know. We did four practise draws and I think tomorrow we’ll do one or two more. For your information, in one of the draws, we had France-Spain,” Blanc said. “Spain is going to be a problem, because they’re in Pot 2. I would think that with Spain and England…
Gernot Rohr has said he is not seeking to avoid any country, and is hoping to get either France or Germany. The Super Eagles have been placed in Pot 4, which contains all the lowest-ranked teams from the October FIFA ranking, while both France and Germany are seeded in Pot 1 alongside the highest-ranked teams. “First, we are in Pot 4 so we are not favourites,” he told KweséESPN. “That means we will be last. “I want to play Germany because I am half German, so it will be a pleasure for me to play Germany. It will also be…
Emre Can has insisted that his main focus remains on Liverpool as he is set to enter the final six months of his current deal at Anfield. “Of course, I talk to Liverpool,” Can said following the win at Stoke. “Let’s see what happens. My focus is on Liverpool only right now, and my agent takes care of the rest.” Ahead of Saturday’s trip to Brighton, Liverpool sit two points behind fourth-placed Arsenal in the Premier League, and Can hopes they can continue their run of five consecutive league games without a loss. “We could do better, but we are…
Charles Oputa, also Known as Charly Boy, has promised to occupy the Libyan embassy in Abuja. He said “We are horrified by the reports and footage of hundreds of Africans, including Nigerians, being sold into slavery by slave dealers in Libya as published by CNN and several other international media houses. “These videos show men, women and children being sold for as little as $400. They also show the dehumanizing conditions in which these victims are kept, beaten, starved and killed. “It is shocking to find that slave trade, a horrible part of African history which is best confined to…
Kemi Adeosun, has announced the willingness of the Federal Government to pay out a total of N421 million to whistleblowers in November as stipulated in the Whistleblower Policy. She said, “The total amount, which also include Osborne Road, Ikoyi is N421,330,595. This is for the November batch and it is ready for payment. “The only condition necessary is that the money will be paid to the whistle-blower who signed the agreement, not to any company. “If we get the court judgement, we have to wait for three months to ensure that there are no encumbrances.” “We will also make sure…
Shehu Sani, has blasted the Federal Government’s plan to sell the Tafawa Balewa Square, National Arts Theatre to finance the 2018 budget. Sani said the move is unacceptable, adding that the assets remain national monuments, which cannot be sold. The Director General of the Budget Office, Ben Akabueze, recently disclosed the government’s plans to sell key national assets in order to generate sufficient revenue to finance Nigeria’s annual budgets between 2018 and 2020. “The proposal to sell off the National Theatre and Tafawa Balewa Square in order to finance the 2018 budget is unacceptable”, Sani wrote on Twitter. The senator…
Orji Uzor Kalu has praised his media empire while stressing that the Nigerian media has not been fair and upright. “The press are not being fair. I know they are here and that I why I’m saying this loud and clear. I own media houses, I own a newspaper house, radio and TV stations but the press are unfair. The press should be fair and thorough in all its report. It’s disappointing,” he said. He was heard telling his associates that he owns several media outfits but is surprised the media is still not fair in its report. Kalu refused…
Mr Boboye Oyeyemi has sacked 25 officials after various corruption allegations were established against them. He delivered a lecture, entitled, “Road Safety in Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects” at the event. Oyeyemi said his leadership will not tolerate any form of indiscipline among officers of the Corps. He pleaded for the cooperation of members of the public in achieving the goal. He said, “Just on Wednesday, I sacked 25 officers over corruption-related offences and I will still sack more. “No corrupt officer has any business being in the Corps as the Federal Government has done everything within its power to make…
An EFCC investigator has alleged that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s cousin, Robert Azibaola, got $40m from the $1.2billion arms deal fraud. The investigator, David Ikpe, revealed this at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, November 30, 2017. Ikpe said, “In March 2014, the then NSA, Sambo Dasuki, wrote a memo to the President titled, ‘Intervention on urgent national security project’ in which he sought the approval of Mr. President for $1bn to handle a number of sub-heads including unmanned area or pipeline monitoring installations. “The NSA made an additional request for $250m in April 2014. “The President gave approval…
Oyo State Government yesterday in Ibadan began the demolition of dilapidated blocks of classrooms in its schools. Prof. Adeniyi Olowofela, the State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, said the demolition would pave way for the classrooms’ rehabilitation and construction. “Government has identified school structures that requires re-construction and rehabilitation, particularly some built in the 1950s with mud and cannot stand the test of time. “The state government has approved two billion for the construction and rehabilitation of 100 dilapidated secondary school structures while the remaining N3.6 billion will be used for primary schools,’’ he said. He stated that the…