Wilfried Bony has told Sky Sports News he believes he could still have a future at Manchester City. Ivory Coast forward Bony struggled to make an impact after joining City in January 2015 and spent last season on loan at Stoke. It was expected the 28-year-old would move on again this summer but he wants to prove his worth to manager Pep Guardiola. Bony moved to City in a £25 million deal after scoring 25 goals in 54 Premier League games for Swansea and says he is confident he can get back to that form. Bony said: “I love the…
Author: David Folami
Portugal boss Fernando Santos has defended the three players who failed to convert their spot-kicks in his side’s 3-0 penalty shootout loss to Chile in the Confederations Cup semifinals on Wednesday. The game finished scoreless after 120 minutes and went to penalties, where three main figures from Portugal’s Euro 2016 triumph last summer — Ricardo Quaresma, Joao Moutinho and Nani — all saw their efforts saved by Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo. Having been the first three kick-takers, the trio’s failures left Cristiano Ronaldo an innocent bystander during the shootout, while Arturo Vidal, Charles Aranguiz and Alexis Sanchez converted their attempts…
Nemanja Matic has enjoyed a roller-coaster of a career at Chelsea. Arriving in the summer of 2009, the gangly 21-year-old was unable to make an impression on the first team and was eventually included as a makeweight in the £21 million deal that brought David Luiz from Benfica. In January 2014, it was Matic who was the subject of a £21 million transfer from the Portuguese capital to Stamford Bridge. This time he would have an instant impact, dominating Yaya Toure on his first start since rejoining the club in a memorable 1-0 win at Manchester City. Fast-forward another three…
Nathan Ake is on the verge of joining Bournemouth from Chelsea in a £20 million transfer expected to be finalised within the next 48 hours, sources have confirmed. Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe registered his interest in a permanent deal for Ake in January after Chelsea recalled the 22-year-old from loan at the request of Antonio Conte, who wanted additional defensive cover in order to maximise his team’s chances of winning the Premier League title. Chelsea went on to become champions and reach the FA Cup final, but Ake made just five appearances in all competitions between January and May and…
A rematch between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao could be on the cards if the legendary Filipino boxer wins his bout against Australian challenger Jeff Horn this weekend, his trainer said Tuesday.. Pacquiao, who was outpointed by Mayweather in the “Fight of the Century” two years ago, will be the strong favourite when he defends his world title against the unbeaten Horn in Brisbane. But the Horn fight could be critical to whether the “Pac-Man” secures another superfight with his American rival, Freddie Roach told reporters in Brisbane. “He (Horn) can derail us really badly. Manny is, I think, in…
British boxer Tyson Fury is now using Nigeria to taunt Anthony Joshua in their ongoing verbal war. Fury and Joshua have been going at each other since April when the Nigerian boxer defeated Wladimir Klitschko to become the world heavyweight champion. Fury had first defeated Klitschko as world heavyweight champion in November 2015 before he lost his titles and boxing licence due to drug issues and mental health problems. In the latest dig by the boxers, Joshua revealed that Fury’s win over Klitschko was boring and the British boxer has hit back. In an Instagram video, Fury was boastful about…
British boxer Tyson Fury has continued his trash-talking with Anthony Joshua by claiming he wants to fight with the Nigerian-born boxer in Lagos. Fury has been trading words with Joshua since the Nigerian-born boxer defeated Wladimir Klitschko in April to become the world heavy champion. In an Instagram post recently, Fury claimed to be more Nigerian than Joshua and has now added that he wants their potential fight to happen in Lagos. “(The AJ fight) might be in Nigeria in Lagos, I’ve heard they’ve got an 180,000-seater there,” Fury told iFilmTV. “So considering I’m the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ now then we’ll…
Floyd Mayweather took his mind off his upcoming fight with Conor McGregor to attend the 2017 BET Awards in Los Angeles. Mayweather will face UFC star McGregor in Las Vegas on August 26 in an unprecedented fight. The undefeated boxer who is coming back from retirement for the August 26 fight was looking fly at the BET Awards. The millionaire fighter was his usual flamboyant self, dressed in a chequered red, green and blue designer suit. At the event, Mr Money posed for photos with the likes of Karrueche Tran and rapper Too Short. He was also pictured with rapper…
Serena Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, fired back Monday at John McEnroe’s remark that she would only rank about 700th on the men’s tennis circuit. McEnroe, a seven-time Grand Slam singles winner, called Williams “best female player ever — no question,” in comments to National Public Radio aired Sunday. But asked why she should not be considered the best of all time, McEnroe added: “If she had to just play the circuit — the men’s circuit — that would be an entirely different story.” tells McEnroe, speaking on a tour to promote his new book “But Seriously,” said…
Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare on Sunday, June 11 showed good form to run a personal season’s test time of 11.16 seconds at the Fanny Blankers-Koen in Hengelo, Netherlands to warm up for Oslo Diamond League. Okagbare finished second behind Dutch Dafne Schippers and ahead of SA’s Horn Carina (11.35) and Polish Ewa Swoboda. This feat comes just following her listing for the long jump event at the IAAF Diamond League meeting on Thursday, June 15. Ahead of her trip to Oslo, which is her first, the 28-year-old jumped 6.52m earlier this month at the Pre-Fountaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, USA.…
Novak Djokovic on Monday credited perfect timing for his decision to seek a wild card at Eastbourne for the struggling Serb’s first Wimbledon warm-up event in seven years. “Because of the old schedule (two weeks between Paris and Wimbledon as opposed to the current three) we had a week less,” the three-time Wimbledon champion said on Monday. “Usually the Queen’s and Halle tournaments were starting the week after Roland Garros, which was a bit challenging obviously coming from the slowest to the fastest surface in sport. It’s a big shift, only few days. “That’s one of the reasons why I…
Eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt will run the 100 metres at the Diamond League meeting in Monaco on July 21, organisers announced on Wednesday. The Jamaican sprinting legend is competing in his final season before retirement and will use the Monaco event as a warm-up for the world championships in London that start on August 5. The world-record holder (9.58sec) won his first race of the year in Kingston earlier this month in 10.03sec, and is also due to run in Ostrava on June 28. Bolt, who has won three Olympic 100m-200m doubles, will only compete in the 100m for…
British distance running legend Mo Farah said Tuesday he had no regrets about calling time on his glittering track career to focus on road racing. The four-time Olympic gold medallist will race his last 10,000m on the IAAF circuit at the Golden Spike meet in the northeastern czech city of Ostrava on Wednesday. Then comes an outing at the London Diamond League over 3000m, followed by a training camp in southern France to finetune preparations for the August 4-13 World Athletics Championships in the British capital. It is no exaggeration to say Farah has successfully overcome Kenyan and Ethiopian team…
Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt insists this “emotional” season will indeed be his last, bringing the curtain down on a glittering career which galvanised track and field at a time of doping and corruption scandals. Bolt has won eight Olympic and 11 world gold medals in his career, but importantly was the outgoing, larger-than-life personality on whom athletics administrators could rely for a positive slant, an athlete widely recognised globally. Asked whether he might carry on after this season, Bolt said: “No, I don’t think so! “It’s just been a great career, I’ve really enjoyed the ups and downs, all…
Olympic Games silver medalist Yohan Blake copped his third sprint double at the Jamaican national track and field championships on Sunday, winning the 200 meters in 19.97 seconds. It was just the second 200m race of the year for Blake who also won the 100m on Friday night and says he is pleased with how his comeback is progressing. “I have been working for this, making my comeback,” he said. “I just want to keep doing what I am doing.” Blake dominated a 200m field that was without superstar Usain Bolt, as he easily beat Commonwealth Games champion Rasheed Dwyer…
Andy Murray suffered an injury scare ahead of Wimbledon as the world number one pulled out of an exhibition match at the Hurlingham Club due to a sore hip on Tuesday. Murray had scheduled two matches at the Aspall Tennis Classic event following his shock first round exit against Australian world number 90 Jordan Thompson at Queen’s Club last week. The 30-year-old Scot had been due to face Lucas Pouillie, but his management announced on Tuesday that he would not take to the court because his hip was “a bit sore”. The decision was described as a precaution, with Murray…
Germany manager Joachim Loew wants the names of any players caught doping to be made public, after Russian football was on Wednesday accused of tampering with urine samples. A year before they host the World Cup, Russian football has come under the spotlight amidst fresh allegations of drug abuse. Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, the author of an explosive report into Russian doping, has told German broadcaster ARD he has new evidence suggesting that positive tests taken from Russian players were swopped with clean samples. Loew says any footballer caught doping must be named and shamed. “It’s an ongoing investigation and…
Jose Mourinho had the chance to say his last goodbye to his father Jose Manuel Mourinho Felix as he helped carry the casket at the funeral. Mourinho confirmed the death of his father on Sunday, June 25 after a long-term illness. At the funeral on Tuesday, June 27, Mourinho helped carry the coffin into the church and was also seen comforted by friends and family members. His wife Matilde, daughter Matilde and son Jose Jnr were with him at the funeral. His assistant at Manchester United Slivino Louro, United goalkeeping coach Emilio Alvarez Blanco and Aitor Karanka also attended. Felix…
Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio warned against underestimating a youthful Germany in Thursday’s Confederations Cup semi-final because of the wealth of experience many of them have already gained. Of the eight teams at the tournament the Germans brought the youngest squad to Russia’s Confed Cup with an average age of just over 24. Despite leaving their 2014 World Cup-winning stars at home, the Germans earned their semi-final place by topping their group after beating Australia and Cameroon and fighting back to draw 1-1 with South American champions Chile. Osorio pointed out that the likes of Paris Saint-Germain’s Julian Draxler, 23,…
Germany are the kings of the penalty shoot-out — but the world champions hope to see off Mexico in Thursday’s Confederations Cup semi-final without needing dreaded spot kicks. The Germans have won all five penalty shoot-outs they have faced since 1976 at either World Cup finals or European championships. Joachim Loew’s team face the Mexicans in Sochi for a place in Sunday’s Confed Cup final in St Petersburg against either Portugal or Chile, who meet later on Wednesday in Kazan’s other semi-final. Having won their Confed Cup group, Germany are on a 13-match unbeaten run, dating back just under a…