Everton manager Ronald Koeman has said that Liverpool are ready to win the Premier League title. Koeman’s admiration for Liverpool may not be welcomed by some Everton supporters, but the Dutchman believes Jurgen Klopp’s side have proved themselves to be challengers for the biggest prize in English football after a strong start to the season that has left them top of the table after 11 games. “It’s still too early to say who will be the favourites, but I have been impressed by Liverpool so far,” Koeman said at the launch of the Kick It With Help anti-smoking campaign. “Maybe…
Author: David Folami
The rumors of a Wayne Rooney to Major League Soccer move got fired up again earlier this month with talk that the Manchester United man could be on his way to the Los Angeles Galaxy. The possibility of Rooney playing on these shores is an intriguing one. Here are five reasons why it could work. While it may seem like Rooney has been around for decades, he is still just 31 years old, a far cry from some other attack-minded players who have arrived to MLS as designated players, such as the 38-year-old Didier Drogba or the 36-year-old Steven Gerrard.…
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola had just been asked about Sergio Aguero’s latest hat trick, against West Brom, only to offer some constructive criticism about how, really, it wasn’t actually enough. “It is not about how many goals he scores, because we’re happy with the scoring,” Guardiola said, before talking about how the Argentine must improve his game outside the box. It was a remarkable statement about a forward as exceptional as Aguero, who almost every club in the world would want, but Guardiola’s whole argument touches on a growing trend in the game. It is possible that the City…
Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has said the club are “very worried” about Arturo Vidal after the midfielder vowed to play for Chile next week “no matter what” despite picking up an injury. Vidal, 29, was stretchered off in the final minute of his country’s goalless draw in Columbia on Thursday with a thigh injury. But the midfielder, nicknamed “The Warrior,” said he would play through the pain after helping Chile pick up a “priceless point” in Baranquilla. “I will play against Uruguay,” Vidal told reporters after the final whistle. “I will play, no matter what. We need these three…
Arsenal’s Premier League campaign takes them up and down the country from Sunderland to Southampton this season but it is no exaggeration to say the viability of their title challenge could be decided 7,250 miles away in Santiago on Tuesday night. Chile take on Uruguay in a World Cup qualifier which has become arguably more important to Arsenal than the weekend’s upcoming meeting with Manchester United. It is in this game that Alexis Sanchez could take the field for his country just days after suffering a muscle tear in training — what would be “a suicidal decision” according to an…
Juventus general manager Beppe Marotta has defended the payment of a €27 million representation fee to Paul Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola as part of the midfielder’s transfer to Manchester United in the summer. Raiola earned the sum when Pogba, 23, returned to United from Juve for a world-record fee of €105m in August. Marotta says the fact that the France international’s move was the biggest transfer in football history means the agent’s slice was not extraordinary. “We’re talking about a deal over €100m and it’s absolutely normal that whoever contributed to the operation’s conclusion should receive a significant financial return,”…
Netherlands coach Danny Blind was not surprised by the impact of two-goal substitute Memphis Depay in his side’s 3-1 World Cup qualifying win in Luxembourg. Blind’s side struggled to dismantle Group A minnows Luxembourg at the Stade Josy Barthel and were being held 1-1 at half-time when Manchester United striker Depay replaced Wesley Sneijder and went on to score two match-clinching goals. Arjen Robben had opened the scoring in the 36th minute, but Netherlands were pegged back by Luxembourg just before the break when defender Maxine Chanot converted a penalty. “I told him before the game that he had earned…
Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has hit out at critics of his work rate, insisting he has a responsibility to score and create goals. Sturridge has found himself marginalised at Liverpool, first due to a series of injuries and now with Roberto Firmino preferred in the striker’s role within Jurgen Klopp’s tactical plans. He has started just four Premier League games this season and has yet to score, with all his goals coming in the EFL Cup. But he has started all three games since Gareth Southgate’s arrival as interim England manager, scoring in last month’s wins over Malta and Friday’s…
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to lead Portugal to a 4-1 win at home over Latvia in UEFA World Cup qualifying Group B on Sunday. The Real Madrid star opened the scoring with a penalty in the 28th minute after Latvia’s Gints Freimanis brought down Nani in the box following a one-two with Ronaldo. Ronaldo should have doubled Portugal’s lead but hit the post with a second penalty before the hour mark, and Latvia equalised against the run of play soon after, Arturs Zjuzins lashing home after Jose Fonte had blocked Artjoms Rudnevs’ shot. But the visitors’ joy lasted less than…
Ander Herrera has defended Jose Mourinho’s tactics, saying that avoiding reckless attacks does not make the Manchester United boss a defensive manager. Mourinho has come under criticism in his career for conceding possession in favour of sitting back in defence, and before United’s most recent game — a 3-1 win at Swansea — Mourinho’s side had not scored more than one goal in a game in domestic competition since Sept. 24. But in an interview with The Guardian and The Daily Mail the United midfielder called that perception a “myth.” “There’s an idea of Mourinho that’s flawed,” Herrera said of…
Three Manchester United players are in Spain’s squad for their friendly against England at Wembley on Tuesday, a trio who’ve all performed well for their club so far this season. David de Gea, Juan Mata and Ander Herrera are all expected to feature at the national stadium of the country where they earn their living. De Gea was the only one of the three amigos to play in Spain’s 4-0 World Cup qualifying win over Macedonia on Saturday in Granada which keeps them top of group G ahead of Italy on goal difference. Mata has played 40 times for his…
Egypt avenged a humiliating World Cup defeat by Ghana three years ago with a 2-0 victory on Sunday in a 2018 African Group E qualifier before an 85 000-strong crowd in Alexandria. Ghana triumphed 6-1 in the first leg of a 2014 World Cup play-off to set up an aggregate victory that prolonged the agony of Egypt, who have not competed at the finals since 1990. Mohamed Salah converted a 43rd-minute penalty amid an electric atmosphere at the Borg El Arab Stadium and Abdallah Saied doubled the lead four minutes from time with a close-range shot. Ghana, seeking to qualify…
Could Mesut Ozil abandon Arsenal in favour of a reunion with Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford? According to the Sun, Manchester United are hoping to take advantage of the standoff between Ozil and Arsenal over a new contract and make an audacious bid for the Germany playmaker next summer. The paper claims United will offer Ozil a salary of £250,000 a week, way more than the £200,000 a week the Gunners are reportedly willing to pay. Ozil and Mourinho have a good relationship since their days at Real Madrid, so perhaps it’s not totally out of the question that such…
Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka has lashed out on his critics and Nigerians who have taken to the internet to troll over his vow to destroy his U.S. residency permit should Donald Trump emerge President. In a report by The Cable, Soyinka said his critics should return to school as they are merely displaying crass ignorance. In his words: “Let me end with a Red Card to those noisome creatures, the nattering nit-wits of internet: Maybe Trumpland is not as despicable as the Naijaland you impose on our reality from your secure cesspits of anonymity. “Go back to school. Your problem…
The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has expressed his fear of being arrested by security heads in the state. According to a report by Sun Newspaper, the governor said this on Friday, November 11, 2016 at a judiciary event in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Wike said: “I was afraid to come out for this programme when I heard that all the security heads in this state came for the programme. “So, I told my orderly to pack some of my things into a bag that I may not return because they may arrest me from there. “My orderly asked,…
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola says 27 states have provided the ministry with land on which to build houses for the masses. Fashola told newsmen in Lagos on Friday night that the government had to lay the structure and establish a system before calling for private participation in the housing sector. He said that most of the building materials to be used would be sourced locally to fast-track growth and reduce unemployment. “If we achieve what we are planning, we would have built a system; if it becomes enduring like the new pension scheme, the better.…
Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo has pledged to provide good leadership that would ensure improved infrastructure development, industrial growth and job creation in the state. He made the pledge in his address to Edo people immediately after his inauguration as governor of the state in Benin on Saturday. Obaseki, who was sworn-in along with the Deputy Governor, Mr Philip Shaibu, said his administration would be committed to improved welfare of the citizens. A member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he defeated his opponent of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Osagie Ize-Iyamu, at the September 28, 2016 governorship election.…
The presidency has denied the story that the Federal Government paid ransom to free the 21 Chibok girls released by Boko Haram in October 2016. President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said the government has “no such money under any allocation to pay out this outrageous sum of money as ransom.” In a statement by Shehu on Saturday evening, November 12, 2016, the presidency denies the tale in its totality saying the administration is a responsible government that is run on the basis of the constitution and budgets duly appropriated by the National Assembly. Speaking further on the war against…
The Minister of Power Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has confirmed the receipt of N124.8billion for the construction of federal highway projects across the country. Fashola confirmed that his ministry received the sum on Saturday night, November 12, 2016. In a report by Punch Newspaper, the minister reportedly stated that the fund was released to the ministry in two parts. “In June 2016, the ministry received its first release of N79bn under the 2016 Appropriation Act, out of which N70.4bn was utilised for highway projects. “Payments were made to contractors to return to site after years of inactivity which resulted…
Nigerian billionaire, Folorunsho Alakija has said one of her goals and aspirations in life is to have more money than famed King Solomon in the Bible. The business tycoon made this known on Saturday, November 12, 2016 at the KICC facilitated wealth creation platform which held in Lagos. Alakija said: “I will make more money than King Solomon in the Bible. I am working towards that and with his grace, I will.” Alakija, who gave tips of making and sustaining wealth at the platform also revealed one of the things that has helped her grow in wealth has been the…