Nigerian football legend, Kanu Nwankwo rolled back the years as he netted a hat-trick for a former Arsenal XI against AC Milan in a charity game on Saturday, September 3. The game was organised by the Arsenal Foundation to donate £1million to build football pitches for children in London, Jordan and Somalia. Coming in as a substitute just like he usually did in his Arsenal days, Kanu opened goal by heading in an Emmanuel Petit cross to give Arsenal the lead. After AC Milan equalised, the former Nigeria international got the Arsenal side back into the lead with a diving…
Author: David Folami
Jack Wilshere hopes his loan move to Bournemouth can help him “develop” as a player after being deemed surplus to requirements at Arsenal. Wilshere’s future at the Emirates Stadium became uncertain in the closing days of the transfer window after struggling with injuries last season. The England international also saw competition for places increase with the arrival of Granit Xhaka from Borussia Monchengladbach, Wilshere used from the substitutes’ bench in the early rounds of the 2016-17 Premier League. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger allowed the midfielder to go out on loan in order to get back to match fitness, with Bournemouth…
Chelsea defender David Luiz has said negative comments about Ligue 1 attributed to him on social media are “untrue,” “malicious” and “disrespectful” and insisted he has “tremendous respect” for French football. Luiz, 29, returned to Stamford Bridge on transfer deadline day for a reported £35 million fee after a two-year spell with French champions Paris Saint-Germain. Upon his return to the Premier League, social media account Sun Gossip — not affiliated with The Sun newspaper — quoted the Brazil international as saying he “wasted two years” in Ligue 1 and that “it is like playing FIFA [the football video game]…
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes the Premier League is the toughest European league to achieve success in. Spanish teams have dominated European football in recent years winning the last three Champions League and Europa League titles. Klopp, who has just begun his first full season in charge at Liverpool, puts this down to the amount of competitive teams in England and the volume of games. And he also highlighted the games played over the Christmas period — not saying that there should not be games, more the number of them. He told the Daily Mail: “Play on December 24, play…
Luke Shaw was the only player to miss England’s final training session before they depart for Slovakia ahead of their opening 2018 World Cup qualifier. Manchester United defender Shaw missed the session at St. George’s Park as medical staff manage his workload following a return from a broken leg that kept him out for the majority of last season. Sam Allardyce is expected to stick with eight of the XI that lost 2-1 to Iceland at Euro 2016 when he names his first team. Joe Hart retains his place in goal, with deputies Fraser Forster and Jack Butland injured, while…
Thomas Muller has bemoaned Germany’s lack of strikers ahead of their opening 2018 World Cup qualifier against Norway. The world champions have an embarrassment of riches creatively with Mesut Ozil, Marco Reus, Mario Gotze, Julian Draxler, Leroy Sane and Muller among the many options Joachim Low can call upon. But in the traditional No. 9 role the Germans have a shortage of options with Gotze often used as a lone forward or more recently Mario Gomez has been recalled. “Of course, we have few options in this central position,” Muller told Bild. “It’s been known for some time that this…
Mario Balotelli’s agent Mino Raiola has criticised Jurgen Klopp’s treatment of the Italian striker at Liverpool, after he left to sign for Nice on a one-year contract. Balotelli, 26, was left out of Liverpool’s preseason tour and trained with the reserves as Klopp made it clear he was not part of his plans. And Raiola, who also represents Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku among others, was upset by the way his client was handled. “In the end, the higher-ups at Liverpool admitted that Klopp was wrong,” Raiola told Gazzetta dello Sport. “I’m not trying to judge him as…
Bastian Schweinsteiger has been left out of Manchester United’s Europa League squad. Schweinsteiger, 32, is the only player named in United’s Premier League squad that has not been included in the party available for European football. The former Germany international is yet to play a single minute of football for the club since Jose Mourinho took over as manager but opted to stay at Old Trafford rather than leave during the transfer window. “Of course, my absolute dream would be to play for Manchester United and help them reach the goals they have,” Schweinsteiger said earlier this week. “Of course,…
Kelechi Iheanacho fired Nigeria to a 1-0 win over Tanzania in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Nest of Champions on Saturday. It was the first game for Nigeria manager, Gernot Rohr, as he opted for an attacking team with England-based quartet of Iheanacho, Odion Ighalo, Ahmed Musa and Victor Moses named in the startlist. As expected Tanzania head coach, Boniface Mkwasa, listed KRC Genk forward, Mbwana Samatta, as captain of the team. The pre-match build-up had one description for the contest being, ‘dead rubber,’ but it was lively from the start of the game as the…
Henrikh Mkhitaryan is a doubt for Manchester United’s derby against rivals Manchester City next weekend after picking up an injury on international duty with Armenia, the nation’s football federation confirmed on Friday. Captain and record scorer Mkhitaryan was replaced after 38 minutes of Armenia’s 3-0 friendly defeat by the Czech Republic on Wednesday. Medical tests revealed a muscle injury in his left thigh, the Football Federation of Armenia confirmed in a statement on their official website. (www.ffa.am) The injury has a recovery period of between a week to 10 days and rules Mkhitaryan out of Armenia’s World Cup qualifier against…
The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, does not have any twitter account, her spokesperson, Mr Festus Akanbi, has said in a statement in Abuja. Akanbi, the minister’s Special Adviser on Media, said in the statement issued on Thursday, that Adeosun’s attention had been drawn to a fake Twitter handle in her name saying that “recession is just a word.” “For the avoidance of doubt, the minister does not own a twitter account. “The twitter handle currently trending and any other twitter handle presently in existence, is not, and cannot be that of the minister. A twitter account has not…
Mrs Ibim Semenitari, acting Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has called on the public to disregard a statement credited to Rivers governor, Nyesom Wike over some road projects. Semenitari made the call in a statement issued by Bekee Anyalewechi, her Special Assistant on Media, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Port Harcourt. The statement said that Wike was wrong by his claim that NDDC was not the financier of the construction of Igwuruta-Chokocho-Okehia and Oil Mill-Igbo-Etche-Chokocho road projects in Etche LGA of the state. “Ibim Semenitari debunks claims made by Gov. Nyesom…
TheCable is reporting that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has commenced covert investigation into allegations of budget padding leveled against Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the House of Representatives. According to the story, the anti-graft agency is inviting finance directors of federal ministries and agencies to come forward with details of their draft budgets and what was finally approved by the national assembly. They are billed to make their appearances on different days of the week. Hon Abdulmumin Jibrin, who was axed as chairman of the house appropriations committee in July, had alleged that Dogara alongside his deputy, Yusuf…
Former aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode has accused northerners of plotting to use the Hausa Language to enslave Nigerians. Fani-Kayode made the comment via an article titled “Language as a tool of conquest”. Read the article below: In the northern part of Nigeria two vessels were used as vehicles for conquest by the Fulani: religion and language. Islam was imposed by the force of arms and the use of the sword by Sheik Usman Dan Fodio whilst hausa, the language of the conquered people of the old Habe kingdom, was adopted as the official language of the new Fulani caliphate. As…
Jigawa State Governor, Abubakar Badaru has said that former President Goodluck Jonathan saw signs of an impending recession but did nothing to stop it. Badaru made the comment while speaking to journalists in Abuja, according to Daily Post. “On this recession, you have to look at the history. We had signals towards end of 2013 to 2014, it has been there. We knew that it was coming but the past leaders did nothing to stop it,” he said. “The problem with the past leaders was that they should have started cutting these expenditures from time. For instance, what Obasanjo did…
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has explained that the looted fund recovered so far by government is far cry from what the country needs to revive the economy. The minister said this on Friday when he appeared on a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja. According to him, the amount of money recovered is always being made public. “What we have recovered and if my record is right is about N78 billion, and 3 million dollars. “We have been able to block various accounts in which about 9 billion dollar is found but those…
President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, for his simple lifestyle. Buhari, who also appreciated Zuckerberg for sharing his wealth of knowledge with Nigerian youth, said the government is looking at ways it can promote development through entrepreneurship. He said the Facebook CEO’s simplicity has challenged the culture of lavish spending and display of wealth in Nigeria. The President added that “Nigeria has always been identified as a country with great potentials for growth, especially with our youthful population, but now we are moving beyond the potentials to reality. “I am impressed by your simplicity in sharing…
The Minister of information, Lai Mohammed, has revealed that the Federal Government is doing all that it can to put the economy back on its feet. Mohammed also said the All Progressives Congress (APC) knew more than five years ago that Nigeria was heading for a recession. The minister added that the Buhari administration will never keep Nigerians in the dark. He said “One thing we cannot take away from this government is that it is open, honest and will not keep Nigerians in the dark. “About a month ago, the Minister of Finance actually told all of us that…
Tuoyo Etoromi Oduah, one of the sons of Senator Stella Oduah, has slammed his father, Lt.-Col. Satchie Etoromi (Rtd.), over the comments he made about his mother. Lt. Col. Etoromi had accused Senator Oduah of not informing him about the death of their son, Maxwell Etoromi. Maxwell died on August 26, 2016, after a brief illness. Tuoyo said he informed his father and his family members of the death of his brother. He also said his father is an attention seeker, adding that he will rather be called a bastard than to be referred to as the son of Satchie…
Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state has called on Nigerians to change their consumption pattern. Oshiomhole said “The nation’s consumption pattern has been so distorted by the few who have access to stolen money, such that everywhere you go in the country, we have imported foods.” Adding that “Nigerians would have to go through a re-orientation, such that we don’t learn to perfect the act of consuming what we don’t produce, particularly those things that we can actually produce” The Governor said this on a Channels Television programme- Sunrise Daily, while speaking on the steps to get out of recession.…