Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal would prefer to win the FA Cup than the Europa League but accepts that European success is the club’s best route into the Champions League. Van Gaal returned United to the Champions League by finishing fourth in the Premier League last season, but they are currently fifth, six points behind fourth-placed Manchester City. After dropping into the Europa League after finishing third in their Champions League group, they take on FC Midtjylland on Thursday in the first leg of their round-of-32 clash. Victory in the competition would see United qualify for next season’s Champions…
Author: David Folami
Edinson Cavani’s father has said the forward remains unhappy with his role at Paris Saint-Germain and that he would like to see him join Real Madrid, Manchester United or Juventus. Cavani, 29, joined PSG from Napoli in 2013 in a deal reported to be worth around €64 million but he has struggled to replicate the form he showed in Italy. The Uruguay international has often been played in a wide role to accommodate Zlatan Ibrahimovic and has made little secret of his preference to be used as a central striker, prompting regular speculation about an exit from the Parc des…
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has not ruled out a move to the Premier League in the summer when his Paris Saint-Germain contract expires. Ibrahimovic, 34, has won league titles in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and France during a sparkling career, but could finally move to England when his deal expires in the summer. The Sweden international, quoted in several national newspapers, said: “I have another three months here and then… what will happen? Big things will happen.” Asked specifically about a move to the Premier League, Ibrahimovic added: “Let’s just say I am in good shape.” Ibrahimovic’s career has taken him from…
Zinedine Zidane was a happy man after watching his Real Madrid side put one foot in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Zidane’s first experience of managing in a competition he won as a player with Real was close to perfect as goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and substitute Jese earned them a 2-0 win over Roma in the Italian capital. The Frenchman said on uefa.com: “We’re happy with the game and the result. We knew it was going to be a tough game but we fought to the end. In the first half they pressured us and that’s normal in…
Three Euro MPs want the European Union to probe Gareth Bale’s 100 million euros ($111.25 million) move from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid in 2013, according to media reports. British MEP Daniel Dalton, Catalan colleague Ramon Tremosa and Belgian MEP Sander Loones have asked the EU to find out if the transfer was supported by Spanish banks that had been bailed out by European Union tax-payers. “If taxpayers’ money was used to underwrite the Gareth Bale transfer deal then this is something the EU should investigate,” Dalton was quoted as saying by British and Spanish newspapers. “Real Madrid are the…
Title challengers Tottenham Hotspur will not be distracted by the prospect of lifting the Premier League trophy in May and are solely focused on their upcoming fixtures, midfielder Mousa Dembele said. With 12 games left, second-placed Spurs have managed to cut the deficit to leaders Leicester City to just two points with a resounding 2-1 victory over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. “We won’t try to dream, we’ll just have to stay very concentrated in each game. The next match is always important and we’ll see where we end up, but it’s looking very positive for us,”…
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane reckons Cristiano Ronaldo is on top form as the Portuguese looks to increase his Champions League goals tally when they visit AS Roma in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Wednesday. Ronaldo is the competition’s leading marksman this season with 11 goals, a record for the group phase. Zidane, a Champions League winner playing for Real in 2002, said Ronaldo was on top of his game after the Portuguese scored twice in Saturday’s 4-2 Liga win over Athletic Bilbao. “Cristiano is very important on the wing because when he attacks one-on-one he’s very…
Zinedine Zidane won’t admit it yet, but 10-time winners Real Madrid remain on course for a sixth consecutive Champions League semifinal appearance after a clinical 2-0 win at Roma in the first leg of their last 16 tie on Wednesday. World Cup winner Zidane won the competition as a player with Real in 2002 and as assistant to former Carlo Ancelotti when the ‘Galacticos’ claimed their record 10th European Cup or ‘Decima’ in 2014. On the night he made his debut as a head coach in the competition, the Frenchman who ended his career by being sent off for headbutting…
Bayer Leverkusen must prove they can keep winning without their injured striker Javier Hernandez when they meet Bundesliga powerhouse Borussia Dortmund on Sunday. The Mexico international has been a sensation since joining this season from Manchester United, grabbing 13 goals in the league and scoring a total of 22 times in 26 matches in all competitions so far. But a muscle injury in their German Cup quarterfinal loss to Werder Bremen last week put the 27-year-old out of action just as Leverkusen were on a good run of form. They have gone six league games without defeat, having lost just…
Napoli, Borussia Dortmund, Porto, Sevilla and a host of continental big guns as well as English clubs Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool swing into Europa League action in the last-32 knock out phase on Thursday. In fact one clash has already begun on Tuesday as Turkey’s Fenerbahce took a 2-0 advantage over rusty Lokomotiv Moscow, who were playing their first match since the Russian winter break began. Manchester United dream of redeeming their dull season by triumph in the Europa League, and in fact their coach Luis van Gaal won the old Uefa Cup with Ajax. He takes United to…
Liverpool’s best chance of qualifying for the Champions League next season is to win the Europa League this year, manager Jurgen Klopp has said. Winning this year’s tournament would guarantee Liverpool a Champions League berth, with the club unlikely to qualify otherwise as they are nine points off fourth place in the Premier League table with 12 games to play. “Sometimes you can look at winning a cup as the shortest way to get somewhere,” Klopp said ahead of Thursday’s Europa League last-32 first leg clash with Augsburg in Germany. “For sure, the Europa League is not the shortest way…
Former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff has been sworn in as the new Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Sheriff was sworn in yesterday, February 16, 2016, after being ratified by the PDP National Caucus and other stakeholders within the opposition party. A member of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) had earlier told Punch that Sheriff would likely be chosen due to his financial strength. “He (Sheriff) has money. He is fearless and he has the capacity to galvanise the north for the PDP,” the PDP NWC member said. The choice of Sheriff as PDP Chairman has…
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed Saturday, 20 February, 2016 for the conduct of a rerun election into Lere West Constituency. The Kaduna State House of Assembly’s Lere West constituency seat election was won by All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate, Alhaji Kabir Mohammed in the 2015 election. However, the election was annulled by the tribunal on the grounds that the candidate, Alhaji Kabir Mohammed, of the APC was not qualified to stand for the election. To this end, INEC, through the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kaduna State, Alhaji Abdullahi Kaugama said during a stakeholders meeting that the election…
Former president, Goodluck Jonathan shocked many around the world when he conceded defeat to incumbent, Muhammadu Buhari before the results of the March 28, 2015 elections were officially announced. According to former Senator, Florence Ita-Giwa, Jonathan said that he decided to concede defeat because he already knew what the outcome of the polls would be. “I called former President, Jonathan and told him, ‘why not wait till the result is declared before conceding?” Ita-Giwa told Daily Post in Lagos on Tuesday, February 17, 2016. “This was two minutes after he made the announcement. Responding, he said, ‘Aunty, I already know…
The Akwa Ibom State branch of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the Supreme Court over its recent confirmation of the April 11, 2015 election victory of Governor Udom Emmanuel. The call was made by Akwa Ibom APC chieftain, Dr Amadu Attai via a statement, Vanguard reports. “We believe the leadership of the country and indeed all Nigerians should not sit and watch the judiciary collapse under the watch of the current Chief Justice of Nigeria,” he said. “We, hereby, call on the President to arrest the drift in the third arm of government…
Former Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu has reportedly defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Chukwu is said to have officially defected last week Friday at an event witnessed by APC officials and members, according to Vanguard. The former minister is said to currently be registered as a member of the ruling party at his ward of Ugwuegu in the Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. The defection has supposedly been confirmed by Chukwu’s former Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Dan Nwomeh but the former minister is yet to…
All Progressives Congress (APC) Senatorial Candidate in the Benue South District, Daniel Onjeh has said that he wants to deliver the people of the area from Senator David Mark. Onjeh and Mark are expected to go head to head for the February 20 rerun elections in Benue South after the latter’s March 28, 2015, election victory was nullified by the Court of Appeal. The APC candidate made the comments in a recent interview with Vanguard, Excerpts below: Why are you running for the Senate? I am in this race to liberate my people from the claws of the PDP and…
Former Ekiti State Governor, Otunba Niyi Adebayo has said that incumbent, Ayo Fayose is making a mockery of the state. Adebayo made the comment on Tuesday, February 16, 2016, during a meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja, Vanguard reports. “I don’t think there is anybody in Nigeria who will say he is happy with what is happening in Ekiti state,” he said. “Ekiti is being turned into a pariah state and it is unfortunate that this sort of thing is happening and that is why we who are in the opposition are putting our house in order…
Youths in Lagos State under the umbrella of The Ambassadors group have praised President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing former House of Representatives member, Abike Dabiri-Erewa as his Senior Special Assistant on Foreign Relations and Diaspora Matters. The group’s sentiments were expressed by its coordinator, Azeez Ahmed during a recent media briefing, Vanguard reports. “This is an appointment that is well deserved, it is a confirmation of hard work, focus and teamwork,” Ahmed said. “In a matter of months her success in the diplomatic circle will be appreciated by all progressive minded Nigerians because her appointment is a clear affirmation of…
The 19 Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) has said that the proposed loan from the Islamic Development Bank, (IDB) in Jedda which is being opposed by Senator Shehu Sani is for the rebuilding of Nigeria Northern region. A Statement issued by Malam Isa Gusau, spokesman to Governor of Borno State and Chairman of the 19 Northern States Governors’ Forum, Kashim Shettima said they believe that the task of rebuilding the north is one that would require the support of all well meaning Nigerians, including the distinguished Senator Shehu Sani whose strategic committee has a vital role to play. The Vice…