Minnows VfL Bochum hope to pull off a massive upset by knocking Bayern Munich out of the German Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday to wreck Pep Guardiola’s dreams of winning the treble. Second-division Bochum host runaway Bundesliga leaders Bayern, who plan to mark coach Pep Guardiola’s departure in May to Manchester City with the trio of German league, cup and Champions League titles. It will hardly come as a surprise, but the stats are stacked against Bochum, who have won only nine of their 73 games against Bayern, losing 48 times. It was back in 2004 that the Bavarians last lost…
Author: David Folami
Arjen Robben says Bayern Munich need Franck Ribery back to full fitness after the French winger returned to training on Monday following a two-month break for his latest injury. The 32-year-old Ribery endured a miserable 2015 and tore a thigh muscle in mid-December in just his second game back after nine months out with an ankle injury. Ribery’s return comes too soon for Bayern’s German Cup quarterfinal at second division VfL Bochum on Wednesday. But he was a welcome sight running out at Bayern’s training ground alongside Germany’s World Cup winner Mario Goetze, who has also been injured. “It’s nice…
With a convalescing manager, mounting injuries and fans in revolt against the club’s hierarchy, Liverpool’s preparations for Tuesday’s FA Cup replay at West Ham United have been less than ideal. A bout of appendicitis caused manager Jurgen Klopp to miss Saturday’s 2-2 draw at home to Sunderland, which saw some 10 000 supporters walk out in protest at rising ticket prices. Dejan Lovren and Joe Allen joined the ranks of Liverpool walking wounded during the game, but the biggest frustration for goalscorer Adam Lallana was the home side’s failure to hold onto a 2-0 lead. “It’s disappointing in any game,…
Barcelona cruised to a 2-0 win at Levante and regained their three-point lead at the top of La Liga on Sunday, as Real Madrid maintained their pursuit with a laboured 2-1 win at Granada. Champions Barcelona, with Luis Suarez scoring his 36th goal of the season, equalled a club record 28 matches unbeaten set in the 2010/11 season under Pep Guardiola. They have won 23 and drawn five. Third place Real remained four points behind Barca and one short of Atletico Madrid after a superb late strike by Luka Modric gave them victory at Granada. Gary Neville’s Valencia, however, suffered…
Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo is staying at Real Madrid for at least another two years, the forward said on Monday. The 31-year-old three-time Ballon d’Or winner was picking up an award as top scorer in Spain for last season from Spanish daily Marca when he made the comments. In a light-hearted interview he dampened incessant transfer rumours linking him with a switch to either big-spending Paris Saint-Germain or former club Manchester United. “I’m still under contract for another two years. After that, we’ll see,” said Ronaldo. “What I want most of all is to stay here for several years. As…
Swansea City must learn to kill off teams by scoring at least two goals, goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski said as the club seek to keep out of the Premier League’s relegation dogfight. Swansea, unbeaten in four games, are yet to lose in the league under new coach Francesco Guidolin but they are fifth-bottom of the table, four points above the relegation zone. The Welsh side have only had a two-goal lead once in the league this season, in a 2-0 win over fellow strugglers Newcastle United in August. “At the moment we are at the stage where I think we have…
Everton midfielder Ross Barkley should no longer be considered a young prospect but regarded as a player who can marshal and inspire his team, manager Roberto Martinez said. The 22-year-old converted two late penalties in his 100th Premier League game for the Toffees as Everton eased to a 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Newcastle United on Wednesday. Barkley made his club debut in 2011 and has not looked back since, going on to score 16 goals for the Merseyside club and earning 19 England caps since first representing his country in 2013. “(100 Premier League appearances) is a remarkable landmark for…
Stoke City players should start taking more risks to end their four-game winless streak in the Premier League, manager Mark Hughes said after Saturday’s 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Everton. Stoke have failed to score in any of their matches during the losing streak and have conceded nine goals in the process. Hughes’ men have gone from fighting for the European spots in the league in seventh place, just four points off fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, to 11th in the table with just 13 games left. “We were a little bit reluctant to put balls into good areas and get…
Leicester City fan Leigh Herbert will pocket a cool 25 000 pounds ($36 000) if his team complete their fairytale run and win the Premier League title. Herbert placed a five-pound bet on Claudio Ranieri’s men to lift the trophy at the start of the season at odds of 5000/1. The Foxes are five points clear at the top with 13 games left following Saturday’s 3-1 win at Manchester City and the 39-year-old carpenter feels he is on the verge of a “life-changing” win. Herbert, who placed the bet in August while on a camping holiday, has refused bookmaker William…
Liverpool’s owners will consider a review of controversial ticket price hikes after being shocked by a walkout protest by 10 000 fans, media said on Monday. The Fenway Sports Group held emergency talks after Saturday’s protest and again on Sunday, British newspapers reported. Fans have meanwhile threatened more walkouts in looming key games against Chelsea and Manchester City. Saturday’s walkout was staged in the 77th minute of the 2-2 home draw against Sunderland in protest at the £77 top price for a seat in the new main stand at Anfield. Fans chanted “you greedy b******s, enough is enough” as thousands…
Abia indigenes resident in South Africa on Sunday urged Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to see the Supreme Court judgment, which upheld his election as a call to develop the state. Mr Vincent Onyema, President of Abia State Union, South Africa, made the call in a telephone interview with our correspondence. He said that Abia indigenes resident in South Africa rejoiced with the governor on his victory at the court and want him to see it as a call to serve the people. “ Abia indigenes in South Africa urge Gov. Ikpeazu to rededicate himself to serve the people. “ We urge…
Lagos State Fire Service and the State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) have blamed major fire and building collapse incidents in the state on human errors. Heads of both agencies told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separately interviews in Lagos on Sunday that the occurrences could have been avoided if people were safety conscious. According to Mr Rasak Fadipe, Director, Lagos State Fire Service, the service responded to 1,931 fire emergencies in 2015. ADVERTISING He said that in the incidents, 85 lives were lost while 117 were saved. “Eighty per cent of the emergencies that we responded to between…
Nigeria’s Senators are said to also be suffering the effects of the economic crisis in the country as banks have reportedly refused to loan them money. A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senator said that a bank refused his request for a N20 million loan after he received only N6 million as housing allowance. “The National Assembly Service Commission had only approved N6m to each of us as housing loan. What can that type of money do in a place like Abuja? It is grossly inadequate but we have taken it as a sacrifice,” the unnamed Senator said. “Until things get…
Senator Dino Melaye has said that he is an “anti-corruption person” and an investigator who likes to expose corrupt dealings in Nigeria. Melaye made the declarations on Wednesday, December 16, 2015, during an interview with Channels Television. “I am a private investigator if you follow my trend, you will know that I am an anti-corruption person and I take delight in investigating and finding out the leakages and corruption in our system in a way to build a new Nigeria of our dream,” he said. “I do not have the capability, capacity or powers to individually investigate any government institution,…
Senator representing Kogi west, Dino Melaye, has reacted to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s letter to the National Assembly, describing it as a misplaced anger. In Obasanjo’s letter to the assembly, he condemned its plan to purchase 469 cars worth N4.7billion. Melaye on Thursday, January, 28, who acknowledged his respect for Obasanjo, accused him of corruption. He said the ex-president introduced corruption into the national assembly in his bid to run for a third term in office. “I have tremendous respect for president Olusegun Aremu Okikiola Obasanjo. Elder statesman, respected pan Africanist and committed patriot. I went through the letter written…
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed shock at the statement credited to President Muhammadu Buhari, where he reportedly said the judiciary is his ‘major headache’. In a statement signed by the party’s Acting National Chairman, Uche Secondus, it alleged that the Presidency plots to “blackmail and stampede the judiciary to deliver judgments against the PDP in various pending cases involving our party and some of our leaders in the courts.” The statement urged “the judiciary to ensure that it adequately guards its flanks from all external influences, we also caution the executive to focus on governance, while respecting the…
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has urged Governor Ayo Fayose to explain which election result he was collating in the Efon-Alaye area on June 19, 2014, following allegations of rigging levelled against him. The APC’s demand comes after Ekiti PDP member and former Fayose ally, Tope Aluko alleged that the governor had received $37 million from former president, Goodluck Jonathan to rig elections in the state. The party’s comments were contained in a statement released by Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun on Monday, February 1, 2016. It reads: “By Aluko’s revelations, we are justified in our claim that…
The Chairman of Plateau chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Letep Dabam, has dismissed reports that the party had broken into two factions in the state. “It is just a rumour that we heard the way everyone heard; I am the chairman and I do not know of any division in my party in Plateau,” Dabam told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Tuesday, Newspapers had reported the formation of a faction within the party, following alleged disagreements between Gov. Simon Lalong and a top political office holder in the state. Dabam dismissed the reports…
The All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun has denied calling for the probe of Supreme Court justices. Punch reports that Oyegun said he merely expressed shock at the court’s ruling, not that he said justices should be probed. This is coming on the heels of his comments over the court’s ruling upholding the election of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike. Oyegun who expressed shock at the judgement said “I still find the judgment on the Rivers State governorship election totally astonishing. There is something fundamentally wrong in the Judiciary. “We have lost very important resource-rich states to the…
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has fixed Feb. 20, for rerun and supplementary elections for Langtang South, Pankshin South and Plateau North state constituencies. INEC in a statement in Jos on Sunday said that the Langtang South elections would be conducted in the entire 68 polling units, in compliance with a Court of Appeal judgment. The court had ruled that the initial winner, Vincent Bulus of the PDP, was not qualified to have contested the April 11, 2015 polls. “The elections will also feature two political parties, out of the three that participated in the initial elections – the…