European champions Barcelona appeared prominently in the 40-man shortlist for the Uefa Team of the Year announced on Tuesday. Barca, who claimed their fifth European title after beating Juventus 3-1 in June’s Champions League final, have eight representatives with the Serie A champions accounting for six. Cristiano Ronaldo was included in the shortlist for the 12th straight time, having been named in the final 11 last year for a record eighth successive season. Bayer Leverkusen’s Turkish midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu, 21, was the youngest player to make the list with veteran Italy and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon the oldest at 37.…
Author: David F.
Taiwo Awoniyi and Azubuike Okechukwu have arrived at the Nigeria U-23 team’s Flourish Wellness Resort Camp in Banjul, Gambia, reports Theinfostride.com. Awoniyi and skipper of the side Okechukwu arrived at the team’s camp at about 3am Tuesday morning aboard a Royal Air Maroc flight. They were received on arrival by the team secretary, Sirajo Hassan. Okechukwu who is expected to lead the team out in their opening fixture against Mali on Sunday said he is delighted to honour the call to represent to serve his fatherland “Even though I am a little bit tired after playing for my club over…
Sunderland will have to ‘park the bus’ to help them stay in the Premier League this season, manager Sam Allardyce said after they snatched a scrappy 1-0 win at Crystal Palace on Monday. Using a term first said by Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho to describe the defensive strategy once employed by Allardyce at Stamford Bridge with his former club West Ham United, he said the tactic would be key to keeping Sunderland up. The win – Sunderland’s second in the league this season and their first away from home – took them four points above bottom side Aston Villa into…
Manchester City now have enough experience of playing against the European greats to pose a serious challenge in the Champions League, striker Sergio Aguero has said. City, who face Juventus in Turin on Wednesday, lead Group D with nine points and have already made it to the knockout stages with two games to spare. Since Arab billionaire Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan bought the club in 2008, City have qualified for the Champions League five times but failed to reach the knockout stages twice and were dumped out in the round of 16 by Barcelona twice. A win against…
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has accused European football’s governing body Uefa of accepting doping because they allowed his team’s defeat by Dinamo Zagreb to stand despite one of the Croatian club’s players failing a drugs test. After Dinamo beat Arsenal 2-1 in their opening Champions League Group F match in September, midfielder Arijan Aremi tested positive and was banned for four years. The club are appealing. Under Uefa rules the result of a match stands if only one player fails a test. “You cannot say ‘okay, they had a doped player and the result stands'” Wenger told reporters ahead of…
Barcelona legend Rivaldo has openly declared on Instagram, that former Real Madrid and France star Zinedine Zidane will be the next Real Madrid coach in the aftermath of Madrid’s humiliating 4-0 defeat against Barcelona in the El Clasico battle on Saturday night. Real Madrid horribly lost their last La Liga game before the international break to Sevilla and there were plenty of rumours in the build-up to Real Madrid’s El Clasico clash with Barcelona that Rafa Benitez would lose his job with a defeat. The Catalans were smashed 4-0 thanks to goals from Luis Suarez (2), Neymar and Andres Iniesta.…
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has ignored calls from pissed fans for him to resign and totally backed coach Rafa Benitez after Saturday’s horrible 4-0 defeat at home to Barcelona in the La Liga ‘Clasico’. Real’s thrashing by their arch rivals, which left them trailing Barca by six points, prompted supporters at the Bernabeu to chant for Perez to go and the construction magnate said on Monday he understood and respected their frustration. However, he said there had been no discussion about holding new elections at a board meeting on Monday, at which it was decided that Benitez, who replaced…
Arsenal have been pegged back with the news that midfielder Francis Coquelin will be out for at least 60 days with a knee injury. Manager Arsene Wenger announced that the 24-year-old Frenchman suffered knee ligament damage in Saturday’s 2-1 Premier League loss at West Bromwich Albion. Coquelin will now miss the busy festive period but Wenger is hoping a scan later on Monday does not cancel the former France under-21 international for a longer spell. “I’m always a bit cautious,” he said when asked about the seriousness of Coquelin’s injury. “It is a least two months but I’m cautious as…
Manchester United forwards Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial both returned to training on Tuesday ahead of their side’s Champions League home game with PSV Eindhoven. The two players missed United’s 2-1 win at Watford in the Premier League on Saturday, captain Rooney due to illness and Martial because of a foot injury sustained on international duty with France. Midfielder Marouane Fellaini also took part in training at United’s Carrington training base after two games out with a calf injury. But Phil Jones (ankle) and Ander Herrera (hamstring), injured against Watford, did not participate, while Bastian Schweinsteiger was absent due to…
Fuji music legend, Saheed Osupa has been given Aare Bobare of Oyan land title, a popular town in Osun state. The chieftaincy title was conferred on the legendary musician as part of the Oyan Day festival yesterday, November 21, by the King of the town, Oloyan of Oyan, Oba Kelani Oyediran. After the conferment, the elated ‘Gbas Gbos’ singer stormed the stage to thrill fans with wonderful performance.
’No one doubts that Falz The Bahd Guy is one of the most promising Nigerian entertainers of 2015. With his second album, ‘Stories the touch’ dropping days ago to massive reception, the barrister-turned-artiste has established himself as a rapper and comedian to court. But the debate lingers: What’s he better at? Music? Or comedy? Speaking recently, Falz, whose real name is Folarin Falana, says he’s making both work for him and there’s no need for a split. ‘Falz The Bahd Guy is a brand that encompasses both music and comedy and I believe it’s a wonderful blend,’ he told a…
Even though they have been been described as one of the most admired couple in the Southern African region at the moment, award winning rapper, Cassper Nyovest will not be walking down the aisle with his girlfriend, Boity Thulo anytime soon. Speaking in an interview recently, the ‘Mama I made it rapper said: ‘I am not going to get married anytime soon’. He however has nothing against marriage but the talented rapper opens up that he will simply be focusing on his career for now. ‘I most definitely believe in marriage but I am just not going through all that…
‘Kabiesi’ crooner, Dr Sid has sent a congratulatory shout out to Nigeria’s latest Health minister, Isaac Adewole who is a former Vice Chancellor of the prestigious University of Ibadan. Sharing a photo of himself and the professor on Instagram, Dr Sid who is an alumni of the citadel, Nigeria’s premier university wrote, ‘Professor Isaac Adewole congrats on your appointment #kabiyesi.’ Dr Sid whose real name is Sidney Esiri was once a medical student at UI where he graduated as a Dentist. Although the music act had left UI before the emergence of Adewole as VC, the Professor of gynecology and…
Recently, Nollywood actor, IK Ogbonna, spoke recently on issues surrounding him and his flourishing career. And in the course of the interview he was asked if he is still goes out with pretty Ghanaian actress, Juliet Ibrahim, who he dated before getting married to Sonia Morales. ‘I wouldn’t want to be going into the topic about me and Juliet. She is a colleague, we are in the same industry, we are in the same profession and what ever happened happened but you know it is in the past,’ he responded. And speaking further, Ik said, ‘Like Pastor Jakes will say,…
Nollywood actress cum singer, Dayo Amusa has joined the growing list of Nigerian musicians who have done covers for Adele‘s massive hit ‘Hello.’ The Psalm Jazzy produced Dayo Amusa’s version of ‘Hello has a surprising twist to it, as it features a rising pop act, S Gee unlike the original song and many covers. Hello had already been covered by popular Nigerian acts including Omawumi, Samklef, Praiz, Ruby, Chigul and Yemi Sax.
Yesterday, a photo shared by Yeni Kuti on Instagram showing Femi Kuti on a hospital bed was all over the intrnet as fans began sending ‘Get well soon’ messages to the afrobeat musician. At that time, we weren’t sure how and why the 53 year old hardworking musician went to the hospital, but now we can confirm that he was in the hospital for ‘Hernia’ surgery. Hernia is a medical condition that occurs when an organ or fatty tissue squeezes through a weak spot in a surrounding muscle or connective tissue called fascia. The most common types of Hernia are…
Ghanian superstar, Yvonne Nelson, has shown her disappointment over an alleged assault case she filed in Ghana, against a Nigerian journalist, Elvis Eze. It was previously reported that Yvonne had alleged that Eze assaulted her for refusing him a hug at her colleague, Ingrid Alabi’s birthday party. She said that Eze pursued her to her car and angrily pushed her head. Speaking at an interview with Multi TV’s ‘Red Carpet Show’, Yvonne said, ‘Elvis is walking a free man and granting interviews when he should be facing justice.’ ‘I have no idea; maybe you should go to the Airport Police…
Fans and lovers of Burna Boy in the United Kingdom should get ready to be dazzled, as the dancehall singer will hold his first ever tour of UK in the second quarter of 2016. His response to a recent tweet where he confirmed he’ll be in UK next year has since gone viral. In 2013, It was exclusively reported that Burnaboy had been banned for 15 year ban from UK after allegedly being part of a gang and stabbing someone to death. Confirming this great news, his business manager who also doubles as his mum, Bose Ogulu says, ‘what we…
Whatever Tyga did, it seems Kylie Jenner has it off her head already. With just days after the ‘fuming’ reality star dumped the rapper on his birthday, she was pictured holding his hand as they headed off to Justin Bieber‘s party after the American Music Awards on Sunday night. The recently reunited couple was out when TMZ’s paparazzi caught up with them on camera and popped the question ‘If she’ll ever marry Tyga?’ And to say did not hesitate with her ‘YES’ answer. If only we could see Tyga’s face when she gave the answer.
Jamie Vardy scored for the 10th successive game to equal Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Premier League record and keep Leicester flying high in the English top tier with a 3-0 win at Newcastle on Saturday. Vardy struck in first-half stoppage time to move level with former Manchester United striker Van Nistelrooy’s streak of scoring in consecutive fixtures. Fittingly, the Leicester forward could eclipse Van Nistelrooy’s record against the Dutchman’s old club when United visit the King Power Stadium next weekend. If he manages that, Vardy can set his sights on the all-time English top-flight record for goals in an unbroken run…