AS Roma sacks manager
AS Roma has announced the sacking of the manager Ivan Juric a few minutes after the final whistle of the 3-2 home defeat against Bologna on Sunday.
Tag: football
Read More
Europa League: Osimhen fires brace in Galatasaray five-goal thriller
Victor Osimhen scored twice to inflict a first Europa League defeat on 10-player Tottenham and earn a 3-2 victory for wasteful Galatasaray. Spurs conceded 28 shots and had just five of their own yet escaped from Istanbul with a respectable scoreline despite having Will Lankshear sent off in the second half. Galatasaray stormed into a sixth-minute lead when Yunus Akgun’s stunning volley from the edge of the box crashed into the top-right corner but Spurs responded through 19-year-old striker Lankshear, who tapped in his first goal for the club after Brennan Johnson had squared a cross. Tottenham’s Will Lankshear, second from left, celebrates with his team-mates after scoring his side’s opening goal against Galatasaray However, the visitors were vulnerable at the back throughout with Osimhen forcing a good save from Forster and then having a goal ruled out for offside before restoring his side’s lead with a clever toe-poke after Radu Dragusin gave the ball away. Forster saved again from Osimhen but just 60 seconds later the striker netted his second of the first half with a cushioned volley from Dries Mertens’ perfect cross. Ange Postecoglou brought on Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur for Brennan Johnson and Heung-Min Son at half-time – but Spurs got worse. Abdulkerim Bardakci had a goalbound shot blocked after Forster dropped an easy cross before Akgun’s volley was deflected inches wide and Osimhen missed two chances. Lankshear then picked up his second yellow card, just seven minutes after his first, for a silly tackle on the halfway line and then Forster made two more saves. Solanke, though, cleverly flicked Pedro Porro’s low pullback into the net against the run of play to put Spurs within one goal and Kulusevski could have equalised in injury-time when his long-range shot rolled wide with goalkeeper Fernando Muslera way out of his goal. Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said: “I just felt it was self-inflicted. We had really simple solutions out there to keep the ball. It wasn’t that hard. We showed it with 10 men. We just needed to be stronger on the ball and play the kind of football we play every week. “Maybe it was a little bit the changes I made and the environment and atmosphere, but the moments that stick out to me was giving the ball away. We were playing through them quite easily with 10 men but with 11 men we had nowhere near that conviction and that was disappointing.” On Will Lankshear: “Will took his goal well, he worked hard for the team. He hasn’t had a lot of experience at senior football so he would have learnt a lot today. The red card, it was a bit of overenthusiasm in that moment to give away a foul, but he’ll learn from that.” Galatasaray have won three of their opening four games in a major European campaign for the first time since 2009-10, also in the Europa League. Tottenham faced 28 shots in their loss to Galatasaray, their most in a game under manager Ange Postecoglou; it is the most efforts faced by an English team in a Europa League group stage match since Everton faced 39 shots against Wolfsburg in November 2014.
CAF Champions League: Edo Queens, others to pocket N270m each
Nigeria’s representative, Edo Queens and other 7 African Women Football Clubs that are participating in the CAF Women’s Champions League Morocco 2024 will receive at least USD 150 000 (N270 Million) in prize money.
Real Madrid plans Ademola Lookman move
La Liga giants, Real Madrid has commence plans to sign on Atalanta and Nigeria’s superstar Ademola Lookman.
Super Falcons to take on France’s Les Bleues in friendly
Fresh from a two-match friendly duel with the Green Ladies of Algeria in Nigeria, nine-time African champions Super Falcons are billed to play the Senior Women National Team of France, Les Bleues a high-profile friendly in France on Saturday, 30th November 2024. The Super Falcons lashed the Green Ladies 2-0 and 4-1 in games played in Ikenne-Remo and Lagos respectively, with a good number of home-based professionals showing great promise in the squad coached by Justine Madugu. This month’s encounter with the Les Bleues will take place at the Stade Raymond Kopa in the city of Angers, with kick-off set for 9.30pm France time. While the Bleues are happy to take the game as part of their preparations for the League of Nations in the spring and the 2025 UEFA Euro Women Championship in Switzerland in the summer, the Falcons will welcome the encounter as part of the process for blooding a new squad, as well as another test ahead of the 2025 Women Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco next summer. It is only the seventh time in their history that the Les Bleues will play in the city of Angers.
Atalanta manager heaps praise on Lookman, others
Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini expressed his satisfaction with his team’s performance following their impressive 3-0 victory against Napoli in Serie A.
Nigeria sinks Ghana, retains West African U20 crown
Slippery forward Kparobo Arierhi netted a brace as champions Nigeria successfully defended their WAFU U20 title on Wednesday night after a 2-1 defeat of regional rivals Ghana in this year’s final in Lome. The Flying Eagles dominated large swatches of the encounter, but it turned out a game of two halves and Nigeria were imperious in the first half and Ghana turned on the heat in the second. Harcourt came up with a clever palm-down when the Ghanaians broke through from the left with a cross and a header in the 14th minute, and then punched the ball away after a point-blank shot as the Satellites waltzed their way into the box from the right in added time. In-between, Kparobo Arierhi had concluded the damage. First, in the 34th minute, he received a pass on the edge of the box as the Flying Eagles broke forward on the right, and scored with the trusted poacher’s calm, left-footed finish into the bottom corner, with the goalkeeper clutching grass. The second was more spectacular. Nigerian manfully snatched the ball half-way into the Satellites’ area, and a couple of passes left Kparobo, who plays his club football for Beyond Limits FC, and had scored Nigeria’s winner in the 2-1 win over Cote d’Ivoire in the group phase, face to face with the goalkeeper. Without any attempt at showboating, he unleashed a right-footed rocket right into the roof of the net. On the hour, Nigeria had to spiritedly clear their lines as the Black Satellites, in a rare onslaught, picked the pockets of several defenders and got the ball past goalkeeper Harcourt. Five minutes later, Nigeria again escaped through stout defending as a flurry of shots from inside and outside the box simply failed to get the ball beyond Harcourt. The pressure finally paid off for the Ghanaians in the 74th minute, as they reduced the tally following a goalmouth melee. However, the Flying Eagles held on to retain their trophy won two years ago in Niger Republic, and with Kparobo Arierhi collecting the Man-of-the-Match award. Nigeria and Ghana will represent WAFU B at next year’s Africa U20 Cup of Nations, to be hosted by South Africa.
Personality Guest Lecture: Pinnick makes clarion call for infrastructure adequacy, maintenance
Former President of Nigeria Football Federation and Nigeria’s FIFA Council Member, Amaju Melvin Pinnick OFR, has called for new methods and a re-dedication to the ethos of sport infrastructure maintenance in the country. Delivering this year’s personality guest lecture of the Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan on Tuesday, the FIFA Council Member and Member of CAF Executive Committee started with a brief overview of the country’s sport infrastructure landscape, underscored the relevance of hosting major competitions for sport infrastructure abundance, traced the era of decline and neglect, and concluded by stating that plenteous and well-maintained sport infrastructure are crucial for Nigeria’s success in international competitions. “Poor sport infrastructure has the consequence of limited talent development, reduces competitiveness, is a major disincentive to athletes, makes it impossible for any nation to host competitions, and has a negative impact on a country’s pride and sense of identity,” Pinnick said, as he delivered his paper titled, The Challenges of Sports Infrastructure and Maintenance in Nigeria: Prospect for the Podium Performance. In order to ensure a positive turn-around, he advocated for public-private partnerships in infrastructural development and maintenance, innovative funding models, adopting modern maintenance technologies, capacity-enhancement for maintenance experts and a cluster-model that will rank States according to sport infrastructure available in their domain and also engender stiff competition among them for infrastructural sufficiency. “There are a few success stories on the African continent, such as South Africa and Morocco, who have a national sports maintenance agency. We do not necessarily need to copy them; we can develop what will work for us. What is important now is that we must confront this sport infrastructural deficit head-on and the Federal Government, States, local councils, tertiary institutions, private club owners and private investors all have roles to play. “With improved sport infrastructure round the country, there will be brighter prospects for podium performance by our athletes in international competitions, as we will be able to discover more talents in their youth, have the capacity to nurture them and utilize the facilities optimally to blood them to real competitors. In addition, our country will be able to host major competitions, and our national pride and sense of identity as host of big events will be restored.” In his opening address, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Kayode Adebowale mni, emphasized the university’s vision and mission, which includes fostering a love for sports and promoting national growth and development. He noted that sport plays a vital role in shaping individuals, communities and nations, and commended Pinnick’s efforts in advancing the cause of Nigeria sport internationally. The Dean of the Faculty of Education, Professor Olufemi Adegbesan, hailed Pinnick for his engaging delivery, which was also inspiring, insightful and thought-provoking. He described him as a visionary leader, astute administrator and a passionate advocate of sport infrastructure development in the country. Goodwill messages were received from FIFA President Gianni Infantino, CAF President Patrice Motsepe (virtual), as well as Alhaji Shehu Dikko (Chairman, National Sports Commission), Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau (President, NFF), Barr. Seyi Akinwunmi (Former 1st Vice President, NFF) and Ms Aisha Falode (Member, NFF Executive Committee) who were all physically present. The carnival-like opening to the lecture featured dance performances by Itsekiri and Brazilian groups, and a special performance by the Nigeria Football Supporters Club led by its President-General Worldwide, Dr Rafiu Oladipo. Pinnick was presented with a distinguished service award by the Faculty of Education. The award was presented by Professor Aderonke Baiyeroju, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics). The guest lecture had in attendance the full team of the university’s management. Also present were Oyo State Sports Commissioner, Hon. Wosilat Adegoke; Oba James Odeniran, Chairman of Oyo State Football Association; former NFF General Secretary, Dr. Bolaji Ojo-Oba and; NFF’s Director of Communications, Dr Ademola Olajire.