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Super Eagles of Nigeria mount more pressure on themselves in the race to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup by failing to defeat South Africa in Uyo.
Ahead of the World Cup qualification match which went down at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium earlier today, June 7, it was clear that the South African side had the aim of beating or drawing with the Super Eagles in Uyo.
Unfortunately for the Nigerian side, the Super Eagles played into their hands as they failed to stamp their authority in the game during the first half.
The Nigerian side looked completely uncoordinated in the first 45 minutes as they struggled to put passes together, especially in the final third.
As for the Bafana Bafana, they maintained their game plan which was to wait and launch counter-attacks. The tactics paid off for them in the 29th minute when Themba Zwane opened the scoring for the visitors.
The Bafana Bafana side ended the first half with the slim lead which didn’t last up to one minute in the second half of the encounter. Turkish-based Nigerian midfielder, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru of Hatayspor scored the equalizer for Nigeria in the 46th minute.
After that, the Super Eagles continued with their uncoordinated display, especially in the opposition’s penalty box as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
The draw leaves the Super Eagles in the 5th spot in Group C, a point below 4th placed South Africa and two points below first-placed Lesotho.
As it stands, every game in the qualification series matters for the Super Eagles starting with their next game which is against third-placed Benin Republic in Abidjan on June 10.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria will take on South Africa in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier clash at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on Friday night.
As at the time of filing this report, the team has concluded preparations for the encounter with only tactical finishing touches remaining before the team takes to the magnificent edifice in the center of Uyo.
The man who has been saddled with the responsibility of getting the team’s World Cup dreams on track, Finidi George is confident that his players will give their all to grab the maximum points against South Africa.
Finidi said, “We have trained well, the players understand the task. I trust my players and their quality. It’s a must win game.
“We’re prepared for the game. The players are focused, they have really worked hard to expect victory on Friday.
“The AFCON win against South Africa is gone, this is a new game. We have our plans.
“We’ve put behind the AFCON clash in Ivory Coast. The AFCON and World Cup qualifiers are two different things. But overall, we will win”.
The former Enyimba coach said he is not scared ahead of the match, and reiterated once again that the team is all out to win tonight.
“I don’t have anything to prove. I am relaxed, it is football. I want to win, I understand the tasks. I am not scared, I played at the highest and we are going for a win.”
Three Super Eagles players were affected by the Nationwide strike on Monday, and some players arrived at the team’s camp on Tuesday and Thursday respectively, which means Finidi only had one training session with the full 23-man squad.
The 53-year-old insisted that the strike did not disrupt the team’s preparation for the match.
“The strike affected just three players, I had enough sessions with the squad,”
Meanwhile, The Super Eagles are now fourth in Group C after Benin Republic defeated Rwanda 1-0 on Thursday night.
The win propelled the Gernot Rohr-led team to second on the table on four points alongside table-toppers Rwanda.
South Africa are in the third position, while the Super Eagles occupy the fourth position. A win for Nigeria will take them to the top of the table with five points.
The match is slated for 8pm Nigerian time at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.
Chelsea have announced the signing of Fulham defender Tosin Adarabioyo ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Tosin joins Chelsea as a free agent after his contract at Fulham ran out this month, and he has become the first signing of the Enzo Maresca’s era at Stamford Bridge.
The 26-year-old has signed a four-year deal to become Chelsea’s first signing of the summer.
The Blues saw off a late challenge from Manchester United for his signature after hijacking his signing from Newcastle United.
Tosin is delighted to join Chelsea and expressed his desire to help return the club to its desired heights.
He said, “Chelsea is a huge club and this is a full-circle moment for me. I was born three miles away from Stamford Bridge and made my professional debut there.
“I’m very excited and looking forward to helping push the club in the direction we want to go.”
Tosin was born in London but raised in Manchester. He began his career with Man City at the age of five. He moved through the club’s youth ranks and regularly captained the Under-18s when he was 16 years old.
He is eligible to play for Nigeria despite representing England at youth level.
It is understood that Tosin is a replacement for Thiago Silva, who left the club at the end of the season to join Fluminese in Brazil.
Tosin will team up with Nigeria-eligible stars like Carney Chukwuemeka, Noni Madueke and Lesley Ugochukwu at Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal legend, Gilberto Silva, has predicted the Gunners to win the Premier League title next season over Manchester City.
Arsenal finished second position behind leaders Man City in the recently-concluded season.
Mikel Arteta’s side went toe-to-toe with Pep Guardiola’s side in the title race
The Premier League North London club finished the season with 89 points from 38 games, while City scored 91 points.
“It was so close [Arsenal’s Premier League title race with City]. I think, of course, at the end of the season for the players, the manager, everyone, it is a kind of disappointment for being so close and yet so far at points to get it,” Silva told Sky Sports.
“The confidence that you have done great and bounce back next season and do this what they need to do, I am very confident they can do it next season.”
[DailyPost]
Kristaps Porzingis dazzled in his return from injury and the Boston Celtics dominated on both ends of the floor to beat the Dallas Mavericks 107-89 in game one of the NBA Finals on Thursday.
Porzingis, who missed 10 games after straining his right calf in the first round of the playoffs, made an immediate impact on his return as the Celtics built a 29-point lead in the first half then thwarted the Mavericks’ third-quarter surge to gain the upper hand in the best-of-seven championship series in front of a raucous home crowd.
Porzingis came off the bench against his former team and scored 11 points with three rebounds and a pair of big blocks as Boston jumped to a 37-20 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Labour, private sector operators bicker over minimum wage
After eight lead changes in little more than six minutes, the Celtics began to impose themselves, pulling away with the help of seven three-pointers in the first quarter alone and keeping up the relentless pace as the Mavs struggled to get their offense firing.
Boston finished with 16 three-pointers on a whopping 42 attempts. Jaylen Brown scored 22 points to lead six Celtics players who scored in double figures.
Porzingis finished with 20 and Jayson Tatum scored 16 points with 11 rebounds and five assists.
– Doncic scores 30 –
Dallas star Luka Doncic scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but Kyrie Irving was limited to 12 points on six-of-19 shooting.
Despite his struggles, the Mavs managed to slice the deficit to eight points in the third quarter, only for the Celtics to pull away again.
“It’s a game of runs,” Tatum said. “This is the NBA Finals, they’re not going to go away easy. We just had to respond and we did a good job of that.”
Doncic, who has been playing through a right knee injury and a sore left ankle, struggled to find his shot. He picked up the pace in the second quarter, but Dallas couldn’t find a way to slow the Celtics — who pushed their lead to 29 points, 58-29, on Tatum’s three-pointer with 4:11 left in the first half.
That capped a 14-4 scoring run that included a steal and driving dunk from Brown.
The Celtics’ early surge had TD Garden rocking, the crowd featuring luminaries from around the sports world including Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
Actor Mark Wahlberg and brother Donnie were in attendance on a night when both teams paid tribute to late Celtics great Bill Walton, who died in May at the age of 71 after a battle with cancer.
Dallas made a push to start the third, when the Celtics went cold from three-point range and Dallas heated up.
Doncic drilled a trey to cut the deficit to 72-64 with 4:28 left in the period.
Boston had the answer, with a cutting dunk from Porzingis keying a 14-0 scoring run that included Brown’s rejection at the rim of Derrick Jones Jr. and another Brown block on Irving.
Doncic scored 10 points in the third, but three-pointers from Tatum, Al Horford and Brown saw the Celtics take an 86-66 lead into the fourth.
Boston will try to double their advantage when they host game two of the NBA finals on Sunday.
Premier League clubs will on Thursday, vote on whether or not to scrap the Video Assistant Referee, VAR.
The clubs will meet at an annual general meeting.
Wolves are the club driving the vote having been hard done by numerous times.
The 2023/2024 season saw a host of high profile errors from VAR, including the failure to award a goal that was shown to be onside for Liverpool in their loss at Tottenham.
VAR was introduced ahead of the 2019/2020 season and still continues to split opinions.
The proposal needs 14 votes from the 20 clubs for it to change.
But according to the UK Mirror, Wolves will get nowhere near the required number with VAR set to stay.
Italian Serie A former champions, Napoli, have confirmed the appointment of former Juventus and Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte, as their new manager.
Antonio Conte has been without a coaching job since he left Tottenham Hotspur in the middle of the 2022-2023 season, the same season in which Napoli won the Serie A title for the first time in 33 years.
Unfortunately for Napoli, they completely collapsed in the 2023-2024 campaign, a season they couldn’t win any title and didn’t even qualify for European club football.
Despite the unpleasant state of Napoli which could lose Super Eagles of Nigeria striker, Victor Osimhen, to another club this summer, Antonio Conte decided to take the challenge.
After signing his contract with Napoli, the 54-year-old Italian tactician who has won the Serie A title three times in a row with Juventus and once with Inter Milan, said he is committed to the growth of Napoli.
“Napoli is a place of global importance. I am happy and excited at the idea of sitting on the blue bench,” Conte said.
“I can certainly promise one thing, I will do my utmost for the growth of the team and the club. My commitment, together with that of my staff, will be total.”
Antonio Conte is expected to do better than Slovakian coach Francesco Calzona, and Walter Mazzarri who were in charge of Napoli in separate periods last season.
Kylian Mbappe is likely to wear the No.9 shirt at Real Madrid, with his two preferred shirt numbers not available.
Los Blancos’ No.9 shirt has remained vacant since Karim Benzema left last summer.
But according to Le Parisien, that is just a temporary solution for Mbappe, who has become synonymous with No.7 at club level and No.10 at international level during his career.
Vinicius Jr currently dons the No.7 shirt for Madrid, while Modric has the no.10.
With Modric looking to sign a one-year contract extension, Mbappe might only have to be a little bit patient.
Therefore, come the 2025/2026, Mbappe should be Madrid’s new No.10, following in the footsteps of players like Luis Figo, Clarence Seedorf, Ricardo Gallego and Ferenc Puskas.
[DailyPost]
Spanish La Liga giants, Real Madrid have finally announced the signing of French football star, Kylian Mbappe earlier today, June 3, 2024.
Real Madrid made the announcement by posting a video highlights of Kylian Mbappe across all their social media platforms. The one posted on their Instagram page came with the hashtag: #WelcomeMbappé.
A statement from the club’s official website added: “Real Madrid CF and Kylian Mbappe have reached an agreement whereby he will be a Real Madrid player for the next five seasons.”
As for Kylian Mbappe, the 25-year-old France international, took to his X page to write: “A dream come true. So happy and proud to join the club of my dream @realmadrid. Nobody can understand how excited I am right now.
“Can’t wait to see you, Madridistas, and thanks for your unbelievable support.
¡Hala Madrid!”
Mbappe reportedly entered a verbal agreement to move to Real Madrid in February 2024. Afterwards, he informed Paris Saint Germain of his decision to leave them on a free transfer at the end of the 2023-2024 season.
The 25-year-old Mbappe whose childhood dream has always been to play for Real Madrid is expected to be unveiled as the club’s new signing at the Santiago Bernabéu before the commencement of Euro 2024.
Naija News gathered that Mbappe’s move to Real Madrid will earn the Frenchman around 15 million euros per season and it will last until June 30, 2029.
Aside from the agreed salary, Mbappe will keep a percentage of his image rights and he is entitled to a whopping 150 million euro signing-on bonus. Real Madrid are expected to complete the payment of the signing-on bonus within the space of five years.
Note that since Kylian Mbappe joined PSG from Monaco on an initial loan in 2017, the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner has only failed to win the French Ligue 1 once. In his time at PSG, he scored a club-record 256 goals in all competitions.
Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey are expected to arrive at Super Eagles camp on Monday (today) ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin Republic.
Also expected in camp are Bright Osayi-Samuel, Frank Onyeka, Semi Ajayi, Maduka Okoye and Paul Onuachu.
15 players are already at the team’s camp in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
The Super Eagles started preparations for the qualifiers on Sunday.
The team had two training sessions (Monday and evening) at the practice pitch of the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium.
Finidi George’s side will entertain South Africa on Friday before traveling to Abidjan for a clash with Benin three days later.
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Toni Kroos has insisted that he is happy with his decision to leave Real Madrid.
Kroos spoke as Real Madrid players celebrated during the Champions League trophy parade at the Cibeles square in Madrid, Spain, on Sunday.
The German midfielder played his match for Real Madrid in the Champions League final victory against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday at Wembley Stadium.
Kroos had recently announced his decision to retire from professional football after this summer’s Euro 2024.
“I am going to miss you [Real Madrid fans] a lot,” Kroos was quoted by Madrid Zone as saying.
“I am happy with my decision. I enjoyed every single minute of these 10 years.
“I will miss a lot of things, no doubt. I am happy with my decision. The Bernabeu is my home. Real Madrid fans are the best in the world.”
British heavyweight boxer, Daniel Dubois, has called out Anthony Joshua for a fight after beating Croatian boxer Filip Hrgovic in Saudi Arabia.
Daniel Dubois and Filip Hrgovic participated in the 5 v 5 tournament in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night, June 1, with the IBF interim world title on the line.
After a very shaken start from the British heavyweight boxer, the 26-year-old star bounced back to give Hrgovic a fight to remember. Dubois grew so strong into the bout that he landed some punches that left Hrgovic bleeding.
The British boxer continued to inflict pain on the Croatian boxer, especially in the seventh round to the extent that referee John Latham had to halt the bout for Hrgovic to receive medical attention.
Following the medical examination, the bout officials concluded that the Croatian boxer couldn’t continue with the game and Daniel Dubois was declared the holder of the IBF interim world heavyweight title.
After the bout, Dubois stressed that he is looking forward to fighting Anthony Joshua who is looking forward to fighting the newly crowned undisputed heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk or Tyson Fury.
But Joshua might have to face Dubois in September at the Wembley Stadium this year before he can face Usyk or Fury.
Dubois said, “I hope the next opponent will be AJ so bring it on. This is my era and this is my time.”
He added, “I have full respect for the guy, to come through that was a learning experience. I’m glad I got the belt and on to the next. I was a bit cold to start with, I had the corner advice, Frank Warren and my dad.
“I ate some shots but it was only to wake me up. The first few shots stung but they woke me up. I’m so proud of myself. It is all a learning experience. We are back on top. It has felt like a rollercoaster.”
After several years of being involved in one of the most twisted transfer saga in football history, former Super Eagles captain Mikel Obi said he had been forgiven by legendary Sir Alex Ferguson, PUNCH reports.
Back in 2005, Mikel was a highly-rated youngster at Norwegian side Lyn Oslo with United tracking him.
The Nigerian starlet was seemingly snapped up by the Devils from the Norwegian club with a deal subsequently announced.
Mikel was pictured in a United shirt and they even went as far as to hold a press conference. But the move sensationally broke down after Chelsea waded in and Mikel said he felt pressured into the move.
“I signed a contract with Manchester United and I didn’t do that of my own free will,” Mikel told Sky Sports News in 2006.
“I was put under a lot of pressure to do that. I was denied advice from my agent and people I trust and I didn’t get much time to think about that.
“I did something I did not want to do. Because of the pressure from Mr Morgan (Andersen, Lyn’s sporting director) and a representative of United it became too much.
“I was pushed and I had nobody on my side so I had to do it.
“I was denied a chance to have a week to think about it and get some independent advice from people so the pressure was too much.
According to several reports, Ferguson was due to fly to Norway for crisis talks but had to cancel his trip after he was told that the Nigerian had gone missing from training in Norway, and was thought to be heading to London for talks with Chelsea.
Eventually, he became a Blues’ player and would spend 11 trophy-laden years at Stamford Bridge.
Years later, on his podcast, Mikel revealed that when Chelsea played Manchester United, he was afraid of meeting Ferguson on the touchline. And when they eventually met each other, the retired Scottish manager had a dreadful look on his face.
Nineteen years later, the retired footballer met with Ferguson on the night of the UEFA Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund at Wembley where both parties had a nice time.
On his Instagram post, Mikel shared a picture of himself with Ferguson with the caption, “He has forgiven me.”
Coming off the 2005 Under-17 FIFA World Cup with Nigeria, Mikel was one of the best young football prospects in the World.
During his time with Chelsea Mikel won two Premier League titles, one UEFA Champions League trophy, one Europa League title, four FA Cup, two League Cup and one Community Shield title.
Fenerbahce have “started negotiations” with Jose Mourinho over their head coach role.
Mourinho, 61, has been out of work since being sacked by Roma in January.
Negotiations were revealed by the Istanbul-based club on public disclosure platform KAP, as part of a legal process to alert investors.
Fenerbahce parted company with previous boss Ismail Kartal on Friday, whose side amassed 99 points in the league last season but ended three points behind city rivals Galatasaray.
“Our company has started negotiations with Jose Mario Dos Santos Mourinho Felix for the post of Football A team coach,” the Fenerbahce post read.
“It is announced with respect to our investors.”
Should negotiations be completed, Mourinho’s task will be to help Fenerbahce to a first Super Lig title since the 2013-14 season.
The Portuguese manager has eight league trophies on his CV across four countries, England, Italy, Portugal and Spain – three with Chelsea, two with Inter Milan, two with Porto and one with Real Madrid.
He has also won five major European trophies, including the Champions League with Inter and Porto and Europa League with Manchester United.
Mourinho’s last piece of silverware came with Roma in 2022, when he led them to the Europa Conference League – the club’s first European trophy – and helped them reach the Europa League final the following season, which they lost to Sevilla on penalties.
He was replaced by Daniele de Rossi as Roma boss in January with the club ninth in Serie A – they eventually went on to finish sixth.
Mourinho is due to appear on TNT Sports as a pundit during the broadcaster’s coverage of the Champions League final on Saturday.
Fenerbahce, who have been Turkish champions a record 28 times, have finished runners-up in the past three seasons, with Kartal’s side losing just once and drawing six matches as they failed to stop Galatasaray claiming back-to-back titles.
[Leadership]