Author: Nurudeen Obalola
By Nurudeen Obalola Super Eagles head coach Austin Eguavoen has called up 23 players for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying double-header against Libya, including Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman and Bayer Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface, two players in flying form. The Super Eagles will host the Mediterranean Knights at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on Friday, before heading to Benghazi for the return leg at the Martyrs of Benina Stadium four days later. Sevilla winger Chidera Ejuke is also recalled, the 26-year-old set to make his first appearance since 2022 at the AFCON in Cameroon. Full-backs Ola Aina…
By Nurudeen Obalola Leicester City, with Super Eagles midfielder Wilfred Ndidi once again running their midfield, secured their first victory of the season in the English Premier League on Saturday, beating Bournemouth 1-0 at the King Power Stadium. Also on Saturday, both Manchester City and Arsenal had to come from behind to earn home victories, the former beating Fulham 3-2 and the latter eventually easing past Southampton 3-1. Ndidi did not add to his impressive four assists but he was brilliant again in the middle of the park as Facundo Buonanotte scored the only goal of the match in the…
Liverpool secured a sixth straight victory in all competitions on Saturday, beating Crystal Palace 1-0 at Selhurst Park in their English Premier League clash. It was bittersweet for the Reds though as goalkeeper Alisson had to be taken off due to an injury. Diogo Jota struck early to keep Arne Slot’s side on top of the table, four points clear pending the outcome of the afternoon kick-offs. The Portugal forward took advantage of poor defending to turn in Cody Gakpo’s cross in the ninth minute and Liverpool held on to that slim lead. Brazil international Alisson appeared to suffer a…
By Kayode John Super Eagles stars Ahmed Musa and Shehu Abdullahi have returned to Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) club Kano Pillars. Musa and Abdullahi have been spotted training with Kano Pillars, donning the team’s all-green training kit ahead of the Matchday 5 clash in the NPFL against Sunshine Stars at home on Sunday. “Ahmed Musa, Shehu Abdullahi, Nazir Laja, and the rest of the squad trained ahead of the NPFL 2024/25 Matchday 5 clash against Sunshine Stars this weekend,” the club wrote on X on Friday. It will be Musa’s third stint at the club. He previously featured for…
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is looking forward to victory against Southampton on Saturday, which would see the Gunners become the second club after Manchester United to secure 400 home wins in the English Premier League. Arsenal and champions Manchester City are the only unbeaten sides in the league this season. The London club are third spot in the league table and on same number of points as City who have a superior goal diffidence. Meanwhile, Southampton, who have Super Eagles midfielder Joe Aribo in his squad, have struggled since their promotion to the English top flight last season. The Saints…
By Kayode John RFS coach Viktors Morozs has acknowledged that his team benefitted from the absence of Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen in the 2-2 draw with Galatasaray in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday. Osimhen missed the game due to an injury, leaving Mauro Icardi to spearhead Galatasaray’s attack as Dries Mertens and Yunus Akgun gave them a two-goal lead before Janis Ikaunieks and Lasha Odisharia levelled the score for the hosts. “It would have been different if Osimhen had played. He would have added strength to Galatasaray,” Morozs said after the game. “Osimhen is a different player than…
World No.1 women’s tennis player Iga Swiatek is looking for a new coach after splitting with Tomasz Wiktorowski following three seasons working together. Wiktorowski, 43, joined Swiatek’s team as coach in 2022 when she had one Grand Slam success to her name. The Pole helped Swiatek to four further Grand Slam titles, including three successive French Opens. She became the first Polish player to reach world number one in April 2022 and has spent a total of 123 weeks at the top of the rankings. “After three years of the greatest achievements in my career, together with my coach Tomasz…
By Nurudeen Obalola The Nigeria Football Federation General Assembly has approved the body’s budget for 2025. The General Assembly was held in Asaba, Delta State on Friday, with the major takeaway the approval of the budget proposal of N17.6 billion put forward by the board, while also approving a one-year extension to the tenure of PricewaterhouseCoopers as the NFF’s external auditors. The NFF says the big budget is aimed at strengthening Nigerian football at all levels, as the Congress also ratified the body’s financial statements for the year ending 2023. The N17.6bn budget is over N3bn more than what the…
Paul Pogba’s four-year drug ban has been reduced to 18 months following a successful appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Pogba, who tested positive for dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in the first game of the 2023/2024 season, is free to start playing for Juventus again from March next year. Italy’s National Anti-Doping Tribunal (TNA) accepted the request of the Anti-Doping Prosecutor’s Office to hand out a four-year ban last March, which is the standard length of ban under the World Anti-Doping Code (WADA). It meant Pogba would not have returned to football until March 2027. A four-year anti-doping ban can…
Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has said that a decision on Erik ten Hag is not his call as speculation swirls around the Dutchman’s future. The club have had a disappointing start to the 2024/2025 campaign, winning only two and losing three of their first six English Premier League games, and failing to win any of their last four fixtures in all competitions. There has been talk that Ten Hag is facing the sack if United lose to Aston Villa in their Premier League clash at Villa Park on Sunday, but Ratcliffe neither refuted nor confirmed the claim. <mWhen…