Sport

Sunday, 10 June 2018 04:58

Wait worthwhile as Halep wins French Open

For a while Simona Halep's third French Open final looked like ending in familiar heartache but the Romanian eventually wore down Sloane Stephens for a 3-6 6-4 6-1 victory and claim her long-awaited first Grand Slam title on Saturday. U.S. Open champion Stephens out-fought Halep to take the opening set and was a break up in the second but the world number one wound her way back into contention before running away with the deciding set. When Halep served for the match at 5-1 with chants of "See-Mohh-Nahhh" reverberating around Court Philippe Chatrier, only a sudden attack of nerves could…

Friday, 08 June 2018 03:52

World Cup matches can be abandoned over crowd discrimination

FIFA has reiterated that referees will have the power to abandon matches at this month’s World Cup in cases of persistent discrimination in the crowd.Russia has pledged to crack down on racism as the country faces increased scrutiny before and during the tournament which it will host from June 14 to July 15 in 11 cities including Moscow, St Petersburg and Sochi. But there is still concern over the situation and England defender Danny Rose said on Wednesday that he has told his family not to attend the World Cup because he feared they may be racially abused. FIFA secretary…

Thursday, 07 June 2018 05:02

Egypt, Nigeria continue to splutter in World Cup warm-ups

Egypt and Nigeria continued their recent poor form in World Cup warm-up games on Wednesday ahead of their bids to become the first African side to reach the semi-finals of the global showpiece event. Belgium eased past Egypt 3-0 in Brussels to extend the north African side's winless streak since qualifying for the tournament in Russia starting next week. Eden Hazard provided the sparkle as Belgium dominated. The Chelsea forward set up Romelu Lukalu for the first goal and netted the second himself before halftime. Marouane Fellaini added a third in stoppage-time to complete a strong performance by the hosts,…

Tuesday, 05 June 2018 04:26

Russia 2018: Emmanuel Amuneke gets major FIFA role for World Cup

Mr Emmanuel Amuneke, who represented Nigeria at 1994 FIFA World Cup, and scored two goals, has been named as part of Technical Study Group that “will analyse matches of FIFA’s flagship event and evaluate statistical data using latest technologies.” FIFA’s website said, “All TSG experts have valuable World Cup experience either as coaches or players, including Carlos Alberto Parreira and Bora Milutinovic, the only two managers to have coached five teams at the competition. “TSG is under the umbrella of FIFA’s Coaching & Player Development Department led by Mr Branimir Ujevic, which will support TSG throughout the tournament.” The group…

Monday, 04 June 2018 04:21

Nigeria name final World Cup squad

Nigeria on Sunday named a final 23-man squad for the World Cup with Chelsea defender Ola Aina and Mikel Agu from FC Porto placed on standby. However, both Aina and Agu will travel with the team for a training camp in Austria. Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced the final squad on its Twitter account. Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi, who has been a major injury concern, made the final cut, while Russia-based defender Bryan Idowu and FC Crotone striker Simeon Nwankwo are the two players who are yet to make an official debut for the team. The team, who lost…

Sunday, 03 June 2018 04:26

World Cup Friendly: Nigeria thrashed by England at Wembley

Nigeria lost to England on Saturday in a top rated friendly just days before World Cup in Russia. Super Eagles were poor in the first half and rightly conceded two goals – it could have been more before the 70,025 people packed into Wembley Stadium. The Eagles were anything but super in a poor first half display but they conceded just the two goals to Gary Cahill and Harry Kane, who continued his record of scoring for England whenever he captains his country. Eagles looked clumsy from the start as Leon Balogun and Joel Obi bashed heads as early as…

Sunday, 03 June 2018 04:25

Serena proves she is back to shake up Roland Garros

When Serena Williams rushed towards the net to smash the ball away with all her might, the tremors felt all around Suzanne Lenglen Court on Saturday signalled only one thing -- she was back in town to shake things up at the French Open. Williams, playing in her first major since the birth of her daughter Alexis Olympia last September, had not been at her intimidating best in her previous two matches at Roland Garros this week. But if her third-round opponent Julia Goerges had hopes of finishing off a job that was ultimately beyond Australian 17th seed Ashleigh Barty,…

Thursday, 31 May 2018 04:30

Super Eagles drop Lokosa, Eze, three others from World Cup squad

Mr Gernot Rohr has dropped five players from Super Eagles squad to 2018 FIFA World Cup. Headlining the dropped players was Nigeria Professional Football League top scorer, Junior Lokosa; former Kano Pillars defender, Stephen Eze; injured Moses Simon; Plateau United goalkeeper, Dele Ajiboye; and Uche Agbo. Super Eagles on Wednesday held a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari. From Abuja, they flew to England for a friendly with Three Lions on Saturday evening. From London, the delegation will fly into Bad Tatzmannsdorf, a city in Austria where they will spend eight days at the world–renowned Avita Resort before flying to Russia.…

Wednesday, 30 May 2018 03:57

Super Eagles meet Buhari today

President Muhammadu Buhari will today (Wednesday) receive Russia 2018 World Cup-bound Super Eagles at Presidential Villa. The event slated for the Council Chambers is meant to afford the President the opportunity of bidding the players farewell as they depart for their sixth appearance at World Cup.The reception was earlier slated for Tuesday evening. It will hold instead of the weekly meeting of Federal Executive Council. The Minister of Sports, Mr Solomon Dalung, will present the team to Mr Buhari, a few hours before the Eagles travel to London aboard a chartered aircraft for another friendly against England at Wembley Stadium…

Tuesday, 29 May 2018 04:31

Nigeria held to draw in World Cup warm-up

World Cup-bound Nigeria conceded a late penalty and were held to a 1-1 draw by the Democratic Republic of Congo in a friendly in Port Harcourt planned to give them a fitting send-off to next month's tournament in Russia. Nigeria, who head to Europe to continue their preparations with a game against England on Saturday, took a 15th-minute lead through Dutch-born defender William Troost Ekong. But they gave away a spot-kick in the 78th minute which striker Ben Malomgo converted for the equaliser. Nigeria will also play a friendly against the Czech Republic before they head to Russia, where they…

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Sunday, 27 May 2018 04:11

Bale's brilliance, Karius errors give Real third straight European triumph

A sensational overhead strike from Real Madrid substitute Gareth Bale and two calamitous errors by Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius gave the Spanish side a third straight Champions League title with a 3-1 win in an incident-packed final on Saturday. Welshman Bale came on just past the hour with the score at 1-1 and after three minutes produced an astonishing bicycle kick finish and then netted with a speculative long-range effort that somehow went through the hands of the unfortunate Karius. The German keeper had earlier handed Real a 51st minute lead when he threw the ball straight at striker Karim…

Sunday, 27 May 2018 04:09

I’m happy to be in Nigeria - Crespo

Argentina ex-international, Hernán Jorge Crespo, on Saturday in Lagos said that he was delighted to be in Nigeria for the first time as a guest of Heineken Group. Crespo along with Nigeria’s ex-internationals — Taribo West, Augustine Eguavon, Mutiu Adepoju and Samson Siasia — were invited by Heineken for an interactive session with journalists in Lagos. Crespo attributed the success of his over 18 years football career to respect for others which, he said, was one of the fundamental values of life. “As a young player, I love the game of football but one fundamental thing I learnt along the…

Wednesday, 23 May 2018 05:12

Super Eagles paid $2.8m ahead World Cup - NFF

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has commenced the payment of 30 per cent allowance to its players and coaches participating in the 2018 World Cup in Russia, an official said. The NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, made the disclosure in Port Harcourt on Tuesday at a seminar jointly organised by The Sun Newspapers and the Rivers Government. He said the sum of 2.8 million US dollars (about N1.08 billion) out of the eight million dollars from FIFA was currently being shared amongst Super Eagles players and coaches. “The early payment is part of an agreement reached between the NFF and the players…

Wednesday, 23 May 2018 05:10

Moses overcomes trauma to turn into Nigeria talisman

Victor Moses has overcome childhood trauma to forge a career that has seen him play at the highest levels of the game and return in glory to the country he once fled. Moses was only 11 when his missionary parents were killed in religious rioting in Kaduna, in north-west Nigeria, leaving him orphaned and allowed into Britain as a refugee, where he lived with a foster family. His footballing ability offered him the opportunity to go to public school on a scholarship organised by Crystal Palace, where manager Neil Warnock gave him a league debut at the age of 16.…

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