TEAM
Jose Mourinho drums support for under-fire Steven Bergwijn
Tottenham Hotspur coach Jose Mourinho said the team are supporting Dutchman Steven Bergwijn who missed two clear chances in Wednesday’s top-of-the-table clash at Liverpool and received criticism on social media after the 2-1 defeat. “I don’t know what I can do apart from the player knowing in this club we are all together,” Mourinho told a news conference ahead of Sunday’s game at home to Leicester City. “We lose, we win and we draw all together. So he has us and we have him. In here we don’t feel any individual criticism, we never feel it that way, it is always about us, so no problem. “He’s one of my boys, period. There is no point to boo, to individualise. He’s a good professional, he works hard for the team, he gives everything he can.” Second-placed Spurs slipped three points behind L...
AFCON: Golden Eaglets fail MRI test three weeks to kick-off
In another embarrassing age-related moment for Nigerian football, 40 out of the 60 boys pencilled down as part of the Golden Eaglets contingent to prosecute the Under-17 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers in Benin Republic failed the mandatory Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) age test. Coming just three weeks to the qualifiers, this means the coaching crew will have to race against the clock to pick a squad qualified enough to represent the country at the West African Football Union (WAFU) Group B qualifiers billed to kick-off on Tuesday, January 5. Out of the 20 players who passed the tests, only five of them are part of the main squad and just two of the five are included in coach Fatai Amoo’s preferred starting lineup for the competition. Most of the players the coach banked on d...
Taiwo Awoniyi keen to get Super Eagles chance
Taiwo Awoniyi hopes he will get the chance to play for the Super Eagles any time soon. Awoniyi has represented Nigeria at youth levels but he is yet to get the chance to play for the senior side. The forward has impressed on loan so far at Bundesliga club Union Berlin, with three goals and one assist in 10 league appearances. The 23-year-old is keen to maintain the impressive scoring form which he believes will help him gain recognition at international level. “The national team question for me is a big thing. I remember in the U17 and U20 days, the pride to wear the national colours is massive,” Awoniyi said. “I understand that the country has talents in abundance, But I also have to stick to my principle of time and season and continue to work hard. When it’s my time I’ll take the opport...
Osun mechanic to die by hanging for armed robbery
An Osun State High Court sitting in Ilesa, on Thursday, sentenced a 29-year-old mechanic, Sola Emorua, to death by hanging for armed robbery. The defendant was first arraigned before Justice Isiaka Adeleke on January 29, 2018, on two counts of conspiracy and armed robbery. Justice Adeleke, in his judgment after a trial that lasted almost three years, said the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and subsequently sentenced Emorua to death. The lead prosecution counsel from the Ministry of Justice, Motolani Sokefun, had told the court that the convict and others at large, on May 7, 2015 around 5.30pm in Osu, on the Ilesa-Akure Expressway, while armed with weapons, robbed a tanker loaded with 33,000 litres of kerosene belonging to one Ismaila Azeez. The counsel further expl...
Wolves want Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City
Manchester City renewed Oleksander Zinchenko until 2024, but his future may not lie at the Etihad… or with a Barca team that took an interest in him months ago. According to the ‘Daily Star’, Wolves will bid for the Ukrainian player in January. Oleksander Zinchenko has always been under the magnifying glass at Manchester City. He was convincing at times as a winger and in the centre of the field. He aroused some interest from FC Barcelona in the summer. The Catalan media considered him the “favourite” for the left-back position, although the economy did not allow him to move. To this was added the fact that Zinchenko had renewed until 2024 with Manchester City. In the meantime, some are trying to take him away from City and from Barca in January. We are talking about Wolverhampton Wanderer...
Yuletide: Children are happier with gifts than excursions – study
Kids aged between three and 12 are happier when given material gifts than being taken on pleasure trips, a recently released study suggests. The findings, published in September in the International Journal of Research in Marketing, revealed that while adults tend to be thrilled by experiences, younger kids are more drawn to material goods. This effect, however, changes over time as a child’s cognitive skills increase, the study compiled by a team of researchers at the University of Illinois stated. “Across four studies with children and adolescents of ages 3–17 years, we show that children (ages 3–12) derive more happiness from goods than from experiences, but the effect changes over time,” it said. An associate professor of marketing at the Chicago-based institution, Lan Nguyen Chaplin, ...
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must avoid Jose Mourinho’s mistakes to succeed
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has arguably fallen into the Jose Mourinho trap and needs to sort things out before they get out of hand. Sir Alex Ferguson often spoke about how, when setting his teams up, he would mostly focus on his own side and only a little attention was spent on the opponent. The legendary Scotsman made it a point to reiterate the balance was delicate and couldn’t sway too much in the other direction or it’d become dangerous. Mourinho often set United up on a match by match basis and it was why he was accused of not having any real tactics, philosophy or style at the club. When Solskjaer came in it was clear what he wanted the team to do and it was just a case of making the players do it better to show progression. It was partly why he won the job- for hav...
Kwara announces second wave of coronavirus
The Kwara Medical Advisory Sub-Committee on COVID-19 has announced that a second wave of the pandemic has hit the state. The announcement is contained in a statement issued on Sunday by the committee’s chairman, Femi Oladiji. “Now, there are two epidemiological curves of the disease in Kwara. The first curve peaked between July and August, and then plummeted between September and October, at which stage people thought COVID-19 was winding down. “It is important to state clearly that we now have the second wave of COVID-19 outbreak in Kwara just like a few other states of the country,’’ he said. Mr Oladiji stated that the second curve started early in November with sharp rise in the number of positive cases. He noted that the reasons for the second wave included increase in awareness for vo...
Pep Guardiola: Manchester City miss Sergio Aguero
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola opened up on his side’s goal scoring troubles after a goalless draw against Man United. He also talked about missing star striker Sergio Aguero. He said: “We miss Sergio but for the last six months, not just today, he was injured a lot of times. One step at a time, he still isn’t fit”. “Other players are working hard. Today he had a problem in his stomach and couldn’t make a session. He was at home”. “Of course, we miss Sergio, he is the best striker in Manchester City’s history”. “In the next short time, we will go without him and I am sure when he is fit, he will be back.” Sergio Aguero missed the Manchester derby due to sickness. The Argentine has been absent for much of City’s season till now. He was carrying an injury into the start of the new sea...
Lagos governor goes into isolation after close aide tests positive for coronavirus
After one of his closest aides tested positive for COVID-19, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has gone into self-isolation immediately. Professor Akin Abayomi, the state’s Commissioner for Health, in a statement Friday, said: “Mr. Governor and other members of his team will be tested by the Lagos State biobank today but will remain in isolation until the results of the tests are available. “We are seeing slightly increasing number of COVID-19 positive cases in clusters in Lagos and all Lagosians should adhere to the prescribed advisories of safe distancing, good hand and respiratory hygiene and avoidance of unnecessary gatherings.” He stressed that “this is not the first time Mr. Governor is having the COVID-19 test. He has had at least three since May when he announced that 1...
Super Eagles charged to better current FIFA ranking next year
Former Nigeria goalkeeper Ike Shorunmo has charged the Super Eagles to be deliberate with regards to ranking next year so as to be better placed for seeding purposes. Shorunmo said as much as the rankings don’t play football, it is equally important to the national team and the country so as to make their journey sometimes easy. “When FIFA are doing their thing, they first look at the ranking before they now know which team is placed in what category. So the ranking is very important to the country and I hope good things will follow.” Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn ...
Jurgen Klopp: I thought VAR was a good idea, but now I’m not so sure
Jurgen Klopp admits he may have changed his mind about the need for VAR in football, after another incident-filled match for his Liverpool side in the Champions League. The Reds’ 1-1 draw with Danish champions FC Midtjylland on Wednesday saw a number of interventions from the video assistant referee. First Midtjylland were awarded a penalty for a foul by Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher on Anders Dreyer. The forward had initially been flagged offside by the assistant referee but replays showed, eventually at least, that he had been onside, though there was a lengthy delay as the referee headed to the pitchside monitor to rule on Kelleher’s subsequent challenge. Andreas Scholz converted from the spot to equalise for the home side after Mohamed Salah had opened the scoring. There was m...
