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Paris Saint-Germain wait for Neymar to sign contract extension
Paris Saint-Germain were revelling in the joy of knocking holders Bayern Munich out of the Champions League in midweek when Neymar offered more cause for celebration. In an interview with Brazilian broadcaster TNT Sports following PSG’s away-goals victory in the quarter-finals, Neymar dropped a clear hint that he would be staying at PSG beyond the end of his current contract. “For me there is no debate, it is obvious that I feel very comfortable here and at home at Paris Saint-Germain. I feel happier than I did before,” the world’s most expensive player said. His current contract, signed following his arrival from Barcelona for 222 million euros ($264m) in 2017, runs out at the end of next season, at the same time as Kylian Mbappe’s deal. It has been reported in France since the Bayern gam...
Manchester City close in on Premier League title with Leicester win
Manchester City took another significant step towards the Premier League title with a 2-0 victory at Leicester City. The visitors dominated from the off and thought they were ahead on five minutes. Fernandinho rifled a 35-yard strike into the bottom corner, but Sergio Aguero – who was appearing for the first time since his impending summer departure from City was announced – was deemed to be offside. Kevin de Bruyne then hit the crossbar with a stunning free kick before Leicester’s best moment saw Jamie Vardy’s strike ruled out for offside on the stroke of half time. The pattern of Man City dominance continued after the break and they deservedly took the lead on 58 minutes when Benjamin Mendy showed great composure to cut inside and place a low shot into the far corner. Gabriel Jesus made ...
Mo Salah dreams of future La Liga action
Mohamed Salah has hinted his future could lie in Spanish football amid continued speculation the forward could leave Liverpool. The Premier League’s joint-top scorer this season is under contract at Anfield until 2023 but has been linked with a move elsewhere, with Barcelona and Real Madrid often touted as potential destinations for Salah if he were to depart Merseyside. Last year, the forward described the Spanish sides as two “great” clubs, but Jurgen Klopp later played down any transfer talk surrounding the Egypt international. Liverpool play Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in April as the two sides meet for the first time since 2018’s final in Kiev which finished 3-1 to the Spanish side and ahead of the games, Salah refused to rule out a future move to La Liga...
Japan releases softball squad for Tokyo Olympic Games
Japanese softball team head coach Reika Utsugi has urged her players to capture Olympic gold on home soil after naming a 15-strong squad for Tokyo 2020. The team features Yukiko Ueno, captain Yamada Eri and Yukiyo Mine who helped Japan clinch softball gold at Beijing 2008 – the last time the sport featured at the Games. Pitchers Yamato Fujita and Miu Goto, who was named Most Valuable Player in last season’s Japan Women’s Softball League, as well as star outfielder Saki Yamazaki are other notable names. Haruka Agatsuma, Nayu Kiyohara, Mana Atsumi, Yuka Ichiguchi, Hitomi Kawabata, Minori Naito, Yu Yamamoto, Nodoka Harada and Sayaka Mori have also been chosen. “Of course, skills and physical competence are the necessary elements,” said Utsugi. “But in selecting the 15 members, we also took th...
Naomi Osaka uncomfortable with tight schedule
Naomi Osaka dislikes long and busy stretches away from the comforts of home and so will plan the European portion of her schedule accordingly in the hope of improving her title hopes at the French Open and Wimbledon. Osaka, competing this week at the Miami Open near where she grew up, said that while she chases success relentlessly she is still trying to shape her playing schedule to give herself the best chance of success. “I’m not really sure what a normal schedule is but I’ve never thought of myself to be the type of player that would play week in and week out,” said Osaka. “I personally get homesick quite often and it makes me kind of sad sometimes.” Japan’s four-time Grand Slam champion collected her second U.S. Open title last September and followed that up with a second triumph at t...
Juventus chief: Cristiano Ronaldo is going nowhere
Juventus chief football officer, Fabio Paratici, has declared Cristiano Ronaldo is going nowhere and will see out the rest of his contract in Turin. Ronaldo’s future with Juve was plunged into uncertainty as the Italian giants crashed out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage earlier this month. The 36-year-old has scored at a prolific rate since his £99million arrival from Real Madrid in 2018 and has won back-to-back Serie A titles. But Ronaldo’s search for a sixth Champions League title has been fruitless with Juventus and he has been linked with a move away from the Allianz Stadium this summer, one year before his contract ends. 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 ...
Manchester United boss rules out late title push despite derby win
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is refusing to dream of a late title push, believing Manchester City are “too far ahead” despite yesterday’s superb derby win. Bruno Fernandes’ penalty and Luke Shaw’s strike saw United triumph 2-0 at the Etihad, ending City’s run of 21 straight wins in all competitions. The result denied City the chance to go 15 points clear at the top and moved United ahead of Leicester into second but they remain 11 points adrift of Pep Guardiola’s side with just ten game to play. “We just take one game at a time,” Solskjaer said. “City are too far ahead for us to think we can catch them. Last year we caught 15 points up on Leicester, but City are a different proposition. “Even today they put us under so much pressure you could see we were playing against a ve...
Ex-pope Benedict chides ‘fanatical’ Catholics who reject his resignation
Former pope Benedict has chided conservative Roman Catholics who have not accepted his decision to resign as “fanatical”, telling them that there is only one pope and it is Francis. Benedict, now 93, in 2013 became the first pope in more than 600 years to resign instead of ruling for life, saying he no longer had the strength to govern the 1.3 billion-member Church. Some hardline conservatives unhappy with the more liberal Pope Francis have often voiced doubts about whether Benedict stepped down willingly, even though he has said several times in the past eight years that he did. “It was a difficult decision. But it was a fully conscious choice and I think I did well (to resign),” he told Italy’s Corriere della Sera in a interview published on Monday. “Some of my more fanatical friends are...
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Brazil legend Ronaldo ‘the best player in history’
Milan star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has named Brazil legend Ronaldo as ‘the best player in history’. Ibrahimovic expressed his admiration towards the World Cup winner ahead of Milan’s Europa League clash with Red Star Belgrade on Thursday night, while putting him ahead of modern-day greats such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the all-time list of top players. The 39-year-old thinks Ronaldo Nazario, who inspired Brazil to World Cup glory in 2002, transcended the game with his unique talents and still stands out as the unrivalled master of the footballing craft to this day. Zlatan told Discovery Plus: “I don’t need to describe Ronaldo, ‘The Phenomenon’. “I always say you have the players that play the game, and the players that are the game. For me, Ronaldo is the game. When you watch him...
Arsenal boss hails Manchester City as ‘best in Europe’
Mikel Arteta believes his Arsenal team will be facing the best side in Europe when they take on Premier League leaders Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. City have won a club-record 17 successive games across all competitions and are 10 points ahead of local rivals Manchester United at the summit of the English top-flight heading into this weekend’s round of fixtures. Arteta knows City well after working under manager Pep Guardiola in Manchester for three years before returning to manage Arsenal, having previously played for the Gunners. “I think they are the best team in Europe at the moment,” Arteta said of City. “The way they are performing, the football they are playing and the consistency of the results, take all that it and it makes them the best team. “So we have a b...
Senate asked to probe public hearing on medical council bill
The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), the umbrella body of health workers in the country, has demanded that Senate probe the recent public hearing of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) Bill as it accused Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Dr. Ibrahim Oloriegbe, of disenfranchising its members. JOHESU Chairman, Comrade Joy Bio Josiah flayed what he called “vindictive and discriminatory” attitude of Dr. Oloriegbe against other medical professional bodies as he gave his constituency, MDC and NMA more time to canvass their views on the contentious bill. “We challenge Oloriegbe and the NMA to produce video and audio evidence contrary to this. The point here is Oloriegbe does not understand the philosophy and basics of running Public Hearings because he pointedly domina...
Mikel Arteta: Arsenal, Manchester United electrifying moments no longer exist
Electrifying moments that always followed Arsenal, Manchester United matches are gradually fading away, according to Gunners boss, Mikel Arteta. Arteta spent five years as an Arsenal player and never featured on the winning side against United. But all the old animosities had gone by then and today’s encounter at an empty Emirates is sure to be played out in relative peace. Arteta admits: “It’s not only the Arsenal and Manchester United fixtures which have calmed down. “If you look at the way all the derbies used to get played, it’s not the same right now. “The game is evolving and we are educating the players in a different way. “For sure they are not allowed to get away with some of the things they used to do 20 years ago and with VAR that’s even less. “The game is much more controlled a...
