Category: Sports - Page 3 - African News Today

<strong>Why I Can Never Be A Ronaldo Fan -Mikel</strong>

26Nov

By Mary UgwuanyiNo Comments

News, Nigeria, Sports

Why I Can Never Be A Ronaldo Fan -Mikel

Mikel Obi, former Super Eagles of Nigeria midfielder, has said that Cristiano Ronaldo has an excessive ego which has made him prefer Lionel Messi over the Portuguese. Ronaldo who was on target as Portugal beat Ghana 3-2 in the 2022 World Cup on Thursday, recently terminated his contract with Manchester United after his controversial interview with Piers Morgan. But Mikel in an interview with Dubai Eye said that he prefers Argentina striker, Messi over 37-year-old Ronaldo. See Also: 2022 World Cup: Addo Reacts To Ronaldo’s Penalty He said, “I’ve never been a Ronaldo fan really. “For me, when a player has so much ego, I don’t really get it. He’s never been one of my favourite players and that’s why I always go for Messi really.” Ronaldo set a record as the first player...

UEFA WCL: Oshoala Bags Player Of the Match In Barca’s Trashing Of Benfica

20Oct

By Mary UgwuanyiNo Comments

News, Nigeria, Sports

UEFA WCL: Oshoala Bags Player Of the Match In Barca’s Trashing Of Benfica

Nigerian international, Asisat Oshoala was named the Player of the Match in Barcelona’s 9-0 thrashing of Benfica in the UEFA women’s Champions League on Wednesday. This was contained in a tweet on the UEFA women’s Champions League Twitter handle. Oshoala bagged two goals and provided two assists as Barcelona kicked off their champions league campaign in Group D. The Super Falcons star assisted Barca’s first and second goals before getting on the scoresheet for her side’s third ad eight goals. See Also: The Nigerian had now netted three goals in all competitions for former European champions this season. She is the current African women’s Player of the Year and finished last season as the highest goal scorer with 20 goals in the Spanish league. Source: Comple...

Nigeria’s Super Falcons to Face Japan in Friendly Match

2Oct

By Osaretin BalogbanNo Comments

Sports

Nigeria’s Super Falcons to Face Japan in Friendly Match

The Super Falcons have flown out to Kobe in Japan ahead of their friendly match against the Nadeshiko on Thursday. See Also: Former Super Eagles Captain Mikel Obi Retires from Football The Super Falcons’ team with the officials left on Saturday for Kobe from the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport in Abuja. A tweet on the Super Falcons’ official Twitter handle reads, “We are jetting out of Nigeria's Airport to Japan.” Ahead of this clash, The Falcons have only won once out of the three encounters against the Japanese. The Women’s National Team have also failed to win their last four games. Source: Daily Post

Ibrahim Musa Gusau Elected as New NFF President

1Oct

By Osaretin BalogbanNo Comments

News, Nigeria, Sports

Ibrahim Musa Gusau Elected as New NFF President

Ibrahim Musa Gusau has been elected as the new President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) after an election was conducted on Friday. See Also: NFF to face Potential Sanction by FIFA Over Contract Breach Gusau became the 40th President of the NFF after being elected at the NFF’s 78th Elective Congress in Benin, Edo State. The newly elected President got 21 votes to defeat his closest contender, Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi, who managed 12 votes. Coming in third place, League Management Committee Chairman, Shehu Dikko, ended up with only six votes. At the start of the election, only seven out of the total ten intending candidates contested for the position, as three candidates namely, Moukhtar Muhammed, Musa Amadu, and Yahaya Kwande withdrew before the election started...

Former Super Eagles Captain Mikel Obi Retires from Football

28Sep

By Osaretin BalogbanNo Comments

English Premiership, Nigeria, Sports

Former Super Eagles Captain Mikel Obi Retires from Football

Former Super Eagles captain and Chelsea legend, John Obi Mikel, has retired from professional football after 20 years of action. Obi announced his retirement from football on Tuesday on his social media accounts with a farewell message to his fans. See Also: Otubanjo wins UEFA Conference League Goal of The Week Award “There is a saying that “all good things must come to an end”, and for my professional football career, that day is today." “I look back at the past 20 years of my career, and I must say that I am very satisfied with all that I was able to achieve and, more importantly, the human it has helped shape." “All of this would not have been possible without the unwavering support of my family, managers, clubs, coaches, teammates, and most importantly, my ever-loyal...

South African Coach Mosimane Joins Saudi Arabian Club

26Sep

By Osaretin BalogbanNo Comments

South Africa, Sports

South African Coach Mosimane Joins Saudi Arabian Club

South Africa’s most successful coach in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) club competitions, Pitso Mosimane, just became the new coach of Saudi Arabian second division team, Al Ahli Saudi. See Also: Alex Iwobi Nominated for Premier League Player of the Month Award According to the Nation, A close associate revealed the South African coach had joined the club but the details of the contract were not stated. Mosimane coached Egyptian club, Al Ahly, before leaving in June, he won the CAF Champions League in 2020 and 2021 then ended up runners-up to Wydad Casablanca this year with the club. The 58-year-old also helped Ahly win the CAF Super Cup, a fixture held between the Champions League winners and the second-tier Confederation Cup winners. He has also won the Ch...

Osimhen to Return from Injury in Two Weeks

25Sep

By Osaretin BalogbanNo Comments

Sports

Osimhen to Return from Injury in Two Weeks

Nigeria International, Victor Osimhen is expected to be fit and ready for action in two weeks according to Napoli doctor, Raffaele Canonico. See Also: Umar Sadiq to Miss The Rest of Laliga Campaign as He Suffers Injury Blow Osimhen sustained a muscle injury during a UEFA Champions League home game against Liverpool on matchday one of the competition. Raffaele said Osimhen would not be able to play in the game against Torino on October 1 and the Champions League fixture against Ajax, three days after. “Pace is one of his peculiar characteristics. We are talking of an athlete whose top speed sprint is 34/35 km/h. To reach that and to achieve specific standards he must be well trained." “In general, the recovery time for these sorts of injuries is five weeks, so the week of...

Alex Iwobi Nominated for Premier League Player of the Month Award

23Sep

By Osaretin BalogbanNo Comments

English Premiership, Sports

Alex Iwobi Nominated for Premier League Player of the Month Award

Everton midfielder and Super Eagles player, Alex Iwobi, has been nominated for the premier league player of the month award for September. See Also: Otubanjo wins UEFA Conference League Goal of The Week Award The Nigeria international has been selected to contend for the award after providing the assist for Neal Maupay’s winning goal against West Ham United on Sunday. Iwobi was also named player of the match as he performed awesomely in the deeper central-midfield role as preferred by Everton’s coach, Frank Lampard. Iwobi was selected alongside Bournemouth midfielder Philip Billing, Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne, Spurs’ Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Jacob Ramsey of Aston Villa, and Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford. Voting for the EA award ends at 12 pm on Monday, 2...

Otubanjo wins UEFA Conference League Goal of The Week Award

17Sep

By Osaretin BalogbanNo Comments

Sports

Otubanjo wins UEFA Conference League Goal of The Week Award

Nigerian Forward, Yusuf Otubanjo, wins the UEFA Conference League Goal of the Week prize for matchday two. See Also: Napoli Suffer Injury Blow as Osimhen to Stay on the Sidelines Otubanjo’s goal in the first half for Armenian club, Pyunik, was nominated along with three others. The goal was the second and the last of the match against Slovan Bratislava securing the win for Pyunik. The Nigerian’s goal was his first in the competition this season. Otubanjo is the first Nigerian to claim the individual award. On Matchday one, Samuel Chukwueze and Peter Olayinka were also nominated. The 30-year-old moved to Pyunik from Ararat-Armenia in the summer transfer window. Source: Daily Post

Umar Sadiq to Miss The Rest of Laliga Campaign as He Suffers Injury Blow

14Sep

By Osaretin BalogbanNo Comments

Sports

Umar Sadiq to Miss The Rest of Laliga Campaign as He Suffers Injury Blow

Umar Sadiq has sustained an injury and will undergo surgery on Thursday as announced by Laliga Club, Real Sociedad. See Also: Umar Sadiq Seals Late Move from Almeria to Real Sociedad The Club announced on Monday that the Nigerian striker suffered a rupture of his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Sadiq had come off injured during Real Sociedad’s 2-1 defeat against Getafe on Sunday. In a statement, the Club said: “After suffering a rupture of his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, Sadiq Umar will undergo surgery on 15th September in Vitoria, with Dr. Mikel Sánchez taking control of the procedure". Sadiq will miss the rest of the campaign as a result of the injury. Source: Daily Post