Tag: Sports - Page 3 - African News Today

Former Super Eagles Captain Mikel Obi Retires from Football

28Sep

By Osaretin BalogbanNo Comments

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-loya...

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, ...

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

Nigerian Forward Okpotu Joins Egyptian Club, Al Masry

14Sep

By Osaretin BalogbanNo Comments

Egypt, Sports

Nigerian Forward Okpotu Joins Egyptian Club, Al Masry

Nigerian Forward, Anthony Okpotu has decided to join Egyptian Premier League Club, Al Masry from Qatari club, Qatar SC. See Also: Turkish Club Terminates Ahmed Musa’s Contract The Striker in 20 league appearances played had netted 4 goals for the Qatari club. Okpotu also performed brilliantly when he played for Tunisian Club, US Monastir. He bagged a total of 7 goals and 8 assists in 32 appearances in all competitions for the club. The 28-year-old has also played for clubs in Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. Source: Daily Post

Napoli Suffer Injury Blow as Osimhen to Stay on the Sidelines

11Sep

By Osaretin BalogbanNo Comments

Sports

Napoli Suffer Injury Blow as Osimhen to Stay on the Sidelines

Nigerian Striker and Napoli star, Victor Osimhen, could stay out of football action for more than four weeks after he sustained an injury during a champions league match on Wednesday. Osimhen left the field injured during the champions league match against Liverpool as Napoli was leading 2-0. See Also: Umar Sadiq Seals Late Move from Almeria to Real Sociedad Napoli would later win 4-1 against the English side at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium. Napoli revealed the striker sustained a second-degree lesion in his right bicep and would start a recovery program to address the injury. Such injury takes nothing less than four to five weeks to recover from, so Osimhen would be out of action until after the international break in October. So far, the Nigerian has scored t...

Qatar 2022: Bring Home World Cup, Eto’o Tells Indomitable Lions

1Sep

By Kosi UchennaNo Comments

Cameroon, News, Sports, World Cup

Qatar 2022: Bring Home World Cup, Eto’o Tells Indomitable Lions

Samuel Eto’o, the President of the Cameroon Football Federation, FECAFOOT, has tasked the Indomitable Lions to bring home the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The 2022 World Cup will be placed in Qatar from the 20th of November to the 18th of December, 2022. The Cameroon national football team has qualified for eight editions of the FIFA World Cup finals so far with their best outing being a quarter-finals place. Eto’o in a tweet on his Twitter handle urged the Indomitable Lions to make the country proud at the 2022 edition. See Also: 2022 U-20 WWC: Why Falconets Crashed Out Against Netherlands – Danjuma He tweeted, “During last week’s General Assembly, we came together to discuss the road ahead for Cameroonian football. We must seize every opportunity, nationally and international...

2022 U-20 WWC: Why Falconets Crashed Out Against Netherlands – Danjuma

22Aug

By Kosi UchennaNo Comments

News, Nigeria, Sports

2022 U-20 WWC: Why Falconets Crashed Out Against Netherlands – Danjuma

Head coach of the Falconets, Chris Danjuma, has blamed wasted chances for the team’s failure to beat the Netherlands in the semi-finals of the 2022 U-20 Women’s FIFA World Cup. The Falconets were defeated 2-0 by the Netherlands at the Estadio Alajuela Morera Soto to bring an end to a good outing at the tournament. Despite dominating most part of the match, the Falconets paid for a lack of clinical finish. Zera Hulswit and Ziva Henry were on target for the Dutch. Reacting to the defeat, Danjuma said, “This is football when your opponent capitalizes on your mistake and they punish you for that. See Also: Pinnick Comments on Possibility Of Vying For Third Term “I think we had these few mistakes starting and we were punished for it and we had our chances and we could not...

Anthony Joshua Loses To Usyk Again, Fails To Reclaim Heavyweight Titles

21Aug

By Kosi UchennaNo Comments

News, Nigeria, Sports

Anthony Joshua Loses To Usyk Again, Fails To Reclaim Heavyweight Titles

Anthony Joshua has lost his rematch against Ukrainian boxer, Oleksandr Usyk by a split decision. Usyk beat the Nigeria-born British boxer to retain his heavyweight titles after two out of the three judges scored him above Joshua — 115-113 and 116-112. Joshua was defeated by Usyk in front of thousands of fans that watched the fight at King Abdullah Sports City Arena in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in the late hours of Saturday. Joshua was hoping to reclaim the WBA, IBF, and WBO titles which he lost to Usyk in September 2021. The bout lasted up to 12 rounds before the judges decided the winner. After the announcement of the winner, Joshua threw two of his title belts over the side of the ropes before walking out of the ring. The boxer later reentered the ring, took the ...

Pinnick Comments on Possibility Of Vying For Third Term

16Aug

By Kosi UchennaNo Comments

News, Nigeria, Sports

Pinnick Comments on Possibility Of Vying For Third Term

Amaju Pinnick, the President of the Nigerian Football Federation, NFF, has confirmed that he will not run for a third term after his current tenure expires this year. Pinnick, a former chairman of Delta State Football Association took over as NFF President in 2014 and his tenure is expected to end next month. There has been speculation that Pinnick who is equally a member of the FIFA executive council committee nurtures the ambition of seeking a third term. See Also: 2022: U-20 WWC: How Falconets Beat South Korea – Danjuma However, the NFF President in an interview with Arise Television said that he will not interfere with the process to elect a new President. He said, “There are so many Nigerians capable of being there (NFF boss). I will assist and work with any...

Victor Osimhen Scores for Napoli in Season Opener

16Aug

By Osaretin BalogbanNo Comments

Sports

Victor Osimhen Scores for Napoli in Season Opener

Nigerian Forward, Victor Osimhen scored in his first match of the new Serie A season as Napoli defeated Hellas Verona 5-2 on Monday night at the Stadio Marc’ Antonio Bentegodi stadium. Osimhen scored the second goal for the away team at extra-time of the first half after he headed in Giovammi van Lorenzo’s corner-kick. See Also: Ademola Lookman Scores on His Atalanta Debut The Napoli striker also set up Matteo Politano for the fifth goal of the match before he was substituted for Algeria's international, Adam Ounas, in the final stages of the game. Victor Osimhen bagged 14 goals in 27 league appearances for the Serie A side last season. Source: Daily Post