NIGERIA
Nigerian duo, Victor Boniface and Gift Orban are among the five players nominated for the Ebony Shoe, Best Player of African Origin in the Belgian Pro League award.
Boniface, scored eight goals and provided seven assists in 33 league appearances for Union Saint Gilloise this season.
KAA Gent’s Orban registered eleven goals and recorded two assists in twelve outings for the Buffalos.
The two players will battle the Genk trio, Joseph Paintsil, Mike Tresor and Bilal El Khannouss for the award.
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Nigerian international, Taiwo Awoniyi has been voted third in Nottingham Forest’s Man of the Match award in their four-three home win against Southampton.
Awoniyi scored two goals as Forest gave their push for survival a huge boost with the win over the Saints.
The Super Eagles striker finished third in the four-man shortlist after polling sixteen point three per cent.
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Liverpool legend, Jamie Carragher has compared Nigerian international, Taiwo Awoniyi to former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.
Awoniyi bagged a brace in Nottingham Forest’s four-three victory against Southampton at the City Ground.
Steve Cooper’s side moved to sixteenth position, three points above the relegation zone following the win.
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Golden Eaglets coach, Nduka Ugbade says the team has not come as far as the quarter-finals of the Africa Under-seventeen Cup of Nations to be dumped out of the competition without earning a World Cup ticket.
The match between Nigeria and Burkina Faso begins Thursday by eight in the evening, at the Nelson Mandela Stadium.
Victory over the Young Etalons will earn Golden Eaglets the opportunity to go for a record-extending sixth FIFA Under-seventeen World Cup title.
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The Nigeria Premier Football League matchday 15 encounters between Rivers United and Wikki Tourists has been moved to Thursday.
The game was earlier scheduled to take place Wednesday but has been postponed due to Federation Cup engagement at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi.
The Interim Management Committee IMC announced the postponement.
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Rangers manager, Abdul Maikaba, says his team will approach their Federation Cup Round of 32 matches against Kano Pillars like a Cup final.
Rangers will take on Kano Pillars in the Round 32 tie of the Federation Cup at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja on Wednesday.
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Akwa United head coach, Ayodeji Ayeni, says his team will respect EFCC Football Club in their Federation Cup Round of 32 fixture.
He expressed optimism that his boys are in good shape and ready to put in their best to ensure they make it to the next round.
The Promise Keepers will take on EFCC at the Awka City Stadium Wednesday.
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Ikorodu City coach, Sodiq Dabiri, is optimistic about his side’s ability to come out victorious in their Federation Cup clash against Kwara United.
Dabiri said his players are ready and motivated for the battle ahead.
The Oga Boys will play Nigeria Premier League side Kwara United in the round 32 tie of the Federation Cup at the Osogbo Township Stadium Wednesday.
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ENGLAND
Kevin De Bruyne’s thumping drive cancelled out a brilliant strike from Vinicius Junior as holders Real Madrid and Manchester City drew one-all in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Tuesday.
Vinicius drilled Madrid ahead on 36 minutes, but De Bruyne brought City level midway through the second half at the Santiago Bernabeu, leaving the tie finely poised ahead of next week’s return fixture in England.
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Manchester City star, Jack Grealish says the team will feel “unstoppable” when they host Real Madrid in a finely balanced second leg of their Champions League semi-final next Wednesday.
Kevin de Bruyne’s second-half effort cancelled out Vinicius Junior’s opener for fourteen-time winners Real, to earn City a one-all draw at the Bernabeu, on Tuesday.
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Former Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger has blamed the video assistant officials for Manchester City’s equalizer against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final first leg.
Wenger said the on-field officials would not have had the tools to check if the ball went out or not.
He said it was the duty of VAR to properly look at the situation while Real Madrid players were protesting.
But the ball appeared to have gone out for throwing-in before the English champions scored their goal.
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Manchester United are plotting a club-record offer for Benfica striker Goncalo Ramos this summer.
The team’s boss Erik ten Hag is said to be planning a major summer rebuild at Old Trafford.
Billionaires Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani are vying to become the new owners of the Red Devils and could take over from the Glazers in time to finance Ten Hag’s ambitions.
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Liverpool have asked for next season’s opening match to be played away from home to allow preparations to be completed on their new Anfield Road stand.
Work, which began in September 2021, is on course to be finished this summer on the eighty million pounds redevelopment and will add around seven thousand extra seats, taking the ground’s overall capacity to more than sixty-one thousand.
Liverpool is looking to buy themselves more time to ensure everything is ready to open on the second weekend of the new campaign.
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Chelsea is exploring ways to keep Joao Felix at the club on a permanent basis with Atletico Madrid continuing to demand eighty-eight million pounds for the forward.
Felix, spent the last four months at Stamford Bridge after joining on loan from Atletico in January, scoring three goals in thirteen appearances so far.
While they failed to include an option-to-buy clause in his loan deal, Chelsea is seeking a permanent move for the Portugal star as they look to present incoming boss Mauricio Pochettino with a clear picture of the squad he will have at his disposal.
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Former Manchester United defender, Rio Ferdinand has warned that Conor Gallagher’s Chelsea future is far from certain.
The Blues academy product scored his third goal of the season in a three-one win against Bournemouth.
That result ended interim boss Frank Lampard’s six-game losing streak after replacing the sacked Graham Potter until the end of the season.
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Arsenal are set to give goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale a new long-term contract as reward for a series of fine displays.
The England star, has thirteen Premier League clean sheets this season, behind only David de Gea’s fifteen, to aid the Gunners’ title bid.
And the club are keen to mark that with an increase on his current sixty thousand pounds-a-week deal.
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Leeds United’s chaotic season has been laid out in a series of revelations, including the club’s owner being talked out of sacking Jesse Marsch twice and US stakeholders intervening to stop Jack Harrison joining Leicester.
The Yorkshire side have three games remaining Newcastle, West Ham and Tottenham to stave off relegation, but the signs look ominous, despite the appointment of relegation firefighter Sam Allardyce.
Allardyce is the fourth person in Leeds’ dugout since February.
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Fulham manager, Marco Silva has a six million pounds release fee in his team contract amid interest in the Portuguese coach ahead of what is set to be a summer of managerial upheaval.
Having guided the Cottagers to promotion from the Championship last season, Silva led his team through an excellent Premier League return with the club on-course for a top half finish.
Silva is in talks over a new deal at Fulham with his existing contract due to expire at the end of next season.
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Former NFL star JJ Watt has promised to earn the trust of Burnley’s supporters “by showing them how passionate they are” after investing in the newly promoted football club.
Watt and his wife Kealia, who is an ex-USA football international, recently joined the Clarets as minority shareholders.
He will join the open-top bus parade later to celebrate Burnley’s return to the Premier League.
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Middlesbrough striker, Chuba Akpom, has been officially declared the golden boot winner of the 2022/23 Sky Bet Championship season.
Akpom ended the season on twenty-eight goals, two assist from thirty-eight league appearances.
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OTHER SPORTS
An American professional tennis player, Jessica Pegula has criticised Madrid Open organisers after she and her fellow doubles finalists were not allowed to make presentation speeches.
Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia beat Americans Pegula and Coco Gauff 6-1 6-4.
All finalists in the singles and the men’s doubles addressed the crowd after their matches.
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England cricketer, Sam Billings has revealed he underwent two operations to remove a malignant melanoma on his chest as he warned his fellow players about the risks of skin cancer.
Wicketkeeper Billings said his England team-mates were left shocked by his ‘gory and bloody’ six-inch scar and stitches when he removed his shirt in the changing rooms during last year’s white ball tour of Australia.
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England fast bowler, Jofra Archer has returned home early from the Indian Premier League, just five weeks before the first Ashes Test begins.
Archer has been struggling with a long-term elbow injury and made just five appearances for Mumbai Indians this year, taking two wickets.
The England and Wales Cricket Board said Archer would undergo a “period of rest and rehabilitation”.
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In Rugby, Scotland head coach, Gregor Townsend is determined to stick with his attacking approach after signing a contract extension until April 2026.
Townsend has been in charge since 2017 and his previous deal was due to expire after this autumn’s World Cup.
Scotland finished third in the Six Nations and have risen to their highest place of fifth in the world rankings.
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Wrexham are facing serious competition to sign one of their top transfer targets this summer.
The Welsh side were promoted from the fifth-tier National League with a massive total of one hundred and eleven points and will be playing in League Two next year for the first time in fifteen years.
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OTHER LEAGUE
Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti says he has “a good sensation” about the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Manchester City next week.
Reflecting on the game, Ancelotti said his team have to stay calm, and keep their position defensively, adding that do not go crazy to press.
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Inter Milan will not ‘shy away from the challenge’ of facing their arch rivals AC Milan in the semi-final of the Champions League and insisted their game plan will not change depending on Rafael Leao’s fitness.
Inter Milan manager, Simone Inzaghi feels his side have prepared for their Champions League tie in the best possible way’ by beating Lazio, Hellas Verona and Roma in their recent Serie A fixtures.
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AC Milan striker Olivier Giroud says he is “more motivated than ever” at the age of thirty-six as he attempts to win a second Champions League title.
Giroud was an unused substitute in Chelsea’s one-nil win over Manchester City in the 2021 final.
AC Milan forward, Rafael Leao is the team’s first budding global superstar since Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Andrea Pirlo were in their prime.
At his best, the Portuguese attacker could play in any team, anywhere which is why one half of a city is holding its breath ahead of Milan’s biggest knockout fixture since they won the Champions League in 2007.
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Lionel Messi’s father has shutdown claims his son agreed to leave Paris Saint-Germain this summer and sign a big-money deal with a Saudi Arabia club.
Messi’s father, Jorge, released a statement after reports earlier in the day said the forward would sign a massive contract worth five hundred and twenty-two million pounds at Saudi side Al-Hilal.
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Empoli defender Tyronne Ebuehi has been included in the Serie A Team of the Week.
The versatile defender performed well in Empoli’s two-one victory against Salernitana.
Ebuehi provided the assists for his side’s goals scored by Nicolo Cambiaghi and Francesco Caputo.
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Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo has identified the similarity between Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Junior.
According to him, the three footballers share the same mentality of always going for the win.
Melo, who is on loan at Liverpool from Juventus, has had the privilege of sharing the pitch with all three players.
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Brazil’s Dani Alves has had a second request to be released from jail on bail rejected by a Spanish court as an investigation continues into an alleged sexual assault.
Alves, has been held since January over an allegation he assaulted a woman in a Barcelona nightclub in December.
He denies any wrongdoing.
His lawyer offered to surrender both his passports, Brazilian and Spanish.
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TODAY’S FIXTURES
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – SEMI-FINALS
AC Milan vs Inter Milan
securityandsafetymatters 