NIGERIA
The Super Eagles may be drawn against arch-rivals Ghana, South Africa, and Angola in the African qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
The draw ceremony for the qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup holds in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on Thursday hours after the 45th CAF Ordinary Assembly at the same venue.
According to a statement from the CAF, Africa will employ a single-stage of World Cup qualification format for the next finals that will be co-hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico.
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The Super Falcons will take on Australian club Queensland Lions FC in a friendly in Brisbane, Australia on Saturday as they continue their preparations for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, which begins twentieth July.
It is the first warm-up match for coach Randy Waldrum’s side since they started camping for the global football fiesta last week.
Queensland Lions are currently fourth in the 16-team Australia National Premier League with 27 points from 16 matches.
They won the league a record three times in 2018, 2020, and 2021.
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Super Falcons coach, Randy Waldrum, is banking on the prowess of Barcelona Feminine and Atletico Madrid Feminine forwards, Asisat Oshoala and Rahseedat Ajibade, as the team begins its 2023 Women’s World Cup campaign against Canada on July 21.
Nigeria is in Group B with co-hosts Australia, Canada, and the Republic of Ireland in their ninth appearance at the World Cup.
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Sporting Lagos head coach, Paul Offor says the team is not being carried away with their recent impressive displays.
Offor admitted that the team is working hard to test their level against the top Nigeria Premier League side.
Sporting Lagos defeated Remo Stars at the ongoing Naija Super 8 pre-season tournament in Lagos, and played out a one-all draw with the reigning Nigeria Premier League champions Enyimba.
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Remo Stars defender, Sherrif Yusuf, has assured he will give his best for the club.
Yusuf stressed that he is ready to repay the trust reposed in him by the club.
He recently joined the Sky Blue Stars from Nigeria’s Premier League side, Bayelsa United.
Remo Stars will compete in the CAF Champions League next season.
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Nasarawa United players will resume pre-season exercise for the 2023/24 Nigeria National League season on Sunday.
The Solid Miners were relegated last season after a poor 2022-23 Nigeria Premier League campaign.
The management of Nasarawa United directed all the players and coaching staff to resume on Sunday.
The team is expected to begin training seventeenth July for the new Nigeria National League season.
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Super Eagles defender, Chidozie Awaziem is on the verge of completing a move to Greek club, Panathinaikos.
Awaziem spent last season on loan at Croatian club, Hajduk Split from Portuguese club, Boavista.
He made thirty-six appearances for Hajduk Split with five goals and one assist to his name.
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Nigerian internatioanal, Leon Balogun has penned a farewell message to Queen Park Rangers fans following his departure from the club.
The centre-back who took to social media to thank his former teammates, the club and supporters for their love during his time at Loftus Road, joined the London club on a free transfer last summer.
Balogun who spent most of the campaign on the sidelines due to persistent injuries, made thirteen league appearances for the Hoops.
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Chinese club, Kitchee SC have announced the signing of former Super Eagles midfielder, Ogenyi Onazi.
Onazi was among the five new signings unveiled by the club on Wednesday.
Head Coach, Alex Chu expressed his admiration for the Nigerian, saying his energy, box-to-box potential, and experienced profile will be a great addition to Kitchee in the hunt for the AFC Champions League.
The combative midfielder has also played for clubs in Italy, Turkey and Lithuania.
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Nigeria’s Under-nineteen male cricket team will depart the country on Thursday for a tour of Kigali, Rwanda ahead of the 2024 World Cup Under-nineteen Africa Division one qualifiers.
The qualifiers, with six teams participating is scheduled for Tanzania from twenty-three July to thirty-one July, but the Nigerian side will have a training tour of Kigali before traveling for the tournament.
Nigeria is seeking the sole ticket to the World Cup in Sri Lanka 2024 but will face five other contenders; Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Uganda and Kenya, in the process.
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Nigeria will play 2019 champions DR Congo for a place in the semi-finals of the ongoing 2023 FIBA AfroCan on Thursday after they overcame Gabon 71-55 at Pavilhao Multiusos de Luanda on Wednesday.
Although the D’Tigers began the competition brilliantly with a comfortable victory over Mali in their first game, they lost 57-48 to Angola in their final group game.
They were then pitted against Gabon, another team that fell short in the group stage, in the classification game.
D’Tigers hustled to settle themselves early and managed an 18-18 scoreline in the first quarter, before taking control in the second quarter with a 43-32-point lead.
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ENGLAND
Nottingham Forest full-back, Harry Toffolo has been charged by the Football Association after allegedly breaking betting rules three hundred and seventy-five times.
The incident comes less than two months after Brentford and England striker Ivan Toney was handed a staggering eight-month ban for breaking betting rules.
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Chelsea are continuing to shop Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Saudi Pro League clubs this summer as they seek to get the player off their wage bill.
With the help of obliging Saudi clubs, the Blues have done a fine job getting rid of the deadwood in this transfer window, paving the way for new boss Mauricio Pochettino to fashion a coherent side.
Aubameyang, who joined the club just five days before his former Borussia Dortmund boss, Thomas Tuchel was booted from Stamford Bridge in 2022, is proving particularly difficult to budge on account of his high wages.
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Meanwhile, Romelu Lukaku does not want to return to London as he aims to force through a move from Chelsea to Inter Milan.
Striker Lukaku joined the Blues for ninety-seven point five million pounds from Inter in summer 2021 but endured a disappointing season before being sent back on loan to the Nerazzurri last season.
Simone Inzaghi’s side want to bring the Belgian back this summer but have not yet tabled a proposal to satisfy Chelsea.
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Tottenham striker, Harry Kane has returned to the team’s training on Wednesday ahead of their pre-season tour in Australia with the striker facing crunch talks with new boss, Ange Postecoglou over his future.
Kane has just one year remaining on his contract and has interest from German giants Bayern Munich who have seen a seventy million pounds bid for the England captain rejected.
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Brighton captain, Lewis Dunk has extended his contract by a year to 2026.
The central defender has played four hundred and sixteen games since making his debut in League One in 2010.
Dunk won his only England cap in a friendly victory over USA in 2018.
Brighton finished sixth in the Premier League last season to qualify for Europe for the first time.
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Fulham have rejected a twenty-five million pounds bid from Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal for Serbia striker Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Mitrovic, who joined Fulham from Newcastle for a reported twenty-two million pounds in 2018, has three years left on his contract.
Mitrovic scored fourteen Premier League goals last season as Fulham finished tenth on their return to the top flight.
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Manchester United is reportedly in talks to sign former Chelsea attacker, Joao Felix.
The Old Trafford outfit were linked to Felix in the January transfer window before the Portugal international decided to join Chelsea on a six-month loan deal from Atletico Madrid.
Felix is keen to leave Atletico Madrid this summer and has reportedly informed his agent Jorge Mendes to find him a new team this summer.
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Manchester United legend, Dwight Yorke has urged Harry Maguire to consider joining Premier League club Aston Villa from the Red Devils.
Yorke believes it would be a fresh start and a great destination for Maguire should he join Aston Villa from Manchester United this summer.
Maguire is likely to leave Manchester United this summer having struggled for game time under manager Erik ten Hag last season.
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Liverpool star, Jordan Henderson will decide this week whether to quit the team and join Steven Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq.
Henderson was a target for the Saudi Pro League club who appointed Gerrard as their new manager earlier this month.
The initial indications were that Henderson would be reluctant to leave Liverpool at this stage of his career, and was worried about his England place with the Euro 2024 finals coming up at the end of the season.
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Newcastle remain in talks with Leicester City over Harvey Barnes with the Magpies pondering an opening offer around the thirty million pounds mark.
Barnes is Newcastle’s number one target for a wide attacking role after scoring thirteen goals for the relegated Foxes last season.
The player has two years remaining on his contract and is valued at close to forty million pounds, the fee Leicester City received from Tottenham for James Maddison earlier this summer.
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Aston Villa have announced the signing of Spain centre-back, Pau Torres from Villarreal for a reported thirty-one point five million pounds.
Torres, played under Villa boss, Unai Emery with the Spanish club between 2020 and 2023.
The defender, who joined Villarreal’s youth academy in 2003, played a pivotal role as the Yellow Submarine finished fifth in La Liga last season.
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Aston Villa are preparing an opening bid for French star, Moussa Diaby as Unai Emery steps up his search for a new wide man.
The team had checked with Bayer Leverkusen on the availability of Diaby and it is thought they will soon formalise their interest with an official offer.
Diaby is valued at about fifty million pounds by his club after registering fourteen goals and eleven assists in all competitions last season.
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Wolves star, Raul Jimenez could be on his way out of Molineux this summer, with reports linking him with the Turkish Super Lig.
The Mexican had been one of the stand-out performers in Nuno Espirito Santo’s Wolves side that finished seventh in the Premier League in 2018-19 and 2019-20 on their return to the top-flight.
However a horrific head injury sustained in a challenge with Arsenal’s David Luiz in November 2020 would put an end to his momentum as one of the underrated strikers in the Premier League.
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OTHER SPORTS
In Tennis; Defending champion Elena Rybakina lost in the Wimbledon quarter-finals as Ons Jabeur avenged her defeat in last year’s final.
Sixth seed Jabeur came from a set down to win 6-7 6-4 6-1 in a reverse of the match 12 months ago.
The Tunisian clinched the second set with a timely break of serve at 5-4 and then dominated the decider.
Jabeur will play Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals on Thursday after she powered past Madison Keys.
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Spanish top seed Carlos Alcaraz moved into the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time and will face Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev in the last four.
Alcaraz beat Danish sixth seed Holger Rune, another 20-year-old, 7-6 6-4 6-4 in his quarter-final.
Unseeded Chris Eubanks’ dream run was ended by 27-year-old Medvedev in a thrilling five-set contest.
Medvedev, who had never been past the last 16 before, beat the American 6-4 1-6 4-6 7-6 6-1.
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In Cricket; Ireland captain Johnny Sexton will discover his fate in a disciplinary hearing on Thursday, which could impact his World Cup farewell.
The fly-half, 38, had a misconduct complaint lodged against him following his behaviour towards match officials in the wake of Leinster’s Champions Cup final defeat by La Rochelle on 20 May.
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In Athletics; Britain’s Jonnie Peacock said he only has himself to blame after he finished fifth in the T64 100m final at the Para Athletics World Championships in Paris.
Peacock finished out of the medals in a race won by Italian newcomer Maxcel Amo Manu in 10.71 seconds.
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OTHER LEAGUES.
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Barcelona have agreed to sign striker, Vitor Roque from Brazilian side Athletico Paranaense.
The deal, which will begin in 2024 and run for seven years, includes a four hundred and twenty-seven million pounds buyout clause.
Roque scored twenty-two goals in sixty-six appearances for Paranaense, and became Brazil’s youngest international debutant in March.
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Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, has claimed that his team is better than bitter rivals Real Madrid.
Laporta also said they can retain La Liga next season and also lift the Champions League.
Barcelona has made only two signings in the transfer window so far – Ilkay Gundogan and Iñigo Martinez.
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Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr have been placed under a FIFA ban preventing them from registering new players.
The club have led the Saudi Pro League charge in signing some of the world’s leading football talents, initiating the mass exodus by signing Cristiano Ronaldo on a mouth-watering one hundred and seventy-five million pounds-a-year contract.
Since then, the nine-time national champions have been quick to add further European pedigree to their ranks, with Champions League and World Cup finalist Marcelo Brozovic arriving this summer.
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Al Nassr forward, Cristiano Ronaldo has continued to explore his passion for luxury watches by investing in the online marketplace Chrono24.
Chrono24 announced that Ronaldo has become a shareholder in the company after buying an undisclosed stake.
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Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal have signed Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic for a reported thirty-four million pounds, making him their third big summer signing.
The Serbia international has signed a three-year deal.
Milinkovic-Savic spent eight years with Lazio, scoring sixty-nine goals in three hundred and forty-one games.
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Italy star, Federico Chiesa is being offered to Premier League clubs just two years after helping his country win Euro 2020 at Wembley.
The Juventus forward is available for transfer this summer as the Serie A club try to consolidate their financial position ahead of the new season.
Chiesa earns about one hundred and sixty thousand pounds a week in Turin and was a key man for Italy in 2021, when they beat England on penalties at Wembley to lift the trophy.
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Captain Rachel Corsie is out of the Scotland squad for their friendlies against Northern Ireland and Finland, with Kelly Clark drafted in.
Aston Villa defender Corsie, had been set for a comeback after missing Scotland’s wins over Australia and Costa Rica in April with a knee injury.
But she misses out with an unspecified injury and is replaced by Celtic skipper Clark, who has four caps.
Scotland host Northern Ireland in Dundee on Friday.
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A group representing amateur clubs in Cameroon has called on legendary former player Samuel Eto’o to resign from his post as president of the country’s football federation, citing “grave irregularities” in the organisation.
Last week, Cameroon’s Amateur Clubs’ Association voted eleven to one in favour of asking the four-time African Footballer of the Year to stand down.
It said Eto’o, who played for several of Europe’s top clubs, should resign “if he still loves Cameroonian football, as he has always claimed”.
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TODAY’S THOUGHT
SOME PEOPLE WANT IT TO HAPPEN, SOME WISH IT WOULD HAPPEN, OTHERS MAKE IT HAPPEN…WORDS FROM MICHAEL JORDAN.
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