NIGERIA
Super Eagles Coach, Finidi George, says Nigeria going to the 2026 FIFA World Cup is a task that requires all hands on the deck.
George who was happy with his appointment, pledged to give his best shot and ensure Nigeria qualify for the next World Cup.
He will lead the Super Eagles to face Bafana Bafana of South Africa in Uyo and the Squirrels of Benin Republic in Abidjan.
Nigeria is currently third in the Group C with two points from two matches, two points behind group leader, Rwanda, and one point behind second-placed South Africa.
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Former President of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Amaju Pinnick has declared he did not influence Finidi George’s appointment as new Super Eagles head coach.
Pinnick, who last month endorsed Finidi for the position, has now come out to denounce the allegation.
There are insinuation Pinnick played a key role in the former winger’s appointment following his endorsement.
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Bayelsa State Commissioner for Sports Development, Daniel Igali has extended his warmest congratulations to Finidi George on his recent appointment as Super Eagles head coach.
Igali said Finidi’s experience as an ex-international and seasoned coach would rub off positively on the team.
He stated that his proven track record in football and dedication to the sport made him the perfect candidate to lead the team to greater heights.
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Nigerian youngster, Ebenezer Akinsanmiro is happy with his progress at newly crowned Serie A champions, Inter Milan.
Akinsanmiro’s agent, Crescendo Cecere stated that his client was delighted with his development at the club.
Akinsanmiro arrived at the San Siro from Nigeria Premier Football League outfit, Remo Stars in January 2023.
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Nigeria under twenty star, Benjamin Frederick has expressed excitement after signing a permanent contract with English Premier League side Brentford.
The Bees announced the agreement of a four year deal with the young centre-back after initially spending time on loan at the club.
Frederick is expected to remain with Brentford’s B Team and will occasionally train with the main team.
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Popular American investor and financial executive, Charles Schwab, once said, a man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm.
In this case, 17-year-old Vera John is on course to becoming the greatest handball player the country has ever seen as her passion and determination to succeed seem to know no bounds.
John was part of Nigeria’s U-18 girls team that picked up gold medals at the 13th African Games in Ghana earlier this year but despite the achievement, the young athlete, who hails from Delta State, said she was nowhere near her dream.
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Nigeria’s women’s beach volleyball team will give a good account of themselves as they begin preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualifiers next month.
This is according to the Nigeria Volleyball Federation, which says the qualifiers will be held in Morocco from 19th to 23rd June.
Its President, Musa Nimrod, said the invited players have been training under the supervision of coach Kayode Ajilore as they hope to pick the only ticket from Africa.
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Newly-crowned West African champions Matthew Kuti and Hope Udoaka are the biggest movers in Week 18 of the 2024 ITTF rankings released by the world body.
Kuti, who defeated most of the experienced players in the region to become the new regional champion, moved up by 750 steps in the men’s singles to be ranked 185 in the world.
Udoaka, on her part, gained 365 steps to be ranked 173 globally and the fourth-best Nigerian female player in the world after Offiong Edem, Fatimo Bello and Tosin Oribamise.
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U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation have withdrawn their joint bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup and will instead focus on securing the 2031 edition.
The decision comes less than three weeks before the FIFA Congress chooses the hosts on May 17 and leaves Brazil and a joint bid from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands as the remaining candidates for the 2027 event.
Last November, South Africa also withdrew their bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup and said they would instead focus on the 2031 tournament.
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ENGLAND
Aston Villa manager, Unai Emery believes English clubs’ European chances are damaged by the level of the Premier League with Aston Villa left as the last team standing this season.
Villa faces Olympiacos in the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League after they were the only English club to make it past the quarter-finals.
Manchester City and Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League with Liverpool and West Ham falling short in the Europa League.
Meanwhile, Emery said securing a top-four finish in the Premier League remains the priority but there was no way it would distract his team from the club’s first European major semi-final in forty-two years.
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Chelsea manager, Mauricio Pochettino has addressed the team’s injury crisis, saying there is no good news ahead of facing his former club Tottenham after the club named fourteen players on their latest crocked list.
Chelsea host their biggest rivals at Stamford Bridge, a game which will bring back memories of the 2016 Battle of the Bridge but will do so without two central defenders in Thiago Silva and Axel Disasi after both were new additions on the treatment table.
Other players sidelined include Raheem Sterling, Enzo Fernandez, Ben Chilwell, Malo Gusto, Reece James, Robert Sanchez, Lesley Ugochukwu, Carney Chukwuemeka, Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia.
Also, Chelsea boss said moving to England was one of the best decisions in his life as he approaches four hundred games as manager in the country.
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Chelsea forward, Nicolas Jackson is ready to battle hard ahead of the Blues’ mouth-watering clash against Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday.
Jackson scored a memorable hat-trick in north London during the Blues’ four-one victory in his first meeting with Spurs.
He recognised the significance of that win and thinks Chelsea would need to perform at their peak this time around at Stamford Bridge.
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Tottenham pair, Timo Werner and Ben Davies will miss the rest of the team’s season with injuries picked up in the North London derby.
Werner came off with a hamstring problem in the first half of Sunday’s three-two defeat at home to Arsenal, and might have played fit the last time in a Spurs shirt.
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Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag is reportedly set to remain in charge of the team next season after INEOS pinpointed the reason behind his struggles.
The Red Devils boss has been under increasing pressure after a disappointing campaign that has left them already ruled out of the running for Champions League football.
There has been major uncertainty around his job after Sir Jim Ratcliffe took over the running of all football activities at the club on the back of his minority purchase earlier this year.
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A leading charity has warned Manchester United fans who have posed as disabled supporters to get into away matches that their scam has damaging consequences.
United had received multiple allegations, including non-disabled fans turning up in a wheelchair to matches using tickets allocated to disabled supporters.
The revelations have sparked outrage among fans and forced United to take action to avoid a repeat in future.
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Everton’s appeal against their second points deduction for breaching the Premier League’s financial rules will be heard during the final week of the current season.
The Toffees were docked two points after an independent commission found the club had breached Profit and Sustainability Rules by sixteen point six million pounds for the three-year period to 2022-23.
Clubs are permitted to lose one hundred and five million pounds over a three-year period and Everton had already been deducted ten points reduced to six on appeal for the period to 2021-22.
The latest appeal is scheduled to be heard in the week commencing 13th May and the appeals panel have confirmed a verdict will be announced before the final game against Arsenal on 19th May.
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Everton manager, Sean Dyche has not been asked to supervise a fire-sale at the team this summer but acknowledges the club’s recruitment plans are on hold until a potential takeover is completed.
Everton owner Farhad Moshiri is waiting for Premier League approval before he could sell to US-based investment group 777 partners with doubts over their ability to fund a deal.
Names like England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford have been linked with a move away from Goodison Park to raise funds but Dyche whose side have escaped relegation despite being docked six points for breaching profit and sustainability rules is hoping to avoid that situation.
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Liverpool have been dealt another departure blow as goalkeeper coach John Achterberg is set to leave the club at the end of the season.
The Reds are set for major restructuring within their coaching department after Jurgen Klopp announced he would be stepping down from his role following nine-years at Anfield.
Klopp’s assistants Pep Lijnders, Peter Krawietz and Vitor Matos will follow him out the door and goalkeeper chief, Acheterberg, will also be exiting, as reported by The Athletic.
Acterberg joined Liverpool’s academy set-up in 2009 before later being promoted to the club’s first-team under former coach and club icon Kenny Dalglish.
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Jurgen Klopp has been linked with a sensational return to Borussia Dortmund in 2025.
The German boss is nearing the end of a near nine-year spell at Liverpool after revealing he was ‘running out of energy’ in an emotional message to supporters announcing his departure.
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Former Manchester United star, Gary Neville has claimed he felt massively inferior to rival managers during his time as Valencia boss, admitting he had no idea what was going on the touchline.
Neville lasted less than four months in charge at the LaLiga side after accepting an offer to coach the team from owner and close friend Peter Lim, with the Sky Sports pundit winning just three of his sixteen league games in charge.
His disastrous tenure saw his side beaten seven-nil by Barcelona as he lost eleven of his twenty-eight games in total before a two-nil home defeat by Celta Vigo proved to be his final match in charge.
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Eleven English Football League clubs and sixteen from the non-league pyramid have joined forces to urge the Government to reinstate Football Association Cup replays.
The Football Association announced last month that replays in the world’s oldest cup competition would be scrapped from the first round proper from next season to ease a calendar which has been made more congested by the expansion of European club competitions.
That led to an outcry from EFL and non-league clubs who said the decision had been made without consulting them.
The twenty-seven clubs have backed a move by football reform body Fair Game to request an amendment to the Football Governance Bill, that would need a majority of clubs to vote for such changes.
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OTHER LEAGUES
Niclas Fuellkrug gave Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 home win over Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League semi-final first leg on Wednesday.
Seeking a return to the final for the first time since 2013, the 1997 winners were dogged and determined, outmuscling their heavily favoured opponents.
Fuellkrug, playing in his first Champions League season at the age of 31, collected a lofted pass from centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck in the 36th minute and blasted a low shot into the left corner of the net.
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Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Al Nassr beat Al Khaleej 3-1 in the King Cup of Champions semi-final at the Al-Awwal Stadium in Riyadh on Wednesday.
Former Liverpool star, Sadio Mane was also on the scoresheet to help the club book their place for the final with Al Hilal.
Al Nassr will face Saudi Pro League leader and Saudi Super Cup winner Al Hilal in the final on 31st May, after it beat Al Ittihad in the other semifinal on Tuesday.
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Barcelona star, Robert Lewandowski is reportedly playing for his future as the team prepare for a summer fire sale, with only three stars safe from the chop.
Barcelona are set to refresh their squad in the summer after an underwhelming season in which they are poised to finish a distant second to Real Madrid.
Their wage cap has been set at one hundred and seventy-four point four million pounds by LaLiga – a colossal reduction on the five hundred and fifty-three point nine million pounds they were permitted to spend in February 2023.
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Bayern Munich manager, Thomas Tuchel has blamed the team’s defender Kim Min-jae’s aggressive defending for Real Madrid two goals in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.
Tuchel claimed post-match that Kim had been too greedy on both occasions, with the mistakes costing Bayern Munich goals.
Bayern and Real Madrid played out a two-all draw at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday, with Vinicius Junior scoring twice for the visitors.
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OTHER SPORTS
In Basketball; The undermanned Milwaukee Bucks were able to stave off elimination in their last outing despite being without the services of superstars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.
The Bucks hope their two stars are able to return to the court on Thursday night when they play Game 6 of their Eastern Conference first-round series against the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis.
Bobby Portis responded after an early ejection in Game 4 by collecting 29 points and 10 rebounds to pace Milwaukee to a 115-92 victory over Indiana in Game 5 on Tuesday.
The third-seeded Bucks trail 3-2 in the best-of-seven series against the sixth-seeded Pacers.
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In Tennis, Carlos Alcaraz’s bid for a third straight title at the Madrid Open was ended by Andrey Rublev.
Russian seventh seed Rublev rallied from a set down in the quarter-final to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and break Alcaraz’s 14-match winning streak in the Spanish capital.
The 20-year-old second seed was aiming to become the first player to win three consecutive Madrid Open singles titles.
Rublev will face American 12th seed Taylor Fritz or Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo for a place in the final.
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In Cricket, Former captain Steve Smith has been left out of Australia’s squad for June’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and USA.
Smith exclusion comes after a poor run of form against New Zealand in February, when he made scores of eleven and four.
Promising batter Jake Fraser-McGurk has also been omitted, all-rounder Mitchell Marsh will captain the side and veteran opening batter David Warner has been selected for what could be his final international tournament.
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In Rugby, Northampton Saints fly-half Fin Smith says his side have had an eye-opening history lesson about Croke Park before they face Leinster in Saturday’s Champions Cup semi-final.
Saints will be the first English club to play at The Gaelic Athletic Association’s headquarters.
Northampton’s Irish strength and conditioning coach Eamonn Hyland gave a presentation on the ground’s history to the squad.
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In Golf; Golf superstar Tiger Woods still hopes to play one tournament a month for the rest of the year, despite his physical limitations in the wake of a 2021 car crash.
The 15-time major champion drew huge crowds at the Masters last month, but his 16-over par total was the highest 72-hole score of his career and left him last among the 60 golfers who made the cut at Augusta National.
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In Cycling, Kristen Faulkner has won stage four of Vuelta Femenina in Zaragoza as Marianne Vos took the red jersey from Kata Blanka Vas.
American Faulkner attacked from five kilometres out on the day’s final climb and held on to win solo, ten seconds ahead of a group of seventeen riders.
Australia’s Georgia Baker finished second, outsprinting third-placed Vos, who has a five-second lead at the top of the general classification standings.
Faulkner’s victory was the 31-year-old’s first at the Vuelta, although she won two stages at the Giro d’Italia Donne in 2022.
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TODAY’S FIXTURES
IN ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur
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IN UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE – SEMI-FINALS
Olympique Marseille vs Atalanta
Roma vs Bayer Leverkusen
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IN UEFA EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE- SEMI-FINALS
Aston Villa vs Olympiakos Piraeus
Fiorentina vs Club Brugge
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TODAY’S THOUGHT
Football is like life – it requires perserverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority….words from Vince Lombardi.
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