IN PARIS OLYMPICS

Morocco beat Argentina two-one in their opening Group B game of the Paris Olympics, with the game marred by crowd trouble.

Morocco had been two-nil ahead against Argentina, but Cristian Medina appeared to have equalised in the 16th minutes of injury time at the end of the second half.

After the resulting crowd trouble, play finally resumed after a lengthy delay with no fans present, and with VAR having ruled out Argentina’s equaliser, Morocco secured a controversial two-one victory.

In Group C, Spain defeated Uzbekistan two-one.

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Argentina coach Javier Mascherano has described the chaotic ending to his team’s two-one loss to Morocco in the men’s Olympic football tournament as a disgrace and a circus.

Crowd trouble forced the first football match of Paris 2024 to be suspended for nearly two hours, with the game eventually completed in an empty stadium.

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Michael Olise scored a stunning goal as France defeated USA three-nil in Group A in the men’s football event of the Paris Olympic games.

The French, coached by Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, had to wait till the second half to find a breakthrough against a resolute American side.

Lacazette and Loic Bade scored a goal each for France.

Meanwhile, other results in the opening fixtures of the Paris Olympic games football event saw Iraq beat Ukraine two-one, Egypt and Dominican Republic settled for a goalless draw, Japan thrashed Paraguay five-nil and Mali held Israel to a one-all draw.

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Guinea began their campaign at the Paris Olympic Games on a shaky note after losing two-one to New Zealand in their Group A opening fixture.

Matthew Garbett could have given New Zealand the lead in the 24th minute, but he failed to convert his penalty spot.

However, he redeemed his image in the 25th minute when he netted the opening goal to the delight of his teammates.

New Zealand’s second goal was scored by Ben Waine, while Guinea’s only goal was scored by Amadou Diawara.

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Super Eagles star, Asisat Oshoala believes the team have the quality to win a medal at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Randy Waldrum’s ladies are drawn in a tough group with world champions Spain, Brazil and former world champions Japan.

Despite the pedigree of the team in the group, Oshoala is upbeat the nine-time African champions can make it to the podium.

The Super Falcons will square up with Brazil in their opening Group C fixture at the Matmut Atlanque Stadium, Bordeaux on Thursday.

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Meanwhile, Brazil women coach Arthur Elias is targeting a positive start against the Super Falcons in the women’s football event at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Elias stated that his side have prepared very well for the women’s football event and are ready to go all the way.

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TODAY’S MATCHES IN Olympic Women’s Tournament

Canada vs New Zealand

France vs Colombia

Germany vs Australia

United States vs Zambia

Spain vs Japan

Nigeria vs Brazil

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Former Nigeria national women’s basketball player, Mfon Udoka has played down D’Tigress chances at the Paris Olympics.

Rena Wakama-led side are in a tough group that has hosts France, Canada and Australia.

Udoka, a member of the side that featured at the Athens Olympics said it would be a difficult outing for the African champions.

They will open their campaign against Australia on 29th July, face France on 1st August, before ending the group phase with a clash against Canada on 4th August.

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President, Cycling Federation of Nigeria, Giandomenico Massari says Ese Ukpeseraye is the sole athlete qualified for all three cycling competitions at the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Massari says Ukpeseraye earned a chance to compete in three separate Olympic cycling competitions.

He said a cyclist can do more than one event in a competition but Nigeria has qualified for three events.

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Canada women’s football manager, Beverly Priestman will not take charge of her side’s Olympics opener against New Zealand after two members of her backroom staff were sent home for allegedly flying a drone over the Kiwis’ team training session.

Priestman voluntarily withdrawn from Thursday’s match in St Etienne after the New Zealand Olympic Committee reported that a drone had been flown over their training session on Monday.

Jasmine Mander, Priestman’s assistant, has been sent home along with unaccredited analyst Joseph Lombardi.

The Canadian Olympic Committee said a scouting report filed by Lombardi was sent to Mander.

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Tennis player, Coco Gauff has been selected as the female flag bearer for Team USA at Friday’s Olympic Games opening ceremony in Paris.

The Grand Slam winner joins basketball superstar LeBron James, who was selected as the male flagbearer on Monday.

Gauff, who won the 2023 US Open, is competing at her first Olympic Games.

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World number one, Jannik Sinner has withdrawn from the Paris Olympics with tonsillitis.

The Italian struggled with illness during his Wimbledon quarter-final loss to Daniil Medvedev earlier in July.

Sinner was one of the favourites for the gold medal on the Paris clay, reaching the French Open semi-finals after winning his first major title at the Australian Open in January.

The tennis tournament takes place from 27th July to 4th August.

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British tennis player, Andy Murray says it is the right time for him to retire from tennis after the Paris Olympics and he is happy with the decision.

The two-time Olympic singles champion confirmed the Games, where he will play in the doubles with Dan Evans, will be his final event.

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Tour de France champion, Tadej Pogacar says the Slovenian Olympic Committee not selecting his girlfriend Urska Zigart helped sway his decision to withdraw from Paris 2024.

Pogacar, who won his third Tour title, pulled out of the Games with extreme fatigue.

Speaking before that race Pogacar said of Zigart’s omission it was not the main reason, but for sure it did not help.

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Scottish athlete, Neil Gourley believes he is in the best condition of his life as he looks to put a run of injuries behind him and secure an Olympic medal.

The 29-year-old missed out on the Tokyo Games through injuries and has also battled Covid and bone injuries in recent years.

But now the Glasgow runner, currently training at altitude in St Moritz in Switzerland, believes his body is in the best shape possible as he prepares to challenge for the one hundred and five hundred metres in Paris this summer.

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France has provisionally been chosen to host the 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, while Salt Lake City, Utah, has been selected to host the 2034 Winter Games.

The French Alps bid, put forward as the International Olympic Committee’s preferred vote in June, was approved on Wednesday, providing France provides financial guarantees.

The French government has been unable to provide the necessary state and regional guarantees to the IOC because of the recent elections.

France President Emmanuel Macron said he would not name a new government until after the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

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French government and Olympics officials are seeking a creative solution to allow Muslim French sprinter Sounkamba Sylla wear her hijab at the Games’ opening ceremony in Paris on Friday.

But they did say on Wednesday that they were still complying with the country’s secularism laws.

Thousands of athletes, including some who wear a hijab, are arriving for the Paris Olympics, placing an international spotlight on tensions in France over national identity and perceived discrimination against Muslims.

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Nigeria will begin the quest for medals in the table tennis competition of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris with Quadri Aruna taking on Romania’s Eduard Ionescu on Saturday.

Aruna will face Ionesco in a first round match of the men’s singles event.

The pairing emerged following the event’s draw at the South Paris Arena, the venue of the competition.

It presents the Nigerian an opportunity to gain revenge against the Romanian who beat him 2-3 in the semi-finals of the European Champions League.

Teammate Olajide Omotayo faces Iran’s Noshad Alamiyan in another first round pairing on Saturday.

In the women’s singles, Offiong Edem has Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi to contend with, while debutant Fatimo Bello will face Chinese-born French player Jia Nana Yuan.

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NIGERIA

Nigeria’s senior men’s basketball player, D’Tigers’ Chima Moneke, has dismissed speculation about leaving his current club, Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, in Spain.

Moneke, who represented Nigeria at the Afrobasket qualifiers in 2020, confirmed his commitment to Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz via his X account.

He expressed enthusiasm about the upcoming season and his discussions with the club’s coach, Pablo Laso.

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Former Italy coach, Cesare Prandelli has advised Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen to establish himself in Europe to attract clubs in Europe.

The Nigerian international remains keen to leave the Serie A side this summer.

With his proposed move to Paris Saint-Germain in danger of collapse, Osimhen could consider leaving for Saudi Arabia.

Prandelli noted that Osimhen must establish himself in Europe regardless of the current situation.

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Super Eagles star, William Troost-Ekong scored the winning goal as PAOK overcame Bosnian club Borac Banja Luka three-two, in the UEFA Champions League first leg, second round tie on Wednesday.

It was Troost-Ekong’s first game since the AFCON 2023 final in february following an injury-induced layoff.

The return of Troost-Ekong will be good news for the Super Eagles as they look forward to the AFCON 2025 qualifiers.

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ENGLAND

Chelsea midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu spared manager Enzo Maresca’s blushes in his first game as manager by equalising late on against League One Wrexham in Santa Clara, California.

A sharp finish in the penalty box from Christopher Nkunku opened the scoring in the 35th minute of Chelsea’s opening friendly on their pre-season tour of the United States.

But Wrexham took a surprise lead after both teams made wholesale changes at half-time with Luke Bolton and Jack Marriott scoring following defensive mistakes.

Ugochukwu equalised in the 82nd minute.

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Meanwhile, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has defended Enzo Fernandez following his involvement in posting a clip of his teammates singing offensive chants about French players.

The incident occurred during Fernandez’s celebration of Argentina’s Copa América victory, where the song in question contained racist and homophobic remarks about the heritage of some French players.

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Dutch defender, Tyrell Malacia has been left out of Manchester United’s squad for their three-match tour of the United States as he continues to battle back from injury.

It is over thirteen months since the fifteen million pounds signing from Feyenoord last featured in a competitive game.

England duo Kobbie Mainoo and Luke Shaw are among eight players who will miss the trip after being given time off following Euro 2024 and Copa America.

United open their tour against Arsenal in Los Angeles and also play Spanish side Real Betis and old rivals Liverpool.

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France winger Moussa Diaby has joined Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad from Aston Villa.

The player leaves Villa Park just one season after joining on a five-year deal for a club record, reportedly fifty-one point nine million pounds, from Bayer Leverkusen last July.

Diaby made fifty-four Villa appearances, scoring ten goals, and helped them finish fourth in the Premier League to qualify for the Champions League.

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Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola says he cannot be sure Ederson will remain at the club this summer.

The Brazilian goalkeeper has been the subject of interest from the Saudi Pro League.

Speaking after his side’s four-three friendly defeat by Celtic in North Carolina, Guardiola said he would like him to stay but it depends on other clubs.

Ederson came on at half-time during City’s loss to Celtic in Chapel Hill, which was the Premier League champions’ opening pre-season game.

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Tottenham are closing in on the signing of winger Yang Min-hyuk from Gangwon FC.

The player is expected to complete a move to Spurs by the time the club face a K League XI at Seoul World Cup Stadium in his native South Korea on 31st July.

Min-hyuk, a Korean youth international, scored seven goals in his twenty-four senior matches for Gangwon and became the youngest K League scorer since 2013 when netting his first goal for the club in March.

He is expected to become the latest Korean footballer to join Tottenham after current captain Son Heung-min and Lee Young-pyo.

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OTHER LEAGUE

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European governing body Uefa has sanctioned seven of the twenty-four competing countries at Euro 2024 because of racist or discriminatory behaviour by their fans.

The Serbian, Croatian, Romanian, Slovenian, Austrian, Hungarian and Albanian Football Associationss have all been sanctioned.

The punishments range from a forty-one thousand, nine hundred and seventy pounds fine and a ban from selling tickets to its next Uefa away match (a Nations League game in Portugal on 5th September) for Croatia, to a sixteen thousand, seven hundred and ninety pounds fine and a ban on selling tickets to its next Uefa away match – suspended for two years – for Austria.

In total, seventeen games were identified as being affected, including three involving Slovenia, Romania, Croatia and Serbia.

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Portugal forward and captain of Al Nassr Cristiano Ronaldo currently tops the list of the highest paid players in the Saudi Pro League.

Following his move to Al Nassr in January 2023 after parting ways with Manchester United, Ronaldo has continued to make headlines not just for his on-field performances but also for his staggering earnings.

According to Capology, Ronaldo’s annual earnings amount to an astonishing €200 million, placing him firmly at the top of the league’s highest-paid players.

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OTHER SPORTS

In Cricket, Harry Brook says he has no England captaincy ambitions any time soon, amid speculation over the future of the white-ball leadership.

Managing director Rob Key has not given any assurances on the positions of white-ball captain Jos Buttler and coach Matthew Mott after England surrendered both the 50-over and T20 World Cups.

Batter Brook, would be a candidate to become skipper if England make a change and is due to lead Northern Superchargers in The Hundred.

Brook will join up with the Superchargers following England’s third and final Test against West Indies at Edgbaston, which begins on Friday.

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In Rugby, Scotland head coach, Gregor Townsend has made thirteen changes to his line-up for Saturday’s final summer Test against Uruguay in Montevideo.

Only Kyle Rowe and fly-half Ben Healy survive from last weekend’s win over Chile, with Rowe moving from full-back to right wing to accommodate Harry Paterson.

Centre Huw Jones wins his 50th cap while Scotland’s joint-record try scorer Duhan van der Merwe takes up the opposite wing to Rowe.

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement….wordsfrom Matt Biondi.