Category: Sports

Banyana Banyana of South Africa head coach, Desiree Ellis, has warned the Super Falcons of Nigeria that the 2024 Summer Olympics qualification tie is not over.

On Friday, April 5, the Banyana Banyana of South Africa were at the MKO Abiola stadium in Abuja to take on the Super Falcons of Nigeria in the first leg of the 2024 Olympics qualifiers third round.

A first-half goal from the penalty spot via the boots of Rasheedat Ajibade earned the Super Falcons a slim 1-0 win over the reigning African champions.

The tie will be decided in the second leg which will take place in Pretoria on Tuesday, April 9. All the Super Falcons need in the game is either a draw or a win, while the South African team must record a win to qualify for the 2024 Olympics.

After the 1-0 defeat to the Super Falcons, Desiree Ellis who led Banyana Banyana to the 2022 African women’s championship victory stressed that her team will bounce back in the return leg.

“Look, I said before the game, it was going to be a tight game. We said that the result over two legs will be what matters”, Ellis told reporters in Abuja.

“We feel we’re still in the game, we created a couple of chances. A penalty decided the match but the tie is not over. I thought in the second half we raised our game a lot, and created a few chances.

“We could have equalized and maybe won a penalty at the end. But I’m proud of the team. And we’ll take it back. To Pretoria.”

She added, “Obviously, going to have a look at the footage and see where we can exploit the Falcons in the second leg. Because I thought defensively, we were really sound. And up until that moment from the penalty, we created a couple of chances. We also had a lot of players coming back from injury.

“Not having played 90 minutes. And I thought we got a lot out of them. So they are better in their legs now and be better in the second leg. But as Tembi Kagtlana said, for us, it’s half-time. We still have another half to go.”

The post It’s Half Time, South Africa Coach Tells Super Falcons After Defeat In Abuja appeared first on Naija News.

Chelsea head coach, Mauricio Pochettino, said it took a risk to accept the management of the Stamford Bridge-based club.

Mauricio Pochettino, who has coached Southampton and Espanyol, made his name coaching Tottenham Hotspur between 2014 and 2019.

His best run at the North London club was leading the Premier League club to the final of the UEFA Champions League, which they lost to Liverpool in 2019.

Pochettino went on to coach Paris Saint Germain, where he won three trophies, including one French Ligue 1 title.

After he was sacked from the French giants in 2022, he was without a club for over six months before Chelsea appointed him in 2023 to manage the West London side.

Mauricio Pochettino came to Chelsea during a transition period. The new owners, led by Todd Boehly, had just spent over £1 billion signing new players, mostly under the age of 25.

Throughout Pochettino’s first season at Chelsea (which is the ongoing 2023-2024 season), the 52-year-old Argentine tactician has not been able to make the team win consistently. They are currently in the 10th spot with 43 points in 29 games.

After Chelsea’s massive 4-3 win over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, April 4, Pochettino noted that he was aware that it would be a “massive challenge” coaching The Blues.

“I played with my reputation to come to Chelsea also, in a project that is to build a team with young, talented players with the potential to become top players”, Pochettino told a press conference.

“We knew that was a massive challenge but I want to give the team the tools to win games, believe in ourselves, and build a very good relationship”.

The post I Played With My Reputation To Come To Chelsea – Mauricio Pochettino appeared first on Naija News.

A South African footballer, Luke Fleurs, was tragically shot dead by robbers in Johannesburg.

According to police, Luke Fleurs, a 24-year-old defender for the popular Kaizer Chiefs team in Johannesburg, was shot and killed Wednesday night while refuelling his car at a gas station in a northwestern suburb of the city.

Fleurs was reportedly waiting to refuel his Volkswagen Golf 8 GTI at a petrol station when two armed men driving a white BMW approached him, according to police statements.

“The suspects pointed him with a firearm and took him out of his vehicle, then shot him once on the upper body. One suspect drove off with the victim’s car, followed by his accomplice,” said police spokesman Masondo Mavela.

He was rushed to a hospital, but unfortunately, he was pronounced dead upon arrival.

The authorities have launched an investigation into the murder and car hijacking, and a search for the suspects is underway, with no arrests reported yet.

Kaizer Chiefs is among South Africa’s leading teams, boasting a remarkable 53 domestic trophies won, a record in the country’s football history.

His team posted on social media, “It is with a great deal of sadness that we announce that Kaizer Chiefs player Luke Fleurs tragically lost his life last night during a hijacking incident in Johannesburg.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this difficult time.”

Sports Minister Zizi Kodwa expressed his condolences for Luke Fleurs on social media, lamenting another life lost to violent crime and extending sympathies to Fleurs’ family, the Kaizer Chiefs team, and the broader South African football community.

The post South Africa’s Kaizer Chiefs Footballer, Luke Fleurs Shot Dead In Johannesburg appeared first on Naija News.

“Death of a son is perhaps the worst thing that can happen to any living parent,”‘ NFF sympathised with Odegbami.

The post NFF Commiserates with Segun Odegbami over Loss of Son appeared first on Arise News.

Super Eagles of Nigeria defender, Bright Osayi-Samuel, will not be punished for punching a pitch invader on March 17.

The actions of Osayi-Samuel “did not meet the threshold for a violation of disciplinary rules,” according to a statement from Turkish Football Federation (TFF) disciplinary committee.

Recall that Osayi-Samuel and two of his teammates at Fenerbahce were invited to face a disciplinary penal over their encounter with the pitch invaders that stormed the pitch after Fenerbahce’s away 3-2 win over Trabzonspor.

After the victory at Papara Park stadium on March 17, some Trabzonspor fans stormed the pitch and attacked Fenerbahce players as they were celebrating the win.

Osayi-Samuel punched one of the pitch invaders and landed on him because the invader was reportedly trying to attack him and his teammates with a knife.

TFF disciplinary committee deemed Osayi-Samuel’s action as self-defense, hence, he wasn’t punished after facing the disciplinary penal.

However, his other two teammates, Dutch defender Jayden Oosterwolde and goalkeeper Irfan Can Egribayat, were slammed with a game ban and fined over their role in the incident.

The TFF’s board decided to punish Oosterwolde because he kicked a pitch invader who wasn’t attempting to attack him.

Meanwhile, Trabzonspor will play six of their home games behind closed doors as punishment for the pitch invasion. The club will also pay two fines which amounts to 3.1 million Turkish lira over the incident.

The post Nigeria’s Osayi-Samuel Freed, Teammates, Trabzonspor Punished Over Pitch Invasion appeared first on Naija News.

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Head coach Kris Knoblauch thought the verdict could have come down Edmonton’s way on either of the goalie interference rulings,

There is plenty to keep an eye on when it comes to the final 10 games of the Edmonton Oilers’