Category: Sports

Netherlands is set to request Quincy Promes’ extradition from Dubai after being sentenced to six years in prison.

The post Former Ajax Star Quincy Promes Arrested In Dubai Following Cocaine Smuggling Conviction appeared first on Arise News.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president, Ibrahim Gusau, has urged the Flying Eagles to qualify for the semi-final stage of the African Games football event.

The Flying Eagles, who reached the final of the last edition of the African Games in Morocco, have not been at their best in the ongoing edition of the tournament.

In their opening group stage game, coach Ladan Bosso and his boys suffered an unexpected 2-1 defeat at the hands of a lowly-rated Uganda.

The Flying Eagles managed to beat South Sudan 1-0 courtesy of a late-minute penalty scored by Isiyaka Sadiq.

To qualify for the semi-final stage of the African Games and stand a chance of winning their 8th gold medal in the event’s history, they must beat Senegal in their last group stage game on Friday, March 14.

A not-too-happy NFF president, Ibrahim Gusau, has told reporters that he has not been impressed by the performance of the Flying Eagles as he urged them to beat Senegal on Friday.

“Nigeria has a high pedigree in youth football across the globe and that is a fact that should ring loud in the minds of every player wearing the green-white-green at that level. We did not fare well against Uganda and I gave the boys a piece of my mind”, he said.

“Against South Sudan, we should have done more and taken the three points quickly but had to struggle. I believe the players have the potential to do far more and they should start by showing their stuff against Senegal on Friday. It is a match we have to win to reach the semi-finals.”

The post African Games: NFF President Mandates Flying Eagles To Beat Senegal appeared first on Naija News.

The 2023-2024 Premier League season has reached an advanced stage and the clear title contenders – Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City – have been confirmed.

There are just ten more games for the 2023-2024 Premier League season to end, and the race for the title is getting as intense as expected.

Presently, Arsenal are topping the table with 64 points in 28 games, seven goals above second-placed Liverpool who have the same number of points as the Gunners.

Manchester City, the reigning Premier League champions, who are aiming to win a record 4 league title in a row, are currently placed third, with just a point below first and second-placed Arsenal and Liverpool.

Among the remaining 10 Premier League games left for Arsenal, their most tricky fixture is against their London rivals, Chelsea, which will take place on a yet-to-be-determined date.

The Gunners must win all their remaining games but the game they are expected to do all it takes to win is against their title rivals, Manchester City on March 31. They must use the game to prove their title credential this season.

Arsenal’s last 10 matches for the 2023/2024 Premier League season:

Chelsea
Manchester City
Luton Town
Brighton and Hove Albion
Aston Villa
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Tottenham Hotspur
Bournemouth
Manchester United
Everton

As for Liverpool, they have three tricky games which are against Manchester United, Brighton, and Tottenham. Their meetings against these three teams are always difficult to predict. Hence, if they can win those games, they will remain in contention for the title until the season ends.

Liverpool’s last 10 matches for the 2023/2024 Premier League season:

Everton
Brighton and Hove Albion
Sheffield United
Manchester United
Crystal Palace
Fulham
West Ham United
Tottenham Hotspur
Aston Villa
Wolverhampton Wanderers

Manchester City have shown that they are very beatable this season after recording three defeats in 28 games. Interestingly, the only traditional top 6 Premier League team they have defeated this season is Manchester United.

Hence, they have to step up against Arsenal on March 31 if they want to remain in contention for the title until the last day of the season.

Manchester City’s last 10 Premier League matches for the 2023/2024 season:

Brighton and Hove Albion
Arsenal
Aston Villa
Crystal Palace
Luton Town
Tottenham Hotspur
Nottingham Forest
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Fulham
West Ham United

The post EPL: Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal Last Ten Premier League Fixtures appeared first on Naija News.

The Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL) club, Rivers United have gotten their opponents for the quarter-final stage of the 2023-2024 CAF Confederations Cup.

Rivers United who are yet to win a continental title in their history will have to go through the Algerian club, USMA, in their quest to reach the next stage of the Confederation Cup.

The 2022 NPFL champions will host the first leg of the encounter on March 29 at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, their adopted home.

The second leg of the tie will take place in Algeria on April 7, 2024.

Note that Rivers United went as far as this stage last season where they were knocked out by lowly ranked Young Africans of Tanzania.

Interestingly, the Port-Harcourt-based side are the only Nigerian side still involved in continental football so far this season.

Note that no Nigerian team has ever won the CAF Confederation Cup. If Rivers United manages to win this year’s edition of the tournament, they will be the first Nigerian club to achieve the feat.

Below is the full 2023-2024 CAF Confederation Cup Quarter-finals draw:

Rivers United of Nigeria Vs USMA of Algeria

Libya’s Abu Salem Vs RS Berkane of Morocco

Egypt’s Modern Future Vs Zamalek of Egypt.

Dreams of Ghana vs Stade Malien of Mali

The post CAF Confederation Cup Quarter-Finals Draw: Rivers United Get Algerian Club appeared first on Naija News.

Super Falconets of Nigeria head coach, Chris Danjuma, has expressed delight after his team humiliated Senegal in their second game at the ongoing 2024 All African Games.

The Super Falconets have their eyes set on the gold medal as their emphatic victory over Senegal booked them a place in the semi-final stage.

After beating Morocco 2-0 in their opening game at the tournament, they needed a win to guarantee themselves a place in the next round and they got it in style.

During their second game at the tournament which was against Senegal, Loveth Edeh scored the match opener in the 13th minute.

Motunrayo Ezekiel, Aisha Kales (own goal), and Chioma Olise sealed the 4-0 win over the Senegalese Under-20 women’s team.

The win leaves Nigerian women at the top of Group B and qualifies them to the next round automatically.

“Our mentality coming into this game was to improve on the Morocco game by three times. We needed to keep going till it was beyond their reach,” Chris Danjuma told CAFonline.

The Super Falconets will now play the second-placed team in Group A in the semi-final stage of the event.

Meanwhile, Senegal’s head coach, Mbayang Thiam has argued that her side had a great game against the Nigerian women and didn’t deserve such an emphatic defeat.

“We didn’t see this heavy defeat coming. The results don’t reflect the game,” Thiam said according to CAFonline.

Senegal still stand a chance of qualifying for the next round of the competition but they must beat Morocco on Friday to achieve that.

The post 2024 African Games: Senegal, Nigeria Coaches React After Super Falconets’ Big Win appeared first on Naija News.

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The Edmonton Oilers didn’t need Daylight Savings Time to lose any sleep. Read More

The Edmonton Oilers continued to add to their stable ahead of Friday’s NHL trade deadline, claiming defenceman Troy Stecher and

After the conclusion of the first batch of the UEFA Champions League round of 16, the European football governing body has released the tournament’s team of the week.

In a publication on UEFA’s official website on Thursday, March 7, the football governing body announced that five players from Bayern Munich made the 2023-2024 UEFA Champions League team of the week.

Bayern Munich have the most players in the team of the week after overturning a 1-0 first-leg defeat in the Champions League round of 16 against Lazio. Recall that the German Bundesliga giants qualified for the quarter-final stage of the competition 3-1 on aggregate after defeating Lazio 3-0 at home.

Manchester City, the reigning champions of the tournament, have two players in the team of the week following their 6-2 aggregate win over Copenhagen.

Paris Saint Germain who knocked out Real Sociedad have just Kylian Mbappe in the team of the week.

Real Sociedad, RB Leipzig, and Copenhagen who have ended their journey in the campaign have a player each in the team.

Below is the 2023-2024 UEFA Champions League team of the week after the first batch of the round of 16:

Goalkeeper
Manuel Neuer (Bayern) – 6 points

Defenders
Manuel Akanji (Man City) – 13 points

Matthijs de Ligt (Bayern) – 10 points

Eric Dier (Bayern) – 7 points

Willi Orbán (Leipzig) – 11 points

Raphaël Guerreiro (Bayern) – 9 points

Midfielders
Mikel Merino (Real Sociedad) – 7 points

Mohamed Elyounoussi (Copenhagen) – 9 points

Forwards
Julián Álvarez (Man City) – 10 points

Harry Kane (Bayern) – 13 points

Kylian Mbappé (Paris) – 13 points

Note that the second (last batch) of the Champions League round of 16 will take place from Tuesday, March 12 to Wednesday, March 13.

The post Bayern Munich, Man City Dominate UEFA Champions League Team Of The Week appeared first on Naija News.

The manager of Chelsea, Mauricio Pochettino, has admitted that if he was a Chelsea fan, he wouldn’t have been happy with the current state of the club.

Chelsea who won the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup, barely three seasons ago are totally a shadow of their former selves.

Last season, they finished below the top 6. This season, they are on the verge of doing the same as they currently sit in the 11th spot on the league table with 36 points in 26 games, after 10 wins, 6 draws, and 10 defeats.

This abysmal run has left Chelsea fans frustrated especially after throwing away a one-goal lead to draw 2-2 against Brentford on Saturday, March 2.

Pochettino who became the coach of the struggling Premier League giants ahead of the 2023-2024 season has noted that the club’s fans deserve to be frustrated as he admitted that his team has not been able to meet expectations.

“We need to accept the frustration,” Pochettino told reporters on Thursday.

“Maybe if I was a fan I’d be the same because we are not matching the expectation.

“We must be responsible for our performance and try hard to improve.”

Note that since Todd Boehly and his consortium took over the Premier League club in May 2022, the two-time Champions League winners have spent over £1 billion in signing new players.

Despite the huge investment in recruitment within the space of two seasons, Chelsea are yet to have anything to show for it.

Ahead of the Chelsea vs Newcastle United Premier League clash which is scheduled to take place at 9 p.m. on Monday, March 11, Pochettino pleaded for the club’s fans to support his team at Stamford Bridge against their visitors.

“We are suffering negativity but we can’t stop believing, we must keep believing and try to perform on Monday,” Pochettino said.

“I really believe we can succeed. Of course, we need our fans. We hope the fans will be behind us on Monday to help us win the game. That is so important for our players.

“We can believe that we can start to win games to get close to qualifying for Europe. The opportunity is there but if you give up belief we will go down [the league].”

The post Pochettino Admits He Wouldn’t Have Been Happy If He Was Chelsea’s Fan appeared first on Naija News.