Friday 3 April 2015

Adaeze Yobo Welcomes Baby Boy 

Football star, Joseph Yobo and his wife Adaeze welcomed a bouncing baby boy early hours of today April 3rd 2015. 
The good news was announced by Adaeze by sharing the picture below on her page. From the picture, we can tell that their son's name is Jayden. 

Jayden is the second fruit of their wedding. 

Big Congrats to them. 

https://instagram.com/p/0_sgfdJ-s8/

Wednesday 26 June 2013

Ahead of World Championships: Athletes returning time worries Igwe



Renowned athletics coach, Tobias Igwe (a.k.a Toblow) has expressed worry over poor timings that Nigerian athletes returned at the recently concluded All Nigeria and Cross River Open Athletics Championship held in Calabar.  

Sunderland boss vows to break bank for Musa

English Premiership club, Sunderland FC want to demonstrate their readiness for a big challenge in the coming season by making an audacious bid for Super Eagles winger,

Tuesday 25 June 2013

Breaking News...Carlo Ancelotti appointed Real Madrid boss and Blanc joins PSG

Carlo Ancelotti

Carlo Ancelotti has taken over as Real Madrid manager, with Laurent Blanc replacing the Italian as coach of Paris St-Germain.
Ancelotti, 54, led PSG to the French title last season.
He has signed a three-year deal in Spain to replace Jose Mourinho, who left to become Chelsea boss for the second time.
Blanc, 47, has agreed a two-year contract at the Parc des Princes.

Monday 24 June 2013

Messi 26th birthday pix

“We just danced and then we played some PlayStation.”


Abidal close to Monaco switch


Eric Abidal is close to a return to Ligue 1 newcomers Monaco, his agent has confirmed.
The 33-year-old, who recovered from a liver transplant to return to action in April, will be a free agent at the end of the month after Barcelona announced their intention not to renew his contract.

Gunners’ pursuit of Gonalons hits brick wall

Arsenal’s pursuit of Maxime Gonalons hit a dead-end after the defensive midfielder’s club Lyon confirmed on their official website that the player will not be sold this summer, despite reports suggesting otherwise. Arsenal and Napoli have been linked with the 24-year old but Lyon refuted all rumours after reports in the media surfaced that the French outfit have set the midfielder’s transfer fee

Neymar has brutal quality — Iniesta


Barcelona midfielder, Andres Iniesta is relishing the prospect of teaming up with new signing Neymar next season.
The Spain star has been impressed with his new team-mate’s career to date and is confident that he

Ekpo backs F/Eagles as Nigeria confront Cuba today


Former Super Eagles midfielder, Friday Ekpo believes the embattled Flying Eagles can still soar in the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey, despite losing their first game.

Akanni urges Flying Eagles to unite


Ex-international, Waidi Akanni has charged the Flying Eagles to play cohesively at the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey to stand a chance of advancing in the tournament.
Akanni said in Lagos that the Flying Eagles would have to display all they were taught during their preparation in Germany.

Coaches worried over poor timing in Calabar


Some Coaches on Saturday expressed concern over the unimpressive return time posted by some of the athletes at the just-concluded All Nigeria/Cross River Open Athletics championships  in Calabar.

Keshi, bad example to Eagles — Gara Gombe


Former chairman of Gombe State Football Association, Ahmed Shuaibu Gara Gombe has taken a swipe on
Super Eagles Chief Coach, Stephen Keshi blaming him for the players’ revolt against the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)

Chelsea jack up Mikel’s price tag to N4.183bn


English Premier League giants, Chelsea have jacked up the valuation of their prized player, John Mikel Obi and have told Galatasaray that only £20million (about N4,183,200,220.375) can force them to sell the midfielder.

Yobo denies England switch

Out-of-favour Super Eagles captain, Joseph Yobo has declared his intentions to remain in Turkey despite increased speculation about a move back to England.

Sunday 23 June 2013

Confed Cup: Enyeama blames fatigue for loss

Stand-in Eagles skipper, Vincent Enyeama, has blamed fatigue as the major reason for the Eagles 1-2 loss to Uruguay Thursday at the ongoing Confederations Cup.

Oliseh confident of Eagles qualification


Former Nigerian midfielder, Sunday Oliseh has said Super Eagles are very much in the semifinals qualification race at the ongoing 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil.
Eagles fell to the Uruguayan foes, La Celeste 1-2 in the group’s second game in the early hours of

Juventus, Udinese meet over Asamoah’s full ownership


Juventus officials met their counterparts from Udinese on Tuesday to discuss their full-ownership bid for Ghana midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah.
Asamoah had joined the Old Lady at the beginning of the just ended campaign in a co-ownership deal from

Squash Federation set to relocate to Abuja


Nigeria Squash Federation (NSF) could relocate its headquarters to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, A top official of the federation who sought anonymity told our correspondent that the decision to move the secretariat from Lagos to Abuja dominated the board meeting and it seems the process to actualise it would commence soon.

F/Eagles got best preparations —Amadu

General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation, Musa Amadu, says the federation has full confidence in the ability of the national U-20 team, the Flying Eagles to perform at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey, declaring that they got the best of preparations for the championship.

Eagles should emulate Bafana Bafana – NFF chieftain

The Super Eagles players have been advised to emulate   their counterparts from other countries that never embarrass their fatherland or hold her to ransom over match bonus, but delight in services.
An executive committee member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) who pleaded anonymity said: “the players should stop acting as if they are traitors. They are not living in the moon. They are aware of the precarious financial situation of NFF in recent time.”

Nigerian WBO champion aims at world title


Sergeant Isaac Ekpo, the reigning World Boxing Organisation (WBO) African Super Middleweight Champion has vowed to fly Nigeria’s flag high at the world level.
The 31-year-old boxer successfully defended his title after defeating Ayitey Powers of Ghana in round 10 on June 8 in Cotonou.

Federation appeals for release of seized boats


The Nigeria Rowing, Canoeing and Sailing Sports Federation has pleaded with the Federal Government to release its boats that were seized by the Nigeria Customs Service (NSC).
The president of the federation, retired Rear Admiral Festus Porbeni, made the plea at a demonstration event of the three sports at Jabi Lake in Abuja.

NFF yet to pay Keshi since February


Coach Stephen Keshi is not a happy man at the moment not because his team is not doing well but because his employers, the Nigeria Football Federation still owes him backlog of salaries.
A source close to the coach told our correspondent that the federation has not paid the tactician since the last Africa Nations Cup in February.
The source said the federation has blamed the delays due to the dire financial situation in the Glass House and Keshi has been forced to carry on with his assignment without an issue out of the ugly situation.
It will be recalled that the salary of the coach became an issue before the start of the Nations Cup before a last minute intervention ensured the coach was paid before the start of the tournament but the source said the

Thursday 20 June 2013

Nnaji writes-off local players in national team


Chief Coach of national female basketball team, Scot Nnaji has written off the chances of home-based players breaking into the national team because ‘they still have more work to do’.
Speaking with Newswatch Sports, Nnaji said much as there are talents in the Zenith Basketball Championship, he however doubted their ability to play in big time competitions without being knocked into proper shape.Read more...


Turkey 2013: Portugal unleash Nigerian against Eagles


The Portuguese U-20 national team will unleash Tiago Ilori, a defender whose father is Nigerian, against the Flying Eagles when both teams clash at the FIFA U20 World Cup in Turkey.
The Portuguese, who were U-20 world champions in 1989 and 1991, were beaten in the 2011 World Cup

Messi, Neymar in brand war


Barcelona and Holland great, Johan Cruyff has said that it will be brands, not competition on the pitch, that will cause a breach in the relationship between Messi and Neymar.
The former Holland skipper had already warned that there might be conflict between these two main players,

FIFA fixes date for 2014 qualifying draw


FIFA have confirmed that the draw for the final round of African qualifying for the 2014 World Cup will take place in Cairo on September 16.
Bafana Bafana will hope that they are one of the 10 teams in the pot for the draw, which will determine the five play-off ties, the winners of which will advance to the finals in Brazil.
The top five teams according to the FIFA rankings will be seeded, with Bafana unlikely to be among those should they make it out of their pool.
That means a probably meeting with the likes of Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Algeria, Tunisia or Nigeria.
The first legs of the play-offs will be held between October 11-15, with the reverse fixtures taking place on November 15-19.
South Africa are waiting to hear from FIFA if their Brazil chances are still alive, with Ethiopia likely to be docked three points from their fixture against Botswana earlier this month.
That would leave Bafana needing to beat the Botswana in September, and hope Ethiopia get no more than a draw against Central African Republic.

Players exodus may hit Rangers


With few weeks to the start of the group stage of 2013 CAF Confederation cup, Nigeria’ only surviving club in continental competition, Enugu Rangers International F.C, may lose some key players who want to go out for greener pastures.
Information at our disposal has it that about four players registered by the club for the continental club campaign might be on their way out of the club to seek clubs overseas.

Mikel: We will beat Uruguay


Mikel Obi has predicted that Nigeria will beat South American champions, Uruguay in continuation of the FIFA Confederations Cup tonight.  The African champions expectedly thrashed minnows Tahiti in their opening FIFA Confederations Cup game and the Chelsea midfielder has assured the Super Eagles are in Brazil to fly Africa’s flag highest.
How will you describe the opening game against Tahiti?
It was a great game for us getting the maximum three points with a wide margin. It was a great game for us. We gave our best and it paid off. Read more...

Keshi upset by missed chances


Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi has frowned at the poor conversion rate of his strikers ahead of Nigeria’s second group game against Uruguay.
Nigeria scored ‘just’ six goals against Tahiti from 19 shots ten of which were on target, as Musa, Ujah and substitute Ideye failed to make the most of glaring chances.

Brazil beefs up security for Confed Cup


Brazil will deploy a special police force to fortify security for the Confederations Cup tournament, following mass protests against government spending, the state news agency said yesterday.
Officers belonging to the National Force, a branch of the federal police deployed in cases of social unrest, will be sent to five of the six cities where the tournament will be played, Agencia Brasil reported, citing the Justice Ministry.

Flying Eagles aim for winning start


Nigeria will hope to get off to a winning start in Friday night’s opening Group B match against Portugal at the U-20 World Cup in Turkey.
The Flying Eagles, who finished third at the recent African Youth Championship in Algeria, are drawn against Portugal, debutants Cuba and South Korea in Group B based in Kayseri.
Portugal beat Nigeria 2-1 at the recent Toulon International Tournament in France as a prelude to Friday’s showdown.

Tuesday 18 June 2013

It’s right decision to turn down Chelsea — Okore

New Aston Villa signing, Jores Okore believes he made the right decision in turning down a move to Chelsea.
The 20-year-old departed Danish side FC Nordsjaelland to sign a four-year contract at Villa Park, and admitted he could have chosen to join the Stamford Bridge outfit instead.
But Villa manager Paul Lambert was an influential figure in his decision, and he is confident the club will be a good match for him.

Ajose’s opponent, Gesta withdraws from fight

Olusegun Ajose’s hope to move closer to a shot at the world title suffered a setback at the weekend after his opponent in the July 19 World Boxing Council (WBC) Lightweight contest Mercito Gesta withdrew from the fight on medical advice.
The Filipino, who is nick named ‘no mercy’ for his aggression in the ring said that he was forced to pull out of the fight following the ribs injury he suffered in sparring training on Friday but hopes to return stronger.
Gesta said on his Facebook “Due to an injury that I suffered today while training, doctors recommended that I cancel my fight on July 19th.
“I apologize to all my fans and supporters around the world. As I feel really disappointed now. I’ll get passed this and will be back stronger,”
However, some boxing pundits belief that the cancellation of the fight was a lucky break for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) number 10 contender, Gesta, who is not in his best shape to face Ajose.
“Olusegun is a very good fighter who gave Lucas Matthysse all he could handle last year in September before getting stopped in the 10th round.
“I think Gesta should see this as a sign that he needs to go in another direction. Olusegun is just too good for Gesta in my view and I always thought this was a bad match-up for Gesta as soon I heard about this fight.
“Olusegun is too advanced for him and much too active and strong. It would have been a mismatch with Olusegun giving Gesta a real pounding,’ said a pundit.
Gesta, 25, has not fought since losing a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision to IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez last December in a fight where Gesta lost by the scores of 119-109, 118-110 and 117-111.

Yobo: I’m happy at Fenerbahce

Super Eagles Captain, Joseph Yobo has rubbished   media reports linking him away from Turkish giants, Fenerbahce.
The former Everton of England defender, who completed a £2m permanent move to the Turkish champions last season after two seasons loan spell at the club, has been linked with a return to the English Premier League with either Cardiff City or Hull City as possible destination.
But Yobo, who will soon be in Nigeria with his family for holiday that he and his family are happy at Fenerbahc and has no plan to quit the club this summer.
 “My family loves Istanbul,” begins Yobo.
“There have been many transfer news about me but I hope to return in July 1 to join the rest of the team for the pre-season trainings,” he said.
The 32-year-old former Olympique Marseille player is thought to be unhappy at the club following Coach Aykut Kocaman departure in May and with the recent £5m signing of Portuguese defender Bruno Alves from Zenit St Petersburg.

‘Amoo forced on NFF as U-23 coach’

Fresh facts have emerged that the newly appointed Chief Coach of the nation’s U-23 coach, Fatai Amoo may have been forced on the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) by very influential stakeholders from the South West region of the country.
A reliable source told Newswatch Sports that NFF was arm-twisted into choosing Amoo by some influential people from the South Western region.
A top NFF official said that some powerful football stakeholders from the region had argued that they have been short-changed in the appointment of national team coaches and demanded compensation with Amoo’s appointment.
According to him, some football stakeholders are not comfortable with the choice of Amoo as they do not believe he has the capacity to control players of the U-23.
“I want to tell you the extent to which the South West people went for Amoo to be appointed. To the extent that some governors were even calling the NFF President, Aminu Maigari, demanding that justice be done and he had no choice but to succumb to the pressure.
“Come to think of it, they were right to some extent because the region do not have a coach heading any of the national teams. But in the real sense of it, appointing coaches for the national teams should not be based on balancing regional interest,” he stressed.
However, there is strong concern over Amoo’s capability to manage the U-23 team players who are almost senior players.
“I am not saying that he is not a good coach but my fear is that he may not be able to control the big boys. Amoo is a gentleman but you need more than that to handle a team like that,” he said.
Several top coaches had applied for the job to coach the U-23 team job. Among those who had indicated interest to on the post was former assistant coach of the team, Ben Iroha.

Nasarawa Utd players get 50% sign on fees

Succour has come the way of Nasarawa United players as the State Governor, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura has approved immediate release of 50 per cent of their 2012-2013 sign- on fees.
Special Assistant to the governor, Silas Agara, who disclosed this to Newswatch Sports, noted that the gesture will go a long way to spur the players to put   qualify for a continental championship at the end of the season.
He said that Governor Al-Makura has demonstrated that he is particularly concerned with what is going on in the club and wishes to see it progress to the highest level.
“We have really been enjoying the support of the governor since he came on board. It was when he came that the team gained promotion to the Premier League,” Agara said.
He applauded the players for keeping faith with the management of the team even when the sign on fees were yet to be approved.
“The players have kept faith with us and they have been coming out with good results. It is that performance that spurred the governor to quickly approve the payment of the 50 per cent sign on fee.”
He further assured that with sustained good performance by the team, the Governor may be forced to release the remaining 50 per cent of the sign on fees.

Oshodi assures great future for t/tennis

The President of Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Wahid Enitan Oshodi has revealed that the urge to lead the game in the country came from intensive pressure from stakeholders to come on board and give realistic push to the sport, based on his background and knowledge.
He said that he had dismissed the thought because he had enough on his hands as the Lagos State Commissioner for Sports.
“I guess that all the moves must have been based on my performance as the Chairman of Lagos State Table Tennis Association (LASTTA) in the past years, which they believed I could re-enacted to bring back the country as a force to reckon with at the continental and world stage,” he added.
He noted that the calibre of people in the board of the federation shall conquer as they intend to revolve the developmental programmes around the youths.  The board, he said will exploit the enormous talents in the country and turn the sport around. “The home truth we have unveiled is that we must go back to the basics in order to discover and truly catch the abundant talents much younger. This will enable the coaches to groom and monitor teams closely for speedy results.”  He said that in order to promptly accomplish that without much hassles, the services of first rate instructors must be engaged to harness the talents.
“There is a lot to be done to get the players that would be discovered ready. We must provide standard tables including other modern equipment that will facilitate the efforts of the younger ones from our schools. To achieve the desired impact, the NTTF leadership must liaise with the board members in the six geo-political zones, the state coaches that will do it right in the various schools,” he stressed.
He  explained that championships would be organised to keep the players in shape all year round as he  recalled that in the 1960’s till  late 1980’s table tennis was one of the popular and well sort after sports by fans in the country.
He promised to ensure that the game would be given a new lease of life by re-inventing it starting by putting together regular championships that will bring the required experience to the players.
“Yes our players need more exposure that will give them solid confidence to face any player in international meets. The need to bring them back to the playing arena has arisen more than ever before. The   board is determined to take the bull by the horn. We cannot afford to fail, rather we must justify the confidence reposed on us by those that invited on us to come on board to salvage and breathe life into the game,” he said.

NCF wants cricket in Calabar sports festival


As a way of pushing cricket into the mainstream of the nation’s sports, the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) has concluded plans to approach the organisers of next year National Sports Festival to allow cricket to debut.
The federation noted that apart from their plans to take the game to the grassroots, the National Sports Festival is a very strong platform that can be used to make the game which is very unpopular in this part of the world to begin to generate some followership.
A top member of the board of the federation, Kayode Adeniyi told Newswatch Sports that they will soon be going to Calaber to meet with the Sports Commissioner and state Director of Sports to discuss the possibility   of having the game feature in the festival to hosted ib Calabar.
“Since we came on board we are making effort to see how to make the game gain ground in Nigeria. Though, we have our road map on how we want to achieve our goal but we also feel that the National Sports Festival will be a good platform to sell the game to the minds of Nigerians. We shall be meeting with all those concerned with the hosting of the game and we pray that they will see sense in what we are saying,”
Adeniyi said that while in Calabar,the federation would be making a donation of cricket equipment to the state and  partners with the state Cricket Association to organise a coaching clinic among schools and basic coaching courses for sports officers in Calabar.
He also said that the NCF will provide technical support in the development of cricket pitch while the host state will provide other facilities adding that maintained that the federation will include coaching personnel from Cross River State in future coaching courses. On whether they would be able to raise enough team to feature at the games, Adeniyi argued that many states have started playing the game, assuring that getting enough representation to participate at the games will not be a challenge.
“What people do not know is that many states play cricket now in Nigeria. Though, no much noise is made about them, but they are there. We are very sure that if we are admitted to participate at the Calabar Games, we will not be short of numbers of team to participate,” he said.

Chelsea confirms: Schürrle is our!

Chelsea have reached an agreement to sign Andre Schurrle !Chelsea Football Club have announced officially they have reached an agreement with Bayer Leverkusen for signing their star player Andre Schurrle.
The young German striker was traced by Chelsea for a long time after Chelsea needed a striker apart from Fernando Torres and Ba at Stamford Bridge.
Schurrle, 22 will become Jose Mourinho’s first signing after he agree personal terms and pass medical for the Europa League winners.
Chelsea said in a statement: “Chelsea Football Club and Bayer 04 Leverkusen have reached an agreement for the transfer of Andre Schurrle, subject to the completion of legal documentation and related matters, including personal terms and passing a medical.”

Eagles bonus war fallout:Enyeama, Mikel, Ejide face sanctions

Three key Super Eagles players, midfielder Mikel Obi, goalkeepers Vincent Enyeama and Austin Ejide have been picked as the chief architects of the bonus war against the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
Although NFF leadership has said that the issue has been resolved following the intervention of the Presidency through the Minster of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, reliable sources say there are plans   to punish the players that led the revolt.
The Eagles had held NFF officials to ransom after the
1-1 draw against the Brave Warriors of Namibia in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday as they rejected $2,500 dollars bonus offer by the federation
The players, who insisted on $5,000 dollars vehemently refused to leave their Country Club Resort Windhoek for a scheduled flight to Johannesburg en route Brazil for the Confederations Cup, and consequently missed their connection to Sao Paulo from South Africa.
Newswatch Sports can authoritatively reveal that the Glass House has vowed to bring to book the players who instigated the crisis which caused Nigeria   international embarrassment.
According to our source Enyeama, Mikel and Ejide have been identified as the players that spearheaded headed the revolt and “must be punished to serve as deterrence to others.”
 “The Maigari-led NFF board were thoroughly embarrassed by the action of the players and would wield the big stick at the appropriate time. The federation is very angry because of the international dimension it took. They are already know those who instigated the trouble in the team. And they have been pencilled down for sanction. Let’s see what happens after the Confederations Cup,” he said.
On the kind of punishment that awaits the players, he said that it won’t proper to let the cat out of the bag, adding: The fact remains that the hammer will fall on these players.
It was gathered that the federation felt insulted when   Enyeama, Mikel and Ejide stormed out of a peace meeting with NFF officials, went and held other players hostage.
“NFF top officials were angered by the action of Enyeama,Ejide and Mikel during a meeting. They forced other players into an action. They held the players hostage in their hotel by insisting that they must not leave for the scheduled flight to South Africa.
To Nigerians, the issue have been resolved by the intervention of the Sports Minister, but after the Confederation Cup, the issue will be revisited. The NFF smells a rat that some external influence. But our football will continue to be the worst for it if we encourage this kind of action by the players,” he said.