Saturday 19 November 2016
Friday 18 November 2016
Conte and Hazard wins manager and player of the month awards
Antonio Conte and Eden Hazard have both been named the Premier League's player and manager of the month for October respectively.
Conte, 47, rode his team to four wins in four games without conceding a goal. Chelsea are currently second on the premier league table, just a point behind leaders Liverpool.
Your October @BarclaysFooty Manager of the
Month is... Antonio Conte!
Congratulations to the @ChelseaFC boss
pic.twitter.com/F9hAvSJ6VY
- Premier League (@premierleague) November
18, 2016
"This is the first time I've won the award, it's a great honour and I want to share it with my players and the club," Conte told Chelsea's official website.
"It's now important we continue and maintain our form. After an international break it's not easy to restart but we must follow our way and work very hard.
"Our next game is against Middlesbrough on Sunday, we know they are really strong and it will be a tough game, but we have prepared very well".
On the other side, Hazard who scored three times in October, including in big wins over Premier League champions Leicester City and former manager Jose
Mourinho's new club Manchester United, has joined a long list of Chelsea players to win the EASPORTSFIFA Player of theMonth award.
"It means a lot," Hazard told the club's official
website.
"We played a very good month. I scored a lot of goals and all the team played well. We scored a lot of goals and we didn't concede a goal. I'm the best player this month but the most important thing is at the end to
win the league and to do that we have a lot of things to do from now until then."
Thursday 17 November 2016
Wednesday 16 November 2016
Falconets thrash Canada 3 - 1
Nigeria Falconets thrashed Canada 3 - 1 in their second Group B game in the ongoing U-20 Women's World Cup in Papua New Guinea on Wednesday.
Gabrielle Carle put his team ahead with an early opener in the 15th minute. However, Falconets reacted well as Nigeria’s Chinaza Uchendu brought the score back on level terms in 45th minute through a spot kick.
The second half began in favour of Nigeria as Joy Bokiri, put Nigeria on the driving seat with a second goal in 40 seconds.
The third goal came for Nigeria when Chiwendu Ihezuo sealed victory for Nigeria in the 73rd minute, earning the Falconets their first 3 points of the tournament.
Nigeria will now battle against Spain in their Group B, while Canada take on Japan on Nov. 20 in their last group games.
It pains me i never played for Barcelona and Madrid - Pirlo
Andrea Pirlo has admitted he regrets neve playing for either Barcelona or Real Madrid in his career. The player revealed this to Marca.
Pirlo who transferred to New York City FC in July 2015, said he was approached by both the Spanish top clubs during his time at AC Milan but the Italian club would not allow him to leave.
Pirlo said: "I still have a thorn in my side at not
having played for Real Madrid or Barcelona, because playing there is a dream for every player.
"But I consider myself very satisfied to have played for the best teams in Italy."
In 2006, Real Madrid under management of Fabio Capell approached Pirlo but a transfer did not fall through. The season AC Milan received a points deduction after being implicated in a match-fixing
scandal.
"Real Madrid? Any player would like to play for
them," Pirlo said. "Fabio Capello was there and
there were a lot of rumours circulating about
Milan's future because of the scandal.
"Milan wouldn't let me go, and they gave me a
new contract. Was I disappointed? Well it's true
that unfortunately they wouldn't let me leave,
but at the same time I spent 10 years at Milan,
winning everything there was to win."
Barcelona also tried to sign Pirlo for Barcelona in 2010 but again, Milan turned down his approach.
Pirlo said he had been tempted, adding: "How
could you not want to go there? Guardiola told
me he wanted me in his team."
He left the San Siro a year later, joining Juventus on a three-year contract and going on to win four straight Serie A titles.
"I needed another team with a new project, but still a winning one," he said.
"Juve were perfect, as they hadn't won in a long time and were making their debut in their new stadium. It was the best place to start building."
Photocredit : Getty images
How i broke into the first team - Iwobi
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Alex Iwobi | Getty images |
Alex Iwobi is one Arsenal's young stars who's influence in the first team looks above his age. His two goals in two games against Everton and Watford respectively plus two assists were however something to wonder about.
Although it cannot be said the player has been at his best ever since breaking into the first team but he has become a regular starter. This is to say the player has gained manager Arsene Wenger's trust.
In an interview, the young Nigerian international revealed how surprise he is finding himself in the starting eleven and how he plans to keep focus.
“Honestly I didn’t expect to be where I am
today,” Iwobi said.
“I thought a long time ago that I’d be on loan and probably get experience there before having experience in the first team, but the fact that the boss trusted me to jump into the first team as quick as I did, I’m just grateful for it.
“The same way I was able to break into it is the
same way that I take the chance now.
“I play like it’s almost like my last game, I treat it like it’s my last moment here, so I do my best and I always put 100 per cent into whatever I do.”
Pele owes Akwa Ibom State government $300,000
Brazil football legend Pele, according to reports is owing the Akwa Ibom state government of Nigeria a sum of $300,000, an amount which the Government has asked the football legend to refund.
The huge amount according to reports was given to the Brazilian to make an appearance at the opening of the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, which he failed to due to a shift in the dates for the opening of The Nest Of Champions.
The Akwa Ibom state government has however demands Pele should refund the cash.
“The Akwa Ibom Government want their cash back, but so far all their efforts have proved abortive,” a source told AfricanFootball.
“They want all the $300,000, but some experts in the business have advised they should angle for a part of this sum.
“Pele’s people have continued to insist they were not the ones who breached the agreement and so they could not be liable.
“And that by the time a new date for the opening of the stadium was fixed, their client was committed to another engagement.”
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