- News in Brief
Mikel to miss Mexico friendly
Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel is likely to miss the Nigerian friendly match against Mexico on May 31.
Mikel has asked to be excluded from the match in order to rest and take care of personal issues after a tough and tight schedule with his club Chelsea.
Mikel featured in the squad against Harambee Stars that ended in a 1-1 draw with the African champions in a World Cup qualifier match played at Calabar Nigeria
Already, the trio of Victor Moses, Kalu Uche and Gabriel Reuben have opted out of the Nigeria squad ahead of the Fifa World Cup qualifiers and Confederations Cup citing injury concerns.
Tony Pulis leaves Stoke City
Stoke City and Tony Pulis have parted ways just days after the conclusion of the English Premier League guiding the potter to position 13th. The 55 year old Pulis has been in Charge since 2006 guiding Stoke to Premier League promotion in 2008.
Chelsea, Arsenal to face in play offs?
The second runners up for UEFA Champion’s league qualifications might end up in a twist as the season closes in a unique way. This may result as the two giants Chelsea and Arsenal close the season with same level of points, goal difference and goals scored.
This may necessitate a final round fixture after the final whistle is blown this weekend.
The Gunners have raised 70points after beating Wigan 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Monday night leaving them 2 points to their rivals Chelsea who are 72.Arsenal have also reduced Chelsea’s goal difference to one.
Should Arsenal win 2-1 in their next match and Chelsea to have barren draw with Everton then playoffs shall be inevitable
Jack Wilshere unavailable for England friendlies
England national team manager Roy Hodgson has suffered a blow in his squad with the ruling out of Arsenal's midfielder Jack Wilshere in his international friendly matches against the Republic of Ireland and Brazil.
The 21 year old who is a key part of the team's precarious attempts to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil will have to undergo a minor operation on his right ankle hence make him miss the two encounters.
Wilshere missed all of last season through injury and was sidelined for several weeks and he had had three appearances as a substitute in the last premier league ties.
Hodgson will name his squad on Thursday ahead of the M ay 29th clash with the Republic of Ireland at Wembly.
Wayne Rooney seeks transfer
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney did not take part in the game played against Swansea on Sunday because he had earlier requested for a transfer.
It is the second time Rooney had asked for transfer to leave Manchester United as the first having come in October 2010.
Ferguson said that it is not his decision to make whether Rooney should stay or not but the club is not willing to let him go.
Keshi confident in beating Kenya and Namibia
With the FIFA World Cup set to take place in 2014, Nigeria’s Super Eagles are hoping to beat Namibia and Kenya in June in order to seal a place in the final round in the qualifier.
Head coach Keshi is confident and urges Super Eagles to approach the two games with seriousness and that they shall do everything in their power to get the desired results. He also has revealed that he will consider calling up new players who are Joseph Akpala or Michael Eneramo for the June matches.
Super Eagles are currently the head in Group F for the Africa zone in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Dortmund ready for Bayern
Dortmund will not be giving any chances to Bayern Munich as the two team meet in the Champions League final. Dortmund did away with European heavy weights Barcelona and Juventus on their way to the finals.
Coach Klopp of Dortmund is optimistic about the forth coming match against Bayern and he is confident that his side will be able to upset the Bundesliga Champions.
Sociedad's UEFA dream shattered
Real Sociedad’s dream to qualify for Uefa Champions league after a period of 10 years was shattered after a 2-2 home draw with Granada in a La Liga encounter yesterday.
The 93rd cross from Recio gave the visitors a well deserved point living the hosts at 4th place with 59 points.
Barcelona ,Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have already booked a place in the UCL with 91 ,81 and 72 points respectively with the stiff competition for fourth place remaining between Sociedad and Valencia.
Sociedad have three games to go against Sevilla ,Deportivo la coruna and they will be meeting Real Madrid at the end of the month while Valencia will be meeting Getafe, Granada and Sevilla.
Bayern sign up Goetze
Bayern Munich has signed up Germany star Mario Goetze from Borussia Dortmund in the next year’s season.
The 20 year old attacking midfielder from Dortmund has been signed to a tune of €37 million and he is expected to join the new coach side pep Guardiola.
Munich are on top of the league with 88 point followed closely with their rivals Dortmund with 66 points.
Moyes to take over Manchester United hot seat
Sources have tipped Everton manager David Moyes to be named new manager of Manchester United.
The Barclays Premier League champions have agreed to appoint the Everton manager as Sir Alex Ferguson’s replacement at Old Trafford as
Ferguson officially announced on Wednesday morning that he will retire at the end of the season after 26½ years at the Old Trafford helm.
The 50 year old has been the Merseyside outfit coach since 14 March 2002.
Obafemi Martins to miss Stars’ match
Seattle Sounders FC and Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins is set to miss Kenya Harambee Stars Match against Nigerian Super Eagle in June. This comes after Eagles head coach Stephen Keshi named a 30 man squad with Martins name missing.
Kenya drew 1-1 with the African champions in the first leg match played in Calabar in March.
Suarez bites off two points from Blues
Luis Suarez headed in a dramatic late equaliser for Liverpool against Chelsea to secure a 2-2 draw.During the match, the controversial striker appeared to bite Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic
Peter Some wins Paris Marathon
Kenyan Peter Some has won the 37th Paris Marathon.He clocked 2:05.37.Another Kenyan,Eric Ndiema finished 3rd.Ethiopian Tadese Tola was second.
Bayern Munich clinch Bundesliga
Bayern Munich have won their 23rd Bundesliga title with six games to spare following their 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt at the Commerzbank Arena on Saturday.
Moyes named EPL Manager of the Month
Everton boss David Moyes has been named Barclays Manager of the Month for March.The 49-year-old led the Toffees to three successive wins during the month to maintain their challenge for a top-four finish.
Abou Diaby out for 9 months
Arsenal and French midfielder Abou Diaby has been ruled out for 9 months after suffering a cruciate ligament injury. The defensive midfielder's career has been dodged with injury and the recent setback will be seen as huge blow for Arsene Wenger's side as they seek to fight for a spot in the English Premier League top four teams.
Tiger Woods rolls back to the top
Tiger Woods is back atthe helm of world golf ranking after replacing Rory McIlroy who has been holding that first position.
His victory came on Monday at the Bay Hill after a closing round of two-under 70.
His industrious career was destroyed by a sex scandal and a string of injuries three years ago leading to his fall in both personal and professional glory.
Beckham to begin role as Chinese special ambassado
French based midfielder David Beckham is in China to begin his new envoy role as a special global ambassador for Chinese football.
The 37 year old Paris Saint Germain player, whose new role was announced earlier this month, will be attending league matches in China and visiting clubs to help promote the game to children. He will therefore have to combine his new role with that of playing for PSG.
Because of the Chinese Super League’s (and Chinese football as a whole) tainted image following match fixing scandals, Beckham will have to do his best as ambassador to ensure that the image is seen in a more positive light.
The former England midfielder will be in China for 4 days.
Platini wants winter World Cup in 2022
UEFA president Michel Plattini has said that it is impossible for the 2022 FIFA World Cup scheduled to take place in Qatar to be showcased in the summer due to the searing heat in the country.
This is not the first time that the ex French attacking midfielder with three Ballon D’Ors to his name has suggested that the World Cup should be a winter one. Reports from Qatar suggest that temperatures in the summer can reach as high as 50 degrees.
Real Madrid legend may have played with new Pope
Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano has stated that he and the new Pontiff, Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) may have played together as children on the streets of Buenos Aires.
The former Real Madrid striker, 86, and the new Pope who is ten years his junior were amongst a large number of children who used to play outside on the streets until it was dark.