Nigerian striker Ahmed Musa makes winning debut for Leicester City
Nigerian striker Ahmed Musa made an impressive debut in Leicester City 2-1 victory over Oxford United in a pre-season match on Tuesday.
Demarai Gray and Jeff Schlupp provided the vitals goals that helped Claudio Raneri’s side come from a goal down after Chris Maguire’s lead at the Kassam Stadium.
Musa came on in the 61st minute making his first appearance for the Premier League champions alongside fellow new signings Luis Hernandez and Ron-Robert Zieler in the comeback win.
The hosts opened the scoring in the 14th minute through Maguire before Gray leveled in the 28th minute.
The former CSKA Moscow forced Oxford goalkeeper to a save seven minutes after coming on with a thunderous strike from 25 yards out.
Schlupp netted the winner for City in the 69th minute to snatch the victory with the Nigerian showing glimpses of his quality.
The Foxes will next take on Lincoln City on July 21 before facing Mansfield Town four days after and later confront Birmingham City on August 1.
Messi the obstacle in front of USA’s Copa run
by Martin Rogers, USA TODAY Sports
Many things in soccer are easier to say than to do, and the entire concept of stopping Lionel Messi from wreaking havoc with his creative brilliance must surely top that list.
It sounds quite simple, doesn’t it? Just stop him.
In truth, such a task is perhaps the most difficult thing in the sport, which is why Messi, the little maestro from Argentina, is arguably the greatest player of this era and certainly among the finest of all time.
Finding a way to curtail his dominance is the next task presented to the United States, one that must be accomplished at Houston’s NRG Stadium on Tuesday if the host nation’s charmed run through to the semifinals of the Copa America is going to continue.
Buoyed by three consecutive impressive victories, USA head coach Jurgen Klinsmann is bullish about his team’s chances of handling Messi, citing their performance against Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal at the 2014 World Cup.
“We take it as it comes,” Klinsmann said. “There is no need to talk and make Argentina bigger than they are. We played two years ago (against) Ronaldo and that was a big game, too. We were winning 2-1 right into the 96th minute. We came so far now and we are hungry for the next step, even though we understand it is a big opponent.”
Klinsmann has a point, kind of. Yes, the USA did well against Portugal in what was the second game for both teams in the World Cup’s Group of Death. Ronaldo, Messi’s only legitimate contender for the tag of world’s best player, was indeed stymied and frustrated for most of the evening in Manaus.
However, Ronaldo was also nursing injuries, yet still managed to set up the late equalizer that broke American hearts, restricting them to a 2-2 draw when victory had looked assured.
Messi, now fully fit following an early summer back problem, is seeking to win his first major international trophy in Argentinean colors. He was in rampant form with a goal and two assists in a 4-1 victory over Venezuela on Saturday.
Messi the obstacle in front of USA’s Copa run
Yet even with the magic of Messi and the world’s No.1 ranked team in its path, a trip to the final of the Copa America, a tournament typically featuring almost exclusively South American teams but expanded for its 100th anniversary, is within reach.
“We have taken another step,” U.S. defender Matt Besler said. “We are closer to where we want to be.”
Getting to the title game would be the biggest achievement of Klinsmann’s five-year reign and be one of the most notable accomplishments in American soccer history. It all looked highly unlikely two weeks ago, when an opening game defeat to Colombia put both early elimination and Klinsmann’s firing within the realms of possibility.
The response has been superb, and built upon tenacity.
“We are a team with so much character to grind it out,” Klinsmann added. “They are more convinced of their ability now and have more confidence.”
Belief is a must, of course, when it comes to taming Messi, and often even that isn’t enough. Argentina is more than a one-man team, but when its talisman fires, so does the whole unit.
No one could stop Messi during the last World Cup until Germany found a way to do so in the final, using its multi-talented, multi-faceted lineup to keep him in check.
Whether Klinsmann’s group has the will and firepower to similarly crowd his shoulder, block his running lanes and deny him space remains to be seen.
Messi said little after the Venezuela game, except to note that scoring his 54th international goal to tie Gabriel Batistuta for the all-time Argentinean lead was not worth celebrating yet. “I tied it,” Messi said. “I still haven’t broken it.”
He sounded like a man with unfinished business, in more ways than one.
International Friendly: Late Vardy goal gets Euro 2016 preparations off to winning start
Jamie Vardy spared Harry Kane’s blushes as his late winner ensured England started their preparations for Euro 2016 with a 2-1 win over Turkey at the Etihad Stadium.
Tottenham striker Kane had put England into an early lead in Manchester, only for Hakan Calhanoglu to restore parity in the 13th minute.
Kane, top scorer in the Premier League this season, then missed a second-half penalty as it appeared Turkey would frustrate England in their first warm-up fixture for the European Championship in France.
However, Vardy – whose goals helped Leicester City to an unlikely Premier League title this season – fired in a late winner from a goalmouth scramble to boost his chances of starting England’s opener against Russia in Marseille on June 11.
Manager Roy Hodgson was without most Manchester United and Liverpool players due to their involvement in the FA Cup and Europa League finals, but he will have been pleased to see fit-again Jack Wilshere last 65 minutes, before being replaced by another returning midfielder in Jordan Henderson.
Turkey, drawn in a tough-looking Group D with Spain, Czech Republic and Croatia, saw their unbeaten run end at 13 games and they have now failed to beat England in 11 meetings between the sides.
The visitors may have feared a worse outcome when England took the lead inside three minutes.
Dele Alli slipped in club-mate Kane to slot home a straight-forward finish, although the striker was seemingly offside when the pass was played.
Turkey coach Fatih Terim was incensed by the decision to allow the goal, showing the fourth official Kane’s illegal positioning on a mobile phone.
The visitors responded strongly, though, first Kyle Walker blocked Ozan Tufan’s strike before Cenk Tosun forced a good save from Joe Hart with a snapshot.
And the hosts’ backline was breached after 12 minutes with Turkey scoring for the first time against England.
With left-back Danny Rose caught out of position, Hart misjudged a throughball into his penalty area and Sen got there first to pull a cross back for Calhanoglu to apply a simple finish.
England had chances to regain the lead before half-time with Volkan Babacan saving a Wilshere drive before Eric Dier glanced a free header wide and Kane shot straight at the Turkey goalkeeper on the half-hour mark.
Kane had the ball in the net again five minutes into the second half after patient England build-up play, but this time the striker was correctly flagged for offside by the assistant referee.
Cenk then planted a free header off-target before the Besiktas striker swivelled and fired just wide of Hart’s left-hand post.
The hosts had a great chance to regain the lead in the 72nd when Vardy was pushed from behind in the box by Mehmet Topal having run in behind the Turkey defence, but Kane’s fierce effort smashed the left post and went wide.
England did find a winner, though, when Babacan fumbled Gary Cahill’s downward header at a corner and Vardy reacted first to smash in his third international goal.
Hart then preserved England’s victory in injury time with a brilliant instinctive from Olcay Sahan’s superb volley, and Hodgson’s men can now turn attentions to warm-up fixtures with Australia and Portugal.
Transfer news: Renato to Man United; $50 million Batshuayi to West Ham
By Joe Prince-Wright / Benfica teenager Renato Sanches could cost Manchester United $60 million this summer and the Portuguese youngster is already preparing for his move. According to Record in Portugal, Sanches is “prepared and excited” about a move to United and knows a deal is being discussed about a move this summer. It is believed the deal could cost in excess of $80 million when all is said and done.
The 18-year-old box-to-box midfielder is one of the hottest properties on the planet and despite Louis Van Gaal‘s struggling to get into the UEFA Champions League for next season, it still won’t stop them splashing some serious cash on Sanches. Plus, it worked out pretty well for United the last time they signed a teenager from Portugal… (ahem, Cristiano Ronaldo).
Another big money move, and a surprising one at that, could see West Ham United move for Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi.
The Guardian believes that the Hammers have put in a bid in excess of $50 million for the Marseille striker who has scored 16 Ligue 1 goals this season. He is 22-years-old and it is believed Slaven Bilic wanted to sign him in January but was told he wouldn’t be available until the summer.
With the 2016 European Championships coming up, Batshuayi should be included in Marc Wilmots’ 23-man Belgian squad but will face competition to get into the team from the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Divock Origi and Christian Benteke. Like the aforementioned trio, Batshuayi is a powerful striker who can hold the ball up but is also able to get in-behind opposition defenses.
West Ham have enjoyed great success in plucking Dimitri Payet from Marseille for $15 million last summer but they will likely face competition from Juventus, Roma, Borussia Dortmund and others for the Belgian’s signature.
The Daily Mail claims that new Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has earmarked Gonzalo Higuain as his main transfer target this summer.
Higuain, 28, has been in fine form for Napoli this season, scoring 34 goals in 40 appearances in all competitions. Per the report, the Argentine striker is said to be concerned of playing second fiddle to Diego Costa at Stamford Bridge. However, if Costa is moved on with lucrative offers from China reportedly lined up, then Higuain could provide the goals to kick off Conte’s reign in west London.
The former Real Madrid striker has scored 223 goals in 451 career games and has 25 goals in 52 games for Argentina. It is clear Conte wants to stamp his authority on this team and with Costa scoring just 11 times this season, getting in a goal-machine will be the biggest target for the new Chelsea boss. Higuain will cost Chelsea over $60 million.
Olympics 2016: Draw pairs Nigeria with Sweden, Colombia and Japan
The reigning African U23 champions have been handed an easy group in the preliminary stages of the 2016 Olympics to be staged in Brazil
Nigeria U23 will face Sweden, Colombia and Japan in Group B of the preliminary round of the 2016 Olympics men’s football event.
The draw ceremony took place Thursday afternoon at the Estadio Maracana’s auditorium. The audience at the auditorium included some esteemed figures, with representatives from all 28 delegations in attendance, as were Dunga and Oswaldo Alvarez, the respective coaches of Brazil’s men’s and women’s teams.
Brazil were zoned in Group A against Iraq, Denmark, and South Africa.
Algeria were landed in a veritable ‘Group of Death’ where they will be facing Honduras, Portugal and Argentina in Group D.
Defending champions Mexico were handed a tricky pool in the draw, having been bracketed with Korea Republic, Fiji and Germany.
Police seal off Nigeria Football secretariat as leadership crisis deepens
The football house has been closed down by the security operatives following recurring crisis after Friday’s court ruling in Jos.
Nigeria Police Force took over the Nigerian Football Federation headquarter in Abuja on Monday as the leadership crisis took a new twist .
Goal learnt that security operatives sealed off the nation’s footballing secretariat barring staff of the NFF from accessing the complex which also houses the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC.
This is the second time in space of two years the police will be taking over the NFF building.
A Federal High Court ruling last Friday in Jos dismissed election that brought Amaju Pinnick led board into power and ordered that Chris Giwa to assume office immediately.
Giwa’s faction announced the appointment of a new acting General Secretary and heads of departments alongside new heads of standing committees.
While Pinnick’s group claimed they have appealed against the ruling and were granted the stay of execution against their removal from office.
The court however, announced May 30, 2016 for next hearing of the relisted suit between Giwa’s board, the NFF and sports minister.
Though some NFF staff were later allowed into the secretariat premises on proper identification with no official granted entry aside the general secretary Sanusi Mohammed.
Nigeria faces ban after government interference in football federation
The tough times for Nigerian football continued this week, as the entire federation (NFF) faces a possible suspension after being sanctioned by FIFA. Having failed to qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations a few weeks ago, FIFA has now sent a warning to the federation after a Nigerian court ruled that former NFF president Amaju Pinnick be replaced by Chris Giwa. Under FIFA rules and regulations, the national government is not allowed to interfere with the federation’s decisions.
Below is a section from FIFA’s letter on the matter.
The decision of the Federal High Court in Jos, if implemented, would likely be considered as interference in the internal affairs of the NFF and the case would be brought to the highest authorities of Fifa for consideration of sanctions, including the suspension of the NFF. All members associations have to manage their affairs independently and with no influence from third parties. In addition and according to article 68 of the Fifa Statutes, recourse to ordinary courts of law is prohibited unless specifically provided for in the Fifa regulations. Furthermore, it is the duty of each member association to ensure that these provisions are implemented by its members and possibly take sanctions against those which fail to respect these obligations.
This is not the first time Nigeria is under hot-water for government interference in football matters, as the Super Eagles were able to avoid a seven-month ban last summer for a similar incident, also involving Chris Giwa.
Should FIFA punish the NFF, Nigeria could be banned from playing in the Olympics this summer. With the 2018 World Cup qualifying draw set for June, the Super Eagles could also potentially miss out on their chance to play in Russia.
Suarez brace fires Barcelona past ten-man Atletico
A second half brace from Luis Suárez helped Barcelona rally to down Atlético Madrid 2-1 on Tuesday night at the Camp Nou in their Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Fernando Torres scored in the 25th minute to give the guests the lead, but Barcelona answered in the second half through Suárez in the 63rd and 74th minutes.
It was a night of extreme highs and lows for Torres, as El Niño gave Atlético a precious away goal, only to be sent off 10 minutes following his score. Nevertheless, the goal does provide Atlético a lift prior to next Wednesday’s return leg at the Vicente Calderon.
For Barcelona, a frustrating first hour finally gave way to a spirited final 30 minutes as Luis Enrique’s men earned their seventh straight win against Atlético.
After being shut down by Real in Saturday’s 2-1 Clásico loss, Lionel Messi showed an early appetite for a goal and just minutes in the Argentine rifled a left-footer that went blazing just wide of Jan Oblak’s goal. That was followed by a Jordi Alba cross that Messi tried to volley home, only to hook it well wide.
But it was Neymar who should have opened the scoring when the Brazilian was picked out by countryman Dani Alves on a cross from the right, but the former Santos man smacked it right over the crossbar.
Diego Simeone’s men managed to absorb the early pressure, and in true Atlético style they struck on their first real chance of the match when Koke beautifully played a ball in for Torres, as the former Liverpool man split the Barcelona centre-backs, ran onto Koke’s pass and sent a shot through Marc-André ter Stegen’s legs to give Atlético a 1-0 lead. For Torres, it was his 11th career goal scored against Barcelona.
The movement of Torres and fellow forward Antoine Griezmann continued to riddle the Barcelona defence, and minutes after Torres goal, Griezmann nearly doubled the lead with a top-spinning shot that required a diving save from Ter Stegen.
For all the brilliance exhibited by Torres on his goal, the veteran showed a shocking lack of composure in the minutes that followed and was slapped with two yellow cards in six minutes, reducing Atlético to 10 men with more than a half to play.
However, if there is one team that is equipped to handle playing a man down, regardless of the opponent, it is Atlético. Simeone’s men were resolute in their defending, clamping down on Barcelona’s dangermen when necessary to end the half with the score in their favour.
Barcelona pressed for an equaliser at the start of the second stanza, and Messi well near pulled off the goal of the tournament, but his overhead kick off a Neymar pass flashed just wide. Minutes later Neymar had Atlético fans worrying when his curling shot rattled off the crossbar.
The barrage from the home side continued. Simeone conceded the flanks to Barcelona and opted to keep his men camped in the area, giving Barcelona plenty of looks at goal, including Neymar heading right at Oblak and then the Brazilian sending a shot just wide.
Of the three men who make up the ‘MSN’, it was Suárez who had been kept quiet until just after the hour mark when the Uruguayan was in the right place at the right time to redirect an Alba mis-hit into Oblak’s net to draw Barcelona level 1-1.
Barcelona smelled blood, and the hosts pushed for a winner while Atlético remained pegged back. The Camp Nou could sense a second goal, and it all came to fruition just before the final quarter-hour as Suárez played a nifty one-two combination with Alves that ended with the Uruguayan powering home a header from the penalty spot.
Luis Enrique’s men were keen to tally a third to pad their lead on aggregate, but Atlético had just enough to ward off any further danger, leaving the tie in doubt with a full 90 minutes to play next week on the banks of the Manzanares.
