Premium Gist sees all, knows all
Football Club have on Wednesday parted company with Head Coach Thomas Tuchel.This was revealed in a statement issued by the club on its website.
In the meantime, the Chelsea’s coaching staff will take charge of the team for training and “the preparation of our upcoming matches as the Club moves swiftly to appoint a new head coach.”
Lagos Planning Commissioner resigns after Oniru building collapseLagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Idris Salako, has resigned.
Gbenga Omotoso, the Commissioner for Information made the announcement in a statement on Monday, September 5.
Omotoso said Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has accepted the resignation. The official noted that Salako’s exit “is a prelude to the restructuring of the Ministry and its agencies”.
Sanwo-Olu thanked him for his services and wished him success in his future endeavours.
The governor warned all players in the sector to respect the law or face the consequences of any indiscretion.
Salako leaves the position after multiple building collapses in Nigeria’s commercial hub in the last few years. The most recent occurred in Oniru on Sunday, September 4.
A seven-storey building under construction collapsed. Two died and some are still trapped in the building.
Salako suggested the developer was a powerful man. While addressing the media, Salako recalled how the developer chased state officials away during enforcement.
He also disclosed that the developer broke the seal of the site on three separate occasions.
Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly called for Manchester United captain Harry Maguire to be dropped last season because he was “part of the problem”‘ at the club.
The Portuguese striker returned to Old Trafford last season but failed to help the club avoid a sixth-place finish in the Premier League.
Details have now emerged surrounding the Portuguese striker’s demands, from team selection to formation tweaks.
According to the Athletic, Ronaldo was part of a group of players who went up to Rangnick at Carrington in February this year. Among them were Raphael Varane and Paul Pogba but Ronaldo’s message came through clearly when he said:
‘Maguire is part of the problem.’ Rangnick is said to have told the players including Ronaldo that it was ‘inappropriate’ to speak about Maguire when the player himself was not present.
A few players from the group subsequently apologised to the interim boss, who departed the club in the summer.
Ronaldo also had a view on the team’s formation and during the impromptu meeting told the manager in no uncertain terms how he wanted them to set up.
The 37-year-old wanted to play alongside Edinson Cavani up front but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
The report helps shed light on the summer of discontent at Old Trafford – which has largely been overshadowed by Ronaldo pushing to leave.
Ironically, Maguire, who Ronaldo called to be dropped, has also been out of the team during their recent games with the striker only starting from the bench.
Barcelona forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his family were victims of a violent robbery at his house in the Spanish city in the early hours of Monday morning, August 29.
El Pais reports that several armed men climbed into his garden at the complex in Castelldefels and threatened him with firearms and iron bars.
Aubameyang was assaulted by the men in front of his wife Alysha Behague and two children, Curtys, 11, and Pierre, six, the report claims, with the criminals escaping in a white Audi A3 after gaining access to the player’s safe.
Behague quickly alerted Spanish police, who are now searching for the culprits. The incident comes as Aubameyang is linked with a return to the Premier League after interest from Chelsea, just seven months after he left Arsenal due to disciplinary breaches.
This is not the first time Barcelona players have been victims of robberies and theft.
Aubameyang’s team-mate Robert Lewandowski had his £59,000 watch stolen outside the club’s training ground. The watch was snatched as the 33-year-old greeted fans ahead of an evening training session with Barca.
The thief is said to have opened Lewandowski’s car door and taken the watch as the Polish international signed autographs, before attempting to run after the thief himself.
Police quickly arrested a suspect and Lewandowski got his watch back before participating in the practice session ahead of Sunday’s LaLiga game at Real Sociedad.
A woman who claims that a Premier League footballer raped her yesterday admitted she felt ‘pressured’ by police to press charges.
She said she had not initially considered her encounter with Manchester City’s Benjamin Mendy, 28, to be rape and told officers she didn’t want to get involved in the case.
The woman, aged 22, is one of three who claim the French international raped them at a two-day pool party at his £4.8million mansion in Prestbury, Cheshire, last summer.
Testifying from behind a screen, she told Chester Crown Court that she was contacted by officers five months later and felt like she was ‘being dragged into the situation’ and it was the police who first called what happened to her ‘rape’.
The footballer allegedly forced himself on her during a ’20-second’ attack, which left her feeling ‘dirty and ashamed’.
She told the court: ‘I felt the word rape meant like a stranger or in an alleyway. But he was my friend and it was his house.’
She added: ‘It was not any different to what I had experienced before. I felt there was pressure on me but boys can be quite pressuring.’
She accepted that before giving her police interview she had Googled: ‘How much is Benjamin Mendy worth?’ and that she kept in touch with him on social media following the alleged rape.
She also agreed that there was a group of people, including some of the alleged victims, known as ‘the Manchester circle’ in the city’s clubs. She claimed that after Mendy’s arrest, his co-accused and alleged ‘fixer’, Louis Saha Matturie, 41, messaged her: ‘Ben’s done a lot of crazy stuff.’ Mendy denies eight counts of rape, one of attempted rape and one of sexual assault.
Saha, of Eccles, Greater Manchester, denies eight rapes and four sex assaults.
The trial continues.
Ryan Giggs’ defence team has said said the former Manchester United footballer’s ex-girlfriend is lying about being physically assaulted, claiming her anger with the footballer turned coach lies solely on his cheating and philandering ways, which aren’t crimes.Chris Daw QC claimed that Kate Greville had told so many lies and that the ‘source of her deep, deep anger’ was Giggs’ ‘infidelity’.
PR executive Kate Greville accuses Giggs, 48, of displaying controlling or coercive behaviour towards her and also headbutting her at his home, and elbowing her sister Emma Greville on the same occasion on November 1, 2020.
Giggs denies all charges and is standing trial at Manchester Crown Court.
His barrister Daw told jurors on the 11th day of the trial on Monday, August 22 that ‘morality plays no part in a court of law’.
He said Giggs is not on trial for ‘being flirtatious’, being a ‘compulsive womaniser’, an ‘adulterer’ or a ‘liar’ or a ‘cheat’.
“He is not on trial for any of those things,”. “If they were crimes, just think how many prisons we would need.
“He accused the prosecution of ‘cherry picking’ evidence from more than 19,000 messages the couple had exchanged during their near six year relationship.
Jurors heard Giggs accepted using ‘truly appalling’ language, including when he called Ms Greville a ‘c***. ”
But he said these were not representative of their relationship completely. Daw claimed a letter entitled ‘The Final Goodbye’, which Greville shared with a friend and didn’t send on to Mr Giggs, showed she was angry about his infidelity.”Truth be told, infidelity is what this case is all about,” Daw said.
“The reason Ms Greville was upset was because of that.”He said there was no reference to ‘control’ in the letter.
“Clearly that was the source of her deep, deep anger by the time we reach October (2020),” Mr Daw said.
He told the jury Greville had told lies ‘from the outset’, including when she claimed to police on the evening of November 1 that Mr Giggs had headbutted her before.
“Members of the jury, there are so many lies that she has told,” the QC said. “So many things she has said that can’t possibly be true.”
Daw told the jurors how Ms Greville told Giggs she needed to go to the hospital because she had ‘cancerous cells’, but that she was actually having her contraceptive coil removed so she could get pregnant for Giggs for financial reasons. “She denies that that was a plan at all,” Daw said.
“You have got to decide whether you can trust or believe what she says.” He added how Ms Greville can be ‘incredibly manipulative when she wants to be’. Daw said there was ‘no evidence of Giggs controlling anything she ever did’.”She was earning good money, she was independent,” he said. “She had her friends around her.”
“This is a woman who is extremely self confident and in control.” Daw described claims of an alleged assault in a Dubai hotel in 2017 as ‘absolutely ridiculous’. Greville alleges she was ‘dragged’ naked out of the room by Mr Giggs, while he says she was bruised during ‘rough s*x’.
He dismissed her claims of Greville being a ‘slave’ to Mr Giggs and her account of lockdown being a ‘living hell’ was ‘entirely subjective’ to present a ‘false’ picture.
Speaking of the alleged headbutt in November 2020 during an incident at Mr Giggs’ home in Worsley, Daw told jurors:
“We suggest to you that it is simply utterly incredible, that there is an attack with a headbutt in the way described.
“He argued a ‘minor’ injury to her lip was not consistent with a forceful headbutt alleged.
Daw said Mr Giggs had chosen to give evidence, and described prosecutor Peter Wright QC’s cross-examination of him as being ‘almost a form of bloodsport’.
“Whatever you made of him, you may think he was in effect a rabbit in the headlights in that witness box, faced by Mr Wright,” Daw said, describing Mr Wright as ‘one of the leading prosecution barristers of the last 40 years’.
He claimed Mr Giggs ‘pretty much agreed to anything’, and said the ex-footballer was ’embarrassed to admit’ if he didn’t understand a word, or what was being asked of him.
“It was no less a mismatch than putting Mr Wright in goal against Mr Giggs at his absolute peak of footballing ability,” Daw said.
The lawyer also made reference to the evidence of Sir Alex Ferguson, who told jurors that Giggs had ‘fantastic temperament’ when he managed him at United.
“You remember Sir Alex saying to you he used to deliberately pick on Ryan Giggs in front of the players because he knew he could,” Daw said.
“Can you imagine being picked on by Sir Alex Ferguson in his prime in front of lots of other people?”No reaction, no loss of temper.”Concluding his speech, the barrister added:
“Members of the jury, take a cold hard look at the evidence in this case, and putting everything out of your mind, the only true verdict I suggest on all three counts must be not guilty.”
The Judge, Hilary Manley will conclude all the evidence in the case on Tuesday, before the jury is sent out to deliberate on its verdicts.
The trial continues.
Manchester City footballer, Benjamin Mendy has arrived at Chester Crown Court today for the second week of his rape trial.
The French footballer, 28, denies eight counts of rape against five women, one count of sexual assault, and one count of attempted rape.
The offences are alleged to have taken place on five different occasions at his Cheshire mansion between October 2018 and August last year.
Last week, one of his alleged victims said she was left feeling like she ‘didn’t want to be here anymore’ after allegedly being raped by Mendy.
Mendy’s co-defendant Louis Saha Matturie, 41, from Eccles, Salford, has also pleaded not guilty to eight counts of rape and four counts of sexual assault, relating to eight women.
Prosecutors allege Mendy, a French international, is a ‘predator’ who ‘turned the pursuit of women for sex into a game’.
None of the women involved can be identified and reporting restrictions apply ahead of the trial.
Both men deny all charges.
Chelsea have banned a season ticket holder indefinitely for alleged racist abuse of Tottenham player Heung-min Son during their 2-2 draw last Sunday.
Eager Manchester United fans have tweaked British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Wikipedia page to incorrectly name him as owner of the club.
Ratcliffe, the billionaire owner of chemicals company Ineos, on Wednesday, August 17 announced plans to take over at Old Trafford amid calls for current owners, the Glazers, to depart.
The Glazers have faced protests from supporters ever since their arrival in 2005 over financial constraints they have placed on the club, while withdrawing millions of pounds in dividends payments for their own personal profit.
Coupled with Manchester United’s dismal start to the season, the pressure on their unpopular owners to sell the club has increased.
The club’s supporters have now taken their eagerness to another level as they have doctored the Wikipedia page of the 69-year-old.
After being tweaked by an eager fan, Ratcliffe’s occupation on Wikipedia briefly read: ‘Chairman and CEO, Owner of Manchester United’ before being swiftly deleted.
Super Falcons and Barcelona striker, Asisat Oshoala has missed out on the final three-woman shortlist for the 2022 UEFA Women’s Player of The Year award.
Last week Oshoala was named in a 20-woman list of nominees for the 2022 Women’s Ballon d’Or, making her the first-ever African woman to achieve the feat. UEFA has now announced Beth Mead, Lena Oberdorf and Alexia Putellas as the final three contenders for the accolade.
Oshoala, who missed about seven weeks due to injury last season, finished as the Spanish topflight league’s top scorer, netting 20 goals in 19 games, tied with Madrid CFF’s Geyse Ferreira.
Last month, Oshoala was named CAF Women’s Player of The Year for a record fifth time, surpassing fellow country-woman Perpetua Nkwocha’s four awards.
Gunmen have kidnapped five grassroots female footballers and owner of Itugbe Queens football club, Precious Agbajor in Uronigbe, Orhiomwon Local Government Area of Edo State.
The victims were kidnapped at the border town between Edo and Delta State while returning from a football tournament at Owa-Alero in the Ika North-East Local Government Area of Delta State on Friday, August 12, 2022.
A source from the locality, who confirmed the incident, said that the abductors had contacted the families of the victims, demanding a sum of N5m ransom each for the victims.
“They (footballers) went to Owa-Alero to play a football match. On their way back, they were kidnapped at the Uronigbe area, the boundary between Delta and Edo states,” the source disclosed.
“The victims include Mrs Precious Agbajor, one Abraham, Nancy, Beatrice, and the driver. They are six in number that are in the kidnapper’s den. The matter has been reported to Uronigbe police station. The kidnappers have contacted the family of Agbajor and asked them to pay N5 million for his wife”, the source added.
Spokesperson of the Delta State Police Command, DSP Bright Edafe, confirmed the kidnapping incident, adding that the abduction happened in Edo.
But his Edo State counterpart, Chidi Nwabuzor, when contacted, said from the record available at the State Command, that there was no information about the incident.
“You know, we transmit our records to Force Headquarters everyday. There is no record of that before us. From the Command’s record, no such incident happened yesterday (Friday), so the police will not give an account of anything unreported.” said Nwabuzor.
Piers Morgan has slammed Arsenal coach, Mikel Arteta’s decision to allow star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to leave the club for Barcelona after they fell out earlier this year. This comes as Barcelona is planning to sell the Gabonese striker this summer after just six-month stint at the Spanish club. Reports suggest that Chelsea is interested in Aubameyang’s services, with Thomas Tuchel having worked with the 33-year-old during their time at Borussia Dortmund.
Morgan also replied to another tweet suggesting the player’s time-keeping shouldn’t be an issue.
Romelu Lukaku has opened up on his difficult season at Chelsea as he vows to show his critics what he is ‘capable of’ while on loan at Inter Milan.
The Belgian striker has returned to the Serie A giants on loan, just one year after leaving them for Chelsea for a massive £97.5million fee and failing to replicate his fine form.
Speaking to DAZN, as per Football Italia, Lukaku revealed he wanted ‘revenge’ at Chelsea after leaving as a youngster, and didn’t become the ‘hero’ at Stamford Bridge like he had expected. He said:
‘The season at Chelsea gave me extra motivation to do even better than before. I think in one year everyone has forgotten about the things I am capable of doing on the pitch. ‘That is a kind of anger that I have inside me. That now the team has it too, which didn’t win last year, all together we hope to do better and bring something home.’ When asked what went wrong at Stamford Bridge, he responded:
‘So many things. I think before, when I left, I wanted to take revenge at Chelsea because when I was young it was my team for 11 years. I had the opportunity to go back there and thought I would be a hero, but that wasn’t the case. ‘In March, when I heard there was an opportunity to come back here, slowly I didn’t say anything, but toward the end of the season we did a very good job with the club and I was able to come back here. ‘I make reflections only at the end of the season, so after the last game I put myself to think what my situation was. ‘I saw that as a player with Inter I did well, the season at Chelsea for me was difficult. I had no doubts, that’s why I made the decision to come back here.’ Lukaku was at Chelsea from 2011 to 2014, before he joined Everton following loan spells at the Merseyside club and West Brom. After that he had a difficult spell at Manchester United, before returning to his best form during a two-year stint at Inter Milan.
In his second season at the San Siro, Lukaku fired the club to the title, scoring 24 league goals in 36 Serie A matches. He then made a club-record move to Chelsea, where he scored just 15 goals in 44 appearances.
Lukaku also told DAZN that he doesn’t care about being the top scorer in Serie A and his main focus is to lead the club back to the title after they missed out to city rivals AC Milan last season.
A Sierra Leonian footballer missed his wedding day in order to finalise a transfer to a new team and instead sent his brother to represent him.
Mohamed Buya Turay signed for the Swedish outfit after a spell playing in the Chinese Super League both Hebei China Fortune and Henan Songshan Longmen.
His wedding was set for July 21 but Swedish club Malmo wanted the 27-year-old to join up with them as soon as possible. So Turay missed the ceremony and travelled to Sweden to be unveiled as a Malmo player on July 22. It has now been revealed that his brother switched places with him at the wedding to walk the aisle alongside bride, Suad Baydoun.
Turay told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet: ‘We got married on July 21 in Sierra Leone. But I was not there because Malmo asked me to arrive earlier.’ Turay who had posed for pictures with his wife in their wedding outfits before he left for Sweden and posted them on Twitter.
‘We took the picture beforehand, so it looks like I was there, but I was not. My brother got to represent me at the actual wedding,’ he said on Twitter.
Turay, who signed for Malmo after spending two seasons in China’s top flight, played against Luxembourg’s Diddeleng on Thursday in a 3-0 win in the first leg of their Europa League third qualifying round tie. He has not been reunited with his wife since the marriage but promised they would honeymoon together – eventually.
‘First, we are going to win the league, and then I will go on a honeymoon,’ Turay said with a smile.
Despite winning the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup and earning a whooping £180,000, Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold has revealed he still lives with his parents and helps with chores at home.
Aged 23, Trent Alexander-Arnold has developed into one of Europe’s elite right-backs, and is arguably the best in the world at his position.
According to the player, being around family has helped him remain level-headed, knowing fully well many athletes in his position might prefer spending their wealth on cars, houses or entertainment.
He says the habits he learns helps keep his life “clean and healthy.”
“I always think young players rush things,” he told CNN Senior Sport Analyst Darren Lewis.
“You start getting paid some money and young players always think the first thing is to move out, get a new car, stuff like that.
And then the environment is just not the same. You’re living at home. You’ve got your parents to keep you in line and make sure things are clean and tidy, the dishes aren’t stacking up and you’re going home to a nice, clean environment and things like that.
“Whereas living at home (on your own), breakfast and dinner, you just think: ‘I’ll do that later.’ And then you come in from training and then you’re just not in a clean, nice environment. So I’ve never felt a rush to leave home. I’ve always had the right messages.
I’ve just always enjoyed having family around me. And they’ve kept my feet on the ground and pushed me to the levels that I’ve got so far. So I don’t think there’s any rush for me to make a decision.”
In his 161 appearances in the Premier League, he’s scored 10 goals, provided 45 assists and has a remarkable record of winning 114 games and only losing 19 times.But despite that record, such has been the brilliance of Manchester City under Pep Guardiola, Alexander-Arnold and Liverpool’s trophy winning has been halted.
Liverpool left it late to secure a 3-1 win over Manchester City in the 100th Community Shield at the King Power Stadium.
New boy Julian Alvarez had initially cancelled out a stunning opener from Trent Alexander-Arnold, but Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez struck in the dying embers in front of the Reds faithful.
Liverpool looked the much fresher of the two sides in the early exchanges, and it only took 21 minutes for their dominance to pay off courtesy of Alexander-Arnold’s sublime first-time finish into the far corner from a good 20 yards.
With Alisson Becker and Caoimhin Kelleher sidelined, Liverpool’s third-choice goalkeeper was called into action to save from Erling Braut Haaland before the Norwegian’s acrobatic attempt from close range failed to come off.
Fans got to see a glimpse of Nunez and Alvarez on the King Power turf in the second half, and Liverpool fans wanted a penalty when the former went over following a challenge from Ederson, who got just enough of the ball.
However, it was City’s South American who would have the bigger impact, as Alvarez followed up on Phil Foden’s saved effort to poke home a 70th-minute equaliser, which was initially disallowed before a lengthy VAR check allowed those in sky blue to celebrate.10 minutes later, Liverpool fans were the ones demanding the intervention of VAR after Nunez’s header struck Ruben Dias on the arm, and Craig Pawson awarded a penalty after checking the monitor. Salah stepped up and found the bottom corner to put Liverpool 2-1 ahead, despite Ederson going the right way.
Nunez missed a good chance to make it three for Liverpool in the 87th minute after heading wide from James Milner’s cross, but the Uruguay international made no mistake in second-half injury time, as his diving header nestled into the back of the net to wrap up an emphatic Liverpool win.
The new strikers were taking centre stage all afternoon, and there was time for Haaland to crash a late effort against the bar from only a few yards out before the celebrations started for Liverpool.
Barcelona president, Joan Laporta has vowed to do all he can to re-sign Lionel Messi next summer when the PSG star’s contract expires.
The Argentine playmaker, 35, exited the Nou Camp to join the French giants on a free transfer in 2021, ending his 21-year Barcelona career.
Laporta, who admitted he feels ‘indebted’ to the Argentine superstar, is set to do everything to bring him back to the Catalan club next year.
‘I would like him to end his career in a Barca shirt, and be applauded at all the stadiums.
‘I feel partially responsible for how things ended, and I feel that this is a temporary end and that we will make this dream a reality. At least that is the dream.’
Recall it was a bitter end for Messi after he submitted a transfer request via burofax after Barca were thumped 8-2 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League back in 2020.
The playmaker almost made a U-turn to remain at the club, but the ongoing financial problems worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic prevented Barcelona from offering Messi a new deal, paving the way for him to join PSG.
Messi notched 670 goals and 302 assists in 776 games during his two-decade spell with the LaLiga giants.
Nigeria and Benin Republic are likely co-host the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president Amaju Pinnick, has said.
Guinea has been awarded the hosting rights for 2025 but Africa’s football ruling body, CAF may likely strip Guinea of the hosting right of the biennial African football showpiece.
According to Pinnick, CAF is on course to withdraw the hosting right from the West African country and Nigeria is working on a bid with Benin Republic.
“We are putting a bid together for a co-hosting of the tournament with the Benin Republic,” Pinnick told Complete sports.
“The Minister of Sports has given his endorsement on the bidding.
“It is high time Nigeria hosted an international tournament because there are many advantages attached to hosting of such competitions.
“There are many countries bidding for the competition; we are confident of getting the nod from Caf.
“We are working with the ministry of sports to ensure that Nigeria gets the hosting right.”
Since the inception of AFCON, Nigeria have hosted the rest of the continent on two occasions.
The first time was in 1980 while the second time was in 2000 when the country co-hosted with Ghana .
Erik ten Hag has said he cannot keep waiting for Cristiano Ronaldo to return to Manchester United and wants a new striker ahead of the new season.
Ronaldo still hasn’t reported back for pre-season after asking to leave Old Trafford and being given compassionate leave for a family issue.
by Taboola.
Ten Hag is now linked with a £68million raid on his old club Ajax for winger Antony, and it’s understood that one of the Brazilian’s representatives, Junior Pedroso, was in Manchester for talks on Thursday.
It is the same as last week,’ said Ten Hag when asked about the situation with Ronaldo and whether he is concerned that the Portugal star is running out of time to be fit.
Asked about the importance of signing another forward, Ten Hag said: ‘I think it’s vital if you want to get success, the season is really long.
‘That is a reason, but also the number of games. You need more options in offence. But we also have still time to fill that in.
We signed (Christian) Eriksen for the midfield, we are really happy with that. I am really happy with the performance of the midfield and offence at this moment.
‘But I also know this season, a lot of games, World Cup, so we need more options.
‘We have a good team, we need a good squad to get the right results at the end of the season.’
United have been using Anthony Martial on tour in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Mason Greenwood. They have scored 11 goals in the wins over Liverpool, Melbourne, and Crystal Palace.
President of the Nigeria Football Federation and FIFA Council Member, Amaju Pinnick, has condemned the use of laser lights on the Super Falcons during their defeat to host Morocco in the semi-final of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations on Monday, July 18.
Morocan fans directed the beaming laser lights towards the eyes of the Falcons players to disrupt their play during panlty shootout at the full-packed Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, Morocco.
Despite the ugly scenario, the nine-time champions were reduced to 10 women after midfielder Halimat Ayinde and Rasheedat Ajibade were red-carded during the clash.
In a statement by the NFF media team, Pinnick while hailing the Falcons for their gallant display despite all odds also condemned the laser lights directed at the players.
“Of course, we would have been happy to be in the final and chase a 10th title. But I am happy with the performance of the team and the way and manner they approached the game despite all sorts of setbacks and intimidation,” Pinnick said.
“To play 50 minutes of a game with only nine players is not an easy task. The Super Falcons gave their all and were truly fabulous. They had the ‘Nigeria spirit’ in them and showed a sense of patriotism, were dogged, and refused to give up. Penalties are forever a lottery, so it could have gone either way. I commend the team for the outing.
“Our girls did a massive job on a night they were not only depleted but challenged by laser lights trained on their eyes by the crowd. I am enamoured by their resilience and tenacity.”