New Super Eagles German Coach Resigned
A few months after Finidi George voluntarily resigned as the head coach of the Super Eagles, a newly supposed tactician was shortly announced during the week as the man to takeover the Senior football National team is no more interested.
Bruno Labbadia who was given the job, was expected to lead the Eagles to success as they continue the qualifying race for the 2025 African Cup of Nations against Benin Republic on the 7th of September in Uyo, and against Rwanda on the 10th of September in Kigali.
But a shocker came in: After appointment, the General Secretary of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), Dr. Sanusi Muhammed made it known but it was later heard that the German later turned down the coaching offer. Report has it that the reason for the job rejection was due to unresolved tax dispute. After his rejection, the NFF quickly opted for Austin Eguavoen a former coach of the Super Eagles to fill in the position and lead the team for the journey ahead.
Novak Djokovic’s Defeat
Serbian Tennis international and world number 1, Novak Djokovic was knocked out of the US Open Tennis competition yesterday August 30th, 2024 by Alexie Popyrin.
“I tried my best, I didn’t have any physical issues. I just felt out of gas, and you could see that. From the first match, I just didn’t find myself on this court”- Djokovic.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1829728576268091398
The 25 year old Australian had a historic and record breaking performance to see him advance to the knock out stage of the competition.
Joshua Vs Dubois
Heavy weight champion Antony Joshua will battle Daniel Dubois in a huge IBF British- heavy weight Championship scheduled to take place at Wembley in September 21st, 2024.
Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua, who is a 2-time former Unified world heavy weight champion, held the World Boxing Association (WBA) (Super version), International Boxing Federation (IBF), and World Boxing Organization (WBO) titles twice between 2016 and 2021, will battle Daniel Dubois who has also held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight title since June 2024. Previously, Dubois held the World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight title (Regular version) from 2022 to 2023 and the interim IBF heavyweight title in 2024. At regional level, he has held multiple heavyweight championships, including the British and Commonwealth titles from 2019 to 2020.
Come September 21st both Joshua and Dubois will show what they posses to emerge as the new IBF Heavy weight Champion.
Weekday Football News
Real Madrid Vs Las Palmas: It was yet another struggle to survive case for the Galacticos, as they failed again to clinch all the maximum three points against Las Palmas during the week. An early goal from Las Palmas, saw them took the lead all-through the first half before Real Madrid struggled and managed to convert a penalty kick to level the game at a 1-1 scoreline.
As the team struggles to get back on winning ways, much expectations are beckoning on the likes of Kylian Mbappe who had not gotten any goal in the Laliga since it started and also the front line of the squad needs to gel in order to create and convert scoring chances.
Rayo Vallecano Vs Barcelona: Barcà almost had a similar experience with Real Madrid as they were faced with a hard task when they took on Rayo Vallecano in a Laliga match this week. In the 9th minute of the game, Barcelona FC were down by 1-0 and had to struggle till the end of the first half. After the break, Pedri got a goal for Barcà to level the scoreline. A red card was shown to Robert Lewandowski in the 71st minute and it was as if things were going sour for the Hansi Flick’s men not until the winning goal come in the 82nd minute of the game scored by new wonder-man “Daniel Olmo Carvajal”.
Servette Vs Chelsea: It was a 2-3 aggregate scoreline during the week after Chelsea lost to Servette in the UEFA Conference League playoff match. The blues already had a upper hand as they were already advantageous wit a 2-nil home win previously, before the decicive match was played. Chelsea FC were first to record a goal after Chrostopher Nkunku converted a penalty spot kick. Goals from Guillemenot and Crivelli in the 32nd and 72nd minutes of the game were not just enough to see Servette through to the Conference League.
https://www.chelseafc.com/en/video/full-match-servette-2-1-chelsea-2024
Transfer News
Onyeka to Augsburg: Nigerian international Frank Onyeka has joined Augsburg Fc of German Bundesliga on a loan deal this week. On arrival from Midtjylland in July 2021, Onyeka made 76 appearances for Brentford and has been a cornerstone for the Bees since his arrival.
Meanwhile, Brentford’s coach have made some statement concerning Onyeka and his long-loan move to Germany:
“Frank has been an important player during our last three seasons in the Premier League,” said head coach Thomas Frank.
“He has been a big part of our success, and I can’t praise him enough for that in every aspect.
“Frank wants to play week in, week out as a starter; this is a good opportunity for him to do that.
“We have a lot of young midfielders who also need minutes, so this is a good loan for Frank and the club.”
This loan comes with a condition which is: Subject to international clearance.
Toney’s move to Al-Ahli: English professional Ivan Toney has moved for a £40m deal to Saudi Arabian side Al-Ahli. Toney is now the 2nd key player to move from Brentford this week after Frank Onyeka was loaned to German side “Augsburg”. Toney will be banking around £330,000 a week in Saudi. The deal will last for a couple of four years. The Bees manager also made a parting statement on Toney’s move:
“It’s been a pleasure to work with Ivan over the last four years. He has averaged more than one goal every two games, which is an unbelievable number. On the pitch, he has been a fantastic goalscorer, link-up player and leader. He has pushed the team, the squad and himself.”
UEFA Champions League Phase Draw
Phase Draws for the 2024/2025 UEFA Champions League Competition have been made by UEFA during the week. The competition will see 38 teams compete for the premium European club cup. Here are the pots drawn:
Pot 1
Real Madrid (ESP)
Manchester City (ENG)
Bayern München (GER)
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Liverpool (ENG)
Inter (ITA)
Dortmund (GER)
Leipzig (GER)
Barcelona (ESP)
Pot 2
Leverkusen (GER)
Atlético de Madrid (ESP)
Atalanta (ITA)
Juventus (ITA)
Benfica (POR)
Arsenal (ENG)
Club Brugge (BEL)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
AC Milan (ITA)
Pot 3
Feyenoord (NED)
Sporting CP (POR)
PSV Eindhoven (NED)
GNK Dinamo (CRO)
Salzburg (AUT)
Lille (FRA)
Crvena Zvezda (SRB)
Young Boys (SUI)
Celtic (SCO)
Pot 4
Slovan Bratislava (SVK)
Monaco (FRA)
Sparta Praha (CZE)
Aston Villa (ENG)
Bologna (ITA)
Girona (ESP)
Stuttgart (GER)
Sturm Graz (AUT)
Brest (FRA)
UEFA Award
Five times world best footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has been honored as the UEFA Champions League all time top scorer. The Portuguese won the UEFA Champions League in England with Manchester United in the 2007/2008 edition, and four times with Spanish giants Real Madrid in the 2013/2014, 2014/2015, 2015/2016, 2026/2017 seasons respectively. He scored 8 hat-tricks in the tournament, and scored in 11 consecutive matches from June 2017 to April 2018.
Great piece from Desmond
Thanks Boss. I appreciate