Welcome To Dipo Liadi's blog: August 2015

31 August 2015

Nigeria's U-23 Star Taiwo Awoniyi Signs For Liverpool, Loaned To FSV Frankfurt

Nigeria striker Taiwo Awoniyi has joined English Premier League outfit, Liverpool from Imperial Academy.

The 18-year-old forward who was part of the Flying Eagles squad to the Fifa U20 World Cup and currently represents the Nigeria U23 has been sent on loan to Bundesliga side FSV Frankfurt.

“This is the biggest club in the world and I’m privileged to be here,” Awoniyi told Liverpoolfc.com.

Former Super Eagles defender Sam Sodje has told John Obi Mikel to stay at Chelsea, insisting the midfielder "will get his time".

The 28-year-old is yet to make a top-flight start for the west Londoners this season and was speculated to be on his way out out Stamford Bridge.

Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas have nailed down the two starting berths in the centre of Jose Mourinho’s team, while tertiary competition is provided by the likes of Ramires, Kurt Zouma and the emerging Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated the national men’s basketball team, D’Tigers, on their victory over Angola in Sunday’s final of the FIBA Africa Basketball Championship in Tunisia.

A statement on Monday by presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, says President Buhari joins other sports-loving Nigerians in applauding D’Tigers’ exhilarating 74-65 victory over their Angolan opponents which also secured Nigeria’s qualification for the men’s basketball event at next year’s Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro.

The President commends the players for displaying exemplary strength, courage, determination and patriotism as well as great skills and creativity to dethrone Angola, the perennial African basketball champions.

Alessandro Nesta has been appointed as head coach of new American side Miami FC. The club was founded in May this year and are set to compete in the North American Soccer League from 2016.

Having recently revealed their first badge, the American side have unveiled their first head coach, with ex-AC Milan and Montreal Impact defender Nesta taking over.

Manchester United starlet Adnan Januzaj has completed his move to Borussia Dortmund on loan.
The 20-year-old has moved to the Bundesliga side despite interest from Tottenham, Everton, Marseille and Valencia.

Januzaj looked as though he would spend the season at Old Trafford having been picked to start ahead of Ashley Young so far after scoring against Aston Villa.

The Belgian international confirmed the move on Twitter, as he posted a photo of himself holding up the no.9 shirt with the caption: “Pleased to sign for Dortmund! Looking forward to the new season.”

Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh season with 'Los Blancos' looks set to be a real record-breaker. The Portuguese has many challenges ahead in order for him to become even more of a legend at Real Madrid. One important title, that of the maximum goalscorer in all the club's history, is more than probably just a few games away. Only nine goals are needed to get there. He may do it in three, four or five games. Who knows? If we look to his goalscoring average, it would be in nine games before he declares himself the most effective forward in all the 113 years of the Madrilenian club's history.

CR7 has racked up 314 goals from the 300 games he has played for his present club across all competitions. Raúl scored 323 times from the 741 matches that he played in. The Portuguese already holds the record as the player with the highest strike rate, but he wants it all, and doesn't want to waste any time getting it.

Oma Akatugba has tipped Nigeria's Ahmed Musa who plays for CSKA Moscow in Russia, Yaya Toure who plays for Manchester City and Ivory Coast and Ghana's Andrew Ayew who recently Joined Swansea City has his nominees for African footballer of the year.

Yaya Toure has won the award 4 times in a row and seems on the verge of wining it again. Toure is in fine form for Man City and most pundits will fancy him wining the prestigious award again. The last time a Nigerian went closer on wining the award was when Mikel struggled it out with him but he eventually lost out with a wide margin.

Manchester United appear to be closing in on a deal for Monaco striker Anthony Martial after the French Football Federation confirmed the 19-year-old had left the national team in order to travel to England.

Signing a new striker is Louis van Gaal's top priority before the close of the English transfer window on Tuesday, with Javier Hernandez widely reported to be in advanced talks with Bayer Leverkusen.

And Martial, who scored nine goals in 35 Ligue 1 appearances for Monaco last season and was linked with Tottenham this summer, has risen to the top of United's wishlist after Chelsea snatched unsettled Barcelona forward Pedro from Van Gaal's grasp earlier this month.

Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has called on the stuttering Italian champions to stand up and be counted after a second consecutive league defeat left them in the Serie A Doldrums.

Juve won a fourth consecutive scudetto last season and secured their first league and Cup double in 20 years before ending a 12-year wait to challenge for the Champions League final last May.

But after defeat to Udinese last week, a depleted Juve succumbed 2-1 to scudetto rivals Roma after a lively encounter at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.

Chris Froome produced a sensational climb to Sunday's summit finish as Tom Dumoulin won stage nine on another intriguing day at the Vuelta a Espana.

Briton Froome looked set to win the stage after riding clear of his general classification rivals on a 3.5km ascent that featured gradients of 19%.

However, he was caught in the final 50 metres by Dumoulin, who regained the overall race lead from Esteban Chaves. Team Sky's Froome is now eighth overall, 78 seconds behind Dumoulin.

Just this morning Anthony Ujah posted the picture above. Leon Balogun, Ujah, Ahmed Musa and Obiora have all hooked up in a flight to Nigeria to hit the Super Eagles camp in Abuja today. Ujah's team, Werder Bremen won their weekend match and you can as well see the excitement on his face.

Neymar has admitted to making "mistakes" during Brazil's Copa America campaign but insists he has seen the error of his ways. The 23-year-old was sent off in disgrace during the group stage clash with Colombia over the summer after headbutting Jeison Murillo.

The red card saw him handed a four-match ban, which ended his participation in the tournament, but the Selecao captain is confident there'll be no repeat of that indiscipline.

"I can't feel frustrated because it was my fault and my mistake," he said. "I did things wrong and I have learnt my lesson."

World number three Maria Sharapova has pulled out of the US Open on the eve of the tournament because of injury. The 28-year-old Russian has not played since Wimbledon following a knee injury and posted on Facebook: "I have done everything possible to be ready but it was just not enough time."

The five-time Grand Slam winner was due to play Australian world number 37 Daria Gavrilova on Monday in New York.

In her statement, Sharapova said she is targeting a return in "a few weeks".

Vincent Kompany has backed the "phenomenal" Kevin De Bruyne to have a huge impact at Manchester City after his switch from Wolfsburg.

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has described new recruit Kevin De Bruyne as "phenomenal".

Former Chelsea midfielder De Bruyne, who scored 10 goals and racked up 20 assists for Wolfsburg last term, finally completed his drawn-out move to City on Sunday.

Moses set for West Brom

West Brom are closing in on a deal for Chelsea winger Victor Moses. The £10m-rated Nigeria international had been heavily linked with West Ham but Tony Pulis has gazuped the Hammers, while he is also keen on QPR attacker Matt Phillips.

Bournemouth to sign De Guzman on loan

Bournemouth have beaten off interest from Sunderland to bring Napoli midfielder Jonathan De Guzman to the club on a season-long loan deal.

Van Gaal In Dark Over De Gea's Future

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal concedes he does not know whether goalkeeper David de Gea will leave the club before the end of the transfer window.

De Gea has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid for months and, with the Spanish window set to close on Monday, time is running out to complete a deal.

The Spain international has not featured for United this season, with new signing Sergio Romero starting all of United's games thus far in 2015-16.

Swansea City are quickly becoming a force in the Premier League after they maintained their unbeaten start with am impressive come-from-behind 2-1 victory against Manchester United, manager Garry Monk said.

Sunday's victory was Swansea's third in a row against United and extended an excellent start to the season which began with an impressive opening-day draw at champions Chelsea.

"We're a good team," Monk told Sky Sports. "We're a force in this league and when we're on it and playing our best football we can be unbelievable.

Jamie Vardy and Jonjo Shelvey have been included in the England squad to take on San Marino and Switzerland.

Jonjo Shelvey has been recalled to the England squad for their Euro 2016 qualifiers against San Marino and Switzerland, while Jamie Vardy is also selected. Swansea City midfielder Shelvey won his solitary cap at senior level against San Marino back in 2012.

The 23-year-old has been rewarded for an impressive start to the season for Garry Monk's side and his call-up caps a memorable day in which he played his part in a 2-1 Premier League win over Manchester United.

Dusan Tadic scored twice as Southampton claimed their first Premier League win of the season by beating 10-man Norwich City 3-0 at St Mary's Stadium.

Ronald Koeman had to address more speculation surrounding his players on Sunday, stating Victor Wanyama was not "mentally and physically good enough to play" amid links with a move to Tottenham.

Despite Wanyama's absence, Southampton had little difficulty in seeing off Alex Neil's men, whose task was made more difficult when Steven Whittaker was sent off for a second yellow card after only 31 minutes.

In the seventh inning of Saturday night's Yankees-Braves game at Turner Field, a man fell from the upper deck as Alex Rodriguez was being introduced as a pinch-hitter. He later died after being treated at the scene and transported to a local hospital.

A fan, Greg Shiver of Tennessee, who was attending the game with his son, said, “We were sitting in Row 6 and I just told him to watch for A-Rod. And then we heard a big thud. I saw a guy falling from the top. I grabbed my son and ran for security. He was bleeding pretty badly. I don't think he's gonna make it. And I don't have any clue how he fell.”

Bayern Munich have confirmed that they have signed Kingsley Coman on loan from Juventus.
The 19-year-old joined the Serie A champions from Paris Saint-Germain in 2014 but failed to become a regular in the first team.

He has now opted to join the Bundesliga champions, initially on a two year lona deal but Bayern reserve the option to buy him at the end of the 2016-17 campaign.

The France Under 21 international had his medical on Sunday to complete the move and spoke of his delight to join Pep Guardiola's side.

Obafemi Martins has asked the new Super Eagles coach if he can still play for Nigeria again. While congratulating him on his new job, Martins said Sunday Oliseh has all it takes to coach the team and urged him to give him a chance to score for Nigeria again.

It will be recalled that the footballer’s name was left out of the Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, qualifying match against Tanzania and international friendly game against Niger scheduled for early next month. Martins has also been nursing a four months injury and only returned to action for Seattle Sounders last weekend.

Schalke general manager Horst Heldt has denied suggestions Julian Draxler is on the verge of a €45 million move to Wolfsburg.

German media reported that the 21-year-old bid an emotional farewell to Schalke coach Andre Breitenreiter when he was substituted off in his side’s 3-0 defeat at Wolfsburg on Saturday, before asking his team-mates how he would look in a Wolfsburg shirt.

But Heldt has refuted those claims, insisting the Germany international will remain in Gelsenkirchen this season.

Mirror.co.uk has revealed that Chelsea Star, Mikel Obi has secretly fathered two children. Mikel Fathers a boy who is 4 at the moment and another one, who is just 1- a girl. According to them the 28-year old player is responsible for his children.

He had a relationship with the first woman that bore his first child, a son now 4, but the other one was more or less a fling. They had a thing together after the pair met at a London club and bore him a daughter only last year.

He has bought a £500,000 house for his babymama and son and also takes care of his newly welcomed daughter, the one year old.

UEFA Champions League Draw: Five Talking Points From Oma Akatugba

Man United will be a tough game for CSKA Moscow.... Ahmed Musa responds back and says ... yes, but they are easy to play

Oma will cover Ahmed Musa & Man United's trips to Wolfsburg in Germany... Of cause in form Musa will be there to push for glory and that might be another chance for Oma to feature him on African International..

Chelsea always lucky - he thinks the blues have the easiest group and that they are always lucky in the competition

The Sun on Sunday have pulled off another stitch up, as the tabloid have attempted to smear the character of Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Sun claim to have sourced a Brazilian woman who claims Ronaldo had an affair with her whilst the Real Madrid superstar was still dating Russian supermodel Irina Shayk.

According to the report, Ronaldo has his affair during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. In a classic tabloid headline, the Sun announce “My 42D boobs bust up Irina and Ronaldo”.

Nigeria’s 4 x 400 metres relay team on Saturday in Beijing, China gave Team Nigeria a final chance of winning any medal at the 15th World Athletics Championships.

The team of Funke Oladoye, Tosin Adeloye, Regina George and Patience George qualified for Sunday’s final of the event by winning heat 1 with a season best 3 minutes 23.27 seconds.

They pushed Jamaica and Russia into second and third respectively. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigerian team, who were in lane 8, previously had a season best 3.30.88 and did achieve a good feat with Saturday’s effort.

Afrobasket 2015: Nigeria Defeat Senegal To Qualify For Final

The Lions of Senegal failed in their attempt last night to have a repeat of their AfroBasket 2013 record as they fell to the superior power play of Nigeria’s D’ Tigers in a game that went into overtime with Nigeria emerging the winner by 88-79 points and a chance to play for the sole ticket for Rio 2016 Olympics.

Nigeria began the game on a very fast pace dominating the first quarter 18-15 but Senegal came back strong in the second quarter winning 22-17 in their favor and also took the third quarter scoring 26-22 points but were overwhelmed by Nigeria’s comeback in the last and final quarter amassing a total of 19-13 points and tying the game at 76-76 at full time.

Kelechi Iheanacho made his long-awaited English Premier League debut for Manchester City on Saturday, playing less than three minutes in their 2-0 win against Watford at the Etihad.

The Nigerian’s first appearance in the English topflight had been kept on ice by manager Manuel Pellegrini despite his brilliant showing during the pre-season.

Iheanacho came off the bench in the 89th minute for one of the Citizens’ goal scorer, Raheem Sterling as they secured their fourth consecutive win in the Premier League against Quique Sanchez Flores' men.

Transfer Update: Jonny Evans Joins West Brom

West Brom have announced the signing of defender Jonny Evans from Manchester United for an undisclosed fee.

The Northern Ireland international has agreed a four-year contract at the Hawthorns after falling out of favour with manager Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford.

Evans had undergone a medical at the Baggies' training ground on Friday and now becomes their fifth new recruit of the summer.

Following a 2-1 Premier League defeat to Crystal Palace, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho criticised the performance of an unidentified player.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says he regrets leaving one of his players on the pitch for the full 90 minutes in a 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace, but has chosen not to reveal his identity.

Joel Ward's late winner consigned Chelsea to their first home Premier League loss since April 2014, with the defending champions having now picked up just four points from their opening four matches.

The centre-half deflected a second-half strike from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain into his own net, after his team-mate had been shown a straight red just 16 minutes into the game

Arsenal were gifted a 1-0 victory at Newcastle on Saturday, with Fabricio Coloccini putting through his own net after Aleksandar Mitrovic had got himself sent off.

Neymar is setting his eyes on making history with Barca. He's confidently hoping to retain the Champions League trophy, back to back wins. That's the only achievement Barca is eagerly looking for.

Barcelona ace Neymar has said he wants to make history with his side as they look to build on last season's European and domestic treble.

The Catalan side were victorious in La Liga, Copa del Rey and the Champions League last term and aim to become the first team ever to win the latter for a second time in a row.

Almost everybody is saying Wenger's side needs a major signing to become title contender but Wenger has recently responded by saying he's working hard in the transfer market.... with how many days to go.... Arsenal fans are on their own..lol

Arsenal will need to redefine history if they are to win the Premier League without improving their defensive structure, according to former Manchester United defender Gary Neville.

Neville criticised Arsene Wenger after the club’s draw with Liverpool on Monday, claiming the 65-year-old is either naive or arrogant to rely on flair players alone to win their first title since 2003-04.

Jose Mourinho takes charge of his 100th home fixture as a Premier League manager on Saturday, with visitors Crystal Palace facing perhaps the most difficult away trip in world football.

In two spells as Chelsea boss, Mourinho has lost just once in the league at Stamford Bridge - a shock 2-1 loss to Sunderland in April 2014. His record is the best of any manager in the Premier League era.

The Portuguese has achieved:

Australia regained the Women's Ashes after England collapsed to 87 all out to lose the second Twenty20 international by 20 runs.

Needing to win at Hove to keep the multi-format series alive, England were chasing 108 but slipped to 10-3 and 23-5, with Ellyse Perry taking 2-13. Lydia Greenway made 26, but was last out with five balls to go.

Australia, who managed only 107-7, take an unassailable 10-4 lead on points with just one T20 remaining.

Jose Mourinho's treatment of Chelsea team doctor Eva Carneiro is to be discussed by world governing body Fifa. Carneiro's role was downgraded after she and head physio Jon Fearn went on the pitch to treat Eden Hazard in the 2-2 home draw with Swansea on 8 August.

The move reduced Chelsea to nine men - goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois had already been sent off - and angered Mourinho, who called it "impulsive and naive". Fifa's medical committee will discuss Carneiro at a meeting on 11 September.

The committee is expected to make clear its support of team doctors who act in the best interest of players.

Nigeria: Wolverhampton Wanderers Goalkeeper Carl Ikeme Set For Super Eagles Debut

Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper Carl Ikeme is one of the surprise call ups to the Super Eagles team by new coach Sunday Oliseh. "An email arrived at the club and the manager Kenny Jacket asked me what he should do." Ikeme says in an exclusive interview with Calvin Emeka Onwuka when they met in London. "I thought it was a joke by one of my team mates so I called the number in the email and spoke to coach Sunday Oliseh."

Luis Enrique has compared Usain Bolt to Barcelona star Lionel Messi, stating that he is the best sprinter of all time.

The 29-year-old beat Justin Gatlin in Beijing to lift gold in the 200m at the world championships for the fourth time in a row. And the Barca coach believes that the Jamaican is to athletics what Messi is to football.

"You could make a good comparison between Messi and Bolt," he told reporters.

Having failed to make an impact at Manchester City, Marcos Lopes has switched to Monaco.

Manchester City have confirmed that midfielder Marcos Lopes has joined Monaco. Lopes joined City from Benfica in 2011, going on to make just five senior appearances.

And the 19-year-old, who scored three goals in 27 games on loan at Lille last term, has now secured a switch to the Stade Louis II.

Wayne Rooney received strong support from Manchester United great Peter Schmeichel on Thursday. Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel defended striker Wayne Rooney and said the captain's overall contribution was undervalued.

The 29-year-old ended his goalless run with a hat-trick in United's 4-0 win at Club Brugge in their UEFA Champions League play-off second leg on Wednesday.

While Rooney's wait for a Premier League goal this season continues, United great Schmeichel said there was more to the England international's game.

Transfer Update: Kevin De Bruyne Set For Man City Medical

Kevin De Bruyne is set to undergo a medical on Friday as Manchester City edge closer to finally completing a deal to sign the Wolfsburg playmaker, Goal understands.

City identified De Bruyne as a primary target ahead of the summer and have pursued the Belgian throughout the transfer window.

Wolfsburg manager Klaus Allofs suggested on Thursday morning that while De Bruyne was keen to join City, a deal was yet to be agreed.

That moment when Jose Mourinho saw the Champions League draw. Most pundits are of the opinion that Chelsea got the easiest group and that can certainly make Mourinho joyful after all no manager wants a tough group.

No Problems With Guardiola Over Substitution Roles - Lahm

Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm insists that he has no problem with being substituted - despite failing to complete 90 minutes in each of the last three games.

Lahm was withdrawn from action during the matches against Nottingen, Hamburg and Hoffenheim, but the defender accepts the decisions of coach Pep Guardiola.

He told Kicker.de: "For me, it's no problem at all. I've done well in the games, so it's not an issue. It's not so bad."

Ronaldo certainly looked like the known stay boy and he looked better fashioned than Barca's Messi who has been involved with fashion Police offences in the past. Messi still looked like the old magician from Argentina while Suarez still had the bad boy pose, not looking bad though. CR7 did the kill and he's certainly the ladies choice..... always amazing with swags and a body to die for. See more photos after the cut....

Messi has come from behind again to push off Ronaldo in a rivary that has lasted for more than 7 years. Big congrats to the Argentine magician that never dies...

Lionel Messi has won the Uefa Best Player in Europe Award for the second time after beating Luis Suarez and Cristiano Ronaldo to the prize.

The 28-year-old shone in the second half of last season as he inspired Barcelona to the treble, with the club lifting the Champions League, Copa del Rey and La Liga.

Stylish 'Money' Mayweather certainly lived up to his nickname as he expanded his collection of cars with his most expensive purchase to date. Mayweather Jr certainly likes flaunting and he's damn good at doing that, i just love his style.

Floyd Mayweather continued to live up to his 'Money' nickname - by buying the flashiest car on the market. The pound-for-pound best fighter in the world posed with his brand new buy, a Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita 'Hyper Car' in a plush garage in America.

Koenigsegg have produced just two Trevita cars and Mayweather has his hands on the second. It is also the only one in the United States.

Nigeria’s Golden Eaglet will jet out of the country on Sunday to honour a 4-nation invitational tournament which will also feature Brazil and Croatia.

The invitational is part for the team’s preparations for the U17 World Cup in Chile.

The tournament was originally billed to have held in April, but had to be shifted because of the outbreak of a MERS epidemic in South Korea.

On Thursday afternoon the Champions League groups were drawn in Monaco following this week’s midweek knockout fixtures.

Holders Barcelona were drawn in Group E with Bayer Leverkusen, Roma and BATE Borisov.
Arsenal fans will be cursing their luck, having been drawn against Bayern Munich once again.

The Gunners were knocked out of the competition by the Bavarians in both the 2012-13 and 2013-14 editions, and although this time they can’t be directly eliminated as it’s the group stage, it’s still an unwelcome draw for Wenger and co.

Oscar Pistorius’s parole review has been set for 18 September, meaning the athlete will spend at least another three weeks in jail, his family has said.

Pistorius, who was convicted of culpable homicide for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, was due to be moved to house arrest last Friday after serving 10 months behind bars.

But Michael Masutha, the justice minister, referred the matter back to the parole review board. The justice department said the athlete had been approved to be moved to house arrest too soon.

31 August 2015

30 August 2015

29 August 2015

28 August 2015

27 August 2015