Sports
YOG: Beach Volleyballers’ Form Inspires Coach
Coach Chakuma Ismail of
the national under-17 male and female beach volleyball team last week in Abuja said his players looked promising ahead of the 2014 Youth Olympics Games (YOG).
Ismail told newsmen after the teams’ morning training session at the Jabi Lake, that the situation in camp was encouraging.
He said this submission was because the players were responding well to training.
“This is the second day in camp and the situation is good, because we have good accommodation and feeding. Most of the players also turned up on time. “But I believe it would have been better if the remaining two players were here to increase competition for places in the final squad.
“All the same, the players are young and they look promising. This is because, with the little time we have had since yesterday (Wednesday) when we started training, they have proven to be committed,” the coach said.
The teams are preparing the second edition of the YOG scheduled to hold at Nanjing in China from August 16 to August 28. Ismail had invited eight players to camp, four male and four female, to fight for two shirts each in each of the two categories.
The male players are Morris Samuel, Obayemi Ogunshina, Peter Ibrahim and Akande Philip, while the female players are Hajara Audu, Jummai Bitrus, Tochukwu Nnorgu and Francisca Ikedia.
As at the second day of training on Thursday, all the male players were in camp, with only Bitrus and Ikedia yet to report.
Ismail said the camping should have commenced earlier to allow for good preparations towards the Games.
“The camping did not start early enough, because we will now be having just 10 to 11 days and it is not enough to prepare a team for the Olympics. It should have commenced earlier than this.
“The days of quality training which we will now have are just eight days. But because the players are young and committed, the training will have to be combined now.
“We will have to combine the physical and technical training, because we can’t set some days aside for specific tasks. There is no time for that.
“If we were to follow it as it ought to be, we will be leaving for the YOG without full preparations,” he said.
Ismail, however, decried the teams’ inability to participate in the Federal of International Volleyball (FIVB) U-17 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Mexico earlier this month.
“I thought the World Championships in Mexico would have been a good opportunity to evaluate the players, but it is unfortunate that we were not able to go.
“Personally as the coach, it has affected me. But I have to encourage the players, because I am a father.
“The players felt it and they were all in tears, because they felt they should have gone there and learn more skills.
“Also, that would have given us an opportunity to know where and where to work on now.
“This is because most of the teams at Mexico will be at the YOG. So, if our teams were to be there, we would have known the strengths and weaknesses of the teams we will meet.
“But now we are going there blindly. Had it been that we were there, the players would have been in different shape now.
“But I am still working on their psychology to prepare them for the Games,” Ismail told NAN.
Both teams were supposed to represent Nigeria at the FIVB U-17 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Mexico but had hitches in their travel arrangement.
Nigeria is one of the 204 countries scheduled to participate at YOG, with beach volleyball being one of the 28 sports to be competed for by the athletes.
Sports
Inter Best Juventus To Maintain Serie A Lead
Andrea Cambiaso scored at both ends during the first half of Saturday’s Derby d’Italia, before Pierre Kalulu’s red card forced Juventus to play the entire second half a man light.
Substitute Francesco Pio Esposito got Inter back in front with a bullet header, then Manuel Locatelli’s pinpoint finish looked to have salvaged a point for the Bianconeri, before Zielinski struck on the cusp of stoppage time.
Juventus made the brighter start, but they were masters of their own downfall in the 17th minute, when Cambiaso deflected Luis Henrique’s cross beyond Michele Di Gregorio.
Cambiaso atoned within nine minutes, catching Henrique on his heels when Weston McKennie’s cross squirmed through to the back post and applying a side-footed finish.
But after Bremer cleared Zielinski’s dinked effort off the line, Juve’s hopes were damaged when Kalulu received his second yellow card for a 42nd-minute pull on Alessandro Bastoni, though the Inter centre-back appeared to go down theatrically.
Di Gregorio made a remarkable stop to thwart Hakan Calhanoglu, but as Juventus dropped ever deeper, they were punished when substitute Esposito guided Federico Dimarco’s searching cross into the far corner with 76 minutes on the clock.
It looked like Inter would have to settle for a point when Locatelli whipped a wonderful finish into the bottom-left corner in the 83rd minute, but Zielinski had the final say as his 20-yard drive fizzed through Locatelli’s legs and beat Di Gregorio.
Sports
Szoboszlai’s Real Madrid Dream Sparks Concern At Liverpool
A cloud of uncertainty has settled over Liverpool after comments from Hungary head coach Marco Rossi reignited speculation about Dominik Szoboszlai and Real Madrid.
Rossi, who has worked closely with Szoboszlai since his teenage years, revealed that the midfielder’s lifelong ambition is to play for the Spanish giants.
“Because of the very close and direct relationship I’ve had with Dominik since he was a child, Real Madrid has always been his dream,” Rossi said.
For a Liverpool side building around Szoboszlai as a centerpiece of Arne Slot’s project, those words landed hard.
Within hours of Rossi’s remarks, Szoboszlai interacted on social media with two Real Madrid players, applauding posts from Vinicius Junior and Trent Alexander-Arnold following Madrid’s win over Real Sociedad.
His reaction to Vinicius’ post drew particular attention. The exchange with Alexander-Arnold, his former Liverpool teammate, was seen as less surprising.
Still, in the hyper-connected world of elite soccer, even a digital thumbs-up can carry weight. On Merseyside, fans and pundits quickly began dissecting the meaning behind the interactions.
Szoboszlai, Hungary’s captain, has become one of Liverpool’s most influential players. That status is precisely why Rossi’s comments triggered such an intense reaction in England.
The midfielder had just delivered on the field as well, scoring in Liverpool’s 3-0 FA Cup fourth-round victory over Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield.
After the match, Mohamed Salah heaped praise on his teammate, calling Szoboszlai “the best player in the world.” Slot struck a slightly more measured tone but echoed the sentiment.
“I think there are many elite players in the world, but I definitely agree with Mo that he is one of them,” Slot said. “He is very important for us.”
Szoboszlai is under contract at Liverpool through 2028. However, the club is reportedly eager to open extension talks in the coming months to secure his long-term future.
The player himself addressed the situation recently with notable candor.
“There’s nothing yet, to be honest. Nothing from now on. It’s not in my hands. That’s how it works,” he said. “There’s no progress, but if the right offer comes, we’ll see.”
He was equally clear about his affection for Liverpool.
“We’ll see what happens. Hopefully everyone will be happy in the end. Of course I want to stay. I like the city, I like the club, I like playing with these guys. I love Anfield, I love the fans. Let’s see what the future brings. It’s not my fault. I’d love to stay. We’ll see.”
Inter’s dramatic victory boosted their lead over rivals AC Milan to eight points, ahead of the Rossoneri hosting Como on Wednesday. Juventus, meanwhile, could drop out of the top four as Roma visited Napoli last night.
The last four Serie A matches between Inter and Juventus have produced a total of 21 goals (an average of 5.25 per game), compared to just nine in the previous six (1.5 per game).
Cambiaso became the first player in Derby d’Italia history to score and put through his own net in the same match between these old rivals, but it was Zielinski’s fifth Serie A goal of the season that proved decisive.
Inter will argue they were deserved victors after amassing 21 shots and 1.88 expected goals (xG), while Luciano Spalletti’s visitors mustered 10 shots and 0.92 xG – though the Bianconeri actually attempted six of their shots while down a man in the second half.
Sports
Wolves Beat Man Utd Conquerors
Premier League strugglers Wolves overcame resolute Grimsby Town in challenging conditions at Blundell Park to reach the FA Cup fifth round at the expense of the side that eliminated Manchester United in the last round.
Santiago Bueno scored from Wolves’ only shot on target with an hour played, diverting Joao Gomes’ cross past goalkeeper Jackson Smith with his thigh to end the League Two club’s resistance.
Unrelenting rainfall caused heavy ground underfoot and one penalty area in particular- that of Grimsby’s Smith in the first half – was already a quagmire before kick-off.
Charles Vernam shot narrowly wide from the edge of the box with just 43 seconds on the clock as Grimsby sought to catch their top-flight visitors cold.
Wolves had to wait until the 17th minute for their first opportunity of note, forward Tolu Arokodare firing over with a first-time attempt.
The white paint of the pitch markings soon blended and blurred with the mud as the surface rapidly deteriorated, and both sides struggled to stitch together cohesive attacks as passes travelled unpredictably across the sodden ground.
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