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Nigeria’s 4x400m Team Qualify For IAAF Worlds

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Nigeria’s quartet of Godday James, Saul Weigopwa, Abiola Onakoya and Noah Akwu lit up the Abuja National Stadium last weekend when they picked the 4×400 metres relay ticket to the IAAF World Athletics Championship 4×400 metres slated for Berlin, Germany next month.
The foursome ran an impressive 3:02:30 seconds to book Nigeria’s place in the 1,600 relays of the world meet. Interestingly, the Dominican Republic team that chased qualification in the event to Abuja was also fortunate to make the mark, hitting the finish line in 3:02:45 seconds. The world championship qualifying time is 3:03.31 seconds. The Kenyan team that placed third could not make the mark with its 3:03.90 seconds.
An elated Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) Technical Director, Sunday Bada, described the performance as “a good start for the boys” adding, “Now that we have booked a place in the 4×400 relays of the world championships in Berlin, we will sit down with the coaches and look at our programme again to see how we can improve on this performance. It will be good for us if the team is able to get a place in the podium in Berlin.
The female rely team also won the xx400 metres in 3:30.77 seconds. The story was also the same in the sprint relays where the men (39:57) won the first place; with Trinidad and Tobago (39:88) placing second and Dominican Republic (39:88) third.
In the women version, Demola Osayomi, anchored Nigeria’s ‘A’ team to a 43:72, with the silver going in Trinidad and Tobago (44:29) while Nigeria ‘B’ team (45:33) placed third. Ghana without its star sprinter, Vida Anim, finished fourth.
However, Nigeria’s good fortunes in the relays failed to manifest in the individual events where the visiting countries stole the show. Miete Ben Youssef of Cote d’Ivoire (10:21) won the 100 metres while Trinidad and Tobago’s Bledman Keston (10:30) was second.
2009 National Sports Festival fastest man Oghene Ogho Egwero could only manage the third spot with a 10:31. that time was below is personal best of 10:25.
Trinidad and Tobago girl, Semoy Hackett (11:33) won the women version leaving, the silver to Nigeria’s All Africa Games winner, Damola Osayomi (11:40) and Gloria Kemasuode (11:48).

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New Coach Promises Trophies At Barça

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Hansi Flick has said that Barcelona’s desire to always win trophies is why he is at the cub during his official unveiling as the club’s new head coach.
The former Bayern Munich and Germany coach signed a two-year deal with the LaLiga giants and said: “Before signing my contract I had a dinner with the president and I felt from the first second that I was arriving at an impressive club.”
“The squad has worked very hard from the first day in training. Each player wants to give 100% to show that they can play. The quality of the 16 or 17 year olds from La Masia is incredible.”
Two of the most recent standout products from Barça’s fabled academy are Lamine Yamal and Ansu Fati, two players who find themselves in very different situations.
On his 17-year-old star man, Flick was complimentary but also had words of warning.
“In the last year he has improved a lot. What he did in the Euros was incredible,” he added.

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Chelsea Will Concede Goals This Season – Coach

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Chelsea manager, Enzo Maresca says his side “are going to concede goals this season playing out from the back” after two defensive errors in a 2-2 draw with Wrexham in his first game in charge.
Midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu scored an 82nd-minute equaliser in Santa Clara, California, cancelling out two second-half strikes by the League One side.
A sharp finish in the penalty box from Christopher Nkunku opened the scoring in the 35th minute of Chelsea’s opening friendly on their pre-season tour of the United States.
But Wrexham took a surprise lead after both teams made wholesale changes at half-time with Luke Bolton and Jack Marriott scoring following mistakes.
The defensive errors were part of a weak second-half performance as Chelsea adapt to Maresca’s possession-based approach.
Wrexham impressed – adding to their 1-1 draw against Bournemouth on Saturday in a half-empty Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers.
It is the Welsh club’s second consecutive US pre-season tour, capitalising on their popularity under co-owners, Hollywood actors, Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, with Phil Parkinson’s side preparing for third tier football for the first time since 2005.
Maresca was asked about conceding goals through his playing philosophy, which included more patient build-up from back to front.

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France’s Olympics Come Alive With Les Bleus Victory

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The French starting 11 was worth more than $250 million. Their home crowd was stirring, waving flags, chanting “Allez Les Bleus.” Their fearsome front three alone had played more than 300 games in the English Premier League. They entered these 2024 Olympics as the men’s soccer gold medal favourite, and an early candidate to bring the Games to life.
And on Wednesday in Marseille, they did just that, beating the United States 3-0.
For an hour in Marseille, on opening night, a feisty American team stood up to them.
But in the 61st minute of Paris 2024’s first prime-time headliner, Alexandre Lacazette struck, and the Stade Vélodrome erupted. Kids kissed the French Football Federation badges on their shirts. Thousands of blue, white and red flags twirled.
Until that moment, the game had been somewhat dormant. And the Games, more broadly, were still waiting to awake. In Paris, many locals have escaped the craziness of the Olympics. Areas around the River Seine are all but locked down to prepare for today’s opening ceremony. Tuesday and Wednesday, in some ways, felt like normal Parisian nights, sans buzz.
The best cure for all of that was France’s most popular sport, the one that led the media’s front pages on Tuesday in a non-Olympic context, just three days before the official start of the Olympics.
This, of course, was not a full French soccer team. The Games are a mostly under-23 tournament. But it was still a French soccer team. And it was, by Olympic men’s soccer’s JV standards, stacked.
It came from Bayern Munich and Sevilla, RB Leipzig and Crystal Palace, in the German Bundesliga and throughout France’s Ligue 1. There were players valued at 25 million euros stuck on the bench. There were athletes all over the field whom, unlike many Olympians, the French public knows.
And the two biggest stars among them ignited the public. Lacazette, a veteran striker, one of three over-age picks, broke through the United States resistance.
Michael Olise, a 22-year-old creator who recently signed with Bayern, scored the second.

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