Sports
Angola 2010: Super Eagles Back On Track …Struggle Past Squirrels Of Benin …1Egypt Qualifies For 1/4 Final
Yakubu Ayegbeni converted a penalty three minutes from half time as Nigeria got their African Nations Cup campaign back on track with a 1-0 win over West African neighbours Benin Republic.
Under pressure following Tuesday’s 1-3 defeat to Egypt. Nigeria were desperate to haul themselves back into contention. and under-pressure coach Shuaibu Amodu duly rang the changes.
Out went defensive trio of centreback Obinna Nwaneri. left back Taye Taiwo and defensive midfielder Yusuf Ayila. In their place, Amodu handed a Nations Cup debut to left back Elderson Echiejile, and brought back Danny Shittu to take Nwaneri’s place at the heart of defence.
Osaze Odemwingle, who has shaken off a flu infection. came back into the side at the expense of Ayila, with Kalu Uche moving deeper into a midfield role.
The changes looked to have done little to stabilise Nigeria’s brittle-looking defence when Yobo miscued a ball and was then nearly taken out of the play by Razak Omotoyossi, but the Everton man, despite being flat on his butt. kept his head and conceded a corner Instead.
Nigeria were the more composed side, for most of the half. but It was their less illustrious neighbours who almost drew first blood.
Ogunbiyi squeezed out space inside of Dicksonb Etuhu to lay a lovely ball for Stephane Sessegnon, but the PSG man squeezed hiS shot Just wide of Enyeama’s post.
Played in behind by a delicious Uche ball, Yakubu found himself played onside by Boco, but contnved to side-foot the ball wide, to the collective groan of the Nigerian nation.
Nigeria continued to create half chances, exposing their offensive failings with an inability to apply finishing touches. yakubu then found himself with another chance to open his account, but failed to dig the ball out from under his foot and just poked it to Uche, who was robbed before he could so much as look at the ball.
And then Nlgena’s defensive problems almost cost them tWice within two minutes. First, Mikel and Echiejile passed themselves Into trouble on the left side, and needed to be rescued by Shittu, whose ticking off for the pair could only be classified under a PG file
Vincent Enyeama’s crossbar.
And then Nigeria found the breakthrough.
Mikel won a freekick as he was upended out in one of his marauding raids upfront. His low freeklck was touched on by goalkeeper Chitou and missed by Yakubu, Uche and Odemwingie, only to cause half a dozen different sorts of trouble for goalkeeper Chitou and fall for Obasi.
His cutback to Osaze’s head was on its way in when it was handled and Nigeria given the spotkick. Yak made no mistake from the spot.
Shittu could have extended Nigeria’s lead five minutes into the second half, as Chitou again had difficulty dealing with a low daisy-cutter. but Yak and Uche again arrived too late to take advantage.
Nigeria skipper Joseph Yobo was forced to go off with a hamstring injury seven minutes shy of the hour mark and his absence almost led to an equaliser. But his replacement Onyekachi showed strength and awareness to keep the raiders at bay.
Both sides continued to trade punches, and Benin hit the post again.
But in the end, the Super Eagles held on for their first victory of the campaign, to take some of the pressure off coach Amodu.
Meanwhile, the Pharaohs of Egypt moments later beat Mozambique 2-0 to book a quarter final sport.
An own goal early in the second half and a thumping finish by Gebo ensured that the two time defending champions established an unassailable six points with one game o go in the group.
Now, Nigeria must not lose against the Mambas of Mozambique in the decisive final group match and hope that Benin does not upset Egypt to advance to the next stage.
Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has said that criticism that he and other players chased money by moving to Saudi Arabia is wide of the mark.
The 33-year-old left Chelsea for Al-Ahli in a £16m ($21.4m) deal in 2023, and in May the Africa Cup of Nations winner helped his Saudi club win the Asian Champions League, making him one of the few players to win both that competition and its European equivalent.
But, like many others, Mendy has been criticised for playing for money rather than prestige in the lucrative Saudi Pro League.
When asked about such criticism, Mendy told a Tidesports source, “Al-Ahli’s project came along and they made me feel I had a big role to play.
“Two years later, we won the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. So yes, that validates my choice. And I hope the coming years will validate it even more.”
He added: “Some people will quickly jump to conclusions and say the only reason is money. From the start, I always said that when I left Chelsea, I knew I was joining another team where I could win everything , which was no longer the case at Chelsea.”
The Blues have since won the Conference League, Europe’s third-tier club competition, under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
But it comes after the regime’s trophyless first two years, a period which has frustrated some supporters after the success enjoyed under Roman Abramovich’s stewardship in the previous 19 years.
Mendy has also been celebrating what he describes as a historical win with Senegal against England at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, but days earlier he had been in Dakar delivering a different kind of win.
He is the sponsor of Yakaar, a school in Keur Massar, which seeks to improve funding and access to digital learning tools for local children from underprivileged backgrounds.
Famously, as Mendy grew up in France, he was unemployed, aged 22, while struggling to find a club, with members of his family still living on the outskirts of Dakar.
That is why Yakaar, a word meaning “hope”, was chosen, a word Mendy has carried with him in his career.
“Hope is what kept me going. When I was without a club, it was the hope of getting that first professional contract.
“Then the hope of playing for the national team. The hope of making my family proud by doing the job I had always dreamed of.
“Indeed, hope is the best word to describe my career.”
Mendy was also asked whether the responsibility of being an African goalkeeper had weighed heavily on him.
“Of course. When I was in England, there weren’t many African goalkeepers in top clubs,” he admitted.
“Whether nationally or internationally, I had that responsibility. It’s the same for other African goalkeepers like Andre Onana [Manchester United] or Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal).”
The entire refereeing committee has been fired by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), with structural reforms soon set to follow.
According to sources, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has dismissed the entire refereeing committee in response to mounting pressure from clubs demanding structural reform. A major shake-up aimed at modernising Spanish refereeing from top to bottom has now been set in motion.
Head of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Luis Medina Cantalejo and Head of VAR, Carlos Clos Gomez, have been removed from their positions. They are joined by several senior officials, including Antonio Rubinos Perez and three vice presidents, who are also stepping down. A new leadership model will be introduced, led by a CEO and a sporting director, aiming to overhaul how refereeing is managed covering assessments, promotions, and daily operations. While the leadership changes are sweeping, the current pool of referees in La Liga and the second tier will remain, ensuring continuity on the field during the transition.
Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a new two-year contract with Al-Nassr that means he will stay with the Saudi Pro League club until beyond his 42nd birthday.
The Portugal captain, 40, joined the Riyadh-based team in December 2022 after leaving Manchester United in acrimonious circumstances, having criticised the club and said he had no respect for manager Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr deal had been due to expire at the end of June and there was speculation he could leave, but that has now been quashed.
In a post on X, Ronaldo wrote: “A new chapter begins. Same passion, same dream. Let’s make history together.”
Although Al-Nassr have not added to their nine domestic titles during Ronaldo’s time at the club, they have benefited from a flood of goals from the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Ronaldo scored 35 times in 41 matches across all competitions last term and was the league’s top scorer for a second consecutive season.
He has managed 99 goals in appearances overall for Al-Nassr and is well on his way to reaching 1,000 senior goals in his career, with a current tally of 938 for club and country.
Having helped Portugal win the Uefa Nations League a little over two weeks ago, the former Manchester United, Real Madrid, Sporting and Juventus forward will almost certainly now be targeting a sixth World Cup appearance next summer.
Only a month ago, Ronaldo posted on social media to say “the chapter is over”.
That came after the Saudi Pro League wrapped up with Al-Nassr finishing third and trophyless once again.
The comment fuelled rumours that Ronaldo was ready to leave the league where he reportedly became the best-paid player in football history with an annual salary of £177m when he joined.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino raised the prospect of Ronaldo joining a team involved in the Club World Cup after Al-Nassr failed to qualify for the extended tournament which is being held in the United States.
Ronaldo said he had received offers from participating teams but had turned them down.
The decision to stay until at least 2027, which is certain to be highly lucrative, appears to rule out any future prospect of Ronaldo returning to play at the highest level in Europe.