Sports
Osimhen-less Napoli Bow To Rampant AC Milan
AC Milan made light of Victor Osimhen’s absence with a 4-0 away victory over Napoli on Sunday to continue their push for the Italian elite division title
The striker, who was involved in Nigeria’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Guinea Bissau, was ruled out against the Red and Blacks – having complained of discomfort in his left abductor muscle.
In the four-goal thriller, it was the Milan based outfit that started the fixture like a house on fire – taking the lead courtesy of Rafael Leao’s 17th minute effort.
The Portugal international was picked out by Brahim Diaz who put the ball before the Blues’ goalkeeper – to end his wait for his first AC Milan goal since mid-January.
Eight minutes later, Diaz went from provider to goal-getter. Profiting from a spending combo from Olivier Giroud and Ismael Bennacer, the Spaniard got the better of two defenders before finding the roof of the net.
In the second-half, Luciano Spalletti’s men came out stronger but were unable to turn the tides against the Milan-based outfit.
Despite creating numerous scoring opportunities, they were unable to put the ball into the net, and that was exploited by their guests.
Man-of-the-match Leao complete his brace a minute before the hour mark after unleashing an unstoppable shot past Alex Meret, having been set up by Sandro Tonali.
Supersub Alexis Saelemaekers completed the rout by breezing past Napoli backline before finishing through Meret’s legs.
With that result, AC Milan have completed a run of three victories in Naples for the first time since 1951
Sports
Iwobi Optimistic On S’Eagles Qualification
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
Sports
ATLANTICBELL CEO ADVICE SPORTS WRITERS ON SPECIALIZATION
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
Sports
DEPUTY PRESIDENT EXPRESSES COMMITMENT TO SUPPORT SPORTS DEV, SWAN
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.
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