Archive | 2015

David Luiz apologises to Chelsea fans….

Chelsea v Paris St-Germain

David Luiz has apologised to Chelsea after celebrating his goal for Paris St-Germain that helped knock his former side out of the Champions League. Luiz scored an 86th-minute header to send the last-16 tie in to extra time. “I’m sorry for the emotion I showed,” said the defender, 27. “It was difficult because I was so happy to win, but I was also happy at Chelsea.” PSG progressed to the quarter-finals on away goals after the second leg finished 2-2 and 3-3 on aggregate. Brazil international Luiz made 143 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea and scored 12 goals before moving to Paris for a reported £40m last June. He said: “I said before I wouldn’t celebrate but there was so much emotion, I couldn’t control it. I am so happy to qualify. “All the supporters and every single person in the club tried to help me from my first day at Chelsea to the last day.”

Zimbabwe thrown out of World Cup qualifying….

FIFA has expelled Zimbabwe from qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia after they failed to pay their national team coach. FIFA’s disciplinary committee says it took the action “as a result of the non-payment of an outstanding debt” by Zimbabwe’s football federation to Brazilian coach Jose Claudinei Georgini, nicknamed Valinhos, who managed the national team from January to November 2008. They payments were not made, despite a grace period.

Champions League results….

Tuesday 10 March 2015:

FC Porto 4 – 0 Basel

Real Madrid 3 – 4 Schalke

Wednesday 11 March 2015:

Chelsea 2 – 2 PSG

Bayern Munich 7 – 0 Shakhtar Donetsk

African U-20 Championship results….

Monday March 9, 2015:

Ghana 2 – 0 South Africa

Mali 1 – 0 Zambia

South Africa’s Thamsanqa Masiya scored an own goal in the 9th minute while Benjamin Tetteh made it 2 – 0 for Ghana in the 44th minute.

Alassane Diallo scored Mali’s solitary goal in the 75th minute to secure their victory over Zambia.

Happy Birthday Sepp Blatter….

Today is Joseph “Sepp” Blatter’s birthday. Blatter is the eight and current FIFA president. He is the man in charge of world football. He is a Swiss national and was born on March 10, 1936. He has been married three times and has one daughter named Corinne Blatter.

 

Van Gaal must get time….

Roy Keane

Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane says manager Louis Van Gaal must be given “two or three years” to rebuild the club, following the FA Cup defeat by Arsenal. Keane said on BBC Match of the Day: “They should have given David Moyes more time but didn’t. What are they going to do? Chop and change again? Van Gaal has been in the door two minutes. It takes time. It’s literally a rebuilding job. “It would be a disaster [if United don’t finish in top four]. The big problem with people at the club and ex-players is they keep looking back comparing teams from 10 years ago. They have got to look forward. Focus on the players, focus on the manager… get right behind him. I still think they have enough to get in that top four.”

Who agrees with Roy?

Holloway sacked by Millwall….

Ian Holloway

Championship strugglers Millwall have sacked manager Ian Holloway. The 51-year-old, who was appointed in January 2014, had his contract terminated with the Lions second from bottom after five defeats in six games. Ex-Millwall striker Neil Harris will take charge for the rest of the season. “This was a hard decision to take because we very much hoped that Ollie would prove to be the man to take us forward and on to the next level,” said chairman John Berylson.

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Mancini wants Yaya reunion….

Yaya Toure and Roberto Mancini

Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini is interested in taking Manchester City’s Yaya Toure to the San Siro if the Italian club can make a deal within financial fair play rules. Mancini, who managed Toure at Manchester City, returned for a second spell at Inter in November of 2014. “It’s a question mark, we’ll have to see what financial fair play brings,” he told Gazzetta TV in an interview. “I’m sure we’ll do some good business. Yaya Toure? He’s played in almost every league, except for Germany and Italy. “If, as seems to be the case, he wants to try Serie A we’ll look into the possibility, but it won’t be easy. He’s a player with incredible technical ability. I’ve not come across many like him.”

Ex-Madrid president backs Di Maria….

Angel di Maria

Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has spoken exclusively to BBC World Service and defended Manchester United’s Angel Di Maria, stating the winger’s sending off against Arsenal was out of character. Di Maria received two quick-fire bookings in FA Cup defeat to Arsenal on Monday, the second for pulling the shirt of referee Michael Oliver. Asked if Di Maria showed such a temper in Spain Calderon says: “No he wasn’t like that, I was really surprised to know what he did. “He was a really good player with good behaviour here, never anything like this. Maybe he’s a bit nervous because up to now his change (to Manchester United) hasn’t been the right one. “I know him, he’s not a player who does things like that and I’m sure he will be regretting it.”

Burnley sign Ulvestad….

Fredrik Ulvestad

Burnley have signed Norwegian midfielder Fredrik Ulvestad on a three-year deal. Ulvestad was a free agent but had previously played at Aalesunds FK, scoring 14 goals in 106 appearances. He made his international debut for Norway in August.

Helicopter crash in Argentina kills three French sports stars….

Camille Muffat, Alexis Vastine and Florence Arthaud

Three French sports personalities are among 10 people killed in a helicopter crash in Argentina, the French presidential office confirms. Eight French nationals and their two Argentine pilots died when two helicopters collided in La Rioja province in the country’s north-west. Yachtswoman Florence Arthaud, Olympic swimmer Camille Muffat and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine all died, BBC reports.

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Uja apologizes for taking the goat by the horns….

Anthony Ujah  (right) and Hennes VIII the goat

Cologne’s Anthony Ujah has apologised for grabbing the club mascot Hennes VIII the goat by the horns when the striker celebrated a goal on Sunday. The 24-year-old Nigeria international struck his side’s fourth goal in their 4-2 win against Eintracht Frankfurt. He then ran to Hennes VIII, grabbed the animal by the horns and tried to drag it on to the pitch. “Sorry Hennes. I was a bit too rough on him,” Ujah wrote on his Twitter page  next to a picture of the incident. The animal’s handler was initially taken by surprise by Ujah’s actions but managed to quickly recover and pull the goat back before the forward returned to the pitch as Cologne celebrated their first home win since October. Cologne sports director Joerg Schmadtke said: “Hennes is used to such stuff. He may have a bit of a sore neck.”

Messi milestone as Barca go top….

Lionel Messi: Celebrates after scoring against Rayo Vallecano

Lionel Messi scored a record-breaking 24th La Liga hat-trick and Luis Suarez struck twice as Barcelona beat Rayo Vallecano 6-1 at the Nou Camp to return to the top of the table in emphatic style. The Uruguayan got the ball rolling with an early goal and Gerard Pique doubled the lead shortly after the break, before Messi scored a treble inside 12 minutes which took him one hat-trick clear of Cristiano Ronaldo. And Messi’s hat-trick – his sixth of the season and 32nd for Barca in all competitions – takes him level with Ronaldo at the top of the league’s scoring charts with 30 goals from 25 starts.

English FA Cup Quarterfinal Results….

Saturday 7 March 2015:

Bradford 0 – 0 Reading

Aston Villa 2 – 0 West Brom

Sunday 8 March 2015:

Liverpool 0 – 0 Blackburn

Monday 9 March 2015:

Man Utd 1 – 2 Arsenal

Monday 16 March 2015:

Reading v Bradford (replay) 9pm

Tuesday 7 April 2015:

Blackburn v Liverpool (replay) 8:45 pm

*Time = Nigerian

English Premier League Result:

Saturday 7 March 2015:

QPR 1 – 2 Tottenham