The Super Eagles were denied the chance of going top on the standings in Group G of the 2017 AFCON Qualifiers after they were forced to a 1-1 draw by the Pharaohs of Egypt at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna on Friday. Oghenekaro Etebo got the only goal for Nigeria on the hour-mark after a goal mouth scramble that finally broke the resilience of the Egyptians who looked very much contented with a draw. But what was looking like a fair result was overturned when Roma’s Mohammed Salah got the equaliser in the 90th minute. The second leg comes up in four days’ time in Alexandria.

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The interim head coach of the Nigeria U-23 team, Fatai Amoo has said the display of his boys against host Brazil has justified their emergence as the African champions, and shown that they really can win gold at the Olympics in Rio come August this year. Speaking after the Dream Team defeated Brazil by a lone goal, Coach Amoo admitted that his boys struggled to contain the hosts in the first half as they launched their attack from the left wing, but the team was able to redress that in the second half. “The first half was very difficult for us, but then it is expected, having in mind that we scored an early goal and as such it was expected they would come all out against us to get the equalizer, but I must give my boys a lot of credit for holding their own. “The boys did a great job if you recall that 80 percent of the boys we brought here were just meeting one another for the first time, and we needed to see all of them in match situation. I’m happy we have seen them and this is hopiing that as we play more friendlies, we would discover more players that will compete for jerseys before the Olympics proper.

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Netherlands footballing great Johan Cruyff has died of cancer aged 68. Cruyff, who made his name as a forward with Ajax and Barcelona, was European footballer of the year three times. He won three consecutive European Cups with Ajax from 1971, coached Barcelona to their first European Cup triumph in 1992 and helped the Dutch reach the 1974 World Cup final, where they lost 2-1 to West Germany. The Dutch FA said: “Words can hardly be found for this huge loss.” It added that Cruyff was the “greatest Dutch footballer of all time and one of the world’s best ever” and wished everyone “a lot of strength in this difficult time”.

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Footballer Adam Johnson has been jailed for six years for grooming and sexual activity with a girl aged 15. Sentencing the ex-Sunderland player, Judge Jonathan Rose told him he had abused a position of trust and caused his victim “severe psychological harm”. The judge told Johnson, 28, he had engaged in sexual activity with her knowing she was under 16. It can now be reported police found extreme pornography involving animals on Johnson’s laptop. The matter is not being taken any further, Bradford Crown Court heard. The sexual activity with the girl happened in the footballer’s Range Rover in January 2015 after he had groomed her using social media apps.