Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has confirmed that John Terry will be fit for Sunday’s game against Manchester United. “John Terry is in good shape and has been training well with the team. His ankle problem is solved,” Conte said. “It will be a tactical game on Sunday but he the fans have a big part to play and can be an advantage.”
Neymar Jr has signed a new five-year deal to remain at Barcelona. The Brazilian superstar had earlier broken the news by posting a picture of himself on Twitter in the early hours of Friday morning confirming the news with a message in Portuguese saying, “I’m very happy to continue living this dream! Long live Barcelona and long live Catalunya!” And the club then confirmed the deal had been signed, with the prolific striker to remain at the Catalan giants until 2021. The 24-year-old has a €200 million buy-out clause – not quite the €1bn once reportedly slapped on Cristiano Ronaldo by Real Madrid, but enough to dissuade any serious purchasers.
Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola had a press conference this afternoon ahead of the Sunday’s home game against Southampton and he was asked about the future of Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany. Aguero started on the bench in their 4-0 defeat by Barcelona on Wednesday with Kompany not in the matchday squad. “They are the future for Manchester City,” says Guardiola. “Vincent Kompany was not perfect fit and that is why we took the decision.” And Aguero? “It was a tactical decision. I wanted one more midfielder, I tried to keep the ball in the Camp Nou and when you have the ball, Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez don’t. “I spoke with Sergio and he was understanding, I thought in the last 30 minutes, with the Barcelona centre-halves tiring, he could help a lot from the bench. When Sergio decides to leave it will be his decision. Next time before you (the media) decide he is not in my plans you can call me.”
Nemanja Vidic (Football) – The former Manchester United, Inter Milan and Serbia defender, born 1981, is 35 today.
Martin Castrogiovanni (Rugby) – Italy and Racing 92 prop, born 1981, is also 35.
Geoffrey Boycott (Cricket) – The former Yorkshire and England batsman and now media pundit, born 1940, is celebrating his 76th birthday.
Bernard Tomic (Tennis) – The Australian tennis player, born 1992, turns 24 today
The 2019 European Games will take place in the Belarusian capital Minsk. The Games will see around 6,000 athletes compete across 20 sports. Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko told the European Olympic Committee to “count on Belarus”. “We are not a superpower but we pay a lot of attention to sport,” he added.
Nigeria international striker Peter Odemwingie is keen to find a route back into football following an inactive six months. The 35-year-old, who spent three months on loan at Championship club Bristol City last season, was released by Stoke City in the summer. But the free agent, who has not played competitively since scoring twice in seven appearances for The Robins, believes he still has plenty to offer.
Atletico Madrid will not be able to sign players in the January window as they continue to contest a FIFA ban. The Spanish side – and rivals Real Madrid – were banned last January from registering players for two windows for breaching rules over the transfer of players under 18. However both were allowed to continue to make signings while they appealed. But Atletico have now agreed to “waive its right to seek the suspension of the ban for the winter transfer period”. Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will make a final decision by 1 June after Atletico’s first appeal – to FIFA in September – failed. A club statement, which reiterated that they are “completely unmoved in its position that the transfer ban is unjustified”, said it was “to ensure a procedural calendar that allows Atletico Madrid to fully present its appeal, while giving CAS sufficient time to thoroughly consider all the arguments”. Real are still allowed to sign players in January. La Liga champions Barcelona were given the same punishment for the same offence in April 2014 and were banned from signing players in both 2015 windows after failing in their appeals to FIFA and CAS.
Hull City defender Moses Odubajo may miss the whole season after sustaining his second serious knee injury in just over three months. The 23-year-old will have surgery next week after fracturing a kneecap during a non-contact training session. The club said Odubajo had been making “excellent strides” after dislocating the same kneecap in July. It added the ligaments he had reconstructed then “remain intact” and he would be out for about six months. Hull signed Odubajo for £3.5m in July 2015 and he made 45 appearances in the Championship as they won promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs. The player born Moses Adeshina Ayoola Junior Odubajo (born 28 July 1993) is an English professional footballer of Nigerian descent. He was orphaned at the age of 13 when his mother died of marlaria and from that age lived alone with his older brother Tom Bolarinwa, who now plays for League Two side Grimsby Town. It was reported on 4 December 2014 that Odubajo had been invited to a training camp with the Nigeria U23 squad, which he did not attend. He received his first call into the England U20 squad for friendlies against Mexico and the United States in March 2015 and he started in both matches. He was called into the U20 squad for the 2015 Toulon Tournament and played in four of England’s five matches as the Young Lions came up short to the United States in the third-place playoff.
Harry Redknapp’s wife was seriously injured when she was run over by a Range Rover driven by the former football boss. Witnesses described seeing Sandra Redknapp, 69, get her coat caught under the car as her husband pulled away. The Sun newspaper reported Mrs Redknapp “yelling in pain” as she fell to the ground in Poole Road, Bournemouth. The wife of the former Tottenham Hotspur manager was rushed to hospital on Tuesday after the “freak accident”. The Sun reported that Mrs Redknapp had been dropped off at the shops by her husband in his Range Rover when she got her coat and foot caught. Mr Redknapp, also 69, had been dropping his wife off in Westbourne, which is four miles away from the couple’s £5m home in Sandbanks and reportedly didn’t realise that his wife was stuck and drove away.
Brazil, Greece and Indonesia are among five countries who may be added to the WADA – World Anti-Doping Agency’s “non-compliant” list. Azerbaijan and Guatemala are the other nations facing censure because of flaws in their drug testing programmes. The five countries have until 10 November to prove their compliance with Wada’s anti-doping code. Should they fail, they risk being declared non-compliant when Wada meets in Glasgow on 19 November.
Rafael Nadal has been forced to end his 2016 season early as he continues to recover from a wrist injury. The 14-time Grand Slam champion will not play at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, the Paris Masters, or the ATP Finals. Nadal, 30, withdrew from this year’s French Open because of the injury, which also ruled him out of Wimbledon. He said the “forced recovery” of returning to compete for Spain at the Olympics in August “has caused me pain since, and now I am forced to stop”. Nadal won gold with Marc Lopez in the men’s doubles in Rio, but missed out on a bronze medal to Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the men’s singles. “It is no secret that I arrived at the Olympic Games short of preparation and not fully recovered, but the goal was to compete and win a medal for Spain,” he added. “Now it is time to rest and start preparing intensively for the 2017 season.” After losing to world number 28 Viktor Troicki of Serbia in the Shanghai Masters second round earlier this month, Nadal said he had already switched his focus to next year. “I need to create pain for my opponent. It is something that is not happening very often now,” he said at the time. “I’ve two and a half months to put myself at the level I need.”
The Champions League final could be played outside of Europe according to new UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin. The Slovenian will revive an open bidding process to host the final and is open to it being staged in New York. “It might be an idea but we have to speak about it,” said Ceferin, 49, who was named head of European football’s governing body last month. The 61 finals have all been held in Europe but Ceferin said travel to the US would be “no problem” for fans. He added: “To go from Portugal to Azerbaijan for example is almost the same or the same as if you go to New York. “It’s a European competition so let’s think about it.” Under the current process, UEFA awards the finals without any tendering process, with stadium hosts decided in secret by the leadership.
Legia Warsaw fear being kicked out of the Champions League after their fans clashed with the police before Tuesday’s match at Real Madrid. The Polish champions were beaten 5-1 after some of their fans clashed with police outside the stadium – with 12 people injured and 13 Polish fans detained. They were already fined for crowd trouble against Borussia Dortmund in September and will host Real in an empty stadium on 2 November. “There have been unofficial suggestions before the Real Madrid game that any offence could result in excluding us from European competitions,” said Seweryn Dmowski, Legia’s public and media relations director.
Rudi Garcia has been appointed as Marseille’s new coach ahead of Sunday’s league game against bitter rival Paris Saint-Germain. Three days after American businessman Frank McCourt completed his takeover of the southern club, Marseille said on Thursday that Garcia will be in charge for the biggest game in French football at Parc des Princes. Garcia, who was fired by Roma last season, signed a three-year deal with Marseille, where he replaces interim coach Franck Passi. Garcia also coached French clubs Saint-Etienne, Dijon and Le Mans. Before joining Roma three years ago, he led Lille to a domestic double, winning the French Cup and Ligue 1 title in 2011. Marseille, the only French team to win the Champions League back in 1993, has won the French title nine times but has fallen behind since PSG was taken over by Qatari investors five years ago.
The October 2016 FIFA / Coca Cola World ranking was released today and Nigeria gathered 562 points to rise to 60th position (from 65th position in September) in the men’s category thanks to the Super Eagles away win in Zambia.
World Top Fifteen:
Nigeria international Ogenyi Onazi has asked FIFA to intervene in a dispute with his former club Lazio who he says owe him two months’ salary. The 23-year-old left Lazio for Turkish side Trabzonspor in August. “We have no option but to go to FIFA to ask the disciplinary committee to act on Lazio’s refusal to pay me,” Onazi said. “My agent and lawyer have written to Lazio, but after two months we have heard nothing from the club.” Onazi, who spent five years at Lazio and scored seven goals in 110 appearances, added: “We all conclude that the only ideal thing to do is to approach FIFA to enable me get what I worked for.” The club said they had no comment on the matter.
Abeg make una pay bros im money!
Barcelona will be without defenders Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba for their next Champions League game with Manchester City on 1 November. The Spain internationals both went off injured in yesterday’s 4-0 win over the English side. Centre-back Pique has been ruled out for three weeks with sprained ankle ligaments and left-back Alba is out for a fortnight with a strained left hamstring.
Claudio Ranieri (Football): Leicester’s current manager and former Chelsea, Juventus and Inter Milan manager, is 65 today.
Will Greenwood (Rugby Union): The former Leicester, Harlequins and 2003 World Cup-winning England centre, is celebrating his 44th birthday.
Virender Sehwag (Cricket): The former India batsman, who scored 23 Test centuries, turns 38 today. He also announced his retirement from international cricket on this day.
FIFA has appointed respected Gambian official Bakary Papa Gassama as referee for next month’s 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match between Nigeria and Algeria, scheduled for the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium Uyo, NFF reports. The Matchday 2 encounter between two of the fiercest rivals in African football will see Jean-Claude Birumushahu from Burundi as assistant referee 1, Marwa Range from Kenya as assistant referee 2 and Gassama’s compatriot, Maudo Jallow as fourth official. FIFA has also appointed Jean-Olivier Mbera from Gabon as referee assessor, Ghanaian Anthony Baffoe as match commissioner and Nicholas Chumba Musonye from Kenya as security officer.
The draws for TOTAL AFCON (African Cup of Nations, now sponsored by oil giant TOTAL), Gabon 2017, was held yesterday 19th October, 2016. The final tournament will be held from 14 January to 5 February 2017 in the Gabonese cities of Libreville, Franceville, Oyem and Port Gentil. We are still sad the Super Eagles of Nigeria will be absent especially now that they seem to be playing exciting football. Who do you tip for the trophy?
Naija Sports Crib 