Sunday 28 June 2015:
Sharks 1 – 1 Heartland
Akwa United 1 – 1 Warri Wolves
Giwa 3 – 1 El-Kanemi
Kano Pillars 2 – 2 Dolphins
Bayelsa United 2 – 0 Kwara United
Enyimba 2 – 0 Nasarawa
Lobi Stars 2 – 0 Abia Warriors
Ifeanyi Uba 0 – 1 Wikki Tourists
Enugu Rangers 1 – 0 Sunshine Stars
Tuesday 30 June 2015:
USA vs Germany 12 am (1st July)
Wednesday 1 July 2015:
Japan vs England 12 am (2nd July)
Tottenham’s Brazil international midfielder Paulinho, 26, who joined the Lilywhites from Corinthians for a fee of just under £17m in July 2013, has moved to Guangzhou for a reported £9.9m on a four-year contract, the Chinese club have confirmed. They are managed by former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari and are currently third in the league standings as they seek a fifth successive Super League title.
Goal keeper Petr Cech has completed his move from Chelsea to Arsenal. Cech has also written a letter to Chelsea fans, admitting he thought he would “finish his career” at Stamford Bridge. However, after losing his starting position to Thibaut Courtois, he says he had to move on for “new challenges” because he is not at the stage of his career where he is happy to sit on the bench. The Czech adds that he “couldn’t be more proud” of what he achieved during 11 years at Chelsea but it is “time to begin a new adventure”. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says Petr Cech is “one of the outstanding keepers in the world” after the Czech joined the Gunners from Chelsea for an undisclosed fee. The 33-year-old made over 400 appearances during 11 years at Stamford Bridge, winning every major club honour at least once and the Premier League Golden Glove award on three occasions. “Petr Cech is a player that I have admired for a long time and I am very pleased that he has decided to join us,” said Wenger. Cech added: “When Arsene Wenger spoke to me about his ambitions for this club, and how he saw me as part of this team, the decision was clear.”
Chile’s Gonzalo Jara will miss the rest of the Copa America after being given a three-match ban for an incident in which he appeared to poke his finger against Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani’s backside. South American football governing body Conmebol said the defender was being suspended for “unsporting behaviour”. Jara has also been fined $7,500. The incident happened during Chile’s 1-0 quarter-final win last Thursday. Cavani was given a second yellow card after he slapped Jara, who went unpunished, in retaliation. Former West Brom and Nottingham Forest defender Jara’s ban means he will miss the semi-final clash with Peru on Monday and, depending on the result of that game, either the final or third-place playoff. He will also be suspended for Chile’s first match of the qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup.
Former Netherlands striker Patrick Kluivert (far right) posts a picture on Instagram of him and his family dressed up as the Jackson 5 for a fancy dress party.
Justin Gatlin became the fifth-fastest 200m runner in history as he won Sunday’s final at the United States Track and Field Championships. The 33-year-old American, who has served two doping bans, recorded a time of 19.57 seconds in Oregon. It bettered the 19.68 he ran in May which, at that stage, was the best in the world. “I wanted to go out and make a statement, and that’s what I did,” Gatlin said. Gatlin has been the dominant sprinter in 2015, having also achieved the quickest time in the 100m (9.74).
Saturday 27 June 2015:
Australia 0 – 1 Japan
England 2 – 1 Canada
Japan and England have qualified for the Semi finals. Congrats to Eniola Aluko, the Nigerian who plays for England.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter said in a newspaper interview on Saturday that he will not stand as a candidate to remain the head of world football’s governing body at a special elective congress of member associations which he called for earlier this month. “I am not a candidate, I am the president. And I want to hand over FIFA in good condition,” the 79-year-old told Walliser Bote, a Swiss newspaper in the Valais region where Blatter is from. The comments come a day after Blatter told Swiss daily newspaper Blick that he had not resigned, attempting to distinguish between stepping down and giving up his mandate at the as yet unscheduled special congress. A FIFA source later told Reuters that meant that Blatter still intends to stand down as FIFA president. In Saturday’s interview, Blatter played down his lame-duck status and highlighted the reforms that he hopes to push through. “I will use all my strength and inspiration until my last working day to bring this ship back into safe harbour,” Blatter is quoted by Walliser Bote as saying. A spokeswoman for FIFA said the quotes were accurate. Although Blatter has said on several occasions that he will not stand again for president his comments about his intention to step down in the wake of the corruption scandal have been treated with scepticism by his critics. “While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel I have a mandate from the entire world of football – the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football as much as we all do at FIFA,” Blatter told a news conference on June 2. “This is why I will call an extraordinary congress to be held as soon as possible, for a new president to be elected to follow me,” he said. Before starting his fourth mandate in 2011 Blatter said it would be his last term in office, but later changed his mind, saying that numerous federations had asked him to stand.
Unbeaten middleweight boxer Anthony Ogogo will fight for the first time in a year after recovering from injury. The 26-year-old, who won bronze at London 2012, has had two operations to fix an Achilles problem. The Briton will return to the ring on Saturday, 18 July in Berlin against an unnamed opponent. “I now feel fitter than I’ve ever felt and ready to send a wake-up call to the middleweight division,” said Ogogo, who has won all of his professional bouts.” Ogogo, a former junior world champion, has also announced he will be joint-promoted by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and German organisation Team Sauerland. “I am incredibly excited by this new partnership and cannot wait to get back in the ring,” he added. Ogogo was born to an English mother and Nigerian father. His full names are Anthony Osezua Ojo Ogogo.
Argentina striker Carlos Tevez has completed his move back to Boca Juniors from Italian champions Juventus. Tevez, 31, started his career at Boca before leaving in 2004 and returns to Argentina after nine years in Europe. Former Manchester United, Manchester City and West Ham forward Tevez struck 20 Serie A goals last season and had been linked with Liverpool, Atletico Madrid and Paris St-Germain. Juventus had already replaced Tevez with Mario Mandzukic from Atletico. Boca Juniors confirmed the transfer while Tevez was on the bench for the Copa America quarter-final against Colombia. Shortly after the announcement was made, Tevez came on to score the winning penalty in a shootout to send Argentina into the last four. Boca president Daniel Angelici said: “It is a day of joy and great satisfaction. The return of Carlos Tevez in an extraordinary moment of his career is fantastic news for all partners and supporters of Boca and Argentine football. The presence of Carlos will give another leap in quality to the great squad we have.” Tevez, who has won three league titles in England and two in Italy, scored 38 goals in 110 games during his first spell at Boca, where he won the league in 2003 and was voted South American Player of the Year for three straight seasons. He left for Brazilian side Corinthians before the 2005 season, and moved to West Ham the following year.
Friday 26 June 2015:
Germany 5 – 4 France (penalty shoot-out after 1-1 draw)
China PR 0 – 1 USA
Germany and USA have qualified for semi final.
West Ham sign French midfielder Dimitri Payet from Marseille on a five-year contract in a deal reportedly worth more than £10m. The outstanding 28-year-old joins the Hammers on a five-year contract, with a further one-year option. Blessed with superlative technical skills, exceptional vision and an inventive range of passing, Payet operates to great effect from his preferred central attacking midfield position, and is sure to add eye-catching flair and creativity to Slaven Bilic’s side. Payet, who becomes West Ham’s third senior summer signing following the captures of Spanish midfielder Pedro Obiang and Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Darren Randolph, is looking forward to bringing his formidable talent to the Barclays Premier League. Payet said the Club’s determination to bring him to east London played a huge part in him deciding to end his hugely successful spell in French football.
The player spoke to Joint-Chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold and new manager Slaven Bilic before putting pen to paper on his West Ham contract. “West Ham really showed me that they wanted me to come, both the Joint-Chairmen and the manager,” Payet told whufc.com. “That’s very important for me. I was also keen to sign up to a clear project. West Ham’s is very interesting and matches perfectly with my ambitions. “Firstly I spoke with the manager, who really wished for me to come here and had been watching me a lot. He made it clear that he wanted me to sign and that too was important in my choice. “I’m an attacking footballer so for sure I like attacking football and that they’re counting on me to help achieve that gives me a sense of responsibility. The fact that I’m here is also down to that. “I’m very happy to be here. It’s true that it’s taken a little while but that’s normal, negotiations are like that. But now that it’s done, I’m very happy.”
Barcelona forward Neymar, who has left Brazil’s Copa America camp after being banned for the tournament, posted a picture of his tattoo of his sister – with his sibling’s face next to it for comparison purposes.
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, 33, will undergo a medical today ahead of his proposed moved to Arsenal. The fee is reportedly £11m and personal terms have been agreed.
Tough to imagine? Not so if you worked for Ghana’s Football Association at the 2014 World Cup where their “equipment officer” earned $100,000. In a 396-page report which investigates the Black Stars’ first-round exit in Brazil, payment for a role also defined as “ball boy” is highlighted. Ismail Hamidu was the lucky recipient of a sum equal to that earned by individual players, doctors, coaches and manager James Kwesi Appiah. The report also found a fee of $5,263 was paid to Ghana’s official drummer. His beat was not enough to help the team beat Portugal in their final group fixture to reach the second round, a match which followed the country’s FA flying $3m out to South America to settle a pay dispute with players. Two sentences in the Dzamefe Report that perhaps sum up the frustrations and difficulties of Ghana’s World Cup campaign are:
The report aims to unpick myriad financial issues surrounding Ghana’s World Cup campaign, including some payments which could not be verified or accounted for. The African side received $8m for their group-stage exit, but spent almost $4m more than that on their campaign from the beginning of qualifying.
The Croatia and Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic has posted an Instagram video of himself flyboarding on holiday. Many footballers are having fun this holiday.
Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny is pictured walking a tiger while holidaying. “Took my new baby for a walk,” he posted on Instagram.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be set to play for Sweden at the 2016 Olympics after a late equaliser against Portugal in the Under-21 European Championship on Wednesday guaranteed the Scandinavians their place in Rio. Simon Tibbling’s 89th-minute strike earned the Swedes a 1-1 draw, a result which sent both sides to the semi-finals as well as securing their Olympic places. Each team can choose three over-age players in their 18-man Olympic squads, and Ibrahimovic said: “If I have the chance to represent my Sweden at an Olympics, why not? We’ll have to see how the situation is… but if I’m available, absolutely.”
Everton have completed the signing of Gerard Deulofeu from Barcelona for £4.3m on a three-year deal. The 21-year-old right winger had a loan spell at Goodison Park during 2013-14 season. “Gerard needs no introduction to anyone here at Everton. We are all well aware of his incredible footballing talent,” said manager Roberto Martinez. “Gerard considers Everton as home and we are getting an even more mature player now than he was a couple of seasons ago.”
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