Chelsea striker Diego Costa will undergo tests in London today to assess whether he can remain in the Spain squad for their upcoming internationals against Ukraine and Holland. Costa limped off with a hamstring injury in the second half of Chelsea’s 3-2 win at Hull on Sunday. The Spanish federation (RFEF) said in a statement: “Costa will undergo tests on Monday in London and the results will be available to Spain’s medical staff for their evaluation.”
World number one Novak Djokovic recovered from a second-set battle to beat Roger Federer 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 in the BNP Paribas Open final. The Serb had dominated the opening set at Indian Wells but the Swiss rallied in the second set, coming from a break down to win the tie-break. Djokovic, 27, seemed rattled both by Federer and the crowd in the decider. But he regained his composure to win his 50th career title and his fourth Indian Wells crown. “All the hard work I have done in the off-season has paid off,” eight-time grand slam title-winner Djokovic told BBC Sport. “Nothing has been handed to me. I had to earn this, to fight for it with all the commitment to my everyday routine with my team. Hopefully I can use this confidence for the rest of the season. It’s a great start.”
Saturday 21 March 2015:
Man City 3 – 0 West Brom
Aston Villa 0 – 1 Swansea
Newcastle 1 – 2 Arsenal
Southampton 2 – 0 Burnley
Stoke 1 – 2 Crystal Palace
Tottenham 4 – 3 Leicester
West Ham 1 – 0 Sunderland
Sunday 22 March 2015:
Liverpool 1 – 2 Man Utd
Hull 2 – 3 Chelsea
QPR 1 – 2 Everton
Sunday 22 March 2015:
Enyimba 1 – 0 Bayeslsa United
Taraba 0 – 0 Lobi Stars
Sharks 1 – 0 Akwa United
Ifeanyi Uba FC 1 – 0 Enugu Rangers
Giwa 1 – 0 Sunshine Stars
El-Kanemi Warriors 3 – 1 Abia Warriors
Wikki Tourist 1 – 1 Kwara United
Heartland 5 – 2 Nasarawa United
Flying Eagles of Nigeria defeated Senegal 1-0 to win the 20th edition of the African U20 Championship played on Sunday night at the Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor in Dakar. This is Nigeria’s seventh title in this continental category and it is a record extending feat. It took a first half wonder strike from Bernard Bulbwa for Nigeria to win this year’s title.
In an earlier match, Ghana defeated Mali 3 – 1 to win the third place match. Ghana’s Yaw Yeboah was named player of the tournament as Bulbwa (Nigeria) got the man of the match for the final, while Musa Muhammed (Nigeria) won the tournament’s top scorer award with four goals all gotten from the penalty spot.
Sunday 22 March 2015:
Enyimba vs Bayeslsa United 4pm
Taraba vs Lobi Stars 4pm
Sharks vs Akwa United 4pm
Ifeanyi Uba FC vs Enugu Rangers 4pm
Giwa vs Sunshine Stars 4pm
Dolphins vs Warri Wolves 4pm
El-Kanemi Warriors vs Abia Warriors 4pm
Wikki Tourist vs Kwara United 4pm
Heartland vs Nasarawa United 4pm
Shooting Stars vs Kano Pillars 4pm
Saturday 21 March 2015:
Man City vs West Brom 1:45 pm
Aston Villa vs Swansea 4 pm
Newcastle vs Arsenal 4 pm
Southampton vs Burnley 4 pm
Stoke vs Crystal Palace 4 pm
Tottenham vs Leicester 4 pm
West Ham vs Sunderland 6:30 pm
Sunday 22 March 2015:
Liverpool vs Man Utd 2:30 pm
Hull vs Chelsea 5 pm
QPR vs Everton 5 pm
This year’s German Grand Prix has been withdrawn from the calendar after F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone failed to reach an agreement with the race promoters. Hockenheim, which hosted the 2014 race and is supposed to alternate each year with the Nurburgring, had been due to stage the event again this year after the Nurburgring deal fell through. However, Hockenheim’s owner told a German newspaper this week that the circuit would not be ready in time to stage the race on the weekend of 17-19 July. The FIA has now confirmed the race will not be on the calendar, meaning there will only be 19 races this season.
Johnny McKinstry, the 29-year-old Northern Irishman, has been appointed manager of Rwanda. McKinstry previously led Sierra Leone into the top 50 of the FIFA world rankings as the youngest manager in international football. “His new appointment will see him take charge of not only the Rwanda national Team, but also the U23 and U20 teams; with qualification games this year for AFCON 2017, the 2018 World Cup, as well as the 2016 Olympics.”
Relegation-threatened Romanian club Otelul Galati are taking legal action against a referee after his “disastrous performance” in their goalless draw in a domestic league match against CSMS Iasi on Wednesday. “Otelul Galati will sue referee Marian Balaci because he influenced the outcome of the game against CSMS Iasi,” Otelul, 2011 Romanian champions, said in a statement on Friday. “He came here to rob us,” Otelul’s administrative manager Vlad Rapisca said. After seven successive matches without a win, Otelul slumped to 17th place with 15 points from 22 games, nine adrift of safety.
Sue referee ke? Hmmmm…. wahala dey o!
A great swathe of the Earth’s surface was plunged into darkness today as the Moon came between the Earth and the Sun. This is called solar eclipse.
Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick has signed a one-year contract extension that will keep him at Old Trafford until June 2016. Carrick, 33, has made 376 appearances in his United career and scored 23 goals, having joined the club in 2006. United boss Louis van Gaal described Carrick as his “second captain”
Sevilla vs Zenit St Petersburg
Dnipro vs Club Brugge
Dynamo Kiev vs Fiorentina
Wolfsburg vs Napoli
The first legs are on 16 April, with the return matches on 23 April.
Paris St-Germain vs Barcelona
Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid
Porto vs Bayern Munich
Juventus vs Monaco
The first legs are on 14-15 April, with the return matches on 21-22 April.
Clubs will be paid a total of £142m for releasing players for each of the next two World Cups, Fifa has announced. The deal covers the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the winter tournament to be held in Qatar four years later. The agreement, which aims for stronger integration between international and club football, is a significant increase on the current deal of £47m. It comes as the United States emerged as early favourites to host the 2026 World Cup pending a decision in 2017. The player release deal was established before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. According to the world governing body, the agreement aims to “further enhance consideration of club football interests at Fifa level”.
Nigerian football officials have said Bolivia “chickened out” of an international friendly in the African country, BBC reports. The nations were due to meet on 25 March but the South American country pulled out of the fixture citing security concerns. Nigeria will now face Uganda instead in the of Uyo in Akwa Ibom state. The Nigeria Football Federation said: “Bolivia chickened out at the eleventh hour despite signing a contract.” In a statement on its website, the NFF official Jairo Pachon added: “We certainly will have time to deal with the Bolivia matter in a few days, but our concentration has been on getting a replacement for them. “Their excuses do not hold any water. But we have spoken to our lawyers and will approach Fifa on the matter.” Bolivia pulled out of the fixture because “armed conflict and the tense political situation in Nigeria” – Boko Haram, the Islamist militant group active in the north east of the country, has killed thousands of people in its drive to establish an Islamic state. Nigerian officials said everything was in place to ensure a hitch-free game. Super Eagles goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama will win his 100th cap if he features against the Cranes.
Sunday 22 March 2015:
Third Place Match:
Ghana vs Mali 4:30pm
Final:
Nigeria vs Senegal 7:30pm
Semifinal Results:
Wednesday 18 March 2015:
Nigeria 2 – 0 Ghana
Thursday 19 March 2015:
Mali 1 – 2 Senegal
Harry Kane has been named in Roy Hodgson’s England squad for the first time. The Tottenham striker is in a 24-man squad to face Lithuania and Italy later in the month. His top form has yielded dividends. Congrats Harry.
Frenchman Alain Giresse has been appointed coach of Mali for the second time. The former France international was coach of the west African country from 2010 to 2012, taking them to third place at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations but quit soon after when he rejected new contract terms. Giresse had been Senegal coach for the last two years but his contract was not renewed after they failed to get out of their group at the last Cup of Nations earlier this year.
Naija Sports Crib 