Saturday, September 17, 2016

Zinedine Zidane confirms that he will be without his two biggest stars on Sunday, with the Portuguese suffering from flu and the Welsh forward battling a hip problem

Ronaldo and Bale both out for Madrid against Espanyol

Real Madrid will be without both Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale for their game against Espanyol on Sunday, Zinedine Zidane has confirmed.
Ronaldo has only just returned to action following a knee injury picked up in the final of Euro 2016 but has been sidelined through illness, while Bale has a knock.
Both players are, however, expected to be fit for Wednesday with Villarreal the visitors to the Bernabeu.
“Cristiano will not travel with us, he has a sore throat

Ballon d’Or returns to original format after L’Équipel, FIFA deal ends

The Ballon d’Or deal between France football and FIFA has ended, the French publication and worldfootball’s governing body announced on Friday.

FIFA and L’Équipe have not renewed their arrangement to organise the trophy – voting for which will return to journalists. FIFA may recover the FIFA World Player award.

The coveted world player of the year award will from now on return to its original home after France Football’s agreement with FIFA finished.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola warned supporters the club cannot achieve success in the Champions League unless they start fully embracing the competition.

Sergio Aguero scored a hat-trick as City opened their Group C campaign with a classy 4-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach on Wednesday in a game that had been postponed on Tuesday due to heavy rain.

But as in previous group-stage games, the Etihad Stadium was far from full, with only 30,270 spectators present in an arena that can hold 53,000 on European nights.

“Our fans, they have to know that we play for them,” Guardiola said.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola warned supporters the club cannot achieve success in the Champions League unless they start fully embracing the competition.

But as in previous group-stage games, the Etihad Stadium was far from full, with only 30,270 spectators present in an arena that can hold 53,000 on European nights.

“Our fans, they have to know that we play for them,” Guardiola said.

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has confirmed David Luiz will make his second debut for the club against Liverpool in the Premier League on Friday.

Luiz, who returned to the west London club from Paris Saint-Germain in a surprise £32 million ($42.7 million, 38 million euros) move on transfer deadline day, will replace injured Blues captain John Terry at Stamford Bridge.
The Brazilian defender’s first spell at Chelsea became known for his habit of making high-profile mistakes.
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville memorably said Luiz looked like he was “being controlled by a 10-year-old in the crowd on a Playstation” after one especially error-strewn display and the 29-year-old was unable to shed that reputation during his time in France.

A 73-year-old man died 45 minutes after his dying wish of meeting Manchester United players came true.

Paddy Lawler, a lifelong supporter of the Red Devils and a prostate cancer patient, had told his family he would love to meet with the United squad before his death.

Despite the request seeming like a long shot, Lawler’s granddaughter, Kayleigh, posted an appeal on Facebook for anyone to help get in touch with the club in order for his wish to be granted.

The post was seen by the cousin on United’s player, Jesse Lingard. The winger, alongside Marcus Rashford, Ashley Young and Timothy Fosu-Mensah, visited Lawler three days later and 45 minutes after the visit, he passed on.

Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney will be rested along with several other stars for the club’s Europa League group match with Dutch side Feyenoord in Rotterdam on Thursday.

The 30-year-old England skipper has been omitted by Jose Mourinho from the squad along with fellow first team regulars, defensive duo Luke Shaw and Ecuadorean Antonio Valencia.

Man Utd player gets lift to airport by police after being held up by doping control

Manchester United fans would have been in a rush to get out of De Kuip after Thursday's 1-0 Europa League defeat to Feyenoord, but one player was almost trapped in Rotterdam, but for the help of police.

Diego Costa motivated to prove critics wrong - Mikel

John Obi Mikel believes Chelsea team-mate Diego Costa's scintillating early-season form can be put down to a desire to prove his critics wrong following a disappointing 2015-16 campaign.
Costa is the current joint-top goalscorer in the Premier League ahead of the Blues' match with Liverpool on Friday after scoring four goals in as many league matches under Antonio Conte.
The Spain international is already just eight goals behind his league tally in what proved to be a difficult campaign for the striker last season.
And Mikel reckons Costa is out to silence any doubters he picked up during his struggles by proving his class under Conte this term.
“I definitely think he can get even better," Mikel told Goal. “He can score more goals, he can help the team even more, but Diego is a player that likes to find and doesn’t give up.
“He knows that everyone had a bad season last year so I think this season he is trying to prove people wrong and he has started well and hopefully he will have a very good season.”

The Umuahia-based side have been slammed with a stadium ban for the behaviour of their fans, and the gaffer says the fans' absence will be a big miss

The Umuahia-based side have been slammed with a stadium ban for the behaviour of their fans, and the gaffer says the fans' absence will be a big miss

Abia Warriors coach Abdullahi Biffo has remained focused despite the sanctions handed out to the club by the League Management Company (LMC).
Warriors have been handed a total fine of N2.5m for the unruly conduct of their fans in an NPFL Match Day 34 fixture against FC Ifeanyi Ubah, with the club now set to play two home matches

The Portuguese is back to face his former club in the tournament he loves the most — but Real relies on him far less these days.

Ronaldo returns in his favorite competition - but Madrid can now function without him

The Portuguese is back to face his former club in the tournament he loves the most — but Real relies on him far less these days.

It is a game he will not have wanted to miss. Cristiano Ronaldo returns against his old club Sporting CP and in his favorite competition: the Champions League. But as he starts his eighth season at Real Madrid, the team is set up to function without him these days. Coach Zinedine Zidane is a big admirer. The Frenchman worked hard to get Ronaldo back on board after replacing Rafa Benitez in January. And it paid dividends: As the team improved, so too did Cristiano — and there was a happy ending in May as Madrid claimed the Champions League.
The Portuguese played his part. He scored 16 goals throughout the competition and his hat trick against Wolfsburg turned over a 2-0 deficit from the first leg in the quarterfinals. Not for the first time in recent years, he had got his team out of jail.
But as Zidane builds for the future, he is keen for Madrid to function with or without Ronaldo. While the 31-year-old is there and still scoring, everyone is content at the Santiago Bernabeu. But there is no longer a feeling that the club depends upon him as it once did.
In the semifinals of the Champions League last season, it was Gareth Bale who forced the winner versus Manchester City — an own goal by Fernando — and

The Premier League side will play its European games at the national stadium this season but will be looking to enjoy better luck there than Arsenal did.

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Saturday, September 10, 2016

Some weeks ago, the self-acclaimed Kokomaster, D’banj, caused a frenzy in the digital space after news broke that he secretly got married to his girlfriend, Lineo Didi Kilgrow.

And since then, the singer has maintained silence on the issue till Saturday Beats caught up with him as he was sensitising the public on his new initiative, CREAM.

While addressing his marital status, the singer said his private life was nobody’s concern and pleaded with the public to keep his family life private.

SCHOOL OF FOUNDATION STUDIES

UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS

Friday, September 9, 2016

I won’t be Oshiomhole’s puppet – Obaseki

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The All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has declared that he will not be a puppet to any godfather if elected governor of Edo State in the Saturday’s election.

Obaseki made the declaration during an interview monitored on Television Continental on Wednesday.

“I will not be a puppet to any godfather or godmother if I become governor of Edo State,” Obaseki said.

The APC candidate said if he needed to be a puppet to anybody, he would rather be a puppet to the good people of Edo State, whose general mandate he was seeking to become their governor.

Obaseki described Governor Adams Oshiomhole as a true democrat who, according to him, does not even like to be seen as a godfather, let alone expect someone to be his puppet.

He commended the achievements of the Adams Oshiomhole administration and promised to continue work on the good template already set by the governor so that he could move the state to greater heights.

Some people say I got successful through diabolical means –Odunlade Adekola

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Yoruba actor, Odunlade Adekola, is waxing stronger everyday and it seems some people are still amazed how he was able to get to this height.

Interestingly, not just a few feel he must have visited a ‘babalawo’ (native doctor), who would have performed some sacrifices for him, which automatically boosted Adekola’s career.

And indeed, the actor, in a chat with Saturday Beats recently, affirmed that some people actually have such perception about his success.

“I never knew I would be successful as an actor; my belief has always been that God should elevate me in my endeavours. I always prayed that God should make me a successful person.