Sports

Emmanuel Uja is a popular name in Benue State. A respected journalist, he has served at the topmost levels of the profession and worked with some of the biggest newspapers in the country. A keen football lover, he literally breathes the sport 24 hours a day. Recently, he fielded questions online from People&Politics Editor, FELIX DURUMBAH. Excerpts: People&Politics: Not long ago, Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia appointed you as Media Director, Lobi Stars FC of Makurdi, the state's biggest football club. How did you feel on receiving news of the appointment? Uja: I feel great and excited because I have…

*Arsenal, Bayern Qualify Already With A Game Left By Nicholas Som The league phase of the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League has brought plenty of thrills and incredible goals, but the knockout rounds are fast approaching. It's less than one week away from knowing which 24 teams will advance for a shot at European glory. But first, the final matchweek of the league phase must be played, and the stakes could hardly be higher for some of the continent's biggest clubs. Liverpool, Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur and reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) are all competing for top-eight spots, which would send them…

After losing out to Morocco via penalties in the battle to qualify for tomorrow's final of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Nigeria's Super Eagles were determined not to sink below the top 3 in the overall standings when they faced off today versus the Pharaohs of Egypt in Morocco. The third place match -Egypt having been beaten to the final by Senegal within the week -promised to be a battle of wits and grit as neither team wanted to go home without the bronze medal. In the end, it was the Super Eagles who nicked the penalty shootout 4-2,after…

Carrick Kicks Off With Tricky Derby Task Can the 198th derby be any spicier for Manchester United and their latest interim manager, Michael Carrick? This is his second caretaker tenure, though the three games of November-December 2021 (beating Villarreal and Arsenal, drawing with Chelsea) hardly compares with sending out an XI to try to beat Manchester City in today’s early kick-off. Pep Guardiola’s high-performing unit remain in contention on all fronts. Carrick takes charge of a United suffering the aftershocks of a latest manager sacking, hoping to salvage the season via European qualification. The lad from Wallsend has 17 games…

*Morocco Target First AFCON Trophy In 22 Years By Felix Durumbah,Abuja As many football-loving Nigerians continue to do a post-mortem on Super Eagles' Wednesday night's shock ouster from the final of ongoing African Cup of Nations (AFCON) and seek to explain it away with one reason or the other, the debate is yet to subside. Some fans on social media have even gone to the clearly ridiculous extent of evaluating the loss along ethnic lines: That Nigeria's losing penalty takers, Sam Chukwueze and Bruno Onyemaechi, allegedly did so deliberately because they hail from a particular 'grumbling' part of the country…

*Los Blancos' Woes Pile Up *I Have Failed Lots Of Times In Life, With Knockouts More Painful Than This, Arbeloa Says For 20 minutes of Álvaro Arbeloa’s debut as manager of Real Madrid on Wednesday night, the fog came down and no one could see any football. For the other 70, they couldn’t either. Not from his team, at least. From Albacete Balompié, 17th in the second division, they witnessed something magical. An outrageous goal scored with single second to go was the perfect end to the greatest story they ever told, history made. When the final whistle went, Madrid…

At the expense of Nigeria, Morocco advanced to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final on penalties, beating the Super Eagles 4-2 in the final shootout after their semi-final ended goalless after extra time,on Wednesday night. Yassine Bounou saved two spot kicks for the tournament hosts, keeping out Samuel Chukwueze and Bruno Onyemaechi’s efforts. Nigeria keeper Stanley Nwabali denied Hamza Igamane with the first save of the shootout, but it proved to be in vain. Youssef En Nesyri stepped up to convert Morocco’s fifth penalty, sealing victory and a first appearance in the AFCON final since 2004, when they lost…

Xabi Alonso has left his job as coach of Real Madrid, only seven months after arriving for his first day at the club’s Valdebebas training ground. A brief statement announced his departure “by mutual consent” on Monday evening after Madrid’s 3-2 defeat in the final of the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona the previous night. He will be replaced, at least in the short term, by his former Real Madrid and Liverpool teammate and friend Álvaro Arbeloa, who was coach of Castilla, Madrid’s B team. Alonso had been on the edge over the last month, with the defeat at Liverpool…

Point proven? Well, not exactly. Just when Arsenal looked ready to lay down a real marker for their title aspirations, a rejuvenated Liverpool side that has been through the wringer since they were crowned champions last season, showed the Gunners remain fallible. It could have been even worse for Mikel Arteta’s side if Liverpool had been awarded one of two potential penalties or if Conor Bradley’s brilliant chip had not struck the crossbar in the first half. The Liverpool defender’s night ended with him departing on a stretcher after a frustrated Gabriel Martinelli tried to push him off the pitch…

*Fulham’s Wilson Piles Pain On 10-man Chelsea As Rosenior Watches On Few things in life can be more awkward than sitting next to your new boss while 3,000 malcontents bellow abuse at him. On the bright side, at least this was a crash course in the modern Chelsea for Liam Rosenior. The new head coach saw poor defending undermine flashes of defiance, witnessed his erratic side collect their eighth red card of the season, and heard the away end at Craven Cottage spend much of the second half aim mutinous chants in the direction of Behdad Eghbali, the club’s co-controlling…