Sports

*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…

By Jacob Steinberg The way Chelsea are run will come as no surprise to new manager Liam Rosenior. He has longstanding relationships with three of the five Sporting Directors and will know from his time at Strasbourg, who are part of the same ownership, that the head coach’s best chance of surviving is not to make the mistake of rebelling against the structure. Rosenior will have to show more political savvy than Enzo Maresca, who talked himself out of the job last week. Yet given the 41‑year‑old is familiar with the working conditions at BlueCo, the investment vehicle that owns…

It’s not supposed to be like this. Nigeria, for at least two decades, have been a team that huffed and puffed, struggled with the weight of their own history and expectation, seemed always less than the sum of their parts. Even as they won the tournament in 2013, or got to the final in 2024, the sense of effort was palpable. Nothing came easily to them. They’re not meant to be a side who canter through last-16 ties. But on a foul night today in Fez, though, the rain leaching across the stadium, Nigeria, inspired by former African Footballer of…

*He Lost Power Struggle Over Transfers Ruben Amorim has been sacked by Manchester United after 14 months as their head coach. The Portuguese departs after a power struggle with the hierarchy over transfer policy, with Amorim demanding his colleagues in the recruitment department “do their job” after Sunday’s draw at Leeds. Amorim believed United were prepared to back him in the January window should a major signing become available but then said last Friday: “We have no conversation to have any change in the squad.” His relationship with the Director of Football, Jason Wilcox, has become strained and Amorim made…

Following the news of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s arrest this weekend, the world’s media focused intently on the geopolitical ramifications of the end of the era. Yet, in the midst of the infamous picture shared by United States (US) President Donald Trump, of Maduro’s capture, not many know of a rather soft side of the Venezuelan leader: His love for FC Barcelona and 8-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi. For years, Maduro was perhaps the most vocal and certainly the most powerful Cule(Barcelona fan) in South America. His love for the club wasn’t just personal; it was deeply woven into…