Sports Briefs
–
NIGERIA’s Flying Eagles team will wait on a final verdict from the Confederation of African Football, CAF, to know if it has qualified for the 2015 African Youth Championship, AYC, in Senegal.
The team walked over Lesotho in Kaduna on Saturday, August 17, after the Southern African country failed to show up for the final AYC qualifier first leg. Lesotho had expressed concerns over the outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Nigeria.
According to Aliyu Auwal Ibrahim, secretary to the team, the Flying Eagles, would remain in their training camp in Abuja until a final notice is received from the CAF.
The team has, therefore, returned to Abuja from Kaduna, where Saturday’s match was to have been played.
The CAF would take a final decision on the match based on the reports of the match commissioner from Benin Republic and referees from Senegal, who were all in Kaduna.
The 2015 AYC holds in Senegal from March 8, with the top four teams winning berths to the 2015 FIFA under — 20 World Cup in New Zealand.
–
Moses Joins Stoke City
VICTOR Moses, Nigerian footballer who plays for Chelsea football club in England joined Stoke City football club on a season-long loan on Saturday, August 16. Moses has been unable to make an impact at Stamford Bridge since moving from Wigan for £9 million ($15 million) in 2012 and spent last season on loan at Liverpool.
The 23-year-old, who can play on both flanks and in a central attacking role, is Stoke’s sixth signing since the end of last season.
Tony Scholes, chief executive of Stoke, said: “We are delighted to have secured the services of such an exciting young talent in Victor. He will certainly add to our attacking options and from talking to him it’s obvious that he’s really excited about the prospect of making an impact in the Premier League with Stoke City.”
Moses, who started his career in England at Crystal Palace, started six Premier League games for Liverpool last term and featured in a further 13 from the bench, scoring his only goal on his debut against Swansea.
He also started all four games at the recent World Cup as Nigeria reached the last 16 before losing to France.
–
Liverpool Better Without Suarez
IS Liverpool football club still a strong team without Luis Suarez? Daniel Sturridge, a former striking partner of Suarez, who left Liverpool for Barcelona football club, believes so. In fact, Sturridge said the Reds, as Liverpool is fondly called, was stronger this season despite an unconvincing start to life without last year’s top scorer.
The Reds required a 79th-minute winner by Sturridge to overcome a determined Southampton side 2-1 at Anfield in their first game of the season on Sunday, August 17. That notwithstanding, when asked if Liverpool was a better team following the departure of Suarez, Sturridge said: “I think so, with the players we’ve brought in. No disrespect – he’s a great player and will be missed – but we move on.”
Uruguay forward Suarez, 27, who moved to Barcelona for £75m, scored 31 times in 33 top-flight appearances as the Reds finished as a runner-up last season.
But it was also obvious that it would take a while for Suarez and Liverpool to get over each other. Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool manager, revealed Suarez sent him a text on the morning of the Southampton game wishing him and the team good luck. “His heart will always be with Liverpool,” Rodgers said.
Liverpool has signed eight new players since the end of last season at a cost of £101m, with one of those – striker Divock Origi – loaned back to Lille.
–
Nadal Pulls Out of US Open
RAFAEL Nadal, the defending champion of World Tennis, is not going participate in this year’s United States Open championship because of an injury to his right wrist.
The world number two suffered the injury in training on July, 29, and missed two warm-up tournaments in Toronto, Canada and Cincinnati in the US.
The 28-year-old had hoped to recover before August 25, when the US Open gets under way at Flushing Meadows. “I am very sorry to announce I won’t be able to play at this year’s US Open,” he wrote on his Facebook page, adding further: “I am sure you understand that it is a very tough moment for me since it is a tournament I love and where I have great memories from fans, the night matches, so many things.
“Not much more I can do right now, other than accept the situation and, as always in my case, work hard in order to be able to compete at the highest level once I am back.”
Nadal has not competed since he was beaten by Nick Kyrgios, Australian teenager, in the fourth round at Wimbledon on July 1.
He announced late last month that he would not be defending either his Rogers Cup title in Toronto or his Western & Southern Open crown in Cincinnati. Both tournaments are key hard-court warm-ups for the US Open, at which Nadal hoped to chase a 15th career Grand Slam title.
The Spaniard beat Serbia’s Novak Djokovic 6-2 3-6 6-4 6-1 to win last year’s title at Flushing Meadows.
— Sep. 1, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT
|
Tags:
