FA Cup: Chelsea to face Tottenham in semi-final, Arsenal play Manchester City

Chelsea will take on London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-final of this season’s FA Cup.


Antonio Conte’s men qualified for the last four of the competition, after beating holders Manchester United 1-0 on Monday night at Stamford Bridge.

Spurs hammered Millwall 6-0 in their quarter-final clash on Sunday.

In the other semi-final match, Arsenal, who have won the competition twice in the last three years, will face Manchester City.

Cristiano Ronaldo breaks record, becomes 1st player to score in 4 European championships

Real Madrid and Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo has broken another record after his scintillating performance against Hungary in the 3-3 draw last night. He has become the first player to score in four European championships after scoring at the tournament in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016.

Portugal is now set to meet Croatia in the last 16.

Jamie Vardy rejects Arsenal, agrees a new four-year contract extension

Jamie Vardy has snubbed a move to Arsenal and is poised to sign a new four-year contract with Leicester City. The England international has opted to stay with the Midlands club after his goals played a major role in the club’s remarkable Premier League title success of last season and will be rewarded with an improved deal.


Arsenal triggered the release clause in Vardy’s contract at the start of the month and held talks with the England international but the 29-year-old has decided against joining Arsène Wenger’s side in a £22m transfer. Although the news is a blow to Arsenal, Wenger said in a recent interview with Chinese television that he suspected Vardy would remain at the King Power Stadium.

Leicester will be delighted that Vardy has agreed to stay and also hope that his decision to reject the opportunity to join Arsenal can strengthen their chances of holding onto two of their other leading players, N’Golo Kanté and Riyad Mahrez, as they try to keep together the side that were crowned champions last month.

Euro 2016 last 16 draw

With shocks aplenty in the group stages, the draw for the knockout stages is somewhat lopsided with England, Germany, Spain, Italy and hosts France all with similar routes to the final.
Iceland, Hungary, Switzerland and Poland are just some of the teams bidding to make their mark on a major tournament for the first time in many years.

Read the full schedule and fixtures for the next round and quarter finals after the cut.

1. Poland vs Switzerland - Saturday June 25, 2pm, Saint-Etienne

2. Wales vs Northern Ireland- Saturday June 25, 5pm, Paris

3. Croatia vs Portugal- Saturday June 25, 8pm, Lens

4. France vs Republic of Ireland- Sunday June 26, 2pm, Lyon

2018 FIFA World Cup Draw Takes Place On Friday

The draw for the qualifying tournament for the 2018 World Cup in Russia will be staged on Friday by 4pm Nigerian time at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.


Twenty teams will be drawn into five groups of four teams each to play on home and away basis from October 2016 to November 2017 with the overall winners advancing to the World Cup.

The qualifiers include Algeria,Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia, Egypt, South Africa, Mali, Guinea, Cape Verde and Cameroon.

Nigeria have qualified for five World Cups previously – 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014.

They reached the Round of 16 in 1994, 1998 and 2014.

Messi Now All-Time Record Goalscorer For Argentina

Lionel Messi became Argentina's all-time record goalscorer as the South American giant outclassed USA 4-0 to reach the Copa America Centenario final.


Messi curled in a magnificent 32nd-minute free-kick to take his total to 55 goals as the United States' campaign ended with an emphatic defeat in front of a 70,858 crowd at Houston's NRG Stadium.

The five-time world player of the year now has five goals in this Copa America as he aims to lead Argentina to their first major title in 23 years.

The Barcelona forward also created Argentina's opening goal for Ezequiel Lavezzi and was involved in the build-up for their third, scored by Gonzalo Higuain in the 50th minute. Messi then laid on the pass for Higuain's second four minutes from time.

Lebron James leads the Cleveland Cavaliers to their First NBA Championship title in History

The Cleveland Cavaliers are the new NBA champions. This is the first championship for the city of Cleveland in 52 years. The last time they won was in 1964. LeBron James who returned to the Cavaliers 2 years ago struggled to sum up what might be his sweetest championship yet, the one he is so proudly taking home to his native northeast Ohio just as he promised to do when he returned to the Cavaliers.

Wenger confirms Vardy will not be joining Arsenal

Arsene Wenger has admitted Jamie Vardy is set to snub a move to Arsenal in favour of staying at Leicester City.

The Premier League-winning striker's future has been subject to much speculation after Arsenal met his £20 million release clause.


Vardy refused to make a decision on a move to the Emirates Stadium before Euro 2016, preferring to settle matters after the tournament to allow him to focus on his commitments with England.

And now Wenger has dampened any speculation by admitting that, to his knowledge, Vardy will remain a Leicester City player after opting against a summer exit.

"Jamie Vardy is, at the moment at Leicester," the Arsenal boss told Tencent Sports.

"And, on what I know, he will stay at Leicester."

You stole FIFA's money! - Maradona accuses Blatter

Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona on Friday accused FIFA’s former president, Joseph Blatter, of stealing while at the helm of the international football association.



Maradona compared him with a former government official imprisoned for corruption in Argentina, claiming that Blatter has more money than Jose Lopez. Lopez was Argentina’s public works secretary during the governments of Nestor Kirchner (2003 to 2007) and his wife Cristina Fernandez (2007 to 2015).

He was arrested on Tuesday while trying to hide millions of dollars in a monastery. The former World Cup champion asked Loretta Lynch, the U.S. Attorney General investigating corruption within FIFA, to come to Argentina so that she could see things for herself. He said a former Argentina football executive, Julio Grondona, who is already deceased, was the one who taught Blatter to steal.

Lesbianism killIing women football in Nigeria - NFF vice-president

Vice-president of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, Seyi Akinwumi, says one of the problems affecting the growth of women’s soccer team in Nigeria is lesbianism.

The Barrister said this at the weekend when he featured on a sport personality programme ‘Hot Seat’ organised by the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, SWAN, Oyo State chapter, in Ibadan.

According to him, “Lesbianism kills women’s soccer teams.

“People are afraid to talk about it. The coaches take advantage of the girls, so there is much more to build in female football.

“My passion for female football honestly is as great as it is for grassroots football. But in reality, there are lots of problems affecting the growth of women’s football in this country. It costs more and returns less. There is fewer players, less interests, in female football than male football.

Nigerians Mourn The Death Of Shuaibu Amodu

The news of the death of Nigeria Football Federation’s Technical Director and Ex-Super Eagles Coach, Shaibu Amodu, three days after that of another ex-national team coach, Stephen Keshi, has shocked Nigerians and football fans on the continent and beyond.


Following news of Amodu’s demise on Saturday, football lovers, his associates, former players and Nigerians in general have taken to the social media to express their shock and pay tribute to the man who has coached the national more times than any other coach in history.

Among those who took to Twitter were former Nigerian International and ex-Super Eagles Coach, Sunday Oliseh; Senator Shehu Sani; human rights lawyer, Festus Keyamo; and broadcaster, Funmi Iyanda.

Below are some of the tweets.

Prosecutors Seeking Six-month Sentence for Antonio Conte in Match-fixing Case

The prosecutors in charge of the match-fixing trial of newly confirmed manager of Chelsea Antonio Conte will seek a suspended six-month sentence.


The current Italy coach, who will assume his duties at Stamford Bridge following this summer’s European Championships in France, is accused of fraud during the 2010/11 season while in charge of Siena.

Conte is accused of being aware of attempts to fix a match between his side and AlbinoLeffe in May 2011 and failing to report the rumours to the relevant authorities.
Siena, who were second-placed in Serie B and had already been promoted, lost 1-0 to their relegation-threatened opponents, in a result which ultimately helped AlbinoLeffe stay in Italy's second-tier.

Madrid players looking stylish as they arrive in Germany

Real Madrid stars landed in Germany earlier today for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Wolfsburg. More photos after the cut...

Alex Iwobi is a loss to England - Arsene Wenger

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says Alex Iwobi's decision to play for Nigeria and not England is a loss to the Three Lions of England. 19 year old Iwobi has scored in his last two games for Arsenal and in their last match against Watford scored a goals and assisted another, leaving bigger players like Theo Walcott and Joel Campbell on the bench.

 

England persuaded Iwobi and his family to play for them after evaluating his talent and enormous potential but the attacker, who is also nephew to Austin Jay Jay Okocha opted to play for the country of his birth- Nigeria.

“Is he a loss for England? Yes,” Wenger said. 

“We have values in our club that are maybe not rated always, but one of them is to give a chance to young people and educate them. “Every year we bring players out and not many can say that. I’m happy Alex is one of them.”

Chelsea Confirm Conte as New Chelsea Manager

Last month, Italian football federation (FIGC) president Carlo Tavecchio announced that Conte will step down as Italy coach when his contract expires after the European Championship, adding that the 46-year-old had told him that he wanted to "get back to day-to-day coaching."

Chelsea have now confirmed that Conte, who has signed a three-year deal, has been appointed as the full-time successor to Jose Mourinho, who was sacked in December after presiding over a disastrous Premier League title defence.

"I am very excited about the prospect of working at Chelsea Football Club. I am proud to be the coach of the national team of my country and only a role as attractive as manager of Chelsea could follow that," Conte told Chelsea's official website.

"I am looking forward to meeting everyone at the club and the day-to-day challenge of competing in the Premier League. Chelsea and English football are watched wherever you go, the fans are passionate and my ambition is to have more success to follow the victories I enjoyed in Italy.

You think Premier League title is easy - Wenger

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger vowed that his side will not give up on the Premier League title after closing the gap on leaders Leicester City to eight points. Saturday’s 4-0 victory over Watford came on the back of a win at Everton before the international break and maintained the pressure on Leicester, who host Southampton on Sunday.

Victory also enabled Arsenal to close to within four points of north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, who dropped points in a 1-1 draw at Liverpool.

Wenger, whose side have seven games remaining, said: “We want to focus on the way we play and keep the quality very high. Then we’ll see where we are. We will fight until the end to have a chance. “The only way we can achieve that is by playing games with our team quality. That is based on our movement, on our technical ability to play at the highest level and at the highest pace. “Let’s focus on the next game.

I am learning from Ozil - Iwobi

Arsenal youngster Alex Iwobi said his current rise in profile was down to teammate and German international Mesut Ozil. Iwobi scored in yesterday’s 4-0 thrashing of Watford at the Emirates Stadium.


It was his second goal for the Gunners in back to back Premier League matches. Iwobi broke into the Gunners first team over the past fortnight and scored his first senior goal in a 2-0 victory over Everton. “Whereas I’m in the same position as him, I’m learning each day how to play, how he gets a lot of space and assists his goals and gets goals,” Iwobi told Goal.

 “Each day at training he’s helping me and I’m learning from him just by watching him.” Ozil has also provided 19 assists in the Premier League – the highest in the league – and also has seven goals in all competitions this season.

ElClasico: Ronaldo ends Barca’s unbeaten run

Cristiano Ronaldo’s late goal gave 10-man Real Madrid victory in El Clasico and ended La Liga leaders Barcelona’s 39-match unbeaten run.
Gerard Pique’s powerful downward header from a corner had given Barca a 56th-minute lead after a tense first half.
Karim Benzema’s brilliant scissor kick made it 1-1, before Gareth Bale had a goal harshly ruled out for a push.
After Real captain Sergio Ramos was dismissed for receiving two bookings, Ronaldo’s superb finish won the game.
Ronaldo’s winner will undoubtedly grab the headlines, particularly as it has helped Real salvage some pride from a poor season to date, but the balance of the side was crucial to the victory.
Under Rafa Benitez, Real were overwhelmed 4-0 by Barcelona at the Bernabeu in November, but they showed far more steely edge at the Nou Camp.

Be patient with Louis van Gaal: Alex Ferguson

Former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has defended current manager Louis van Gaal, saying success will return to the club.

Van Gaal has failed to win a trophy in almost two years in charge, but Ferguson had to wait four years for his first silverware – sparking a run of 38 trophies in the next 22 years.

“For 150 years of history it is worth having a couple of years on the quiet side of success because they will always come back and come back strong,” Ferguson told Sky Sports.

“You have to have some patience being a Manchester United fan and they have shown that over the years; in Matt Busby’s time, in my time.”

Van Gaal has won titles in Spain, Germany and the Netherlands, as well as the Champions League with Ajax in 1995.

United have only won the Community Shield since Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, with his replacement David Moyes not even lasting a season before Van Gaal’s appointment.

David Haye pledges 10% of his next fight earnings to hospitalized Nick Blackwell

Middle weight division boxer, Nick Blackwell, remains in an induced coma following injury to the brain during his defeat by Chris Eubank Jr on Saturday. British boxer David Haye has pledged to donate 10% of his earnings from his next fight to Blackwell and his family.

David Haye's next fight against the unbeaten Kosovan Arnold Gjergjaj will be televised on a freeview platform and 10% of it's ticket proceedings will be donated to Blackwell to aid his recovery.


“I decided on this straightaway because of the reality of the situation now for Nick. It will be a miracle if the Boxing Board of Control ever allowed him to fight again with such a serious injury. His boxing career is almost certainly over. He has dedicated his life to the sport. I spoke to George Groves and Carl Froch who he worked with in sparring, and the guy is one of the toughest sparring partners around.” Haye added: “How is he going to earn his money now? He was an apprentice bricklayer. He still has bills to pay. When he comes round, not being able to do his job will make things difficult.” “I thought the least I could do is donate 10 per cent of the ticket sales to someone who has given so much. He gave everything in that fight. If he was a quitter in any way, shape, or form, if he didn’t put his life on the line in that fight, he would not be in hospital now. He is unfortunately a victim of his own strengths. He would have gone 12 rounds. Then it would have got really dangerous. I’m so pleased the referee and the doctor saw that something was not right. “It was touching to see Chris Eubank Snr worrying for the other guy. I have never seen compassion like it. Senior has been in exactly the same position his son was in. He has seen the signs. He’d been there before.” "Nick is only in that situation because he's so tough and is one of those boxers who goes out there and puts it on the line," Haye said at the London O2 Arena during a pre-fight press conference yesterday. "It feels nice to be back again and getting in the ring so soon. I said from the start I want to fight regularly and get some momentum back in my career," Haye said in his press conference today.