Sports
Morocco 2022 Race: Super Falcons reach final round, to play Lady Elephants
The Super Falcons fought a tough battle to edge out Ghana’s Black Queens and reach the final round of the qualification series for next year’s Women Africa Cup of Nations to be hosted by Morocco. A lone goal defeat in Accra on Sunday evening meant the nine-time African champions survived with a 2-1 aggregate win over their hosts.
Both teams finished with 10 players after Ghana’s captain Portia Boakye was dismissed for a second bookable offence, and minutes after, Nigeria’s left back Glory Ogbonna was expelled by Ivorian referee Zomadre Sonia Kore.
The lively Princella Adubea got Ghana’s goal midway into the second half as the Super Falcons were expecting adherence to fair play principle.
Afterwards, captain Asisat Oshoala missed an opportunity to draw Nigeria level. With the strong scent of blood, the Black Queens launched onslaught after onslaught but could not get the goal that would have tied the fixture and make penalty shootout inevitable at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The Falcons progressed to the final round where they play the Lady Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire, in February 2022.
Sports
2024 FIFA Best Awards: Lookman, Ekong, Oshoala, Onuachu, others shortlisted
2024 FIFA Best Awards: Lookman, Ekong, Oshoala, Onuachu, others shortlisted
Ademola Lookman and William Troost-Ekong have been shortlisted for best attacker and best defender categories, respectively, of the 2024 FIFA Best awards.
Four Nigerians have been nominated in multiple categories of the 2024 FIFA Best awards.
Ademola Lookman, Wiliam Troost-Ekong, Paul Onuachu and Asisat Oshoala were among the nominees announced by FIFA on Friday.
Lookman, who ranked 14th in the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony, was shortlisted in the Best Attacker category alongside Vinicius Junior, Lamine Yamal, Bukayo Saka, Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, among others.
Troost-Ekong will compete in the Best Defender category against Dani Carvajal, Antonio Rüdiger, William Saliba, Achraf Hakimi, Manuel Akanji, Jonathan Tah and many more.
Onuachu was named among the best goals up for the Puskas Award for his sumptuous bicycle-kick strike in the colours of Trabzonspor against Konyaspor in the Turkish Super League in November 2023.
Oshoala was nominated for the newly introduced Marta Award for the best goal in women’s football. The 30-year-old’s acrobatic strike for Barcelona Femeni against Benfica in the women’s Champions League in November 2023 got the nod.
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Rodri and Vinicius will again go against each other for the men’s best player award. The duo were nominated alongside nine other players, including Jude Bellingham, Mbappe, Toni Kroos and Federico Valverde.
Rodri was crowned the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner in October, a decision that was met with mixed excitement and criticism from fans and footballers alike.
Votes for the 2024 FIFA Best awards will be weighted equally between fans and an expert panel. Fans can cast their votes on the FIFA website until 10 December 2024.
FULL LIST
The Best FIFA Women’s Player nominees
Aitana Bonmati (Spain), Barcelona
Barbra Banda (Zambia), Shanghai Shengli/Orlando Pride
Caroline Graham Hansen (Norway), Barcelona
Keira Walsh (England), Barcelona
Khadija Shaw (Jamaica), Manchester City
Lauren Hemp (England), Manchester City
Lindsey Horan (USA), Olympique Lyonnais
Lucy Bronze (England), Barcelona/Chelsea
Mallory Swanson (USA), Chicago Red Stars
Mariona Caldentey (Spain), Barcelona/Arsenal
Naomi Girma (USA), San Diego Wave
Ona Batlle (Spain), Barcelona
Salma Paralluelo (Spain), Barcelona
Sophia Smith (USA), Portland Thorns
Tabitha Chawinga (Malawi), Paris Saint-Germain/Olympique Lyonnais
Trinity Rodman (USA), Washington Spirit
The Best FIFA Men’s Player nominees
Dani Carvajal (Spain), Real Madrid
Erling Haaland (Norway), Manchester City
Federico Valverde (Uruguay), Real Madrid
Florian Wirtz (Germany), Bayer Leverkusen
Jude Bellingham (England), Real Madrid
Kylian Mbappe (France), Paris Saint-Germain/Real Madrid
Lamine Yamal (Spain), Barcelona
Lionel Messi (Argentina), Inter Miami
Rodri (Spain), Manchester City
Toni Kroos (Germany), Real Madrid (now retired)
Vinicius Jr (Brazil), Real Madrid
The Best FIFA Women’s Coach nominees
Arthur Elias (Brazil), Brazil
Elena Sadiku (Sweden), Celtic
Emma Hayes (England), Chelsea/USA
Futoshi Ikeda (Japan), Japan
Gareth Taylor (England), Manchester City
Jonatan Giraldez (Spain), Barcelona/Washington Spirit
Sandrine Soubeyrand (France), Paris FC
Sonia Bompastor (France), Olympique Lyonnais/Chelsea
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach nominees
Carlo Ancelotti (Italy), Real Madrid
Lionel Scaloni (Argentina), Argentina
Luis de la Fuente (Spain), Spain
Pep Guardiola (Spain), Manchester City
Xabi Alonso (Spain), Bayer Leverkusen
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper nominees
Alyssa Naeher (USA), Chicago Red Stars
Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany), Chelsea/NJ/NY Gotham
Ayaka Yamashita (Japan), INAC Kobe Leonessa/Manchester City
Cata Coll (Spain), Barcelona
Mary Earps (England), Manchester United/Paris Saint-Germain
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper nominees
Andriy Lunin (Ukraine), Real Madrid
David Raya (Spain), Arsenal
Ederson (Brazil), Manchester City
Emiliano Martinez (Argentina), Aston Villa
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy), Paris Saint-Germain
Mike Maignan (France), AC Milan
Unai Simon (Spain), Athletic Club
2024 FIFA Best Awards: Lookman, Ekong, Oshoala, Onuachu, others shortlisted
Sports
EUROPA: Osimhen stars in Galatasaray draw, Man Utd win over Bodo/Glimt
EUROPA: Osimhen stars in Galatasaray draw, Man Utd win over Bodo/Glimt
Super Eagles forward, Victor Osimhen starred and scored for Galatasaray in their 1-1 draw away to AZ Alkmaar in an Europa League tie on Thursday night.
Some reports say the goal was an own goal by Peer Koopmeiners.
But Osimhen has now scored three goals in four Europa League appearances for Galatasaray, and nine goals in 11 games in all competitions for Galatasaray.
Sven Mijnans opened scoring in the second minute for AZ Alkmaar before Osimhen help the visitors equalise in the 43rd minute after leaping to nod home a cross from the right.
At Old Trafford, Manchester United secured a back-to-back win as they defeated Bodo/Glimt 3-2.
The Red Devils opened scoring in the very first minute through Alejandro Garnacho but the visitors fought back through Hakon Evjen and Philip Zinckernagel before Rasmus Højlund equalised by halftime.
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Højlund then scored the winner five minutes into the second half as United make a winning Old Trafford start under new boss Ruben Amorim.
The result boosts United’s chances of a top-eight finish in the Europa League table and automatic qualification for the last 16 in March.
Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspur played a 2-2 draw with AS Roma.
In other Europa League games, Real Sociedad thrashed Ajax 2-0; Nice lost 4-1 to Rangers; Braga thrashed Hoffenheim 3-0; Quarabag lost 4-1 to Lyon; and Anderlecht and Porto played 2-2.
EUROPA: Osimhen stars in Galatasaray draw, Man Utd win over Bodo/Glimt
Sports
Super Eagles drop eight spots in latest FIFA ranking
Super Eagles drop eight spots in latest FIFA ranking
The Super Eagles of Nigeria dropped eight places in the latest men’s ranking released by the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA).
FIFA published the most recent men’s rankings on its official website on Thursday.
The three-time African champions, who were previously placed 36th, are currently in 44th place.
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The Super Eagles have also slipped from fourth to fifth place in Africa.
The West Africans drew one and lost one of their two matches in November.
Morocco remained Africa’s top-ranked country, with Senegal, Algeria, and Egypt coming in second, third, and fourth.
Super Eagles drop eight spots in latest FIFA ranking
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