Sports

High stakes as Eagles, Ghana battle for World Cup ticket

Published

4 years ago

March 29, 2022

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Without doubt, battles between Nigeria and Ghana are usually fierce ones and today’s encounter between both sides at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja will not be different as they vie for one of the five African tickets for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The Super Eagles host the Black Stars in the second leg of the final play-off for the World Cup, after the first leg ended 0-0 at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi on Friday, leaving this fixture evenly poised as both West African archrivals battle for a place at the biggest football showpiece in the world.

A tough challenge awaits Austin Eguavoen’s side, as they hope to qualify for a seventh appearance at the Mundial.

The 60,000-capacity Abuja stadium will be filled up for the mouth-watering clash after the Confederation of African Football gave approval to the Nigeria Football Federation to have full capacity.

The Eagles will hope to replicate the 2001 feat, when they held Ghana 0-0 in Accra before beating the Black Stars 3-0 in Port Harcourt courtesy of a first-half brace from Tijani Babangida plus a strike from Victor Agali to reach the 2002 edition in Korea/Japan.

However, there are growing concerns among some Nigerians, as the Eagles take on their long-time rivals in Abuja.

The three-time African champions have home support in Abuja, but arguably not the advantage, with Ghana knowing how valuable an away goal could be. They’ll also be emboldened by their performance in the midfield, where a trio of Thomas Partey, Iddrisu Baba and Mohammed Kudus impressed against Nigeria’s pair.

Without injured Wilfred Ndidi, the Super Eagles are missing arguably their most influential player, and, despite his promise, FC Lorient’s Innocent Bonke is a far inferior version of the Leicester City man. A combination of Ndidi’s absence and Ghana’s extra man in midfield completed ceded initiative to the Black Stars, and if Augustine Eguavoen doesn’t correct his errors in the return leg, then Nigeria could be Africa’s most high-profile World Cup absentee.

The Eagles are winless in their last six meetings with Ghana across (D3, L3) since a 1-0 victory in the AFCON back in 2006 – although each of the last three meetings ended goalless.

They have lost just one of their last 43 World Cup qualifiers (W28 D14), with that defeat coming against Central African Republic in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.

Ghana on their part are winless in their last five games across all competitions (D2 L3) since a 1-0 victory against South Africa in the current World Cup qualifying campaign.

The Black Stars have also lost just one of their last 11 World Cup qualifiers (W5 D5), conceding just six goals in total during this period and never more than once in a game.

Sports

Arsenal win EPL title after 22 years

Published

2 weeks ago

May 19, 2026

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Arsenal are English Premier League (EPL) champions after Manchester City failed to win at Bournemouth.

Pep Guardiola’s Man City drew 1-1 with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium to hand Arsenal an unassailable four-point lead with just one match remaining to the end of the season.

The Gunners win the EPL title for the first time in 22 years, since the legendary Invincible side won it in the 2003/04 season.

In the club’s 100th season without relegation from the EPL, the club will celebrate its centenary participation with a league title won on the back of a record 28 EPL wins that surpassed the 26 wins recorded by the Invincibles. The defence prevented opponents from registering a shot on target in six matches, equaling a 23-year league record, and also scored a record 17 goals from corner kicks.

Mikel Arteta’s tough side has led the table for most of the season before a late mini-collapse, and Man City’s late surge in form nearly threatened their title ambition for a second season in a row.

City’s late resurgence, however, was initially stunned by Everton in early May and completely collapsed against Bournemouth.

Guardiola’s side visited the Vitality Stadium aware that any result other than a victory would seal Arsenal’s title. But they lacked the execution for the mission after falling to a wonderful strike from Junior Kroupi in the first half.

City were only kept in the game by Bournemouth’s profligacy in front of goal. When Erling Haaland’s equaliser was squeezed home in the eleventh hour of the game, even the most faithful City supporter knew it was too little, too late.

Arsenal and Arteta secured the league earlier than they would have predicted, giving City a prodigious title run-in.

The league triumph is Arteta’s second major title with the North London club since joining in December 2019, adding to the English FA Cup trophy won within six months of his tenure in May 2020.

The 44-year-old Spaniard wins his fourth title overall and can win his fifth — and third major trophy — with victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League final next weekend.

Sports

WrestleMania 42: Nigerian wrestler Oba Femi beats 10-time WWE Champion Brock Lesnar

Published

2 months ago

April 20, 2026

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Nigerian professional wrestler, Isaac Odugbesan, popularly known as Oba Femi, defeated 10-time WWE Champion, Brock Lesnar, on his WrestleMania debut on Sunday.

The clash, one of the headline matches at WrestleMania 42, ended on a dramatic note as the 27-year-old Nigerian overpowered the veteran.

Lesnar left his wrestling gear in the ring after the match — a gesture widely regarded in professional wrestling as a sign of retirement.

Oba Femi, also known as “The Ruler,” is a former NXT champion and has spent just three months on WWE’s main roster.

The contest began with both wrestlers testing each other’s strength before Lesnar briefly seized control with a series of offensive moves.

However, Femi absorbed the pressure and responded with a dominant display, shifting momentum in his favour.

Lesnar delivered an F5, but Femi quickly recovered, hitting a chokeslam before finishing the contest with his “Fall From Grace” sit-out powerbomb for the pinfall victory.

The bout quickly became a major talking point on social media, with fans reacting to the upset win.

Femi, a former shot put athlete, is a two-time NXT Champion and a one-time NXT North American Champion.

Born in Lagos, Odugbesan competed in track and field during his school years before signing with WWE in 2021 through its NIL programme.

He went on to win the 2023 NXT Men’s Breakout Tournament and the 2024 Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge.

During the WrestleMania Sunday post-show, Femi sent a message to Roman Reigns, popularly known as the “Original Tribal Chief,” drawing a loud reaction from fans as he hinted at a possible title challenge before the end of the year.

Sports

BREAKING: CAF overturns Afcon final result, declares Morocco winner

Published

3 months ago

March 17, 2026

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The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has overturned the result of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals and declare MOROCCO the winner of the title.

Senegal beat Morocco 1-0 in the final on 18 January in a match which was overshadowed when the Senegalese players refused to play after the hosts were awarded a stoppage-time penalty with the match goalless.

Following a delay of around 17 minutes, the players did eventually return and Brahim Diaz’s penalty was saved before Senegal’s Pape Gueye scored an extra-time winner.

However, that result has now been overturned by CAF.

A statement by the African Football’s Governing Body said that Senegal are “declared to have forfeited the final match” with the “result of the match being recorded as 3-0 in favour” of Morocco.