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Breaking: Brave Super Falcons lose to England on penalties

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England scraped through into the quarter-finals of the ongoing Women’s World Cup after beating Nigeria 4-2 on penalties in Brisbane on Monday.

Despite Nigeria having the better of the chances throughout, the European Champions — reduced to 10 players after 87 minutes — snuck home in front of 50,000 spectators after the match had finished 0-0 at the end of extra time

England held on after playmaker Lauren James received a red card for a needless stamp and will know they have to improve if they want to add the World Cup to their European crown.

#ENG HAVE BEATEN #NGA ON PENALTIES!!!

— FIFA Women’s World Cup (@FIFAWWC) August 7, 2023

They will face Colombia or Jamaica on Saturday for a place in the semi-finals.

England got off to a terrible start in the penalty shootout when Georgia Stanway fired wide, but Desire Oparanozie couldn’t take advantage and missed with an almost identical effort.

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Beth England made no mistake, but Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie shot way over top to give England an advantage they never surrendered, sealing the win when Chloe Kelly calmly converted.

The @NGSuper_Falcons were so close to the 2023 #FIFAWWC quarterfinals.

Keep your heads up, the best is yet to come. 💪 pic.twitter.com/IEBsBlEAoS

— CAF Women’s Football (@CAFwomen) August 7, 2023

The Lionesses, who last year won the European Championship at a packed Wembley Stadium in London, were expected to win comfortably against the world’s 40th ranked team.

Our @NGSuper_Falcons are heading to penalties! 🔥

Let’s get a #FIFAWWC quarters ticket! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/iWjpZ5C6dQ

— CAF Women’s Football (@CAFwomen) August 7, 2023

The Nigerians, however, have shown in this World Cup that they have the game to challenge anybody.

They stunned hosts Australia in the group stage, taking advantage of their speed in the transition to score a 3-2 win.

And they employed the same tactics against England, whose back three were regularly exposed by the Nigerian attack.

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England had started the match strongly and rattled Nigeria in the opening skirmishes as the Lionesses found plenty of space out wide.

They also controlled possession, completing 173 passes in the first half to Nigeria’s 83.

But it was the Nigerians who looked the most dangerous and they gave the European champions a real fright on a number of occasions.

England-born Ashleigh Plumptre had two golden chances to open the scoring, the first coming in the 16th minute when a strike from outside the box crashed into the crossbar.

A minute later she forced a fine diving save from Mary Earps.

The Nigerians had eight shots at goal in the first half, three more than England, whose best chance fell to Alessia Russo in the 23rd minute.

The second half followed the same pattern as the first, England dominating possession but Nigeria looking the more dangerous.

Wicked! Lauren James gets marching order for bad tackle

England had a golden chance to seal the match with 15 minutes left only for Chiamaka Nnadozie to pull off a fine save from Rachel Daly’s powerful header.

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The game inevitably went to extra time and again Nigeria looked most likely, Michele Alozie and Oshoala both going close, but neither team could break the deadlock.

AFP

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Arsenal win EPL title after 22 years

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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BREAKING: CAF overturns Afcon final result, declares Morocco winner

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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.

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