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What Man Utd must do to return to glory days – Cristiano Ronaldo

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Cristiano Ronaldo underlined his iconic status last week by reaching a record-breaking milestone of 900 career goals.

Ronaldo turns 40 next February but the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star is showing no signs of slowing down and has already declared his intention to reach 1,000 goals by the time he retires.

While Ronaldo continues to flourish for Portugal and Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, his old club United are facing familiar struggles, back-to-back Premier League defeats piling fresh pressure on beleaguered boss Erik ten Hag.

Ronaldo and Erik Ten Hag did not get on during the forward’s second spell at United, which ended acrimoniously nearly two years ago. In an explosive interview, Ronaldo said he had no respect for Ten Hag and felt “betrayed” by him, leaving United no choice but to terminate his £400,000-a-week deal.


Despite that ugly ending, Ronaldo retains a deep affection for United and has set out what he thinks must happen if they are to get back to the glory days he enjoyed there in his first spell, winning the Premier League, Champions League and being one of the dominant forces in world football.

See also  Cristiano Ronaldo weeps after losing King’s Cup final in penalty shootout

“The club needs time to rebuild, because it’s still one of the best clubs in the world – but they need to change,” Ronaldo told old team-mate Rio Ferdinand. “They understand that this is the only way. This is why they show, they start to change again, the structure of the club, the president, the infrastructures and everything. The owners of the club.

“They’re investing in the training ground. So I’m happy because [things are changing]. I’m not happy the way it all happened, but in the same way, we cannot control some points of our life sometimes, but it’s done, already done.

“But I believe that the future will be bright. I believe, but they don’t depend only on the talents. It’s more than that. It’s all club, all, not only players, club, everything as a unit – united – you know?

“They have to rebuild from the bottom. If not, they cannot compete. It will be impossible. They can do good things, yes, they can win the Carabao Cup, yeah, but I mean, Champions League or Europa League or Premier League? Difficult, in my opinion. I wish that I’m wrong, I wish, but it will be difficult.”

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Ten Hag has been backed in the restructuring of his coaching staff, which included the return of former United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored 150 goals in 219 games for the club.

 

Ronaldo claimed Ten Hag will only turn United’s fortunes around if he listens to Van Nistelrooy, who knows first-hand what it takes to be successful at Old Trafford.

“If Ten Hag listens to Ruud, maybe he can [help himself],” said Ronaldo. “I think it can help a lot, because he knows the club and the club should listen to the guys who were there. You [ Ferdinand ], Roy Keane or Paul Scholes or Gary Neville, whatever, Sir Alex Ferguson. You cannot rebuild a club without knowledge. Not guys who work in the office. They understand.

“The people who understand football are the people who were there in the dressing-room. They know how to deal with the players. It’s the people who understand these things.

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“So I believe that Ruud is going to help, because he was inside the club. He knows the club. He knows the fans. If the coach listens to him, I think they can improve the club a little bit.”

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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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FG  fulfils promises as D’Tigress receive national honours, house documents

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The Federal Government has fulfilled its outstanding promises to the senior women’s national basketball team, D’Tigress, delivering National Honour certificates and title documents for houses in Abuja.

The presentation took place in Lyon, where the African Champions are currently participating  at  the FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament.

The move follows a directive from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu aimed at clearing a backlog of promises made to the team following their 2023 Afrobasket victory in Kigali, Rwanda.

The Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Mallam Shehu Dikko, led the delegation alongside the Director General, Hon. Bukola Olopade. Speaking during the handover, Dikko characterized the prompt delivery as a “clear departure” from previous administrations, where state-promised rewards often faced multi-year delays.

“This is a prompt fulfilment of promises made by a President who leads with action,” Dikko stated. “Mr. President is giving every Nigerian athlete a renewed confidence that sports is a serious business capable of changing lives.”

See also  Cristiano Ronaldo weeps after losing King’s Cup final in penalty shootout

While the physical assets (housing and honours) have been delivered, the NSC Chairman confirmed that the cash rewards promised to the squad are currently in the final stages of administrative processing. He assured the players that disbursement into their respective bank accounts is imminent.

The Director General, Hon. Bukola Olopade, noted that the current administration of President Tinubu  is institutionalizing a “reward system” modelled after developed sporting nations to ensure high-performance outcomes.

President of Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Engr. Musa Kida, credited the Presidency for prioritizing athlete welfare, citing it as a “legacy of a lifetime” for the sports sector.

Head Coach Rena Wakama and Captain Amy Okonkwo formally accepted the documents, affirming that the timely delivery of these incentives would serve as a catalyst for the team’s upcoming international qualifiers.

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BREAKING: Ex-Eagles captainHenry Nwosu dies aged 62

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Henry Nwosu, a former Nigerian international footballer and member of the 1980 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) winning team, has passed away.

He was 62.

His death was confirmed by fellow ex-international Segun Odegbami in a Facebook post on Saturday.

According to Odegbami, Nwosu passed away at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Ikeja after a five-day battle for his life.

He also revealed the details of Nwosu’s final days, stating that the man he fondly called “Youngest Millionaire” died at 4:00 a.m. after being in intensive care since Wednesday.

“After 5 days in hospital battling for his life, the one I call ‘Youngest Millionaire’ passed on at 4:00 am this morning at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos where he had been in Intensive Care since Wednesday,” he wrote.

“It is with deep pain in my heart that I have to be the conveyor of the news of the death of Henry Nwosu MON. May he rest peacefully with our Creator in Heaven.”

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