France Football magazine names Alex Iwobi among Africa's top five players in Europe

Top football magazine, France Football have named Alex Iwobi among the top five best African players in Europe in the last one week.

See How Sakho stifled the Dortmund attack

Mamadou Sakho was at his dominant best during Thursday evening's 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final, and LFCTV GO subscribers can now take a closer look at his display.

Sunday Oliseh asks for prayers after Belgium bomb blast

Ex-Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh who lives in Belgium with his family has asked his fans on Twitter to pray for him after this morning's bomb attacks in Brussels, Belgium.

Serena Williams fires back after Indian Wells CEO's sexist remarks

Serena Williams
holds up her runner-up trophy after losing to
Victoria Azarenka, of Belarus, in a final at the
BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, Sunday,

English FA make last-ditch effort to convince Jay- Jay Okocha's nephew Alex Iwobi to play for England instead of Nigeria

The English Football Association is set to make a last ditch effort to convince Arsenal starlet Alex Iwobi to play for England, and not Nigeria.

The 19 year old, who is also nephew to Legendary African footballer Austin Jay-Jay Okocha, has been a regular in the Arsenal first team this season and last weekend scored his first premier league goal for Arsenal.

Iwobi has played for England's Under-16, U17 and U18 sides before choosing to represent Nigeria, the country of his birth after being convinced by Sunday Oliseh and his uncle Jay Jay Okocha..

Alex Iwobi has played in two friendlies for Nigeria, but won’t be officially tied to them until he plays a competitive game for Nigeria, meaning England have about five days to convince him to change his mind.

Read the report from MirrorSport below...

''Iwobi is in line to make his competitive debut THIS WEEK after being named in Nigeria’s squad for their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying double header against Egypt, who they host this Friday before the away return next Tuesday.' That has prompted desperate late attempts from the FA to try to get Iwobi to change his mind.

There is no suggestion Iwobi will be fast-tracked into the senior England set-up and handed a premature call-up. But FA chiefs do see him as a potential future Three Lions international and know their hopes of landing him will be dashed if he plays in Nigeria’s upcoming games. 

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has backed up the FA’s views on Iwobi by giving the youngster a glowing reference.'' ''He is understood to have told the FA the player has a big future at the North Londoners and, having let him get away once, they should do everything possible to try to get him back.''

Cristiano Ronaldo Shows Off His Porsche

He shared it on instagram...

Photos: See Footballer Paul Pogba's new haircut

As in?

Super Eagles goalkeeper, Carl Ikeme, shares adorable pic with his daughter

Carl shared the photo on his Instagram page and wrote "Miss the days of you falling asleep on me. Enjoy it fully".

Cute pic of Odion Ighalo's daughter

Footballer Odion Ighalo shared this cute photo of his stylish daughter and called her his 'WCW'

Glamour model, Chloe Saxon says Adam Johnson denied having a child just because he wanted to bed her

Chloe Saxon has revealed that the former Sunderland and England star Adam Johnson denied having a daughter or girlfriend just so he could have sex with her. According to her, this happened weeks before the beginning of his court trial, as he even said his child belonged to his sister.

Speaking to The Sun, Chloe said she regretted meeting the footballer  as he is a sex addict:

 “His behaviour was seedy and perverted .He made no mention of having a family and actually lied to cover them up. He pretended they didn’t exist, which is sick.”

Johnson and Chloe had been in a three-month relationship in 2011 before she dumped him over rumours he was seeing Katie Price. But last December he invited her to Sunderland FC’s London Christmas party at posh venue Drama in Park Lane, just a few weeks before he was due on trial for sex offences against a girl of 15.
 She said:

“I thought it would be fun to have a night out. But I made it absolutely clear to him that I wanted my own hotel room. There was absolutely no way I was going to sleep with him.

“He kept asking me what I was going to wear. He’s obsessed with my tattoos, which are on my back and thigh, and was complaining that they wouldn’t be on show.

“All night Adam was telling the other guys to stay away from me. He was all over me, like he was claiming me as his own. He would even follow me to the toilet.

“He was drinking loads, downing tequila from the bottle. I was the only woman there. It seemed like he’d brought me to show me off to his friends.”

At about 1am, Chloe and Johnson went back to her hotel room.
Chloe said:

“He was really drunk but I’d only had a couple of glasses of champagne. I just wanted some sleep.Then he got into my bed. I said, ‘No, no, no, you need to go to your own room, right now’.

“I walked round to the side of the bed to make my point and he put his hand up my dress and grabbed my thigh. I was shocked but managed to pull away.He said, ‘I just want to see your tattoos’, but I was very firm and told him to get out. He tried to claim he couldn’t walk, so I escorted him out and down the corridor.

“When we reached his door, he grabbed my head and pulled it toward his to try and kiss me. Our lips touched but I pushed him away and said, ‘No Adam’, then walked quickly back to my room and shut the door.

“He texted me several times begging me to come back to his room, and telling me I had to stay another night, but I just ignored him.”

The next morning Chloe bumped into Johnson and his team-mates in the lobby.

“He was making loads of comments about my boobs, telling me to tell everyone what size they were.I also overheard him make a crude remark to one of his friends behind my back, along the lines of, Look at the t*ts on that’.I felt very uncomfortable. I got away from there as quickly as I could and got the next train back to Sheffield.

“He was relentless. It was really bad. If I was younger or didn’t know how to look after myself it would have been very frightening. I was in London for less than 24 hours, and in that time he repeatedly tried to come on to me and made inappropriate comments.

Later when the court case hit the headlines that was when she realized , the baby was Adam Johnson's.I couldn’t believe my eyes. I immediately noticed how much that baby looked like him. It was definitely his.

“It’s disgraceful. He acted like he was single. If I had known he had a girlfriend, let alone a baby, I would never have gone to the party with him.I feel terrible for his girlfriend. He should have been at home with her and his daughter, trying to do right by them, rather than partying and chatting up other women.He doesn’t care, he’s got no conscience. He thinks he’s invincible.He just wanted to drink and shag. It makes me feel used. I wish I’d never met him.

“He was incredibly arrogant, especially considering what he had done to this poor girl. He knew what he’d done, and what was going to happen.If I were him I’d be hiding, not going out in London. It’s like he didn’t think his actions would have any consequences. What he was doing to that young girl was terrible. She must have been terrified. And when you look at her texts to him, you can see she is a kid.

“He wanted to have complete control over her.There isn’t a platonic bone in his body. He is sex obsessed. When we were dating he always wanted to have sex, constantly talked about it, texted me about it.

“He’s a scumbag. I feel like I was fooled by him. He should be sent to prison for a long time. They need to make an example of him.

“He had the world at his feet ,successful career, gorgeous girlfriend, baby daughter , but now he deserves to lose everything.”

Adam Johnson is set to be sent to jail for sex crimes against an underage.

Guus Hiddink has his eyes on Europe after Chelsea win again

Guus Hiddink was targeting a strong season finale for Chelsea after a 2-1 win at Carrow Road which sent Norwich into the relegation zone.
Chelsea climbed to eighth, five points behind fifth-placed Manchester United and eight adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City with their third straight Premier League win, which came amid controversy as Diego Costa's decisive goal came from an offside position.
"We have now won a few games in a row. We have to keep on winning," the Chelsea interim boss said.
"Now with the ambition of Chelsea we must set a new target and see what we can do in the direction of Europe.
"If everyone is on board and there are no big injuries, we'd like to go as high as possible towards European spots."
Chelsea scored after 39 seconds - Kenedy netting the fastest goal of the Premier League season so far - before assistant referee Michael McDonough failed to flag and referee Lee Mason awarded Costa a second.
Hiddink felt Chelsea should have built on Kenedy's opener before Costa's strike.
"We had a splendid start from Kenedy, a beautiful goal. After that we had options for a second," Hiddink added.
"We should've killed it off already. I'm satisfied about the result, but I like to always be a bit more critical. We were a bit sloppy in finishing off."
Norwich ensured Chelsea never truly had a grip on proceedings and had the better of the second half. Cameron Jerome hit the bar early in the second half and Nathan Redmond pulled a goal back 22 minutes from time, but it was too little, too late.
Norwich boss Alex Neil lamented familiar failings in a seventh loss in eight Premier League games.
"(Kenedy) is offside. I've seen it back on the video," Neil said.
"You would expect the officials to get it right. It's disappointing they don't get it right. They'll be disappointed they didn't get it right. But the linesman's called it how he saw it.
"It's not as if he's two or three yards offside. He's probably a yard, half a yard. You'd like to think he would've got that one correct, but when you're down at that bottom end those wee bits of fortune that you look for just don't come your way.
"It's probably been the story of our last few games. We had better opportunities than Leicester, lost the game. West Ham we were 2-0 up, looking comfortable and we managed to draw. Liverpool we were 3-1 up and managed to lose the game.
"When that's a continuous thing that keeps happening, I don't think it boils down to just luck. Quality shows and at times we missed opportunities we should've taken."
Midfielder Alex Tettey went off in the first half for a precautionary X-Ray on a leg injury and Gary O'Neil required stitches to a two-inch gash on his head following a clash with team-mate Robbie Brady, who lost two teeth and chipped another.

Manchester United's injury list

Donald Love appears to have become the latest player to join Manchester United's lengthy injury list.
The 21-year-old sustained a suspected hamstring injury playing for the United's Under-21s at Middlesbrough on Monday evening.
Love swells an already long injury list. Here Press Association Sport looks at how it currently stands:
Donald Love
Issue: Hamstring
Last played: FC Midtjylland 2 Manchester United 1, Europa League (February 18)
Marcos Rojo
Issue: Knock
Last played: Manchester United 3 Arsenal 2, Premier League (February 28)
Anthony Martial
Issue: Hamstring
Last played: Shrewsbury 0 Manchester United 3, FA Cup (February 22)
Chris Smalling
Issue: Shoulder
Last played: Shrewsbury 0 Manchester United 3, FA Cup (February 22)
Will Keane
Issue: Groin
Last played: Shrewsbury 0 Manchester United 3, FA Cup (February 22)
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson
Issue: Unspecified
Last played: Shrewsbury 0 Manchester United 3, FA Cup (February 22)
Wayne Rooney
Issue: Knee
Last played: Sunderland 2 Manchester United 1, Premier League (February 13)
Matteo Darmian
Issue: Dislocated shoulder
Last played: Sunderland 2 Manchester United 1, Premier League (February 13)
Marouane Fellaini
Issue: Muscle injury
Last played: Chelsea 1 Manchester United 1, Premier League (February 7)
Ashley Young
Issue: Groin
Last played: Liverpool 0 Manchester United 0 (January 17)
Bastian Schweinsteiger
Issue: Knee
Last played: Manchester United 1 Sheffield United 0, FA Cup (January 9)
Phil Jones
Issue: Ankle
Last played: Manchester United 2 Swansea 1, Premier League (January 2)
Antonio Valencia
Issue: Foot
Last played: Manchester United 0 Manchester City 0, Premier League (October 25)
Luke Shaw
Issue: Broken leg
Last played: PSV Eindhoven 2 Manchester United 1, Champions League (September 15)

Arsene Wenger responds to the latest round of criticism aimed at him and Arsenal

Arsene Wenger has hit back at his latest critics - labelling the condemnation of his Arsenal team as "excessive".
The Gunners are now five points adrift of Barclays Premier League leaders Leicester after losing 3-2 at Manchester United on Sunday.
In the aftermath of the defeat, against a United side that had more than a feel of a makeshift look to it, Wenger and his players were criticised by Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness - who called the team "weak and insipid".
"Arsenal today bordered on being a joke for me," the former Liverpool boss said.
"This is an Arsenal team you were saying a month ago was a real team. They've got to play Tottenham, Barcelona - by March 16 they could be out of all competitions.
"Arsene Wenger must be tearing his hair out. This Arsenal team just doesn't have 'it' - and I'll stand on my head if they prove me wrong and go and win this league.
"They've been so weak, so insipid. If I were an Arsenal supporter I'd be so angry right now."
Former Arsenal favourite Paul Merson also called for Wenger to leave if either Leicester or Tottenham win the league but the Frenchman believes the strength criticism are unjust.
"I'm never surprised by the criticism that comes," he said.
"That's part of the media today. Part of the opinion is always a bit excessive and emotional, but we have to deal with that and I don't complain about it.
"I don't want to respond to individual criticism. I think people are a bit too emotional and we want to put things into perspective by analysing things a bit more in a neutral way. This club is respected all over the world despite what people say.
"Everybody has freedom of opinion and I enjoy very much that people care about my future. I thank them for that. Apart from that, in my life, I always taken care of myself and my future."
Wenger has called on his players to respond to their public shaming by using it as motivation to beat Swansea on Wednesday night and get themselves back into the title race ahead of a massive north London derby against Spurs at the weekend.
"That's what we want to do," he added.
"We want to transform the negatives into positives around us and create even more solidarity. Let's not go overboard, we do not play to be relegated.
"We are playing to fight for the title. That's why we have to put criticism in the right place."
Leicester may top the table but their manager Claudio Ranieri has said second-placed Spurs are the title favourites.
Wenger would not be drawn on the subject but now feels his side will need to spring a surprise to claim their first Premier League crown in 12 years.
"I have no favourites," he said.
"For me, the only level of energy I put in is into my club. What we want to do is defy all the odds that are against us at the moment. The best way to do it is to fight together for that."
Having played, and lost, to Barcelona and United in the last week Wenger has hinted he could make changes for the visit of the struggling Swans.
Danny Welbeck will likely be among the substitutes as he works his way back to full fitness, while Per Mertesacker could return in defence after Gabriel was out-foxed by United's young striker Marcus Rashford on Sunday.
But one player whose involvement over the rest of the season is now in doubt is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The England winger injured his knee in the Champions League loss to Barcelona and Wenger has revealed he could be out for as long as two months.
"(He will be out for) six for eight weeks," he said of Oxlade-Chamberlain's injury.
"No surgery. We feared surgery at some stage before we saw the MRI. In the end we got, on that front, positive news.
"The next eight weeks means March and April. He should be okay for the European Championships."

Vincent Enyeama rules out return to the Super Eagles despite Oliseh's resignation

Lille Osc of France goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama has ruled out making an emotional return to the Super Eagles of Nigeria despie Sunday Oliseh's resignation as head coach last week Friday.

Enyeama and Sunday Oliseh had some quarrels and arguments during the coach's short stint as coach leading to the retirement of Vincent Enyeama and his compatriot Emmanuel Emenike last year.

Reports had emerged Enyeama will be called out of retirement by the new super Eagles coach Samson Siasia , but he has now refuted those reports saying he will not come back to the national team fold.

''I don't want to talk about this issue again. I think my earlier decision stands,''

He told Brila Fm.

'No more home based coaches for Nigeria' - NFF President says as they plan to sue Sunday Oliseh

Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick has vowed to employ a foreign coach to take charge of the Super Eagles again after Sunday Oliseh's handling of the job and resignation on social media while he was away at Zurich for FIFA's elections.

Amaju, who christened Sunday Oliseh 'Africa's Pep Guardiola' upon his appointment last year says the era of giving indigenious coaches a chance to head the Super Eagles is over, saying Samson Siasia will take over the team temporarily while the NFF look for the perfect 'foreign' replacement.

“After this Sunday Oliseh debacle, we have definitely turned the corner. We are now going to start shopping for a well grounded and qualified foreign coach to tinker the Team. Enough is enough. What we have learnt is that there is a world of difference between being a good coach and being a good manager”, he told Hotsports.tv.

While announcing his resignation on Twitter, Oliseh said “Due to contract violations, lack of support, unpaid wages, benefits to my players, assistant coaches and myself, I resign as Super Eagles chief coach. I feel fortunate, blessed and eternally grateful for having had the honour to play, captain and coach this great nation of ours, Nigeria.”

But according to reports the NFF are planning legal action against Oliseh citing he broke contractual obligations after he resigned without giving a month's notice plus in his contract he was told to live in Nigeria and given rent but refused to live here to perform his coaching duties.

Little boy refused to stand before an African player at a fooball match in Italy (photo)

A kid and already a racist. Or let's just hope, he just preferred to stand close to the other white kid...

Chelsea midfielder Kenedy tattoos girlfriend's face on his body

No matter how much you love someone, should you tattoo their face on your body, especially when you're not even married to them? That's what Chelsea footballer Kenedy Nascimeto did recently. The 20-year old tattooed his girlfriend Lohain Ferr's face on his body. The photo was shared by the Tattoo artist Jeantatlondon on his Instagram page.

Sunday Oliseh insists on keeping Babangida as P.A & pay his salary despite NFF sack

Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh, has reportedly agreed to pay Ex Super Eagles international Tijani Babangida his salary, after insisting that his former Ajax team-mate must remain in his backroom staff.

Tijani Babangida was sacked as Oliseh’s personal assistant by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) without any reason last week. The ex-international, who was supposed to be on N600,000 per month contract, had not been paid since July 2015.

Oliseh told NFF bosses that in his contract he is entitled to appoint two members of staff, independent of the NFF, so the football body don't have the power to sack his P.A unless they sack him or terminate his contract..

“He has maintained he will decide who he works with and that is why Babangida will return to the Eagles camp when it reopens for the AFCON qualifiers against Egypt next month,” an official informed AfricanFootball on Monday. “He has been his close and trusted confidant right from their playing days and he counts on him a great deal.”

Sunday Oliseh tells Mikel Obi: Play defensive midfield for Super Eagles or drop to the bench

Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh has warned John Mikel Obi that he risks losing his Super Eagles playing spot if he refuses playing as a defensive midfielder for Nigeria. Mikel Obi has had a resurgence this season while playing as a defensive midfielder at Chelsea but opts to play offensive midfield when donning colours of the Super Eagles, a trend Oliseh wants to end.

Defensive midfield was also the same role Mikel played when he broke out internationally under coach Samson Siasia at the 2005 FIFA U20 World Cup in the Netherlands.

“With the national team, it’s not what you want that matters, it is what will bring us results,”said Oliseh in a radio interview. “If you don’t want to do that, I will play players who want to help us, like I did against Swaziland. My personal opinion is that he should be given a more central defensive role, like (Guus) Hiddink is using him. He should be the umbrella for the two central defenders,” Oliseh said.

Nigeria Player: Odion Ighalo wins 2015 Goal of the Year award

Watford forward Odion Ighalo has won the 2015 Goal Nigeria Player of the Year award after seeing off keen competition from Portland Timbers’ Fanendo Adi. The 26-year-old follows in the footsteps of his illustrious compatriots who have won the prestigious award: John Obi Mikel (2012 & 2013) and Vincent Enyeama (2014).

Ighalo took 30.5 per cent of the votes ahead of Adi, whose 28.6 per cent made this the most keenly contested Goal Nigeria Player of the Year award since inception as the field was widened from five to 10 contestants.

The Watford striker was presented with his award in England during the week and he appreciated the fans for believing in him.

“First, I thank God for the great achievement and all that and I’m very happy to have won the Goal Nigeria Player of the Year award. It’s a great achievement for me in my career and my life,” Ighalo said. “Thanks to my family, thanks to all those who made it possible, my team-mates, my coaches and all the people who gave me the opportunity to grow as a player and most especially those who made this award at Goal and the fans that chose me to be the winner of the award. “I thank every one of them and I think this is the sign of a good thing and it’s giving me motivation to work hard, to keep doing my best and make sure I win more.”

Ighalo had a breakthrough 2015 where he scored 30 goals in 75 appearances for Watford who gained promotion to the Premier League, the highest in English league football. He also made his senior Nigeria debut and scored a penalty in a 2-0 defeat of Chad in Kaduna.

Voting took place throughout December on the Goal Nigeria website.
How The Fans Voted (%)
1. 30.5 - Ighalo
2. 28.6 - Adi
3. 10.8 – Osimhen
4. 8.2 – Martins
5. 7.5 – Ujah
6. 4.9 – Musa
7. 2.8 – Simon