24092020 - BLACK WEDNESDAY: 30 killed in Kogi petrol tanker explosion

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38 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 UEFA Player of the Year shortlist: Messi, Ronaldo absent for first time in a DECADE Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are absent from the final shortlist for the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year for the first time in a decade. Bayern Munich duo Robert Lewandowski and Manuel Neuer, plus Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne, were nominated for the 2020 edition on Wednesday. But in a sign of changing times in the game, Messi and Ronaldo didn’t make the top three after coming up short in the Champions League. Barcelona star Messi won the UEFA award in 2010-11 and 2014- 15 having been nominated six times in the past 10 seasons. Ronaldo, of Juventus, has collected the accolade three times - in 2013-14, 2015-16 and 2016-17 - all while playing for Real Madrid. He has been shortlisted nine times, finishing second in 2017-18 and third on five occasions. His Juventus side were stunned by Lyon in the last-16 of the Champions League as they again bombed out of Europe’s premier competition. Messi’s Barcelona suffered an even greater humiliation, however, as eventual winners Bayern thrashed them 8-2 in the quarter-finals. Both players managed just three goals in eight Champions League outings last season, trailing 15- goal Lewandowski by a considerable distance. The Polish striker is favourite to succeed Liverpool defender Virgil Ighalo: Man United will start campaign at Brighton Odion Ighalo has backed Manchester United to revive their Premier League campaign with a win against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday. United shuttered against Crystal Palace in their first game at Old Trafford, but according to Ighalo the team was not prepared for their starting game of the season. “We’ve not started the league very well, but we’ve won in the League Cup and I think it’s a boost for this weekend’s game against Brighton. We’ll go there and try to win and start the Premier League [again].” “We were disappointed at the weekend because we didn’t win the game against Crystal Palace,” he continued. “We only had one week to prepare for that game; I think they had been preparing for four weeks. So it can tell a bit. But, now we’ve won this game, I think it’s a boost for us. van Dijk as the winner of the award, which will be revealed at the draw ceremony for the Champions League group stage on October 1. Lewandowski’s Bayern team-mate Neuer is also in the mix after another outstanding season as he helped his team win a Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League Treble. De Bruyne inspired City’s run to the Champions League quarterfinals, where they too lost to Lyon, but City surrendered their Premier League crown to Liverpool. Their nominations suggest a changing of the guard as Ronaldo, Rivers Sports Commissioner, Boma Iyaye says the Stateowned Real Madrid Football Academy in Port Harcourt will produce a future generation of football superstars comparable to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Iyaye stated this when he visited the Academy ahead of official 35, and Messi, 33, move beyond their prime. It’s been an unsettled summer for Messi, who tried to engineer a move away from Barcelona to reunite with Pep Guardiola at City, only to reverse his position and stay at the Nou Camp. R/Madrid academy to produce future generation of stars — Iyaye resumption, on his way to the Rivers United Football Club Camp, shortly after inspecting the progress of work on the football pitches of the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in the company of his Permanent Secretary, Sir Honour Sirawoo, and members of SWAN in Rivers Rivers Commissioner for Sports, Boma Iyaye (middle) flanked by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Sir Honour Sirawoo (left) and Special Adviser to Rivers State Governor on Real Madrid Academy, Chris Green while briefing sports journalists after inspecting the academy in Port Harcourt. I didn’t expect Super Eagles callup - Tijani Red Bull Salzburg loanee Samson Tijani has confessed that his maiden invitation to the Super Eagles for their upcoming friendlies against Ivory Coast and HOT ROD Cafu tips Rodriguez to be star of Premier League RAZIL World Cup legend Cafu Bexpects James Rodriguez to be the star of the Premier League this season. Rodriguez has already impressed in two matches since arriving at Everton and opened his goals account in the 5- 2 win over West Brom last weekend. The Colombian, the 2014 World Cup Golden Boot winner, had a difficult time with Real Madrid and mixed performances on loan at Bayern Munich. But Cafu is confident the 29-year-old will wow fans across the country this campaign with his playmaking skills. Cafu said: “I saw James Rodriguez play for the Colombian national team. “I saw him play for Real Madrid and for Bayern, too. Tunisia came as a surprise, and has claimed that he did not have any contact with manager Gernot Rohr and his assistants in the days leading up to the squad announcement. However, the former Golden Eaglets skipper has revealed that the Franco-German football tactician assured him and other Nigeria U17 stars last year that there was a pathway into the Super Eagles if they kept doing well. Tijani has jumped two age groups - Flying Eagles and Olympic Eagles - following his first call-up to the Super Eagles and after only four matches as a professional and 322 minutes under his belt. “I feel good about being invited but I didn’t expect the call-up because I just moved to Europe,” Tijani said. “It was amazing when I came to Europe, I didn’t even play in the academy, went directly to the first team. “When I was sent on loan, I went straight to the starting lineup, I have played all the games. Champions League, Europa League set to stick with five subs UEFA are expected to announce that managers will be allowed to use five substitutes in this season’s Champions League and Europa League today in a ruling that could put English clubs at a significant disadvantage. La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 have all continued using five subs this season, but the experiment introduced during Project Restart was abandoned by the Premier League so England’s top clubs could find themselves playing by different rules in domestic and European competitions. State. According to the Commissioner, the academy is comparable to any in the world in terms of facilities, content, curriculum and product. He expressed satisfaction with the quality and pace of work so far; pointing that he was short of words as to how to thank Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike for such initiative and commitment to deliver a world-class facility for future generation. “I never thought it would be this huge when we started this project. I am really short of words to thank the governor, he has made sure that funds are provided for this iconic project and I am sure that our indigenes would be proud of this Football Academy. “You have seen the hostels, the classrooms and all other facilities being put in place, this is a great legacy and we thank the Governor for what he has done. If some of us had this opportunity, perhaps we would have done great in football,” he stated. The Rivers sports boss stressed further that he sees future Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo coming out of the academy, while disclosing that even with a formal request for admission yet to be advertised, over 1,000 applications have been sent to the academy to underline acceptance amongst Rivers people and Nigerians at large. Utaka shines in Japan Former Nigeria international Peter Utaka got a brace as Kyoto Sanga silenced Tochigi SC 3-2 in Wednesday’s Japanese J2 League encounter. Having played out a 0-0 draw at Ventforet Kofu, Noritada Saneyoshi’s team stepped up their game to secure their ninth victory of the 2019-20 season. After a goalless outcome in the first 30 minutes of the encounter, the visitors took the initiative a minute later thanks to Takahiro Akimoto, who fired past Tomoya Wakahara. Two minutes before the half-time break, Utaka - who went into the game having failed to score in his Liverpool new boys set for debut today Liverpool travel to Sincil Bank for their EFL Cup third round tie with Lincoln City. Jurgen Klopp’s first choice team will be rested after victory over Chelsea last Sunday and the Reds’ boss will have an eye on the Premier League clash with Arsenal next Monday. With a packed fixture list Klopp will have to rotate his side wherever possible and there will likely be plenty of changes again for their first cup tie of the season. Ahead of the game at Lincoln, Liverpool assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders told the club website that they will be fielding a team: “With players who feel responsibility to show our hunger, the desire.” Europe’s top clubs have been lobbying UEFA all summer for five subs to be permitted on the grounds of minimising player fatigue in a season that has been cut by four weeks due to the impact of Covid-19, and a decision will be made at the European governing body’s Executive Committee meeting today. The problem of fixture congestion will be further highlighted when UEFA confirm their plans for Europe’s 2022 World Cup qualifying tournament, which is expected to begin with two tripleheaders next March and September. Suarez leaves Barca’s training ground in tears Luis Suarez has been captured leaving Barcelona’s training ground in tears as he closes in on a move to Atletico Madrid. The Uruguayan said his goodbyes to good friend Lionel Messi and the rest of his team-mates on Wednesday and is expected in the next few hours to be confirmed as the latest star to leave the Nou Camp in a £3.7million deal. The 33-year-old - who will leave Barcelona as the club’s third highest goalscorer of all time - was then captured shedding tears as he briefly put his head down while he drove out of and away from the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper facilities. Since moving to Barcelona from Liverpool in 2014, Suarez has netted a remarkable 197 times in 283 appearances and the club are expected to make a farewell gesture to the striker on Thursday. The Uruguayan will sign for two seasons with Atletico, who have agreed to pay just under £4m for each of the two seasons for which the Uruguayan will sign for. However - much to the relief of Ronald Koeman who is against the clock to bring in fresh faces - Suarez’ tears appear to signal the end of yet another transfer saga at the Catalan side this summer. last two outings - levelled matters after capitalising on a horrendous mistake from Kazuaki Tasaka’s side. Both teams approached the last 45 minutes cautiously, and when it looked like the game at the Sanga Stadium would end on a no winner, no vanquished note, Shimpei Fukuoka put the hosts ahead in the 76th minute – beating goalkeeper Shuhei Kawata from close range. Four minutes later, Utaka completed his double to seal the win for his team to render Yasutaka Yanagi’s 90th-minute effort a mere consolation.
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24092020 - BLACK WEDNESDAY: 30 killed in Kogi petrol tanker explosion

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