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By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ABUJA- PRESIDENT George Weah of Liberia on Monday
said that the Nigeria’s Super Eagles is not only going to
represent Nigeria but the entire African continent.

President Muhammadu Buhari (r) with the visiting
President George Weah of Liberia briefing State House
Correspondents after their meeting at the Presidential
Villa in Abuja on Monday (5/3/18)

The Liberian President also warned Ministers especially
those in-charge of the Sports ministry to desist from the
habit of tampering with money meant for the welfare of
players during any tournament.


Weah stated this in an interview with the State House
correspondents after meeting with President
Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.






He expressed dismay over the attitude of African leaders
who always complain when it comes to investing in
sports, and thanked President Buhari for the qualification
of Super Eagles to the World Cup.

He said he was amazed when he met the President of
France, Emmanuel Macron who spoke passionately on
his sports agenda and how he plans to build capacity
through sports.






He said, “I have been fighting for so long for my national
team to qualify. Imagine, in the world best here in Africa,
the only world best.

And I said to President Macron, that
FIFA built one stadium in Liberia and we have one Balloon
d’Or, so if you build 10 stadia in Liberia, you will have 10
ballon d’Ors.






“I think Nigerian team is a model, we all followed them. I
have played with great Nigerian players, I played against
them. Now you have a new generation, the fact that they
qualified is a good thing for Nigeria.

“But I hope that they will prepare very early because they
are going to represent Africa and we will be there to
watch them, for them to bring the trophy for the first time
if it is possible.

 But I think the seriousness to go to World
Cup is not to pay players to go, I want every African
government to know, if you win World Cup is a pride to
Africa, it is not just to Nigeria, so we must do everything
to ensure that the players are not stressed, make sure
they concentrate, make sure their incentives are given to
them to motivate them.






“Some of the things you see at the World Cup, you will
see an entire team go to represent a whole country and
you will hear that one minister took the money, they did
not pay these players and the players are causing
problem. When players are going to camp, it is to relax
and focus.






And for them to be in camp they must have
everything there for them not to worry.

“Remember I played in European setting, when we go
camp we have nothing to do. The only thing we have to
do is to take a shower and prepare for the game,
everything is laid down here and so you have no excuse.

“So let the players not have excuse, support them and let
them go and bring back that cup.”
On what he is doing to revamp sports in his country, he
said he had already started something and that he had
gone to meet World Bank and they are giving his country
$5 million to revamp the sports sector.


“As a former coach, technical director and former
sponsor of the national team, you know it is not only
football.

When Liberia goes to represent us at the
Olympics, we only see the officials drilling with our flags,
we don’t see any athletes.


“This year, we have made sure that all of our sports, we
will have someone to represent us and I will be there to
monitor them.

That is why we put a former player as the
sports minister that I will work with to revamp Liberia
National Team and I know he will do it best.






“And those techniques that made Liberia qualify twice and
missed the World Cup three times, I will make sure that I
work with him so that he can do the work and ensure that
our athletes go and represent our country.”

Barcelona (Spain) – FC Barcelona forward Lionel Messi
struck a remarkable 600th professional goal for club and
country on Sunday by scoring in his side’s Liga home win
over nearest challengers Atletico Madrid.


Messi
The Argentine slammed a free kick right into the near top
corner in the 26th minute to break the deadlock in the
top-of-the-table clash.


The goal put league leaders Barca 1-0 up at halftime, and
Messi was scoring from a set piece for the third game
running.







Messi is the leading scorer in La Liga this season with 24
goals from a total 28 in all competitions, and is also the
all-time top marksman in Spain’s top flight.

He is also the top scorer in the history of FC Barcelona
and Argentina.






The 30-year-old Argentine has scored 539 goals for Barca
in all competitions and 61 for his country.


The win also meant FC Barcelona remain unbeaten in the
league this season after scoring 100 goals, and they are
now eight points clear of their nearest rivals, Atletico
Madrid.


They close in on their ninth title triumph in 14 seasons
with 11 games left to play, and remain on course to
secure a treble of trophies.







Their UEFA Champions League last-16 second-leg
against Chelsea will take place on March 14 and the
Spanish Cup final clash against Sevilla comes up next
month.(Reuters/NAN)

Petr Cech says he can understand why Arsenal fans
turned on their struggling team during Thursday’s
chastening 3-0 defeat against Manchester City.











Petr Cech
Just days after losing by the same scoreline to City in the
League Cup final, Arsene Wenger’s side endured another
miserable blow at the hands of the Premier League
leaders.
First-half goals from Bernardo Silva, David Silva and
Leroy Sane left sixth-placed Arsenal 10 points off the top
four and facing the prospect of missing out on
Champions League qualification for a second successive
season.











With seven defeats from 13 games across all
competitions in 2018, Wenger’s future is reportedly in
doubt as the Arsenal hierarchy ponder ending the
Frenchman’s reign after almost 22 years in charge.
The Emirates Stadium was half-empty for the City game
and the fans that did turn up in freezing conditions were
quick to show their frustration at Wenger and his players.











A section of the crowd chanted ‘you’re not fit to wear the
shirt’ as the players traipsed off at half-time, with jeers
spreading throughout the stadium at the end of the game.
Gunners goalkeeper Cech had no complaints about the
supporters’ fury, saying: “I understand the frustration of
the fans.













“You come and you want your team to do well, and when
you are 3-0 down at half-time then you are not happy.
“Everybody has an opportunity to make their feelings
known. Football fans — this is their way of showing this.
Second half we improved but the damage was done in
the first half.










“With the conditions like that unfortunately so many
people could not turn up to the stadium. It is unfortunate
people miss out on a big game. But that is something we
cannot control.”

World number two Rafael Nadal announced his
withdrawal from this month’s ATP Masters events in
Miami and Indian Wells on Friday, citing a leg injury which
forced him to pull out the Mexican Open.
Nadal said in a statement on Facebook the injury which
flared in Acapulco this week was in the same area as the
hip problem that led to his exit from the Australian Open
in January.













“I won’t be able to play in Miami or Indian Wells as I need
to recover,” Nadal said.
“It was very painful to retire from Acapulco and it’s very
hard as well to not play in the USA. I will miss you and I
will do everything that’s possible to be back there in
2019.”
The 31-year-old 16-time Grand Slam winner had been left
distraught on Tuesday after suddenly pulling out of
Acapulco just hours before his opening match.
It marked the sixth tournament in a row that Nadal has
pulled out of or retired from — Basel, Paris, the London
ATP Tour Finals, Brisbane, Australian Open and Acapulco.














Nadal, who turns 32 in June, ended 2017 as the oldest
year-end world number one in the 45-year history of the
ATP rankings.
However, he lost the top ranking to old rival Roger Federer
last month.
NAN

Harry Kane’s prolific goalscoring has made comparisons
with Cristiano Ronaldo commonplace, and he now stands
on the brink of a feat not seen in English football since
the Portuguese departed for Real Madrid a decade ago.



Ronaldo
Ronaldo was the last player to score 40 goals in a season
for an English club when he hit 42 on his way to winning
the Ballon d’Or and a league and Champions League
double for Manchester United in 2007/08.



Kane is yet to win such illustrious honours, but is on
course for a third straight Premier League golden boot
after netting his 35th goal of the campaign late on to win
a vital three points for Tottenham at Crystal Palace last
weekend.












Next in his firing line are Huddersfield at Wembley on
Saturday before another chance to further his burgeoning
reputation on the continent in Wednesday’s massive
Champions League last 16, second leg against Juventus.






“I know I’m in good form,” Kane said after scoring his
11th goal in 10 games in 2018.
“I set myself little targets and I’m going quicker than I
expected to this season. I’ve got 35 now, so I just have to
keep scoring goals.”
However, Kane is not alone in the race to follow Ronaldo
into the 40-goal club.
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has already matched Luis
Suarez’s best ever tally at Anfield with 31 goals in all
competitions and is just one behind Kane’s 24 in the race
to be the league’s top scorer.



Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero has 30 in all
competitions and outstrips Kane and Salah for goals per
minute in the Premier League for his 21.


– Kane carries greatest burden –
The fact all three surpassed the 30-goal mark before
March points to a trend of a more unbalanced top flight
than the norm in England.













A chasm of 25 points separate Spurs in fourth and
Huddersfield in 14th.
Indeed, the gulf between the top six and the rest is
symbolised by Burnley still sitting in seventh despite not
having won in 11 matches stretching back to December
12.














That shouldn’t diminish the scale of the achievement,
though, particularly in the case of Kane, who has had to
carry a greater burden than his rivals for the golden boot.
Salah was part of Liverpool’s “fab four” before Philippe
Coutinho’s January departure and is still backed up ably
by Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane in a front three that
have combined for 66 goals this season.


Aguero has even had to fight for his place in the side
ahead of Gabriel Jesus such is the competition for places
in a free-scoring City side with the League Cup already in
the bag and the Premier League almost certain to follow.














After Kane only Son Heung-Min has got into double
figures for Spurs this season as Dele Alli’s form has
dipped, whilst until his FA Cup hat-trick against third-tier
Rochdale on Wednesday, Fernando Llorente had scored
just two goals as Kane’s deputy up front.


When City boss Pep Guardiola called Spurs “the Harry
Kane” team earlier in the campaign, Mauricio Pochettino
reacted angrily.















However, it is hard to overestimate the influence of his 17
goals in Tottenham’s 16-game unbeaten run since being
thrashed at the hands of City in December.


Thanks to Kane, Pochettino’s men have hit top form at
the right time in their quest to qualify for next season’s
Champions League and reach the last eight of this year’s
competition.

Another victory on Saturday would crucially open up a
five-point lead on fifth-placed Chelsea, who face a
daunting trip to City on Sunday.

Beleaguered Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger called on
his players to show they can meet the club’s standards
after a second humbling 3-0 defeat at the hands of
Manchester City in five days on Thursday.


Wenger
City moved 16 points clear at the top of the Premier
League as fresh from claiming their first silverware of the
Pep Guardiola era in the League Cup final on Sunday, the
visitors scored three times in the opening 33 minutes as
Arsenal disintegrated once more in front of a sparse
crowd at the Emirates.













Bernardo Silva, David Silva and Leroy Sane were on target
to inflict a third straight defeat on Arsenal and leave them
10 points adrift of the Premier League top four in sixth
place.













And a night to forget for the Gunners was complete when
£56 million ($79 million) club record signing Pierre-
Emerick Aubameyang saw his second-half penalty saved
by Ederson.
“You go up by stairs and come down by the lift, that is
what happens with confidence,” said Wenger. “We have
to show we have the level to be at Arsenal football club.”
However, the Frenchman again refused to accept it is
inevitable that his 22-year stay as boss is coming to a
sad end.












“I am confident that nothing is permanent in life,” added
Wenger. “It is down to how you respond and the focus
and effort you show to turn things around.”
Sub-zero temperatures and the apathy caused by
Arsenal’s display at Wembley on Sunday saw thousands
of seats go unoccupied at the Emirates.
The lines around the pitch were painted blue ahead of
kick-off in case an expected snow shower covered the
field.
Unfortunately for the home fans that did brave the cold,
that was the only novelty on a night of familiar failings
from Wenger’s men, who have now lost seven times in 12
games this year.












“Do you want the fans to be happy when you are 3-0
down? I am surprised you are surprised,” continued
Wenger.
“It was combination of the weather conditions and the
fact we had a big disappointment on Sunday.”
– Clinical City –
Arsenal had even started the brighter as Ederson
prevented Vincent Kompany turning into his own net
before Henrikh Mkhitaryan stung the palms of the
Brazilian goalkeeper with a drive from the edge of the
box.












However, they never recovered from the sucker punch of
City’s opener on 15 minutes as Sane weaved away from
three Arsenal challenges on the left and teed up Bernardo
Silva to cut inside onto his favoured left foot and curl into
the top corner.
City showed their more clinical touch in the final third
again just before the half hour mark.
Sane was involved once more before Sergio Aguero
played in David Silva to slot home at Petr Cech’s near
post.












City then exhibited their speed on the counter-attack for a
third five minutes later as Aguero, Kevin de Bruyne and
Kyle Walker combined to set up Sane to tap home his
12th goal of the season.
Guardiola celebrated his 100th game in charge of City by
hailing his side’s focus to not let complacency seep in
despite their huge lead at the top.
“People always think ‘a lot of points in front, we can
relax’ and we did the opposite,” said Guardiola.












“It is never easy if you are not focused against teams like
Arsenal. We were (focused) and so far we make an
amazing Premier League season.”



Arsenal’s anguish was rounded off seven minutes into the
second period when Nicolas Otamendi chopped down
Mkhitaryan inside the area.
Aubameyang took responsiblity from the spot, but the
lack of conviction in his penalty reflected Arsenal’s
performance as Ederson saved comfortably low to his
left.

Neymar Snr has revealed his son will need an operation to
repair his broken foot, despite Paris Saint-Germain
manager Unai Emery insisting on Tuesday that the player
would not go under the knife.
The 26-year-old suffered a broken metatarsal and
sprained ankle during Sunday’s 3-0 Ligue 1 win over
Marseille.





















Neymar was in tears as he was carried off at the Parc de
Princes.

























Emery claimed Neymar could have a “small chance” of
playing against Real Madrid in their Champions League
last 16 second leg next Tuesday , but the Brazilian’s father
has labelled that assertion “absurd”.
“Yes, of course he is is out against Real Madrid.























“It is absurd if anybody thinks otherwise. At the end of
April, Neymar will be able to play football.


















“We are waiting for the (Brazilian national team’s) doctor
to arrive, he will have a meeting with the club.






















“PSG already know that they will not be able to count on
Neymar for at least six weeks because of this treatment,”
Neymar Snr told ESPN Brazil.

Chelsea goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois has hit out at
manager, Antonio Conte for substituting forward, Eden
Hazard during the club’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United
in the Premier League on Sunday.



























Conte, who substituted Hazard for Pedro in the 73rd
minute of the encounter, had said his decision was purely
for tactical reasons in his post-match press conference.

































However, Courtois has hit out at the Italian’s decision.
“I have no explanation for the substitution of Hazard,”
Courtois told Belgian outlet, Play Sports.
“I had not expected him to take him off but it is a choice
of the manager. He must explain. I can’t look into his
head.

























“Players like Eden should have 90 minutes on the pitch.
He can always bring something extra offensive.”



























Chelsea will go away to battle Manchester City in the
Premier League on Sunday.

Speaking at the end of one of his practice sessions, Juruni, who is also coach of the City Oilers back in Kampala said though Uganda is excited to be playing in the World Cup qualifiers for the China 2019 ticket, he is not bothered by the opposition that Nigeria, Rwanda and host Mali would bring.









Asked if Nigeria’s record as 2015 AfroBasket Champions and runners up in AfroBasket 2017 scares him, Juruni said: “If we’re scared, we won’t be here in Bamako. Being scared of one’s opponent means you can’t give your best but as it stands, we’re here to give our best be it Nigeria or any other country. “We’re here to compete and it’s a big opportunity for me and my players.










Uganda has met Nigeria before and as such knows what to expect. The players know what is at stake and are ready to give their best, the level of opposition notwithstanding. Having been to two AfroBasket finals in Tunisia and in Senegal 2017, we’ve gained some experience in African basketball. We’ll face Nigeria squarely knowing that qualification for the next round is important.”












However, Nigeria’s Coach, Alex Nwora who is parading a mix of the AfroBasket 2015 title winning squad with play- ers from the AfroBasket 2017 that finished second place as well as a few new intakes says he is taking each game as it comes. “All games here in Bamako are important to us and we’ll focus on each game as the need arises. 









All teams here have equal chances but it depends on who is hungrier for the ticket to do so by winning all the way. The team is ready and rearing to go.












I don’t have any doubt in my mind that we’ll be business-like and do the needful.”