Sports
Champions League: Roma fails to stop
Liverpool will play Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League final in Kiev on 26 May after they survived Roma scare at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, winning 7-6 aggregate.
Roma won on the night, scoring two goals in five minutes to raise the hope of a spectacular comeback having lost the first leg 2-5. But there was no second miracle in Rome, like it happened in the quarter finals when Roma erased Barcelona’s 4-1 advantage.
The goal rush by Radja Nainggolan came too late. When the Slovenia referee, Damir Skomina, blew the final whistle, the scoreline was 4-2 to Roma and 7-6 to Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp’s side has thus reached their eighth European Cup final and first since 2007 where they will play two-time holders Real Madrid in Kiev on May 26.
First-half goals from Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum put Liverpool in control as Roma conceded their first goals in the Stadio Olimpico during the European campaign.
But despite Radja Nainggolan bagging two goals for Roma in the final eight minutes — the second from the penalty spot — there was to be no second miracle comeback for the Italians after last month’s 3-0 win over Barcelona in Rome.
It was another bitter defeat for Roma who lost the 1984 European Cup final to Liverpool on penalties.
Roma threatened early with Alessandro Florenzi sending the ball wide in the opening minutes but the hosts paid for woeful defending, giving Klopp’s side space to gain an early advantage.
Senegalese forward Mane got Liverpool off to a dream start after just nine minutes to the horror of the home fans.
A Nainggolan howler in midfield gave Roberto Firmino the opportunity to barge through, delivering the ball to an unmarked Mane who left Roma ‘keeper Alisson with no chance.
But six minutes later Roma got the equaliser when Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren’s attempt to clear a Stephan El Shaarawy header towards Dzeko across goal bounced off James Milner’s head, flying past Loris Karius and into the Liverpool goal.
– Breathless finale –
Liverpool’s ticket to the final in Kiev looked well and truly booked after 25 minutes when Wijnaldum nodded in.
Alisson denied Mane but from the resulting corner, Dzeko’s attempt to clear fell to waiting Dutchman Wijnaldum.
Stephan El Shaarawy rattled the post on 35 minutes with Florenzi also firing wide, and Pellegrini showed how not to take a free-kick which was way off the mark.
Dzeko broke through seven minutes into the second half with the equaliser after Karius cleared the ball straight into the path of the Bosnian who made no mistake for his eighth goal in 12 European matches.
And in a desperate scramble by the Italians in front of goal four minutes from time Nainggolan made up for his earlier blunders when he drilled a low shot into the bottom-right corner from a distance for his first ever European goal.
The Belgian midfielder added a second three minutes into injury time from a penalty awarded for a bitterly contested handball by substitute Ragnar Klavan, firing into the roof of the net.
It was a dramatic finale for Eusebio di Francesco’s side but it was too little too late as they failed to reach their first final since 1984 but earned a standing ovation from the 62,000 crowd.
Liverpool will again leave Rome victorious after winning the European title twice, in 1977 and 1984, at the Stadio Olimpico. (NAN).
Sports
Robinho To Serve A 9 Year Jail Term Over Gang Rape
Former Manchester City and Real Madrid striker Robinho will reportedly serve a nine-year jail sentence for gang rape – Imposed on him by an Italian court — in Brazil, judges in Brasilia has ruled.
The 40-year-old was found guilty in Italy in 2017 and according to Globo, Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice (BSCJ), made the ruling on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.
The former Premier League player, whose real name is Robson De Souza, was one of six men who were found guilty of a§§aulting an Albanian woman in an Italian nightclub in January 2013.
In January 2022, the Supreme Court in Rome dismissed his final appeal against the conviction, according to the report.
Robinho claims he is innocent and has been living in Brazil for the past seven years. It came after nine of the court’s 15 ministers had voted in favour of the decision to incarcerate the footballer in Brazil.
Globo also claims that the ex-footballer, who also spent time at AC Milan and Real Madrid, will now be arrested in Santos, where he currently resides.
Robinho, who was 28 and was playing for AC Milan at the time, admitted during his appeal to having ‘contact’ with the woman, but the Brazilian insisted it was consensual.
The Milan Court of Appeals found Robinho had ‘belittled’ and ‘br¥tally h¥miliated’ the victim as it upheld his original sentence in December 2020.
Intercepted phone calls between the Brazilian and those allegedly involved in the assault were used as key evidence in his initial conviction.
Sports
Former Tennis Champion, Tania Okpala Returns To Tennis After Rehabilitation
Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, has revealed that former tennis champion, Tania Okpala, has resumed playing on the courts.
This development follows Soludo’s assurance that she would undergo rehabilitation after a video surfaced online showing her in distress on the streets of Awka, pleading for assistance.
In an update on his social media handle on Thursday, Soludo expressed his satisfaction with Okpala’s return, stating, “Tania Okpala is back on the courts!
“A few months ago, social media was flooded with a viral video showing Ms. Tania in a distressing state on the streets of Awka. I am pleased to report that we have successfully restored Tania to her winning ways.”
Okpala, who hails from Anambra and has a Belarusian mother, represented Nigeria in the 1990s.
Here are pictures of her in the tennis court.
Sports
AFCON: Victor Osimhen Now Cleared To Join The Other Super Eagles Ahead Of Tomorrow’s Game
Good News has it that Victor Osimhen has finally joined the Super Eagles Nigeria team in Bouake, Ivory Coast.
He has been given the clear from the medical team on the abdominal discomfort issue. Earlier it was reported that the player could not join the rest of the team who flew to Ivory Coast ahead of Tomorrow’s football match against South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
He’s fully fit and ready to play in the Semifinals against South Africa tomorrow.
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