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Super Eagles will stop Messi in Russia- Balogun

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Super Eagles and Mainz central defender, Leon Balogun, has revealed the steps the Super Eagles will take to prevent Barcelona superstar, Lionel Messi, from scoring when they face off with Argentina at the 2018 World Cup.

The Argentina number ten has been directly involved in six goals (four goals, two assists) in five appearances against the Super Eagles in the past, and Balogun’s main task on June 26 is to stop the striker from scoring.

But Balogun has admitted that he will need help from his teammates to stop the rampaging Messi from causing havoc.

‘’As a team, we have to put an end to Messi’s Argentinian game. Balogun told Allgemeine Zeitung. “If the ball goes to Messi, we’ll have to win the duels and hurt them, of course, within a legal framework.’’

Balogun is optimistic that the Super Eagles will qualify for the last sixteen of the World Cup and how they perform in their fourth match will depend on the form of the players.

‘’We want to survive the group phase, and best of all first. How far we go in the knockout phase depends on our form that day,’’ Balogun stated.

Speaking further, Balogun said: ‘’In the games, 180 million people sit in front of television in Nigeria alone. Two hearts are beating in me, one German and one Nigerian, and both pretty loud.’’

If Balogun is declared fit by Super Eagles medics, he is expected to partner William Troost-Ekong in central defense at the tournament in Russia, with Abdullahi Shehu and Brian Idowu tipped to fill the fullback spots.

Meanwhile, Super Eagles midfielder, Oghenekaro Etebo, is set to lead Las Palmas when they take on Girona in their Spanish LaLiga final game of the season today.

According to allnigeriasoccer.com, the C.D. Feirense loanee is the only Nigerian player included in Las Palmas’s 18-man squad for the clash at Estadio de Gran Canaria, meaning Emmanuel Emenike will end his stay in the Canary Islands without playing a single game for the club.

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Robinho To Serve A 9 Year Jail Term Over Gang Rape

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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.

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Former Tennis Champion, Tania Okpala Returns To Tennis After Rehabilitation

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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.

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AFCON: Victor Osimhen Now Cleared To Join The Other Super Eagles Ahead Of Tomorrow’s Game

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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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