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Ex-PSG coach set to succeed Wenger as Arsenal boss – Reports

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Former Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery looks set to become Arsene Wenger’s successor after 22 years as Arsenal manager, the BBC reported on Monday.

Emery, 46, won Ligue 1 and four domestic cups in two seasons in the French capital before departing earlier this month.

However, the Spaniard paid for his failure to get PSG beyond the last 16 of the Champions League in his two seasons at the Parc des Princes.

“Emery emerged as the unanimous choice following a recruitment process in which all candidates were spoken to,” said the BBC.

PSG had previously reached four consecutive Champions League quarter-finals following the Qatari takeover of the club in 2011, but Emery oversaw a humiliating defeat to Barcelona in the last 16 a year ago, losing 6-1 at the Camp Nou after a 4-0 win in the first leg.

The club then committed to spending 400 million euros ($483 million) on Neymar and Kylian Mbappe alone — the two most expensive transfer deals in history — last year, but Paris were eliminated in the last 16 again this year, going out to Real Madrid.

“We lost against Real but they are showing that they are maybe still the strongest team in Europe,” said Emery when announcing his departure.

Emery previously enjoyed great success on the European stage at Sevilla, where he won three Europa League titles in three full seasons at the Sanchez Pizjuan.

Arsenal have been looking for a new boss for the first time in over two decades since Wenger announced last month he was stepping down at the end of the season.

A sixth-placed finish in the Premier League, the Frenchman’s worst-ever return, means the Gunners have failed to qualify for the Champions League for a second straight season.

Former Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta, who has formed part of Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff at Premier League champions Manchester City for the past two seasons, appeared to be the front-runner in the past week.

Arteta, who played 150 games for Arsenal between 2011 and 2016, even had Wenger’s blessing.

“He was a leader, has good passion for the game, knows the club and knows what is important at the club,” Wenger told BeIn Sports.

However, Arteta’s lack of previous managerial experience appears to have seen him lose out to his compatriot.

Emery’s own playing career was a modest one, largely in Spain’s lower divisions after failing to make the grade at Real Sociedad.

However, he established a reputation as a bright young coach at Lorca and Almeria before being handed his first big job at Valencia in 2008.

Despite severe financial problems as players like David Villa, David Silva and Juan Mata were sold, Emery led Valencia to third place behind Barcelona and Real Madrid for three consecutive seasons.

A short, ill-fated spell at Spartak Moscow followed before he returned to his homeland at Sevilla in 2013.

AFP.

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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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