Sports
World Cup 2018: Rohr roars! Eagles mentally, physically ready
The Super Eagles are in a good mental and physical shape for tomorrow’s match against Croatia, Coach Gernot Rohr has said as World Cup Russia 2018 got underway.
After a short opening ceremony, hosts Russia hammered Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the opening match.
Nigeria’s match against Croatia tomorrow in one of the two Group D clashes, as Argentina and Iceland play the other game.
“We are looking forward to the match with a lot of optimism. It will be a tough one, but we are physically and mentally ready. We had quality preparatory matches and trained twice at our final camp in Austria, and since arriving in Essentuki, we have done some useful tactical preparation.
“It is important to start well in a good tournament like this, and that is what we hope to do on on Saturday,” Rohr said.
Croatia star player Andrej Kramaric described tomorrow’s match as the toughest for his side.
The 26-year-old Croatian said “I think it is Nigeria. Against Nigeria we play the first, and for us the most important game. That game will open or close the door of the World Cup for us. Therefore, we need to apply our full concentration.”
He added: “This is a great generation. Our motivation is at a high level. We want to get to the knockout stage, and with some luck we can achieve a great result.”
Both teams are meeting for the first time at the World Cup. The Croatians will rely on the likes of Real Madrid’s Luka Modric, Mario Mandzukic of Juventus, Inter Milan’s Ivan Perisic and Ivan Rakitic of Barcelona.
The Nigerian team is largely made up of young players, about 17 of them making their first World appearances.
The Eagles can also rely on the experience of skipper Mikel Obi, Victor Moses, Ahmed Musa and Odion Ighalo.
Obi, who is also looking forward to a good game, said: “It is the dream of every footballer to play at the FIFA World Cup and we have to live that dream on Saturday (tomorrow). Croatia is a very good team with a lot of top class players and we have to be at our very best against them.
“This group is probably the toughest in the tournament; everyone is calling it the ‘group of death’. That is the motivation. We have given ourselves the target of coming out of this group just like we did in the African qualifying group that everyone gave the same tag.
“As our coach has said, we worked hard at both the camp in Austria and since we got to the team base camp in Essentuki. Our Football Federation also did well to get us to prepare in very good places devoid of distraction and now, it is our responsibility to do the nation proud by starting well against Croatia.”
Tomorrow will mark Nigeria’s sixth appearance at the FIFA World Cup finals, in seven tournaments since their first appearance at the 1994 finals in the USA.
The only time Nigeria has missed football’s biggest showpiece in the last quarter –century was in 2006, when a head-to-head rule knocked out the Eagles despite finishing on equal points with Angola.
Yesterday’s opening match at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, watched by a crowd of 78,011, gave the crowd a lot to cheer with goals from Denis Cheryshev (who got a brace), Artem Dzyuba, Iury Gazinsky and Aleksander Golovin scored the goals.
The opening ceremony was led by British pop star Robbie Williams and Russian soprano Aida Garifullina in a 15-minute period.
Part of the ceremony was the entrance of former Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas and Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova with the World Cup trophy in a Louis Vuitton travel case.
Williams later performed two hits — “Let Me Entertain You” and “Rock DJ” — alongside some dancers and freestylers.
He was thereafter joined in a duet by Garifullina, a soloist from the Vienna State Opera, to sing one of his (Williams) hit songs “Angels”.
Sports
QNET and Man City Mark 10th Anniversary of their Partnership
Man City counts 28 trophies in the last 10 yearsQNET, an Asian direct selling giant and Manchester City, a top Football club in and outside England, are celebrating 10 years of partnership with great results.
The anniversary was part of the 26th V-Malaysia Conference (VCON) at Penang in Malaysia.
The long-standing partnership will see QNET continue as Official Direct Selling Partner for City’s men’s and women’s teams, according to Techeconomy report.
This partnership marked a significant milestone in May 2018 when City welcomed QNET as the first sleeve partner in the Women’s Super League.
Throughout the next phase of this partnership QNET will continue to provide City-led football clinics to communities around the world, as well as engaging with consumers and distributors through this relationship with City.
In a message to the leaders of QNET and the 8,000 VCON participants from over 30 countries, Ferran Soriano, the chief executive officer of Manchester City FC, said they are pleased to achieve great milestones that would not have been possible without the support and the commitment of everybody at QNET, “and every single one of you. I do remember back in 2014 when I met the leadership of QNET for the first time, and we discussed our plans, our ambitions, and we promised a lot.
“We promised that Manchester City would be a great football team, and that they would play beautiful football. Now, 10 years since then, we hold 28 trophies. I have to be honest and say that when we promised we were going to do well, we didn’t think we were going to win 28 trophies.
“We’re excited now we’re starting a new season, and guess what? We want to win again, and if we do, it would be another record. Maybe we can win the fifth Premier League in a row. Obviously, something that hasn’t happened before. I can promise that we will fight for all the trophies like you fight for all your objectives. Manchester City and QNET have the incredible power to engage people from every country, create a sense of community and empower individuals and teams to achieve their aspirations”.
He promised Manchester City’s support to the QNET brand to achieve even more successes in the coming years.
Trevor Kuna, the CEO of QNET said that the partnership with Manchester City has made positive impacts on the business.
QNET’s grass-roots business model enables ordinary people from all walks of life to start their own business with minimal overhead.
With hard work and dedication, QNET distributors, known as Independent Representatives (IRs) have the opportunity to become economically self-sufficient, raising the standard of life for their families and communities.
QNET is driven by two important philosophies: RYTHM (Raise Yourself to Help Mankind) and InService.
Meanwhile, the highlight of the QNET and Manchester City celebration was the presentation of a 10-year partnership anniversary plaque by John Kirton, senior partnership marketing manager, Manchester City Football Club to the QNET team.
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.
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