Sports
Valencia vs Villarreal: The ‘Hidden’ regional rivalry Grows in intensity
By:
Nmerichukwu Igweamaka
LaLiga fans the world over know that Spanish football is packed with historic derbies. You need look no further than Spain’s biggest cities – Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla – or the fierce traditional regional clashes in the Basque Country, Galicia, Andalusia, Canary Islands and elsewhere.
There are, however, many heated local rivalries can go under the radar for some observers internationally.
Villarreal’s visit to Valencia this Sunday – the Derbi de la Comunitat, as it is sometimes known – is one such fixture, a game which is sure to be played in a tense atmosphere at Mestalla as players supporters from both sides look to get one over on their regional rivals.
Valencia are of course one of LaLiga’s biggest historic clubs. Los Che have played in Spain’s top flight in 84 of its 88 seasons since 1929, winning the title on six different occasions (1942, 1944, 1947, 1971, 2002, 2004).
Villarreal, meanwhile, had humbler origins in Spain’s semi-professional regional divisions, spending six decades in the lower tiers until they reached LaLiga Santander for the first time in 1998.
But success has come quick and fast since then, with the club going as far as reaching the Champions League semi-finals in 2006.
While the city of Valencia does of course have another LaLiga Santander team, with Levante first playing Valencia in the top flight in 1963 and establishing themselves in recent years as a top-flight regular, Villarreal have generally provided a stiffer test to Valencia in the league in recent years.
It has become one of the hardest-fought fixtures in the division, with both sides often challenging each other directly at the top end of the table.
Although historically the ‘bigger neighbour,’ Valencia have found it very difficult at the Estadio de la Cerámica over the last decade.
They’ve won just once there in ten years, a 2-0 victory in January 2017 courtesy of local hero Carlos Soler’s first league goal for the club. Villarreal, meanwhile, have enjoyed their recent 60-kilometre trips south to Mestalla, having left with a win on each of their last three visits.
This rivalry has only been heightened by movement of players between the two sides. Villarreal’s defensive mainstays Victor Ruiz and Jaume Costa both began their careers at Valencia’s Mestalla youth side, while Russian international Denis Cheryshev is actually on loan at Valencia from Villarreal.
Valencia legends David Albelda and Carlos Marchena, key cogs in the 2004 LaLiga title-winning side, also played for Villarreal during their careers.
2018/19’s first meeting back in September was a typically tight and ferocious affair, with neither team giving an inch to their rivals.
This weekend should be no different, ensuring that LaLiga’s Derbi de la Comunitat is one you won’t want to miss.
Watch Valencia CF vs. Villarreal CF this Saturday from 8:45pm on SuperSport 7.
Sports
Portugal Football Club Signs on 19-Year-Old Nigerian- born Footballer, Yaqub Usman-Malah
Reporter: Sandra Ani
Brito Sporting Club of Portugal, a football club founded in 1956, has signed an official contract with a United Kingdom-based highly-talented, young Nigeria-born footballer, Yaqub Usman-Malah.
The official unveiling of the young promising footballer was carried out on Saturday, January 4, 2025.
Yaqub, born in Nigeria in 2006, is a budding Nigerian talent with unquantifiable promise and potential.
Prior to his official contract with Brito Sporting Club of Portugal, he was a student and a trainee player with the Brooke College Football Academy in the United Kingdom.
At Brooke College Football Academy, Yaqub had an impressive goal average of 17 goals in 32 matches with no injuries in 116 training days, cumulating into 2, 270 minutes of on-field action.
A clear testimony of his outstanding performance at the Academy was provided by the lead coach of the Under-17B team Yaqub played with.
The lead coach, Tomasz Wasylik, described Yaqub as a ‘well-liked person’ and a role model to his teammates due to his professionalism and unmatched work rate.
The Lead Coach further stated that Yaqub has played in National School Cup competitions against other colleges and programmes in the 2023/2024 session and is a good ‘tactical player’, ‘technically good” and can ‘play in multiple positions on the field’.
It is expected that Yaqub will live to the potential and promise identified by Coach Tomasz Wasylik of the Brooke College Football Academy and achieve greatness in his new club.
“While looking forward to the display of his unarguable skills and boundless stamina, we wish Yaqub a successful career and a place in the halls of football greatness across the globe,” Yaqub’s father, Mr Usman Malah said in a statement issued to the media, on Wednesday 8, 2025.
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.
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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