Sports & This'n'That

Following what has been a hugely engrossing football championship, the number of teams partaking in the AFCON Finals has now been whittled down to just two - Nigeria and the hosts Ivory Coast, who will battle it out in the final, the day after tomorrow .

Arguably, global football’s most pulsating championship, the English Premier League (EPL) kicked-off yesterday to the sheer elation of millions of die-hard fans around the world.  Obviously, the main storyline for the reigning EPL champions, Manchester City is whether they will be able to match or perhaps even surpass their heroics last season in which they fantastically claimed a rare treble of trophies.

Following an eye-catching tournament of bedazzling football action, the hugely entertaining FIFA U-17 women’s world cup finally ended last Sunday, with the Spaniards retaining their trophy. Nevertheless, although the competition proved to be immensely rewarding for Spain, the Nigerian flamingoes as well have more than sufficient cause to celebrate after they defeated mighty Germany in the third-place match of the august competition. Indeed, this laudable feat further cements Nigeria’s status as the pre-eminent country on the continent where women’s football is concerned. It should also be noted here that Nigeria has a rich pedigree in women’s youth football as their 2 nd place finish at the 2014 FIFA U-20 women’s world cup amply demonstrates. Having brilliantly claimed third place at the FIFA U-17 women’s world cup, one wonders what comes next for the giant-killing Nigerian flamingoes. It is fervently hoped that this golden generation of Nigerian flamingoes can be kept toget...

Photo by Portuguese Gravity on Unsplash With the dazzling Portuguese football icon Cristiano Ronaldo and his great rival the pint-sized Argentinean great Lionel Messi now in the twilight of their glittering careers attention is now shifting to a number of ascendant young guns who are catching the eye with their mesmerizing displays. Indeed, this roll call of up and coming football stars includes, the greatly feared Norwegian marksman, Erling Haaland, the breathtakingly exciting Brazilian forward, Vinicius Junior and the Gallic superstar, Kylian Mbappe among others. That being said though, it should be noted that ‘CR7’ and Messi leave behind such gigantic shoes to fill, as both living legends were so amazingly consistent for over a decade, which is fantastically brilliant. Nevertheless, the meteoric rise of the likes of Haaland and Mbappe among others, speaks volumes about their self-assuredness, which is rare for players so young. So, although the jury is still out on whether ...

Photo by Rhett Lewis on Unsplash With the Football World Cup in Qatar being just around the corner, African fans are eagerly looking forward to the global feast of football with mounting excitement. Indeed, many African fans are bullish that at least a few of our World Cup-bound teams possess the mettle to progress very far in the unfailingly exciting football championship. At this point, it should be noted that our five world cup representatives this year are: Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon, Tunisia and Morocco. It should also be recollected that no African team in history has progressed beyond the quarterfinal stage of the world cup, which is really a crying shame. Indeed, with gigantic numbers of Africa’s most glittering football gems leaving the continent every year to join the premier football clubs in the world, one would expect that African teams would have been able to advance to the semifinal stage of the world cup a few times by now. Frustratingly though, as alluded to e...

Despite making an infuriatingly lackluster start to the new season, Manchester United have not only brilliantly rebounded but they have impeccably collected a maximum of twelve points from their last four English Premier League (EPL) clashes. Photo by Nat Callaghan on Unsplash Tomorrow though, the Red Devils will face arguably their toughest test of the season thus far when they go toe-to-toe with age-old rivals Manchester City, who under Pep Guardiola, have transformed themselves into a devastatingly effective force to be reckoned with. Ahead of the famous Manchester derby tomorrow, Manchester City are sitting comfortably in 2 nd place on the table while Manchester United are in fifth place, which is a pretty staggering improvement from being bottom of the league standings following uncharacteristically woeful losses to Brighton and Brentford in their opening two games of the season. It is expected that Manchester City will seek to typically dominate possession and exert immense p...

Ahead of the new season, Arsenal fans must have been troubled by a severe case of the jitters over how the Gunners would fare in the new English Premier League (EPL) campaign. Indeed, it should be noted here that the Gunners got off to an embarrassingly dismal start to their league campaign last season, which saw them lose their opening three games in humiliating fashion. These abysmal displays saw Arsenal rooted to the bottom of the league’s standings last season and they also sparked grave fears among the Gunners faithful that their beloved club had taken giant strides backwards. However, Arsenal’s start to this, a brand new season, has been a totally different kettle of fish. Indeed, the Gunners have a 100 percent record in the EPL thus far, having played five games and won them all. This sensational form has propelled Arsenal to the apex of the EPL, and understandably, the Gunners’ sterling showings have set tongues wagging. Nevertheless, before we get carried away, it sh...