Sports & This'n'That

Throughout the lengthy and storied history of the football world cup, unforgettable tales of bona fide giants being slain by underdogs have taken center-stage. Thrillingly, this year’s installment of the competition in the host nation Qatar has excitingly proven to be no exception as we have been already joyously treated to two major upsets despite the fact that we are still in the early days of the world cup. Indeed, the first seismic shock happened early this week during the meeting between unheralded Saudi Arabia and heavyweights Argentina, who are among the favorites to hoist aloft the intensely sought-after world cup trophy. The Lionel Messi-led Argentina even drew first blood in the encounter when their pint-sized skipper confidently converted a penalty in as early as the tenth minute of the clash. Nevertheless, going behind only served to motivate Saudi Arabia to begin zestfully searching for a leveler, which must have dashed the hopes of those Argentinians expecting the...

It is a truism that in the pulse-racing realm of football Brazil is a team, which definitely don’t need any introduction. Indeed, the Selecao have dominated the sport’s most prestigious championship, the World Cup as their record five trophies so clearly demonstrate. This year, Brazil venture forth into the World Cup as perennial favorites due to their star-studded squad, which includes such football greats like Neymar, Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior among others. The aforesaid trio form the Selecao’s threatening forward line and great things are expected of them precisely because of how insanely skillful they all are. That notwithstanding, though, Brazil are certain to face stiff competition from other traditional heavyweights such as Argentina, Belgium and France among a few others. Indeed, Brazil is unquestionably a sterling side on paper. Still, whether they can transform their abundant potential into successful results is an open question, which will be thrillingly and exci...

In a mere matter of days, 32 nations will converge on Qatar to take part in the grandest sporting championship in the globe, the quadrennial Football World Cup. Indeed, the anticipation of the showpiece event is such that it has reached fever-pitch levels, probably because there is arguably an unprecedented abundance of talented attacking players who will be strutting their stuff on football’s biggest stage. Certainly, two ageing attacking maestros who will be the magnet for massive attention are Argentinian football wizard, Lionel Messi and the ever deadly Portuguese marksman Cristiano Ronaldo. Both icons are unarguably in the twilight of their glittering careers and it will be distinctly fascinating to see whether one of them can cap off their record-breaking careers by clinching the world cup trophy. Beyond Messi and Ronaldo though, there are other excitingly potent attacking marvels, whose inimitable skills should light up the competition. These include the creative Belgi...

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...

Photo by Alessio Patron on Unsplash With the perennially pulsating English Premier League (EPL) now in full swing, Arsenal fans must be mightily pleased at the sublime manner in which the Gunners have been playing since the outset of the season. Indeed, right from the get-go, the Gunners have been firing on all cylinders and they have picked up seven wins while just registering one defeat thus far this season. It is also crucial to note that the Gunners’ highly touted new Brazilian signing, Gabriel Jesus has been seemingly unstoppable in the Arsenal attack as the ex-Manchester City striker has firmly established himself as a thorn in the side of EPL defences. However, despite Arsenal’s sterling form, the Gunners are set to face a difficult test this weekend when they go up against struggling Liverpool in a potentially mouthwatering EPL clash on Sunday. It should be remembered that although Liverpool are presently going through a rocky patch, they remain a star-studded side tha...