Former Arsenal, FC Barcelona and France striker Thierry Henry has been named as an assistant manager of Belgium. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that he is joining the coaching team of Roberto Martinez, who replaced Marc Wilmots at the start of August. “Thierry is an important figure,'' said former Everton boss Martinez. “He will bring something different. He agreed right away to join us.'' Henry, 39, in a tweet, also said he was “honoured to be assistant coach, very excited and can’t wait.'' He will work alongside Graeme Jones, who served with Martinez at Swansea, Wigan and Everton. Martinez also named his first senior squad on Friday, ahead of their friendly against Spain on Thursday. The Spaniard took over from Wilmots, who was sacked after Belgium were beaten 3-1 by Wales in the quarter-finals of Euro 2016.(NAN)
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Neymar scored the winning penalty as hosts Brazil beat Germany 5-4 on penalties to win their first men's Olympic football gold medal in Rio. The game finished 1-1 after extra-time, with Neymar's first-half free-kick cancelled out by Max Meyer's strike. In the shootout, Germany's Nils Petersen's had his penalty saved by Weverton before Neymar won it. It comes two years after Germany thrashed Brazil 7-1 in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals in Belo Horizonte. In front of a capacity crowd of 78,000 at the Maracana, Brazil got a measure of revenge as they finally won Olympic football gold after losing in the finals in 1984, 1988 and 2012. Barcelona forward Neymar, who missed the World Cup semi-final through injury, opened the scoring with a fine 25-yard free-kick, but the hosts were lucky to go in at half-time with the lead. Germany hit the woodwork three times in the first half - through Julian Brandt's 25-yard effort, a deflection off a Brazilian defende...
Nff Hails U23 Soccer Team Over Bronze Medal Win, Explains Controversy On Donation By Japanese Surgeon
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has congratulated the U23 National Soccer Team for winning bronze at this year's Men's Olympic Football Tournament in Brazil, after edging Honduras 3-2 in Belo Horizonte on Saturday. A brace from Sadiq Umar, and another goal from Aminu Umar proved decisive against a die-hard Honduran side who reduced the deficit through Antony Lozano and Marcelo Perreira. A statement from the NFF President, Amaju Pinnick posted on the NFF website said that the victory of the U-23 was well deserved. Meanwhile, the NFF has blasted former goalkeeper Peterside Idah for a mischievous post on his tweeter handle before the match, suggesting the Federation wanted to 'hijack' the donation to the team by a Japanese plastic surgeon, Dr. Katsuya Takasu. According to a statement by the NFF President, Amaju Pinnick posted on the NFF website, “His message was a lie, an atrocious false alarm before an important match. I had exchanged correspondence with t...
Usain Bolt won the men’s 200m to claim his second gold medal at Rio 2016, his eighth at an Olympics, and keep alive his hopes of a ‘treble treble’. The Jamaican ran 19.78 seconds to come home ahead of Canada’s Andre de Grasse and France’s Christophe Lemaitre. Britain’s Adam Gemili clocked the same time as Lemaitre, but was denied his first Olympic medal in a photo finish. Bolt, 29, has already won the 100m in Rio and will run in the 4x100m relay final on Friday (02:35 BST, Saturday). He is aiming to match his achievement of claiming gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at both Beijing 2008 and London 2012. Bolt, who said in February he would retire after the 2017 World Championships, has won all eight of the Olympic finals in which he has appeared. “The fact I came here and executed what I wanted to is a brilliant feeling,” he told BBC Sport. “I wasn’t happy with the time when I crossed the line but I’m excited I got the gold medal – that’s the key thing.” Bolt bel...
Rio soccer: We don't deserve to be in final – Siasia Head Coach of Dream Team VI, Samson Siasia, has admitted that the National team did not deserve to play in the finals of the ongoing Rio de Janeiro Olympic soccer games. 'I am disappointed; Even though we had glaring chances, we couldn't score; we failed to utilise them. The German team did better. It is a shame. 'We did not have the right spirit for the game. Maybe most of them stayed up late and did not observe rest when they should. 'When you reach this level of the competition, you do not need anybody to teleguide you on how to conduct yourself to scale through. They had the chances, am I going to get into the field of play to score for them? 'We are going to review the match and think of a strategy to win the third place match. That is what it has boiled down to. It is better than nothing. 'I am disappointed with the team; We did not play like people hungry to play in the finals at the ...