Borussia Dortmundt @ Getty Images Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain will meet in the Champions League semifinals, almost eight months after facing off in the opening match of their European campaigns. The two sides emerged from this season’s ‘group of death’, which also featured Italian giants AC Milan, who made last season’s final four and ambitious Newcastle. While PSG were tipped to go far in what has become Kylian Mbappe’s farewell tour, Dortmund surprisingly topped the group. The 1997 winners are now on the cusp of returning to a Wembley – the venue of their 2013 Champions League final loss…
Author: GuruTrends
The Benue State Community Volunteer Guards, on Tuesday, paraded three suspects for allegedly stealing diesel from the TRIACTA Construction Company located along New GRA, Makurdi. The suspects, according to the Commander of BSCVG, Captain Ayuma Ajovbi (retd.), were arrested on Sunday night at the site close to the residence of the state governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia. He said, “After the operatives of Volunteer Guards discovered that the suspects had siphoned diesel from the heavy-duty trucks into jerrycans and were making an attempt to transport them into a waiting vehicle, they were arrested.” Ajovbi who paraded the suspects, described the…
Sofyan Amrabat © Getty Images Morocco midfielder Sofyan Amrabat has been handed a two match suspension after the red card he collected at the Africa Cup of Nations against South Africa in January and will miss his country’s next two World Cup qualifiers, officials confirmed on Wednesday. Amrabat was sent off after holding back Tebego Mokoena, a decision that the referee made only after a VAR review, when the two countries met in their last-16 clash at San Pedro on January 30. Mokoena blasted home a perfect freekick from the subsequent foul to hand Bafana Bafana a shock 2-0 win…
The wife and housemaid of a former Chief of Staff to the immediate past governor of Benue State, Abigail Orbunde and Patience Ogute, respectively, have regained their freedom from kidnappers. According to a statement by Tahav Argezua, a close ally of the former aide, the women regained their freedom on Tuesday after an undisclosed amount was paid as ransom to their abductors, who had demanded N100 million. “The captives spent four harrowing days in captivity before their release. “They have reunited with some of their family members and taken to hospital for immediate medical attention,” Argezua said. The women were…
Barcelona woke up with a familiar sinking feeling on Wednesday, another Champions League hangover, after Paris Saint-Germain thrashed them 4-1 at home to eliminate them in the quarterfinals. After a string of painful European exits the five-time champions extended the list, meaning their wait to lift the trophy again will stretch to at least a decade, although this time around Barcelona can find shards of hope and pride among the wreckage. Leading by two goals in the tie after their 3-2 win in Paris and Raphinha’s early strike, the outcome hinged on Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo’s red card after 29…
The UEFA Champions League has once again provided football fans with mesmerising moments and breathtaking goals. As the competition heats up, there has been a thrilling race for the golden boot among some of the world’s most talented players. Following Tuesday’s matches, several players have already made their mark on the tournament with their impressive goal-scoring prowess. Below are the leading scorers after Tuesday’s matches: 8 goals: Mbappe (Paris SG) 7 goals: Kane (Bayern Munich) 6 goals: Haaland (Man City), Griezmann (Atletico Madrid) 5 goals: Hojlund (Man Utd), Morata (Atletico Madrid), Galeno (Porto), Alvarez (Man City), Foden (Man City) 4…
Borussia Dortmund fought back to beat Atletico Madrid 4-2 in their quarter-final second leg on Tuesday, securing a 5-4 aggregate victory and the first Champions League semi-final since 2013. Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, goals from Julian Brandt and Ian Maatsen had Dortmund 2-0 up at half-time. Visiting coach Diego Simeone made three changes at half-time including bringing on Angel Correa and his energy told immediately, Mats Hummels conceding a poor own goal before the Argentine netted to put Atletico back ahead in the tie. But those goals brought a sluggish Dortmund back to life, with Niclas Fuellkrug and…
Kylian Mbappe struck twice as Paris Saint-Germain battled back to beat 10-man Barcelona 4-1 and book a place in the Champions League semi-finals with a 6-4 aggregate triumph on Tuesday. Raphinha fired Barcelona ahead early on but Ronald Araujo’s 29th-minute red card turned the tide in PSG’s favour, despite the Spanish champions leading by two goals following a 3-2 quarter-final first-leg win.Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha levelled the tie for PSG and the deadly Mbappe hit a brace to put them into the final four for the first time since 2021. The French champions have never won the trophy despite huge…
With 100 days to go until the Paris Olympics, it’s still not clear whether any athletes from Russia who are expected to qualify will actually go. The question is whether Moscow will accept the conditions that the International Olympic Committee set for Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. Ultimately, it could be up to individual athletes to decide whether to participate. The IOC expects that 36 Russian athletes – and possibly as many as 54 – will do well enough at qualifying events to compete in Paris. The IOC will let them compete as “neutral athletes,” meaning they can’t use their country’s flag…
The talk before the opening ceremony of the Paris Games ideally should be about its grandiose backdrop: a summer sun setting on the Seine River as athletes drift by in boats and wave to cheering crowds. But behind the romantic veneer that Paris has long curated, mounting security concerns already have had an impact on the unprecedented open-air event. In January, the number of spectators allowed to attend the ceremony was slashed from around 600,000 to around 320,000. Tourists were told they won’t be allowed to watch it for free from riverbanks because the French government scaled back ambitions amid ongoing security threats.…
Head coach of the Female Yellow Greens, Leke Oyede, says the team will begin closed-camping in the first week of May for the 2024 Kwibuka cricket tournament in Rwanda, PUNCH Sports Extra reports. Nigeria, hosts Rwanda and six other countries have been confirmed for the expanded 10th edition of the tournament, which is scheduled for May 27 to June 8 at the Gahanga International Cricket Stadium in Kigali. Ahead of what will be the team’s first outing since winning bronze at the 2023 African Games in Ghana last month, Oyede said the players were currently on individual training programmes and would resume full…
Many who go into sports are motivated to better their families, especially in Nigeria, where footballers like Victor Osimhen, who was a hawker before becoming the 2023 African Player of The Year, are inspiring the new generation. For 15-year-old Yusuf Lawal, the dream to lift his family from poverty is what drives him. Born and raised in Ibadan, the left-winger tells PUNCH Sports Extra how his football journey began at the age of nine, when he left his religious studies for the field. “The day I started football, I was supposed to go for Quran classes at the mosque, then one…
The world’s busiest air hub for international passengers confirmed a halt to arrivals at 7:26 pm (1526 GMT) before announcing a “gradual resumption” more than two hours later. Earlier the airport, which had been expecting more than 100 flight arrivals on Tuesday evening, took the equally unusual step of briefly halting its operations in the chaos caused by the storm. Dubai, the Middle East’s financial centre, has been paralysed by the torrential rain that caused floods across the UAE and Bahrain, and left 18 dead in Oman on Sunday and Monday. Dubai airport operations were suspended for 25 minutes in the afternoon…
World Boxing Council silver title holder, Efe Ajagba, and former unified heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, are on a collision course for the WBC main title following the former’s second successive title defence, PUNCH Sports Extra reports. Both of Nigerian descent, Ajagba and Joshua enjoyed three-fight win streaks in 2023 and have also won their first bouts in 2024. British-Nigerian Joshua knocked out Francis Ngannou in March to get his 2024 off to a winning start and earn the number one ranking on the WBC charts, where Tyson Fury is the champion. Meanwhile, Delta-born Ajagba triumphed over fellow Olympian and long-time sparring…
Since his hiring as Nebraska’s head football coach in late November 2022, Matt Rhule has visited 108 high schools in several states and has made 486 off-campus contacts with potential recruits, including 123 this past December and January, according to records obtained by USA TODAY Sports. This is how he builds a program. He hits the road and barnstorms for recruiting prospects every December and January. “I’ll be honest with you: It’s the only way I know,” Rhule told USA TODAY Sports in an interview. “It’s the way I was raised. They pay me to recruit, you know, so I’m gonna go…
Barely one month to the 2024 WAFU B U-17 tournament in Ghana, Golden Eaglets coach, Manu Garba, said he has invited 51 players to camp, ahead of the tournament, which will be played from May 15 to 29 in Accra, Ghana, The PUNCH reports. The coach hinted that the team’s camp would open on Wednesday (today) for the WAFU tournament, which serves as qualifiers for next year’s U-17 AFCON. Garba was appointed by the Nigeria Football Federation as the substantive coach of the team last Friday. He had previously led the team to Nigeria’s fourth U-17 World Cup triumph in the United…
After helping Bayer Leverkusen to their first-ever Bundesliga title in the club’s 120-year history, no one is more proud of Nigerian striker, Victor Boniface, than his grandmother, Lucy Okoh, who enrolled him at an academy in Akure, the Ondo State capital some years ago, PUNCH Sports Extra reports. On Sunday, Boniface scored the opening goal in the 5-0 thrashing of Werdern, helping Bayer Leverkusen win the Bundesliga with five games to spare. Aside from ending the 11-year reign of Bayern Munich, Boniface and his teammates still have a chance to end the league season unbeaten, just as they are still in…
Johnny Burgess, 55, is thinking about the southern border when he casts his ballot this November. Burgess also lives over 2,000 miles from the border he says is being taken advantage of. “I mean, we’re all one America,” said Burgess, a resident of Tuftonboro, New Hampshire. The self-employed registered Republican is like many in his state – particularly his state’s party – who say illegal immigration is top of mind in the 2024 election. Almost a quarter of New Hampshire voters surveyed said immigration is the most important issue facing the country, in a USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll from January, just ahead of…
Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong has donated his future camp allowances and match bonuses to Akwa Ibom kids, in a bid to help them achieve their football dreams, PUNCH Sports Extra reports. The kind gesture by the 30-year-old PAOK Thessaloniki centre-back, who hails from Akwa Ibom State, was aired on Brila FM on Monday. Born in The Netherlands to a Dutch mother and a Nigerian father, Troost-Ekong maximises every opportunity to fraternise with his Ibibio folks, and it was only a matter of time before he gave back to the society that birthed and nurtured his father. Every Akwa Ibom indigene…
Nigeria Premier Football League leaders, Enugu Rangers, retained top spot on the log after edging Abia Warriors 3-2 in Tuesday’s match-day 30 Oriental derby at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu, Punch Sports Extra reports. The Flying Antelopes stormed to an early lead through Saviour Isaac, but the visitors responded on the stroke of halftime through Ojonugwa Adejoh. Kareem Ogunleye and Chiedozie Okorie added two more goals for the Rangers in the second half as they prevented a late surge from the Abia Warriors, who pulled one back in stoppage time through Pascal Nwabueze. By that result, the seven-time Nigerian champions, who…