Samson Siasia still looking for abducted mum

Former Nigeria coach and player Samson Siasia says he is still in the dark as to the whereabouts of his abducted mother. Mrs Ogere Siasia, 76, and two others have been held captive since they were seized in Bayelsa, southern Nigeria ten weeks ago.
But Siasia says the police are no closer to finding her. "The police said it's been difficult to track these kidnappers, but my great concern is that my mother is very sick," Siasia told BBC Sport.
"For someone who is unwell to be held against her will is not only callous, but heartbreaking and sad. It is really painful for people to still hold on to the woman.
"So I can only keep appealing to these guys to please let my mother go. I would like for the government or whoever is capable to help me bring my mother back."

Messi named best 2019 FIFAS mens player.

The Barcelona star won the award after another 50-goal season, edging the Dutch defender and Portuguese forward.
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has been named The Best FIFA Men’s Player at this year’s award ceremony, the Barcelona star beating Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo to scoop the prize.
Messi sealed the victory by leading Barcelona to yet another La Liga title last campaign, his 10th since breaking through with the club.
 He fired 51 goals across 50 appearances for the Catalan side, marking his 10th consecutive season with at least 40 finishes.
Messi also claimed the European Golden Shoe for the sixth time after netting 36 league goals, also registering 13 assists to lead La Liga.

Mikel John Obi and his girlfriend, Olga Dyachenko sets to seperate.

There is trouble in paradise for Mikel John Obi and his girlfriend, Olga Dyachenko, following her decision to dump him, Brila reports.
The former Super Eagles captain moved to Trabzonspor in Turkey last month but the decision is seemingly not going well with Olga who has now reportedly told the Nigerian that she will no longer allow him to see the children should he remain in Trabzon.
A very close source to the family who revealed this much to AOIFootball.com, stated categorically that the situation could go really sour after Olga told Mikel that she will no longer come to Turkey with the children.

Virgil van Dijk named UEFA men's player of the year 18/19

Virgil van Dijk has been named the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year for 2018-19, seeing off competition from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Liverpool defender was crowned at the ceremony for the Champions League group stage draw on Thursday.

Van Dijk kept five clean sheets in 12 appearances as well as scoring two goals and contributing two assists as the Merseyside club lifted the trophy for a sixth time

That victory in Madrid capped a fine campaign for the former Celtic and Southampton defender, who was also named PFA Players’ Player of the Season as well as Liverpool Players’ and Fans’ Player of the Season.

Van Dijk was also integral to the

The ReAL madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo Poses With His 15 Individual Trophies

Real Madrid superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated the new year in style by showing off his 15 individual trophies.
The Portugese captain who equaled Lionel Messi’s tally of five Ballon d’Ors, posed in his Madeira homeland with the 15 individual trophies he has won throughout his successful career.
32 year old Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro GOIH, ComM is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Real Madrid and the Portugal national team.

Cristiano Ronaldo has played for Manchester United, Real Madrid, and has also won three champions league cup with the clubs.
The four-time Ballon d’Or winner is worth an estimated $400 million, with most of money coming from his soccer salary.

Guatemala's Hector Trujillo Sentenced To Eight Months In Prison

A former judge who led Guatemala's football federation has become the first person sentenced in the U.S. in the FIFA world football corruption scandal, getting eight months in prison.
Hector Trujillo, 63, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn. He had pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy in June.
Trujillo admitted accepting nearly $200,000 in bribes from a company trying to secure sports marketing contracts.
Prosecutors said the former general secretary of Guatemala's football federation should serve more than three years in prison and pay $415,000 in restitution. Defense lawyers asked for no prison time for crimes between 2009 and 2016.

According to Trujillo's plea agreement, he would not contest any sentence less than four years and nine months in prison. Trujillo also agreed to forfeit $175,000. Free on $4 million bail, he has been staying in Miami.
He was arrested in December 2015 in Port Canaveral, Florida, during a Disney cruise with his family.

Shehu Abdullah the super eagle defender voted Man of the Match with a price of 1million

Shehu Abdullahi, Super Eagles Right back, has been awarded with N1 million and 10 Bags of Rice, after he was voted “Man of the Match”.

The defender who plays for Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta, was presented with his win, as the bags of rice, will be donated to a charity of his choice, courtesy of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)’s new partners, Tropical General Investments (TGI) Group.

Super Eagles secured the 2018 world cup qualification on Saturday evening with a game to spare in Group B with Alex Iwobi’s lone goal in the 74th minute. .

Nigeria now have 13 points at the top of Group and an unassailable six-point lead ahead of Zambia, with one round of games left.

They join other countries like Brazil, Spain, Mexico, England, Germany, Iran, South Korea, etc. who have also booked their places at next year’s tournament.

Football news this Evening

LONDON EVENING STANDARD
Tottenham defender Serge Aurier is on the same level as Paris Saint-Germain’s Dani Alves, according to the Ivorian’s former teammate Thomas Meunier.
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry believes that Anthony Martial is “far better” than he was at 21 years of age.
Toby Alderweireld says he is happy at Tottenham, but revealed the club have not yet handed him a new deal.
Lucas Moura has been advised to leave Paris Saint-Germain for Arsenal in January by former Chelsea defender Alex.
England Under-21 boss Aidy Boothroyd says Nigeria could still be trying to take his top talent.
Chelsea hope to double their revenue to more than £650million within the next decade, according to the club’s recently appointed commercial director.
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud is the best “target man” in the world, according to former team-mate Younes Belhanda.
LIVERPOOL ECHO
Divock Origi believes he’s already getting his rhythm back after his deadline day loan move to Wolfsburg.
Liverpool youngsters
Dominic Solanke and Sheyi Ojo could become embroiled in an international tug-of-war with England and Nigeria vying for their services.
Roberto Firmino and Ben Woodburn are set to be offered new long-term contracts
MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS
Manchester United are one of only three clubs Mesut Ozil would consider joining, according to reports.
Shaka Hislop reckons in demand Roma midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini will sign for Manchester United.
Alexis Sanchez has ‘no intention’ of staying at Arsenal, and Manchester City are in pole position.
NEWCASTLE CHRONICLE
Paul Dummett will not return to action for Newcastle United until after the next international break at the earliest and they could sign a left-back in January.
Jonjo Shelvey has broken a finger in training – but the Newcastle United midfielder will be fit to play Southampton with a cast on his hand.
BIRMINGHAM MAIL
Birmingham City club captain Paul Robinson felt disrespected when he was told to train with the club’s Under 23s by the last management team.
EXPRESS & STAR
Wolves haven’t ruled out making permanent moves for any of their five loan stars, sporting director Kevin Thelwell has suggested.
West Brom’s new signings have shaken up the first-team squad, but that has not stopped them gelling with their new team-mates according to assistant head coach Ben Garner.
KENT ONLINE
Fulham and Crystal Palace tracking Lex Allan, who plays for Bostik League South team Sittingbourne.
LEICESTER MERCURY
Adrien Silva was free to train with his Leicester City team-mates for the first time today.
THE BOLTON NEWS
Ken Anderson has put up a ‘for sale’ sign at Wanderers, with the bidding starting at £25million.
IPSWICH STAR
Mick McCarthy believes he has assembled the best squad of his near five-year tenure as Ipswich Town manager and is looking forward to having a few selection headaches after this weekend’s international break.
THE PINK UN
Norwich City sporting director Stuart Webber insists Grant Hanley’s signing was not a panic measure after a rocky Championship start.

31,000 dollars for crowd Disorder Fifa fines Nigeria

Again, Nigeria’s inability to control its fans in international matches has earned it the wrath of  World football governing body FIFA, as the country’s football authority has been fined  $31,000 for crowd disorder during last month’s World Cup qualifier against Cameroon in Uyo.

The match ended 4-0 in favour of Nigeria, and the fans were let loose at the entered into the field of play at regulation time in celebration of the Super Eagles victory. It would be recalled that Nigeria was also fined by CAF during the last 2016 AFCON qualifying game against Egypt at the Ahmadu Bello stadium in Kaduna which witnessed an unprecedented crowd that overwhelmed the security and full capacity of the stadium.

Costa: I Love Chelsea, But Atletico Remains Home

Diego Costa claims to still love Chelsea, despite a sour ending to his time at the club, after he completed his move to Atletico.
The Spain international was told by Conte he was no longer needed at the club and despite no deal materialising for him in the transfer window, he was missing in action for the Blues.
Costa has now completed a deal that will see him rejoin Atletico in January and he insists he harbours no hard feelings towards Chelsea.

“I’m not going to be ungrateful to Chelsea, where I was also very happy, playing in a team that was great,” the BBC quotes Costa as saying.
“Atletico is my home.”
“It’s not the way I wanted to leave, ever,” Costa said.
“I have special affection for the people at Chelsea. I’m not a person who is going to smear the image. They know the person I am.”

Ilkay Gundogan injury bound to affect his performance

Ilkay Gundogan has stated his injury problems will affect his ability to perform at the level he used to perform.
He returned to action for Manchester City in a while, coming off the bench in the 6-0 thrashing of Watford.
Gundogan made just 16 appearances for City last season, after picking up an injury shortly after joining from Dortmund.
And the 26-year-old who later picked up a cruciate ligament tear, has admitted he might not be the same player again.
“There are doubts if I will be again at the level I had before so, of course that is the case,” he said. “Because of these ups and downs, more of the downs, it is sometimes frustrating.
“The doubts are at this point even bigger. But I had no other choice. I am a football player. This is what I do. This is what I have done all my life. This is my job. For me, there was no other choice than to try again.
“If I said I am the same player as I was a year ago, I would be lying. I mean, through the injury, you don’t feel the same. You don’t feel as though you are the most powerful guy in the world – not that I ever did. I had two injuries on my knee and I know what to do to prepare myself for the games and to warm my knee up and be generally fit.
“I will do everything to be as fit as possible. That could be it for all the injuries! I think I am done now! I am ready to continue playing, to keep fit. To enjoy playing.”
“It was a long wait – and tough as well. That is why it feels so special to return,” he said. “I was sad just to watch in front of the TV or in the stands. I am used to playing every three or four days. If an injury takes it away then it is always disappointing and it feels weird.
“To be honest, you don’t feel as part of the group anymore. You are not travelling with the team anymore. You do everything on your own or with the physio. So of course, that is the worst feeling you can have as a football player. So, that is also the reason it was that hard over the months.”
“The worst time was of course the day of the injury or when I knew what exactly happened. When I knew there would be six, seven, eight, nine months out. That was the worst feeling.
“The day after the surgery was not so good either. But then, at one point, you start to do it again. You start to do your rehabilitation. You recover. You have ups and downs, days you feel better, days you feel very bad. I think that is normal. It is not just me.
“I did not have doubts whether I would play anymore. The ACL is a common injury so you have surgery, the doctors know what they are doing. But of course it is long and it is my second knee injury.”

Ilkay Gundogan injury bound to affect his performance

Ilkay Gundogan has stated his injury problems will affect his ability to perform at the level he used to perform.
He returned to action for Manchester City in a while, coming off the bench in the 6-0 thrashing of Watford.
Gundogan made just 16 appearances for City last season, after picking up an injury shortly after joining from Dortmund.
And the 26-year-old who later picked up a cruciate ligament tear, has admitted he might not be the same player again.
“There are doubts if I will be again at the level I had before so, of course that is the case,” he said. “Because of these ups and downs, more of the downs, it is sometimes frustrating.
“The doubts are at this point even bigger. But I had no other choice. I am a football player. This is what I do. This is what I have done all my life. This is my job. For me, there was no other choice than to try again.
“If I said I am the same player as I was a year ago, I would be lying. I mean, through the injury, you don’t feel the same. You don’t feel as though you are the most powerful guy in the world – not that I ever did. I had two injuries on my knee and I know what to do to prepare myself for the games and to warm my knee up and be generally fit.
“I will do everything to be as fit as possible. That could be it for all the injuries! I think I am done now! I am ready to continue playing, to keep fit. To enjoy playing.”
“It was a long wait – and tough as well. That is why it feels so special to return,” he said. “I was sad just to watch in front of the TV or in the stands. I am used to playing every three or four days. If an injury takes it away then it is always disappointing and it feels weird.
“To be honest, you don’t feel as part of the group anymore. You are not travelling with the team anymore. You do everything on your own or with the physio. So of course, that is the worst feeling you can have as a football player. So, that is also the reason it was that hard over the months.”
“The worst time was of course the day of the injury or when I knew what exactly happened. When I knew there would be six, seven, eight, nine months out. That was the worst feeling.
“The day after the surgery was not so good either. But then, at one point, you start to do it again. You start to do your rehabilitation. You recover. You have ups and downs, days you feel better, days you feel very bad. I think that is normal. It is not just me.
“I did not have doubts whether I would play anymore. The ACL is a common injury so you have surgery, the doctors know what they are doing. But of course it is long and it is my second knee injury.”

Real Madrid To Make Move For Alexis Sanchez

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has opened talks with Alexis Sanchez’s agent over a summer move, reports Don Balon.
The Chile international is out of contract at Arsenal at the end of the season and saw a Deadline Day move to Manchester City break down in August.
A £70m move to Manchester City failed to go through on the final day of the summer transfer window as Arsene Wenger’s side failed to secure a replacement, meaning that Alexis Sanchez is now set to depart on a free at the end of the season.
Sanchez spent three seasons with Madrid’s arch rivals Barcelona prior to his switch to the Emirates in 2014.

Real Madrid To Make Move For Alexis Sanchez

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has opened talks with Alexis Sanchez’s agent over a summer move, reports Don Balon.
The Chile international is out of contract at Arsenal at the end of the season and saw a Deadline Day move to Manchester City break down in August.
A £70m move to Manchester City failed to go through on the final day of the summer transfer window as Arsene Wenger’s side failed to secure a replacement, meaning that Alexis Sanchez is now set to depart on a free at the end of the season.
Sanchez spent three seasons with Madrid’s arch rivals Barcelona prior to his switch to the Emirates in 2014.

Arsene Wenger will leave on may or might not

Skazyupdate

Arsenal football manager Arsene Wenger admits recent fans protests against him will influence his decision to leave Arsenal in the summer. Wenger's contract expires at the end of the season in May, 2017.

"I work very hard for 25 years to make the fans happy. I understand they are not when we lose. I don't want to judge that. I am not able to. I've said many times you have to accept different opinions. I don't work for my image. I work for the club with full commitment. How will I be judged? It's not too much my problem. I think I have shown since I am here that I love this club, that I'm loyal to this club and I make the right decisions for this club, and I will continue to do that, in respecting the values that are vital to me." said Wenger

Arsene Wenger has announced he will wait until the end of the season with to announce whether he will leave or stay at Arsenal.

Arsene Wenger will leave on may or might not

Skazyupdate

Arsenal football manager Arsene Wenger admits recent fans protests against him will influence his decision to leave Arsenal in the summer. Wenger's contract expires at the end of the season in May, 2017.

Real Madrid Reject €50m Liverpool Bid For Marco Asensio

Skazyupdate

Real Madrid have rejected a €50m offer from Liverpool for Marco Asensio, according to sources in Spain.
Asensio has emerged as one of Europe’s most promising young playmakers this season and he has attracted the interest of several sides across the Continent.

According to a report on Cadena COPE, which was confirmed by AS, Liverpool are keen on the Spaniard and offered €50m to sign him. However, Real Madrid have no intention of selling the youngster, while the player himself is not considering leaving the Bernabeu.
Indeed, the youngster impressed so much that Bayern’s sporting director Michael Reschke claimed the club “should build a monument” for whoever signed Asensio for €3.5m from Real Mallorca.
The Spanish international has stepped up to fill the void left by Gareth Bale’s increasingly lengthy absences through injury, starting 13 games and featuring as a substitute on many more occasions.

Real Madrid Reject €50m Liverpool Bid For Marco Asensio

Skazyupdate

Real Madrid have rejected a €50m offer from Liverpool for Marco Asensio, according to sources in Spain.
Asensio has emerged as one of Europe’s most promising young playmakers this season and he has attracted the interest of several sides across the Continent.

'It's good riddance to bad rubbish'- NFF reacts to Sunday Oliseh's resignation

The Nigerian Football Federation has reacted to Sunday Oliseh's resignation as Super Eagles coach. The spokesman of the Federation, Ademola Olajire, in an interview with NTA today, said the federation heard of Oliseh’s resignation in the media and was yet to receive a letter from the coach as at when he was responding to the interview.

“As far as we are concerned, it is good riddance to bad rubbish. He is not the kind of person we though he was. Oliseh is gone and we have to move forward,” Olajire said
“He went on YouTube to abuse Nigerians. The Minister pleaded with the federation to allow him to remain in place for our next two matches. As you can see, he did not even wait for those matches.” he concluded

As at press time, the official NFF website, Instagram handle and Twitter had yet to comment on the issue.

'It's good riddance to bad rubbish'- NFF reacts to Sunday Oliseh's resignation

The Nigerian Football Federation has reacted to Sunday Oliseh's resignation as Super Eagles coach. The spokesman of the Federation, Ademola Olajire, in an interview with NTA today, said the federation heard of Oliseh’s resignation in the media and was yet to receive a letter from the coach as at when he was responding to the interview.