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Falcons thrash New Zealand 3-0 in friendly

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The Super Falcons thrashed World Cup co-hosts New Zealand 3-0 in a friendly in Antalya, Turkey on Tuesday.

The victory was the third consecutive win for the nine-time African champions.

Team captain Onome Ebi headed the Super Falcons in front after 34 minutes at the Mardan Sports Complex.

Her goal had turned the game around after the Football Ferns had put some pressure on the Nigerian defence in the first quarter of the hour.

Spain-based forward Rasheedat Ajibade had missed narrowly with a left-footed shot in the 21st minute.

But there was no stopping the inspired Ebi 13 minutes later as she nodded in a cross by Toni Payne.

Jennifer Echegini, playing on the left side of the Nigerian defence, extended the Super Falcons’ lead in the 48th minute after some excellent wing play by Michelle Alozie.

Hannah Wilkinson came close to reducing the tally in the 62nd minute but goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie intervened quickly to keep the scoreline at 2-0.

The Super Falcons continued to launch onslaughts into the Ferns’ half of the field.

This was after Gift Monday replaced Asisat Oshoala and Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene came in for Toni Payne, and Glory Ogbonna replaced Michelle Alozie.

Forward Desire Oparanozie had the last laugh with a typical goal in added time, holding up the ball and slicing past the goalkeeper even with a defender stuck on her.

The Falcons have now scored six goals in their last three matches, conceding only one.

At the FIFA World Cup finals slated for July 20 to Aug. 20, Nigeria will play in Group B against co-hosts Australia, the Republic of Ireland and Canada.

Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell has signed a two-year contract extension which will keep him at Stamford Bridge until 2027.

Chilwell has endured an injury-plagued spell over the last two seasons, but Chelsea were keen to extend his stay at Stamford Bridge.

The 26-year-old left-back, signed from Leicester in 2020, was part of the Chelsea squad that won the Champions League in 2021.

A ruptured cruciate knee ligament ruined Chilwell’s 2021-22 season and he has also missed three months of this campaign, including the World Cup, with a hamstring injury.

Manchester City were reportedly interested in making a close-season bid for Chilwell.

But on the eve of Chelsea’s Champions League quarter-final first leg at Real Madrid on Wednesday, Chilwell, who has made 80 appearances for the Blues, agreed to add two more years to a contract that was due to expire in 2025.

“I feel very settled at Chelsea and have really enjoyed my time on the pitch here so I’m very pleased the club want me to be part of the project long-term, and am very happy to sign this extension to my contract.

“We are working hard for success and I will do my best to bring more smiles to the faces of the fans who have made me feel so welcome,” he said.

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UEFA 2024 Rankings: Man City, Bayern, Real Madrid lead as Chelsea drops

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Premier League champions, Manchester City, currently tops UEFA’s coefficient rankings.

In the latest ranking released by UEFA through their website, Man City is ahead of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, who are in the top three positions.

Chelsea dropped one place when compared to the previous ranking, but still made the top 10 alongside Premier League rivals Liverpool.

Manchester United are outside of the top 10.

Below are the top 20 teams revealed by UEFA:

1.Man City
2.Bayern Munich
3.Real Madrid
4.Paris Saint-Germain
5.Liverpool
6.Inter Milan
7. AS Roma
8.Leipzig
9.Chelsea
10.Dortmund
11.Man United
12.Barcelona
13.Atletico Madrid
14.Bayer Leverkusen
15.Sevilla
16.Villarreal
17.Napoli
18.uventus
19.Benfica
20.Porto

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Vinicius’s double earns Real Madrid 2-2 draw at Bayern Munich

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Vinicius Junior scored twice as record winners Real Madrid came away from Bayern Munich with a 2-2 draw in their Champions League semi-final first leg on Tuesday.

The stalemate sets up a mouthwatering second leg in Spain next Wednesday.

Brazil’s Vinicius grabbed the leveller from the spot on 83 minutes after Harry Kane netted a penalty for Bayern on 57 minutes. Vinicius and Leroy Sané had earlier both scored against the run of play either side of the break.

Ex-Bayern coach Carlo Ancelotti, sacked in 2017 after 15 months in Germany, is eyeing a fifth Champions League title as a coach and the Real boss will be the happier.

Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel, who leaves at the end of the season after the Bavarians missed out on the Bundesliga title for the first time in 12 years, has never lost a semi-final.

Now he faces a stern test at the Bernabeu next week if he wants to emulate his title success with Chelsea in 2021.

“We made a great start…we should have gone ahead,” Tuchel told Amazon Prime. “You make it 2-1 and then you have chances to score more. But if we win in Madrid we go to Wembley.”

Tuchel was buoyed before kick-off with creative fulcrums Jamal Musiala and Sané passed fit to play and it was Germany winger Sané who had two decent early chances while Musiala also fired over.

LaLiga leaders Madrid had forward Lucas Vazquez as an emergency right back, with Dani Carvajal suspended, while midfielder Toni Kroos faced his former club as Luka Modric began on the bench.

Who else but Kroos popped up out of the blue midway through the first half to play the perfect pass for Vinicius to score.

“There were phases in the game for both teams. The goals sort of fell when the other team was on top,” Kroos said.

Bayern’s Tuchel, widely expected to be replaced by Austria coach Ralf Rangnick from July, reacted by replacing Leon Goretzka with Raphael Guerreiro in midfield at half-time.

But Madrid not Bayern began the second half stronger, Jude Bellingham laying the ball off for Kroos to test the palms of Manuel Neuer.

With the home crowd slightly subdued, Sané cut in from the right and fired inside the near post. It was his first goal since October.

Club top scorers Kane of Bayern and Bellingham of Madrid – both England stars who hope to shine in Germany in June and July’s Euros – went head-to-head and it was Kane who threatened most.

He went close with a free-kick but saw his moment when Musiala danced into the area and Vazquez felled him with a forward’s tackle.

Kane’s superb penalty record since missing in the World Cup quarter-final continued as he struck home soon after Sané’s goal.

Chances at both ends flowed from there on before Bayern defender Kim Min Jae, playing because Matthijs de Ligt was injured, brought down Rodrygo in the box and his fellow Brazilian Vinicius did the honours.

This pairing is the most played duel in the history of the European Cup and Champions League, with 27 meetings now having taken place.

The two teams met in the semi-final in 2012, which Bayern edged on penalties, but the Spaniards triumphed in their most recent last-four clashes in 2014 and 2018.

In Wednesday’s second semi-final, 1997 winners Borussia Dortmund host Paris-Saint Germain, beaten by Bayern in the 2020 final when ex-Dortmund coach Tuchel bossed the Parisians.

Dortmund are in their first semi since 2013, a season which ended with them losing to Bayern in an all-German final at Wembley. A repeat could occur this term, but Tuchel’s men must excel in Madrid.

“It is half-time, it was a very up and own game. it was pretty decent from us today and we’ll see about next week,” Bayern midfielder Konrad Laimer said.

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EPL: David Raya reacts to mistake in Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Spurs

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Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya has said that he is open to learning new things through his own mistakes.

Some of such mistakes were prevalent during Arsenal’s 3-2 win against Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday.

Arsenal were 3-0 up in the first half through Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s own-goal and strikes from Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz.

However, Tottenham came back from the break stronger and were handed a way back in the 64th minute when Raya’s attempted lob ended up at the feet of Cristian Romero at the edge of the box.

The Argentine finished off the chance to make it 3-1.Son Heung-min then scored from the penalty spot with three minutes to go in regulation following a foul by Declan Rice on Ben Davies.

However, Mikel Arteta’s side somehow fended their north London rivals off for the remainder of the contest.

Raya told Sky Sports,
“I’ve learnt from making mistakes. If you don’t make mistakes, you don’t learn. It’s a part of football, everybody makes mistakes.

“But the thing [is] when a keeper makes a mistake, it’s a goal, it’s more seen, more talked [about], compared to a striker missing a tap-in or whatever.

“But it’s just part of football and you learn from that. That’s the most important thing – you learn from the mistakes.”

 

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