Sports
Qatar 2022: People made sure Messi succeeded, Ronaldo was cut off – Neville
Ex-Manchester United defender, Gary Neville has said players and coaches of Argentina rallied around to ensure Lionel Messi had a great World Cup.
However, for Cristiano Ronaldo, Neville feels Portugal did not play to his strengths.
Ronaldo was introduced from the bench as Portugal lost 1-0 to Morocco in the quarter-finals.
The 37-year-old was also dropped for their Round of 16 clash against Switzerland, when his replacement Goncalo Ramos netted a hat-trick in the 6-1 win.
Ronaldo left Qatar with only one goal in five appearances, which was a penalty in their opening group fixture against Ghana.
Neville said: “Messi has been managed by Argentina in terms of how the rest of the group have come around him, and they completely play to his strengths.
“Whereas with Portugal and with Santos having known Cristiano for so long, I thought he’d have done the same.
“It feels to me like something has happened within the tournament that’s meant that plan has changed and Santos has thought ‘I need to leave you out’.”
World record holder Tobi Amusan raced to first place in the women’s 100m hurdles at the national trials in Benin City on Monday
It was the fourth time Amusan had won the title.
Tobi Express, as she is fondly called by her admirers, crossed the line in 12.78 seconds, ahead of Adaobi Tabugbo, who finished second in 13.33 seconds. Faith Osamuyi came in third with a time of 13.36 seconds.
The 27-year-old will be hoping for a podium finish at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Amusan came in fourth in the final of the women’s 100m hurdles in Tokyo four years ago.
She will also participate in the African Senior Athletics Championship in Cameroon later this month.
Chelsea has announced that Academy Forward, Tyrique George has signed a new contract until 2027, with a further one-year option.
George joined the Chelsea academy in 2014 as an under-8.
The 18-year-old has progressed through the Academy ranks at the club.
Last season, George played prominent roles across two Chelsea Academy sides and scored several eye-catching goals.
He made 26 appearances for our Under-21s – three of which came in the Premier League 2 playoffs – while 21 outings came with the Under-18s, who ended the campaign as Premier League South champions.
Despite representing England at the youth level, he is eligible to play for Nigeria.
Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu State has congratulated Rangers International Football Club of Enugu for winning the 2023/2024 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) title with a game to spare.
The congratulatory message followed the team’s 2-0 victory over Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu on Sunday.
A 33rd minute goal by Kenechukwu Agu and 65th minute goal by Chidiebere Nwobodo handed Rangers their eighth league title and their second since 2016.
Their closest rivals, Remo Stars and Enyimba Football Club, lost their respective match day 37 fixtures 1-2 each against Sunshine Stars and Sporting Lagos.
This left the Flying Antelopes with 67 points with a game to go and five points ahead of their nearest rivals.
Reacting to the development, Mbah said Rangers’ title win and display on the pitch were a clear exciting reenactment of the greatness Enugu State was known for.
He assured that his government would commit more resources toward sports development in the state.
“I can tell you that the government and people of Enugu State are very excited. What we have now is the reenactment of the greatness that Enugu is known for.
“Part of what I said to the players before the match started was that they had the weight of history on their shoulders because they were walking the path legends had walked and that it was incumbent on them to deliver.
“I’m so excited again that this has happened.
“Indeed, our tomorrow is here. It is again part of connecting the dots in the sports sector. As you already know, we want to be the number one in everything we do.
“So, we have zero tolerance for failure or mediocrity and our work ethic is impeccable,” Mbah said.
He said the state would continue on that trajectory, making sure that they had a good reward system, motivate the players to go all out and excel.
On sports infrastructure, he said: “you will attest to the fact that getting our pitch back in shape immediately we assumed office to enable Rangers play their home matches here at ‘The Cathedral’ was a huge motivation for the players.
“But I want to assure Enugu people that they have not seen anything yet. As you are aware, our goal is a total turnaround of the sports industry in the state.
“This includes the sports infrastructure, building world-class facilities and upgrading existing ones to world-class standard.”
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