Sports
Man City Keeper Faces Uncertain Future At Etihad
Ederson has said he has yet to make a decision about his future at Manchester City amid interest from Saudi Pro League clubs.
The Brazilian goalkeeper has been heavily linked with a move away from the Etihad this transfer window, with Al-Ittihad and Al-Nassr interested in his signature, though the latter reportedly pulled out of the race.
Pep Guardiola is keen to keep his goalkeeper at the club, saying “I wish from the bottom of my heart Eddie will continue with us” when asked about the prospect of him leaving.
Ederson has proved an integral figure for City since arriving from Benfica in 2017, making 332 appearances in all competitions and keeping 155 clean sheets.
The 30-year-old is currently on City’s pre-season tour of the United States having missed the Copa America with an eye injury, and started their 3-2 defeat to Milan in New York on Saturday.
Speaking after that game, Ederson admitted he still did not know where his future lies, but welcomed the praise from Guardiola.
“There isn’t a decision yet,” he said. “To hear Pep saying that was very gratifying.
“It’s now my eighth season with him, living many good moments, also some bad ones. He’s a guy who is easy to work with, he’s a football genius and everyone knows that. So, it’s really good to hear that from him.
“I’m happy here, having a good moment with my team-mates. I’m enjoying as well to get my fitness back on track. I’m very calm, whatever happens is in God’s hands and he knows the right way to go. Whatever he gives me I’ll be happy with.”
City’s next friendly on their pre-season tour will see them face Guardiola’s former side Barcelona in Orlando tomorrow.
England captain Harry Kane netted a hat-trick to guide Bayern Munich to an impressive victory against Stuttgart.
Kane’s goals, plus one from Kingsley Coman, helped Bayern end a three-game winless run in all competitions.
They faced a tough task against a Stuttgart side who sat back and limited their chances, leading Vincent Kompany’s side to enter the break frustrated and with the deadlock unbroken.
Bayern eventually found a way past Stuttgart’s steely defence when Kane drilled a low effort into the bottom corner from around 30 yards out after Joshua Kimmich overturned possession.
Former Nigeria goalkeeper, Dosu Joseph, is full of thanks to God after he miraculously survived another life-threatening automobile accident recent at Kara, along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, where a heavy-duty truck ran into his SUV.
Narrating his ordeal, the 51-year-old, who guided Nigeria to gold in the Men’s Football Tournament of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, broke the news in a statement on his social media handles on Friday.
“To God be the glory, another death escaped by Grace and Mercy of God. Me and my friend SM were at Enyo Filling Station after Ojodu Berger bus stop to get fuel on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, around 6 p.m. when this MACK truck fully loaded with iron, with registration number LND 470 XX, left the road and crushed my car beyond repairs. Thank God for life,” he stated.
This is the second time the soft-spoken club proprietor will cheat death by a whisker, having been involved in an accident in 1997 that ended his career at 23 and left his spinal cord in bad shape.
He helped Julius Berger win the Nigeria FA Cup in November 1997 shortly a memorable Olympic outing by keeping a clean sheet in the finals against Katsina United. The following year, he was involved in the auto along Ikorodu Road, Lagos, which not only cut his career short but also left him almost paralysed, ending his spell at Serie A club Reggiana.
The former Nigeria international, who also kept goal for Julius Berger FC, said the case has been reported to Isheri Police Station, Ogun State, where the driver is currently detained and the truck also seized.
According to him, the owner of the truck said he can’t fix the badly damaged SUV until after a year.
Ex – Super Eagles of Nigeria, Okwuchukwu Waobikeze has observed that sports development in Nigeria is going down.
According to him, grassroots sports is very important, without it, the administrators cannot get it right. So everybody should key into grassroots sports development, he said.
Waobikeze said this last Wednesday in an interview with sports journalists shortly after the Port Harcourt All Stars Independence football festival (OCTOBERFEST) at the Port Harcourt club, Rivers State.
He explained that for sports administrators to get it right, grassroots development is key. “They should be organising competition at the grassroots level to fish out the young ones for different sporting activities.
“Grassroots sports is very important so the administrators have to go back to the grassroots.
” Sports Development in Nigeria is going down we need to go back to the basics.
“Look at the just concluded Paris Olympics, Nigeria did not win any medal.
” Our football team did not even qualify for the Olympics. We are going down.
” If they should go back to the grassroots, they will get young ones in the games and talents will be developed.
” I started from school games, to youth games before playing for the national team. Now everybody wants to fly board to play professional football and a lot do not know the basics of the game.
” A lot of people did not know the little things about the game, they just want to play. It is not done so,” Waobikeze stated.
Kiadum Edookor