Sports
Liverpool, Chelsea Clash In Euro Super Cup
The 2019 UEFA Super Cup pitches Champions League winners Liverpool against Europa League champions, Chelsea, in an all-English clash set for the Vodafone Park in Istanbul tonight.
This will be Liverpool’s six appearance in the Super Cup and a first since 2005. They are three-time winners of the trophy (1977, 2001, 2005) and looking to join Spanish giants Real Madrid on a tally of four Super Cup titles.
Chelsea, meanwhile, will be making their fourth appearance in the Super Cup. The London side won the competition on debut in 1998, but lost in back-to-back showings in 2012 and 2013.
The Blues enter the match under something of a cloud, having suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat away to Manchester United in their opening Premier League match this past Sunday.
The Reds, by contrast, opened their domestic campaign with a 4-1 thrashing of Norwich at Anfield, featuring an opening goal from Egyptian superstar, Mohamed Salah.
The Pharaohs forward is set to lead the African influence on the Super Cup match in Turkey, though Liverpool could field several more of his continental brethren.
Cameroonian centre-back Joel Matip could well come into the defence alongside Virgil van Dijk, with Joe Gomez not likely to be risked for a third major match in 10 days following his lengthy injury absence last season.
Guinea Dynamo Naby Keita could also be brought into the starting XI and given the task of hassling Chelsea’s Jorginho, who is so often at the centre of their passing patterns.
Yet, the real question from an African fan’s point of view is whether Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp will field Sadio Mane from the start.
The Senegalese star has started in neither the Community Shield nor the Reds’ win over Norwich, though he did appear as a late substitute in the latter match.
It has been less than a month since the Teranga Lions forward played in the Africa Cup of Nations final, and Divock Origi has performed strongly in his absence, but Klopp may still be tempted to unleash Mane on a wounded Chelsea.
In head-to-head terms, Liverpool and Chelsea have met in 172 matches. The Reds have claimed 72 wins compared to 59 for the Blues, while 41 games have been drawn.
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