Author: Brila

Shanghai Shenhua striker Demba Ba has given up all hope of international call-up with Senegal after repeated omissions by coach Aliou Cisse. Ba, 33, has not played for his country since March 2015 and admits it is unlikely he will be picked while Cisse remains at the helm. “I’ve turned the page and I don’t have a space for the national team in my head,” China-based Ba told Senegalese publication Record. “I saw the course of events leading up to being snubbed and ignored by coach Aliou Cisse. He simply cast me aside without talking to me.…

Luka Modric has been named the Best Men’s Player at The Best FIFA Football Awards on Monday evening, fighting off competition from fellow nominees Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah. The award caps off an incredible year for Modric, who won his fourth Champions League title with Real Madrid in May, before leading his country to a World Cup final in July and being crowned UEFA Men’s Player of the Year last month. The only Nigerian journalist who participated in the vote, Christian Okpara voted for Cristiano Ronaldo, Super Eagles Manager Gernot Rohr went for Luka Modric and captain Obi Mikel voted…

As Leicester City prepare to face Wolverhampton Wanderers in the third round of a competition that may not make many bat an eyelid, Kelechi Iheanacho is feeling inspired enough to win it. The league cup triumph with Manchester City in 2016 brought the Nigerian his first – and only – piece of silverware in England, a memory that he still holds very close to his heart. However, he would now like to add to his cabinets of trophies and memories by emulating his feat with the Citizens at Leicester. With the Premier League in mind as well, Claude…

Luka Modric has completed a UEFA and FIFA double of individual prizes after collecting the latter’s Best Men’s Player award on Monday night. Modric was included on a three-man shortlist and triumphed against competition from Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah and former Real Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo. The 33-year-old was a star performer as Croatia reached their first World Cup final and his performances at Russia 2018 saw him win the Golden Ball for the tournament’s best player. And Luka, who was linked with a move to Inter during the transfer window, added another individual honour at FIFA’s…

According to Anthony Joshua’s Twitter poll, he will face American champ Deontay Wilder in April. With 22 hours remaining on the online poll to choose his next opponents, Wilder has 53%, Tyson Fury has 42% and Dillian Whyte has just 5% of fans’ votes. AJ stated after his win that he would ask his fans who they wanted him to fight next at Wembley, potentially in April last year. His two main opponents, Wilder and Fury, face each other in Las Vegas in December, with many believing that the winner of that bout will face AJ at…

Croatia and Real Madrid star Luka Modric returns to London on Monday with the best chance of being named FIFA’s player of the year anyone other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo has had for a decade. That decision will be the climax of the Best FIFA Football Awards show at the Royal Festival Hall, with the 90-minute ceremony being broadcast online from 7.30pm. The former Tottenham midfielder’s hopes of breaking the 10-year Messi/Ronaldo duopoly are based on two pillars: one, Messi has not made the shortlist for the first time since 2007; and two, Modric was the…

Chelsea midfielder and pass master Jorginho set a new Premier League record against West Ham United for most attempted passes in one match. The Italian attempted 180 passes as the Blues were held to a goalless draw with their London rivals. Jorginho has made a huge impression since arriving from SSC Napoli over the summer. Jorghino surpassed the record of Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan who attempted 174 passes against the Blues back in March. The 26-year-old’s passing performance at the London Stadium took his total number of completed passes to 628 for the season. The midfielder’s impressive passing stats show just how…

Tiger Woods ended his five-year PGA Tour drought with a win at theTour Championship, and the Bills notch the biggest upset in NFL history with a 27-6 pasting of the Vikings. An emotional Tiger Woods struggled to comprehend how he had pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in sport with victory in the season-ending Tour Championship amid amazing scenes in Atlanta. Chasing a first win since 2013 and the 80th PGA Tour title of his career, Woods took a three-shot lead over Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy into the last day at East Lake and carded a closing 71 to finish 11 under par, two shots…

Anthony Joshua’s Knockout win, Enyimba’s trouncing of Rayon Sports, D’Tigress’ victory and more caught our eyes from the last weekend. We are taking a look at the most entertaining actions from the weekend in this article that covers different sports niches from football to basketball, boxing and more. ANTHONY JOSHUA Alexander Povetkin was dangerous at times Saturday night, but Anthony Joshua ultimately did what he has done to all but one professional opponent. The hard-hitting British superstar dropped Povetkin twice in the seventh round and stopped him in the main event of a seven-bout card that drew an…

The celebrations were still underway for Nigeria after their first-ever FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup win, when Sarah Ogoke promised it was only the beginning.