Author: Brila

New Super Eagles invitee and Rotherham United defender Semi Ajayi has expressed his delight after getting a call-up to the Nigeria squad for the upcoming AFCON Qualifier. Ajayi has only ever previously represented the Super Eagles up to Under 20s level and receives his first full call-up ahead of their games against Seychelles and Saudi Arabia. The 24-year-old centre-back was a key member in Paul Warne’s promotion-winning side last season and has appeared six times for the club in the early stages of the current campaign, scoring against Wigan Athletic in the Carabao Cup first round. Speaking…

Former Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper Carl Ikeme is set to join up with the Nigerian national team and assume his place in manager Gernot Rohr’s technical team after their next match. Ikeme, who survived a battle with leukaemia but has been forced to retire from the professional game at the age of 32, has been offered a position as a goalkeeper trainer with the Super Eagles, but he will only take up the role after the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier away to the Seychelles next month. Rohr says Ikeme will not only help to train the Nigerian national team’s…

On-loan Arsenal forward Kelechi Nwakali said he is pleased to have received his first senior call-up for Nigeria after he was named in the squad to face Seychelles next week. Coach Gernot Rohr released the list of invited players for their African Cup of Nations qualifier on Friday, with Nwakali making the list along with Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi. He certainly seemed pleased to get the opportunity, posting on Instagram to express his gratitude. Nwakali has technically appeared for the Nigeria senior side once before, playing in an unofficial friendly against Atletico Madrid at the end of last…

Former Super Eagles winger Garba Lawal has expressed his concern over the non-inclusion of former Watford’ Forward Isaac Success and Uche Agbo in the Super Eagles team to face Seychelles. Lawal questioned the non-inclusion of Isaac Success and Uche Agbo from the list of invited players called up by Gernot Rohr to prosecute the AFCON qualifiers between Nigeria and Seychelles. Lawal who described both players as been creative & disciplined opined that such talents deserve a place in the national team, even though he believes that luck plays its part in whom is considered for a call-up. …

Jose Mourinho claimed that Manchester United did not lose to Tottenham Hotspur in a ‘strategic’ and ‘tactical’ sense despite their 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford on Monday night. A Harry Kane header and two Lucas Moura goals consigned United to their second defeat of the new Premier League season, which is still just three games old. United were not as poor as in their last outing, against Brighton and Hove Albion, and would have led had Romelu Lukaku not spurned his first-half attempt at an open goal. This was, nevertheless, the heaviest home defeat of Mourinho’s managerial career, even if the United manager felt…

Some players, like top-ranked Simona Halep, freely acknowledge they don’t deal well with the hustle-and-bustle of the U.S. Open and all it entails. Others, like 44th-ranked Kaia Kanepi, take to the Big Apple and its Grand Slam tournament. Put those two types at opposite ends of a court at Flushing Meadows and watch what can happen: Halep made a quick-as-can-be exit Monday, overwhelmed by the power-based game of Kanepi 6-2, 6-4 to become the first No. 1-seeded woman to lose her opening match at the U.S. Open in the half-century of the professional era. On a Day 1 that featured…

Spurs ended their drab recent record at Old Trafford with a sensational 3-0 win, heaping more misery on Jose Mourinho and Manchester United in the process. After Romelu Lukaku missed an open goal in the first half, Tottenham were clinical in a two minute spell at the start of the second half. Harry Kane grabbed his first goal at the Theatre of Dreams in five appearances with a superb header from Kieran Trippier’s corner, before Lucas Moura finished a slick counter attack to silence the home supporters yet again. The North Londoners are now on three wins…

Falconets Chief Coach Chris Musa Danjuma has uncovered the biggest drawback affecting the development of women’s Football in Nigeria and Africa. Danjuma, who led the Under-20 Falconets to the just concluded FIFA World Cup in France noted that women’s football in the Africa continent cannot be compared to other continents. The veteran tactician has identified late starting in our approach to learning & teaching as the biggest impediment bedeviling African women’s football. In a chat with www.brila.net’s Pius Idoko, Danjuma affirmed that Africa’s late approach to preparation for Mundials is almost the most deadly challenge facing women…

Former Super Eagles forward Garba Lawal has urged the senior National team under Coach Gernot Rohr to take the September AFCON qualifier against Seychelles very seriously. Lawal made the remark during a brief chat with www.brila.net’s Yinka Oyedele, citing the loss against South Africa as the lesson on why the Super Eagles should not take the Seychelles match for granted. According to Lawal the rave to be at the 2019 Africa cup of nations will be tasking for Nigeria as the Eagles will have to come from behind having lost her opening qualifier to South Africa. Lawal…

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has cited Jose Mourinho as one of his biggest inspirations ahead of Monday Night clash with Manchester United. Pochettino and Mourinho go head-to-head on Monday night as Spurs visit Old Trafford for a game which is already being described as vital, even at this early stage of the season. All does not appear to be well at Manchester United, with Mourinho reportedly battling fall-outs with the board and key players while a 3-2 loss at Brighton last week did not help matters. The game is important for Spurs, too, as they look…