Chelsea: Wilmots confirms striker's medical

Michy Batshuayi looks to be edging closer to a move to Chelsea after Marc Wilmots confirmed he had attended a medical.

Marc Wilmots has confirmed that Michy Batshuayi left Belgium's Euro 2016 base this week to undergo a medical ahead of his expected move to Chelsea. The Marseille striker, who scored in Belgium's 4-0 last-16 demolition of Hungary on Sunday, is widely reported to be edging closer to a switch to Stamford Bridge after netting 17 Ligue 1 goals last season. And the 22-year-old was given special dispensation to attend a medical.

"He did not ask for my advice," said Wilmots. "Marseille just asked me to release him for two hours for a medical visit between 10am and noon. That's all." Full-back Thomas Meunier is also said to be on the verge of a transfer from Club Brugge to Paris Saint-Germain. "I think it's best that the players are busy with transfers," added Belgium coach Wilmots. "This shows that they have worked well.

"They were given a free afternoon yesterday and some took the opportunity to move forward on the transfer issue. It's good to solve these problems. He further added that "If a club like PSG is interested in Meunier it is because they have seen his qualities. They are not blind."

Belgium face Wales in their Euro 2016 quarter-final on Friday.

Luis Enrique extends contract until 30 June 2017

FC Barcelona has announced that the first team manager and the rest of his coaching staff will be staying at the club for an extra season



FC Barcelona has announced that Luis Enrique Martínez and the rest of his coaching staff have extended their contract for a further season, which will now expire on 30 June 2017.

The new deal was signed on Tuesday afternoon, where the first team manager was joined by assistant coaches Juan Carlos Unzué and Robert Moreno, technical auxiliary Joan Barbarà, physio Rafel Pol, goalkeepers’ coach José Ramon de la Fuente and psychologist Joaquín Valdés.

Statements by Luis Enrique

“We are naturally very happy. After the wonderful year we’ve had, with difficulties but a very happy ending, we are more than thrilled about the hope of winning more titles. Everything that we have ahead of us in more than exciting.”

Real madrid Survive Schalke Scare to Reach UCL Last 8

Real Madrid managed through to their fifth successive Uefa Champions League quarter-final despite conceding four away goals at the hands of Schalke 04 on Tuesday.

The title holders advanced from the second round on account of their 2-0 away win at the German  side as an impressive display of hearts saw visitors Schalke force a 4-3 victory at the Santiago Bernebeu, but the day still went to the hosts 5-4 on aggregate.

Schalke twice led in Madrid through Christian Fuchs and ex-Real man Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, but Cristiano Ronaldo twice pulled back for his team with a header. 

  
Christian Fuchs Celebrates after Opening Scoring for Schalke 04 at the Santiago Bernebeu

Karim Benzema forced issues with a third goal for Carlo Ancelotti’s side after the break before Leroy Sane and Huntelaar scored to help the Royal Blues lose out with pride and end Real’s 21-match unbeaten home run in the Champions League.
 

        Karim Benzema Placed Real Madrid in the Lead After the Break.

Fifa Ballon d’Or holder Ronaldo became the Champions League’s record scorer with 76 goals from his two headed goals, one ahead of Barcelona’s Lionel Mess, who returns in a last-16 game next week at home to Manchester City.

CHECK OUT 5 TALKING POINTS AS WENGERS BOYS DEFEATS VAN GAALS MEN.

1. The momentum is now with Wenger’s boys

Before this barn-burner of a contest Louis van Gaal said: “What’s the plan? That we beat Arsenal. Arsenal are one of the best teams in the Premier League but I have noticed that they have played more defensively lately.
With a lot of success.” By the close the Gunners had been anything but negative and were savouring a victory that keeps the dream of retaining the FA Cup alive and is the perfect fillip as they seek to finish in the top four yet again.
United, though, have only the quest for a Champions League berth remaining. “A win this evening would be perfect for us to go into the run of tough games that we have coming up,” said Van Gaal, whose side face Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea in four of the next five matches. Now comes a test of character for the Dutchman’s United.

2. Di María sees red to spoil what had been a good performance

After reports the British record £59.7m signing may be unsettled came the first question on precisely this subject in the programme, to which he said: “I feel really good here. I’m very happy. A lot of players speak Spanish and that was very important when I arrived.”
There cannot have been too much contentment at being hooked in the last two matches – at half-time and on 59 minutes - and, by the 76th minute of this outing Di María’s mood was even darker when being sent off by Michael Oliver. Before this the Argentinian had caused serious problems. A swift cut inside and pinpoint ball in-behind Arsenal – this one found Marouane Fellaini – proved a warm-up for the first of many including the sweet left-foot cross that allowed Wayne Rooney to head the equaliser. And though he showed why Van Gaal can be frustrated with him when losing possession to Santi Cazorla this threatened to be Di María’s best display of recent memory – until he received his marching orders.

3. Fellaini emerges as one of Van Gaal’s main men

The Belgian’s emergence under the manager is this season’s United selection surprise as he again forced £80m of elite football talent in Radamel Falcao (cost, £43m if United want him permanently) and Juan Mata (a £37.1m buy) out of the team, Fellaini doing so for a consecutive match. As in last Wednesday evening’s 1-0 victory at Newcastle Van Gaal decided that in the absence of the injured Robin van Persie United should have a lone striker in Rooney, who would be supported by the big-haired midfielder-auxiliary forward. As can be the case Fellaini’s offering was a mixed-bag. When put through by Chris Smalling near Wojciech Szczesny’s goal he failed to shoot and ended careering and sliding around like a novice ice-skater. But there was also smart movement and the ability to break Arsenal’s lines by drifting in behind, and the target presented by his head and chest for Di María and company to find with aerial balls.

4. Welbeck makes a triumphant Old Trafford return

The former favourite son of this parish made a first return to Old Trafford in Arsenal livery since his £16m transfer last summer. Not for the first time in his career Welbeck arrived in need of a goal, having last scored on 28 December. With only seven strikes all campaign for Wenger’s team the forward, who is still only 24, has not always been an automatic choice. Yet he did keep Olivier Giroud on the bench here, and Welbeck’s pace and movement were as evident as each quality was when a United player, but touch and composure were too often awry. There was a clumsy mis-control from an Alexis Sánchez pass, then a header that lacked power and went straight at David de Gea. Perhaps this lack of conviction caused Sánchez to refuse to play him in when racing at the United defence later in the contest.

5. This was more like old times – well, kind of

As these old foes who dominated the Premier League era, until Arsenal fell away around a decade ago, prepared for this first FA Cup meeting since February 2008, in the BBC Match of the Day studio Roy Keane was saying: “It’s great to look back at the clips, great memories of some great games. It was such a clash of characters in the contests. In those days, you knew if you got a result against Arsenal, you had a chance of winning a title. These games [now] are just lacking that bit of intensity.”
What unfolded was a peel-mell contest that was, actually, reminiscent of the yesteryear Keane spoke of. While it may have missed a clash of alpha males like the Irishman and Patrick Viera in those days of yore the atmosphere and spectacle did tingle the senses as then.

Chelsea midfielder out for a month following meniscus surgery.

Jose Mourinho seemed to be in good spirits on Tuesday, and it's hard to blame him following his side's 2-0 victory in the Capital One Cup final on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, the manager had a bit of bad news on the injury front for us during his pre-West Ham presser, indicating that John Obi Mikel has undergone a surgical procedure and will be out of action for a bit:

"Mikel had a little surgery on his meniscus. We are expecting him to be out for about a month - one week is already gone. There is not too much optimism or pessimism."

"I would say [he will return] first week of April."

Just another blow in what's become a very stop-start season for Mikel.  The nine-year Chelsea veteran has made just four appearances since the new year, suffering a head injury and then a knee injury, which, as it turns out, required surgery.

And while Ramires seems to have finally kicked his own injury issues, we're once again one midfielder short. Luckily, Nemanja Matic only has one more match of his suspension to serve, but we'll all need to cross our fingers that he stays healthy and avoids any more encounters with Ashley Barnes.

Ex-Super Eagles Skipper, Okocha Elected Delta FA Chairman

Former Super Eagles’ captain, Austin Jay-Jay Okocha has been elected chairman of the Delta State Football Association.

At the elections conducted in Asaba on Friday, and supervised by Member of the NFF Executive Committee, Alhaji Babagana Kalli, Okocha polled 26 out of the 27 votes cast.

One of only four Nigerian footballers to play at three FIFA World Cup finals, Jay-Jay Okocha’s club career took him through Germany, France, England and Turkey, and he is presently Head of the NFF Technical Study Group.




                        Austin ‘jay jay’ Okocha Wins Delta FA Chairmanship Election.

Okocha, who had served as vice chairman before the elevation, replaces Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick, who announced his intention to relinquish the post on the very day he was elected President of Nigeria Football Federation, September 30, 2014.

Flying Eagles Beat Hosts Ghana 2-0

Nigeria Under-20 national team defeated hosts Ghana 2-0 in a friendly rematch on Wednesday.

Skipper Musa Muhammed broke the deadlock for the Flying Eagles and substitute Ifeanyi Matthew doubled the advantage in stoppage time of the match played in Tema, outskirts of Accra.

The win follows another friendly draw with the Black Satellites on Monday. Both Nations are preparing for next month’s African Youth Championship (AYC) in Senegal.
 
Ghana dominated the first half on Wednesday but Nigeria closed it out with a second half revival. Muhammed converted from 12 yards in the 70th minute after a home team defender handled the ball in the area.
 
Matthew grabbed Nigeria’s second after a swift attack with a superb shot from the edge of the box.
Bernard Bulbwa could have placed the Eagles in the lead five minutes after the hour mark, when he beat the offside trap but shot straight at goalkeeper Muntawakilu Seidu in a one-on-one situation.

Ifeanyi Ifeanyi’s shot also came off the woodwork two minutes after Bulbwa’s squandered attempt.

Paris racist attack victim makes official complaint

Paris (AFP) - A black French man pushed off a Paris metro train and racially abused by Chelsea supporters on Thursday made an official complaint to police and demanded that the fans be punished.

"These people, these English supporters, must be found, punished and locked up," the victim of the widely condemned assault told Le Parisien newspaper.

 

The man, who has not been officially identified but was named as 33-year-old Souleymane S by Le Parisien, had been unaware of the row caused by Tuesday night's incident until found by the newspaper.

He went to a police station on Thursday to make his complaint. 

French and British police have already launched a hunt for the self-proclaimed racist fans after the episode in a central Paris metro station before Chelsea's 1-1 Champions League draw against Paris Saint-Germain.

Amateur video footage showed Chelsea fans repeatedly pushing Souleymane S. back off the train as he tried to board and then chanting: "We're racist, we're racist, and that's the way we like it!"

French prosecutors have opened an investigation into "deliberate racial violence on public tran …

 

"I didn't know I was being filmed. The fact that it's being talked about has given me the courage to go and file a complaint with the police," Souleymane S, said.

The man recounted: "I wanted to get into the carriage but a group of English fans were blocking me and pushing me off.

"They were saying to me things in English but I didn't really understand the meaning of their words.

"I realised they were targeting me because of the colour of my skin. You know I live with racism, I wasn't totally surprised at what happened even if this was the first time it'd happened in the metro.

"I returned home without saying anything about it to anyone, not my wife, nor my children. What can I tell my kids? That papa was shoved in the metro because he's black? That wouldn't help things at all."

The incident took place on the Paris metro when Chelsea supporters pushed a black man to prevent him …

The man was born in Paris to Mauritanian parents.

The newspaper reported that Souleymane S. lives north of Paris and works near the Richelieu-Drouot metro station where Tuesday's incident took place.

It was at the station that Le Parisien say they came across him on Wednesday.

According to the paper, he was unaware of the furore the story had stirred up.

French prosecutors have opened an investigation into "deliberate racial violence on public transport". London police said they would assist the French investigation.

 

In the match before the incident, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea drew 1-1 in their Champions League …

In a statement, Chelsea called the incident "abhorrent". The club has called on its fans to help identify the supporters involved in the abuse.

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron called the incident "extremely disturbing".
Activist groups have already called on football's leadership to do more to combat racism in the game.

Former England defender Rio Ferdinand called the incident "disgraceful behaviour" but questioned whether the football powers want to do more.

"Does football want to change this? Do the people in the game that hold the power really want to put the hard yards in to eradicate racism?" Ferdinand said in a Twitter comment.

EPL Update: Balotelli Earns Liverpool Win, QPR Claim 1st Away Win

Mario Balotelli scored his first Premier League goal for Liverpool as they beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 in an end-to-end affair at Anfield on Tuesday.

The visiting Spurs twice came back on level terms with the Reds before the Italian substitute turned in an Adam Lallana low cross seven minutes to the dead.

 

Lazar Markovic placed Liverpool ahead early on but the on-form Harry Kane restored parity four minutes to the half-time whistle, burying an Erik Lamela clever ball beyond Simon Mignolet from 12 yards- his 23rd goal of the season and 13th in the Premier League.

Steven Gerrard’s penalty restored Liverpool’s one-goal advantage just after the restart after Danny Rose had tripped Sturridge but Moussa Dembele leveled again before a Balotelli match-winner sealed a vital three point and ended his English league goal drought since scoring for Manchester City against Wigan in November 2012.

The result means Liverpool now trail the Whites by just a point in the race for a top 4 finish. Mauricio Pochettino’s side are three points adrift of fourth-placed Arsenal.





Arsenal 2-1 Leicester

Arsenal moved above Manchester United into fourth place following their 2-1 home win against struggling Leicester City.

Laurient Koscielny tapped in from close range to place Arsene Wenger’s men in the lead and when Mark Schwarzer later saved a Mesut Ozil shot Theo Walcott was in hand to volley home the rebound for Arsenal’s second.

          Mesut Ozil had a Hand in Both of Arsenal’s Goals Against Leicester City at the Emirates

German midfielder Mesut Ozil has now scored three goals and provided two assists in his last four matches after setting up both goals at the Emirates Stadium.

The Foxes pulled one back just after the hour mark with Andrej Kramaric grabbing his first English top-flight goal from a Riyad Mahrez delivery.

David Ospina was alert to deny Kramaric a chance of netting an unpleasant brace late on as the Gunners held on to three points and displace Man United in the top four. The defeat saw Leicester move further down in the bottom of the table.
Wenger lost substitute Aaron Ramsey to injury after just nine minutes of coming on for Walcott.


Hull 2-0 Aston Villa
Hull moved out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 win over Aston Villa who dropped into the demotion territory in place of the Tigers. Hull were 1-0 up after 22 minutes as Nikija Jelavic’s deflected shot looped into the net.

                     Dame N’Doye Celebrates after scoring His First Premier League Goal.

New signing Dame N’Doye doubled the hosts’ advantage after 74 minutes with his first goals since arriving in the winter from Lokomotiv Moscow in a reported £3m deal.


Sunderland 0-2 QPR
 Managerless Queens Park Rangers (QPR) also climbed out of the relegation zone through Leroy Fer and Bobby Zamora strikes.
The R’s took the lead when Fer got in the end of Matty Phillip’s inch-perfect right-wing cross and thumping in a downward header.

Zamora sealed victory on the nick of the half-time break with a fine hooked effort which found the top corner of the Black Cats’ goal.

Sunderland, who have recorded just one win in their previous eight league matches, are only two points above the drop zone.

Egypt Suspends Football League After Cairo Stadium Deaths

The Egyptian authorities have suspended football league matches indefinitely following the death of at least 22 fans who were killed in clashes with police at a Cairo stadium.

People were crushed in a stampede after police fired tear gas at supporters of Zamalek trying to force their way in for a match against city rivals ENPPI. The fans blamed police for forcing them through a narrow, fenced-in passageway.
President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has expressed “great sorrow” over the deaths and promised an investigation.
The Egyptian Premier League was last suspended in February 2012 after 74 fans were killed in a riot at a match in Port Said.
The league resumed the following year, but supporters were banned from attending matches until last December. Since then, limited numbers have been allowed into stadiums.

State media reported that only 5,000 tickets were made available for sale to the public for Sunday evening's match between Zamalek and ENPPI at the 30,000-capacity Air Defense Stadium in the east of the capital. 


But thousands of ticketless Zamalek fans reportedly tried to gain entry anyway.
The interior ministry said they had "attempted to storm the stadium gates by force, which prompted police to prevent them from continuing the assault", setting off a deadly stampede.
"Because of the stampede, some choked and died from asphyxiation, while the rest died from being trampled," a police official told the state-run newspaper, al-Ahram.
But the Zamalek supporters' group, the White Knights, said the stampede began when police fired tear gas at a crowd being forced to pass through a fenced-in passageway about 3.7m (12ft) wide.
"[The] iron cage inside which most people died was installed a day before the match and it has never been used in any country of the world," a statement on Facebook said.

At the scene: Orla Guerin, BBC News
At the stadium piles of shoes left behind by the dead and wounded were a silent testament to a stampede. Zamalek fans claim the violence began when the authorities opened just one barbed wire gate to let them in.
Witnesses told us a fence had collapsed as the crowd surged forward. "Suddenly the security forces began firing tear gas and birdshot all over the place," one said.

Another young man told us through tears that up to 50 fans starting piling on top of each other. "We were carrying people away," he said "to save them getting trampled to death".
It is just three years since more than 70 Egyptian fans were killed in a riot at a stadium in Port Said. After that limits were placed on the numbers attending matches. Those restrictions were lifted just weeks ago.
There's a history of tension and animosity between the security forces and hardcore football fans - many of whom were involved in the 2011 revolution. There are fears of further clashes in the days ahead.

Serena Williams2015 Australian Open women singles champion donates $17,600 to charity Serena Williams pledged $200 for each Ace she hit at the Australian Open. 88 hits to the title win sums up to $17,600 in donation for charity

Serena Williams won her sixth Australian Open title and 19 Grand slam in all on Saturday when she beat Russian, Maria Sharapova.

With the win, the American beauty is now third woman with the most Grand slam titles, coming behind Steffi Graf (22) and Margaret Court (24).

She carted away $3.1m a winners prize money and will be donating $17,600 out of it.

She pledged $200 for every ace she hit during the tournament to the Cure for MND Foundation. She hit 88 aces so that's a total of $17,600

West Ham in talks to sign Distin.

The Everton defender is set to be allowed to leave Goodison Park, despite making 12 appearances this season, and the Hammers are keen on striking a deal for the Frenchman


The 37-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season, and with no new deal likely to be offered, Everton are set to allow him leave - even though he has started 12 Premier League games for Roberto Martinez's men this season.

Distin, who has played over 200 games during his Everton career, would prefer to stay in England and Goal understands he is keen on the prospect of linking up with Sam Allardyce, even if it is on a short-term deal.

West Ham have also been linked with a move for Genk defender Kara Mbodj, while co-chairman David Sullivan has flown to France for the final day of the transfer window, reportedly to seek out potential targets.

Allardyce confirmed on Monday that he is in the market for new acquisitions, telling reporters: "We'll see what's there and if it's something worth doing then we'll take a look.

"With Andy Carroll's injury, we'll know more once we've had the scan but it's too early to guess how serious or non-serious it is. We'll know better in the next few days.

"We were already without James Tomkins, Carl Jenkinson, Cheikhou Kouyate and Diafra Sakho and now these three new injuries have left us pretty thin."

Goal understands that Everton are already looking at potential replacements and one of their main targets could be Manchester United's Tyler Blackett.

Left-sided Blackett is seen as a perfect like-for-like replacement by Everton chiefs - although they would need to act quickly to get any deal done in the last few hours of the transfer window.

Official: Marcelo Diaz agrees Hamburg switch.

The 28-year-old Chile international midfielder arrives from Basel and has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with the Bundesliga club with Serey Die also coming in
Hamburg have confirmed the signing of Marcelo Diaz on a two-and-a-half-year contract after completing his medical on Sunday.




The former Basel midfielder arrives at the Imtech Arena days after Ivica Olic agreed a return to the club as the 16th-placed club hope to enjoy a much more productive second half to their league season.
And Diaz is confident his new side have enough to climb the table, and is looking forward to a potential debut against Paderborn on Wednesday.
"I am very happy to be here and will help keep us in the division," he said. "I am sure that we will get there."
During his time in Switzerland, Diaz scored 13 goals in all competitions as he helped them win two league titles and book a place in the Champions League knockout stages this season.
With Hamburg struggling for a second successive Bundesliga campaign, head coach Joe Zinnbauer will be hopeful the Chile international can help move them away from danger in the second half of the season.
Cote d'Ivoire international Serey Die has also swapped Basel for the Bundesliga, with the 30-year-old midfielder agreeing a two-and-a-half year deal with Stuttgart.
"We are delighted about the signing of Serey Die," said director of sport Robin Dutt.
"He is an internationally experienced player, who will quickly come to terms with life in his new surroundings and he will help stabilise our game with his uncompromising manner."

Manchester United outcast Anderson to complete Internacional move

 

The midfielder is set to return to Brazil, although Louis van Gaal's side will be forced to pay a six-figure sum to cover the 26-year-old's wage losses

Manchester United midfielder Anderson is finally set to complete a move away from the club and seal a return to his native Brazil with Internacional.

The former Porto star arrived in Brazil over the weekend and underwent a successful medical on Sunday, with the deal set to be announced later on Monday.

Although Anderson will join Internacional on a free transfer, TOP GISTS understands United will be forced to pay the midfielder a six-figure sum to compensate for a loss in wages.

The 26-year-old has long been on the fringes at Old Trafford and has struggled to make any sort of impact in the first-team since Sir Alex Ferguson's departure in 2013.

Having arrived at Old Trafford back in 2007 with a billing as one of the most exciting talents in world football, Anderson has failed to live up to expectations, making just 10 first-team appearances over the last two seasons.

Anderson's United team-mate Juan Mata, meanwhile, has already sent his well wishes to the Brazil midfielder, writing on his personal blog: "I want to wish good luck to my friend Anderson, who is back to football in his native Brazil. All the best, my friend!"

 

Luis Figo bids for FIFA presidency

Luis Figo announces bid for FIFA presidency

 
London - Former Portugal and Real Madrid winger Luis Figo announced on Wednesday that he is to challenge incumbent Sepp Blatter in this year's FIFA presidential election.
"I care about football, so what I'm seeing regarding the image of FIFA not only now but in the past years I don't like it," the 42-year-old said in an interview broadcast by CNN.
"If you search FIFA on the internet you see the first word that comes out: scandal not positive words. It's that we have to change first and try to improve the image of FIFA. Football deserves much better than this."
 
Figo joins Asian Football Confederation vice-president Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, Dutch football chief Michael van Praag, ex-FIFA executive Jerome Champagne and former France winger David Ginola in the running to unseat Blatter, who will bid for a fifth term in office in the May 29 election.
The deadline for nominees to announce their candidacies falls on Thursday. Figo told CNN he had secured the necessary support from five national football associations, but declined to identify them.
"I've been talking with so many important people in football players, managers, president of federations and they all think that something has to be done," added Figo, who won the Ballon d'Or in 2000 and was voted FIFA World Player of the Year in 2001.
"Last year was the World Cup, I was in Brazil and I saw the reaction of all the fans regarding the image of FIFA and I think something has to be changed.
"Change in leadership, governance, transparency and solidarity, so I think it's the moment for that."
As one of the most famous footballers of his generation, Figo is the most high-profile candidate to have launched a bid to succeed Blatter.
The 78-year-old Swiss has been tarnished by accusations of corruption stemming from the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which were awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively.
Hailing from Lisbon, Figo played for Sporting Lisbon, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan during a glittering career.
A skilful, two-footed wide player, he captained Portugal at the 2006 World Cup and won a total of 127 caps, making him his country's most-capped player.
As well as working as an ambassador at Inter, he has served on European governing body UEFA's Football Committee since 2011.

Industry Nite 

AKA South African rap-star to perform in Lagos tonight

  AKA to headline Industry Nite

The South African super star will be the main act for tonight's edition of Industry Nite

AKA (South African rapper) who recently featured in Ice Prince's 'N' Word remix and featured Burna Boy on his record, ‘All Eyes On Me’.
AKA will be the main act to this tonight's edition of Industry Nite With Ehiz as the Host and DJ Spinall on the wheels. The Super star will also be at Pulse VIP Night on Friday, January 30, 2015.
Venue: Spice Route, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Date: 28-1-15

Time: 10pm Till fade.