Tag: Captain

  • Man Utd captain battling to make Europa League final

    Man Utd captain battling to make Europa League final

    Manchester United captain Harry Maguire faces a race to be fit for the Europa League final against Villarreal.

    In victory over Aston Villa, Maguire was hurt in a collision with Anwar El Ghazi and left Villa Park with his left foot in a protective boot.

    He will have scans over the next 48 hours, but United fear he will be out for a couple of weeks. They play Villarreal in Gdansk on May 26.

    The 28-year-old, who has been ever-present in the Premier League since joining United for £80million from Leicester in the summer of 2019, tweeted: “Hoping the injury isn’t nothing serious and I’ll be back playing soon.”

  • Tottenham captain blasts ‘mentally weak’ teammates

    Tottenham captain blasts ‘mentally weak’ teammates

    Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris blasted his teammates after their dismal Europa League elimination at the hands of a rampant Dinamo Zagreb.

    Spurs were sent crashing out by a brilliant Mislav Orsic hat-trick as they blew a two-goal lead from the first leg.

    The capitulation piles the pressure on Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho, coming just four days after their limp North London derby defeat to fierce rivals Arsenal.

    Asked how the players were feeling after their humbling, the goalkeeper pulled no punches, saying: “Good question. I think we are all more than disappointed.

    “It’s just a disgrace. I just hope everyone in the changing room feels responsible for the situation, because it’s a disgrace.

    “What more can I say about it? Talking about the game from Sunday, I think it is not the right moment.

    “Just the taste of the defeat tonight is more than painful and we are all responsible for that.

    “Obviously we are a club which is full of ambition but I just think the team at the moment is a reflection of what’s going on in the club.”

    Lloris said Tottenham had been punished for failing to master the basics – and for underestimating their opponents.

    “We have a lack of basics, lack of fundamentals and all our performance is just in relation to that,” said the France international.

    “I think mentally we should be stronger, we should be more competitive. Today, I didn’t feel that on the field, unfortunately.

    “When you are not ready at this level you pay straight away.

    “It doesn’t matter who the opponent is, there is quality everywhere in the Europa. If you don’t respect the opponent it’s kind of permission and that’s what happened today.

    “Full credit belongs to the opponent as well because they played the game full of belief, but the blame is on us, all the team, all the club. We are guilty.”

    Asked to expand, he added: “I don’t have to go deeper. I mean it’s not possible.

    “The way we play is just not enough, not enough. It’s one thing to come in front of the camera to say we’re ambitious, the other is to show it every day in training sessions, to show it every time on the pitch.

    “You cannot let it down, if you play or don’t play. To behave as a team is the most difficult thing in football, whatever is the decision of the manager you have to follow the way of the team.

    “If you follow the team only when you are in the starting XI, that causes big problems for the team because you pay in one moment and you’re going to pay in your season.

    “Today I think is the consequence of that. We had great moments in the past because we could trust the togetherness that was in the team.

    “Today, I’m not sure, I don’t know about that.

  • Juventus captain: I was a fool to turn down Arsenal

    Juventus captain: I was a fool to turn down Arsenal

    Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini has admitted that he regrets turning down the chance to join Arsenal when they attempted to sign him at the age of 16.

    The 36-year-old defender has revealed that 20 years ago he had the opportunity to sign for Arsene Wenger’s Gunners, but turned them down because he did not want to leave boyhood club Livorno – a decision he now regrets.

    In an interview with French magazine So Foot, Chiellini says: “In hindsight, I was a fool to decline that offer. I was 16, I played in Serie C, I got a huge offer.

    “I didn’t feel ready. If I had accepted, it would have given the impression of betraying Livorno.”

    Chiellini is now into his 16th season with Juventus, but remained a player of interest for Arsenal long after their failed attempts to recruit him as a teenager.

  • Solskjaer surprises Fernandes with Man Utd captaincy

    Solskjaer surprises Fernandes with Man Utd captaincy

    Ole Gunnar Solskjaer surprised Bruno Fernandes at a joint media conference by announcing he would captain Manchester United against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday after hailing the Portuguese’s recent impact.

    Fernandes has been a revelation since his arrival from Sporting in the January transfer window, scoring 12 goals in 22 appearances across all competitions during the second half of the 2020-21 season.

    He also ended the campaign as the club’s joint highest goal creator in the Premier League, sitting alongside Marcus Rashford with seven assists.

    With Harry Maguire absent for United’s Champions League clash in Paris, Solskjaer had no hesitation in giving the captain’s armband to Fernandes after his impressive start to life as a United player.

    “Bruno has come in and had great impact with all the stats showing that,” he rold reporters ahead of the clash in Paris.

    “His performances have been receiving real great praise as well. He has not changed the team, but he has sparked the team.”

  • Solskjaer confirms decision on Maguire captaincy

    Solskjaer confirms decision on Maguire captaincy

    Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed Harry Maguire will keep the captain’s armband at Manchester United.

    The England centre-back was found guilty under Greek law of aggravated assault, resisting arrest and repeated attempts of bribery after an altercation with police on the Greek island of Mykonos, but his 21 months and 10 days prison sentence was suspended.

    Maguire has since lodged an appeal and is expected to have a retrial, while the Greek prosecutor has criticised him for refusing to apologise for the incident.

    Solskjaer commended the 27-year-old for the way he has reacted to the situation and says he sees no reason to strip him of the captaincy.

    “Of course, Harry, as you said, had a difficult summer. He didn’t have a long break,” he said in an interview with MUTV.

    “His break was different to others as we gave him a few more days and, after, he’s come back and looked fine.

    “He’s handled it really well and, of course, I’ll be here to support him. He is going to be our captain. We’ll just leave Harry and his people and the process to run.

    “For me, he is a top, an absolute top human being and has always been a positive guy with the right values. So I really hope we can see Harry performing at his best.”

  • Nigeria sailing without direction, captain – Secondus

    Nigeria sailing without direction, captain – Secondus

    The National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus has decried the dearth of committed and trusted leaders to give Nigeria a good sense of direction.

    Secondus, who said this on Saturday in Uyo during the commissioning of the 1,000 sitting capacity PDP State Secretariat, asked Nigerians to pray for God’s intervention.

    The National PDP Chairman who commended the leadership role of Governor Udom Emmanuel, and attributed the completion of the new state secretariat to his efforts, said it is competing with the national secretariat.

    He stated that the PDP has the best governors in the country as their achievements was a confirmation of their leadership prowess.

    “With a secretariat that is competing with the national secretariat. Your Excellency, that shows the manifestation of your leadership. When you show leadership by example and your followers show faith in their leaders, that means the leader has done well.

    “I can see you are a leader that has shown leadership and your followers are following you with curiosity, and they have seen the works you have shown in Akwa Ibom State.

    “Our country today needs leaders who will be truthful, honest and trusted and by the grace of God you are one of them. The PDP has shown clearly that we have the best governors because of the role call of achievements and the country can confirm what they have seen.

    “Without good leadership, you cannot have this Secretariat. Our county needs a lot of prayers. A country with no direction, without a captain, we need a lot of prayers. You all know what we are going through. We need God’s intervention.

    “We are happy and grateful to the leadership of Akwa Ibom for providing an edifice that will be ranking with, I don’t know the party, is it the other party that?

    “What we must emphasize today is to build institutions. What we must do in this country is to groom young people that will become leaders to take over the leadership. Akwa Ibom has done well in that regard.

    “PDP is becoming stronger and stronger everyday, we have recovered ourself. Anyone from any part of the country can aspire to become anything and realise their dreams in PDP. Akwa Ibom is a state where every other state should follow,” he stated.

    Also speaking, Governor Udom Emmanuel, who said party members where looking up to PDP at the National level to take over governance of the country, noted that the party was still waxing strong.

    Emmanuel explained that the Secretariat was completed with 100 percent direct labour, adding that the outgoing State PDP Chairman, Mr Paul Ekpo has achieved his purpose through the completion of the secretariat.

    He said it would have been unfair if the PDP did not have the secretariat in the state since it has been the only party that has moved the state forward.

    He stated that the Akan Offot – Aka Etinan road with side drains was construted to create access into the secretariat.

    “The party is still waxing stronger. Obong Paul Ekpo has achieved his purpose, God sent him. We’ve experienced unity under his watch.

    “PDP can only get stronger. It would have been unfair if PDP did not put up something like this in Akwa Ibom because this is the only party that has propelled the state.

    “We look forward to the national to deliver Nigeria back to PDP, ” he stated.

    In his remarks, the outgoing PDP State Chairman, Mr Paul Ekpo, commended Governor Udom Emmanuel for mobilising financial support for the completion of the state secretariat.

    He said, “The Governor had promised that I will present this edifice for inauguration as Chairman of the party and today here we are – at a great cost to his personal finance, energy and time.

    “He engaged his friends from within and outside the state who either donated money, material or services deployed to the completion of this beautiful edifice.”
  • I feel safe when you fly me— Omotola praises husband on pilots’ day

    I feel safe when you fly me— Omotola praises husband on pilots’ day

    Sensational actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde has taken to social media to celebrate Matthew Ekeinde, her husband, on World Pilots’ Day.

    World Pilots’ Day has been set aside annually in honour of a flight made by Fesa Evrensev, the first pilot to receive a brevet in Turkey on April 26.

    An excited Omotola took to her Instagram page to acknowledge the date by sharing a slew of photos showing her man clad in his uniform.

    In one of the photos, Mathew can be seen alongside renowned individuals like Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, BBNaija host, and Seun Okin of Channels Television.

    “To One of the best pilots Africa has produced, your passengers have attested to you having the smoothest landing ever. A cordial, jovial pilot, and extremely reliable training captain,” she wrote.

    “And to all the pilots out there, who we totally rely on to bring us safely to the ground when we fly, Thank you! I feel the safest when you’re the one flying me.”

     

    TheNewsGuru recalls that Omotola had recently mourned a cousin of hers who was said to have died of a kidney complication in the UK.

    She had said her cousin could not get proper treatment because doctors were focused on COVID-19 patients.

    “I lost a dear cousin yesterday in London. I’m hurting. He didn’t get COVID-19. He died from a kidney transplant complication,” she had written.

    “He couldn’t get proper healthcare because the Hospitals were focused on COVID-19 and help didn’t get to him fast enough. How sad.”

     

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_didhfAyZr/

     

  • EPL: De Gea keen to captain Man Utd

    Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea, reported to be on the verge of agreeing a six-year contract extension, has said he would welcome being captain of the Premier League club.
    De Gea, 28, has long been linked with a move away from Old Trafford but said he wanted to help the team return to the summit of English soccer at a supporters’ event in Singapore.
    United’s previous captain Antonio Valencia left at the end of last season and De Gea is one of several players in the frame to replace him along with Ashley Young, Juan Mata, Chris Smalling and Paul Pogba.
    “I’ve been captain for some games. Of course it is amazing to be captain of a club like Manchester United and defend this badge,” De Gea said. “It’s amazing, so of course I’ll be really, really happy to captain.
    “It’s my ninth season. I feel like one of the most experienced players. We have to improve a lot.
    “We are Manchester United. We need to fight for trophies. When you put on this badge, that’s what it means — fight for everything, give your best and bring the team again to the top.”
    United, who have not lost a match on their pre-season tour so far, beating Perth Glory, Leeds United and Inter Milan, take on Tottenham Hotspur in Shanghai on Thursday.

  • Man Utd captain Valencia set to leave in summer

    Man Utd captain Valencia set to leave in summer

    Manchester United captain Antonio Valencia is set to leave Old Trafford this summer.

    Valencia is approaching 10 years at the Premier League club but United have not triggered an option on Valencia’s contract that expired on Friday evening.

    It is understood the 33-year-old former Wigan player is resigned to leaving the club this summer, but is keen to extend his career.

    Valencia is currently at home in Ecuador recovering from a calf injury.

    He has made just nine appearances this season and has featured once – at Newcastle on 2 January – since Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho in December.

    United do have other options at right-back, including Ashley Young, who signed a one-year contract extension last month, and 19-year-old Diogo Dalot, who joined the club from Porto for £19m in June.

  • Georgia captain gets UEFA award for wearing rainbow armband

    When Guram Kashia, then vice-captain of Georgia’s national side, wore a rainbow armband while playing for Dutch Eredivisie side Vitesse last October, anti-LGBT protestors in his homeland reacted with riots, smoke bombs and flares.

    A rainbow flag was burned outside the headquarters of the Georgian Football Federation, while the defender faced threats and abuse, with calls made for him to be dropped from the national team.

    But Kashia, who in June was named Georgia’s captain, has now become the inaugural recipient of Uefa’s #EqualGame award.

    The award recognises players who have “acted as a role model” in “promoting diversity, inclusion and accessibility in European football”.

    “Guram has taken an important stand to support the LGBT community and equality overall and deserves to win this award,” said Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin.

    “Even though his actions sparked threats and abuse from many groups, he preached tolerance and acceptance, and helped change perceptions of this minority group in his native country of Georgia.”

    Kashia, who now plays for MLS side San Jose Earthquakes, says he has never regretted wearing the rainbow armband.

    “I believe in equality for everyone, no matter what you believe in, who you love or who you are,” said the 31-year-old.

    He will be presented with his award at the Uefa Champions League group-stage draw and gala in Monaco on 30 August.

    “Football is a force for social change,” Ceferin added.

    “People who are role models in their communities and who utilise sport for good should be rewarded.”

    BBC