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Tag: Semi-Final

  • WAFU B: Injured Abdullahi recovers in hospital, out of Championship

    WAFU B: Injured Abdullahi recovers in hospital, out of Championship

    Flying Eagles’ forward Ahmed Abdullahi has recovered and is recuperating in hospital following a scary incident during the Nigeria, Burkina Faso game at the WAFU B Championship in Niamey, Niger Republic on Wednesday.

    The former Golden Eaglet, who scored Nigeria’s second goal against Cup holders and African champions Ghana on Sunday after coming off the bench, was rushed to hospital after suffering a head injury during the 2-2 draw with the Junior Etalons at the Stade General Seyni Kountché.

    “The player has recovered fully and is in good health, but he is out of the tournament. We went through several scary hours before and after he got to the hospital, but we thank God that he is fully recovered now,” Team Secretary Aliyu Lawal Ibrahim told thenff.com.

    General Secretary of the NFF, Dr Mohammed Sanusi was with the Abdullahi at the hospital and asked the player to remain focused and pray for the team to succeed at the tournament.

    The 2-2 draw sustained Nigeria’s leadership of Group B, and the seven –time African champions will play in the semi finals as group winners should Burkina Faso fail to defeat Ghana by up to three goals on Saturday.

  • UCL: Michael Owen predicts outcome of Man City vs Real Madrid semi-final clash

    UCL: Michael Owen predicts outcome of Man City vs Real Madrid semi-final clash

    Former Liverpool and England forward Michael Owen, has predicted the outcome of Manchester City’s UEFA Champions League encounter with Real Madrid.

    Both teams clash on Tuesday night at the Etihad in the first leg of the first semi-final encounter.

    Owen predicts that “What a tie this should be! City were impressive at the weekend, and they will enter this with some confidence. We all know how desperate City are to win the Champions League, I am expecting a good performance.

    “Real [Madrid] have done so well to get to this round, but I am not entirely sure how they have done it. Chelsea had plenty of chances to knock them out in the quarters, I don’t think City will be as wasteful.

    “I will never write off Real in this competition, but I have to favour City. City will keep the ball and I can see them frustrating this Real side. I think Real will score, but I am going for a 3-1 City win.”

    Michael James Owen is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as for the England national team

  • De Bruyne, Walker set to miss Man city’s FA cup tie with Liverpool

    De Bruyne, Walker set to miss Man city’s FA cup tie with Liverpool

    Manchester city midfieder Kevin De Bruyne and defender Kyle Walker are major doubts for Saturday’s FA Cup clash with Liverpool on Saturday, coach Pep Guardiola has confirmed.

    The duo were both substituted after suffering injuries in Wednesday’s fractious Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano in the Spanish capital.

    It ended goalless but city progressed to the semi-final after going through on a 1-0 aggregate scoreline.

    Recall that City had defeated Atletico in the first leg of the encounter at the Etihad stadium in England.

    Both players were unable to participate as City held a training session at Millwall’s ground on Friday having travelled straight to London from Spain.

    Guardiola confirmed playmaker De Bruyne had required stitches in a foot wound while Walker had suffered a twisted ankle.

    Speaking at a press conference at the Championship club’s ground, Guardiola said: “They didn’t train today. We’ll see tomorrow but apparently it’d be so close after what happened on Wednesday.”

    Manchester City will face Real Madrid in the semi-finals of this season’s UEFA champions League.

  • Chelsea scale through to FA cup semi-final

    Chelsea scale through to FA cup semi-final

    Chelsea football club have qualified for the semi-finals of the FA cup after defeating Championship side Middlesborough 2-0 away from home.

    Romelu Lukaku and Hakim Ziyech’s goals were enough to send Chelsea to Wembley for the semi final games of the FA Cup

    The win ended the Championship club’s remarkable run in the competition.

    Middlesbrough had eliminated Manchester United on penalties in the fourth round and scored an extra-time winner to defeat Tottenham Hotspur in the fifth round.

    However, Chris Wilder’s side met a stiffer opposition in Chelsea on Saturday

    Thomas Tuchel’s men go into the international break on the back of a 13-game unbeaten run from January.

    Chelsea awaits the result of Liverpooland others still in the competition to know their next opponent.

  • AFCON: Senegal rides over Equatorial Guinea into semi final

    AFCON: Senegal rides over Equatorial Guinea into semi final

    Senegal on Sunday rode over Equatorial Guinea into the semi final at the AFCON round leather game tournament beating the West African country 3-1.

    The star studded Senegal were considered favourites in this year’s edition and also for this game. Their group stage journey was pretty much mediocre compared to the expectations of fans across Africa especially as their lack of goalscoring turned into an issue for many.

    The game was aggressive from the start as both teams were compact and avoided any costly mistakes. Senegal were more on the front foot compared to their opponents and they were rewarded in the 28th minute when Famara Diedhiou finished brilliantly into the bottom corner after receiving a pass from Sadio Mane.

    The game was aggressive from the start as both teams were compact and avoided any costly mistakes. Senegal were more on the front foot compared to their opponents and they were rewarded in the 28th minute when Famara Diedhiou finished brilliantly into the bottom corner after receiving a pass from Sadio Mane.

    The teams went into the break with Senegal 1-0 up. Equatorial Guinea did not lie down and they were much ambitious in the second half, piling the pressure on Senegal. A controversial moment in the 51st minute saw Senegal escape a penalty decision, as VAR overturned a spot kick that was initially awarded to Equatorial Guinea by the referee.

    That decision did not hinder their intentions, as Equatorial Guinea equalised through Jannick Buyla just 6 minutes after the penalty incident. Cheikhou Kouyate needed only three minutes after his introduction to repay his manager’s faith in him as he scored a header to make it 2-1. Ismaila Sarr got the final nail on the coffin putting his team 3-1 ahead.

  • Tokyo Olympics: Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan qualifies for women’s 100m hurdles semi-finals

    Tokyo Olympics: Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan qualifies for women’s 100m hurdles semi-finals

    Nigerian athlete, Tobi Amusan, has qualified for the semi-finals of the Women’s 100m Hurdles at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.

    The 24-year-old advanced to the next round of the competition on Saturday morning after winning Round 1 (Heat 3), running from lane four.

    She crossed the finish line at 12.72s ahead of Jamaica’s Thompson Yanique who timed 12.74s and Skrzyszowska Pia of Poland who ran a personal best of 12.75s to place third in the heat.

    Others athletes in the heat included Charlton Devynne from Bahamas (12.84), Finland’s Korte Annimari (13.06), Koala Marthe of Burkina Faso (13.11), and Japanese representative Aoki Masumi (13.59).

    However, Pesiridou Elisavet from Greece who would have complete the list of eight athletes in the heat did not finish the race.

    Amusan had lost out at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar, in the hunt for a medal as she finished fourth.

    But she has been improving on her performance since then.

  • Denmark proceed to Euro 2020 semi-final

    Denmark proceed to Euro 2020 semi-final

    Denmark’s impressive and emotional Euro 2020 campaign continued as they marched on to the semi-finals courtesy of a victory over the Czech Republic in Baku.

    The Danes have gone from strength to strength in the tournament since the trauma of their opening game, in which midfielder Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest.

    Having hammered Wales in the last 16, they impressively dealt with a dangerous and physical Czech side in a competitive last-eight tie played in a red-hot temperature in Azerbaijan.

    They led from the fifth minute, when Thomas Delaney evaded his marker to head in from a corner.

    A continual threat on the break, they made it 2-0 just before half-time, with Kasper Dolberg volleying in a superb cross from Joakim Maehle to add to the two goals he scored against Wales.

    Their momentum was checked early in the second half as Patrick Schick coolly volleyed in his fifth goal of the tournament, taking him level with Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo in the race for the Golden Boot.

    But Denmark were able to recompose themselves and dig in to ensure the victory and a semi-final at Wembley on Wednesday.

    Their opponent will be either England or Ukraine, who play each other in Rome on Saturday evening.

  • 2020/2021 CAF Confederation Cup quarter-final draw

    2020/2021 CAF Confederation Cup quarter-final draw

    The draw for the 2020/2021 CAF Confederation Cup quarter-finals and semi-finals was conducted on Friday at the Headquarters of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in Cairo, Egypt.

    CAF’s Director of Competitions, Samson Adamu, assisted by Cote d’Ivoire legend Abdoulaye Traore ran the draw process which revealed some thrilling encounters in the road to the final.

    Following are the encounters:

    2020/2021 CAF Confederation Cup:

    Quarter-finals
    (First leg on May 16, second leg on May 23)

    QF 1 – CS Sfaxien (Tunisia) vs JS Kabylie (Algeria)
    QF 2 – Orlando Pirates (South Africa) vs Raja CA (Morocco)
    QF 3 – Pyramids FC (Egypt) vs Enyimba (Nigeria)
    QF 4 – Coton Sport (Cameroon) vs Jaraaf (Senegal)

    Semi-finals
    (First leg on June 20, second leg on June 27)

    SF 1 – Winners of QF 3 vs Winners of QF 2
    SF 2 – Winners of QF 4 vs Winners of QF 1

    Final
    (10 July 2021)

    Winners SF 1 – Winners SF 2

  • UCL: Man City comeback to defeat PSG in Paris

    UCL: Man City comeback to defeat PSG in Paris

    Manchester City produced a superb display to come from behind and take control of their Champions League semi-final with victory against Paris St-Germain in France.

    Pep Guardiola’s side fought their way through a scintillating early PSG surge when they fell behind to Marquinhos’ header, glanced in from Angel di Maria’s corner after 15 minutes, to dominate after the break and turn this first leg tie in Paris on its head.

    City, who had threatened before the break when Phil Foden missed a great chance, were much more positive and got the reward they deserved after 64 minutes when Kevin de Bruyne’s menacing cross evaded everyone in the penalty area and drifted beyond motionless PSG keeper Kaylor Navas.

    PSG, with Neymar fading and Kylian Mbappe subdued, were ragged and Riyad Mahrez put City in a great position to reach their first Champions League final when his left-foot free-kick went through the wall to beat Navas seven minutes later.

    And to complete PSG’s misery, former Everton midfield man Idrissa Gueye was rightly shown a red card late on for a dreadful challenge on Ilkay Gundogan.

  • FA Cup: Chelsea and Manchester City line-ups named

    FA Cup: Chelsea and Manchester City line-ups named

    The two squads for today’s FA Cup semifinal between Chelsea and Manchester City have been named.

    There are three changes to Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea side who faced Porto on Tuesday.

    Kepa Arrizabalaga replaces Edouard Mendy in goal. Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech replace Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic.

    Chelsea XI: Kepa, Azplicueta, Chilwell, Jorginho, James, Kante, Mount, Rudiger, Silva, Werner, Ziyech.

    Subs: Caballero, Alonso, Emerson, Zouma, Gilmour, Havertz, Hudson-Odoi, Pulisic, Giroud.

    Pep Guardiola makes eight changes to the Man City side who beat Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday.

    Goalkeeper Zack Steffen, Joao Cancelo, Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus, Aymeric Laporte, Benjamin Mendy, Raheem Sterling and Ferran Torres all come in.

    Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez, Ilkay Gundogan, John Stones and Ederson are among those to drop out.

    Manchester City XI: Steffen, Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Mendy, Rodrigo, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Torres, Sterling, Jesus.

    Subs: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Ake, Gundogan, Zinchenko, Bernardo, Mahrez, Foden.