Essien's the Real deal as Chelsea star links back up with Mourinho at Madrid

Real Madrid have signed Chelsea's Michael Essien on loan, pipping Arsenal to the signing of the Ghanian.
The Gunners had been the first to make an approach for the out-of-favour midfielder, who was left out of the Blues' squad for their UEFA Super Cup clash with Atletico Madrid.
Manager Roberto di Matteo confirmed before that match that Essien was hoping to sort out a temporary switch away from Stamford Bridge, and suggested the destination was not a rival.

Up for grabs: Chelsea's Michael Essien secured a late loan switch to Real Madrid

 

And later on Friday night, Cheslea released a statement confirming the deal. It said: 'Chelsea announces that Michael Essien has joined Real Madrid on a season-long loan.
'The 29-year-old midfielder, who joined the club in 2005 from Lyon, will move to the Bernabeu and link up with former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, the man who brought him to Stamford Bridge.
'Essien has been a pivotal member of the Blues midfield during his six seasons in west London, winning two Premier League titles, four FA Cups and one Champions League winners' medal.
'After making his debut as a second-half substitute against Arsenal at the beginning of the 2005/06 season, he went on to play a key role in helping the Blues secure back-to-back titles.
'The Ghanaian scored his first goal for the club during a 2-1 win against Tottenham and won the Goal of the Season for his long-range strike against Arsenal a year later. He followed that up with the same award for his volley against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final. In total he has scored 25 goals for Chelsea in 247 appearances.
'He is a popular figure among team-mates, management and supporters.'

Ambrose Efe signs three year deal with Celtic

Nigeria international; Efe Ambrose has signed a three-year deal with Celtic.
Ambrose, a 23-year-old defender, joins Celtic after a three-year spell with Israeli side FC Ashdod.
Efe said on the official website of his new club that it has been a long day, but it has been worth it and today is one of the happiest days of his life as he signed for one of the biggest clubs in the world, a club he has known about since he was a young man.
He said he can’t just wait to get started, to play in front of the fans, he said he would like to thank God for everything, the  manager and directors of Celtic, who placed their trust and confidence in him.
Efe said the move to Israel really opened the door for him and gave him his opportunity.
He also thanked the coaches and directors at FC Ashdod, his agent Dudu Dahan and his colleagues and fans.
Ambrose can play anywhere across the back line or in midfield and he said: “I am the kind of player who plays where it is of benefit to the team.
Celtic confirmed their place in the Champions’ League group stage this week with a victory over Helsingborgs and Ambrose is delighted to be facing some of the finest sides in Europe.

Chelsea 1 Atletico Madrid 4: Falcao runs riot as Di Matteo's Blues are crushed

After saving himself a fortune in the High Court, Roman Abramovich must have been tempted to blow a few million before the transfer window closed here on Friday night.
If Chelsea’s owner was as interested as we think in Atletico Madrid’s Radamel Falcao, the Colombian demonstrated why with a brilliant performance that almost single-handedly conquered the Russian billionaire’s team to win the European Super Cup.

Party time: Atletico Madrid's players celebrate with the trophy at the end of the UEFA Super Cup

MATCH FACTS

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Cole (Bertrand 89), Mikel, Lampard, Ramires (Oscar 46), Hazard, Mata (Sturridge 81), Torres.
Subs Not Used: Turnbull, Romeu, Moses, Meireles.
Booked: Ivanovic.

Goals: Cahill 74.

Atletico Madrid: Courtois, Juanfran, Miranda, Godin, Filipe Luis, Mario Suarez, Gabi, Adrian (Rodriguez 56), Koke (Raul Garcia 81), Turan, Falcao (Emre 87).
Subs Not Used: Sergio Asenjo, Silvio, Cata Diaz, Diego Costa.
Goals: Falcao 6,19,45,Miranda 60.
Att: 14,312
Ref: Damir Skomina (Slovenia).

Presumably Fernando Torres was nothing like as disappointed considering he has just seen off Didier Drogba. By the time Falcao had completed his first-half hat-trick, one imagines Torres was rather relieved to see his fellow striker wearing the same No 9 shirt he made his name in back in Spain.
Falcao tweeted: ‘AM made a great effort to keep me and tonight they got their reward.’
Falcao might just be the finest striker in the world right now. He is the scorer of 37 goals in 40 UEFA matches, the scorer of six goals this week — having struck three against Athletic Bilbao on  Monday — and third only to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the goal charts in 2012.
He showed that he has everything. Great pace, awareness, skill and strength and a technique that makes him deadly.
In the absence of the suspended John Terry, the Chelsea defence had no answer to him as they looked to add a third cup to their collection this year.
Ashley Cole tweeted: ‘well that was a lesson. No fight, desire, passion and a big reality check.’
And Gary Cahill said: ‘It was difficult facing him [Falcao] and all of their team especially when we were way below par.  We started sloppy and stayed that way. It was embarrassing at times.'

Feeling Blue: Chelsea duo Petr Cech (left) and Jon Obi Mikel chat on the pitch as Atletico Madrid celebrate victory (in the background)

Stunner: Falcao curls home his and Athletico Madrid's second goal against Chelsea

Chelsea might have started the Barclays Premier League season well, winning their opening three games, but the alertness they have displayed was missing here.
Manager Roberto Di Matteo added: ‘The first half we started sloppy and they punished us. The early goal helped them. They defended well and countered on us.’
Chelsea were swamped by the Spaniards and, in particular, Falcao. The 26-year-old had already seen one effort rebound off the bar when he opened the scoring in the sixth minute, accelerating on to a super ball from Gabi before chipping an advancing Petr Cech.
Chelsea had no response, with further chances coming for Adrian Lopez and Arda Turan, who directed a header narrowly wide.
When Falcao drifted wide in the 19th minute, he struck again with a brilliant left-foot shot that curled beyond Cech’s grasp.
Atletico then broke again with five forwards facing three Chelsea defenders, and it required Cech to make a fine save to deny Gabi.

Overun: Falcao scores again as Chelsea fall apart in the Super Cup in Monaco

Helpless: Chelsea players stand in disbelief as Atletico Madrid run riot in Monaco

But there was no stopping  Falcao. One good pass from  Turan and a burst of acceleration that took him past Ramires and the South American had struck again, completing his hat-trick shortly before the interval with a left-foot shot that slipped under Cech.
Ramires was replaced by Oscar at the start of the second half in the hope it might enable Chelsea to battle back. But the misery continued, the side that finished fifth in the Spanish league last season — but won the Europa League — adding a fourth in the 61st minute when Miranda beat Cech with another marvellous finish.
Chelsea did grab a second-half consolation but it didn’t come from Torres, Oscar or Eden  Hazard who, despite working hard, failed to dominate the game in the manner he has so far in the  Premier League.  After a scramble, Cahill poked home but there was no comeback.
A relatively meaningless encounter this might be. Chelsea could perhaps be accused of not taking it seriously enough. But it remained a painful experience, and not just because they were so soundly beaten.

Hat-trick here: Falcao celebrates grabbing his third goal as Athletico Madrid stun Chelsea

Gloss: Miranda adds a fourth for the Spanish side as Chelsea fall apart again

Dimitar Berbatov completes £5m move to Fulham

Manchester United and Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov has left his Manchester United club, signing a two-year contract with the Cottagers;  Fulham.
The 31 year old joined Manchester United in 2008 for a fee of £30m from Tottenham Hotspur but he figured himself to be out of favour in terms playing time with the arrival of new signings Javier Hernandez and Robin Van Persie and the last option was to move out of Old Trafford.
The former Bulgaria international was almost signing for Serie A side Juventus, but changed his mind saying he wanted to remain in the Premier League, Fulham came in as a his English Premier League option.
Berbatov said he is delighted to have signed for Fulham and he is looking forward to playing under Martin Jol once again.
Berbatov was eager to find first-team football elsewhere as he fell down the pecking order at Manchester United, often finding himself not even included on the bench.
But the West London club have offered him a new route out of Old Trafford and the opportunity to show his talent which saw him land the Premier League’s Golden Boot in 2010-11.
Cottagers boss Martin Jol has previously worked with Berbatov during his time in charge at Tottenham Hotspur, and he told the club’s official website that Dimitar is a player he has always admired because he did so well while at Spurs with him and he hopes that history will repeat itself at Fulham.

Nwokorie wins Nigeria’s second gold medal in powerlifting at Paralympics games

Nigeria’s female weight lifter, Ivory Nwokorie, has won the gold medal in the women’s 44kg power lifting at the on-going Paralympic games in London.

Nwokorie celebrating her medal at the third Fazaa International Para-powerlifting Championship in 2010

Nwokorie beat Cigdem Dede from Turkey, who won the silver medal, while Lidiia Soloviova of Ukraine claimed the bronze medal.
Nwokorie, last year won bronze in the 44kg category at the third Fazaa International Para-powerlifting Championship in Dubai, to qualify for the Paralympic Games in London.

Yakubu Adesokan wins gold medal for Paralympic’s power lifting…smashing the world record

 Yakubu Adesokan has won Nigeria’s first gold medal at the on-going London Paralympic games.
Adesokan smashed the world record in power lifting 48 kg weight categories lifting 180 kg to set Nigeria on the path of glory.
Adesokan had earlier this year in the qualifier held at the United Arab Emirates set a record of 177kg to erase former record of 175kg.
Vladimir Balynetc of Russia took silver with 170kg while Taha  Abdelmagid  picked bronze with 165kg.

U-20 World Cup: Falconets through to semi-final with extra-time goal against Mexico

Desire Oparanozie’s goal in extra time has let the Falconets beat Mexico 1-0, to advance to the semi-finals of the on-going women’s Under-20 World Cup, after a grueling goalless of 90 minutes. 
The Nigerian ladies dominated the first hour but were unable to breakthrough until Oparanozie’s header from Ugo Njoku’s, cross in the 109th minute at Tokyo’s National Stadium.
The Falconets, who were the runners-up at the 2010 tournament, will next face the winner of Friday’s quarterfinal between the United States and North Korea on Tuesday.
Mexico had a chance to take the lead, but Yamile Franco hit the crossbar with an angled free kick in the first period of extra time.
Host, Japan faces South Korea in the other last-eight match later on Thursday. Defending champion Germany takes on Norway in Friday’s quarterfinals.
The Falconets made much of the early running and appeared to have a crucial early goal, as Francisca Ordega’s shot deflected past goalkeeper Cecilia Santiago on the quarter-hour, only for the offside flag to be raised for an earlier infringement.
Almost immediately Oparanozie forced Santiago into a sprawling save as Nigeria looked to turn the screws in the late afternoon heat.
With far more possession in midfie,Falconets were inching their way closer to breaking the deadlock and Oparanozie rattled the crossbar with her shot eight minutes before the interval.
The always dangerous Sofia Huerta, scorer of three goals in the tournament, made a rare incursion into the Africans’ penalty area just before the break, to provide some impetus for the Mexicans.
However, the one-way traffic continued immediately upon the resumption, much to the delight of a large and buoyant group of Nigerian supporters, whose tunes and singing resonated around the National Stadium throughout the match.
Approaching the hour mark Santiago again thwarted the Africans with an important block from Gloria Ofoegbu’s effort, and then again a few minutes later from Oparanozie.
Mexico slowly started to make an impression and enjoyed a rare sight of goal midway through the second half, only for inspirational skipper Nayeli Rangel to push her back-post header narrowly over.
Nigeria’s midfield play became less cohesive and Mexico could have won it in injury time as a corner looped onto the crossbar.
A fairly disjointed period of extra time was enlivened only on a few occasions, notably by Mexico’s Yamile Franco hitting the bar with an angled free-kick.
With the match starting to swing back Mexico’s way, it was Nigeria who conjured a winner, with Oparanozie looping a perfectly executed header from Ugo Njoku’s cross over a stranded Santiago