John Terry gets four match ban and fine for racial abuse

John Terry has been banned and fined by the English Football Association over his racial abuse on Anton Ferdinand.

The Chelsea captain was been banned for four international matches and fined £220,000 for racially abusing QPR defender.
The Football Association found Terry guilty, following a four day hearing.

The FA’s decision to press ahead with their own charges led Terry, on the eve of the hearing, to announce he was retiring from international football with immediate effect, saying his position was “untenable”.
A spokesman for Terry said the player was “disappointed” the FA had reached a “different conclusion” to the “not guilty verdict of a court of law”.
“He has asked for the detailed written reasons of the decision and will consider them carefully before deciding whether to lodge an appeal” the statement continued.
Terry will have 14 days from receiving the written reasons to decide whether to lodge an appeal. The ban and fine will not come into effect until after the centre-half has decided what to do.
A statement from his club added: “Chelsea Football Club notes and respects today’s decision by the Football Association regarding John Terry.
“We also recognise that John has the right to appeal that decision. It is therefore inappropriate for us to comment further on the matter at this time.”
The FA charged Terry in July with “using abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards Ferdinand and which included a reference to colour and/or race contrary to FA Rule E3[2]“.
Terry admitted using the word “black” and swearing at Ferdinand in the match at Loftus Road on 23 October 2011 but insisted he had only been repeating words he thought the Rangers defender had accused him of saying.
Terry’s legal team argued the governing body’s own rules dictated that his acquittal in court meant the case could not proceed but the FA believed their charge was distinct from the court charge.
Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was given an eight-match ban when an FA disciplinary panel found him guilty of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra last season.
The panel stated at that time that simply using racist language was enough to constitute a breach of FA rules.
In July, the ex-England captain, 31, was cleared by Westminster Magistrates’ Court of racially abusing Ferdinand.

U-17 Women’s World Cup: Nigeria wallop Azerbaijan 11- 0

Nigeria’s Flamingoes on Tuesday demolished Azerbaijan 11-0 at the on-going FIFA U-17 Women’s World cup sending the host country out of the tournament.
Striker Chinwendu Ihezuo plundered 5 goals to increase her tally to 6 goals and making her one of the top scorers in the competition.
Halimatu Ayinde and Tessy Biahwo bagged a brace each while Joy Bokiri and Aminat Yakubu scored one each to secure Nigeria’s biggest victory in any FIFA World Cup tournament.
Azerbaijan thus has conceded 14 goals and also recorded the worst performance by host of any FIFA World Cup.

Prepare for final fight, South Africa coach tells John Obuh

Solly Luvhengo has begun mind games ahead of the final clash between Nigeria’s Flying Eagles and the Amajita of South Africa which will take place in Ilorin, Nigeria on October the 7th.
The South African coach told Coach John Obuh the Flying Eagles to roll out his war drums as the final showdown should be prepared for seriously in the second leg qualifier of the African Youth Championships.
Luvhengo conceded that the Flying Eagles squad has lots of good players which has made up for a good team but South Africa will still fight to get by in the return leg in Nigeria even though it will be very difficult.
We just need to score in Nigeria and the pressure will be back on Nigeria. That is our target,” he concluded.
Obuh admitted that the match will not be an easy one, but said that his team was equal to the task.
“It won’t be an easy game in Ilorin (Nigeria) against a good and fast South African team, but we will qualify.
“These days, there isn’t such a thing as home advantage because a good team can play anywhere and win. Football has changed and so we can’t relax to ensure we finish off the job in Ilorin,” he said.
Coach Obuh expressed his desire to defend the title he won 2011 in South Africa. A win for him will see him land in the eight-nation AYC in Algeria in March.

Obinna Nsofor on call for Lokomotiv

Obinna Victor Nsofor one of Nigeria’s Super Eagles favourite players of all time came off the bench to score his second goal of the season for Lokomotiv Moscow away at Terek Grzny on Saturday night.
Nsofor signed in as a substitute in the 57th minute replacing Giushakov and lobbying for a showdown for 33 minutes as he found the back of the net in the 83rd minutes to notch Lokomotiv ahead with a 2-1 lead.
After the game, Nsofor who relished every moment while the ovation lasted said it was a great game for him as he is very excited that he contributed to the victory of his team with a goal.
Though battling to return back to glory days after suffering knee problems for a while reasons why he is not been featuring in national colours, said he is bent on regaining full fitness.
Lokomotiv eventually won the game with 3-0 final score.
Lokomotiv now occupy second spot with 19 points from nine games behind league leaders CSKA Moscow.
The former Enyimba forward is hoping to build on his goal for Lokomotiv and look ahead to scoring more goals.
“We have been doing well and I hope we will continue this way and even get better so that our goals will be achieved.”Nsofor concluded.

Obagoal scores winning goal for Levante on debut

Obafemi ‘Obagoal’ Martins came into his new Spanish side Levante in style as he showed why he is worth being bought as the out of favour Nigerian striker scored the winning goal on his debut for the La Liga club against another Spanish side Real Sociedad on Sunday.
Before he finally recorded a goal, the former Rubin Kazan hit-man’s effort was disallowed in the 64th minute as it was faulted as an offside.
Martins who came in as a substitute in the 46th minute and was on with much aggression  standing a threat to defenders till the 87th minute when he finally sealed the victory for Levante  after he received a brilliant pass from Ballesteros.
After the game Obagoal as he is fondly called back home said he couldn’t ask for a better debut than what happened in the game today.

My dream is to play for Arsenal one day – Ahmed Musa

Ahmed Musa, forward for CSKA Moscow is being reported as saying that he wants to join Arsenal.
The Nigerian forward, who claims that Cristiano Ronaldo is his role model, signed for CSKA in the January transfer window but seems as if the player could already have his eyes set on a move.  The player, who likes to play as a second striker, has already found the net on three occasions in eight appearances in the league and has also managed to grab two assists.
Although he has not been in Russia for long, at the time when he joined CSKA the player said it is the next step in his career.
So it was clear at the time that he saw the move as merely a step and now the 19 year old has said in response to question about what he would consider being at the top of his career
Ahmed said when he is as good as Cristiano Ronaldo then he is good enough to play for Arsenal FC of England. He said it is his dream to play for Arsenal one day.
To Ahmed, Ronaldo is the best footballer on earth as far as he is concerned and he is his role model and watching him play inspires him.
Ahmed said he is even fashioning his game after the Portuguese as he is his hero.
Already married at a young age, Musa has claimed that his wife has helped him settle in to life in Russia, saying there can’t be a better wife than her.
Described as a ‘teenage sensation’ before his move to CSKA when he was still playing for VVV Venlo, he broke the longstanding Nigerian goal scoring record during his time in the league there, scoring 18 goals in his only season in the Nigerian top flight before making his move to the Eredivisie.
He earned two penalty kicks in his first two games for the Dutch side and went on to score five and created four in 23 appearances in his first season in Europe and in his second three goals and three assists in 13 league games before he moved to Russia in January for an undisclosed fee.

Musa is under contract with CSKA until 2016.

Liverpool 1 Manchester United 2: Van Persie spot on as visitors take advantage of Shelvey's red card

Robin van Persie's late penalty secured Manchester United's first Anfield win since December 2007 against 10-man Liverpool on an emotional afternoon on Merseyside.
The hosts played 51 minutes with 10 men after Jonjo Shelvey's sending-off but still managed to take the lead through Steven Gerrard's volley seconds after the interval.

Spot on: Van Persie converts a late penalty to give United the victory over their fierce rivals

Dutch of class: The £24million summer signing wheels away in celebration after his late spot-kick

Match facts

Liverpool: Reina, Kelly, Skrtel, Agger (Carragher 80), Johnson, Gerrard, Allen, Shelvey, Borini (Fernandez Saez.46), Suarez, Sterling (Henderson 66).
Subs not used: Jones, Jose Enrique, Sahin, Assaidi

Goal: Gerrard 46

Booked: Reina
Sent off: Shelvey
Man Utd: Lindegaard, Da Silva, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Valencia, Kagawa (Hernandez 81), Nani (Scholes 46), van Persie.
Subs not used: De Gea, Anderson, Welbeck, Cleverley, Buttner.

Goals: Rafael 51, Van Persie 81 (pen)

Booked: Scholes, Van Persie

Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire)

However, Rafael equalised soon after and Van Persie, one of three United players to miss from the spot this term, scored his fourth goal in as many games against the Reds - although three of those had come for former side Arsenal - nine minutes from time.

In the end it was something of a relief the talking points were all generated on the pitch as Liverpool marked their first home match since the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel's report which exonerated fans in relation to the 1989 disaster.

Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra shook hands in a show of unity before the game - the Liverpool forward had refused to shake the United defender's hand in the league meeting between the sides at Old Trafford in February, having previously been found guilty of racially abusing Evra in the corresponding fixture at Anfield last season.
Thankfully there were none of the distasteful chants which have marred this fixture for years, although that did not mean there was not an edge to the game.

Evra was overlooked for the captaincy - some say diplomatically - in the absence of Nemanja Vidic so it was Ryan Giggs who released 96 red balloons with Gerrard prior to kick-off.

Seeing red: Liverpool's Jonjo Shelvey was sent off for his foul on Jonny Evans

Red mist: Jonny Evans is flattened as Shelvey protests his innocence to ref Mark Halsey

The result left Liverpool rooted in the bottom three as their worst start to a campaign for a century continues whereas United maintained their usual progress moving up to second.
It was harsh on Brendan Rodgers' side, who continued to take the game to their rivals despite being short on numbers as they desperately looked for their first league victory of the campaign.

Squaring up: Shelvey gives Rio Ferdinand his thoughts as the players surround Halsey

You said what? Sir Alex Ferguson exchanges words with Jonjo Shelvey

United may have left Anfield wondering how they managed to win having hardly threatened in attack and failed to dominate midfield until the final quarter but those concerns will have been of little consequence.
For the first minute of the match three sides of Anfield held up The Truth, Justice and 96 mosaics as representatives of the Hillsborough victims' families watched on from the directors' box.

Opener: Steven Gerrard fired home after being left unmarked in the box

Also present, for the first time since being sacked in May, was former manager Kenny Dalglish - intrinsically linked with the tragedy having played a major role in the aftermath during his first spell in charge.

What he saw in the first half would have been very familiar as for most of last season his sides dominated at home without scoring. Once Giggs had flashed an early shot wide the momentum was all with the hosts as a Suarez cross-shot was stopped by Anders Lindegaard and headed away by Jonny Evans under pressure from Fabio Borini.

Kop that: Gerrard kissed the badge as he wheeled away to celebrate his goal

That's for you: Gerrard pointed to the heavens on the day they remembered the Hillsborough victims

Gerrard drove a low effort from Shelvey's corner into the side-netting and Suarez looped a right-footed shot wide before a match which, possibly because of the all the pre-match commemorations, had lacked the usual hallmarks of a north-west derby ignited. Shelvey robbed Giggs in midfield but as the ball broke free he launched himself at Evans and the inevitable outcome was a red card.

The 20-year-old midfielder, who scored twice in Thursday's Europa League victory at Young Boys, departed down the tunnel having exchanged heated words with Sir Alex Ferguson.

Jumping for joy: Liverpool fans savour Gerrard's goal after the first-half interval

Even with a numerical disadvantage Liverpool continued to pressurise United and Suarez drew Lindegaard into a low saw from his free-kick.

The visitors would have been pleased to reach the interval with their goal intact but it took just 50 seconds after the restart for that to change.

Stunning: Manchester United's Rafael guides the ball past Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina

Leveller: Rafael celebrates his goal with team-mate Robin van Persie

Good lad: Rafael shows his pleasure at equalising for the visitors

Second-half substitute Suso, making his Premier League debut three days after his first-team bow in Switzerland, saw his cross half-cleared to Glen Johnson.

A tackle from Paul Scholes, on for Nani at half-time, succeeded only in diverting the ball towards Gerrard who volleyed home left-footed in front of the Kop. The Reds captain, whose 10-year-old cousin Jon-Paul Gilhooley was the youngest victim of the Hillsborough disaster, whirled away pointing both arms to the sky in celebration and remembrance.

Flying away: Van Persie celebrates as Gerrard looks dejected at the final whistle

It was short-lived, however, as within five minutes United were level when Shinji Kagawa laid the ball off for Rafael to brilliantly curl left-footed over Jose Reina and in off the far post. Rodgers' determination not to just shut up shop and settle for a draw was reflected in the approach of his team who made light of the fact they were a man down with Suso having a shot tipped over by Lindegaard and Suarez continuing to trouble the visitors' defence.

But as the match entered the final 20 minutes United began to take more control, although their winner came from their opponents giving away possession on the halfway line.

Daniel Agger and Johnson collided to allow Antonio Valencia to race 50 yards into the area and although Johnson got back he could only bring down the Ecuador international. Van Persie drilled home - although Reina went the right way and almost made the stop