Sports

Napoli’s Nightmare Continues After Crumbling At Torino

Published

2 years ago

January 7, 2024

Napoli plunged deeper into crisis on Sunday after crashing to a 3-0 defeat at Torino which ended with fiery protests from fans and humiliation for the troubled Serie A champions.

Furious supporters launched flares onto the pitch at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino during the latest embarrassing loss which left Napoli languishing in ninth place.

Last season’s historic Scudetto has now been forgotten as Napoli sink further into the abyss with each passing week, their third defeat in four matches in all competitions fully deserved after a shambolic display in Turin.

Without Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen, Walter Mazzarri’s side failed to score for the fourth straight match and are completely unrecognisable from the team which charged to title glory last term.

“We have to apologise to the fans for the performance… we’re trying to find ways to stimulate the team and get back to some sort of normality,” said Napoli’s sporting director Mauro Meluso.

Meluso spoke to DAZN after a series of post-match summits with Mazzarri and the team, and insisted that the coach — who was suspended for Sunday’s match — would not be sacked.

“I, the club and the team have total faith in the coach, so we’re not having thoughts in that direction,” he added.

Mazzarri was brought in to clean up the mess left by predecessor Rudi Garcia but Napoli are now a full 20 points behind league leaders Inter Milan and closer to the relegation zone than the top of the table.

Antonio Sanabria got the ball rolling two minutes before the break when he scored from close range, and things went from bad to worse in the 50th minute when debutant Pasquale Mazzocchi was sent off for a wild challenge on Valentino Lazaro.

Mazzocchi, who signed from Salernitana on Friday, had only been on the field since the start of the second half and two minutes later Nikola Vlasic doubled Torino’s lead with a brilliant low strike from outside the area.

Napoli were all over the place and they should have been three down just after the hour mark when Sanabria hit the post and Duvan Zapata somehow didn’t finish on the rebound.

However Alessandro Buongiorno made sure of an emphatic victory in the 66th minute when he thumped a bullet header past Pierluigi Gollini.

– Milan cruise –

A sumptuous early strike from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Olivier Giroud’s 31st minute penalty set third-placed AC Milan on the way to a 3-0 win at Empoli which was sealed by Chaka Traore with two minutes remaining.

Missing a host of players to injury and the Africa Cup of Nations, Milan took advantage of their closest rivals for the top four dropping points.

Stefano Pioli’s team are six points ahead of fourth-placed Fiorentina who lost 1-0 at Sassuolo on Saturday, and a further point in front of Bologna in fifth following their draw at Genoa.

Milan have had a bumpy campaign riddled with injuries and questions over Pioli’s future but Sunday’s win was their fifth in six matches in all competitions.

“We went through a bit of a difficult period… We never listened to what other people were saying, we got down to hard work and that’s why we won today,” said Theo Hernandez, who was again deputising at centre-back.

France international Hernandez is a buccaneering left-back by trade but has been forced to move to the centre of defence by an injury crisis which has left Pioli without defenders Fikayo Tomori, Malick Thiaw and Pierre Kalulu.

“It’s in the difficult moments that you learn if people have given up on you, and that wasn’t the case here,” said Pioli.

“When things don’t go well we stay together and we give each other a hand.”

Milan trail city rivals Inter by nine points and are four behind second-placed Juventus, who play Salernitana later on Sunday.

Lazio warmed up for their midweek derby with Roma in the Italian Cup quarter-finals by winning 2-1 at Udinese and moving up to sixth.

Sports

Just Like Football Clubs, Let’s Sign Foreign President To Fix Nigeria – Actor Okele [VIDEO]

Published

17 hours ago

October 10, 2025

Editor

Popular Nigerian actor, Tunde Usman, professionally known as Okele, has proposed ‘signing’ of foreign Presidents to fix the country.

The actor made the suggestion while reacting to Nigeria’s current economic hardship.

Reacting to the increase in price of cooking gas across the nation, Okele in a now trending video shared on his Instagram page proposed a football method of removing a non performing coaches to address Nigeria’s challenges.

Speaking in Yoruba, the actor argued that adoption of the football method might solve constant disappointment with elected leaders.

“Greetings to all Nigerians home and abroad. May God help us soften this hardship. I just thought of something about gas, fuel and the way things are expensive in Nigeria.

“If you are a lover of football you would know that every club has a coach, assistant coach, and those that train the keepers. So, instead of campaigning for different political parties with some looting our money, why can’t Nigeria look around the world and sign any ex-president that has proven himself in another country to fix Nigeria.

“Even many football nations signed coaches from different countries. Maybe we should adopt the signing of the President method to end different political parties campaigns. Let’s come together and sign our President the same way we signed the coach and we can sack the non performing President and sign a new one.”

View this post on Instagram
Advertisement

A post shared by Tunde Usman-aka Okele (@okele_2)

Sports

FIFA U-20 World Cup: Argentina Crush Nigeria 4-0

Published

2 days ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

Argentina produced a commanding performance to beat Nigeria’s Flying Eagles 4-0 in a knockout-stage match at the U-20 World Cup on Wednesday.

Alejo Sarco opened the scoring after just two minutes, tapping in from a Dylan Gorosito cross.

Maher Carrizo doubled the lead with a superb left-footed free-kick on 23 minutes and added a second shortly after the interval (53′) to make it 3-0.

Mateo Silvetti capped the scoring with a low finish on 66 minutes, finishing off a move created by Gianluca Prestianni.

The Flying Eagles huffed and puffed but rarely threatened the match rhythm. Daniel Daga saw a close-range effort saved before half-time, and Kparobo Arierhi rattled the post in stoppage time of the first half.

But none of their attacks could find a way past Argentina’s goalkeeper Santino Barbi or break down a disciplined defensive unit.

Meanwhile, Ebenezer Harcourt produced several important saves to limit the damage early on.

Tactical changes came early in the second half as Nigeria’s coach shuffled his pack, introducing Auwal Ibrahim, Abduljelil Kamaldeen, Emmanuel Ekele and Charles Agada in a bid to spark a revival, but Argentina’s control of the midfield and clinical finishing rendered the substitutions ineffective.

Details later…

Sports

Salah Scores Twice As Egypt Qualify For 2026 World Cup

Published

3 days ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

Liverpool star Mohamed Salah scored twice to help Egypt beat Djibouti 3-0 in Casablanca on Wednesday and qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

The 33-year-old has now netted nine times in a marathon qualifying campaign that began two years ago, and victory for Egypt gave them an unassailable five-point lead over Burkina Faso in Group A.

Twice African Footballer of the Year, Salah helped Liverpool win the Premier League a record-equalling 20th time last season, and captured the Golden Boot award with 29 goals.

But the Egypt captain has lost his spark with Liverpool this season, scoring just three goals in nine matches in all competitions.

After Ibrahim Adel put Egypt ahead on eight minutes against opponents 158 places lower in the world rankings, Salah netted six minutes later and again on 84 minutes.

While Egypt have won the Africa Cup of Nations a record seven times, they have been less successful in the World Cup, qualifying just four times in 15 attempts — in 1934, 1990, 2018 and now 2026.

Former Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey was among the goals as Ghana trounced the Central African Republic 5-0 in Meknes, and need one point from their final Group I match at home to Comoros to qualify.

Mohammed Salisu, Alexander Djiku, captain Jordan Ayew and Kamaldeen Sulemana were the other scorers for the Black Stars, who led 1-0 at half-time.

Ghana have 22 points and a vastly superior goal difference than Madagascar, who are three points behind. Mali, seeded to win the group, are out of contention with 15 points.

READ ALSO:

– Disastrous start –

Roberto Lopes, a defender with Republic of Ireland club Shamrock Rovers, conceded a first-minute own goal as Cape Verde made a disastrous start.

Telmo Arcanjo levelled for the islanders before goals either side of half-time from Ezoo el Mariamy and Mahmoud al Shalwi gave the Mediterranean Knights a 3-1 lead.

Sidny Cabral reduced the deficit and Willy Semedo equalised on 82 minutes to set up a tense finish as Cape Verde sought a fourth goal and qualification.

A match-winner did not materialise, but they will be expected to beat Eswatini, who remained winless in the group after surrendering a two-goal advantage in a 2-2 draw with Angola in Lobamba.

Cameroon had to secure maximum points in Mauritius to keep alive their hopes of overtaking Cape Verde, but needed 92 minutes to ensure success.

Dynamo Moscow midfielder Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu put the Indomitable Lions ahead on 57 minutes and Mbeumo struck in added time with his fourth goal of the qualifying campaign.

Cameroon complete their schedule at home to Angola in Yaounde and must win to have any hope of automatic qualification.

Should Cape Verde come first, Cameroon would hope to finish among the four best-ranked runners-up and qualify for play-offs in November.

The winners of the African mini-tournament, comprising single-match semi-finals and a final, advance to six-nation inter-continental play-offs next March with two World Cup places up for grabs.

Eswatini looked set to end an eight-match winless run in the mini-league when South Africa-based Justice Figuareido pounced on long passes to score twice in the second half.

Angola, with French coach Patrice Beaumelle in charge for the first time after the sacking of Portuguese Pedro Goncalves, halved the deficit through Jonathan Buatu.

Then, slack Eswatini marking at a corner enabled Papel Ary to head the equaliser with 10 minutes of regular time remaining.
AFP