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John Mikel Obi has set a new milestone in
today’s game against Watford as he becomes
only the 21st player to make 350 appearances for
Chelsea in her 110-year history. Mikel was
introduced in the second half for Cesc Fabregas.
The 28-year-old is already well clear as the
club’s third-highest overseas appearance maker
‘Personally it is going to be great for me if I can
achieve that number,’ Mikel tells the official
Chelsea website before the match.
‘I also want to push on and see how many more
appearances I can get. For me it has been a
great time here, I still enjoy it and ever since I
walked into this football club I knew this was the
place for me.
‘I am so happy and so proud of the amount of
games I have played for this club and at the
same time using these games to win trophies and
medals. This is the most important thing. For the
past 10 years we have helped build the reputation
of this club and Chelsea is up there in world
football. I am so proud of what I have achieved
and I still want to keep going.’
Sixteen of Mikel’s 349 matches so far came
during the three months Guus Hiddink was
previously in charge. The Nigerian was one of the
players frequently selected during that time
(Michael Essien and Michael Ballack being
others) to form a solid base to midfield that
allowed Frank Lampard freedom to form a strong
link with restored centre-forward Didier Drogba.
Big matches such as the 0-0 draw in the 2009
Champions League semi-final in Barcelona and
the FA Cup final win over Everton rank among
Mikel’s best. He is one of the three members of
the current squad remaining from that time and
he has been training again with Hiddink since
Tuesday. 1 Like |
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I felicitate with all Nigerians, especially our Christian brothers and sisters, on the joyous occasion of this year’s Christmas. On this occasion of the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ, let us all rededicate ourselves to the virtues of peace, love, honesty, justice, equity, piety, humility and service to others which he taught. There can be no doubt that a greater manifestation of these virtues and ideals in our lives will immensely help us to become a more united, peaceful, secure and progressive nation. Let us also reach out in love and compassion to fellow Nigerians who are in distress at this period of our nation’s history. I particularly urge you all to remember victims of terrorism and insurgency in the country, especially Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). The Federal Government will continue to collaborate with state governments and other stakeholders to ease the harsh conditions in IDP camps, while the ultimate objective remains to quickly put an end to insurgency and return the IDPs to their homes. We must never again allow any group to hold the nation to ransom under whatever guise. Let us also not allow current socio-economic and security challenges to dampen our expectations for a better Nigeria. This administration has taken a number of measures to restore hope to our people. The 2016 Budget defines our commitment to giving Nigeria a new lease of life. Our change slogan is not a campaign gimmick but a promise that must be kept. We are determined to bring about tangible changes in the lives of our people. In this regard, efforts will be intensified to recover stolen funds, block revenue leakages and enthrone due process, transparency and accountability. Public office is a public trust that must be held to the highest ethical standards. I wish all Nigerians a Merry Christmas. Please drive carefully.
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who remembers this scene
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KSA
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King Sunny Ade
Afro Juju maestro, King Sunny Ade is 69 years
today. A two time Grammy’s Award nominee is
being celebrated by his teeming fans on social
media, especially the facebook.
Born Sunday Adeniyi, 22 September 1946, Sunny
is a Nigerian musician, singer-songwriter, multi-
instrumentalist, and a pioneer of modern world
music. He has been classed as one of the most
influential musicians of all time.
Adé was born to a Nigerian royal family in Ondo,
thus making him an Omoba of the Yoruba
people. His father was a church organist, while
his mother was a trader. Adé left grammar
school in Ondo under the pretense of going to
the University of Lagos. There, in Lagos, his
mercurial musical career started.
Sunny Adé's musical sound has evolved from
the early days.
His career began with Moses Olaiya's Federal
Rhythm Dandies, a highlife band. He left to form
a new band, The Green Spots, in 1967. Over the
years, for various reasons ranging from
changes in his music to business concerns,
Sunny Adé's band changed its name several
times, first to African Beats and then to Golden
Mercury. |
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Nigerian comedy king, John Okafor more commonly
known as Mr. Ibu has revealed for the first time he
once escaped an attempt by his friend to have him
killed for sacrifice.
Mr. Ibu who was a special guest on Starr Chat with
Bola Ray on Starr 103.5FM Wednesday said
although he was already sold out by this friend, he
managed to escape by the “Help of God.
“This is something I haven’t spoken about
anywhere,” he told Bola Ray.
“A friend of mine sold me for sacrifice once. I was
just there and they were calling price over my head
like that. Speaking in their local language thinking I
wouldn’t understand but I understood everything.”
Ibu said the incident happened somewhere in 1979,
before he started acting.
The Nollywood actor is considered to be one of
Nigeria’s most talented comic characters.
His humorous acting is often characterised by
stupidity, hilarious imbecility and a sharp
disconnection from reality.
He was born on 17 October 1961.
Okafor is married with seven children and has said
he would do anything for his family.
According to him, he considered selling off his
kidney to save his family when they were all
kidnapped by armed men. |
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#5 Gary Lineker
England's second highest goal scorer, while being
known for his goal scoring exploits, is also known
for defecating in his pants during a World Cup
match. Grander accomplishments aside, he's also
known for being cut from the purest cloth, for being
a saint among saints, in that, he's never been
booked in his career. No yellow cards, no red cards.
Zero. Nada.
If you aren't already acquainted with this fact, you'll
need to read it again. Most of you will dismiss it as
a joke, before googling and inevitably finding out. I
highly suggest you google and confirm. Lineker was
one of the most sought after strikers of his time. He
played for some big teams in Barcelona, Everton,
Leicester and Tottenham Hotspur.
It is easy to dismiss this by saying he did it in the
70's and 80's but know that, that era was a more
physical era and there were lesser rules protecting
players back then. How he managed to possess the
calm and patience to go through 466 matches
without picking a booking is anyone's guess, but its
certainly a mighty good achievement.
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#4 Philipp Lahm
Being a fullback can be hard. Being a successful
fullback is even harder. Games are spent chasing
road runner-esque wingers, combating strong and
burly strikers along with being positionally aware to
support the center backs. And when all of this is not
being done, they run. Miles and miles of running,
covering space, and basically pushing their lungs to
the hilt. Lahm does all of this exceptionally well, and
he's done it without ever getting a red card.
If this was a story, it would be incredibly hard to
believe that a fullback, playing in some of the
biggest games of his generation, over a period of 11
years has never been sent off. It is ludicrous, this
record, and speaks volumes of how efficient and
splendid a player Philipp Lahm is. There is only one
word left to describe him - awesome.
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#3 Ryan Giggs
Imagine going through a Premier League game. The
emotions are high, so are the studs of the defender
who is out to get you. The crowd is on your back.
The referee may be an incompetent loon and every
tackle feels like you've been hit by a truck. The 90
minutes don't feel like ending and frustration is just
increasing. Finally the whistle blows, and relief. But
wait, you have to do it again, next week. And again
and again and again.
Now imagine doing it for 672 games stretching over
a span of 24 years. That was the life of Ryan Giggs,
and though the anger and the frustration and pain
has been offset by victories and trophies, the ordeal
of those 24 years wouldn't have been easy.
Giggs was very consistent in the most punishing
football tournament in the world and despite its
challenges, was never once been pushed to the
brink of a red card. It would have required a
heavenly amount of patience and composure and
for it he should be celebrated along with all his other
achievements.
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#1 Damien Duff
Duff, the former Blackburn, Chelsea, Newcastle and
Fulham winger, has never seen a red card in his
career despite spending most of his career in the
hustle and bustle of the Premier League. He plied
his trade in the top division for 18 years and despite
spending 14 of those years at clubs that weren’t
really at the top, he never once was ejected from a
match.
His disciplinary record, to not have been sent off as
yet, is highly commendable. Similar players -
pacey, explosive wingers - have ratcheted small
mountains of red cards, due to their inability to
control their emotions when fouled, or because of
their inept defending. Duff would often be seen
running up and down the pitch, working hard,
covering every blade of grass and basically nobody
would have ever blamed him if he got sent off,
but Duff never succumbed.
No, he was different. Almost a saint compared to
the uncouth bruisers he found himself in teams
with.
#2 Raul
Not many strikers in the world could compare to
the talent, drive and hunger possessed by Raul in
his prime, and looking back, there probably won't be
many who can match his discipline either.
Raul played in some of the most competitive
matches in football, and despite the frenzy and
emmotion of some of the most high pressure
games, never once got sent off. He has played in El
Clasicos, the Ruhr derby, Champions league finals
and countless other League matches and Cup finals
and never once lost his cool.
He also happens to be the second most capped
player in La Liga, with 550 appearances for Real
Madrid, which makes his record remarkable.
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Jose Mourinho was earlier today presented with his
Guinness book of records award for holding the
following records;
Longest football unbeaten home run by a manager
(nine years)
Most Champions League titles with different clubs
(two)
Youngest manager to reach 100 Champions League
matches (49 years 12 days)
Most points in a Premier League season (95)
Most games unbeaten at home in the Premier
League (77)
Mourinho who was pleased to be recognised by
such an iconic publication, said this:
MOURINHO: ‘The fact they gave me the awards in a
way that I can put them up in my office is nice,’ he
said.
'It’s something fun and as a kid you could never
imagine that one day you would be in the Guinness
Book of Records.
‘You know me, these awards are for something I
did in the past and obviously it’s nice, but for me
what’s more important is what I can do in the
future.’
Congratulations Jose Mourinho!
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#1 Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney is a huge fan of boxing
Manchester United and England captain Wayne
Rooney was an avid boxer during his adolescent
years. In fact, Rooney had joined professional
boxing training for three or four years while growing
up. He accredits his heroics on the football pitch to
the rigorous amounts of training he did as a boxer in
his youth.
"All through my life - from the ages of six, seven
and eight - when big fights were on television, I
used to stay up with my dad to watch them,” he had
said in an interview.
"I've always loved watching boxing and I went
boxing training for about three or four years when I
was younger. It's a sport I've always been involved
in,” he added.
His obvious brilliance with a football at his feet was
for all to see but he tried to accommodate boxing
along with his football training with Everton up until
he was fifteen. That is when the Merseyside club
told him to concentrate on one sport and that’s
when he opted for football.
We all believe that was a very wise decision,
Wazza. Although the fight with Phil Bardsley at
home where you were knocked out probably
wasn’t.
Slide 1 / 8
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#2 Gareth Bale
Gareth Bale (R) played rugby in school
Real Madrid’s Welsh winger Gareth Bale is one of
the most gifted athletes to have graced a football
pitch. Growing up in Whitchurch, Cardiff, Bale
attended the Eglwys Newydd Primary School where
he excelled in a number of sports including rugby,
hockey and athletics.
He was also classmates with former Welsh rugby
captain Sam Warburton at Eglwys. The Madrid
winger was a remarkable sprinter as a teenager
and once clocked an impressive 4:59 and 2:24.8 for
1500m and 800m respectively.
As a 14-year-old, he completed a 100 metres sprint
in just 11.4 seconds. He even did cross country
running as a youngster. His sprinting ability has
been accentuated on the football pitch and brought
him global recognition when he tore apart Inter
Milan’s defence for Tottenham in the 2010/11 UEFA
Champions League.
A career in athletics would not have been that bad,
but it is safe to claim that it would not have been as
good as his career in football considering he
became the most expensive player when he moved
to the Bernabeu in 2013.
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#3 Roy Keane
Roy Keane was an amateur boxer
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane’s
inordinately fiery disposition on the pitch could be
traced back to his frequent bouts as an amateur
boxer in his hometown of Mayfield in Cork, Ireland.
He took up boxing at the age of ten or eleven and
was moderately good at knocking people out cold
until the day he was forced to quit the sport and
focus on his rather better footballing abilities. A lack
of height was cited as the reason why he quit
boxing.
"Boxing is the best sport in the world. It's man
against man. You are on your own. There's only one
person going to come out of that ring a winner,” he
said in an interview with The Guardian .
Evidently, the love for boxing has not left the
Irishman.
Keane’s exemplary captaincy was pivotal in United
winning an unprecedented treble in the 1998/99
season. However, his tenures as manager at both
Ipswich and Sunderland were deemed as major
failures.
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#4 Zlatan Ibrahimovic Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a black belt in taekwondo Paris Saint-Germain and Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic on whom phony internet memes are based is not only one of the best footballers on the planet but also a black-belt in Taekwondo. The Swede received his black belt when he was 17 years old and continued to practice the sport when he moved from Ajax to Italy to play for Juventus, and later, Inter Milan. Ibrahimovic also received an honourary black belt from the Italian national taekwondo team in 2010. “Had he had the same focus on taekwondo he has had on football, and able to invest in the same way, it is clear that he could have been just fine,” said Leif Almö, president of the sports centre where Zlatan practiced taekwondo in his youth. Ibrahimovic’s nomadic football career has seen him represent seven clubs so far including Spanish heavyweights FC Barcelona and three of the biggest Italian clubs in Juventus & Milan giants Inter and AC Milan where he won a myriad of accolades.
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#5 Gary Lineker
Gary Lineker has played cricket and captained his
school team
Gary Lineker is one of England’s greatest ever
players. The current Match of The Day host is third
on the England’s all-time scorers list and has
played for clubs like Barcelona, Everton, Leicester
City and Tottenham Hotspur. Unbeknownst to the
fans, Lineker was a cricketing talent while growing
up.
Discussing his adolescent years, Lineker said in the
Independent: “I was captain of the Leicestershire
Schools cricket team from 11 to 16 and thought at
the time I would probably have more chance
afterwards in cricket than football.”
A right-handed batsman who also bowled medium
pace with the ball, Lineker played three games for
Sir JP Getty’s XI at Wormsley Cricket Ground in
Buckinghamshire, England. The prolific striker also
represented Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) against
The Forty Club at Beckenham.
As a footballer, Lineker became the top scorer of
the English first division on three separate
occasions and won the Golden Boot award at the
1986 FIFA World Cup. We are glad that you stuck
with football, Gary.
Slide 5 / 8
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#6 Phil Neville
Phil Neville – better than Andrew Flintoff?
Former Manchester United and Everton player Phil
Neville was an exemplary cricketer and the captain
of the England U-15’s. An opening left-handed
batsman, Neville became the youngest player ever
to represent the Lancashire second XI, a team
which also boasted a certain Andrew Flintoff.
Former Somerset bowler Steve Kirby even believed
that Neville was better than Flintoff.
“Phil [Neville] was captain of the England under-15
side at football and cricket. He was brilliant. I know
it's a big statement, but he was better than Flintoff
at the time,” he said.
Neville then went on to represent the Lancashire
U-19 side along with Flintoff. An undeniable prodigy
without a shadow of a doubt, Neville’s other talent
as a footballer saw him live a glittering trophy-
laden career.
His brother and former United captain Gary Neville
believes had it not been for his love for football, Phil
would have captained the England senior team. Well,
we think it all turned out for the best, Gary.
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#7 Boudewijn Zenden
Boudewijn Zenden has played for clubs like
Barcelona, Chelsea and Liverpool
Bolo Zenden had a knack for martial arts while
growing up in Maastricht, in the Netherlands. Being
the son of former judoka Pierre Zenden, Bolo had a
keen interest in Judo. He earned his black belt by
the time he was fourteen and is a three times
champion of his home province of Limburg.
Phil Bardsley, a former teammate at Sunderland,
once recalled his judo moves. “He’s a judo black
belt and used to do a few moves on me. I used to
say, ‘show me’ – he put me in a move one day and
I couldn’t get out. He nearly killed me!”
The Dutch midfielder applied the strict principles of
discipline and obedience associated with martial
arts to football which saw him featured for clubs
like Barcelona, Chelsea and Liverpool.
Zenden also represented the Dutch national team at
the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France and helped the
Netherlands reach the semi-finals of both the UEFA
European Championships in 2000 and 2004.
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Joe hart as a cricketer
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Footballers are arguably among the best athletes on
the planet. Speed, skill, agility, strength, endurance
– the modern day footballer possesses a varied
range of characteristics to succeed on the pitch. So
it should not come as a surprise that some of them
applied these traits to other sports before carving
out a career in football. Be it cricket or boxing, there
are a number of players who could have excelled in
another arena.
We take a look at eight such footballers who could
have excelled in other sports.
#8 Joe Hart
Joe Hart was known to be a decent swing bowler
Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart
was a cricketing prodigy. The 28-year-old played
for Shrewsbury Cricket Club in the Birmingham &
District Premier League between 2003 and 2005
and also spent two years in Worcestershire’s youth
squads playing alongside former England
international and current Surrey batsman Steven
Davies.
According to his former coach at Worcestershire,
Damian D’Oliveira, Hart was a precocious talent as
a cricketer and could bowl quite fast as well.
"He had all the attributes — he was tall at 6’2”,
could swing the ball back into the right-hander and
could bowl around 85mph. He was one of the most
highly-rated players in the country,” he said.
Worcestershire fast bowler Jack Shantry fondly
remembers his days as Joe Hart’s teammate.
"We played junior cricket together for Shrewsbury
Under-13s and Under-15s and we were the
national champions and we also played football for
the same football team,” he recalled.
“ He was the school year above me and he was
always far more talented than I was at both football
and cricket. I'm sure if he had chosen cricket over
football, he would have been a very successful
cricketer.”
We think he is doing rather well as a footballer for
Manchester City. |
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damola311:of course hr scored more goals than messi per match |
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Lionel Messi has won the Uefa Best Player in
Europe Award, beating Luis Suarez and
Cristiano Ronaldo to the prestigious prize. do you agree |
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man u with psv |
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SCHMEICHEL CO-HOSTING
Not much to report so far, peeps.
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter
Schmeichel (what a player he was) is co-hosting
this evening's ceremony, and we're currently being
treated to a tasty video montage of last season's
best bits. |
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The north African country have withdrawn from
the football events of Brazzaville 2015
according to the Confederation of African
Football
Egypt have withdrawn from participating in the
men and women’s football events of the 2015
All African Games billed for Brazzaville in
September.
This was made known by the Confederation of
African Football without stating reasons for their
decision.
Samson Siasia’s Dream Team VI were billed to
battle the Pharaohs in the men’s football event
alongside Senegal and Ghana in Group B, while
the Egyptian women were zoned with
Cameroon, Ghana and South Africa.
In accordance with Article 19 (B) of the
regulations which states “If a team withdraws
after having qualified for the Final Tournament,
but before the actual start of the Final
Tournament, the Organizing Committee may
replace it by the last team it has eliminated, if
the circumstances are favourable…”
The two teams eliminated by Egypt in the
qualifiers, Senegal (Women) and Burundi (Men)
are considered to replace Egypt.
The tournament will be held from 6 – 18
September 2015 in Brazzaville, Congo. |
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pics
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The president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, has allegedly fired his chief of defence forces... If the tweets by Alex Tackie and a few others are anything to go by, President Mugabe allegedly fired his chief of defence forces, seen seated next to his wife in the photo below for being too close to his wife and staring at her butt when she bent down.. Just recently, the controversial president revealed he did not marry his wife, Grace, because of love, and revealed the real reasons. Robert Mugabe, who is often in the centre of controversy publicly proposed marriage to the US President Barrack Obama to make mockery of the legalization of gay marriage in the USA. |
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Luis Suarez may be a star on the pitch, but the
Barcelona striker has now become one in a
children's book too - albeit not for his football skills.
British author Peter Barron has used the Uruguayan
as inspiration for a character - a vampire no less -
in his new children's tale Daydreaming Daisy
McCloud because of the player's history of biting
opponents.
Speaking about his decision to base the football-
playing vampire called Luis after the former
Liverpool forward, Peter said: "When I was writing
the book Luis Suarez had been in trouble again for
biting another opponent.
"So when I needed a striker to complete my
monstrous line-up he seemed to fit the bill.
"I just hope he sees the funny side of it and the idea
doesn’t come back to bite me."
Suarez first bit an opponent while playing for Dutch
giants Ajax in 2010 after taking a mouthful of PSV
Eindhoven midfielder Otman Bakkal, which earned
the striker a seven-match ban.
After then moving to Liverpool, Suarez found
himself in trouble again when he bit the arm of
Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic in 2013 before
biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup last
year. Despite apologising for the incidents, Suarez has
clearly left a lasting impression on Peter, with the
author including the Barcelona man in his new book,
which forms part of his Monstrous Morals series
aimed at scaring primary school children out of their
bad habits.
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Furious Messi headbutts Yanga-Mbiwa in Roma friendly clash 5 Aug 2015 22:59:08 A heated exchange off the ball saw the Argentine lash out at the French defenderLionel Messi was lucky not to receive a red card in Barcelona's friendly against Roma when he headbutted Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa. With Barca leading 1-0 through Neymar's strike, the pair began to tangle during the first half in the Joan Gamper Trophy at Camp Nou. The Argentine attacker has a reputation for keeping a cool head in intense situations, but his temper flashed through when he came face to face with the France international. Messi lashed out at Yanga-Mbiwa with a headbutt before grabbing at his throat. The referee then separated the pair and gave both a yellow card, though they were lucky not to be dismissed. Moments later, Messi went on to double his side's lead, finishing off a sound team move to send his side 2-0 up at half time.
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it seems op has been busy |
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when u score 199 and ur jamb cut off mark is 200 2 Likes |
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Thank God no life was lost but dat bald head for d 1st pix sha |
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