Sports
Flying Eagles Crash Out of AFCON U-20
Nigeria’s U-20 male team, Flying Eagles failed to reach the final of the ongoing Africa U-20 Cup of Nations (AFCON) following a 4-3 defeat on penalty to Junior Eagles of Mali in their semifinal match, yesterday. After a goalless first half in a keenly contested semifinal, both teams continued to struggle in search of a goal, with Mali breaking the deadlock in the 78th minute through Mamadou Traore. But their celebration did not last long as Paschal Durugbor scored eight minutes later to level the score for Coach Paul Aigbogun-led Eagles.
The game went into extra time, and none of the sides could add to their goal tally in the hard-fought contest. In the shootout, Ikuowen Udoh, Mohammed Jamil, Effiong Maxwell all converted their kicks for the Flying Eagles, while Valentine Ozornwafor and Aniekeme Okon missed theirs. The victory was a sweet revenge for Junior Eagles of Mali for their loss to the Flying Eagles also on penalties at the U-20 WAFU Cup tournament in Lome, Togo in December, last year.
The Flying Eagles won the Group A that had host nation Niger Republic, South Africa and Burundi, finishing with seven points. The team had defeated Burundi and Niger Republic while drawing with South Africa, while Mali finished second in Group B with six points after victories over Burkina Faso and Ghana, and defeat by Senegal.
Speaking ahead of yesterday’s semifinal match, Coach Paul Aigbogun said having met the first target of a FIFA World Cup ticket, his boys will play the semifinal match without any pressure and it turned out to be a disappointing result for his team.
The 7-time African champions will face South Africa in the 3rd Place match on Sunday in Niamey. South Africa lost to Senegal by a lone (own) goal
Super Eagles winger, Ademola Lookman, has been named the CAF Footballer of the Year for the past year.
Lookman was announced as the winner at an elaborate event in Marrakech, Morocco on Monday night.
The Atalanta star won the prize ahead of Ivory Coast’s Simon Adingra and PSG’s Achraf Hakimi, Guinea striker Serhou Guirassy and South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.
It has been an incredible year for Lookman, who became the first player to score a hat-trick in the Europa League/UEFA Cup final since 1975, netting the three goals within 26 minutes against Bayer Leverkusen.
Lookman was included in the Team of the Year for the Europa League, and ended the season having had a direct hand in 18 top flight goals for La Dea.
The 27-year-old was ranked the 14th best player during the Ballon d’Or gala on October 28.
The Swedish Prosecution Authority announced today that the inquiry into rape allegations against French footballer Kylian Mbappé has been closed due to a lack of sufficient evidence to proceed.
This is according to multiple reports on Thursday morning.
The allegations had drawn international attention, casting a shadow over the football star’s career.
Mbappé, who had consistently denied the allegations, has yet to make an official statement regarding the decision
His legal team had previously emphasised his commitment to due process.
Mbappe was “linked to rape investigation in Sweden” and that he intended to reserve any explanations for the Swedish justice system “if necessary,” according to his lawyer, Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard.
“He prioritises providing his explanations, if required, to the Swedish judiciary,” Canu-Bernard told AFP, while strongly condemning “media allegations suggesting that Kylian Mbappé had commented on the events of his trip to Stockholm.”
The case, which began earlier this year, involved accusations stemming from an alleged incident in Stockholm. The prosecutor’s decision not to press charges marks the end of months of scrutiny and speculation.
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