All sports stories from Naija – Latest from the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), Nigerian Super Eagles and Super Falcons preparations for the FIFA World Cups, and the Nigeria athletes compete at the Commonwealth Games, Olympics and the IAAF World Championships.
29 January 2011 Hosts for next months Championship of African Nations (CHAN), Sudan, have picked defending champions DR Congo as still the team to beat in the tournament exclusively reserved for players in the various local leagues on the continent. DR Congo won the inaugural tournament in Cote dIvoire two years and according to Sudan coach, Mohamed 'Mazda' Abdallah, they…
27 January 2011 Real Madrid's new striker Emmanuel Adebayor, signed from Manchester City, Thursday rejected suggestions he has come to the club to replace the out-of-favour Karim Benzema. "I'm not here to compete with him (Benzema) or with anyone else. What I want is that all the Real players give their best," he told a news conference as he was…
28 January 2011 The circus for this years CAF Champions League gets underway this weekend across the continent and by May, the eight teams for the money-spinning group stage of Africas foremost club competition will emerge. Who will be the clubs to then jostle for the biggest prize in African club football? MTNFootball.com picks the most likely teams to challenge…
28 January 2011 Sundays Oyo derby between hosts Shooting Stars and Crown FC will be a grudge battle as neither is willing to give in to the rival. It will be a battle. I have been told that matches between the two clubs are always very keenly fought as Crown never want to acknowledge the superiority of Shooting Stars, 3SC…
27 January 2011 The 2011 CAF African Champions League gets underway this weekend, with no less than 46 teams competing in the first leg matches of the preliminary round. A further nine seeded teams Al Ittihad (Libya), Al Merreikh (Sudan), Dynamos (Zimbabwe), Esperance (Tunisia), Stade Malien (Mali), Al-Hilal (Sudan), TP Mazembe (DR Congo), ES Setif (Algeria) and Al Ahly (Egypt)…
26 January 2011 Barcelona put one foot in the Kings Cup final with a brace from Lionel Messi sealing a thumping 5-0 semi-final first leg win over Almeria at Camp Nou on Wednesday. Three goals in the opening quarter hour put Barcelona in total command and now Barcelona, who have won the Kings Cup a record 25 times, appear a…
27 January 2011 Disgraced FIFA and CAF executive Amos Adamu is confident his appeal against a three-year ban will be successful just as the Nigerian government has taken a special interest in the case. A source close to Adamu told MTNFootball.com that it was all a set-up against the top official and with the government now in the full picture…
26 January 2011 Nigeria are no longer a giant in African football, the players are over-rated and officials have failed in their responsibilities, according to the countrys former skipper Austin Jay Jay. Everything is wrong, right from the players, coaches and the management. And the fans expect too much, moaned Okocha as a guest on a programme of pay television…
Is there something you have always wanted to know about the history of the game? Or what about the present day clubs and stars of African football? We're giving you the chance to Ask The Expert, and we'll select the best questions to get answered every Wednesday, only on MTNFootball.com! This week's question: Posted 26 January 2011 by Holyyommex, Osun State, Nigeria Question: Do…
26 January 2011 TP Mazembe will look to further entrench their reputation as the dominant force of African club competition when they host FUS Rabat in the CAF Super Cup on Saturday in Lubumbashi, DR Congo. The reigning African champions, who claimed a second successive African Champions League title last year and became the first team from the continent to…
25 January 2011 Real Madrid confirmed on their website on Tuesday they had signed Manchester City's Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor on loan till the end of the season. The 26-year-old has been brought in to add urgently needed firepower after Argentinian striker Gonzalo Higuain underwent surgery to fix a slipped disc earlier this month and is expected to be out…
26 January 2011 Round 17 of the Absa Premiership is a little disjointed with two teams in the South African top flight having to take part in CAF competitions over the weekend of the 28th-30th of January. This combined with the fact that one league match was postponed in the last round due to bad weather and a water logged…
25 January 2011 The year 2010 was a tumultuous one for South Africa as the country hosted the FIFA World Cup and on the field the national side showed signs of improvement. But that is now all in the past and the country will look to 2011 to keep the steady progress of the past 12 months going. It promises…
25 January 2011 Going past the four-goal mark is proving to be a bridge too far for strikers in the Nigeria Premier League. Rather than any of the strikers notching his fifth goal of the season at the weekend, two others were happy to make the four-goal club Ekigho Ehouson (Warri Wolves) and Abdulrahman Bashir (Bukola Babes). This means that…
24 January 2011 Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda, Nicolas Anelka and Ramires were all on target as Chelsea ended their miserable run of away form with a 4-0 victory at Bolton here on Monday to keep alive their dim hopes of the Premier League title. Carlo Ancelotti's side had fallen away from contention for the title with a record of one…