Keshi: We lost concentration against Mexico

Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi says his team had a decent outing despite drawing 2-2 against 10-man Mexico at the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas early Saturday morning.

A brace from Chicharito was cancelled out by a Brown Ideye penalty and a Gerrado Torrado own goal off a deflected John Ogu shot.

Nigeria played almost half an hour with a man more after Barrera was sent off for a deliberate handball. But the Super Eagles could not make their number count as they were bettered technically by El Tri.

Nigeria played without midfielder John Obi Mikel who requested to be rested while injuries kept out Victor Moses, Kalu Uche and Emmanuel Emenike.

Keshi tested the trio of Ideye, Joseph Akpala and Nnamdi Oduamadi as the arrowhead of his 4-3-3 formation with John Ogu getting his first start in midfield alongside Sunday Mba and Ogenyi Onazi.

The back four from the Africa Cup of Nations remained in their position – Elderson Echiejile, Kenneth Omeruo, Godfrey Oboabona and Ambrose Efe while Austin Ejide kept goal before he made way for Vincent Enyeama in the second half.

Nigeria saw a raft of opportunities go wide even as they had to cope with the pace of the Mexicans who played with verve despite being a man short.

"I think the boys were not that bad, they just lost concentration," Keshi told media after the game.

"Mexico is a fantastic squad with top quality players."

With two important 2014 World Cup qualification matches coming up against Kenya and Namibia in the following weeks as well as the Confederations Cup in Brazil, Keshi says the more important task ahead is qualifying for Brazil 2014.

 "To represent Africa in the Confederations Cup is a good thing. But the Cup is not our biggest issue right now, we have upcoming qualifiers with Kenya and Namibia," Keshi said.

The Super Eagles will be in Nairobi next Wednesday to confront the Harambee Stars in a must-win encounter at Moi Kasarani Stadium.

Mourinho thanks Madrid fans for support

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has sent out a message of thanks to the club and its fans ahead of his final game in charge on Saturday.

The Portuguese trainer and Spanish giants reached a decision to tear up his contract at the end of the season, meaning that the outgoing Santiago Bernabeu boss is free to return to Chelsea in the summer.

Mourinho will take charge of his last game as Blancos coach against Osasuna at 17:00CET on Saturday and stressed that he wishes the club all the best going forward.

"I wish everyone associated with Real Madrid much happiness in the future," he said in a statement on the club's website.

"I appreciate the support of lots of fans and respect the criticism of others. Once again, a lot of happiness to everyone and, above all, good health. Hala Madrid!"

Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes and Carlo Ancelotti are currently favourites to replace Mourinho - the former is being replaced by Pep Guardiola in the summer despite having won the Champions League this season while Madrid have enquired to Paris Saint-Germain about the latter.

Monaco will build a team around Falcao, says Ranieri

Claudio Ranieri has voiced his delight with the signing of Radamel Falcao and has stressed that Monaco will be building their team around the Colombia international.

The Ligue 2 champions announced on Friday that they have secured the services of the striker for a fee believed to be in the region of €60 million after previously signing Joao Moutinho, James Rodriguez and Ricardo Carvalho.

"I am very happy with the arrival of Falcao. We aim to build a strong team around him," the former Inter boss was quoted as saying by France Football.

"Falcao is a great player. He always works hard for the team, but is also very strong in front of the goal. He is quite impressive."

The 27-year-old has played a key figure in Atletico's successful season as he has guided the Vicente Calderon side to Copa del Rey glory and third place in the Liga table with his 31 goals in 41 appearances in all competitions

Victor Valdes to stay at Barcelona until 2014

Victor Valdes has insisted that he will not leave Barcelona in the summer transfer window and will stay put until the end of his contract in June 2014.

The goalkeeper told Barca earlier this season that he does not want to extend his current deal, leading to speculation that he could be on his way out of the Liga champions this summer.

Monaco were believed to be keen to lure him to France, but the 31-year-old has now made it clear that he will fulfill his contract with Barcelona.

"I owe the fans an explanation as to why I will not renew my contract. Barcelona have given me everything and this has been home for 20 years," Valdes said at a press conference.

"The pressure as a goalkeeper is huge, though, at this club. I am exhausted psychologically and I feel that my cycle at the club ends in 2014. This is not about money.

"I feel honoured that the club want me to continue, but my decision is final. I will continue to wear the Barca jersey with honour until the final day of my contract.

"I think that the club have enough time to find a good successor."

Valdes made his official first team debut in 2002-03 and has since made over 500 official appearances for Barcelona.

Sneijder revels in Inter's misery

Wesley Sneijder says Inter's struggles this season serve as justice for the way the club's hierarchy treated him before his move to Galatasaray in January.

The Netherlands international, 28, was frozen out at the Nerazzurri earlier this season after he refused to accept a pay-cut, with the midfielder joining the Istanbul giants for a reported €7.5m.

"I feel very sorry for the players and fans, but I do not mind at all for others at the club that Inter finished only ninth this season and that the coach had to go," Sneijder told De Telegraaf.

"They did not even qualify for European football and I hope this has made the people in charge think about what's happening at the club. What's happened is not Inter-worthy.

"Inter tried to break me time and time again. Had I not had such a strong personality, I would have hung up my boots.

"A lot of people at the club are not worthy of my trust and respect. I had a lot of difficult moments, but what happened has made me stronger in the end."

Sneijder ended the 2012-13 campaign on a high as he won the Turkish Super Lig title with Galatasaray.

Caf President Issa Hayatou to grace Kenya v Nigeria match

Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Issa Hayatou will grace the 2014 World Cup qualifier between Kenya’s Harambee Stars and Nigeria’s Super Eagles at Moi Kasarani on June 5.
information gathered has it that the African boss will arrive in Nairobi on June 3, two days to the decisive match.
“Hayatou has confirmed that he will attend the Kenya v Nigeria match. He (Hayatou) will jet into Nairobi on June 3. Hayatou has a good relationship with Kenya FA President Sam Nyamweya and wants to be part of the crowd at Kasarani on Wednesday (June 5),” the source, who sought anonymity, added.
Hayatou has been the President of Caf since 1987. In 2002, he contested for Fifa presidency but was defeated by current President Sepp Blatter. He is also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
President of Caf for over two decades, Hayatou has overseen particularly successful Fifa World Cup appearances by Senegal, Nigeria, and Cameroon, and pushed for African places in the finals to increase from two to five, with the 2010 World Cup in South Africa seeing the hosts garner an automatic sixth spot for an African team.
Wednesday’s match is crucial for both teams as the winner will put themselve in a better position of reaching the World Cup showcase slated for Brazil.
Kenya managed a 1-1 draw against the African champions in the first leg match played in Calabar and will be hoping to better the performance despite missing key players  goalkeeper Arnold Origi and striker Dennis Oliech through suspension.

The Super Eagles look for their first win against El Tri

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Both teams are undefeated in their last five matches so the match between Nigeria and Mexico, though a friendly will have lots of pride at stake. The last time the teams met it was a 2-2 draw in 2007 with a brace from Obafemi Martins with the Super Eagles yet to get a victory over El Tri in three outings.
With the Super Eagles team bereft of players like Victor Moses, Mikel Obi and Emmanuel Emenike for this game, players like John Ogu, Nnamdi Oduamadi have the chance to prove their mettle and keep a place in the team.
Coach Stephen Keshi will be looking to get his players in match condition for the trip to Kenya for the World Cup qualifiers – next week Wednesday and a week afterwards against Namibia.
Mexico is ranked 16th in the world higher than Nigeria’s 28th spot and have good players of the ilk of Javier Hernández and Giovani Dos Santos.  Coach Jose will be looking for a win after five successive draws and the team has not scored in their last two games - two 0-0 draws; the draw with the US was a World Cup qualifier, while their last match was a friendly against Peru.
Sixteen of the players that José Manuel de la Torre has called up for the friendly play in Mexico and he will be looking to assess the performances of this home-based players just like Keshi will be looking at a second tier of Eagles to get a strong bench as they approach the Confederations Cup.

Dortmund offer for Eriksen, says Overmars

The attacking midfielder has been heavily linked with a move to the Bundesliga side, but his current club have received no formal bid as of yet

Ajax sporting director Marc Overmars has stressed that the Eredivisie champions have not yet received an official offer from Borussia Dortmund for Christian Eriksen.

Reports from Denmark earlier this week suggested that BVB had tabled a bid in the region of €12 million for the attacking midfielder, but Ajax have made it clear they still await a formal approach from the Champions League finalists.

"The Danish press publishes all kinds of stories, but Dortmund have not made a formal offer for Eriksen," Overmars told Algemeen Dagblad.

The 21-year-old has a contract with Ajax until June 2014, but the Amsterdam giants are ready to cash in on the midfielder this summer if a good offer comes in.

Aside from Dortmund, Eriksen has also caught the attention of Premier League sides such as Tottenham and Liverpool. http://www.Free-eBooks.net/5873.html

NFF and Sidney Sam? Nigerians need to be told the truth

After it was claimed by the Nigeria Football Federation that they had made contact with German-born Sidney Sam and coach Stephen Keshi’s various pronouncements that he had spoken to the winger, it was very embarrassing and disheartening to hear the player say, “I  never really thought about Nigeria and I do not know who invented that."

what the problem might be is not know but the NFF have many question to answer, because this kind of statement is a collective slap on the face of all 160 million Nigerians and the NFF has a responsibility to make sure that this slight does not go unpunished.

All these questions need to be answered quickly as silence will not be considered golden on this occasion.

NFF Assistant Director, Media, Ademola Olajire had said they were waiting to collect two documents that would be submitted to Fifa to obtain clearance for him to play for Nigeria.