Keshi lauds Austin Ejide’s professionalism

The national team coach says that the Hapoel Be'er Sheva goalkeeper will have an opportunity to stake a claim to the number spot against South Africa next month Hapoel Be’er Sheva goalkeeper Austin Ejide has been praised Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi for his professional attitude on and off the field of play. The coach who has been with the national team for almost two years hailed the professional conduct of the Israel-based goalkeeper and has tipped him to man the post in the Nelson Mandela Challenge against South Africa on August 14. Ejide has been deputy to number one Vincent Enyeama in the national team for more than a decade. He has made 25 appearances for Nigeria since making his debut in 2001. The 29-year-old enjoyed his most extensive run in the side during the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations where he was in goal in all four matches that the team played. “One good thing about Ejide is that he is just a professional person. I remember his wedding was initially fixed for June this year but he moved the wedding to July because of the Fifa Confederations Cup and World Cup qualifiers. So how patriotic can a player be again,” Keshi said. He also explained the reason for excluding stand in captain Enyeama from the squad that will play against Bafana Bafana next month. “I wanted to have Ejide fill the goal post. He has been working very hard but Vincent Enyeama is my number one choice goalkeeper. But I need Enyeama more in the match against Malawi on the 5th of September. So I told Ejide to go out there and prove yourself and also get ready should anything happen. “That is the reason and there is no other reason why Enyeama was not included,” said Keshi.

Cote d'Ivoire - Nigeria Match Preview: Keshi hopes to lead Eagles over Elephants

                                      

With a 4-1 lead going into the second leg, coach Stephen Keshi and his boys will be doubly confident that they will get the job done in Abidjan on Saturday. Though Keshi has continuously stated that he is preparing the team to withstand whatever kind of barrage will be thrown at them. It is expected that the Eagles will name the same team that won in Kaduna three weeks’ ago excluding injured striker Gambo Mohammed who should be replaced by Etebo Oghene in the starting XI. The Elephants on the other hand are hurting from the perceived ‘injustice’ at the hands of the referee in the first leg as they had a penalty given against them and then had two players sent off. And their coach, Saraka Norbert believes the Nigerian team will play defensively which will afford the home team the opportunity to attack for all of 90 minutes. The trick for the Elephants will be to score in the first ten minutes of the encounter to make the crowd more vociferous though on the evidence of the first leg, they will be open to counter attacks from the Eagles as they go all out to cancel the three goals deficit. The two teams have met 18 times with six victories for Nigeria and seven draws and it is almost a safe bet that Sunday Mba will get on the score sheet for the Eagles.

Mourinho calm over Rooney coup

Despite Manchester United rejecting Chelsea's offer, the Blues boss insists he is in no panic to secure the England international's signature Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has insisted he is calm regarding the club's attempt to lure Wayne Rooney to the club, despite a lack of progress with the proposed transfer. The Blues had an opening offer for the wantaway striker immediately rejected last Tuesday and are expected to return with an improved bid. Mourinho recently suggested an over-long transfer saga could affect the "balance" of a team very close to the start of the season, but hinted the club are in no hurry to force a move. "At this moment we have made what you know; that bid which was public and official and after that nothing else," he told reporters. "But we are calm as we told you that we are calm because we are happy with what we have." Mourinho was speaking after Chelsea's emphatic 8-1 victory over Indonesia All Stars, with Ramires and Romelu Lukaku both grabbing doubles. Fernando Torres failed to register on the scoresheet, but Mourinho believes the Spaniard will improve the added competition for places after Lukaku's return from a loan spell with West Brom. "I think Fernando should be happy because we have competition in the team and I think that is good for everybody in every position," he told reporters. "Fernando I think will be pleased because during his time at Chelsea he was basically the only striker and then after that there was the arrival of Ba in January. Now the team has three strikers and I think that is good." Mourinho also confirmed the injured trio of Frank Lampard, Andre Schurrle and Kevin De Bruyne are all expected to train with the squad next week.

This I Did For You...?

This I did for you to tell to carry your own daily crosses. Without cross NO Heaven. If I should leave Heaven to do this on Earth, that is to tell you how good it is. Speak the truth everywhere & every condition you find yourself with Love. Forgive one another with Love. Humble youself before Me. I am the Teacher of Teachers. I am t he way, the truth, the Life. I am, all & all. This information is for everybody born of a woman, nor exception. Don't be deceived. Anybody who preaches against the Cross is against Me. He or She is Anti me, Anti Christ. I followed this way to save you, we must follow same route back Home. Teachings on Prosperity Without labour is not from Me. I Love you My dear Children. Do my will in all things My Children, if you do you will be Truly happy. The happiness that the world cannot give. This is a sign of Blessing & deliverance to you.

REMEMBER GETHSEMANE HOUR TONIGHT ..........................

New Video: Toni Tones - I know What You Like

The much anticipated video of the hit single 'I know what you like' by celebrity photographer, turned artist, Toni Tones is finally here. Enjoy...

Konga.com is Africa's 1st eCommerce company to be verified by FB

Facebook recently introduced page verification to prove brand authenticity on its platform, and prior to this particular verification, only President Jonathan has been verified in Nigeria.

konga.com, Nigeria’s Largest Online Mall has just become the first African e-commerce and first Nigerian company to get verified by Facebook after they were verified by Twitter 2 months ago. facebook.com/ShopKonga the official Facebook page of konga.com currently has over 400,000 likes and has the highest number of Nigerian fans in e-commerce across Africa.

Ecommerce is all about convenience, choice and security and Konga definitely knows how to guarantee this.

Ashley Cole: I owe Mourinho a good season

Ashley Cole has insisted that he "owes" Jose Mourinho his best form this season at Chelsea as he bids to prolong his career at Stamford Bridge.The Portuguese manager controversially signed Cole in 2006 in exchange for William Gallas and the left-back won a domestic cup double in his only full season under Mourinho.

Cole was injured for long spells during that campaign and has revealed he is determined to show his manager what he is capable of in the upcoming campaign.

"Having the manager back now from 2006, the manager who bought me, is important because I still feel I owe him something," Cole told the Guardian.

"I didn't play as well as I could back then, and as well as I have for Chelsea since, when he bought me.

"I owe him a lot, personally. I wouldn't say he's different now. He's always had one aim, one objective, and that's to win. I think it doesn't matter what you've achieved in the game, or what you've done in football. You've got to train well and give him 100%."

Juventus top Bayern for Champions League earnings

Juventushttp://www.topspotafrica.com/juventus earned more from the Champions League than any other club last season. The Serie A club were beaten by eventual winners Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals, but still made €65.3 million from the competition - compared to €55m collected by the German champions.

This was mostly due to the Italian side gaining much of the TV money in their own country, with Uefa explaining that "monies from the market pool were divided according to the proportional value of the national TV market each individual club represented".

Under the European governing body's system for distributing Champions League cash, the amounts given to clubs varies by country and is related to the performance of all teams representing a particular nation.

Bayern - who also won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal in 2012-13 - earned less because fellow Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund also made the final at Wembley.

Jurgen Klopp's side took home €54.16m, thanks partly to the reward for winning four of their six group stage games, which brought in €1m per match. Milan, Real Madrid and Barcelona were the next biggest earners, gaining €51.3m, €48.4m and €45.5m respectively, even though the latter beat the Serie A side in the last-16 stage.

Manchester United, who lost to Madrid in the last 16, were the best rewarded Premier League side with €35.5m. By comparison, Chelsea made €60m from winning the competition in 2012. In total, €904.6m was handed out to 32 clubs, while in the Europa League the overall fund was €209m. Semi-finalists Fenerbahce were the biggest earners from the competition with €11.18m, while winners Chelsea made €10.7m to add to the €30.5m they made from the Champions League

Napoli agree €37m fee with Real Madrid for Higuain

Napoli have agreed a €37 million fee with Real Madrid for Gonzalo Higuain. The Serie A club have had a fresh bid for the Argentine accepted by the Spanish club and Napoli are now trying to convince the player to move to the San Paolo. Personal terms are yet to be agreed, with Higuain's insistence on retaining his image rights providing a something of a stumbling block.

Higuain has two years remaining on a Nike deal worth around €1.8m per year but Napoli would prefer to take control of his image rights and pay him a more lucrative salary. The forward earns a relatively modest €75,000-a-week at Madrid and Napoli are believed to have offered him a deal in line with the €116,000-a-week starting salary he had agreed with Arsenal.

The Gunners had agreed personal terms with Higuain but a transfer to the Emirates Stadium stalled because Madrid were holding out for a bigger offer than the €27m submitted by the Londoners. Arsene Wenger subsequently switched his attention to capturing Luis Suarez from Liverpool after learning theUruguayan was interested in a move to the Emirates.

Wenger is still believed to be monitoring Higuain’s situation but plans to bring him to Arsenal are on the backburner as the Frenchman attempts to land Suarez for £40m-plus in a deal that would smash the club transfer record.

Arsenal will not attempt to match Napoli's bid but could come back into the running for Higuain's signature if he rejects a move to the Serie A club. New manager Rafael Benitez targeted Higuain for the vacant senior centre-forward role in the team after selling Edinson Cavani for €63m to Paris Saint-Germain last week. Although Madrid have claimed Higuain is not for sale, it is understood the Spanish club are now ready to offload the forward, who has spent six years at the Santiago Bernabeu.