Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 109th goal for Portugal in Wednesday’s Euro 2020 game against France to equal former Iran striker Ali Daei’s all-time international record.
The 36-year-old Ronaldo, the leading scorer in European Championship history, converted his second penalty of the game in Budapest to match the record in his 178th international appearance.
Ronaldo is the first player to appear at five editions of the tournament and has scored five times in three Group F games.
The Juventus striker has now scored 14 European Championship goals, five more than French great Michel Platini, who netted nine times when he led France to glory in 1984.
Ronaldo netted his first international goal in a 2-1 loss to Greece in the opening game of Euro 2004 in Portugal, where the hosts later lost to Greece 1-0 in the final.
Daei, nicknamed the ‘Shariar’ (King in Persian), scored a remarkable 109 goals in 149 appearances for Iran between 1993 and 2006, an achievement many thought would never be matched.
Daei has said on several occasions that he would be “delighted” if Ronaldo broke his record, as he believes the Juventus striker ranks among the best three players in history, alongside Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona.CHECK THIS ALSO:
“Congratulations to @cristiano who is now one goal away from breaking the men’s international goal scoring record,” Daei posted on Instagram.
“I am honoured that this remarkable achievement will belong to Ronaldo – the great champion of football and caring humanist who inspires and impacts lives throughout the world.”
Nigerian footballer Anthony Nwakaeme has adopted a novel approach to tackling racism by saying that the best way to disarm any abusers is by smiling at them.
According to BBC reports, the 32-year-old, who currently plays for Turkey’s Trabzonspor, believes the issue is spreading in football despite recent campaigns by Fifa, Uefa and a host of others, such as Premier League footballers taking the knee, to combat it.
After 11 years playing across Europe, including spells in Romania and Israel, he believes that tackling the problem head on is the best way ahead.
“Racism is in sports and growing bigger in football,” Nwakaeme told BBC Sport Africa. “It will continue to spread everywhere and I can’t confidently say when it can be kicked out of football.”
The forward recounts an incident from his time in Israel, which he says has armed him for the ongoing fight against what he calls a ‘societal problem’.
“I experienced racism few years ago when I played in Israel with my team [Hapoel Be’er Sheva] away to Maccabi Haifa,” he explained. “Right there on the pitch, I decided I was not going to let those abusing me win.
“The Maccabi Haifa fans were making monkey noises and booing me, then I turned, looked straight at them and then I smiled.”
“As soon as they saw my reaction, they realised that what they had done hadn’t affected me in anyway, so they started applauding me, cheering and singing my name.”
Nwakaeme said the gesture empowered him to deal with the issue, determined as he was not to give the group the satisfaction of seeing him react negatively.
“Sometimes instead of fighting you, I’ll avoid (confronting) you,” he added. “That was exactly what happened there.”
“I know I could have challenged them or stopped the game in my own way, but I was enjoying myself on the pitch, I felt powerful and I was making life difficult for their team.
“I wasn’t going to let them distract me or put me down. I wouldn’t allow anyone to make me feel less of a man by reacting negatively.
“Once they noticed I wasn’t falling or dropping to that level of anger or hatred, they began to cheer me up. Why should I let them win?
“I understand that not many footballers can handle it that way, but personally I don’t pay attention to those things because racism is a societal problem.”
During his three-year spell at Hapoel Be’er Sheva, where he scored 43 goals in 120 appearances after joining in 2015 (from rivals Hapoel Ra’anana), he won three successive league titles and twice lifted the Israeli Cup.
After over a decade in Europe, Nwakaeme said football authorities cannot solve racism issues alone because it is a wider problem.
“The truth is that racism didn’t start with football, it started many years ago,” he said.
“We can see it in everyday life and that clearly shows it’s a problem that is way more than just football. It’s a societal problem and we cannot fix it without fixing society.
“You can see the past years they [Fifa and Uefa] have been fighting racism… but season after season there are incidents. As much as the authorities continue to campaign and tackle it with mere threats, before the end of the season it will continue rear its head again somehow.
“Personally, I’ve made up my mind not to pay attention to abuses, if you like me or you don’t like me, that’s your problem.
“Whether you’re being racist to me it’s also your problem. I’m here to play football and enjoy myself at the same time, that’s the most important thing for me.”
Ahead of the international friendly match against México next month in Los Angeles USA, invited Home-based Super Eagles commenced preparations for the match yesterday in Abuja.
The 25 players invited for the assignment all turned up for the day-one training session which began in the morning with former Super Eagles coach, Austin Eguavoen, taking charge of the proceeding while Team’s manager Gernot Rohr observed from the stand with handful football fans also watching as the players underwent patience practice exercise.
The light session yesterday morning saw Enugu Rangers’ front man, Ibrahim Olawoyin scored the only goal of the match against Ikechukwu Ezenwa led side.
Rohr had surprised pundits when we invited entirely home-based players for the match but reports has it that most of the foreign-based players actually opted out and wanted their off season vacation and rest well for loaded program from their respective clubs and at same time prepare for next World Cup qualifying round of matches which will come up in September.
While it may by a wise decision to give room to domestic players for more exposure, an inside source disclosed that with most likely defeat against the team will no doubt has an adverse effect on the team in the next FIFA ranking when it is released next month.
Nigeria still maintained 32nd position in the ranking and third best on the continent with Senegal, Tunisia ahead of the team while current AFCON Champion, Algeria are fourth on the log.
Nigeria will play the Concacaf on July 3rd at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the stadium that staged the final match of USA 94 World Cup final which Brazil won on penalty shoot-out against Italy.
The team according to NFF, will train twice a day
Players in Camp
Goalkeepers: Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Heartland FC); Shaibu Suleman (PKE FC Lagos); Nwabali Stanley Bobo (Lobi Stars)
Uefa declined a request to light up the Allianz Arena in rainbow colours before Germany’s Euro 2020 match against Hungary on Wednesday.
According to BBC, Munich mayor Dieter Reiter made the request in protest against a new law in Hungary that bans the sharing of any content seen as promoting homosexuality and gender change to under-18s.
Uefa says it denied the request because of the “political context”.
Reiter described Uefa’s decision as “shameful”.
In a statement, European football’s governing body said: “Uefa understands that the intention is also to send a message to promote diversity and inclusion – a cause, which Uefa has been supporting for many years – having joined forces with European clubs, national teams and their players, launching campaigns and plenty of activities all over Europe to promote the ethos that football should be open to everyone.
“And consequently, Uefa has proposed alternative dates for the illumination which align better with existing events.
“Racism, homophobia, sexism, and all forms of discrimination are a stain on our societies – and represent one of the biggest problems faced by the game today. Discriminatory behaviour has marred both matches themselves and, outside the stadiums, the online discourse around the sport we love.”
Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will be allowed to wear his rainbow captain’s armband during the game.
Uefa has proposed to Munich to light the stadium in rainbow colours on either 28 June – the Christopher Street Liberation Day – or between 3-9 July which is the Christopher Street Day week in Munich.
Christopher Street Day is an annual LGBTQ+ celebration held annually in cities across Germany and Switzerland, held in memory of the Stonewall Riots in New York in 1969. It is the countries’ counterpart to Pride.
On Monday, the German football association (DFB) said it would also prefer any such protest to be held on a date other than Wednesday.
Mayor Reiter has dismissed those suggestions and says other Munich landmarks will be lit up on Wednesday instead.
“I find it shameful that Uefa forbids us to send a message here in Munich for openness, tolerance, respect and solidarity with the LGBTQI+ community,” he said in a statement.
“The alternative suggestion of illuminating the Allianz Arena on another day contradicts any message that is supposed to emanate from rainbow lighting.
“Tomorrow, as the city of Munich, we will still send a clear sign of our solidarity and our respect for sexual equality to Hungary and the world.
“We will not only fly rainbow flags at Munich town hall – I assume that the city council will decide this tomorrow with a large majority – but also make the wind turbine adjacent to the arena shine brightly and also the Munich Olympic Tower.
“Because we are concerned with a signal for a non-negotiable basic right for all people: equality and tolerance.”
A number of other German clubs including Wolfsburg, Cologne and Hertha Berlin, say they will light their stadium up in rainbow colours, while Werder Bremen have put up Pride flags outside their ground.
Uefa declined a request to light up the Allianz Arena in rainbow colours before Germany’s Euro 2020 match against Hungary on Wednesday.
According to BBC, Munich mayor Dieter Reiter made the request in protest against a new law in Hungary that bans the sharing of any content seen as promoting homosexuality and gender change to under-18s.
Uefa says it denied the request because of the “political context”.
Reiter described Uefa’s decision as “shameful”.
In a statement, European football’s governing body said: “Uefa understands that the intention is also to send a message to promote diversity and inclusion – a cause, which Uefa has been supporting for many years – having joined forces with European clubs, national teams and their players, launching campaigns and plenty of activities all over Europe to promote the ethos that football should be open to everyone.
“And consequently, Uefa has proposed alternative dates for the illumination which align better with existing events.
“Racism, homophobia, sexism, and all forms of discrimination are a stain on our societies – and represent one of the biggest problems faced by the game today. Discriminatory behaviour has marred both matches themselves and, outside the stadiums, the online discourse around the sport we love.”
Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will be allowed to wear his rainbow captain’s armband during the game.
Uefa has proposed to Munich to light the stadium in rainbow colours on either 28 June – the Christopher Street Liberation Day – or between 3-9 July which is the Christopher Street Day week in Munich.
Christopher Street Day is an annual LGBTQ+ celebration held annually in cities across Germany and Switzerland, held in memory of the Stonewall Riots in New York in 1969. It is the countries’ counterpart to Pride.
On Monday, the German football association (DFB) said it would also prefer any such protest to be held on a date other than Wednesday.
Mayor Reiter has dismissed those suggestions and says other Munich landmarks will be lit up on Wednesday instead.
“I find it shameful that Uefa forbids us to send a message here in Munich for openness, tolerance, respect and solidarity with the LGBTQI+ community,” he said in a statement.
“The alternative suggestion of illuminating the Allianz Arena on another day contradicts any message that is supposed to emanate from rainbow lighting.
“Tomorrow, as the city of Munich, we will still send a clear sign of our solidarity and our respect for sexual equality to Hungary and the world.
“We will not only fly rainbow flags at Munich town hall – I assume that the city council will decide this tomorrow with a large majority – but also make the wind turbine adjacent to the arena shine brightly and also the Munich Olympic Tower.
“Because we are concerned with a signal for a non-negotiable basic right for all people: equality and tolerance.”
A number of other German clubs including Wolfsburg, Cologne and Hertha Berlin, say they will light their stadium up in rainbow colours, while Werder Bremen have put up Pride flags outside their ground.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it plans to move quickly to add a warning about rare cases of heart inflammation in adolescents and young adults to fact sheets for the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory groups, meeting to discuss reported cases of the heart condition after vaccination, found the inflammation in adolescents and young adults is likely linked to the vaccines, but that the benefits of the shots appeared to clearly outweigh the risk.
Moderna shares closed down 4.2%, while Pfizer fell 1.4%.
Health regulators in several countries have been investigating whether the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna shots using new mRNA technology present a risk and, if so, how serious.
The CDC said that patients with heart inflammation following vaccination generally recover from the symptoms and do well.
The U.S. Department of Health And Human Services, joined by leading U.S. doctors groups and public health officials, put out a statement underscoring that the vaccines are safe and effective and that the heart side effect is “extremely rare.”
“We strongly encourage everyone age 12 and older who are eligible to receive the vaccine under Emergency Use Authorization to get vaccinated,” it said.
Doctors and hospitals have been warned by the CDC to watch for symptoms of myocarditis or pericarditis, and the FDA warning will further raise awareness.
Concerns about the more highly transmissible Delta coronavirus variant taking hold in the United States, and its impact on younger people, have added to the urgency to increase vaccinations even as the inoculation effort here has slowed considerably.
The number of Americans receiving their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine is down about 85% since peaking in mid-April, and will likely fail to meet President Joe Biden’s goal to have delivered at least one shot to 70% of adults by July 4.
WARNING WARRANTED
“Based on the available data, a warning statement in the factsheets for both healthcare providers and vaccine recipients and caregivers would be warranted,” FDA official Doran Fink said at the advisory committee meeting.
Fink, deputy director of the agency’s vaccines division, said the FDA expects to move quickly to add the warning after the meeting concludes.
The cases of heart inflammation appear to be notably higher in the week after the second vaccine dose and in males. The CDC identified 309 hospitalizations from the heart inflammation in persons under the age of 30, of which 295 have been discharged.
Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, deputy director of the CDC’s Immunization Safety Office, said in a presentation that data from one of the agency’s safety monitoring systems – Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) – suggests a rate of 12.6 cases per million in the three weeks after the second shot in 12- to 39-year-olds.
“We’re observing this in the younger age groups, mainly in people in the teens and early 20s, and observing it more in males, compared to females,” Shimabukuro said. “This effect largely kind of disappears once you get into these older age groups – individuals 50 and over.”
The CDC has been investigating heart inflammation cases mainly in young men for several months. The Israeli health ministry earlier this month said it saw a possible link between such cases and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The CDC said it was still assessing the risk from the condition and did not specifically confirm a causal relationship between the vaccines and the heart issue.
It did, however, say that a much-higher-than expected number of young men between the ages of 12 and 24 have experienced heart inflammation after their second vaccine dose.
According to data from the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), there were 347 observed cases of heart inflammation in the week after the second vaccine dose in males aged 12 to 24. That compares with expectations of 12 or fewer cases for males in that age range based on U.S. population background incidence rates, the CDC said.
Pfizer, whose vaccine has been authorized for use in Americans as young as 12, previously said it had not observed a higher rate of heart inflammation than would normally be expected in the general population.
Moderna said it is aware of reports of heart inflammation cases following administration of mRNA vaccines. It said it is working with public health and regulatory authorities to assess the issue.
Over 138 million Americans have so far been fully vaccinated with one of the two mRNA vaccines, according to CDC data as of Monday.
Nine Catalan separatists who were serving long prison sentences for their role in a failed 2017 independence bid were released from jail on Wednesday a day after being pardoned by Spain.
Rain was falling as the seven male prisoners walked out of Lledoners jail some 70 kilometres (45 miles) northwest of Barcelona, where they were met by umbrella-carrying supporters shouting “Independence, independence!”
As they walked through the gates, they were embraced by newly-appointed Catalan leader Pere Aragones, and posed for a photograph alongside a Catalan independence flag and a banner reading “Freedom for Catalonia”.
At the same time, the two remaining prisoners, both women, were released from two other facilities.
The clemency decision was approved by the Spanish government on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez saying he hoped it would draw a line under past confrontations with Catalonia’s separatist-led regional leaders and open the way for talks.
The pardons were published earlier on Wednesday in the government’s official gazette.
The separatists were serving between nine and 13 years in jail for their role in holding a banned referendum in October 2017 that was marred by police violence then followed by a short-lived declaration of independence, sparking Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.
Although the jail sentences have been dropped, all nine are banned from holding public office and the pardons are conditional on them not committing “a serious crime” over the next three to six years.
They have all served more than three years behind bars.
“I am here because the sacrifice they have made for Catalonia and for all of us has been huge,” said Ignasi Sole, a 65-year-old retired mechanic who was waiting outside Lledoners prison for their release.
“It’s a way of thanking them.”
‘Independence through dialogue’
The pardons have been roundly denounced by Spain’s right-wing opposition as well as by many in the pro-independence camp who want a full amnesty that would allow those who fled abroad to return home.
Analysts have also warned it is a risky political gamble that may help calm tensions but won’t solve the years-long turmoil over the separatist crisis, which has left Catalonia sharply divided.
Madrid is hoping the move will give impetus to the upcoming talks with the Catalan government of Aragones who is more open to dialogue than his hardline predecessor.
Aragones and Oriol Junqueras, the prisoner serving the longest sentence of 13 years, who also heads the moderate ERC party, have recently taken steps towards Sanchez by distancing themselves from the path of unilateralism.
“We will devote all our efforts in this new stage to ensuring that negotiation be the basis for resolving the conflict,” Aragones said Tuesday.
“The best way to achieve (independence) is through dialogue, negotiation and agreement.”
When the separatists were sentenced in October 2019 by Spain’s Supreme Court, the ruling triggered an outcry across Catalonia, with thousands hitting the streets in protests that sometimes turned violent.
The move to pardon the separatists was approved by more than two-thirds of Catalans, an Ipsos poll found.
But the same poll found that 53 percent of Spaniards were against the move, which has also been opposed by Spain’s Supreme Court and the right-wing opposition.
In the coming weeks, Sanchez will meet for the first time with Aragones, who has pledged to push for an amnesty and a new referendum on self-determination — this time with Madrid’s approval.
Both are out of the question for the Spanish government.
A former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Chukwuma Soludo has emerged victorious in the Anambra governorship primary election of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
Soludo garnered 740 votes to defeat other challengers in the party. He will officially represent the party in the governorship election scheduled to hold on November 6, 2021.
It will be recalled that the former banker announced his intention to run for the state’s top position in February. Current state governor, Willie Obiano amongst other topshots in the party were present at the event.
Cheers broke out as Soludo was announced winner of the contest that took place in the state capital, Awka.
A few weeks ago, Soludo narrowly escaped death after unknown gunmen attacked him and entourage while he was campaigning in Isuofia, Aguata LGA of the state. Three of his police aides were killed in the attack.
Governor Udom Emmanuel’s vision of providing Akwa Ibom State with a world class Airport Smart Terminal Building is gradually coming alive.
A visit to the ongoing project at the Victor Attah International Airport, shows the main imposing frame conspicuously taking shape.
The new international terminal building is designed to meet the highest level of intelligence and smart building standards, found anywhere in the world.
The terminal building comes with a digital self-check-in by a robot, pre-planned before Covid-19 and counter check-in as well with five bridges, staircases, seven lifts and four escalators, which are pressure sensitive and only move when a passenger is detected on it.
The security architecture is very high, there would be fingerprint digital pass or card pass, whether one is a passenger or staff. The facility will have four methods of fire prevention – fire extinguishers, fire water sprinkler system, fire detectors (heat, smoke and temperature detectors), FM 200 ie automated fire suppression system, and the building leaves room for further expansion. Above all, more than a thousand workers are expected to gain employment in the facility as direct staff, while the terminal is expected to run both day and night shifts in line with international standards.
This is a product of a visionary, who seeing ahead, is planning ahead for his people..
Dangote Group has concluded plans to begin the export of its first shipment of fertilizer from its new fertilizer plant at the Lekki Free Zone in Lagos, to the US and Brazil.
Initial shipment from one of the world’s biggest fertilizer plant, which has the capacity to produce 3 million tonnes of urea and ammonia per year, is expected to start in late June or early July.
The billionaire chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said this while speaking at a virtual economic forum hosted in Qatar on Tuesday, June 22, 2021.
Aliko Dangote said that the new fertilizer plant will export its first shipment in late June or early July, to Louisiana, while the majority of exports from the plant are expected to go to Brazil, adding that it will also be able to supply all the major markets in sub-Saharan Africa.
He said, “Apart from meeting the domestic demand, we are going to be able to earn quite a lot of money exporting the goods to the South American countries.”
A lot of Nigerians believe that the fertilizer plant will help solve the problem of low crop yield in the country, which is partly due to insufficient access to fertilizer.
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