Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro has officially joined the Nigeria Football Coaches Association.

The Portuguese announced the news via the social media.

I an honoured to have received the Diploma given by the Nigeria Football Coaches Association and to have become officially a member. Peseiro wrote on his official Twitter handle.

The 62-year-old was presented with his certificate in Abuja by the president of the association, Ladan Bosso, who is also the head coach of Nigeria U-20 side, the Flying Eagles.

Peseiro was appointed Super Eagles head coach in May, 2022.

His next assignment with the Super Eagles will be the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying double-header against Guinea Bissau-Bissau next month.

Interestingly Peseiro has been identifying with the local league and has been to some match venues to watch the local matches, an indication that some local lads will be given a chance in the national team sometimes dubbed the foreign legion made up of all foreign based players.

Novak Djokovic has applied for special permission to enter the United States to play at the Indian Wells and Miami Open, his brother Djordje has revealed.

The requirement for foreign air travellers is not expected to be lifted before main draw action at Indian Wells kicks off on March 9. The Miami Open runs from March 22 to April 2.

World number one Djokovic was named this week on the entry list for Indian Wells, where he is a five-time champion.

“Novak has to obtain special permission as the U.S. is still denying entry to non-vaccinated persons, which is simply unbelievable as the whole world is open and sports events feature vaccinated and non-vaccinated athletes alike,” Djordje told Serbian news agency Tanjug.

“Novak has submitted all the required documentation and a request, and the directors of the Indian Wells and Miami tournaments have publicly said Novak is needed at those tournaments and that they want him to come.

“There are only a few days to go before a decision is made and what remains for us to do is hope for a positive outcome.” Last month, Indian Wells tournament director Tommy Haas said it would be a “disgrace” if Djokovic was not allowed to compete at Indian Wells and other tournaments in the United States this year.

Djokovic missed last year’s Australian Open and was deported from the country due to his vaccine status. He regained entry into the tournament this year and won it to claim a record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title.

The 35-year-old has previously said he would miss Grand Slams rather than receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

A group of 35 countries, including the United States, Germany and Australia, will demand that Russian and Belarusian athletes are banned from the 2024 Olympics, the Lithuanian sports minister said on Friday, deepening the uncertainty over the Paris Games.

The move cranks up the pressure on an International Olympic Committee (IOC) that is desperate to avoid the sporting event being torn asunder by the bloody conflict unfolding in Ukraine.

“We are going in the direction that we would not need a boycott because all countries are unanimous,” Jurgita Siugzdiniene said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy took part in the online meeting attended by 35 ministers to discuss the call for the ban, pointing out 228 Ukrainian athletes and coaches died as a result of the Russian aggression.

“If there’s an Olympics sport with killings and missile strikes, you know which national team would take the first place,” he told the ministers.

“Terror and Olympism are two opposites, they cannot be combined.”

British sports minister Lucy Frazer said on Twitter that the meeting was very productive.

“I made the UK’s position very clear: As long as Putin continues his barbaric war, Russia and Belarus must not be represented at the Olympics,” she wrote.

Lee Satterfield, Assistant Secretary of State who leads the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, also participated in the meeting.

“The Assistant Secretary outlined that the United States will continue to join a vast community of nations in our unwavering support for the people of Ukraine and hold the Russian Federation accountable for its brutal and barbaric war against Ukraine, as well as the complicit Lukashenka regime in Belarus,” a U.S. Department of State spokesperson said.

“We will continue to consult with our independent National Olympic Committee – the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee – on next steps, and look forward to greater clarity by the IOC on their proposed policy toward Russia and Belarus.”

With war raging in Ukraine, the Baltic States, Nordic countries and Poland had called on  international sports bodies to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in the Olympics.

Russia launched a wave of attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure in the cities of Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia on Friday morning as Ukrainian officials said a long-awaited Russian offensive was under way in the east.

“We know that 70% of Russian athletes are soldiers. I consider it unacceptable that such people participate in the Olympic Games in the current situation, when fair play obviously means nothing to them,” Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavsky said after meeting the heads of the Czech IOC and the national sports agency.

BOYCOTT

Ukraine has threatened to boycott the games if Russian and Belarusian athletes compete and Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk has said Russians will win “medals of blood, deaths and tears” if allowed to take part.

Such threats have revived memories of boycotts in the 1970s and 1980s during the Cold War era that still haunt the global Olympic body today, and it has called on Ukraine to drop them.

However, Polish Sports Minister Kamil Bortniczuk said that a boycott was not on the table for now.

“It’s not time to talk about a boycott yet,” he told a news conference, saying there were other ways of putting pressure on the IOC that could be explored first.

He said that most participants had been in favour of an absolute exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes.

“Most voices – with the exception of Greece, France, Japan – were exactly in this tone,” he said.

He said that creating a team of refugees that would include Russian and Belarusian dissidents could be a compromise solution.

NEUTRALS

The IOC has opened the door for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals.

It has said a boycott will violate the Olympic Charter and that its inclusion of Russians and Belarusians is based on a UN resolution against discrimination within the Olympic movement.

Anette Trettebergstuen, Norway’s Minister of Culture and Equality, also said it was “far too early” to think about a boycott but added that it was “strange and provocative” for the IOC to consider allowing Russian athletes to compete.

“In a Russian context, there is no difference between sport and politics, and any sports performance is pure propaganda,” Trettebergstuen told Norwegian newspaper VG.

“Saying the athletes should be able to compete as neutrals… Neutrality is not possible. It’s a dead end.”

Some 18 months before the competition is due to start, the IOC is desperate to calm the waters so as not to jeopardize the Games’ message of global peace and deliver a huge hit to income.

While Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of host city Paris, said Russian athletes should not take part, Paris 2024 organisers, who last week said they would abide by the IOC’s decision on who would take part in the Games, declined to comment.

The Russian sports ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment. An IOC spokesperson said they would not comment “on interpretations from individual participants of a meeting whose overall content is unknown”.

Diego Cocca is unveiled as new Mexico coach – Centro de Alto Rendimiento, Mexico City, Mexico – February 10, 2023 Diego Cocca during press conference

Mexico have appointed Argentine Diego Cocca as head coach on a deal until 2026 following the exit of Gerardo Martino, the country’s soccer federation (FMF) announced on Friday.

The 50-year-old Cocca takes over after Martino’s contract expired after Mexico were eliminated in the World Cup group stage last year for the first time since 1978.

“Diego showed his interest in coaching the national team and we are happy to unveil him,” said Rodrigo Ares de Parga, Mexico’s Director of National Teams.

“He is a hard-working man, he knows Mexican football, he is a great tactician, he has great team management and we believe that starting in March we are going to start getting good results.”

The appointment comes a day after Mexican league side Tigres UANL, who Cocca joined just three months ago, announced the termination of the coach’s one-year contract after he told the club he had decided to take the Mexico job.

“For me it’s not just any job to be the coach of this country that has given me so much, that has opened doors for me and made me grow as a professional and again as a coach,” Cocca told reporters.

“To have the chance to help Mexico grow its national team is a privilege and an opportunity that I could not miss.”

The former Racing Club boss is known in Mexican soccer for winning back-to-back league titles with Atlas in 2021 and 2022, ending the club’s 70-year title drought.

Mexico are aiming to qualify for the CONCACAF Nations League finals in June, while they will also look to reclaim the Gold Cup, which runs from June 24-July 16 in the United States, after losing their title to the U.S. in the 2021 final.

The U.S., Mexico and Canada will co-host the 2026 World Cup.

French boss, Zinedine Zidane has given Real Madrid president Florentino Perez one condition to fulfil before he (Zidane) could return as the club’s manager.

The Frenchman would be willing to make a return to Santiago Bernabeu only if Perez agrees to sign Rayan Cherki, according to French media.

The former Real Madrid player and manager is keen to work with the French sensation.

Zidane is said to have told Perez he would return to the club as a replacement for Carlo Ancelotti if he is guaranteed the signing of Rayan Cherki.

Cherki is widely seen as one of the most exciting young players in European football at the moment and Zidane is a huge fan of the versatile forward.

Ancelotti’s future at the Spanish giants is not certain despite the veteran manager leading Los Blancos to La Liga and Champions League success last season.

Real Madrid are second in the league, eight points behind their arch-rivals Barcelona.

Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has explained why his side failed to defeat Brentford on Saturday.

The Gunners were held to a 1-1 draw by the Bees on Saturday.

Leandro Trossard opened the scoring with his first goal for Arsenal, but Ivan Toney equalized eight minutes later.

“A really difficult game. Credit to them for the way they competed.

“But I thought we were dominant and had good moments. We scored a goal against that super-low block they had.

“Winning is about small margins. When you win you win by small margins. But if you cannot win it then you don’t lose it,” Arteta said.

Arsenal are now six points ahead of Manchester City, who welcome Aston Villa on Sunday.

Two-time African champions, Enyimba rallied back to beat Gombe United 2-1 in their Nigeria Premier Football League matchday day seven encounter at the Pantami Township Stadium.

The People’s Elephant are now unbeaten in their last five league meetings against the Savannah Scorpions.

The home team took the lead through Yusuf Taiye in the 12th minute.

The lead lasted only 13 minutes before Elijah Akanni levelled scores from a sublime free-kick.

Emeka Obioma netted the winning goal for Enyimba on 53rd minute.

Obioma has now scored five goals in seven league outings for the Aba giants this season.

In Jos, Nasarawa United recorded their first win of the season courtesy of a 2-0 win against Kwara United

King Osanga and Chinedu Ohanachom were on target for the Solid Miners in the game.

Super Eagles’ former top striker, Odion Ighalo is not on the starting line-up of Saudi Arabia’s Al  Hilal in the final match of the FIFA Club World Cup at 8pm Saturday night.

He is on the reserve bench. FIFA The Best contender, Karim Benzema who did not feature in the semi final match against Egypt’s Al Ahly is back in the Real Madrid line-up and will in fact captain the team.

Odion Ighalo and his Al Hilal teammates will look to do the unthinkable, upset European champions and the almighty Real Madrid when they clash in the final of the FIFA Club World Cup on Saturday

Ramon Diaz’s side are looking to become the first Asian side to win the competition.

Al Hilal may be the most decorated club in Asia , but they will be up against the grandest institution on planet football, Real Madrid.

Ighalo has played a key role in his side’s march to the final even though he is yet to open his goal account in the competition.

The Nigerian, alongside Gustavo Cuellar, Andre Carillon, Luciano Vietto and Michael are the men the Blues Waves will look upon to help them complete another mission impossible after the shocking 3-2 win against Brazilian club Flamengo in the semi-final.

Real Madrid, who swept aside Egypt’s Al Ahly 4-1 in the semis, will strive to make it 10 consecutive victories in the competition.

Manager, Carlo Ancelotti will welcome back talismanic forward, Karim Benzema to the side with most of the usual casts available.

Kelechi Iheanacho scores the team’s third goal

Super Eagles’ striker, Kelechi Iheanacho was on the score sheet as Leicester City beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 on Saturday in the English Premier League.

The victory has increased the pressure on Spurs boss Antonio Conte. Nampalys Mendy’s first goal in over six years inspired the Foxes to a remarkable comeback win at the King Power Stadium.

James Maddison and Harvey Barnes also netted as the hosts scored four for the second straight game.

Rodrigo Bentancur had briefly given Spurs the lead but they crumbled during an error-strewn performance.

Conte returned to the dugout after gallbladder surgery but his side failed to build on their impressive victory over Manchester City.

Defeat left them a point adrift of the top four having played two games more as their uphill battle to clinch a Champions League spot continued.

For Leicester, their second revival of the season rolls on after last week’s 4-2 win at Aston Villa.

Questions were, again, being asked of the Foxes and boss Brendan Rodgers after four defeats in five but they have answered any lingering doubts.

Victory even came after a dodgy start where the hosts gifted Tottenham a 14th-minute opener.

Ivan Perisic had gone close before Danny Ward turned his free kick over and from the corner Victor Kristiansen cleared under his own bar.

But it was only a brief reprieve for Leicester and the defender as, from another corner, Kristiansen made a total mess of his clearance and only succeeded in finding Bentancur who tapped in from close range.

Spurs were on top but it took just 11 minutes for the Foxes to turn the game. They had barely threatened but levelled out of the blue through an unlikely source.