Sports

Morocco beat star-studded Brazil in historic friendly match

Published

2 months ago

March 26, 2023

The Atlas Lions of Morocco once again showed that its sterling performance at the Qatar World Cup was no fluke as the team defeated a star studded Brazilian team in an international friendly match played on Saturday in Tangier..

It was the first time Morocco will beat the five-time world cup winners at any level and has gone down as an historic event in the country’s sporting annals.

In the entertaining and pulsating match that had the likes of Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr., Manchester United’s Casemiro and Tottenham Hotspurs’ Emerson Royal on parade for the Selecao Morocco got to a flying start when Morocco’s striker, Soufian Boufal, got the opening goal in the 29th minute and held on till the end of the first half.

Brazil got the equaliser in the 67th minute of the game when
Casimiro got on the end of a through pass and slammed the ball into the net.

But the North African giants stormed back shortly and got the winning goal through midfielder Abdelhamid Sabiri, to further outline their upward trajectory in world football.

Both Brazil and Morocco paraded a strong lineup in the match with Head Coach Walid Regragui naming his World Cup stars, Yassine Bounou, Achraf Hakimi, Hakim Ziyech, Sofyan Amrabat, and Azzedine Ounahi, in the team.

Regragui also gave debuts to seven new players including Chadi Riad, Ayoub Amraoui, Benjamin Bouchouari, Yassine Kechta, Ibrahim Salah, Abdel Abqar, and Mehdi Benabid.

However, key Brazilian players were also missing from the friendly game due to injury, including Neymar Jr., Marquinhos, and Richarlison.

The Atlas Lions will face Peru in another friendly on March 28.

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Sports

Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon shatters women’s 1500m world record at Diamond League

Published

1 day ago

June 3, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

Kenyan long distance runner, Faith Kipyegon Friday broke the 1500m women’s world record after clocking 3:49.11 at the third leg of the Wanda Diamond League meeting of the season held in Florence, Italy.

The two-time Olympic and two-time world champion who went into the Golden Gala as the second-fastest women’s 1500m runner of all time, took some minutes off the 3:50.37 she clocked in Monaco in August last year on her way to shattering the world record.

In the process, the 29-year-old Kipyegon bettered the previous record of of 3:50.07 set by another African, Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba in Monaco in 2015.

Top British runner,
Laura Muir, settled for second position while another Briton, Imani-Lara Lansiquot was third.

Sports

Osimhen can’t help Man U win trophies— Andy Cole

Published

2 days ago

June 2, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

Former Manchester United top goalscorer, Andy Cole has kicked against the club’s hunt for Nigerian striker, Victor Osimhen, whom he believes cannot help the English Premiership giant win a trophy.

Cole who was one of the of the most prolific strikers in the history of the English game, warned the Red Devils against splashing a mouthwatering transfer fee on the Napoli hotshot as that would not guarantee them winning the Premier League title or other diadems next season.

The English team have been in the the hunt for a new attacker to rejuvenate their strike force next season and Osimhen who ended the season as the highest goal scorer in the Italian Serie A has been repeatedly linked with a move to Old Trafford in a bid to bolster their squad for the 2023-24 season.

The Red Devils entered the fray for Osimhen who has scored 25 goals in 31 appearances in the Serie A, along with several European giants, including Real Madrid, Chelsea, Arsenal, Bayern Munich and PSG.

However, Cole who formed a devastating strike partnership with Dwight Yorke in the 90s, believes signing the Nigerian forward will not be enough to help United conquer England and Europe.

The 1999 treble-winning forward who bared his mind on Thursday night about the FA Cup final involving United and bitter rivals, Manchester City, said categorically that Osimhen was not the answer to Man U’s attacking problems.

“No, Manchester United can’t win the league next season. It frustrates me when people think that buying two more players, we can then win the league,” Cole said.

“So why are Manchester City in such a good position if all it takes is buying two players? Make it make sense. Two players, including Victor Osimhen, can’t help Manchester United compete for the league title.

“Unless Manchester City don’t buy anyone this summer and say ‘we’ll let everyone catch us up.’ Football doesn’t work like that, so I’m honest when people ask if Manchester United can compete for the league title next season, I say no.”