Category: Sports

The head coach of the Super Eagles, Eric Chelle, has named his final squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

Chelle has trimmed his initial 50-man squad to 28 players.

The most obvious absentee is captain William Troost-Ekong, who announced his retirement from international football last week.

However, vice-captains Wilfred Ndidi and Victor Osimhen make the cut.

The deadline for the submission of the final squads was December 10.

The Super Eagles squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa), Amas Obasogie (Singida Blackstars, Tanzania), Francis Uzoho (Omonia FC, Cyprus)

Defenders: Calvin Bassey (Fulham FC, England), Semi Ajayi (Hull City, England), Bright Osayi-Samuel (Birmingham City, England), Bruno Onyemaechi (Olympiakos, Greece), Chidozie Awaziem (Nantes FC, France), Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal), Igoh Ogbu (Slavia Prague, Czech Republic), Ryan Alebiosu (Blackburn Rovers, England)

Midfielders: Alex Iwobi (Fulham FC, England), Frank Onyeka (Brentford FC, England), Wilfred Ndidi (Besiktas FC, Turkey), Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge, Belgium), Tochukwu Nnadi (Zulte Waregem, Belgium), Fisayo Dele-Bashiru (SS Lazio, Italy), Ebenezer Akinsanmiro (Pisa SC, Italy), Usman Muhammed (Ironi Tiberias, Israel)

Forwards: Ademola Lookman (Atalanta BC, Italy), Samuel Chukwueze (Fulham FC, England), Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray FC, Turkey), Simon Moses (Paris FC, France), Chidera Ejuke (Sevilla FC, Spain), Akor Adams (Sevilla FC, Spain), Paul Onuachu (Trabzonspor AS, Turkey), Cyriel Dessers (Panathinaikos FC, Greece), Salim Fago Lawal (NK Istra 1961, Croatia)

BREAKING: AFCON 2025: Chelle names final 28-man Super Eagles squad [Full list]

Morocco head coach Walid Regragui has unveiled a powerful 28-man squad for the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations.

Regragui included some of the country’s biggest stars including Achraf Hakimi, Yassine Bounou, Sofyan Amrabat, and striker Youssef En-Nesyri in the squad.

Hakimi, who is still recuperating from an ankle is expected to miss the opening matches.

Notable stars like Noussair Mazraoui, Brahim Diaz, Nayef Aguerd and Ayoub El Kaabi also made the list.

One name missing from the main squad is Sofiane Diop, who was involved in November’s fixtures but has been omitted.

Morocco are drawn in Group A with  Comoros, Mali and Zambia.

The Atlas Lions will face Comoros in the competition’s opening game on Sunday, 21 December.

AFCON 2025: Morocco coach unveils star-studded squad

The 44th edition of the Federation of Public Service Games, FEPSGA, has officially commenced in the Adamawa State capital, Yola.

The games, featuring teams presented by federal ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs, from across the country, was declared open Thursday by Governor Ahmadu Fintiri.

Teams of over 80 federal MDAs participated in the opening march past which took place at the Mahmud Ribadu Square, with Deputy Governor Kaletapwa Farauta representing Governor Fintiri and declaring the games open.

Farauta, reading the governor’s speech during the opening ceremony, said Adamawa State is proud to provide the stage on which national friendship would be displayed in the next few days.

The Federal Ministry of Works stole the show at the opening ceremony as the winner of the parade, followed by the Ministry of Education, with the Federal Inland Revenue Service coming third.

The games, which comprise field and track events, took off at the sports centre of the Federal College of Education, Yola, earlier in the week. The games will end on Tuesday, December 16, 2025.

Public Service Games officially commences in Yola

Former Arsenal player, Paul Merson has predicted the Premier League match-day 15 fixtures taking place this weekend and on Monday.

Chelsea will host Everton in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening, while Liverpool will tackle Brighton.

On Saturday night, Arsenal will clash with Wolves at Emirates Stadium. Crystal Palace will host Manchester City on Sunday.

On Monday night, Manchester United will face Bournemouth at Old Trafford.

Here is Merson’s prediction via Sportskeeda:

Chelsea 2-1 Everton
Sunderland 1-1 Newcastle United
Liverpool 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Crystal Palace 1-1 Manchester City
Nottingham Forest 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Burnley 1-0 Fulham
Arsenal 4-0 Wolves
Brentford 3-1 Leeds United
West Ham United 1-3 Aston Villa
Manchester United 2-1 Bournemouth

EPL: Paul Merson predicts Chelsea vs Everton, Man Utd vs Bournemouth, others

Former Arsenal striker, Thierry Henry has sent a clear message to Real Madrid regarding their manager, Xabi Alonso.

Henry advised Real Madrid against sacking Alonso following the team’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City in the Champions League.

Alonso has been under pressure for the past few weeks due to Real Madrid’s performances.

“I don’t know what the [Real Madrid] board wants to do or not,” Henry told CBS Sports when asked about the speculation surrounding Alonso.

“I find it always ludicrous that a manager can be in trouble after being 6 months in the job. I don’t personally agree with that.

“I don’t think that they should question the coach,” he said.

Alonso was appointed Real Madrid’s coach some months ago after leaving Bayer Leverkusen.

UCL: ‘I don’t agree’ – Thierry Henry sends message to Real Madrid over Alonso

Remo Stars head coach, Sulaiman Folarin, says they are determined to get their confidence back in the Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL.

The Sky Blue Stars have struggled to replicate the form that helped them win the NPFL title last season.

Remo Stars have managed only one win from their last three league games.

They currently occupy ninth position on the NPFL table with 22 points.

Folarin said that the position is not befitting for a defending champion.

“This period what matters to us is to get our confidence back as the defending champion, that position isn’t where we belong,” Folarin told Remo Stars media.

“We want to continue to win games so our confidence can be restored, so that we can go back to where we belong on the league table.”

NPFL: Remo Stars must keep winning momentum – Folarin

Marseille legend, Mamadou Niang has identified defender Calvin Bassey as the Super Eagles player that should replace William Troost-Ekong at the heart of Nigeria’s defence.

Recall that Troost-Ekong recently shocked football fans when he announced his retirement from international football last week.

The former Watford defender ended a decade-long Super Eagles career after Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

“With what I see at Fulham, the impact he has in Premier League matches, he is a talented, tough defender who has very good distribution with his left foot, and athletic quality which is above average,” Niang said via Canal+.

“He is a player I think is a leader of the Nigeria defence, who can replace Troost-Ekong, who took this Nigerian team to the AFCON final.

“Calvin Bassey is more than capable of succeeding him in that position.”

AFCON 2025: ‘He’s capable’ – Niang names Super Eagles player that should replace Troost-Ekong

Sevilla head coach Matias Almeyda remains firmly behind Akor Adams despite the forward’s poor form in front of goal, DAILY POST reports.

The Nigeria international has failed to register a goal in his last eight league appearances for the Rojiblancos.

Akor also has a poor record of being constantly caught offside in LaLiga this season.

The striker has been caught offside 22 times, more than anyone in Europe’s top five  leagues.

The 25-year-old was forced to turn off the comments section on his X account this week after facing cyberbullying from Sevilla fans.

Almeyda is however optimistic the former Montpellier player will hit top form soon.

“He is a footballer who works a lot and needs confidence. I prefer that he is trying to right his wrongs rather than standing still,” the Argentine was quoted by Orgullobiri.

Akor has registered two goals one assist in 12 league appearances for Sevilla this season.

LaLiga: Sevilla coach Almeyda backs Akor to end goal drought

Uganda head coach Paul Put has blasted FIFA for shifting player release date for 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, DAILY POST reports.

Clubs were mandated to release players two weeks before the start of previous AFCON tournaments.

FIFA, reportedly due to pressure from European clubs, shifted the release period to just one week before the start of the upcoming competition.

The decision has disrupted the plan of majority of the qualified countries.

Put took aim at the world soccer governing body for the decision.

“We received a message from FIFA that we can only have the players abroad on the 16th or 17th. I had hoped to get them from the 8th. Now we will be with half the team until then,” Put told Uganda Football Federation official website.

“It becomes very difficult to make good preparation but we will deal with it. It is unfortunate but it is like this.”

The Cranes are currently preparing for the AFCON 2025 finals in Casablanca, Morocco.

AFCON 2025: Uganda coach slams FIFA over player release decision

HT Spor commentator, Mustafa Denizli  has criticized Galatasaray striker Victor Osimhen following his display in the team’s UEFA Champions League 1-0 defeat to Monaco on Tuesday.

Recall that Osimhen failed to score as Galatasaray lost against Monaco in France.

Denizli insisted that Osimhen was very ineffective against the French Ligue 1 side.

“The primary reason for losing this match was that Monaco won the deflected second balls,” Denizli said (via Habersarikirmizi).

“As the English say, ‘The team that wins the match must win the second balls.’ Galatasaray exerted an unusually strong effort in the first half.

“I don’t know if anyone saw Osimhen in this match. He played one of his most passive games since joining Galatasaray.

“If Osimhen had been able to keep up with Barış Alper Yılmaz and Leroy Sane in terms of tempo, running, and exertion in the first half, the result could have been different. But he was very ineffective.”

UCL: ‘He was very ineffective’ – Mustafa Denizli criticizes Osimhen