Welcome To Sportunes: August 2014

Saturday, 30 August 2014

Graham Poll Declares The Goodison Thriller as The Worst Officiated Game He's Seen

Graham Poll is arguably the best referee to grace the English game. The 51 year old who was controversially thrown out of the 2006 worldcup has criticised the officiating of the nine goal thriller between Everton and Chelsea.

Russia coach Fabio Capello has not been paid for THREE MONTHS, reveals sports minister Vitaly Mutko

Russia head coach Fabio Capello and other support staff have not been paid for the last three months, according to sports minister Vitaly Mutko.

'They have not been paid for three months,' Mutko told the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS. 'I knew about this after meeting Capello.'

'I am really upset about what is happening, but the payment are an internal matter with the Russian Football Union. They prioritise their money matters. If they are not going to pay him then no one else will,' Mutko said.

On The Mic!... All The Reactions From The Bosses Of The Premier League Game

Burnley 0 0 Manchester United

Manchester United's wait for a first win of the season continues after a 0-0 draw in the Barclays Premier League against newly promoted Burnley at Turf Moor.

Louis van Gaal was able to field Angel di Maria for the first time following his £59.7 million move from Real Madrid, but United failed to impress despite occasional flashes of brilliance from British football's most expensive signing.

Felix Magath Calls John Arne Risse And Hangeland Failures

Earlier this week, former Fulham players John Arne Riise and Brede Hangeland launched a scathing attack on Felix Magath, who after seeing Fulham to relegation, has now ‘guided’ the Cottagers to the bottom of the Championship, 4 defeats from 4 games.

Its so unfortunate that there are some really terrible people in this world who think Racism is okay. The pain victims feel from this appalling act might live with them for the rest of their lives. Santos goal keeper is the latest victim of this show of shame after he was racially abused by some Gremio fans in a cup game last night.

Gabriel Batistuta!! Remember him? The man that scored that spectacular header against Nigeria in the 2002 world cup. The Argentine legend made defenders shiver during his playing days and never stopped making headlines for his audacious strikes.

Super Eagles midfielder Ogeyi Onazi is rounding up his summer holiday in the best possible way he can as he's been seen hanging out with his international colleagues and club teammates.

Nico Rosberg has finally apologised to teammate Lewis Hamilton after he deliberately crashed into him in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix (HERE).

Hamilton suffered a rear puncture following the incident which took place on lap two of the grand prix.

The Briton, who subsequently retired,finds himself trailing the German by 29 points in the race for the world championship.

Just yesterday, World player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo had sweet words for his fiercest rival and Barcelona star Lionel Messi (HERE). However reports coming out of Portugal have alleged that the Real Madrid star had an interview where he doubted the eligibility of Messi to be named MVP at the just concluded worldcup.

John Ogu Links Up With Super Eagles Stars As They Reunite In The City Of Rome

Nigerian midfielder John Ogu is currently in Italy to pally up with his international colleagues Ogeyi Onazi and Obinna Nsofor. Onazi who plays for Lazio starred at the just concluded worldcup while Obinna was in Keshi's preliminary worldcup squad but Ogu was a total absentee due to the fall out he had with his club Academica towards the end of last season.

Having spent his entire footballing career in France, it’s perhaps not overly surprising that Bafetimbi Gomis wasn’t particularly au fait with Swansea City before moving to the Liberty Stadium on a freebie this summer.

No matter, as Gomis, a unapologetic Football Manager addict, used the game’s impressively detailed database to read up on both his new club and his new teammates before arriving in Wales.

Ronaldo and Messi have dominated world football in recent years and are widely regarded as the two best current players in modern football, having shared the Ballon d'Or between them during the last six years.

Much has been said and written about the supposed tension between the two stars, but Ronaldo insists he has a perfectly good professional relationship with the Argentine.

Now it could be that Manchester United’s Louis van Gaal and Ed Woodward were simply enjoying some dinner together for no apparent reason on Wednesday night, but that seems highly unlikely.

Manchester United fans are passing a picture around social media sites today showing how manager Van Gaal and deal-maker Woodward having a one-on-one meeting at the Manchester House restaurant on Wednesday, in what most are presuming was a meeting to discuss transfer moves before the window slams shut.

Boris Becker was spotted having a knock-about at the US Open with an enormous growth protruding from his elbow.

In what was reported to be a severe case of Bursitis, the former world No 1 had a lump almost the size of a tennis ball sticking out of the back of his arm.

The 46-year-old, who won the Slam himself in 1989, is at the tournament as current world No 1 Novak Djokovic's coach.

After Arsenal had made it through to the Group Stages of the Champions League courtesy of a dramatic second-half at the Emirates, focus switched from London to the Bulgarian city of Razgrad were local side Ludogorets were battling it out with Romanian giants Steaua Bucharest.

Chelsea Striker Diego Costa Faces Medical Table After Pulling Hamstring In Training

Chelsea summer signing Diego Costa has got off to a flying start to life at Stamford Bridge, scoring twice in his opening two games.

The Brazilian/Spanish striker did struggle with a number of niggling little injuries during his fantastic final season at Atletico Madrid.

According to Sun Sport, Diego Costa has picked up a hamstring injury in training.

There is no mention of the time he’ll spend on the sidelines but it could well be a number of weeks and it’s important not to rush a player back from a hamstring injury.

All of a sudden Chelsea’s faultless team will be fronted by either Fernando Torres or a 36 year old Didier Drogba.

Liverpool Legend Jamie Carragher Joins Football Stars In Mocking Manchester United On Twitter

Following the bashing of Manchester United by Emmanuel Frimpong and Edin Dzeko (HERE), Ex Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has joined the football stars in mocking the Red Devls disastrous start to this season's campaign.

Carra who is now a key pundit on Skysports was asked in a twitter Q&A to give a joke, He simply tweeted "Man United?"

For Better For Worse!... Olivier Giroud Pictured Watching Arsenal In Pains

Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud was ruled out for three months with an ankle injury sustained during this weekend’s 2-2 draw at Everton.

This automatically ruled him out of Arsenal’s Champions League play-off victory against Turkish side Besiktas.

His wife uploaded a picture to Twitter of Giroud watching the game in his cast on his bed.

Giroud could also be seen wearing Arsenal club shorts with his number #12.

Erik goes to school!.. Tottenham star hits the books in a bid to grasp English language

Erik Lamela seems to be doing his very best to fit in with his Tottenham team-mates as he looks to improve his English.

Convicted match-fixer Wilson Raj Perumal has revealed that he was involved in the fixing of 'between 80 and 100 football matches.'

Speaking in his first ever television interview, Perumal has revealed that he made around £3million from rigging football matches around the world and claims that he would sometimes sit on team benches giving orders to players and coaches.

Rory McIlroy has taken to Twitter to reveal his delight at meeting Bill Clinton.

The British golfer utilised his time away from the green to have a bite to eat with the former US president.

McIlroy, who won the PGA Championship earlier this month, said on his personal social media account that he was delighted to have the chance to sit down with the 68-year-old.

Pep Guardiola is one of the world's most successful managers of recent years and perhaps now we've found out one of the reasons why.

The Bayern Munich boss is renowned for being an astute tactician who encourages possession football, but he gave us a glimpse of his intensity in training during an open session on Tuesday.

Strange things happen in this world but it doesnt get stranger than seeing Holly Griffith's bet slip. The 20-year-old from Cheshire won £1,250 (N312,00) after mistakenly betting on MK Dons to beat Manchester United 4-0.

He was Arsenal’s Spanish goalkeeper and he almost ended up in goal for England, now Manuel Almunia has been forced to quit the game because of a heart problem.

The 37-year-old was hoping to prolong his career at Serie A side Cagliari but a cardiac problem was discovered during a club medical and confirmed after further tests at Padua.

Cagliari president Tommaso Giulini, speaking to the Italian press, said on Almunia: 'It was picked up in the first visits to Cagliari and confirmed after further tests in Padua (specialist heart hopsital).'

Poor old Legia Warsaw. After battering Celtic 6-1 over two legs in the 3rd Round of the Champions League qualifiers, they were punished for fielding an ineligible player for the last few minutes of the 2-0 second-leg win.

Footballers Queue Up To Mock Manchester United After Embarrassing Carling Cup Exit

Following their embarrassing loss to MK Dons, Manchester United have come under scrutiny once again for their lackluster display against the league1 minnows.

‘I Will Ask If He’s Really 25!’ – Eden Hazard Questions Diego Costa's Age

In my honest opinion Diego Costa is way older than 25 but on the other hand, Europeans and Americans have good record system hence its very difficult to manipulate your age.

Officially, the Brazilian-born striker came into the world on 7/10/1988 making him 25-years-old but, as has been noted by many, Costa’s stone face seems to suggest that he may have actually been born sometime around the moon landing.

Around the same time as Angel Di Maria was announced as a Manchester United player, Marca published a letter from the Argentine to Real Madrid fans.

Having played a key role in a cup double last season, including “La Decima” it seems certain that Di Maria will be fondly remembered at the Bernabeu.

And, its not like he will be returning to play against Real Madrid this season for Manchester United…

A full English translation of the Di Maria letter to Real Madrid supporters is below.

Ange Di Maria has been the most talked about footballer for the past couple of days, due to his bank breaking move to Manchester United. The English giants forked out a whooping £60 million for the Argentine's services which has sent shock waves to all corners of the footballing world.

The agent of 2013 African Coach of the Year, Stephen Keshi, has claimed that the ex international has reached an agreement with Sports Minister, Tammy Danagogo, to handle the Super Eagles next month so as to avert "a disaster".

Nigeria host Congo on September 6 in Calabar and then face South Africa four days later in Cape Town in 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Germany are the U 20 Women Fifa Worldcup champions

After 120minutes of a grueling game of football between the top two scoring sides in Sunday's Fifa U-20 women world cup final in Canada; the final whistle drew curtains close to a tournament which averaged 3.18 goals per game; as Nigeria’s super falconets bowed out as runners up to winners Germany in the bi-annual women’s mundial, which when compared to the male u-20 world cups; future stars and budding talents would be expected to step to the football world scene making fans get their eyes dazed either from the field of play or via media screens.

Monaco players get taxis to stadium after team bus breaks down

AS Monaco had to use taxis to get to the stadium after their bus broke down but their tale of woe this season was finally ended by Radamel Falcao's header in a 1-0 win at Nantes on Sunday.

The big spenders, who sold World Cup top scorer James Rodriguez to Real Madrid in July, had lost their opening two Ligue 1 encounters and rode their luck at times in Nantes.

Germany have won the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup for a record-equalling third time after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Nigeria at Montreal's Olympic Stadium.

Lena Petermann scored the title-winning goal eight minutes into extra time to settle a match that, like the semi-final against France, had seen the Germans outplayed for long stretches. For the second match in succession, though, the Europeans' will to win shone through, as did the quality of goalkeeper Meike Kamper - again named player of the match.

On The Mic!... All The Reactions From The Bosses Of The Premier League Clubs

Hull City 1 1 Stoke City

Stoke City finally made their extra man count as they struck late on to earn a 1-1 draw against a Hull City side reduced to 10 men after under a quarter of an hour of their encounter at the KC Stadium.

Chester scored the only goal of the game when Hull opened the season with a victory at Queens Park Rangers last weekend but lasted less than 15 minutes before being given his marching orders for bringing down Glenn Whelan when he was through on goal.

Hull battled back bravely from that early setback to go ahead just before half-time when Nikica Jelavic pounced on a loose ball after Asmir Begovic's parry fell loose.

However, the numerical deficit finally took its toll on the home team as Ryan Shawcross bundled in an equaliser off the prostrate of Allan McGregor with just eight minutes left on the clock.

Lewis Hamilton has sensationally claimed Nico Rosberg deliberately crashed into him in Sunday's controversial Belgian Grand Prix. The incident which Sportunes reported this afternoon is said to sever and already strained relationship between the pair.

Hamilton however met with the German after the race and dropped a bombshell thereafter: 'We just had a meeting about it and he basically said he did it on purpose. He said he did it on purpose." The British driver said.

Stevan Jovetic carried out the ALS Ice bucket challenge in dramatic fashion as he wore only his boxer shorts and a pair of flip flops.

Manchester United’s new signing Marcos Rojo is reportedly sweating on a court appearance in Argentina following an alleged bottle attack on a neighbour.

The alleged attack took place in November 2010 but according to a report in the Sunday People newspaper, prosecutors still want the United player to stand trial.

Rojo could reportedly face anything from a year in jail to probation if he is found guilty of the offence.

With Angel Di Maria's move to Manchester Unied looking to be all but done, Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has sent his good wishes to the Argentine.

The 27 year old did not take part in training at Real's Valdebebas complex this morning but instead said his goodbyes to his soon-to-be former team-mates.

Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo beat Nico Rosberg to win an incident-packed Belgian Grand Prix Today, while Rosberg extended his championship lead over Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in acrimonious circumstances.

Williams’ Valtteri Bottas was third.

A horrific story has broken out of North Africa this weekend as Cameroonian striker Albert Ebossé, 24, has died after being hit in the head by an object thrown from the stands during an Algerian league game.

Ebossé was playing for JS Kabylie against USM Alger on Saturday when the incident happened.

JS Kabylie lost the match 2-1, and Ebossé scored the only goal of the game for the hosts from the penalty spot.

Both clubs have since released statements on the tragic loss of life, starting with JS Kabylie:

Attractive Journalist Reveals Inappropriate Sexual Advances She Received From Belgium Players In New Book

Belgian journalist Hilde Van Malderen, who has been reporting on football for several years in her homeland, has just begun syndicating her new book, ‘Toys’, with local paper Het Laatste Nieuws.

The first dispatch on Saturday has caught many people’s attentions, as the attractive blonde reporter has revealed some of the inappropriate sexual advances from men in football in her new book.

The 27-year-old Serb tied the knot with his childhood sweetheart Jelena Ristic four days after winning the Wimbledon trophy last month and with fatherhood looming he knows his life will be forever changed.

Dutch cyclist Annefleur Kalvenhaar has died after crashing on Friday at the Mountain Bike World Cup in France. She was 20 years old.

A picture has been uploaded onto Twitter tonight showing how Diego Costa celebrated Chelsea’s win over Leicester.

Chelsea’s summer signing from Atletico Madrid scored his second goal in as many games against the Foxes as Jose Mourinho’s men picked up their second win of the new Premier League campaign.

Following the match at Stamford Bridge, Blues fan @Chelsearory spotted his club’s new Sp-razilian striker… at an RBS cashpoint!

Was he checking out his bonus money?

On The Mic!.... All The Reactions From The Bosses Of The Premier League Clubs

Chelsea 2 0 Leicester City

Chelsea labored to a 2 0 win over Leicester City with two second half goals from new boy Diego Costa and Eden Hazard. The home side's title hopefuls turned in a dazzling display to beat Burnley 3-1 in their opening fixture, but they found another newly promoted team a far tougher nut to crack today.

Floyd Mayweather posted pictures online of the earnings from his last two fights, which were worth over $72million.

Not known for his modesty, the five-division world champion posted the images on his Twitter account. The 37-year-old beat Mexican Saul Alvarez in September last year and in May this year he defeated Argentinian boxer Marcos Maidana.

Tony Manfred of BI Sports has just done an extensive research and the result will make all football fans happy. In his column on the popular American sports site, he gave us tips of how to watch any soccer goal in the world within seconds of when its scored.

Here's his publication;

Many people have nothing but flattering things to say about Kobe Bryant, but Los Angeles Lakers point guard Steve Nash had some pretty strong words to describe his teammate. And the Black Mamba loved every bit of it.

Saturday, 30 August 2014

Friday, 29 August 2014

Thursday, 28 August 2014

Wednesday, 27 August 2014

Tuesday, 26 August 2014

Monday, 25 August 2014

Sunday, 24 August 2014

Saturday, 23 August 2014