Francesco Totti will retire at the end of the season after 25 years at Roma. The Italian has spent 25 seasons, featured in 783 games netted 307 goals, and delivered 197 asissts at the club. His retirement was announced by Roma’s new sporting director, Monchi.
“I already knew that he had this agreement with the club [to become a director] and that this was going to be his last year as a player before starting as a director. Francesco is Roma and I’m going to ask him to be close to me. Even if I can only learn one percent of what he knows, that is already a lot.” Monchi said.
The 40 year-old who has been with Roma since the age of 13, making his debut in 1993 is out of contract in the summer. He is the player with the most goals scored for a single team (250, Roma) in Serie A history.
Ibrahimovic shares recovery update
Hours after his agent, Mino Raiola dismissed reports that, Manchester United striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has suffered a career-ending injury, the ex Sweden international has shared an exciting update on his recovery. The former PSG’s spell on the sidelines is going to be shorter than expected as he has declared himself fixed and stronger after undergoing knee surgery.
Recall that he suffered the injury during a Europa League clash against Anderlecht last month. His agent put out word on Monday that is client, “will make a full recovery AND HAS NOT SUFFERED A CAREER-ENDING INJURY.”
Ibrahimovic is in high spirits and has given Manchester United fans an extra reason to be happy today and all week.An update on his instagram page, Ibrahimovic reads, “Fixed, done and stronger. Once again thank you for the support. We will enjoy my game together soon.”
Ogun State Govt to name stadium and street after Anthony Joshua.
In the wake of his new feat, defeating Ukrainian star, Wladimir Klitschko in an epic 11 round battle at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, 27 year-old boxer, Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua, is set to be honoured in Ogun State, Nigeria where his parents hail from. Born to a Nigerian mother and a British father of Nigerian and Irish descent, speculation is rife that the Sagamu International Stadium in Ogun State will be renamed ‘The Anthony Joshua Stadium’ and the Cinema Street named ‘Anthony Joshua Street’ by the Ogun State government.
Joshua’s family reportedly own around half of the land and property on one side of the street and the cinema was built by his great-grandfather Omo-Oba Daniel Adebambo Joshua in the 50s.
‘We are proud of what he has achieved as a son of Sagamu, and we will be happy to do our own little bit to show our appreciation and support for him.’ Majority Leader of Ogun State House of Assembly, Asiwaju Adeyinka Mafe reportedly stated.
Heavyweight boxing superstar, Anthony Joshua's reaches 1.09m Twitter followers
By Lolade Adewuyi
The impact of the heavyweight title victory of Anthony Joshua against legend Wladimir Klitschko continues to be felt online as the Nigerian-Brit added about 220,000 new followers in April 2017, the month of his fight, according to figures from analytic website Twitter Counter.
Joshua who is leading a new breed of boxing stars saw his following move into the 1million mark after starting April with 871, 194 followers on Twitter.
His following steadily moved up throughout April and it climaxed with his 11th round stoppage of Klitschko on the night of Saturday, April 29 in front of a 90,000 crowd at Wembley Stadium, London, England.
Joshua added an average daily following of 436 followers from April 1 to April 6 but things picked up afterwards and he reached an average of 1,018 daily followers by April 18.
Things escalated in the week of the fight as he picked up 4,448 followers on Monday April 24 which ballooned up to 26, 668 followers daily from April 25.
His new following of 1,090,000 puts him into a select group of people worldwide who have a million plus followers and he is now ranked in the 1,195th spot which secures celebrity accolade on Twitter.
His victory against Klitschko is leading to global acclaim as he puts the Heavyweight division into the spotlight once more.
While former super featherweight fighter Floyd Mayweather (7.2m) enjoys fame and following on Twitter, the heavies haven’t had such glamour: Tyson Fury (608,000), Klitschko (379,000), Deontay Wilder (174,000) and Tony Bellew (345,000) except David Haye who has 1.2m. Joshua is fast catching up.
And so are his sponsors.
Under Armour dropped a new ad through his social media on Monday, May 1 to celebrate the victory. The 27-year-old extended his deal with the apparel maker in February and is being touted as the next commercially successful sport superstar.
The Drum magazine anticipates that he could become the first billion dollar boxer if he continues to be as marketable and genial as he is.
Ahead of the fight with Klitschko, Joshua had a video call with hip hop producer and entrepreneur Dr. Dre, founder of the headphone brand Beats. It is not often that Dr. Dre is seen or heard these days as the legend endorsed the boxer ahead of the fight with the video posted on his social networks.
Joshua won in the ring, he won a lot of hearts and he is now winning on social.
Bayern Munich win fifth consecutive Bundesliga title
Bayern Munich keep racking up victories with ease!
The German side are champions for the 5th consecutive time. The Ancelotti-led men thrashed Wolfsburg 6-0 to clinch the Bundesliga for a record fifth straight season. Ancelotti is now the first manager to win titles in four of Europe’s top five’ leagues, having won trophies with AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris St-Germain and now Bayern. Goals from David Alaba, Lewandowski, Arjen Robben, Thomas Muller and Joshua Kimmich added more glamour to the night.
No team in the Bundesliga has ever won 5 consecutive titles.
“I’m really happy. I’m lucky to be at this fantastic club with brilliant players and fans. I have such strong support from [Karl-Heinz] Rummenigge and all at the club. That is so important for a manager. I’m very lucky. I feel that this club is a family and I am in this family. The motivation was really high today. Of course the last two weeks were difficult but we used it as motivation. We can really enjoy this moment. We can do better. We could have been luckier in some situations in the Champions League and Pokal. We can learn from this and be better next season. Happy for my first Bundesliga. All thanks to my players, my staff, the club and the support of this fans. Very proud!” coach Ancelotti said
"David Moyes on Sunderland's relegation. from the Premier League
After a 10-year stay, Sunderland have been relegated from the Premier League this season. David Moyes’ men’s run in the competition ended after Bournemouth scored a late winner by Joshua King at the final minutes of the game at the Stadium of Light, the club’s 23rd of the season. The Black Cats have won just five games all season and have been sent down for a joint-record fourth time in Moyes’ first season in charge.
On his commitment to the club, the Scot who has suffered the first relegation of his career said, “I think it’s a question for two or three weeks’ time. I think we all need to reflect and just look at everything we’ve done and look at everything from top to bottom.”
Club Chairman, Ellis Short apologised to the club’s fans,
“We need to improve both on and off the field, and despite the bitter disappointment there is a strong determination to do so throughout the club. There is significant work to be done over the summer and when the season is concluded, we intend to share our plans to move forward with our supporters.”
Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the all-time leading goalscorer in Europe’s top six leagues.
No slowing down for the soccer king!
Cristiano Ronaldo is now the all-time leading goalscorer in Europe’s top six leagues with 367 goals. The Portuguese acheived the feat at the 27th minute of Real Madrid’s clash with Valencia today.
Ronaldo becomes Europe’s all-time top goalscorer. 367 goals. This is his 8th consecutive season of scoring 20+ league goals.
The 32 year-old is now ahead of Tottenham legend, Jimmy Greaves, who previously held the record. Earlier this season, he became the first player to score 100 times in the Champions League
2018 World Cup: FIFA Announces Commencement Of Use of Video Assistant Referee
FIFA has confirmed that a video assistant referee will be used at the 2018 World Cup.
World football governing body, FIFA, has revealed its plan to commence the use of Video Assistant Referee, VAR at the 2018 World Cup. The announcement was made by FIFA President, Gianni Infantino on Wednesday. “We will use video refereeing at the 2018 World Cup because we’ve had nothing but positive feedback so far.” Infantino was quoted in a statement.
Video assistance was introduced to support referees with “game-changing” decisions. It was tried last December in Japan during the Fifa Club World Cup.
After 7 years, Mascherano finally scores his first goal for Barcelona
Barcelona’s Javier Mascherano is trending right now. The Argentine has scored his first goal for Barca after 7 years at the club and 319 games. He achieved the ‘feat’ today during the Catalans’ 7-1 victory against Osasuna.
So a penalty came up during the game and Rakitić offered the penalty to Mascherano so that he could score his first goal for the club, his first league goal since 15th March 2008.
“It is an anecdote that a player like Mascherano had not scored a goal. Mascherano is a top player, his performance is beyond doubt, he is a born competitor who makes his team better.” Coach Luis Enrique stated.
Mascherano said, “The goal is more of a show of affection from the fans and the players than anything else. I’m not worried about not scoring but the insistence of everyone was hard to say no. It wasn’t planned.”
3 year-old kidnapped by ISIS for being named after Lionel Messi
A 3 year-old Kurdish-Iraqi boy was kidnapped by ISIS in 2004 because his father named him after famous Argentine footballer, Lionel Messi. He was captured along with his mother and sister from their home in Sinjar, northern Iraq
ISIS kidnapped a three-year-old Iraqi boy and kept him hostage for two years because he was named after Lionel Messi (🎥 via @K24English) pic.twitter.com/jew54vWYNo
— B/R Football (@brfootball) April 26, 2017
His father told Kurdistan 24 that his wife was forced to change the infidel name to Hassan and they also demanded a ransom. The 5 year-old lad has since been rescued and resides at refugee camp in Dohuk, Iraqi Kurdistan. According to reports, psychological pressures have almost rendered him speechless, he now brandishes a toy gun rather than the football he once preferred to play with. He shakes his head when referred to as Messi – apparently in fear of the militants.