Oscar gets heroic welcome in China

 





Hundreds of fans and media men were on ground to welcome Brazilian midfielder, Oscar who got treated to a heroic reception in China. The former Chelsea footballer who completed his £60million switch from Stamford Bridge was given a bouquets of flowers. He also signed autographs of excited fans.  He wiearn more than £500,000-a-week

Oscar willacross the four-year deal he has penned in the Far East.
 

Loladeville Blog Exclusive: 16 defining football moments in the year 2016

 
2016 – A year littered with so many events that when recounting, it would inaccurate to ask ‘what happened in 2016?’. Instead, a more accurate question would be ‘what did not happen in 2016?’. And this is because across all sectors of life, everything happened! Britain voted to leave a union that they really didn’t want to leave, Americans elected a man that likes to grab women in an interesting region and sports witnessed the biggest upsets anyone can think of.
Zeroing on football, let’s do some retrospect and highlight some of the top 16 defining moments, shall? Oya, let’s go:
Leicester City winning the league:
With a manager that has never won a league title in his entire coaching career and a bunch of players that were hitherto factory workers and charger sellers somewhere around Ogba, Leicester City did the impossible. While Louis Van Gaal was ensuring that Manchester United’s display presented another cure for Isomnia, Chelsea were enduring a spectacular fall, Manchester City announced the sack of their coach mid-season and Arsenal, as usual, were doing PHCN with their form – someone had to win the league and Leicester City stepped forward. It was shocking, gob-smacking and every other big grammar you can think of.
Jose Mourinho losing his job at Chelsea
I mentioned Chelsea’s spectacular fall above, didn’t I? Well, it came at a price and a certain Portuguese paid it in full. Returned to the club as a hero, Mourinho led Chelsea to an instant league title but unfortunately, in the second season, he offended the powers that be (Step forward, Eva Carniero) and with just one visit to Baba somewhere in Abeokuta, they removed him from his seat. Again, for the second time, Abrahamovic pulled the trigger on the club’s most successful manager, and off he went to the city of Manchester.
Manchester City hiring Pep Guardiola
Staying in the city of Manchester, something really great took place in the months before summer. So great was the love the decision makers at Manchester City had for Pep Guardiola that they fired Manuel Pellegrinni right when he was in four competitions and hired Pep who was tired of winning the Bundesliga on Valentine’s day at Bayern Munich. It was a move many claimed would turn City to the next best thing since slice bread. Right now, they are still very much Agege bread and we are waiting for the transformation.
Paul Pogba joining Manchester United
Speaking of transformation, Paul Labile Pogba transformed from just an impressive kid turning hearts in Italy to the world’s most expensive player in a switch from Juventus to Manchester United. Life in Manchester is going on smooth for the lad who started out as an Instagram model but has recently now decided to actually play some football. Surely, this move was a defining moment in the year.
Zinedine Zidane winning the Champions League
England! England! England! I know you must be tired of events happening in England and quite honestly, I am also tired of writing about them. Let’s move on to some defining moments in other competitions, yeah? I will start from the manager who went from rookie to pro in a jiffy: Zinedine ‘bald head’ Zidane. He took over a disjointed team from Rafael Benitez and won the Champions League in his first try. In case you don’t know how great that feat is, ask Wenger. And please don’t look to me for his phone number, I don’t have it. But an informed guess says it should start with the number 4. 
Portugal becoming the kings of Europe:
Many predicted Germany, others tipped hosts France. I am not even sure anyone looked the way of Portugal in the days leading to the commencement of the European Championship but guess what? A steady performance right from the group stage took them all the way. They broke the hearts of many French Citizen and a good number of Spaniards/Argentines as they were crowned champions of Europe. 
Cristiano Ronaldo winning EVERYTHING
What didn’t happen in 2016, and what did CR7 not win? Okay, maybe the league title but beside that, the Portuguese won everything thanks a spectacular success recorded with club and country. He beat Messi to the Balon d’or, and conquered Europe with Madrid and Portugal.
Argentina’s continued final curse
A pity Ahmed Alasari is dead, if not one would have introduced the Argentina FA to him. In the space of two years, the Argentina National Team has lost three consecutive finals. Just when they were recovering from what Mario Gotze’s goal did to them in 2014, Chile denied them of another chance of clinching the Copa America title in 2016. 
Neymar and Brazil winning the Olympics gold medal
What Pele and Delima Ronaldo could not do, Neymar did. Brazil are believed to be the special disciples of football and it is almost shocking that they do not have an Olympic gold medal in the sport. All of that became history this year as Neymar sealed one for the team. That boy is increasingly looking like one that can do everything except, of course, pay his tax. One cannot have it all, right? 
Dream Team’s 30 days in Atlanta:
Since we are talking Olympics now, shall we revisit that unfortunate tour of Atlanta the Dream Team did earlier on this year? Thanks to poor logistics, Nigeria’s Olympic men team were stuck in ATL for several days and only had the benevolence of an airline to thank as they arrived the Olympics’ venue hours to their first game. With the Nigerian spirit and black man blood (As my good friend Okorodudu put it), they still manage to return with a Bronze medal.
The fallen stars:
Much as we had plenty fun watching football in 2016, we also had moments to sober and cry as the sport lost a good number of stars. Let’s start on the home front where we lost legends in Stephen Keshi, Shuaibu Amodu and Shooting Stars’ Izu Joseph. On the international front, the entire world was shaken by the loss of members of the Chapecoense football club in a plane crash while traveling to honor a game. May their souls rest in peace.
Falcons winning the Africa Women Cup of Nation
Number one in Africa! Our women national team did us proud by defeating Cameroon to become Champions of Africa for the 8th time. Even though the Sports ministry and the NFF ruined the celebration by ensuring that the ladies had to carry placards for their bonus and allowances on their return, we remain proud of their achievement. 
Enugu Rangers winning the Nigerian local league
After 32 years of endless trips to the dibia, Enugu Rangers finally took it one step further by shocking everyone to emerge Champions of the Nigeria Professional Football League. Their victory came at a time when Kano Pillars and Enyimba have recreated the duopoly in the La Liga over here by exchanging the title every season and Rangers represented a breath of fresh air. I am so proud of them but not the trailer they did their title parade with. 
The sack of Sunday Oliseh as Super Eagles’ coach
The Guardiola of Africa, instead of focusing on his job as the manager of the Nigeria National Team, decided to give Clarence Peters a run for his money by recording outstanding videos insulting the fans and his employees. In the end, he lost his job and Nigeria lost a place in the 2017 Nations Cup. NFF got themselves together and settled for Gernor Rohr who is presently on the brink of leading us to the World Cup. Ntoi, Oliseh!
The Chinese Revolution:
There is something going on in China that is reverberating across the major football leagues in Europe. Some billionaires who have plenty cash that they are not using again have decided to spend on the country’s football, attracting stars for a ridiculous fee. So far, they have been able to draw the likes of Oscar, Graziano Pelle, Demba Ba, Tim Cahill, Carlos Tevez and by the special grace of God, Ololade Olatunji (very soon). Or you think I don’t want to earn over half a million pounds every week too? I know some of you will want to beef me and say I can’t play football but if Marouane Fellaini can make it in this game, then I can too.

FIFA got a new president

Following the inglorious exit of Sepp Blatter in what many considered the end of an era, Swiss Gianni Infantino was elected the president of the world governing football body winning 115 of 207 votes in an extra-ordinary congress. The controversy and drama that surrounded Blatter’s exit and Infantino’s election surpassed that of Keeping Up With the Kardashians and at some point, many didn’t even want it to end.

Kanu Nwankwo Named In 50 World’s Soccer Legends List

African soccer icon, Kanu Nwankwo has been named in The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS)’s 50 World’s Soccer Legends List. This honour comes 4 and 5 years after he hung his boots for country and club.

Football heavyweights also featured in the list are Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pele), Diego Armando Maradona, Edson Arantes Do Nascimento (PELE) of Brazil.

IFFSH Top 50 list of Legends

Arthur Antunes Coimbra (Zico) of Brazil

‎Late Manuel Francisco dos Santos (Garrincha) of Brazil

Ronaldo Luís Nazário De Lima (Ronaldo) of Brazil

Franz Anton Beckenbauer (Beckenbauer) of Germany

GERD MÜLLER (Gerd) of Germany

Lothar Matthäus of Germany

Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (Johan Cruyff) of Netherlands

Marco Van Basten (Marco) of Netherlands

Ruud Gullit OON of Netherlands

Bobby Charlton (Bobby) of United Kingdom

David Robert Joseph Beckham (David Beckham) of United Kingdom

Late STANLEY MATTHEWS of United Kingdom

Diego Armando Maradona Franco (Maradona) of Argentina ‎

Late Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé of Argentina

HAO HAIDONG of China

Sun Jihai of China

Mahmoud El-Khatib (Bibo) of Egypt

Mohamed Aboutrika of Egypt

Michel Platini of France

Zinedine Yazid Zidane (Zizou) of France

Antonio Carbajal (Tota) of Mexico

Hugo Sánchez Márquez (Sánchez) of Mexico

Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (Eusébio) of Portugal

Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo (Luis Figo) of Portugal

Dino Zoff of Italy

Roberto Baggio of Italy

Mustapha Rabah Madjer (Rabah Madjer) of Algeria

Albert Roger Mooh Miller (Roger Milla) of Cameroon

Late Ferenc Puskás of Hungary

Baichung Bhutia (Bhutia) of India

Ali Daei of Iran

Hidetoshi Nakata of Japan

Cha Bum-kun (Tscha Bum) of South Korea

Jasem Yaqoub Sultan Al-Besara of Kuwait

George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah (George Weah) of Liberia

Wynton Alan Whai Rufer of New Zealand

Nwankwo Kanu of Nigeria

José Luis Félix Chilavert González (José Luis Chilavert) of Paraguay

Late Lev Ivanovich Yashin (Lev Yashin) of Russia

Majed Ahmed Abdullah Al-Mohammed (Majed Abdullah) of Saudi Arabia

Francisco Gento Lopez (Paco) of Spain

Tanju Çolak of Turkey

Oleh Volodymyrovych Blokhin of Ukraine

Late Juan Alberto Schiaffino Villano (Pepe) of Uruguay

Landon Timothy Donovan of USA

Lucas Valeriu Ntuba Radebe (Lucas Radebe) of South Africa

Ryan Joseph Giggs (Ryan Giggs) of Wales

Unarguably one of Nigeria’s most decorated footballers, Kanu kicked off his career in 1993 when he featured for the Golden Eaglets in a Fifa U17 World Championship qualifier in Kaduna.
He has laced his boots for teams like Ajax, Inter Milan, Arsenal, West Brom and Portsmouth.

His list of honors

U17 World Cup winner- 1993

Uefa Champions League -1995

Uefa Super Cup- 1995

Uefa Cup- 1998

Dutch League title- 1994, 95, 96

African Footballer of the year- 1996, 1999

English Premier League – 2002, 2004

English FA Cup -2002, 2003, 2008

Olympic Gold- 1996

Sunday Oliseh appointed new coach of Dutch side Fortuna Sittard

Former Nigerian player and Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh, has been appointed as head coach of the Dutch second tier club Fortuna Sittard.

The former captain signed an 18-month contract with the club with an option to extend the contract for another season. He is expected to start work on 2 January, 2017.

“With Sunday Oliseh we signed a young and ambitious coach with vision, one players look up to. We were looking for someone who plays attractive football combining it with the will to win. We think Sunday is the right one for this job,” The club’s owner, Isitan Gün, announced.

Before this appointment, the 42 year-old played for Ajax, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund during his career, had coached Belgian side Verviétois. He also managed Nigeria’s national team and resigned 10 months ago.

 

Tevez reportedly becomes the world's highest-paid player – earning £615,000 per week

Is China now the choice destination for footballers?

Carlos Tevez has officially signed for Shanghai Shenhua from Boca Juniors. The Argentine will earn a reported £34.4m a season at Shanghai Shenhua, a deal that would make him the highest paid footballer in the world.

Boca Juniors wished him well at his new club saying, ‘Good luck Carlitos. You will always be in our hearts.’

A Breaking down of his reported wages at Shanghai Shenhua:

£2.86m a month
£660k a week
£94.2k a day
£3.92k an hour
£65 a minute

Manuel Neuer Named World’s Best Goalkeeper

The International Federation of Football History & Statistics has named Manuel Neuer the world’s best goalkeeper for the 4th year in a row.

The German footballer who won the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and German Supercup with Bayern this year joins Gianluigi Buffon on four wins.

Full list

1. Manuel Neuer (Germany/FC Bayern München) 156 points

2. Gianluigi Buffon (Italy/Juventus Torino FC) 91 points

3. Rui Patricio (Portugal/Sporting Portugal) 50 points

4. Claudio Bravo (Chile/FC Barcelona/Manchester City FC) 45 points

5. David De Gea (Spain/Manchester United FC)  37 points

6. Jan Oblak (Slovenia/Club Atletico de Madrid) 31 points

7. Hugo Lloris (France/Tottenham Hotspur FC)  29 points

8. Keylor Navas (Costa Rica/Real Madrid CF)  18 points

9. Thibaut Courtois (Belgium/Chelsea FC) 13 points

10. Denis Onyango (Uganda/Mamelodi Sundowns)  5 points

11. Petr Cech (Cech Republic/Arsenal London FC)  4 points

12. Samir Handanovic (Slovenia/FC Inter Milano) 2 points

13. Marc André Ter Stegen (Germany/FC Barcelona) 1 point

 

Leicester protest Jamie Vardy's suspension with Vardy masks.

Following a failed appeal, Leicester City owners have produced 30,000 Vardy masks to protest the striker’s three-match ban.

Recall that he was handed a red card during the English champions game with Stoke City on December 17 for a two-footed attack on Mame Biram Diouf.

The masks were placed on fans’ seats as Leicester faced Everton today. Jamie Vardy was spotted in the stands with the mask.

I am immune to excessive reaction -Wenger

If we were to make a list of top ten most slammed coaches in football in recent times, Arsene Wenger’s name will hang around top four.

The Frenchman has confessed he is unfazed by criticisms from fans over their dismal performances and chiefly their position on the log. The Arsenal coach said he will not be distracted as the team tries to contend for the title.

Wenger told the club’s official website. “I am not immune to critics. But I am immune to excessive reaction. I have been in the job long enough to put that into perspective as part of people who love the club that are really disappointed on Monday morning and get their frustration out. We have to live with that.

“You know you do not go in the season and have no disappointment. We have just lost two games, of course it is tough but City did not win for six, Tottenham for four or five, Manchester United as well, all the teams go through that. 

“The teams who respond well have the most successful seasons. It is part of it. In 20 years I had very few seasons where you start on the motorway and you finish on the motorway with no car in front of you. 

“The most excessive reactions get the biggest echo in the press. That is just society. We have gone that way that if you have five candidates to be elected Prime Minister you organise the vote one Sunday and people will elect one. You organise a vote for the next Sunday and you might elect somebody else. 

“That is where we are today and we have to live with that and the excessive reactions.”

 

2016 Glo-CAF Awards: CAF Releases Final Shortlist

 
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) have unveiled the top three nominees for the 2016 Glo-CAF African Footballer of the year Awards.
The three players who made the shortlist for African Player of the Year include current title holder, Borussia Dortmund winger, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon),  Liverpool midfielder, Sadio Mane (Senegal) and Riyad Mahrez of Leicester City of England and Algeria.
The three finalists of the African Player of the Year (Based in Africa) category are; Rainford Kabala of Zambia and T.P Mazembe F.C and Mamelodi Sundowns F.C of South Africa duo of Dennis Onyango from Uganda and Zimbabwean, Khama Billiat.
The outright winners will be decided by votes from the Head Coaches or the Technical Directors of the National Associations affiliated to CAF and the announcement will be made at a ceremony scheduled to take place at the International Convention Centre, Abuja on 5th January, 2017.

Petr Cech and Laurent Koscielny cancel Arsenal's Christmas party

 
Arsenal will not be having their annual Christmas party this year.
The decision to cancel the ceremony was at the suggestion of Petr Cech and Laurent Koscielny. And it was reportedly done to avoid a backlash from irate fans. After falling nine-point back of Chelsea, the two decided that no one at the club deserves to have any fun in their lives, thus they canceled the players’ annual Christmas party.
 
 

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