Euro footy news roundup

French great Lilian Thuram on the importance of the 2010 World Cup.

Obafemi Martins on why he's happy with Newcastle.

Injured Everton striker Victor Anichebe receives an apology from Cheshire police over their mix-up.

Didier Drogba on why his commitment to the Blues should not be questioned.

Euro interest in Emmanuel Adebayor.

Kolo Toure still refusing to commit his future to Arsenal.

John Terry praises for Michael Essien.

Kader Keita has his two game ban rescinded.

Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi is out for a month with a hip injury.

Manucho pleased with his loan spell at Hull.

Athletes in the Diaspora 2009

Amobi Okoye, Israel Idonije,Adewale Ogunleye, are making their 2nd annual trip to Nigeria and this time they have some fellow NFL players coming along. Nnamdi Asomugha of the Oakland Raiders, Xavier Adibi of the Houston Texans and Tommie Harris of the Chicago Bears are joining the others while Osi Umenyiora stays behind in the USA to rehab his knee and get ready for the 2009 NFL season.
The players leave this month to provide medical screenings and health awareness and education programs along with a number of Doctors and Nurses.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200903030018.html

Afolabi becomes Interim WBO Cruiserweight Champ.

English born, Nigerian boxer Ola Afolabi defeated Enzo Maccarinelli to claim the interim WBO Cruiserweight title on Saturday. Afolabi knocked out the Welsh Maccarinelli in the ninth round of the fight at the MEN Arena in Manchester and increased his record to 14-1-3 with 6KOs. "Kryptonite" as Afolabi is called, unleashed a nasty right hook that caught Maccarinelli and sent him to the canvas in the ninth round. The Welshman beat the count but was unable to continue leading to the stoppage of the fight.
With the win and new title, big things appear to be on the horizon for Afolabi. For those unfamiliar with the new champ, here's an interview with him from Eastside Boxing.

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=18841&more=1

Essien Returns and Chelsea Advance

Ghanaian international midfielder Michael Essien made an impressive return to the Chelsea first eleven against Juventus in the Champions League 2nd leg. Essien netted Chelsea's first goal in the 2-2 draw in Turin that saw Chelsea advance to the Quarterfinals. Essien helped the Blues get the all important away goal in Turin and despite falling 2-1 behind, a goal by Didier Drogba-in keeping with his rich vein of form, wrapped up the contest for Chelsea as they went up 3-2 on aggregate. Chelsea's interim manager Guus Hiddink was full of praise for his two goalscorers.
“He’s very important, how he’s showing his commitment and how he’s always busy,” Hiddink said. “He doesn’t give you an easy night as a central defender. He’s doing very well. For the second goal he came just ahead of his marker — that’s a sign that he is sharp.” Hiddink said of Drogba.

http://gbcghana.com/news/24971detail.html

NBA tidbits

Luol Deng injured, again. How his injury might affect Team GB.

The Sixers rebranding as Iguuodala's team.

Emeka Okafor still putting in that work to get to the top.

DJ Mbenga is getting more playing time and showing he deserves it.

Another article on DJ- http://www.ocregister.com/articles/mbenga
-says-one-2324360-story-father

Return of the Pops

The only thing tougher than making it to the NBA is sticking around in the NBA. It's a problem for many players and especially for those deemed to have freakish ability but an average skill set. Pops Mensah-Bonsu faced such a problem upon graduating from George Washington University where he led the Colonials to the NCAA tournament twice while showing off his impressive dunking and physical skills on the court. The Whale-Killer(as he's known because of his last name), signed with the Dallas Mavericks after college but things didn't work out and he ended up making the move to Europe and spending some time in Italy and Spain. "The two years in Europe, in two of the top leagues, helped me as far as experience is concerned." said Mensah-Bonsu. "I think I gained more experience as a player and a person." In terms of new tools added to his game, Pops added "The 17 foot Jump shot. You know in Europe the big guys can shoot and coming back I've felt like I've become a consistent jump shooter and I think that's definitely helped me in getting back to the NBA."
Pops also helped lead Team Great Britain to the 2009 Eurobasket championship in Poland which will be taking place in September. "Our future (in the 2009 Eurobasket tourney) depends on Ben Gordon and Kelenna Azubuike. If we get those two, I think we're one of the best teams in Europe," he said. "I think we're pretty close to getting Ben, he's on board but he just has to make sure some contractual issues are taken care of. Kelenna still has some logistical things to take care of." Team Great Britain, if the addition of Gordon and Azubuike goes through would have Pops, Luol Deng, Gordon and Azubuike leading the line into Poland. "If we have four NBA players on our team, not too many European teams can say they have that so we'd be one of them."
Pops is quite confident in his second NBA go-round and although he didn't end up sticking with the Spurs after his 10-day contract with the team, he is intent on showing the NBA that he is more than a great athlete and that he can be a solid contributor on an NBA team as evidenced in his first few games for his new team, the Toronto Raptors. The whale-killer had 10 rebounds in 15 minutes against the Miami Heat and 7 rebounds in 10 minutes against the Utah Jazz in his first two games for the Raptors and he'll be determined to show the Raptors faithful the new facets of his game during the remainder of the season.

NCAA bits

Hasheem Thabeet is a finalist for National Player of the Year
Watch fot Thabeet to get his revenge against DeJuan Blair and Pitt. on Saturday.
Al-Farouq Aminu helps Wake beat Maryland while grabbing a career high 14 rebounds.
Check out this nice interview with Josh Akognon by NBADraft.net
Solomon Alabi earns ACC rookie of the week honors for the second time.

Drogba continues resurgence

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba continued his rich vein of form by scoring the game winner against Portsmouth. Droggles curled in a lovely goal 11 minutes from time to give Chelsea all three points. Drogba's form must give Roman Abramovich some comfort as Chelsea prepare for their 2nd leg against Juventus in the Champions League next week.

http://www.irishtimes.
com/newspaper/sport/2009/0304/1224242234514.html

NBA round up

Deng Injury-http://
blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/rosenblog
/2009/03/luol-dengs-injury-forces-the-bulls-to-do-
the-right-thing.html

Emeka Okafor shining for the Bobcats-http://www.examiner.com/x-4704-Charlotte-
Bobcats-Examiner~y2009m3d2-Okafor-shines-in-roadtrip-finale

Kelenna and the Warriors need a win-http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform
.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=nba/news/news.aspx?id=4216630

Drogba gives Chelsea advantage in Champs Lge.

Les Éléphants and Chelsea star Didier Drogba scored the lone goal as Chelsea beat Juventus at Stamford Bridge in the 1st leg of their Champions League round of 16 matchup. Drogba scored in the 12th minute after receiving a pass from his Ivorian counterpart Salomon Kalou. Droggles could have had a hat trick on the night as he headed a cross from Bosingwa early on, over the crossbar. After his goal, Drogba had another chance but headed a cross from Frank Lampard wide of the goal in the 15th minute. Despite the missed chances, Droggles lone goal puts Chelsea in the drivers seat as they prepare to head to Turin for the 2nd leg in a fortnight.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SPORT/
football/02/25/champions.chelsea/