More Footy News

Intermilan and Super Eagles player Victor Obinna has been loaned to Real Betis.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1707/inter/2009/01/30/
1084549/inters-obinna-loaned-to-real-betis

Werder Bremen and Ivory Coast Striker Boubacar Sanogo goes on loan to Hoffenheim
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/
soccer/01/27/transfer.roundup.ap/

The African Youth Championship final is set as Cameroon fresh off a 2-0 victory over Nigeria meet up with Ghana. Ghana beat South Africa 4-3 in a thriller of a match.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200901290199.html

NHL news

Congrats to Jarome Iginla for scoring his first ever goal in an NHL All-Star game
http://www.rotoworld.com/content/
playerpages/playerbreakingnews.asp?sport=NHL&id=
631&line=79999&spln=1

Same to Kyle Okposo who is heating up at the time when he should be encountering the rookie wall. Okposo netted in back to back games and helped his New York Islanders upset the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/
playerbreakingnews.asp?sport=NHL&id=
2265&line=79836&spln=1

Flying Eagles qualify for semi's of AYC

The Flying Eagles of Nigeria came back with a vengeance in their final group game of the African Youth Championship against Cote d'Ivoire.
The U-20's thrashed their Ivorian counterparts 3-0 with goals from Chrisantus Macauley, Haruna Lukman and a brilliant third goal by midfield maestro Rabiu Ibrahim.
Nigeria will now face Cameroon in the semi-finals.

http://www.kickoff.com/static/news/article.php?id=6391

Transfer News

Makinwa to Chievo
Super Eagles striker Stephen Makinwa has officially completed a move from Lazio to Chievo of the Italian Serie A. Makinwa fell rapidly down the pecking order of strikers at the Rome Club and after handing in a transfer request, Chievo came through with a loan move for the player.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1639/chievo/2009/01/22/1072771/official-lazios-makinwa-to-chievo

Ghaly to Al-Nasr
Egyptian international midfielder Hossam Ghaly sealed a transfer to Al-Nasr after a controversial time at Tottenham. Ghaly endured a turbulent time at Spurs, most of it of his own making but received a late Christmas present with this move.

Flying Eagles lose to South Africa in AYC

Nigeria's Flying Eagles are on the brink of missing out on the U-20 World Cup in Egypt later this year after they lost to South Africa 2-1 in their second group match of the African Youth Championship.
The young Eagles led by Coach Ladan Bosso, also ignominiously entered the record books by being the first Nigerian team, male or female, to lose to a South African side in a competitive match. Now the Flying Eagles are in a position where they need to beat Ivory Coast on Sunday and hope South Africa also defeats Egypt.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/content/view/27052/50/


http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=133698

Jarome Iginla and Kyle Okposo

Calgary Flames star Jarome Iginla is still a sprite 31 years old and growing up in Canada he had a long list of Hockey heroes, but now Iginla has become a hero to a growing crop of young Hockey players entering the NHL and none more special than Kyle Okposo.
Okposo is a young right winger for the New York Islanders and just like Iginla, Okposo is the son of a Nigerian father and a North American mother. Okposo grew up in Minnesota and despite the meagre amount of players of color in the NHL, Okposo had Jarome Iginla to look at for inspiration. Here's a link to a great article about Okposo's journey to the NHL and his admiration for Iginla.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/sports/story.html?id=00065b0c-24dd-45a8-b4bb-1af95059df63

Okeafor and Iwebema help lead Arizona to Super Bowl

Despite the best efforts of Victor Abiamiri and the Philadelphia Eagles defense to stop the Arizona Cardinals in the second half, the Cardinals are on their way to their first ever Super Bowl Appearance. Chike Okeafor found himself assisting in tackles all over the field to help the Cardinals get revenge on the Eagles for the Week 13 loss in Philly.
Congrats to Okeafor, Kenny Iwebema and the entire Cardinals team as they confounded critics all season with their play and just when everyone had jumped off the bandwagon, the Cards picked up their play in the post season en route to an appearance in Tampa in a fortnight against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter?game_id=54463&season=2008&displayPage=tab_gamecenter

Manucho goes on loan to Hull City

Manchester United and Angola striker Mateus Alberto Contreiras Gonçalves aka Manucho has gone on loan to surprise EPL newbies Hull City. The Tigers have shocked many of their Premiership opposition en route to 8th spot in the table as of January and now they've pulled off a loan for the striker. Manucho has found it difficult to break into the United squad rotation this season and a loan out to another EPL side such as Hull City should enable Manucho to gain more experience in the EPL while boosting his self-confidence if the goals start raining in.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jan/16/hull-city-manchester-united-manucho-loan-deal


EPL TIDBIT
Chelsea gaffer Luiz Felipe Scolari has dropped Didier Drogba for the match vs Stoke City on Saturday. Drogba was omitted from the squad that faces Southend in the FA cup in midweek action and now it seems he is still out of Scolari's good graces.
There are many problems behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge starting with the manager's relationship with his assistants and then his players and it remains to be seen if all the drama will lead to Chelsea losing out on the third Champions League spot or if they can hold onto it now that they've vacated the top two.

MLS-US Soccer news

The 2009 MLS draft was held on Thursday in St. Louis and a few players of African descent found themselves in the pro ranks by the end of the day.
D.R. Congo born former Arsenal youth player, Steve Zakuani was the first pick in the draft going to the expansion Seattle Sounders. The Striker considered offers from a number of teams in England before deciding to start out as a professional in the MLS.
Babajide Ogunbiyi was the 18th pick going to the New York Red Bulls. The defender impressed a lot of MLS coaches over the past week with his ability and will get an opportunity to play for the MLS Cup runners up.
Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe went to the Colorado Rapids with the 28th pick.
Quincy Amarikwa went to the San Jose Earthquakes with the 32nd pick.

Other tidbits,
Senegalese #2 keeper Bouna Coundoul will be testing the market in Europe after deciding not to resign with the Colorado Rapids.

NBA round up

Here's a quick NBA round-up for the hoop heads.

Kelenna Azubuike- Still in good form for the Golden State Warriors. Had 20+ pts in last two games since returning from the Flu. Azubuike is also second in rebounds and fifth in scoring with 13.6 ppg on the Warriors.
http://www.mercurynews.com/athletics/ci_11426403

Luol Deng- Just returned from ankle injury, had 14 pts in loss to Portland.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/scorecard/nbanews.asp?articleID=249534

Emeka Okafor- Had an off night in recent loss to the Cavaliers but is still in the mix to make the Eastern Conference All-Star team as a reserve.