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Salah And Liverpool

Liverpool saw off Porto at Estadio do Dragao, and can now look forward to the most mouth-watering of Champions League semi-finals. Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho await the Reds in the last four.

What a tie, and what an incentive. In a week where Ajax and Tottenham provided the fairy tales, Jurgen Klopp’s side ensured there was to be no such shock in Portugal. The Premier League leaders were far from pretty at times, but they got the job done.

Sadio Mane’s goal, 26 minutes in, settled Liverpool down after a nervy start. They were grateful to Porto’s wayward finishing and to the Video Assistant Referee, who after a lengthy check confirmed Mane had been onside when tucking Mohamed Salah’s cross-shot past Iker Casillas at the far post.

It was the Senegal star’s 22nd goal of the season, and 14th European Cup strike for Liverpool, equalling Ian Rush’s tally. Only Steven Gerrard has more.

And like Rush or Gerrard, he is developing a real knack for scoring important ones too. This was the eighth time he has broken the deadlock in his last 15 games. When Liverpool have needed him, he has repeatedly stepped up to the plate – even if he did miss an absolute sitter after the break.

Virgil van dirk and Sadio Mane

By then, of course, the game has dead and buried. Porto had started in lively fashion, with Liverpool delivering a performance lacking in purpose and quality. They shipped a remarkable 14 shots inside the first half hour. Had Moussa Marega been as sharp as Alisson Becker, they’d have found themselves in big trouble.

As it was, they were able to force their way in front and relax from there. Mane’s goal was their first effort of the night, Salah added a second on 65 minutes, his 23rd of the campaign, and though Eder Militao, an impressive competitor, pulled one back swiftly, headers from Roberto Firmino and Virgil van Dijk ensured the scoreline was a convincing one in the end.

Huge credit must go to Klopp, who has not lost a two-legged European tie since 2014 and who is now preparing for his third semi-final in three years as Liverpool manager. He is yet to grab that elusive first trophy at Anfield, but his team will take some stopping.

The Camp Nou, one of the world’s great arenas, should hold no fears for them. Liverpool’s European away form has been a source of concern over the past 12 months, but they have now won twice at the Etihad, the Allianz and the Dragao (twice).

They are unbeaten in 17 games in all competitions, winning the last eight, and will surely have seen the chinks in Barcelona’s armoury across the Catalans’ tie with Manchester United. Defensively, the La Liga champions should offer encouragement to Mane, Salah and Co.

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Daily Mirror has published the wages

of all the Arsenal first-team players.

Nigerian star, Alex Iwobi, is, however, among the least paid players at the London club despite penning a new contract last summer.

Lionel Messi of Barcelona earns 31 times more than the Nigerian forward.

The Hale End Academy product is the 18th highest earner at the Emirates Stadium outfit.

Alex Iwobi takes home weekly wages of around £70,000.

By converting his wages to euros, Iwobi takes home €4.2 million per annum, approximately N1.68 billion in Nigerian currency.

If compared to Lionel Messi, who is the highest paid player in the world, with 130m euros per year, it 31 times more than Alex Iwobi.

Mesut Ozil is the highest earner at Arsenal, with wages of £350,000-a-week.

The German is followed by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan at £180,000-a-week each.

Calum Chambers, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Krystian Bielik, who all receive £25,000 a week, are the least paid players at Arsenal.

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Brazilian soccer official Jose Maria Marin has been banned for life by FIFA 16 months after he was convicted of corruption charges in the United States.

86-year-old Marin, who led Brazil’s organizing committee for the 2014 World Cup, was sentenced in August to four years in prison for racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud. FIFA said Marin was also guilty of taking bribes linked to media and marketing rights for South American and Brazilian soccer competitions.

Prosecutors in federal court said at his 2017 trial that Marin took $6.6 million in bribes. He was ordered to forfeit $3.3 million and pay a $1.2 million fine. The FIFA ethics committee also imposed a 1 million Swiss franc ($1 million) fine the same financial penalty ordered against several soccer officials indicted or convicted by American authorities. It is unclear how FIFA can enforce payment.

Marin was arrested at a luxury Zurich hotel in May 2015 as part of the sweeping American investigation of corruption linked to FIFA officials. More than 40 people and marketing agencies have pleaded guilty, been convicted or have been indicted and are fighting extradition. After being extradited to the United States in 2015, Marin was released on bail and lived in his Trump Tower apartment in Manhattan while awaiting trial.

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Tiger Woods reached the pinnacle of his return to the game by winning his fifth green jacket and 15th major championship today April 14th in the 83rd edition of the Masters.

Staring at the abyss just two years ago when he was bedridden and thinking his career was over due to a painfully disorderly back, Woods was stoic and steady throughout the week at Augusta National Golf Club despite the roars echoing through the Georgia pines.

With a final-round 2-under-par 70 in his Sunday red mock turtleneck, Woods won on these hallowed grounds for the first time since 2005. It also marked his first triumph in a major championship since the 2008 U.S. Open.

Starting the day two shots behind leader Francesco Molinari, Woods finished at 13 under par and one shot ahead of Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka. When his final putt dropped on 18, Woods gave a fist pump with his right hand then lifted both arms overhead in joy.

After sharing a hug with his caddie, Joe LaCava, Woods found his son, Charlie, who ran up and gave dad a big hug, followed by Tiger’s mom, Kultida, his daughter, Sam, and girlfriend, Erica Herman.

“It’s come full circle. My dad was here in ’97 and now I’m the dad with two kids here,” Woods said. About thirty minutes after his final putt, Woods said the monumental win had not sunk in yet. “You couldn’t have had more drama than what we had out there. Now I know why I’m balding,” he joked. “This stuff is hard.”

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The Minister of Youth and Sports Barrister Solomon Dalung praised the women’s football pioneers when he received a FIFA delegation on the Women’s World Cup trophy tour in his office on Thursday in Abuja.

He welcomed the FIFA team comprising Sarai Bareman, Nichole Fisch, Venessa Marques and FIFA Legend Osaze Peter Odemwingie to the Nigeria leg of the Women’s World Cup Trophy Tour and remarked that no country on the African continent can appreciate the significance of the FIFA Women’s World Cup more than Nigeria.

The Women’s World Cup trophy is on a tour of all 24 countries qualified to participate at the 8th FIFA Women’s World Cup finals taking place in nine cities in France, 7th June – 7th July this year.

Check on it below;

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Diego Costa has been given an eight-game ban for his controversial rant at referee Jesus Gil Manzano during Atletico Madrid‘s 2-0 defeat by Barcelona last Saturday.

The 30-year-old was shown a straight red card in the 28th minutes after he repeatedly said to the referee “Me cago en tu puta madre,” which literally translates to “I shit on your whore mother.”

The referee’s report also accuses Costa of holding the referee’s arm so as to prevent him taking out more cards for his team-mates.

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The FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy is expected to arrive Nigeria on a tour on Thursday, Demola Olajire, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Director of Communication said on Tuesday in Abuja.Olajire said in a statement:

“The Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, is already agog in anticipation of the arrival of the FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy, which is expected on Nigerian soil on Thursday.“The Women’s World Cup trophy’s stop-over is coming 13 months after the FIFA World Cup trophy (for men) also made a stop-over in Nigeria ahead of last year’s FIFA World Cup finals in Russia.

”He said the World football governing body, FIFA, had informed the NFF that former Nigeria international striker, Osaze Odemwingie, would arrive in the country on Wednesday.Odemwingie is one of the FIFA Legends for this year’s World Cup finals in France.

“Three other FIFA officials are due in the country hours later.“Nicole Fisch (lead for women’s football project), Sarai Bareman (chief women’s football officer) and Vanessa Marques (lead for marketing project) are the FIFA officials expected on Wednesday,’’ Olajire said.The NFF director of communication said that Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalong, would receive the team on Thursday.

He said the FIFA team alongside ministry and NFF officials would move to Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, for the display of the trophy.“At the Transcorp Hilton, there will be a video documentary on the evolution of women football in Nigeria,’’ he said.

According to him, Acting President of the NFF, Seyi Akinwunmi, the Chairman of the Nigeria Women Football League, Aisha Falode, some other NFF and sports ministry officials are expected at the venue.“Some players of the Super Falcons, who returned from a two-match tour of Spain on Tuesday afternoon, will be there.“Pupils from two schools within the Abuja metropolis as well as media representatives and other stakeholders will also be part of the event,’’ Olajire added.

The best 24 women national teams in the world will battle for the cup in nine cities in France between June 7 and July.

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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, could be forced into international retirement, having previously threatened to quit the Gabon national team.

Gabon failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations, following their 1-1 draw with Burundi last week, which saw them finish third in their group.

And now the country’s Minister for Sport Alan Bilie has “dissolved” the team, saying it will be rebuilt from the bottom up.

“We are going to rebuild the national team on a new basis by setting aside everyone who is characterised by a lack of envy, patriotism, and who have put more emphasis on financial resources, the nation and the spirit,” Bilie said in quotes reported on Nairobi News .

Arsenal ace Aubameyang has previously faced accusations of not being committed to the Gabon team, and only last month said: “I am thinking hard about retiring from international football.”

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