Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has revealed the reasons behind his decision to decline Nigeria’s invitation to the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, despite the team going on to secure a third-place finish, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.

Speaking in an interview with German outlet Kicker, the Udinese shot-stopper explained that concerns over his fitness, form, and timing influenced his choice after a spell away from competitive action.

Okoye disclosed that he had been out for around two months due to a betting-related suspension and felt it was important to focus on regaining full match fitness at club level. He also noted that, at the time, he was not the first-choice goalkeeper for the national team, making the decision easier.

The 24-year-old added that staying back allowed him to repay the faith shown in him by Udinese during a challenging period in his career.

Okoye also highlighted concerns about the scheduling of the Africa Cup of Nations, pointing out that its placement within the European football calendar often puts players in difficult positions between club and country commitments.

He has since rejoined the Super Eagles squad ahead of their upcoming international friendlies in Turkey, where Éric Chelle is expected to hand him minutes as part of preparations for future competitions.

It was a story of another day another defeat for Adana Demirspor who a day earlier lost to Marcabi Tel-Aviv and today lost another friendly affair to Fortuna Sittard by 2-1.

Despite the Turkish side scoring three goals, they conceded six goals yesterday against their Israelie counterpart at the Hotel RIU Kaya - Field C in Belek, Turkey.

This time against Fortuna Sittard, Nigeria forward Henry Onyekuru tried to save the face of his team after canceling Paul Gladon’s goal in the 28 minute but Umaro Embaló grabbed the winner for the Dutch team 7 minutes before halftime.

David Akintola another Nigeria player who scored for Adana in their last match against Marcabi Tel-Aviv came in as a sub in the second half but couldn’t get on the scoresheet this time.

The Turkish based team will now have to look forward to better outing when they take on Scottish side Livingston on Thursday and Galatasaray of Turkey on Saturday.

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It is difficult for the modern football fan to imagine that there were once athletes who could demonstrate the same abilities on the field as Ronaldo and Messi. Moreover, each fan has their own criteria for determining the "legend" status of a football player. This article presents the top-3 famous football players, taking into account their contribution to the popularization of football.

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Football stars of the past

In third place is Franz Beckenbauer. His career lasted from 1964 to 1983. If you want to keep track of Bayern Munich's matches, you can use the 1xBet mobile app. It offers profitable bonuses for players.

From the age of 9, the athlete played for Munich. He also played in the following clubs:

Bayern Munich;

New York Cosmos;

Hamburg

In Bayern Munich, Franz has won the German championship several times and most of the prestigious competitions in Germany.

He helped New York Cosmos win the US tournament three times, and with Hamburg he won the German championship. Also, the footballer received the Golden Ball twice and four times he was awarded the Footballer of the Year in Germany.

The second position is occupied by Marco Van Basten, who played from 1981 to 1993. He started playing football at the age of 7 in the EDO team from the Netherlands. At the age of 17 he moved to Ajax and then played for Milan. He received the Golden Ball three times and once got the Golden Boot.

Pele topped the rating; he played from 1956 to 1977. He began his career at the age of 7 in youth teams. He appeared on the professional field at the age of 15 with Santos. At the age of 35 he became a member of New York Cosmos.

With such a striker, the team won the Brazilian national tournament six times and the Brazilian Cup five times. The legendary footballer became a three-time world champion and athlete of the century. At 73, he received the Golden Ball award for his contribution to the spread of football.

Of course, he no longer plays, but there are other players who are now successfully scoring goals against their opponents. You can follow their progress on 1xBet using your mobile gadget. This is available for any matches in live or prematch modes.

National U-17 head coach Manu Garba believes that Leicester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho’s recent unimpressive performances could be as a result of bad influences from friends off the pitch.

The 23-year-old Nigeria international was the star of the youth tournament in the United Emirates, winning the Golden Boot and Golden Ball at the World Youth Championship seven years ago.

The Taye Academy graduate was recruited into Manchester City's Academy after the U-17 World Cup after which he was drafted into the first team where he netted on his debut.

Iheanacho went to to score 14 goals for the entire 2015-16 season but after falling out of favour with new coach Pep Guardiola, he was eventually sold to Leicester City for £25 million in 2017.

Although he has shown flashes of brilliance on occasion, Iheanacho is not a first-team regular and has most often come off the bench in his 89 appearances, scoring 20 goals and providing 12 assists

Garba, who was his coach at the U-17 stage cites Iheanacho’s rapid rise to stardom, having come from a poor background, as a possible distraction which has prevented him from realizing his potential.

“I’m still wondering how Kelechi didn’t emerge as one of the best in England,” he told The Athletic. “He might have fallen under bad influences from friends, coming from a poor background to an improved status. That can become a distraction when you are so young, but I have seen the old Iheanacho at Leicester.”

Garba recounts how Iheanacho was emotionally down following the demise of his mother two months before the 2013 African Under-17 Championship in Morocco, but remembered how the youngster still summoned the courage to score five times including a hat-trick in a 7-0 demolition of the Republic of Congo in the group phase.

“During the qualifying matches before the tournament against Niger, Guinea and Mali, he was our leading scorer,” Garba said, "but I can vividly remember two weeks before the last qualifying match against Mali, he lost his mother [to a short illness] and he was psychologically very low.

“Even his father couldn’t calm him down because he was so close to his mother. I had to use wisdom to calm him down and he made the team against Mali.”

Garba still believes that Iheanacho can be a valuable asset for Leicester and Brendan Rodgers, but only if they can help him refine some of the weaker elements of his game.

“Iheanacho is an asset to any club if the manager understands him, helps him and works on his off-the-ball contribution,” Garba exclaimed. “He will be useful coming behind the main striker because his final passes are inch-perfect and he can shoot from distance. He will be a good player for Leicester.”

Three English Premier League clubs and other top clubs in Europe are reportedly chasing Nigeria international Emmanuel Dennis.

Arsenal, Everton and newly-promoted Leeds United are all in the race  for the Club Brugge forward but face competition from German Bundesliga and Italian Serie A teams.

Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig and Inter Milan have also been mentioned as candidates to sign Dennis.

Manchester United were in the race for the Super Eagle Star  but reports suggest that the Red Devils have cooled their interest in the 22-year-old.

He was on target against Manchester United in the Europa League last 32 and bagged a brace in a Champions League group game against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu last season.

Club Brugge are willing to cash in on their Nigerian star this summer, provided his asking price is met by one of his suitors.

Dennis has made it clear that he wants to leave the Belgian champions before the close of the transfer window and he prefers to join a team competing in next season's Champions League.

The striker has not been involved in Club Brugge's last two league games amid speculations surrounding his future.

Former Napoli striker Bruno Giordano has shared his thoughts on Victor Osimhen's transfer to the Naples outfit and the possibility of the Nigeria international partnering the experienced Belgian Dries Mertens in attack in the upcoming season.

Osimhen is set to begin training with Napoli in the coming days after agreeing a five-year deal with the two-time Serie A champions.

Giordano admitted that he has seen little of Osimhen to completely evaluate him but thinks that he is a striker with potential.

"What player is Osimhen? I have seen little of him, I find it hard to evaluate him completely. In Napoli he will have to show his best, I think he has appreciable potential, as a complete striker," Giordano told La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Area Napoli)

"However, he must be put in the condition to express himself. The conditions are good, one with his qualities expresses himself to the maximum when playing in the open field . "

He added : "Mertens-Osimhen partnership? I think it is difficult, because Mertens is no longer the age to do the whole band as he wants the Gattuso's game.

"I'm curious to see if there will be tactical changes to make them play together. "

Napoli broke their transfer record by paying Lille 70m euros to sign the 21-year-old Osimhen and the fee could rise to 80m euros with bonuses.

New FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, has told the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) president, Amaju Pinnick, about his intention to visit the country very soon.

Infantino held talks with Pinnick at the ongoing FIFA congress in Mexico on Friday.

The Chairman of the League Management Company (LMC), Mallam Shehu Dikko, disclosed this during a television programme on Friday.

Dikko said the FIFA supremo is happy with the development of soccer in Nigeria and most especially the partnership with La Liga.

“I want to let Nigerians know that the NFF president had a chat with Infantino during the ongoing FIFA Congress in Mexico and he praised the development of football in Nigeria and also commended the federation for attracting the La Liga to partner with our league,” Goal quoted the LMC chairman as saying during the TV programme.

“The FIFA president immediately told the NFF boss that he would like to come to Nigeria so that he can also see areas in which he could be of assistance to Nigerian football. He said he would come very soon.”

Bianconeri made a spirited comeback in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 encounter against Bayern Munich. They struck twice in the second half to bring the scores level in Turin, after Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben had given Bayern a 2-0 lead.

However, ahead of the crucial second leg which Juventus must win to qualify for the next stage of the competition, they have suffered a major blow in the form of injuries to key players. While veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini remains unavailable for the fixture, Juventus have also lost midfield dynamo Claudio Marchisio and star striker Paulo Dybala to calf injuries.

Croatian forward Mario Mandzukic also picked up a knock in their 1-0 victory over Sassuolo in the Serie A this past weekend. However, he could be called upon to make an appearance off the bench.

Massimiliano Allegri remains confident ahead of the match though, and says the team needs to focus on winning and not missing the players who are out.

“Marchisio and Chiellini need time to recover, and the international break will allow them to do this,” said Allegri, according to the official Juventus website.

“Dybala hasn’t suffered any muscle tears but is in pain. It would have been a big risk to bring him here, so I decided to leave him at home, also with Serie A and the Coppa Italia final in mind. Regardless, we have a strong squad and whoever crosses the white line tomorrow will be up to the task.”

Juventus will probably line up in a 4-3-3 formation in the absence of Chiellini, with Patrice Evra, Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli and Stephan Lichtsteiner making up the back four ahead of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. The midfield will be manned by Paul Pogba, Sami Khedira and possibly Kwadwo Asamoah, who will replace Marchisio. Simone Zaza, Alvaro Morata and Juan Cuadrado will most likely start as the attacking trident in the absence of both Dybala and Mandzukic.

With pressure mounting on Arsene Wenger, Enrique was asked what he thought of the Arsenal boss and was full of praise for his opposite number while adding “that would be impossible here” about Wenger’s length of tenure at one club.

“To be at the same club for so long shows his quality as a manager and also his desire to keep going in the job,” Enrique said.

“I cannot talk about his current situation but if he has been there for that long, it says something about his capability.

Los Blancos are out of the title race and are poised to finish in a lowly third, whilst their English counterparts have endured a horrid title defence and arguably their worst campaign since Roman Abramovich took charge over a decade ago.

Both clubs are set for squad overhauls this summer, and according to The Sun, Real are readying a swap deal involving James Rodriguez and Eden Hazard.

Even in the unlikely event of Louis Van Gaal’s side performing a late season phoenix from the flames type rise up the Premier League table, the Dutchman’s days at Manchester United are numbered.

Interestingly, there are rumblings behind the scenes at the Red Devils that a number of players will seek pastures new should the Special One be installed in the top job, as expected.

Clearly he isn’t special enough for some, perhaps unhappy at what transpired at Mourinho’s Real Madrid in the end and indeed at Chelsea, even if under-performing players were blamed for the latter.

Juan Mata’s days at Old Trafford are numbered if Mourinho does indeed get confirmed in the role.

Off the record conversations have been reported in the media suggesting that the creative midfielder and Marouane Fellaini will be the first two players axed by Mourinho.

The England international was also linked with a move to Chelsea earlier this season, and now ESPN are claiming that the Reds are interested in signing him.

Liverpool are expected to make a host of signings in the summer transfer window, as Jurgen Klopp is looking forward to overhauling his squad ahead of next season. According to the report, he has made Oxlade-Chamberlain a top priority signing and is ready to test Arsenal’s resolve of holding on to their player.

Chamberlain’s progress has been disrupted by a number of injuries since his £15 million transfer from Southampton in 2011, but Wenger still believes in his abilities and will not be eager to let him leave the club.

His current deal with the North London club will enter into its final two years in the summer, and the club are eager to tie him down to a new deal. The 22-year-old has made only nine league starts for the Gunners this season.

Antalyaspor star Samuel Eto’o has revealed that there is no doubt about it – Lionel Messi is better Cristiano Ronaldo.

Eto’o also stated that he watched Messi grow into the player he is today and that the Argentinian magician will continue to be the best for the next decade.

“I saw him grow at Barcelona. And I can say, without any doubt, that he is better than Cristiano Ronaldo,” Eto’o said on the Beyaz Show.

“He’s the best player in the world and he will be so for 10 more years.”

Eto’o also joked that he was the star during his time at Barcelona not Messi.

“I didn’t play with [Lionel] Messi, [Messi] played with me,” he said.

Eto’o is widely regarded as being a Barcelona legend winning every title in domestic and European football at the club.

The Cameroon international also won the treble including the Champions League in Italy with Inter Milan under the stewardship of Jose Mourinho. Eto’o also won the World Club Cup at Inter and UEFA Super Cup at Chelsea.

Messi won the Ballon d’Or title for the fourth time this year and has won every domestic and European trophy he has competed in at Barcelona.

Benitez has a history of locking horns with Jose Mourinho, as does Wenger. The pair might have to duel with the Special One next season but for now it’s a vitriol-free zone. All chums here.

Striker Diego Costa is a doubt with a hip injury, while playmaker Eden Hazard is carrying a hip and groin problem but should be fit to feature.

Alexandre Pato could make his long-awaited debut, but defender Kurt Zouma (knee) is out for the season.

Blues boss Guus Hiddink said: "[Terry] He worked rather well in the past days and will be included for the team. He hasn't practised a lot in recent weeks but he trained intensively and today I will see if he has a big reaction to yesterday. I would like him to travel to Liverpool.

After the 4-0 FA Cup win over Hull City, both Olivier Giroud andTheo Walcott will feel they have a strong claim to be Arsenal’s starting centre-forward. They grabbed a brace apiece as Arsenal secured their passage into the quarter-final.

However, they may be in for a nasty surprise. Despite their goalscoring antics, it is Danny Welbeck who deserves to be the Gunners’ main man.

Welbeck’s impact since returning from injury has been surprising. It started with that dramatic late winner against Leicester, and continued with a number of convincing cameos. Eventually, he earned himself a start in the north London derby against Spurs, and his performance that day was a terrific demonstration of centre-forward play.

'

LOUIS VAN GAAL is clinging on to his job because he is a "clown", according to ex-Holland international Wim Kieft.

By Alex Harris / Published 11th March 2016

 Wim Kieft has mocked Louis van Gaal

The Manchester United boss is facing the boot at the end of the season and Starsport understandJose Mourinho is in the running to replace him.

Last night's Europa League defeat at bitter rivals Liverpool has piled more pressure on the Dutchman.

Van Gaal, who replaced David Moyes in 2014, has failed to get United back to the top of the table despite spending £250m on new players.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo feature in most people's idea of a dream five-a-side, but not for PSV defender Jetro Willems.

PSV full-back Jetro Willems showed he has no shortage of self-confidence by picking himself five times in a dream five-a-side team.

The Netherlands international was asked to name his ideal side during a regular feature on UEFA's Champions League website.

And Willems shunned the likes of modern stars Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, as well as legends such as Pele and Diego Maradona, in favour of selecting himself in every position.

"I would pick myself five times!" Willems told UEFA's official website. "Believe me, you win the Champions League with that side."

We asked PSV defender Jetro Willems for his dream five-a-side team.

He went with this... pic.twitter.com/RJwoUEueXC

— Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) March 11, 2016

Willems will hope to be in Champions League action for PSV on Tuesday when they travel to Atletico Madrid with their last-16 tie goalless following the first leg.

Read more at http://www.fourfourtwo.com/au/news/psv-stars-dream-team-features-only-one-man-and-its-not-messi-or-ronaldo#4JDVah6ZPuLaX8Dq.99

Mauricio Pochettino defended his decision to field a weakened side but said it may have been a better result with a different selection.

The Spurs boss decided not select star man Harry Kane alongside Erik Lamela and other key players in his starting line-up against Borussia Dortmund which backfired.

Pochettino said: “No I never complain, maybe if I picked a different team it would be a different way but we always try to select the better team and when you have a bad day like today you lose.

“We had a very bad day which is difficult to explain and we are disappointed with our performance.

 “We need to fight this week and 3-0 is not a good result for us but we need to keep working hard and we need to try next Thursday at White Hart Lane.”

Kevin Wimmer also felt disappoint with his sides performance but still believes Tottenham can turn things around.

Wimmer said: “It was a very disappointing game for us and we could not play well and of course Dortmund played very good football.

“If we score an early goal you never know what could happen but everyone knows it will be a very tough game to turn this around.”