VeryConcern

There are many players who score on a regular basis and make a name for themselves as star strikers. But there are some players who take it upon themselves to give their best performances in the biggest games and against the toughest opposition. Goals in big games are always tough to come by and the players that have a knack of stepping up to the plate on the biggest stage are always coveted by clubs and countries alike.  Here are five players who always score in big matches.  5. Dele Alli Dele Alli is one of the players who thrives on big games, having scored in a number of them over the last couple of years. With his recent goal against Chelsea in the Premier League, he has now scored six goals in five games against Tottenham Hotspur’s London rivals. Add to that goals against the Manchester clubs in the last two years, two goals against Real Madrid, one in the North London Derby and one more against Liverpool, there is no doubt that Alli reserves his b...

The name Ebun Oloyede might not readily ring a bell but once the pseudonym, Igwe Olaiya is mentioned, then a popular Yoruba actor with tribal marks comes to mind. In an interview with Saturday Beats, the actor described his tribal marks as a problem for him, adding that he was glad he was not a professional footballer.  “These tribal marks happen to be a problem. As you are looking at me, I do not have the privilege to be a footballer but if I were one, I would not have been able to play professionally because of these tribal marks. They would believe that you had surgery and you would be banned from playing. Our parents thought it was part of our culture but it was an uncivilised act. What they did was not something good. “They believed that with the marks on my face, people would be able to identify my lineage but they were fooling themselves. How would they have known if my father had sex with his housemaid and she gave birth to me but his wife decided not to make a f...

The Delta State Police Command has arrested a 14-year-old girl for allegedly stabbing his father to death. The name of the man and the girl were not mentioned. The incident happened in the Cable Point area of the Asaba, the state capital. Trouble started on Thursday evening when the man disciplined her for an offence she committed before he went to sleep. It was gathered that the girl, who was unhappy with the development, waited until he was asleep before stabbing him to death with a knife. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Andrew Aniamaka, confirmed the incident, while expressing regret over the crime rate in the state, especially among youths. Aniamaka said, “I don’t have information if the deceased is the girl’s father. But all we know for now is that he was related to her. Imagine a small girl stabbing her relative to death. “The other day, it was killing of a Delta State University student. Where are we heading to?’’ He also appealed to parents to co...

Ivory Coast and Chelsea great Didier Drogba announced his retirement on Wednesday after a 20-year career. The 40-year-old scored 164 goals in 381 appearances for Chelsea, winning four Premier League titles, four FA Cups and the 2012 Champions League, while he is also Ivory Coast's all-time record goalscorer with 65. Drogba most recently played for Phoenix Rising in the United Soccer League. "I wanna thank all the players, managers, teams and fans that I have met and made this journey one of a kind," he wrote in a statement on Twitter. "If anyone tells you your dreams are too big, just say thank you and work harder and smarter to turn them into a reality." @didierdrogba Drogba played club football in six different countries in total, with the majority of his success coming in France and England. He won the Premier League Golden Boot in 2006-07 and 2009-10, netting 104 times in the English top flight in total, and also scored a dramatic late eq...

The Oyo State Government has explained its role in the ongoing reconstruction of the façade of the Music House, owned by the Gospel Musician, Mr. Yinka Ayefele, which was partially demolished in August, this year. In a statement issued on Sunday by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Communication and Strategy, Mr Bolaji Tunji, the government said its intervention was informed by the acknowledgment of contravention of the state building code by the management of the Music House and the personal appeal by Ayefele to the Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi. Tunji also explained that the appeal by various stakeholders to the state government, as well as the preparedness of the owner of the building to rectify the contraventions, which would involve the reduction of the frontage fence line by 1.5m, among others, informed the intervention by the governor. He added that the parking lots at the tail end of the building close to the entrance of Lagelu Estate had also been reduced b...

Morning sex vs. evening sex – it’s an age-old conflict, usually with men on one side and women on the other. Men wake up aroused, so morning is prime time. But women often prefer evenings when things have relaxed a bit – after work and chores are done and children are put to bed.  Why does this happen and how can you resolve the issue? Testosterone difference – Men do have a spike in testosterone between six and nine o’clock in the morning. They naturally like to capitalize on a good morning erection. Unfortunately, women have their lowest amount of daily testosterone in the morning and a minimal increase by evening. Difference in hormone cycles – Men can experience a daily 25-50% differential in testosterone in the morning, translating to a huge appetite for early sex. For women however, significant changes in testosterone don’t happen daily, but monthly, with the largest increase happening mid-month during ovulation (and that increase is not nearly as dramatic as what...

Arsene Wenger admits he felt lost after leaving Arsenal, but is now ready to give back to the sport he loves the most. The Frenchman called it a day at the end of last season, after serving the Gunners for 22-long years Now, Wenger is ready to jump back in action but admits he doesn't miss every aspect of the sport. "I remember [the first day as unemployed] very well," he told beIN Sports, as quoted by ​Standard Sport. "I was a bit lost because you have time in front of you, which was never the case before. You always have a problem to sort out and when you have sorted it, there is another one coming straight away. The next game is always a target in your life. It's very difficult, but I took it as a challenge. I don't like to look back, I always look in front and try to think where my next level is." "I don't feel retired at all, I'm basically a competitor. There are many things I don't miss at all, like all the stuff a...

Senate President Bukola Saraki says Nigerians are eagerly waiting to see how President Muhammadu Buhari will handle allegations against Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He said this while responding to the threat of the APC chairman to sue him. Saraki had said the APC chairman did not have the moral stand to remain in politics following allegations by some governors that he collected bribes during the party’s primary elections. But Oshiomhole asked Saraki to name aspirants he collected money from or face a law suit. In a statement on Thursday, Yusuph Olaniyonu, special adviser to Saraki on media, quoted the senate president as saying he is ready to meet Oshiomhole in court. “Nigerians are waiting to see how the president will handle the serious allegations against his party chairman,” he said. “We expect the president with his anti-corruption campaign to institute thorough and transparent investigation into the allegations ag...

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, has said, he knows how Boko Haram started. In an interview with The African Reports, which he shared on his verified Twitter handle, @atiku, Atiku said that, politicians were to be blamed for the emergence of Boko Haram. When he was asked, how he was going to solve the challenge of Boko Haram terrorism, he said, “I happen to know how Boko Haram came into being. They were offshoots of political thuggery. Politicians used those boys in Boko Haram to win elections and then abandoned them and then there were no jobs for them. It was the same thing with the Niger Delta. In 1998, I saw it myself and I warned people. “It’s going to be a multifaceted approach. It will involve negotiations. It will involve military action.”

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has threatened to drag the senate President, Bukola Saraki, to court to prove his allegations of corruption against him. In a statement issued Thursday by the Chief Press Secretary Simon Ebegbulem, the APC chairman said it was pathetic and irresponsible for Senator Saraki to resort to petty politics. The Senate President had said in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Wednesday, that Oshiomhole did not deserve to remain in office as national chairman of the APC on the account of huge allegations of bribery and corruption leveled against him by party members during the recent primaries. However, Oshiomhole described Saraki, as an “usurper of and pretender” to the position of senate president, adding that he had no moral ground to call for the resignation of the national chairman. According to the statement, “it is sad that Saraki, who just woke up from slumber occasioned by his crushing defeat at th...

The Peoples Democratic Party, Lagos state chapter, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to activate its power to ensure fairness in elections by disqualifying the All Progressives Congress (APC) from contesting in the governorship election in Lagos State. The party also asked the electoral body to prosecute the APC governorship candidate, Mr Jide Sanwoolu, for violating the election timetable on start of campaigns. According to the PDP in a statement signed by Gani Taofik, its Publicity Secretary, the deliberate rallies into Lagos markets by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, is basically to introduce the APC governorship candidate to the traders for votes and not intended to launch any trade support programme, sic tradermoni. Justifying its position, the PDP averred that the Mr Sanwoolu at every of the visitations is introduced as governorship candidate of APC and the vice president always sought the traders to vote APC to continue the ‘t...

A suspected armed robber was on Monday arrested by an angry mob after his colleague mistakenly shot him while they (the robbers) were trying to escape after an operation at Imgbi Road, Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital. Investigations revealed that the four-man robbery gang at about 9:00p.m. pretended as customers and entered a supermarket where they dispossessed customers in the supermarket of their phones and emptied the cash vault of sales made for the day. However, some young boys, reportedly sitting opposite the supermarket suspected something was amiss on with the way two of the gang members were peeping from inside the supermarket. Their suspicion was confirmed when the robbers emerged from the supermarket with guns in their hands and the boys began to throw bottles at them. Sensing danger as more residents of the area joined the boys to throw bottles at them, the robbers started shooting as they ran towards their parked tricycle popularly called Keke NAPEP. Acco...

Santiago Solari on Tuesday was confirmed as Real Madrid coach until 2021 following his successful spell in charge as caretaker boss of the European champions. "Real Madrid's board of directors met today and decided to name Santiago Solari as first team coach until June 30, 2021," the club announced in a statement. Solari's anointment as sacked Julen Lopetegui's permanent successor comes after wins in his first four matches. And with 15 goals scored and only two conceded the 42-year-old Argentinian has established the best ever start for a Real manager. After thrashing Melilla in the Copa del Rey, they won 5-0 away to Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League, between victories over Real Valladolid and Celta Vigo in La Liga. The upturn has left Madrid only four points adrift of league leaders Barcelona and on the brink of qualification for the last 16 in Europe. Solari was handed the reins on a temporary two-week basis on October 29 after Lopetegui h...

Teleology has formally taken over control of Nigeria’s troubled telecommunication company, 9mobile, by appointing a new board of directors, headed by 54 year-old Nasiru Ado Bayero. Stephane Beuvelet will serve as the acting managing director, according to a statement by Mohammed Edewor, a new non-executive director of the new 9Mobile. The appointment of the board followed the exit of the CBN appointed board and the transfer of ownership of the firm to the new investors, Teleology Nigeria Limited. Other members of the board are: Asega Aliga (Non Executive Director), Adrian Wood (Non Executive Director), Mohammed Edewor (Non Executive Director), Winston Ndubueze Udeh (Non Executive Director) and Abdulrahman Ado (Executive Director) The new Chairman of the Board, Alhaji Nasiru Ado Bayero welcomes the appointments. “As we begin this new epochal phase, we wish to thank all the employees who built this viable business. Our debt of gratitude also goes to our subscribers even as...

Three markets in Lagos State, Ikotun, Igando and Ile Epo, were on Monday thrown into frenzy as Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, activated the TraderMoni scheme in the markets. TraderMoni is a Federal Government’s initiative aimed at providing two million petty traders across the country with collateral-free loans before the end of the year. Excited crowd thronged and cheered as Osinbajo walked into the markets. Shouts of TraderMoni, TraderMoni, ‘baba’ ‘baba,’ Osinbajo Osinbajo, rented the air, while security operatives had a field day controlling the crowd. The vice president, who acknowledged the cheers, inspected the markets and had one-on-one interactions with the traders. Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State accompanied Osinbajo to the markets. Also in the team was Daddy Showkey, a “galala singer’”, whose presence added fervour to the visits as his fans hailed and surged to exchange banters with him. TraderMoni is designed to help petty traders expand their t...

Interim Real Madrid manager Santiago Solari was appointed permanent coach on Monday after overseeing a startling upturn in the European champions' fortunes since he stepped in to replace Julen Lopetegui. "Everything is in order. Real Madrid have worked out his contract and there are no problems," the Spanish football federation stated. Solari has led Real to four wins out of four since being installed on a caretaker basis following Lopetegui's abrupt sacking last month. And with 15 goals scored and only two conceded he has established the best ever start for a Real manager. After thrashing Melilla in the Copa del Rey, they won 5-0 away to Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League, between victories over Real Valladolid and Celta Vigo in La Liga. The upturn has left Madrid only four points adrift of league leaders Barcelona and on the brink of qualification for the last 16 in Europe. Solari, who spent five years playing for Real, was promoted from his ro...

Access Bank on Monday denied having an agreement to take over assets of Diamond Bank Nigeria. A national daily reported that Access Bank was set to add “Diamond Bank’s portfolio to its assets in the next few months”. But Access Bank said it was not in any discussion with Diamond Bank or any other institution. “Our attention has been drawn to a newspaper report, relating to Access Bank Plc being engaged in merger and acquisition talks with Diamond Bank Plc,” Access Bank’s company secretary Sunday Ekwochi said in a statement. “We wish to notify the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the general public that the bank has not entered into such talk with Diamond Bank or any other institution.” The earlier report said both financial institutions have reached an agreement in broad terms on the acquisition. What is left is the valuation of assets, with a view to determining the level of compensation and systems’ integration. “As a public quoted company built on best practice, the ban...

A human rights lawyer, Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, has described all the state governors as thieves. Agbakoba, a former President of Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, also claimed that voting President Muhammadu Buhari back into office in 2019 will eclipse Nigeria. He said there was no future for Nigeria, adding that the country only exists on paper. In an interview published on Vanguard, the lawyer who turned 65 recently, said the Atiku Abubakar may not bring solutions Nigerians crave for but has to be given the chance. Agbakoba said, “I have been doing this for 40 years. The latter part, that is, the last 10 years, has been a downward spiral because the Nigerian state has disintegrated. Nigeria doesn’t exist except on paper. “The disconnect lies with the fact that the youth themselves are trapped in poverty. They are trapped in unemployment, so there is no way they can see. “Idealism requires a certain sense of purpose but if the youths we speak of are busy drinking and smoking...

The first Manchester derby of the season is upon us with defending champions Manchester City hosting rivals Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola’s team are unbeaten so far in the Premier League but will be facing a resurgent Red Devils side, who have been on a winning run of late, having recently defeated Juventus in the Champions League. Here are five players who will determine the outcome of the Manchester derby: 5. David de Gea The Spanish goalkeeper has been one of the most important players for Manchester United over the last few seasons, and he will continue to play a significant part in this match as well. David de Gea's saves have kept United in the game on a number of occasions, and when the likes of Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling inevitably break through the defence, Jose Mourinho will be praying his star keeper helps keep them out. 4. Sergio Aguero Sergio Aguero has been part of the Manchester City side for close to a decade...

Man United Legend Gary Neville Says He Loved Jose Mourinho's Celebrations Against Juventus Manchester United legend Gary Neville has said that manager Jose Mourinho is impossible in both victory and defeat, and claimed that there was nothing wrong with him taunting the Juventus fans after the game. Mourinho was reportedly insulted throughout the game as fans chanted against him and when his team completed an unlikely comeback win, he cupped his hand on his ear in an apparent gesture to signal he couldn't hear them. While other former players were more critical of Mourinho's gesture, Neville found nothing wrong with it, and insisted that the reaction was a positive display of passion. He told Sky Sports, “Some people might may not like that but I love that about him. I think there should be reaction and passion at the end of a match. I even like his reaction at the end of the game against Newcastle, which the FA have appealed against." Gary Neville on Mouri...

Ahmed Gulak says he was offered bribe to manipulate the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary in Imo. The APC chieftain was the chairman of the panel that oversaw the exercise. Gulak, a former adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, says an unnamed person offered him $2 million and a private jet flight to Imo state before the primaries began. The party’s national working committee endorsed Hope Uzodimma, senator representing Imo west, as its governorship flag bearer, a decision Rochas Okorocha, governor of the state, is kicking against. Okorocha maintains that Uche Nwosu, his son-in-law, is the authentic winner of the primary. In an interview, Gulak told of how he was nearly “kidnapped” alongside members of the panel when they arrived Imo. “…Even before I went to Imo state, I was offered a private jet to take me to Imo state but I refused because I didn’t want to be compromised,” he was quoted as saying. “I refused the private jet and even the tempti...

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday declared a state of emergency on Nigeria’s water supply, sanitation and hygiene sector. According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President made the declaration while inaugurating the National Action Plan for Revitalisation of Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Buhari said the declaration has become imperative to reduce the high-prevalence of water-borne diseases in different parts of the country. The situation, he noted, has caused preventable deaths. Buhari told the gathering that he was aware that Nigeria did not meet the MDG targets for Water Supply and Sanitation that ended in 2015. He said, “The Sustainable Development Goals targets (6.1 & 6.2) for WASH are even more demanding as they require WASH services to be provided in adequate quantity and quality on premises at affordable prices. “This cannot be achieved if we continue with ‘a b...

Former Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose has again told President Muhammadu Buhari to face governance and stop complaining, saying; “When he was seeking votes of Nigerians, he never said he was coming to complain. Rather, he promised to fix what he claimed to have identified as the problems. He said the President’s time was almost up, adding that he said has spent three and half years blaming his predecessors and inflicted both security and economic crises on the country. Reacting to the President’s statement that he “inherited a mind boggling mismanaged Nigeria,” Fayose said in a statement issued on Thursday, by his Media Aide, Lere Olayinka that “it is no longer funny that a president who assumed office three and half years ago is still complaining about how he met the country instead of Nigerians having feelings of how well he has solved the problems he claimed that he had capacity to solve. “He should stop singing the same song of lamentation that he has been ...

The presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has approved for all of his staffs in his corporation, N33,000 as minimum wage. The managing director of the Atiku owned, Gotel Communications, Mohammed El-Yakub, confirmed this in a statement on Thursday. The Gotel Communications based in Yola. “The N33,000 new salary scale, which takes effect from November 2018, includes domestic servants and all categories of workers on the former vice president’s payroll,” El-Yakub said. This is following the recommendation of the proposed N30,000 as minimum wage by the tripartite committee set up by the Federal Government on Wednesday. Abubakar on Wednesday said President Muhammadu Buhari cannot be trusted to implement the proposed N30,000. In a statement issued by his media office, the presidential hopeful said Buhari, who is known for ‘flip-flopping’ may not have the political will to implement the new wage which he said does not even translate to a ‘li...

Brigadier General Suleiman Kazaure, the Director-General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), has cautioned corps members against active involvement in partisan politics while discharging their Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ad-hoc assignments. Kazaure, represented by Alhaji Habibu Kurawa, Director, General Services of NYSC, gave the warning on Wednesday while addressing Corps Members deployed in Yobe State for 2018 Batch “C” Orientation Course at the temporary orientation Camp in Potiskum town. He also advised them to utilise the opportunities of service year to empower themselves towards becoming wealth creators in view of the SAED programme. He said NYSC introduced the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme into the Orientation Course content to enable Corps Members become job creators and not job seekers. He added that the era of over-dependence on government has gone, calling for more skilled and productive generation. The NY...

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho who was the subject of jeers by the ​Juventus fans during their 2-1 win in Turin in the UEFA Champions League has now revealed that his gesture to the opposition fans post the game was payback for "90 minutes" of insults. Mourinho cupped his ear at the final whistle following United's win which went on to provoke a confrontation on the pitch with Leonardo Bonucci and Paulo Dybala, something which the Portugese claimed that the Juventus supporters had brought it on themselves. "In beautiful Italian they insulted me for 90 minutes. I didn't insult them. I just made a little thing. I respect Juventus, I respect their players, their manager -- I respect everything. I'm really proud of my boys because the performance was really good." The win on the night puts the Red Devils in a good position to qualify from Group H if they can beat Young Boys in their next game and provided that Valencia do not beat Juventus ...

Manchester United star, Paul Pogba, claims he felt "strange" celebrating Red Devils' late winner against former club Juventus while hailing his side's ability to push right until the very end. Jose Mourinho's men were trailing to Cristiano Ronaldo's 65th-minute volley and needed a moment of free-kick brilliance from Juan Mata to restore parity in the 86th-minute. Four minutes later, Juventus defender, Alex Sandro, bundled the ball into his own net under pressure from Paul Pogba, inducing a celebration out of the Frenchman. And Pogba, couldn't help having mixed feelings after the stoppage-time winner. "I celebrated, but it was strange," "It might have touched a lot of people. Lovely, we won. I saw the [Juve] fans, they were very welcoming. I appreciate that." "We played against a good team with very good players, but the most important thing is the three points. I think it's what we’ve been doing for the last few...

An 18-year-old man, Samuel Akpobome, who was arrested by the police in Edo State for allegedly killing his mother for money rituals, has explained how he committed the act. On Wednesday we learnt that he strangled the victim, Christiana Ighoyivwi, while she was asleep in her residence on Market Road, Ologbo, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of the state. The teenager, who was paraded by the Commissioner of Police, Mr Johnson Kokumo, along with over 80 other suspects arrested for various offences, stated that he later had sexual intercourse with his mother’s corpse. Akpobome, who hails from Delta State and is the youngest child of the deceased, claimed to have acted on the instructions on an unidentified native doctor. He said, “I wanted to use her (Christiana) for money rituals. I strangled her; she was sleeping when I strangled her at about 5am. I was advised by a native doctor in Oghara to kill her. After killing her, I slept with her. The native doctor told me to do ...

Mourinho responded in typically controversial fashion as the United manager marched onto the pitch at the final whistle with his hand cupped to one ear. "In a beautiful Italian city, they insulted me for 90 minutes. I didn't insult them. I just made a little thing," he told BT Sport. "I know the millions of Inter fans are happy with that. But I respect Juventus, their players, the manager, the quality they have." The gesture was meant to ask the Juventus fans why they were no longer taunting him, as they had throughout the game to reference to his time as manager of their rivals Inter Milan. Mourinho had also clashed with Juventus in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford when he held three fingers up to away fans, in reference to the treble he won with Inter in 2010. Bonucci was furious and confronted Mourinho, who was quickly escorted down the tunnel by a member of United's backroom staff before the explosive situation could escalate. However...

President Muhammadu Buhari says his administration is trying its best to organise the country after mind-boggling mismanagement of past administrations. Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, said Buhari stated this when he received a group from the South-eastern part of Nigeria under the aegis of One-on-One Nigeria, Tuesday night. Mr Adesina, in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, quoted the president as saying: “We are trying to organise the country. The extent of mismanagement we met when we came was mind-boggling. “Many times, I have spoken about the tremendous resources available to us between 1999 and 2014, and how it was frittered. “If only they had used just 25 per cent of it on infrastructure; road, rail, power, Nigerians would mind their own businesses, and not bother about whoever was in power. “The casualty figure on our roads daily is simply scandalous. No wonder they are in opposition now, despite all the power they thought...

One hundred aggrieved aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have dragged Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the party, to the federal high court, Akure over the primary elections in Ondo state. The house of representatives and state assembly aspirants were led by Kenneth Olawale, former speaker of the state house of assembly. Other defendants in the suit are the APC, Babatunde Ogala, the party’s national legal adviser, Ade Adetimehin, Ondo state APC chairman, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Through their counsel, Wale Omotoso, they asked the court to declare that the ruling APC does not have candidates for the national and state assembly elections in the state. They said the APC violated the 2010 Electoral Act and the constitution of the country by presenting candidates for the forthcoming elections without the conduct of party primaries. The aggrieved aspirants asked for a “declaration that the subversion of the electoral guidelin...