The Nation Newspaper

Tag: fans

  • P-Square wow Uganda fans

    P-Square wow Uganda fans

    INSEPARABLE twins, Peter and Paul Okoye, popularly known as P-Square, continued with their tour of African countries with another mind-blowing concert which took place this past Friday. It is a follow-up to their sold-out concerts in Cameroun, Congo, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Rwanda.

    The concert dubbed ‘Chop My Money Concert’ took place at the Lugogo Cricket Stadium, Kampala, Uganda.

    On Thursday, 13 December, the popular twin brothers and their 12-man band members flew on a private jet to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, where they performed at the Amahoro Stadium. The concert was not just a sold-out; it has been dubbed the most successful concerts in Africa with a turnover of over 100,000 fans.

    On 1 December, the duo literally set Ghana on fire at one of the country’s most successful concerts. In Harare, Zimbabwe, P-Square equally had a spectacular outing. With over 34,000 tickets sold, P-Square cemented its position as the most sought-after African music exports.

  • NEW FIVE-YEAR DEAL: Chelsea fans drum support for Mikel

    NEW FIVE-YEAR DEAL: Chelsea fans drum support for Mikel

    Super Eagles and Chelsea midfielder, John Obi Mikel, is receiving unprecedented support from Blues fans round the globe following the news making the rounds of a new five-year contract at Stamford Bridge.

    SportingLife gathered from various social sites on Wednesday that the fans are tipping the Nigeria international to continue to excel with the UEFA Champions League defending champions.

    A Chealsea fan, simply identified as Gian-Franco/Luca set the ball rolling by posting this: “Just goes to show, ppl who really know about football know his quality. He is our new Makelele and he is only going to improve. He’s scored for the Eagles; now he needs to score just one for the blues…a hat trick on Sunday to celebrate the deal will go a long way as an act of gratitude.”

    Another die-hard Chelsea fan, zg2000fs said: “He will score this season. He ventures forward more than ever before and actually takes shots at goal this season. Truly great player overall and I am more than happy that it is recognized by the managerial staff (as it has been since he was first bought) and the board. Great news!

    Reacting on Mikel’s new proposed deal, GabeU stressed that the Nigerian truly deserves an improved contract.

    “I am glad for him …richly deserved. That should take him to ~ 32 yrs at which point he can enter into the yearly renewal cycles and hopefully by then Romeu would be in state to take over doing our major lifting as CDM.”

    However, another Chelsea faithful, Mia Maynard feels differently.

    “People who really know about football know that in games where teams attack us and we need to have players running back – like Atletico Madrid and Shakthar, will continue to beat us if we have slow midfielders.

    “As we now play a flat 5 with Ramires linking them to the front 4, I finally think Mikel has some place in the squad as all he has to do is sit in a small region of the pitch – which works to his advantage and the extreme mobility of Ramires and Oscar covers up for his lack of speed. Whether for five more years I don’t know, and you know I am not his biggest fan. But, for once, I feel he could be of use,” read part of the comments from Chelsea fans.

    Interestingly, unconfirmed reports suggest Mikel is close to agreeing a new five-year contract with the reigning European champions.

    The report quoted the players’ agent, John Ola Shittu, saying: “Mikel will soon sign a new five-year deal with Chelsea, with an improved salary.

    “We are just about finalizing the details of the deal and it can be announced anytime soon by the club.

    “He has a year left on his contract and Chelsea has decided to add four more years to it.”

    However, Shittu didn’t disclose the financial aspects of the new deal for his player, who is reportedly on about 80,000 pounds a week.

    In 2006, Mikel opted for Chelsea ahead of Manchester United in a long-drawn transfer saga.

  • 3SC fans happy to see Adepoju go

    3SC fans happy to see Adepoju go

    Most fans of NPL side 3SC have expressed confidence the team will be better off following the departure of club manager Mutiu Adepoju.

    This week, former Nigeria International Adepoju quit the Ibadan club at the expiration of his contract. He spent three seasons as a top official of the club he once played for.

    Fans have now accused the former Eagles skipper as being behind the woes of Shooting Stars. One of the supporters said Mutiu did not work in concert with any of the coaches under him.

    “There was no coach who worked with him who excelled. Franklin Howard brought us to elite league later that coach failed. Philip Boamah also failed, likewise the only Ibadan coach Fatai Amao also worked with him and failed,” narrated a fan.

    “We then hired Festus Allen at the beginning of last season, but the coach worked with Mutiu. Where is the coach today? No coach could have succeeded in the presence of Mutiu and so I’m very happy for his exit in the club. With the departure of Mutiu we can now contend for the league title in the coming season.”

    Another fan accused Adepoju of being biased in his signing of players pointing out that: “Last season he recruited players at the beginning and second half of the season, but they all failed us but thanks to the commissioner for sports, Dapo Lam Adesina who quickly intervened and we finished well on the table.

    “But for the commissioner, we would have gone on relegation.”

    A section of the fans also said the former Racing Santander star was on a huge salary, which the club could hardly afford. Another fan Bayo Adeyemi expressed mixed feelings with the exit of Adepoju.

    “He was our hero when he played for the club and so we will miss him,” he said. Adepoju informed MTNFootball.com he would fly out to Spain on Thursday to further his coaching career.

    “I will leave the country on Thursday to Spain to go and further my coaching career because there is need for it,” he said.

  • Mikel to Chelsea fans

    Mikel to Chelsea fans

    John Obi Mikel apologised for the mistake that cost Chelsea the chance to open their Champions League defence with a win after their 2-2 draw with Juventus.

    The holders blew a two-goal lead at Stamford Bridge Wednesday night, with a pair of defensive blunders costing them dearly against the Italian champions.

    Having allowed Juve to get back into the Group E clash before half-time, Chelsea looked set to eke out a 2-1 win before Mikel needlessly gave the ball away 10 minutes from time.

    He then failed to prevent Claudio Marchisio playing Fabio Quagliarella into space for the equaliser, with David Luiz also all at sea.

    “If I want to make up an excuse, I can,” Mikel said. But, for me, I gave the ball away. I put my hands up, we move on.

    “I’m sorry about the mistake, but there are no excuses.”

    Meanwhile, Chelsea have condemned racist abuse on Mikel on Twitter, after the midfielder deleted his account on Thursday.

    Mikel, 25, removed his profile from the social networking site less than 24 hours after his misplaced pass allowed Juventus to level in their 2-2 Champions League draw at Stamford Bridge.

    Chelsea originally insisted it was entirely coincidental that Mikel, who said he was entirely unaware of any abuse, had decided to delete the ‘Mikel12Official’ account he set up this summer.

    However, the club have since informed the police after being made aware of the developments. A statement read: “We’ve been made aware of racist tweets targeted at Mikel which are totally unacceptable, disgusting and abhorrent. We’ve informed the police and support taking the strongest possible action.”