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Boniface Back In Leverkusen Squad For German Cup Semi-final –

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Boniface Back In Leverkusen Squad For German Cup Semi-final -

Nigeria and Bayer Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface who missed the last Africa Cup of Nations in January and February,  will be back in the squad for Wednesday’s German Cup semi-final against Fortuna Dusseldorf following a three-month injury absence, coach Xabi Alonso said on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old underwent surgery on an adductor muscle injury in January after being injured while preparing with Nigeria for the Africa Cup of Nations.

“We are in a super situation. We have no injuries and a full squad. Boni (Boniface) is also back in the squad,” Alonso told a press conference, with the Bundesliga leaders in the hunt for three trophies this season.

Asked how long Boniface could play in the game, Alonso said: “Not 90 minutes. 45 maybe not. But maybe 30. He has done a good recovery and has trained well. He has a strong mentality to come back. He can’t wait to get back.”

Boniface had scored 10 goals and set up another seven in the Bundesliga before his injury.

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Leverkusen are on course for a first ever Bundesliga title with a 13-point lead over second-placed Bayern Munich and seven games remaining.

They are also through to the Europa League quarter-finals having gone 39 matches unbeaten across all competitions this season.

“We have to take it one game at a time. That’s the way we have done it until now and we will not change that,” said the Spaniard, who confirmed last week he would be staying at Leverkusen despite interest from major European clubs.

“We have done a lot but have won nothing so far. We still have a lot of work to do. We have done a few things well to get here but we should not speak too early.”

 

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“We have to remain focused and that is the message I give my players and they know it,” he said.

Saarbruecken face Kaiserslautern in the other semi-final on Tuesday.

-Reuters

 

 

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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Olympics

This is my story: Odegbami on how he is stranded in London

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BY SEGUN ODEGBAMI, LONDON

Cancelled Eurostar train services from London to Paris, and other local services within France, have left hundreds of thousands of attendees of the Paris Olympic Games in the limbo of uncertainty. 

Even as I am also stranded until the security measures are lifted, there are ‘eyes’ over the Olympics and the city of Paris that reveal that the excitement over, probably, the most romantic Olympic Games in history, is unscathed, buzzing and alive all over France. 

The Falcons of Nigeria played against Brazil yesterday and lost. They play again on Sunday in Nantes! Life goes on! 

On ‘90 mins with Mathematical’ tomorrow morning I shall chat with Dr. Vincent  Okumagba, Chairman of Super Eaglesl Supporters Club, in Nantes; and Aramide, a former diplomat and a Nigerian resident in Paris, on the first days of Paris 2024! 

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BREAKING! Odegbami stranded in London as saboteurs  cause  travel chaos in France  before Opening Ceremony

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Travellers from Sydney, Australia, wait outside the Gare Montparnasse train station as they try to search for other trains after their trip was affected when vandals targeted France's high-speed train network with a series of coordinated actions that brought major disruption, ahead of the Paris..

Nigeria legendary former footballer,  Segun Odegbami is among thousands of people unable to travel by train to Paris to witness the novel Opening Ceremony that Paris 2024 intends to put up.
Ahead of the formal opening of the Games, arson attack has caused travel chaos thwarting athletes’ travel plans to Paris.

High-speed trains around France were hit by several “malicious acts” this Friday that heavily disrupted traffic on the day of the high-risk opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

Arsonists attacked the French high-speed rail network early Friday, paralyzing travel to Paris from across the rest of France and Europe for some 800,000 people, including Olympic athletes heading to the grand opening ceremony of the Games in the evening.

French officials condemned the attacks as “criminal actions,” though they said there was no sign of a direct link to the Games. Prosecutors in Paris opened a national investigation saying the crimes — among them property damage threatening the nation’s “fundamental interests” — could carry sentences of 10 to 20 years.

“It’s a hell of a way to start the Olympics,” said Sarah Moseley, a 42-year-old traveler waiting at the Gare du Nord station in Paris as she learned that her train to London was delayed by the rail chaos.

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Olympics

Host club at Super Falcons’ Olympic match venue, Bordeaux is bankrupt

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 General view inside the Bordeaux stadium where Super Falcons played against Brazil REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File Photo

After their lone goal loss to Brazil in their Group C opener of the Olympic Games, Super Falcons leave Bordeaux today for Nantes.

The host club of Bordeaux, FC Girondins de Bordeaux have filed for bankruptcy. This is coming just days after they were relegated to the third tier of French football after Liverpool soccer club’s owner withdrew from takeover talks, the former Ligue 1 club said on Thursday.

Earlier this month the six-times French champions were demoted from Ligue 2 by the National Directorate of Management Control due to financial concerns.

Once Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group, pulled out from takeover talks, it effectively ended the club’s survival hopes.

“It’s a difficult decision that anticipates an inevitable consequence of the restructuring process underway,” the club said in a statement.

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Bordeaux will also abandon their professional status they have held since 1937 and close their renowned training academy, which has helped to develop players such as Bixente Lizarazu, Jules Kounde, and Zinedine Zidane.

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