Sports
Ronaldo Blames Offside Goals For Real Madrid Defeats
Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo says suggestions of a “crisis” are overblown after Wednesday’s 3-1 defeat to Tottenham, insisting offside goals have led to recent defeats.
The Champions League holders were convincingly beaten by Spurs at Wembley in the Champions League clash, with Ronaldo’s late goal a mere consolation after a Dele Alli double and a Christian Eriksen strike gave the home side the win.
The result came just three days after the Liga champions were beaten 2-1 by Girona, a result that saw them slip eight points adrift of league leaders Barcelona.
Zinedine Zidane insisted there was no reason to panic despite their first back-to-back defeats since January, and Ronaldo was eager to back his coach and feels they have been unlucky to concede illegal goals.
“We’re in a bad patch, we want to change it and that’s what we’ll do,” he told reporters.
“We’re at the start. It’s the ending that counts. There’s a lot of time to improve and I’m sure we can do it.
“Nothing has happened; they are bad spells. We can’t always be okay. We have to be calm – I don’t think the team is playing that badly.
“People try to look for things when you don’t win [but] the team looks confident to me. I speak, I show my face, I’m confident. We’re in a bad moment but things change. When you lose, things aren’t as you want them to be.
“You have to support your teammates. It was a real blow to lose 3-1 today, and in my opinion it’s not a fair reflection of what happened on the pitch, because their first goal was offside.
“It was the same in Girona, their second goal was offside.
“They’re things out of our control, but what we can control is our attitude, run hard, battle, and that’s not been lacking in either of the last two games.
“Things are what they are, you don’t have to hide them and you have to be positive. People forget the good things very quickly.
“It’s never a crisis. We can lose three or four games but it’s never a crisis. You can’t forget what we’ve done.”
There have been claims Madrid’s form this season has suffered due to a lack of options in the squad, with Pepe, Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez all having been allowed to leave in the transfer window.
Ronaldo believes a lack of experienced players is perhaps hampering their efforts but also highlighted injuries to the likes of Dani Carvajal and Gareth Bale as key problems.
“The players who came in have a lot of potential,” he said. “Pepe, Morata, James made us stronger but the guys now are younger.
“We’re also missing Carvajal, Bale… it’s not a worse squad but we have less experience and that’s very important. It’s not an excuse. We can’t give up.”
The Chairman of Agbele Sporting, Hon. Ponmile Omidiji, has rejoiced with and extended warm felicitations to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Remo Stars Football Club, Hon. Kunle Soname, on the occasion of his birthday.
This was contained in a statement personally signed by Omidiji and made available to journalists in Ibadan on Sunday.
The statement reads: “It is my greatest pleasure to felicitate with you, the man of the masses and a philanthropist par excellence, on your day of birth.
“You are a morale booster and a great motivator to this generation. You always utilise any position you occupy for the benefit of others. Indubitably, you are a good man and worthy of emulation,” he added.
Omidiji also seized the opportunity to commend Hon. Soname’s contributions and tireless efforts towards the development of football in Nigeria and beyond, noting that such commitment is truly appreciated.
He offered heartfelt prayers for the celebrant, praying that Almighty God would continue to bless and protect him, that God’s grace would abound in his life, and that all his concerns would be firmly in God’s hands. He further wished that the world would always be kind to him.
Christian Chukwu, former captain and head coach of Nigeria’s national football team, the Super Eagles, has died at the age of 74.
The football icon passed away in the early hours of Saturday, though the exact circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear at the time of reporting.
The news of his demise was confirmed by his longtime friend and teammate, Chief Olusegun Odegbami, who spoke to Channels Television. Odegbami, who played alongside Chukwu in Nigeria’s triumphant 1980 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) squad, expressed deep sorrow over the loss.
“I just received the news that between 9:00 and 10:00 this morning, ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu, MFR, my bosom friend and teammate, one of the greatest football players in Nigeria’s history, has passed on,” said Odegbami.
“Babuje, Emmanuel Okala, MON, gave me the sad news a few minutes ago. May ‘Onyim’ find peace with Our Creator in Heaven and console his family,” he added.
Born on 4 January 1951 in Enugu, Chukwu carved a legendary career in Nigerian football, notably captaining Enugu Rangers to numerous domestic triumphs and leading them to continental glory in 1977 with victory in the now-defunct African Cup Winners’ Cup.
He made history in 1980 as the first Nigerian captain to lift the African Nations Cup trophy following a 3–0 win over Algeria in the final held in Lagos.
Chukwu went on to contribute to Nigeria’s football success off the pitch, serving as assistant to Dutch tactician Clemens Westerhof during the Super Eagles’ victorious 1994 AFCON campaign and their debut appearance at the FIFA World Cup the same year.
As head coach, Chukwu led the Super Eagles to a third-place finish at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia. His tenure as national coach lasted from 2002 to 2005, ending during the qualification phase for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
Nicknamed “Chairman” for his commanding presence on and off the pitch, Chukwu also played a role in Nigeria’s youth football development, working as assistant coach during the 1985 FIFA U-16 World Cup, which Nigeria won in China.
In 2019, he battled prostate cancer, which affected his mobility. A public appeal for support was launched, and Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola stepped in to cover his overseas medical expenses, reportedly donating $50,000 for his treatment.
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim believes Marcus Rashford was unable to see football “the way I see it” before the unwanted England striker was shipped out of Old Trafford.
The 27-year-old Rashford fell dramatically out of favour with the Portuguese boss and spent seven weeks on the sidelines until he was loaned to Premier League rivals Aston Villa during the transfer window.
“I couldn’t put Marcus to see the way you’re supposed to play football and to train the way I see it,” Amorim said on Thursday.
“And sometimes you have one player that is really good with one coach, and the same player with another coach is different.
“I just wish the best to Rashford and to (Aston Villa coach) Unai Emery, and they can connect because he’s a very good player.”
Amorim, whose team face Leicester in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday, said his focus now is on turning around a wretched season.
“Guys, in the summer… like we said before, we are fighting for our jobs until the summer,” he said.
“So, I am just focused on these games. Thankfully about Marcus he is in Birmingham now with Unai, so you can take these questions to another coach. We are just focused on our players at the moment.”
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