Nigerian Golden Eaglets retain U-17 World Cup in Chile-
Just so you know, I am Nigerian; so don’t ask me why I have included this story amongst other European club stories.
The Golden Eaglets as they are fondly called are champions for the second consecutive time and fifth in total.
Nigerians were particularly sceptical about their chances of retaining the title they won in the UAE two years ago owing to the fact that the team only managed to come 4th in the African Youth Championship which also served as the qualification tournament for the World Cup. The team looked really average and they struggled with goal scoring. Some also had doubts about the tactical acumen of the new coach of the team.
However, the world witnessed a complete turnaround in the performance of the team in this competition as they eased past teams on their way to the final, scoring goals like they were out of fashion. Eventually, at the weekend, it was a two-goal win over Mali in the final to clinch the title amongst other individual awards.
The only recurrent question on the lips of Nigerians is “how many of these stars would get to transit from this level to the senior National team?” Well, I guess we leave that for now and enjoy the moment and lest I forget, I got to see Amuneke smile for once!
Chelsea struggling to survive relegation-
The defending champions could never be in this position, right? Well, unfortunately, this is where Mourinho’s Chelsea find themselves after seven losses in 12 games with just 3 wins and they currently sit pretty in 16th position.
Interestingly, Mourinho was given a stadium ban for the game and it was felt that the team would look to express themselves and fight for the manager in his absence.
Truth be told, they played better than in the Liverpool game but against a Stoke City who had earlier knocked them out of the Capital one cup, they had to do more than play better. The Stoke City team sat deep and were disciplined in defence and against a Chelsea defence that had been everything but steady, they fancied their chances. Chelsea on the other hand were really unfortunate as they hit the bar and had a penalty appeal; they lost eventually.
Now the question is “Is Mourinho still the right man to turn the tides for this team?”
Klopp suffers first defeat of his Liverpool career-
The ‘Normal One’ gets to taste his first defeat as manager of Liverpool after six games unbeaten.
This was imminent. The team looked excellent off-the-ball but the effectiveness of the team when on-the-ball seemed questionable; struggled with goal scoring and facing a Crystal Palace team that has got very quick attackers especially on the wings, it was difficult foreseeing a win even at Anfield.
This loss helps bring Jurgen Klopp back to the reality of things at the club as he looks to restore the team back to her glory days.
Aubameyang is Europe’s fiercest striker-
At the weekend, the Gabonese scored his scored his 22nd goal (14th Bundesliga goal) of the season against Shalke O4 to help Dortmund remain within 5 points of leaders, Bayern Munich.
The 26 year old who is Europe’s leading scorer has been instrumental to Dortmund’s resurgence after a really poor last season and with the African best player awards in a few months, the Gabonese can begin to rehearse his winners’ remarks.
‘Batman truly returns’.
Neymar helps nail Villareal-
Perhaps, one more constant thing in life after death and taxes is Neymar on the score sheet every weekend.
In the absence of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Suarez have been responsible for all of Barcelona’s 17 goals.
At the weekend, Neymar showed once again that he’s ready to compete for the third best player in the world after Ronaldo and Messi (in no order). Particularly enjoyable was his second goal against Villareal; the technique in the execution was top class and should be competing for the best goal of the season in the Laliga. He’s currently the leading scorer in the Laliga with 11 goals.
With Messi still not cleared for the Clasico game on the 21st of November, the question is “who cares?”
Benitez tastes first defeat of the season-
Sevilla are gradually becoming the upsetters as they are the only team to have beat Real Madrid and Barcelona this season.
Benitez’s pragmatic approach had been questioned by a few enthusiasts even though the results had been excellent. However, at the weekend, Sevilla ensured that Real would go into the international break the points behind a Messi-less Barcelona.
Real started on the front foot but with Ramos going off injured after scoring an acrobatic goal, the defence was left in shatters as Sevilla scored 3 in return. Injuries also haven’t helped as stars James and Bale have just recovered while Benzema is yet to be back. More importantly, Ronaldo seems to be off-form in recent games and was practically anonymous against Sevilla.
Unfortunately, Real have to pick themselves up as the Clasico is up next!
Roma seal derby win against Lazio-
The Rome derby is one of the biggest derbies in Italy especially in reference to fans turnout. However, the game was boycotted by the fans owing to security issues
Roma were always favourites for the game going by the form of both sides and they were able to grab the win with Edin Dzeko getting his second league goal via a controversial penalty and Gervinho sealing the points with the second.
Credit must go to Rudi Garcia who has got Roma playing exciting football while getting the desired and of course, they are favourites for the Serie A.
tobiesocceranalysis 