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FlASH: Quaresma 117 min Goal for Portugal sends Croatia out of #EURO2016

Published

8 years ago

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Ronaldo x Croatia

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Ricardo Quaresma struck a dramatic winner late in the second half of extra time as Portugal scraped past Croatia 1-0 in a dour Euro 2016 last-16 encounter in Lens.

Portugal advanced to the knockout stages following an electric 3-3 draw with Hungary in Lyon, but Saturday’s game could not have contrasted more starkly.

Although Marcelo Brozovic and Domagoj Vida had decent opportunities in the second half, the regulation 90 minutes finished without a shot on target for the first time at a major tournament since 1980.

Ivan Perisic rattled the upright in the second additional period, but Portugal struck the decisive blow following a swift break emanating from that near miss.

Nani, who became the fourth player to reach 100 caps for his country, scuffed a shot across the box to Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portugal captain’s effort was kept out by Croatia goalkeeper Danijel Subasic, but Quaresma was on hand to head home in the 117th minute.

There was one more agonising miss for Croatia as Vida hooked wide, but Portugal survived to set up a quarter-final clash against Poland in Marseille on Thursday.

The dramatic final five minutes were a far cry from a turgid opening, the first attempt on goal not coming until the 25th minute when Pepe connected with Raphael Guerreiro’s free-kick from the left, powering a header over.

A swift break saw Perisic – sporting the pattern and colours of the Croatia shirt in his hair – move inside Guerreiro and drill an effort into the side netting, with neither side going closer before the interval brought an end to a half low on quality.

Croatia had an opportunity to take the lead seven minutes after the restart when a short corner led to Ivan Rakitic teeing up Brozovic, who lifted a wild strike from 12 yards off target.

Renato Sanches, on as a replacement for Andre Gomes, supplied more drive in the midfield and skewed wide from the edge of the box after working an opening through a one-two with Joao Mario.

Croatia quickly responded through Vida, the centre-back flashing a header wide following Darijo Srna’s free-kick delivery from the right wing.

Portugal felt they should have had a penalty with 64 minutes on the clock when Nani was caught by a high boot from Ivan Strinic, but referee Carlos Velasco Carballo was unmoved.

Neither goalkeeper was forced into a save before the end of 90 minutes, and Perisic and Nikola Kalinic both spurned chances to do so in the first half of extra time.

Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio failed to get anywhere near a corner from Brozovic on the left in the second additional period, but Vida could not get over the ball enough to steer a header on target.

Perisic hit the post with a header from a Srna cross with four minutes of extra time left to play, but Croatia were hit on the counter-attack.

Subasic did well to deny Ronaldo a record-equalling ninth goal at European Championships only for Quaresma to pounce on the rebound.

Vida hooked a last-gasp effort wide as Croatia pushed desperately for an equaliser, but it is Portugal whose campaign in France continues.

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Iheanacho, Ndidi promoted back to EPL with Leicester City

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17 hours ago

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April 27, 2024 3:14 pm

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Leicester City gained promotion back to the English Premier League (EPL) on Friday night.

The 2016 EPL champions were relegated last season. The Foxes’ promotion was confirmed following Queens Park Rangers’ 4-0 win over promotion-chasing, second-placed Leeds United.

Leeds United’s defeat means Leicester have an unassailable points haul that ensured they have picked up one of the two automatic promotion tickets.

The Midlands club earlier put their foot at the door with a 5-0 win over Southampton on Tuesday night in a match where Wilfred Ndidi, the Super Eagles of Nigeria midfielder, scored a goal.

Ndidi, who will return to the EPL with Kelechi Iheanacho, his international teammate, also congratulated the club via a post on X.

“Congratulations to me, the boys, the staff the club and the amazing fans.. 2 more to go!!! We back!! 😁,” the 27-year-old midfielder wrote.

Enzo Maresca’s team tops the championship table with 94 points and is well-placed to win an eighth championship title.

The King Power side have a four-point lead with two matches left in the 44-game season.

Leicester can now claim the championship title on Monday with a victory at Preston if third-placed Ipswich fail to beat Hull City on Saturday.

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Sports

No talks with Peseiro over Eagles return, says sports minister

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22 hours ago

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April 27, 2024 10:31 am

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John Enoh, minister of sports development, says there is no ongoing negotiation to return Jose Peseiro as Super Eagles head coach.

On Thursday, there were reports that the minister had contacted Peseiro and was negotiating a potential return of the Portuguese to the helm of Nigeria’s men’s national team.

Reacting to the claims in a statement signed by Diana Mary-Nsan, his media aide, the minister described the reports as “entirely false” and “fabricated to create sensation”.

The statement added that Enoh “does not interfere or influence critical decisions of the federations” and “ensures that the federations meet the required expectations and standards in the discharge of their duties”.

Peseiro exited the Eagles role in February after leading the team to a silver medal-winning campaign at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is yet to announce a permanent replacement for the Portuguese since then.

The federation had called for public applications from interested and qualified candidates to fill the role, but little has been let out after.

On April 19, Enoh announced that a new coach would be named within the next two weeks.

Finidi George was the Eagles’ interim head coach for two international friendlies against Ghana and Mali in March.

Finidi led the Eagles to a 2-1 victory over Ghana in his first game at the helm but lost 2-0 to Mali in the second game.

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Juventus ordered to pay Ronaldo €9.7m unpaid salaries

Published

1 week ago

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April 18, 2024 10:01 am

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Juventus must pay Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo 9.7 million euros ($10.4 million) in back wages for the 2020-21 season, the Italian courts announced on Wednesday.

The Court of Arbitration, to which Ronaldo appealed, “orders Juventus Turin to pay the sum of 9,774,166.66 euros”, plus interest and procedural costs, it stated in its decision.

The sum equates to the difference between the salary actually received by Ronaldo and that which he should have received after tax and other deductions.

Ronaldo, who spent three seasons in Italy with Juventus (2018-21) before joining Manchester United (2021-22) and then the Saudi club Al Nassr, was claiming 19.5 million euros but the arbitration panel reduced that by 50 per cent.

Contacted by AFP, Juventus declined to comment, but said it would be issuing a statement “shortly”.

According to the rankings drawn up by the American business magazine Forbes, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner was the world’s highest-paid sportsman in 2023, with $136 million, including $46 million in wages.

Juventus, who are listed on the stock exchange, recorded losses of 123.7 million euros in the 2022-23 financial year, which ran to the end of June, it announced in October.

No provision has been made in the accounts of Italian football’s most successful club, currently third in Serie A, for the payment of this wages backlog.

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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