Lukas Podolski struck twice to help Arsenal keep up the pressure on Everton in the race for the top four with a convincing win over West Ham at the Emirates Stadium.

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Lukas Podolski struck twice to help Arsenal keep up the pressure on Everton in the race for the top four with a convincing win over West Ham at the Emirates Stadium. - See more at: http://www.naijaloaded.com.ng/2014/04/15/video-arsenal-3-1-west-ham-premier-league-highlights/#sthash.5ngWzGcj.dpuf

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos state Thursday received the UEFA Champions League Trophy, even as he urged African continent to tap into the opportunities the game of football present.

The governor added that tapping into the benefits of football would help the continent grow its economy and alleviate poverty.

Fashola who spoke after receiving the trophy at the State House, Ikeja as part of the ongoing trophy tour in Lagos, said "millions of children on the streets can benefit from the enterprise the game of football brings, and that opportunities abound in the round leather game, which has become a major economic contributor to global development."

 

Super Eagles striker, Ikechukwu Uche has said that he was  surprised by coach Stephen Keshi's declaration that he was an undisciplined player hence he was dropped from his list of players for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Uche has not played for the Eagles since the 2013 Nations Cup where he was used sparringly by coach Keshi.

And despite being the highest  scoring Nigeria striker in the European League, Keshi has turned his back on the Villarreal of Spain player.

He said his reason for not including Uche in his plans was because the player was badly behaved and he rarely played to instructions.

Tragedy struck the family of late goal-king, Rashidi Yekini on Wednesday, when Rashid's immediate younger sister, Rofiat Yekini, died in a motor accident along Okuku-Osogbo road.

The auto crash occurred last Wednesday.

Complete Sports reports that the mother of three, alongside two others died instantly after their 18 passengers' vehicle collided with a lorry.

Confirming the sad news, the legal counsel to Rashidi Yekini, Barrister Mohammed Jubril said "Rofiat who was returning back to Offa from a business trip, as well as two others died on the spot. He said the auto crash occurred around 1pm of Wednesday afternoon.

Founder of  Kanu Heart Foundation, KHF, Nwankwo Kanu at the weekend underwent a corrective heart surgery at the Cleveland Hospital , Ohio, USA.

The surgery was carried out during one of his normal yearly routine medical checks at the hospital following the 1997 heart surgery at the same hospital.

Co-ordinator of the Kanu Heart Foundation, Pastor Onyebuchi Abia confirmed the success of the surgery adding that the former Super Eagles captain has since left the intensive care unit, ICU, of the hospital and is recuperating in the hospital.

"He'll be back home in a few days time'', Abia said in a statement. I spoke with him Sunday afternoon and he confirmed he's in a stable condition.

Super Eagles 2014 FIFA World Cup preparation and participation has received a massive boost with the approval of N1.6 billion extra budgetary allocation to the team by the Federal Government. Checks revealed on Thursday that President Goodluck Jonathan who is looking forward to a good outing in Brazil from the senior national football team, the Super Eagles, has approved the funds expected to be released any moment from now.

A top government source in Abuja confirmed to newsmen last week that the money is mainly for the preparation and participation of the Super Eagles at the Mundial in the South American nation.

"The Federal Government is committed to the Super Eagles doing well at the World Cup in Brazil that is why President Jonathan has approved N1.6billion for the team. The money is different from whatever the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) may have appropriated for the team in their 2014 budget," revealed the reliable source Thursday.

Sir Alex Ferguson believes David Moyes will be a success at Manchester United and should be given time to improve the team.

Moyes has been widely criticised for the job he has done at Old Trafford since replacing Ferguson at the helm during the summer.

United, who are not playing this weekend, are seventh in the Premier League table, trailing leaders Chelsea by a huge margin of 18 points - and are on the verge of Champions League elimination following their 2-0 defeat to Olympiakos in Athens.

Missing out on European football is a very real prospect for United, who were knocked out of the FA Cup by Swansea and the Capital One Cup by Sunderland - both at Old Trafford.

They are also 12 points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City and face an uphill battle to secure Champions League qualification through their league placing.

Sometime ago, I discovered that a friend of mine is playing under 21 in Nigeria and according to his data he is just 20yrs old. I was shocked! But I later discovered that it's called football age. If you try to expose the truth many people will hate you, they will say you are an "enemy of progress". So, the lies continue.

Could this be the case with Samuel Eto'o? Anything is possible. It seems Chelsea coach, Jose Mourinho, is one of those who doesn't believe that Eto'o is just 32-year-old. In the words of Mourinho: "The problem with Chelsea is I lack a scorer. I have Eto’o but he is 32 years old, maybe 35, who knows?"

But his ex-lover, Anna Barranca, who has an 11year old daughter with him, has exposed Eto'o...

Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi , has closed the World Cup door on Ikechukwu Uche, saying he lacks tactical discipline.

Uche is one of Nigeria's reliable goal scorers and has scored 12 goals this season for Villarreal, MTNFootball.com reports.

On Monday night, the striker returned to action after he was sidelined by injury for two weeks.

He last featured for Nigeria in the final of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations against Burkina Faso.

Keshi speaking to MTNFootball.com from his base in the United States said, "Ikechukwu Uche is not a player I have not seen play. Ike Uche problem is not knowing how to play football.

"His problem is that he wants to dictate how we play in Super Eagles, he wants to tell us the system we're playing is not good.

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has agreed a new five-and-a-half year contract worth up to £300,000 a week.

The 28-year-old England international will extend his current contract by four years, tying him to the club until June 2019.

His old deal, which would have expired next year, paid up to £250,000 a week.

Rooney joined United from Everton in August 2004 and is only 42 goals shy of passing Bobby Charlton's record total of 249 for United.
The former Everton forward has taken 430 games in all competitions to score his 208 goals for the Red Devils.

 

According to Adidas, the Super Eagles will pull on their new 2014 World Cup kit for the first time against Mexico in a friendly match in Atlanta, USA.

The sportswear giants revealed the new home jersey on Friday and explained that it "departs from the traditional racing green to an exciting and striking lighter variant, reflecting a fresh, young and vibrant Super Eagles team that carries the hopes of a proud Nigerian nation".