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ASISAT OSHOALA ELATED AS FIRST AFRICAN UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SCORER

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Even defeat of her team, Femeni FC Barcelona, Nigeria’s three-time ‘African Footballer of the Year’ recipient, Asisat Oshoala, was delighted to be the first African footballer to score a goal in the final match of Women version of UEFA Champions League on Saturday in Budapest, Hungary.

Oshoala is a Loanee from Dalian Quanjian in China as being a star player for the Barcelona side. Sadly her club lost 1-4 to defending champion of UEFA Champions League side FC Lyon of France. 

The French side, on record have won the trophy four time in a row and this season did not lose any match thus made them the overwhelming favorite to win the cup again.

But yesterday on her Instagram page, the Nigerian star player took time to appreciate the consolatory goal she scored for FC Barcelona in the 88th minute to reduce the tally to 1-4.

“I would like to appreciate this moment as the first ever Nigeria/African player to play in a UEFA Women’s Champions League final game and first ever to Nigerian/African player to score in final game and first to score FC Barcelona first UEFA Champions League final goal. “I promise to keep rapping this flag (Nigeria).#NoLimit#StandingOnMyOwn#Alhamdulilah#ProudMoment#LivingTheDream#ForTheRecord#HistoryRegardless of all this, still proud of this team (FCBarcelona). It is only the beginning…… silver today, gold tomorrow. We will keep fighting,” she expressed on her office a page on Instagram.

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Six hours after the post, Oshoala with 365k followers has had 17,688 likes and comments for the expression.

In the match on Saturday, first-time finalists, FC Barcelona almost led early on through Lionesses forward Toni Duggan, but after she fired narrowly wide, Lyon ruthlessly netted four times before the break.

Lyon continued their remarkable European dominance as Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg’s first-half hat-trick against Barcelona helped the French giants secure a fourth consecutive Women’s Champions League title.

Former Liverpool and Arsenal forward  Oshoala netted a late consolation for the Catalan club but they could do nothing to stop Lyon claiming a sixth European crown in eight years.

Having secured a 13th consecutive French league title in April, the French club were playing in their eighth European final since 2010, after a 3-2 aggregate win over Chelsea in the semi-finals.

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The best-funded side on the continent wrapped up the latest of their 23 major honours of this decade before half-time, largely thanks to Hegerberg’s clinical treble.

The 23-year-old made history as she became the first player to net a hat-trick in a Women’s Champions League final since the competition’s rebranding in 2010.

The Netherlands winger Shanice Van de Sanden’s pace down Lyon’s right created the game’s first two goals, as she crossed for Germany’s Dzsenifer Marozsan for the opener and then similarly for Hegerberg.

Amel Majri then squared the ball in the area for Hegerberg’s second, before Bronze’s whipped right-wing cross met the striker’s run perfectly to complete her 16-minute treble inside the first half hour.

The result saw Bronze who helped Lyon win last year’s final and Fishlock both earn the second European titles of their careers, although the Wales midfielder missed 2015’s final with German club Frankfurt because her loan spell from Seattle had ended.

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Meanwhile, FC Barcelona President, Josep Maria Bartomeu was proud of the team’s achievement and particularly delighted within the consolatory goal scored by Oshoala as a soul lifting for the team club in the years to come.

“You have marked a path. Reaching this final has already been extraordinary. We will return again! Congratulations!” He twitted after the match on Saturday.

Oshoala, who is an integral part of Nigeria’s national team for many years is expected to bring her form with the Spanish side this season to play when the Super Falcons aims to make a mark at the forth coming FIFA Women World Cup finals which gets underway from June 7th in France.

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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Players’ union, FIFPRO, wants 20-minute halftimes, more cooling breaks amid extreme heat

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Global players’ union FIFPRO is exploring whether extending halftime to 20 minutes and introducing more frequent cooling breaks could better protect players from extreme heat.

Nine of the 16 host cities for the 2026 World Cup face conditions considered “extreme risk” for heat-related illness.

Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Monterrey and Philadelphia are expected to face dangerous levels of heat and humidity, posing player safety concerns and fuelling calls for mandatory cooling aids or schedule changes.

FIFPRO’s heat risk assessments are based on wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a measure combining temperature, humidity, solar radiation and wind speed to estimate how environmental conditions affect the body’s ability to cool itself.

Under FIFPRO guidelines, a WBGT reading above 28 degrees Celsius indicates conditions in which matches should be postponed or rescheduled to protect players’ health.

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By comparison, world soccer governing body FIFA’s own guidelines set the extreme risk threshold higher, at 32 degrees Celsius WBGT – but even by that standard, six of the nine cities are still projected to exceed safe limits.

Major League Soccer in the U.S. has a threshold of 29 degrees Celsius WBGT.

“Cooling breaks at the 30th minute and 75th minutes are quite traditional, but from a physiological point of view it does not make sense,” said Vincent Gouttebarge, FIFPRO’s Medical Director.

“Even if you ingest more than 200 millilitres of fluid, you already cannot take it all. So I would definitely like to see some project where we look at the efficacy of perhaps more frequent but shorter cooling breaks – every 15 minutes, rather than only one during each half.”

LONGER HALFTIMES

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Gouttebarge also questioned whether the traditional 15-minute halftime interval is sufficient when matches are played in extreme heat.

“You can imagine that halftime of 15 minutes might not be enough in order to decrease the core temperature,” he said.

“It could be a halftime of 20 minutes which would be significant. That has been shown in the laboratory and FIFPRO, together with the national union in Portugal in August, we are going to test this kind of mitigation strategy.”

The urgency of stronger heat protocols became clear at this month’s Club World Cup where two matches — Benfica-Bayern Munich in Charlotte and Chelsea-Esperance in Philadelphia exceeded the WBGT threshold FIFPRO considers unsafe.

“According to our position, those games should have been postponed later that day or rescheduled,” Gouttebarge said.

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FIFPRO officials acknowledged that FIFA has responded constructively during the tournament by lowering thresholds for mandatory cooling breaks and improving pitch-side hydration, but stressed that proactive planning is critical.

“FIFA have been quite responsive once the tournament was under way,” said Alex Phillips, FIFPRO General Secretary.

“They have actually modified how they’ve been dealing with heat during the matches based on FIFPRO’s input, which is credit to the work of the team. Obviously, it would have been better if that happened in advance, but it’s better that they have adapted.”

FIFPRO warned that the risks highlighted at the Club World Cup are a preview of what players could face at the expanded 2026 World Cup.

“This is not just affecting the Club World Cup, but also future tournaments either in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world,” said Alexander Bielefeld, FIFPRO Director of Policy & Strategic Relations.

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“We need a better balance between commercial interests and the health and safety of players,” he added, referring to earlier kick-off times to accommodate European television audiences.

-Reuters

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Former England and Man Utd midfielder Ince charged with drink-driving

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Championship - Norwich City v Reading - Carrow Road, Norwich, Britain - December 30, 2022, Reading manager Paul Ince applauds fans after the match Action Images/Matthew Childs/File Photo 

Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Ince has been charged with drink-driving, police said on Monday.

Ince, who earned 53 caps for England and won two Premier League titles during his six years at United, has been released on bail and will appear in court on July 18.

“The incident involved a black Range Rover which had collided with the central reservation barrier. Officers attended the scene and arrested a 57-year-old man,” the Cheshire police said in a statement.

“Paul Ince, of Quarry Road, Neston, has since been charged with drink-driving.”

Reuters has contacted Ince’s representative for comment.

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After retiring as a player, Ince led Milton Keynes Dons to a League Two title in 2007-08. He most recently managed Reading during 2022-23.

-Reuters

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From garbage collector to Starman of Ancelotti’s Brazil team: the story of Ribeiro

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I was without a team for a year and a half, doing trials… and no club in Brazil wanted me.!” Alex Ribeiro

Alexsandro Victor de Souza Ribeiro (Rio de Janeiro, 1999) was, until a few days ago, a semi-unknown to the general public in Brazil. 

However, Carlo Ancelotti, impressed by his strong performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League, insisted on calling up the Lille centre-back… and giving him his debut.

Not only that. He started alongside Marquinhos against Ecuador (0-0) and Paraguay (1-0) and helped the Seleçao keep two consecutive clean sheets for the first time in the qualifying rounds.

Alex, as he likes to be called, impressed with his 1.92 meters (6′ 1″) frame and confidence. According to ‘R10Score’, he was the Brazilian player who completed the most actions with the ball (186) and the second with the most cuts (11).

He completed 154 of the 166 passes he made (92% accuracy) and won 12 of the 16 duels he was involved in: 5 of 7 at ground level and 7 of 9 in the air. “A gentleman defender,” boasted the official Ligue 1 Portuguese account.

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His path to the elite wasn’t easy. “I don’t think you know this, but this is my first game as a professional in Brazil. Strange, isn’t it? There’s nothing better. To debut in Brazil like this, with a win and qualification,” he boasted after defeating Paraguay.

These first few days with Ancelotti have been unique; I’ll remember them for the rest of my life. I’ve responded well not only to myself, but also to the coach and the Brazilian people.  I was able to demonstrate my ability to those who had doubts. Few people give me the opportunity that the manager has given me,”  he insists

The Lille centre-back took his first steps in Flamengo’s youth system, where he even met Vinicius. 

“When we played against Real Madrid, Vini came up to me and hugged me. He said, ‘I’m glad to see you here, brother.’ That inspired and motivated me even more,” he told ‘Globo Esporte’.

‘Fla’ cut him off. He had to make a living as a street vendor. He also collected trash, especially cans. “I was without a team for a year and a half, doing trials… and no club in Brazil wanted me, so I went to Europe to play in Portugal’s Third Division.”

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Praiense (2018-20), Amora (2020-21), and Chaves (2021-22)—the latter already in the Second Division—were his springboard to Lille. The Bulldogs signed him in 2022-23 for €2 million. He has become a more than worthy successor to his compatriot Gabriel Magalhaes.

Little by little, my name is spreading. My football is reaching everywhere. This includes Brazil,” he said before making his debut with the Seleçao. Now that he’s made it, he has another challenge: I want to continue it.”

-Marca

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