Connect with us
study in Ukraine

Nigeria News

Balotelli gives Italy vital win in Rio

Published

on

RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) – A goal 12 minutes from time from an effervescent Mario Balotelli sealed a 2-1 win for Italy over Mexico in Rio’s Maracana stadium on Sunday in their Confederations Cup Group A opener.

Balotelli struck from close range on 78 minutes to give Italy a precious win as they joined Brazil on three points following the hosts’ 3-0 win over Japan in Brasilia on Saturday.

The result delighted Italy coach Cesare Prandelli, though he had harsh words for Balotelli after the striker took his shirt off to celebrate the goal, earning a needless booking just 10 days after being sent off in a World Cup qualifier against the Czech Republic.

“Mario needs to stop taking his shirt off after scoring a goal,” said the coach.

“Picking up silly bookings is not a good idea in a tournament as difficult as this one,” added Prandelli, who after the Czech incident had told his wayward forward that immature behaviour was “his personal problem and he should learn to cope with it”.

But Prandelli heaped praise on fellow scorer Andrea Pirlo, who celebrated a century of appearances for the Azzurri with a magnificent freekick for the opening goal.

“I can hardly find the words to define Pirlo. Let’s just be grateful to him and applaud what he does,” he enthused.

Balotelli, meanwhile, said he would have to rein in his exuberance as another booking would see him suspended and potentially cost him his place if Italy reach the semi-finals.

“I didn’t know about that rule of two yellows. I shall have to take care the next time I score a goal,” he told reporters.

Once again, protests by locals demonstrating at the cost of staging the tournament soured the build-up as had been the case for Brazil’s match, with some 500 people milling outside the Maracana before police dispersed them with tear gas.

Italy took the lead in the 27th minute with a sumptuous freekick from midfield veteran Pirlo, the 34-year-old sending a curling effort from 25 metres past Mexico keeper Jose Corona.

Even prior to that, Italy had looked to be in attacking mode as Balotelli fired in a low shot which Corona saved smartly before the former Manchester City striker almost deceived the keeper with a dipping salvo.

Pirlo then went down in the box after tangling with Emanuele Giaccherini.

But Chilean referee Enrique Osses was unimpressed as Jose Manuel de la Torre’s Mexicans weathered the early pressure.

Pirlo’s breakthrough finally galvanised the Mexicans, who won the competition on home soil in 1999, into action and within six minutes they were level through Manchester United striker Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez from the penalty spot.

Gio dos Santos dispossessed Andrea Barzagli on the edge of his area before he was shoved by his rival and a penalty was awarded.

Prandelli fielded no fewer than six Juventus men in his starting eleven but it was AC Milan’s erratic Balotelli who went close once again as he drew another save from the equally busy Corona.

Hector Moreno found the best way to stop the former Manchester City striker was by illegal means and duly picked up a yellow card for a foul at the start of the second period before skipper Francisco Rodriguez tried the same technique and earned the same punishment.

Just after the hour Pirlo sent another trademark freekick just wide of the upright before Prandelli sent on some fresh legs in replacing Claudio Marchisio with Alessio Cerci of Torino.

A Gerardo Flores header was the best Mexico could offer as they faded away in the possible belief they had done enough to emerge with an eighth draw in 11 games, the series of stalemates holding up their attempts to qualify for the World Cup.

But Balotelli’s late effort, firing in after a neat flick from Emanuele Giaccherini, stunned them and saw Italy take a giant leap towards reaching the semi-finals with Brazil and Japan to come and buried memories of an embarrassing warm-up draw with Haiti.

——————————————————————————————————————————————-
Posted in Nigeria News. A DisNaija.Com network.

Source: PM News

DisNaija.Com publishes regular posts on Nigeria News, Nigerian Newspapers, Online Nigeria Gist.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Nigeria News


Your Opinion Counts. Be sure To Leave A Comment, If You Have Any.

Please Like, Share or Tweet. Your Support Is Appreciated.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Nigeria News

Kano Transfers Over 1,000 Almajiris To Different States Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

Published

on

The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.

The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.

Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.

Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.

Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.

Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.

In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.

Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.

Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.

However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.

Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.

 

Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria

Continue Reading

Nigeria News

COVID-19: ‘Bakassi Boys’ Foil Attempt To Smuggle 24 Women Into Abia In Container

Published

on

By Ugochukwu Alaribe

Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.

The market women, said to be  from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.

Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.

A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.

Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that  smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.

 

Sourced From: Vanguard News

Continue Reading

Nigeria News

Woman Kills Her Maid Over Salary Request

Published

on

Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole

The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.

Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.

He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid  in January 2020.

‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.

She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.

He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.

The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police  Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.

Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.

He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’

He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.

Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.

Continue Reading

Tribune

Boko Haram Attacks: Buhari Summons Urgent Meeting Of Service Chiefs

Published

on

President Buhari and the Service Chiefs in a meeting. (File photo)

Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend. 

He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart. 

Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.

The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad  problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”

The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad,  saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts.  This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”

When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose. 

Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them. 

Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter. 

“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said. 

 

Sourced From: Tribune

Continue Reading
Advertisement study in Ukraine

Politics

Popular Posts