USN Sports Articles Round Up

THE AFRICAN "DRAW" OF NATIONS

Where are our winners? This seemed to be the question on everyone's lips after match day four of the tournament. Is this because of lack of quality or absence of true contenders? I remember that right before the tournament,the four teams tipped to be genuine contenders were Algeria, Cote d Ivoire, Ghana and Cape Verde, with the latter losing just one of their six qualifying group matches. The countries tipped as genuine contenders have been without doubt the most disappointing of the competition so far. With many teams cancelling each other out, and with a few sides rising above the rest, it will be hard to forecast how things will unravel during the latter stages of the competition. And the coaches? They just mop on, seemingly out of ideas. After match day twelve of the tournament, bringing the group stages to an end, we have out of the 24 matches played,13 draws were recorded, with just 11matches won. And the group D runners up position was decided by a draw when Mali and Guinea finished on the same point and goal difference. After the draw which was held on Thursday afternoon, Guinea came out as group D runners up. And after all these draws,I wouldn't blame the soccer fan who after watching the match between Cameroon and Guinea end in a draw shouted- 'the African draw of nations.' I smiled to myself, knowing that I wouldn't have to look hard for a caption to this my article.

By Onyekwere Chijioke.

Eke Emmanuel

Barcelona Defender And Columbian Sweetheart Welcomes Their Second Child

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique and superstar
singer Shakira welcomed their second child into the
world on Thursday night.
Shakira gave birth to a baby boy without
complications in a scheduled caesarean section at
the Hospital Quiron Tecknon in Barcelona.
Pique, and the Colombian pop-star
announced the news in a statement shortly before
midnight.
A name for the new-born, who arrives just over two
years after the couple’s first child, Milan, is yet to
be revealed.
Around 24 hours before the birth, Pique had played
the full 90 minutes in Wednesday night’s 3-2 Copa
del Rey victory over Atletico Madrid at the Vicente
Calderon.
As with their first child, Pique and Shakira will
continue family tradition and make the baby an
associate member of FC Barcelona.
The celebrity couple have been together since 2010.

 

 

Muoghalu Francis

 

DIEGO COSTA- THE PERFECT KILLER     

 

The arrival of the £28m Athletico Madrid goal poacher made waves in England. Many expected harvest of goal in capital city, that man Diego costa didn't fail to live up to expectations as he quickly adapted to life in the premiership as he scored 7 in his first four games. His statistics matched that of the footballing legends(Messi/Ronaldo). His dip in form coupled with injuries restrained his impact in the game as many thought he was just one of many Chelsea big money buys who end up disappointing. Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho never lost faith in him as he played the injury prone striker week in week out. With the effect of Cesc Fabregas in the blues midfield having cranking up loads of assists and Oscar, Hazard and Willian making good build up plays for Costa to dispose his duty effectively.          Mourinho branded the crop of strikers he had last season baby dolls as they could not score beyond 25goals all season. Costa have already had 20goals midway through the season and Jose never stops praising his Point man. His antics at Stamford bridge got him the nick 'The Beast' as so many blue faithfuls knew they had a weapon of destruction at their disposal, Analyzing Diego's game its all clear hes the perfect striker any team would want to have. He gets his teammates in play and he takes on the defenders head to head. Costa is the perfect Jose Mourinho chelsea have on the pitch as he portrays the characters of his manager. Having already gotten 8 yellow card in the league this season you would say he does the dirty job upfront.   Most times things don't turn out in his favor as he has had decisions go against him, getting a yellow for diving when it was clear he was brought down. Even when Diego doesn't score goals, he creates opportunity for his teammates in the attacking third to score.     In the last game against Liverpool at the bridge Diego was the point of view as he collided with Skrtel on many occasions. Exchanging words with the red's captain steven Gerrard and stamping on the ankle of Emre Can. The issue with the later getting the Chelsea man into trouble as he risks an FA charge probably a three game ban if he fails to contest the decision. With the ups and downs he has encountered in the premiership and the support of his coach, teammates and fans. Will Costa keep his bad moments behind and  score the goals or will they weigh the prolific strikers effect on the game down?