Sports

Cameroon Goalkeeper, Onana Retires From International Football

Andre Onana, cameroonian goalkeeper, has announced his retirement from International football on Friday.

This is coming after his fall out with coach Rigobert Song during the World Cup in Qatar a couple of weeks ago.

Before the announcement of his retirement, the former Ajax shot-stopper expressed his displeasure about the events with the national team’s coach, Song in Qatar claiming that he had been misinterpreted.

“It all started in Ngol Nkok, a small village where, from a very young age, my family passed on to me the values that identify the Cameroonian people. I understood that love for this country is eternal and that commitment is non-negotiable”, Onana posted via Twitter about how his dream to play for the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon started.

“I remember how we watch the matches as a family. Only Cameroonians can understand what it means to us to see the Indomitable Lions play. That’s when I started dreaming of one day wearing the national team jersey. And now, after endless hours of training, endless trips and a lot of perseverance, I can proudly say that I have fulfilled my great dream”, he added.

The Inter Milan goalkeeper confirmed that he can only continue to support the Indomitable Lions as a fan like the rest of the Cameroonians, stating that his journey with the national team has come to an end for ‘disciplinary reasons’.

“But every story, however beautiful it may be, has its end. And my story with the Cameroonian national team has come to an end.

“Players come and go, names are fleeting, but Cameroon comes before any person or player. Cameroon remains eternal and so does my love for the national team and for our people who have always supported us no matter how difficult the moment was.

“My feeling will never change. My Cameroonian heart will continue to beat and wherever I go I will always fight to lift the flag of Cameron as high as possible. I will continue to support as a fan, just as the more than 27 million Cameroonians do at every match.

“I can only thank all those who trusted me and believed that I could add and contribute to this team. The nation first and forever” Onana concluded.

Sports

Infantino Wins Third Term As FIFA Boss

Gianni Infantino has been re-elected as the president of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) until 2027.

The 52-year-old Swiss-Italian lawyer secured a third term in office by acclamation after running unopposed at the FIFA Congress in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday.

The victory makes it the second time Infantino would enjoy an unopposed race to the football’s biggest job.

Speaking on his re-election, Infantino promised to continue serving the sport and all the countries under the federation.

“Being President of FIFA is an incredible honour, an incredible privilege. It is also a great, great responsibility,” he said.

“I’m truly humbled and touched by your support. I promise you I will continue serving FIFA, serving football all over the world, serving all 211 member associations of FIFA.”

Infantino was first elected president during the 2016 FIFA extraordinary congress on February 26, to complete the term of Sepp Blatter, who was forced out of office amid the corruption scandal.

The former UEFA general secretary was then re-elected in 2019.

Sports

FIFA To Expand World Cup With More Groups, Matches

FIFA is set to endorse an expansion of the men’s World Cup with 40 more matches, starting with the 2026 edition hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.

Sky News reports that the decision is to be approved by the FIFA council in a meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, on Tuesday.

The council had earlier vvoted to increase the number of teams in the competition to 48 from its 32-format as from 2026.

It was decided that the tournament would have 16 groups each featuring three teams.

However, FIFA is set to make a U-turn on the grouping decision, favouring to have 12 groups each with four countries.

It is understood that the group winners and runners-up, along with the eight best third-placed teams, would advance to the last 32.

Teams reaching the final, henceforth, will be playing eight games instead of the seven-run that was experienced in Qatar 2022.

The decision would increase the number of matches to 104 instead of the 64 games already proposed with the earlier format.

It was also gathered that the expansion would help FIFA hit the target of more than £9 billion in revenue.

The 2026 World Cup will be the first to be co-hosted by three countries.

The US tabled the joint bid in 2017 and defeated Morrocco for the hosting rights at the 68th FIFA congress in 2018.

Africa is set to have nine automatic qualification spots in the expanded format, while a tenth country from the continent will participate in a six-nation playoff tournament which will decide the last two slots in the tournament.

The continent currently has five automatic slots in the competition.

Sports

UCL Knockout:Ravaging Haaland Helps Rampant City To 7-0 Rout Of Leipzig

Five star Erling Haaland scored five times as Manchester City crushed RB Leipzig 7-0 in the second leg round-of-16 clash at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night.

The Norwegian’s goals were the building blocks of a Man City demolition job as Pep Guardiola’s men won the tie 8-1 on aggregate.

Ilkay Gundohan and Kevin de Bruyne were the other scorers as Man City underlined their UCL favourites tag with a resounding victory.

Haaland opened the floodgates when he converted a penalty before adding a header off a rebound and another fortuitous goal on the stroke of halftime to complete his hattrick.

Gundogan drilled a precise shot into the bottom corner before Haaland scored from rebounds in quick succession to complete his quintuple of goals.

Another well struck shot from distance by De Bruyne completed the rout as Man City equalled their UCL win record in a match.

Haaland’s five goals makes him the third player since Luiz Adriano in 2004 and Lionel Mesi in 2012 to score five goals in a UCL match.