Glasgow Rangers may relish going up against Napoli at the Ibrox without the Azzurri’s in form forward Victor Osimhen, but they must now contend with his replacement, Giacomo Raspadori in the Italian giant’s lineup, Edwin Emeanua writes for Sports Joust.
Italian forward Raspadori is a fired-up replacement for injured Nigeria international Osimhen Tuesday night as Napoli go against Rangers at the Ibrox in Scotland.
On loan from Sassuolo, the 22-year forward is thrilled with playing at the famous Diego Armando Maradona Stadium. He is now in the frame for his Champions League play, with injured Osimhen clearly ruled out at Ibrox.
Raspadori fetched the Azzurri a 1-0 victory against a very determined Spezia side on Sunday in a game that seemed destined to end in a tie. He was to tell Napoli’s official website later on: “It was crazy. I still have goosebumps.”
“It’s one of the best feelings I’ve had in my footballing career. I was disappointed because I’d missed two chances earlier on, but when the third came, I slotted the ball neatly into the corner. The team did well helping and supporting me right to the end.”
“I owe it to my team-mates and to Spalletti as well for showing belief in me by not taking me off. I told him I wasn’t tired and he trusted me.”
Osimhen speared Napoli’s front three arsenal that included Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Matteo Politano in the 4-1 annihilation of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in Group A last week.
Raspadori remains in line to replace Osimhen on Tuesday in Spalletti’s Napoli side but the Italian handler could go for other choices which includes Giovanni Simeone or Hirving Lozano in an equally formidable reserve ensemble.
Rangers should as well gear up to take on top level foes as is the fate of all teams in the Champions League, and at this level, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men show a stellar quality by aiming to put down a very famous opposition.
Peter Etebo joined Stoke City in 2018. (Image: Peter Stonier)
from start to three-year end game via love and frustration
Gary Rowett politely distanced himself a little from the signing of Peter Etebo back in the summer of 2018, Gary Smith chronicles the mid-fielder’s career in England for the Stoke Sentinel.
Etebo’s prospective exit from Stoke City to Aris in Greece four years on is a chance to reflect on a quite surreal but unfortunately not all that unique transfer chapter in the club’s recent history. It is almost three years since he last played for Stoke.
Back then Rowett was busy reshaping a squad fresh from relegation to the Championship and Etebo was technically the first signing under his watch. Not all that many Stoke supporters could claim – although some tried – to be aware of the Nigeria mid-fielder’s form in 14 games for Las Palmas in the previous season or with Feirense in Portugal before that.
Even Rowett did not suggest he knew all that much about him before he was presented as a potential £6.3m signing by technical director Mark Cartwright. Everyone would get a chance to see him in action at the World Cup in Russia, catching the eye against teams including Croatia and Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
“I have to give credit to Mark and his team,” said the manager. “He was one highlighted to me very early and the more I watched him, the more I really liked him.
Even Rowett did not suggest he knew all that much about him before he was presented as a potential £6.3m signing by technical director Mark Cartwright. Everyone would get a chance to see him in action at the World Cup in Russia, catching the eye against teams including Croatia and Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
“I have to give credit to Mark and his team,” said the manager. “He was one highlighted to me very early and the more I watched him, the more I really liked him.
“You could see that energy, power and youth. I spoke to a lot of people in Spain when he was at Las Palmas and they said he was very good for them and an outstanding player in that division.
“I think we’ve got a really good talent. But at the same time a World Cup is very different to a Championship season. There is still going to be that element of acclimatizing to a different culture, different league, different style of players – but he looks a very good player.”
Etebo might have actually joined Watford in the Premier League rather than Stoke in the Championship although when asked why he had made that decision he quickly moved the Sentinel on to the next question.
Then 22, he missed the first two-and-a-half weeks of pre-season due to his international commitments, flying in to meet up with Rowett and his new teammates on July 16 to make his debut as a sub in the third friendly, a 2-0 defeat to Bochum in Germany.
Stoke City midfielder Peter Etebo and Lionel Messi hug at the World Cup in Russia. (Image: Patrick Smith)
He was eased in, starting on the opening day against Leeds but then used from the bench until the first win of the season, against Hull on August 25 – and then starting nine of the next 14 up to a 2-1 home win over Frank Lampard’s Derby when he was sent off for a high tackle on Richard Keogh.
That was late November and he wouldn’t play again until the death knell of Rowett’s time in the saddle, coming on for the closing stages of a numbing 0-0 draw at Bolton in late December and starting a dreadful 2-0 home defeat to Bristol City on New Year’s Day.
Nathan Jones turned to him more regularly and Etebo replied with a couple of goals in the second half of the season, playing well enough to be named player of the year by the South West supporters’ club.
Jones was a fan, saying by the spring: “Peter has been absolutely outstanding since I came in – he’s been wonderful.
“His work-rate, his character, his technical ability and what he does is high level. When you first see him you don’t necessarily see what he’s got but then you see him in games and he’s a real game player. It’s clear that he’s not a training ground international, he’s a proper, proper player.
“I’ve been delighted with him and there’s far more to come because I think he can be even better when he gets into the final third, I think he can be even better with his passing and he’ll get fitter. He’s an exciting player for us.”
Etebo was popular. He was given a big send off by Stoke players when he went away that summer to help Nigeria reach the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals, which meant he didn’t return for pre-season training until early August.
Still Jones had highlighted the player’s 94 per cent availability rate over the past three or four years and fans were gushing about his potential in the run up to the new season.
But then the manager did interviews saying he didn’t want to lose him and then there were then hints he wasn’t picking him nor Badou Ndiaye and Bruno Martins Indi while the transfer window was still open. Etebo didn’t start a league game until August 24, a home walloping by Leeds.
“All through August I couldn’t pick Badou, Peter, Bruno Martins Indi. Elsewhere, people are looking, ‘Can I get a move?’” Jones said, for example, after a dramatic win at Swansea in early October.
That was Stoke’s first win of the campaign, coming in the 11th game, and Jones would only last another three. Etebo played in two of them, limping out of a miserable defeat at Sheffield Wednesday with an injury.
Michael O’Neill was parachuted in, getting his head around a squad featuring 40 players with first team experience, and Etebo and Badou, who shared the same agent, quickly made it clear that they saw their futures elsewhere. Etebo’s injury meant he wasn’t in contention for much of the period up to January anyway and he joined Getafe on loan in the New Year.
Peter Etebo is unveiled by Getafe after joining on loan from Stoke City, with a view to a permanent deal.
It wasn’t a particularly convincing spell but he wouldn’t return to Stoke again until this summer. He spent 2020/21 on loan at Galatasaray, making 14 starts as they finished runners-up in Super Lig, and 2021/22 with Watford, with a purchase option included if he played a certain number of games.
It was looking promising up to the end of September when he suffered a nasty quad injury that would sideline him until March. Watford had given two managers the boot while he was in the treatment and Roy Hodgson was a walking sacking by the time he returned to be left out in the cold.
There were still 12 months left on his Stoke contract and he came back to Clayton Wood late in pre-season due to more international commitments. O’Neill had talked with him about spending the year actually at Stoke – and insisted he was no bother in terms of discipline – but the agent was keen to secure a permanent exit.
Etebo would have been brought back in post-deadline day if he hadn’t secured that move but different countries have different deadlines and Greece’s window remains open until September 15.
So he is being taken to Aris, who finished third in the Super League last season with an average crowd knocking on 9,000. It is the same club where Badou actually ended up when he ended a loan odyssey last summer.
There aren’t many agents who see the Greek league as a better bet than an ambitious club in the Championship but Stoke managed to find one and work with him twice. You can bet they won’t be in a hurry to do it again.
Almeria’s Umar Sadiq, left and Real Madrid’s Nacho jump for a header during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Almeria and Real Madrid at the Power Horse stadium in Almeria, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
According to the AP News, Real Sociedad striker Sadiq Umar is expected to miss the rest of the season because of a serious knee injury sustained in his third match with the Spanish club.
Sociedad said Monday that Sadiq has a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and will need surgery. The club did not say how long he is expected to be sidelined but it’s unlikely Sadiq will be fully recovered by the end of the season.
The 25-year-old Nigerian player got injured in the team’s 2-1 loss at Getafe in the Spanish league on Sunday.
Sadiq was signed from Almería near the end of the transfer window. He scored in his debut when Sociedad drew 1-1 with Atlético Madrid at the beginning of the month.
Sadiq previously played for several clubs in Italy. He helped Nigeria win a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
The Nigerian international looks set to spend a lengthy amount of time on the sidelines
Umar Sadiq has been dealt a devastating injury blow less than a fortnight after signing for Real Sociedad, writes Aidan Scott for Football Scotland.
The Rangers flop has reinvented his career since leaving the Light Blues back in 2019 with productive spells in Serbia with Partizan Belgrade and in Spain with Almeria.
That earned the Nigerian international striker a big money move to Real Sociedad earlier this month and he marked his debut for his new club with a goal in a 1-1 draw at home to Atletico Madrid.
Sadiq then played in his side’s Europa League victory over Manchester United last week before returning to domestic action against Getafe yesterday afternoon.
However, he lasted less than 40 minutes before having to be replaced after suffering a nasty knee injury, and Real Sociedad has now announced it has been determined that the striker has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament.
And while it has yet to be determined how long Sadiq will be sidelined, the club also revealed he will require surgery.
“After the tests carried out today on the player, he has been diagnosed with a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in the right leg. He will start physiotherapy treatment.
“However, he will undergo surgical treatment. Further information will be provided in the coming days.”
Sadiq spent six months on loan at Rangers during Steven Gerrard’s time in charge of the club but made just four appearances in all competitions.
Rangers of Scotland appears to relish their next UEFA champions league outing at home against Italian giants Napoli without Victor Osimhen, writes Edwin Emeanua for Sports Joust.
According to Rangers News, the official communication outlet of Rangers, the club regard the prospect of not welcoming the £82m priced Nigerian international as a major Champions League blow for Napoli.
The report reckons Osimhen to be a potent forward who joined the current Serie A leaders in 2020, with Napoli as the most expensive African player of all time.
According to Rangers News, interestingly, it was with the proceeds of this deal that the Ligue 1 side reportedly made an attempt to sign Alfredo Morelos, with the Gers said to have turned down a £16m offer for the Colombian.
But now, Victor Osimhen won’t be leading the potent Napoli attack after picking up a serious injury in the Italian’s 4-1 Group A opening day crushing of Champions League rivals Liverpool.
The attacker went off for Giovanni Simeone just before half-time in the victory and Napoli has since confirmed that the player won’t be available for five weeks due to a bicep injury.
“As scheduled, Victor Osimhen underwent diagnostic tests this morning which revealed a second-degree injury to his right bicep,” reads a club statement.
“The blue striker had already started carrying out therapies yesterday.”
When any side loses a player of such value and significance it is of course a major blow, with Rangers subsequently boosted by Napoli losing Victor Osimhen.
But Luciano Spalletti’s side boasts plenty of attacking options and Rangers will need to be aware of them all.
Giovanni Simeone – the man who came on to replace Victor Osimhen – netted instantly after coming on for the Nigerian the 4-1 win over Liverpool whilst loan striker Giacomo Raspadori got the weekend’s table-topping winner against Spezia.
Mexican winger Hirving Lozano represents a major threat from outright whilst summer signing and Georgian talent Khvicha Kvaratskhelia continues to impress.
The attacker has had an exceptional start to life in Italy and Rangers will need to keep him quiet to get anything from the game at Ibrox.
Carlos Alcaraz downed Casper Ruud to win his maiden grand slam at the US Open becoming the youngest player to become the world no.1 in the process, reports the Pakistan Observer.
The Spaniard beat the Norwegian 6-4 2-6 7-6(1) 6-3 in a battle of the future stars. He breaks Lleyton Hewitt’s record of becoming the youngest player to achieve the world no.1 ranking since it was introduced in 1973.
For Casper Ruud, the defeat marks a second grand slam final loss after he was beaten by Rafael Nadal in the French Open final.
When the final began under the closed roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium, Ruud simply failed to match the power of the Spaniard. Alcaraz broke early to take the first set before his faltering serve allowed Ruud a way back in the match at one set apiece.
The pair traded breaks in the third set with Alcaraz having to save two setpoints in order to force a tiebreak which he dominated to move closer to victory. A tiring Ruud had no answers in the fourth set as Carlos Alcaraz sealed his US Open win with a nonreturnable serve.
Despite the defeat, Casper Ruud will rise to number two in the world when the rankings are updated. He falls to 3-0 against Alcaraz in head-to-head meetings.
Rafael Nadal, Alcaraz’s idol, also congratulated the teenager on his feat.
With the era of Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer coming to a close sooner rather than later, tennis seems to have found another superstar in Alcaraz who can rule the standings for years to come.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry managed to hold off FedEx Cup winner Rory McIlroy to win the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club by a single stroke, Pakistan Observer reports.
The 35-year-old birdied the final hole on the last day to finish with a 7-under 65 and a 17-under total of 199 after the tournament was reduced to a three-day event following Queen Elizabeth’s death.
He then had to wait as McIlroy tried to force a playoff but his attempted eagle putt stopped just a few feet away from the cup to give Lowry his first win since the British Open in 2019.
McIlroy and Jon Rahm finished tied for second, one shot back while Talor Gooch, who plays on the LIV circuit, finished fourth another shot back.
Day 1 co-leader Viktor Hovland led a long list of people who finished tied for fifth.
Jon Rahm had to lowest score on the final day and set the challenge for Lowry early on. The Spaniard finished with a 10-under 62 to surge up the leaderboards with an eagle putt on the 18th giving him a two-shot lead. He then had to wait more than two hours to see if it would be good enough to win the BMW PGA Championship only for Shane Lowry to spoil the occasion.
It was a first win for Lowry at Wentworth in his 13th appearance in the European Tour’s flagship event, having finished second to McIlroy in 2014.
Napoli limped to the top of Serie A without star striker Victor Osimhen, with a narrow 1-0 victory over Spezia.
Giacomo Raspadori notched the sole goal of the tussle in the 89th minute with the match appearing certain to end in a tie.
In a week spangled by narrow Serie A wins, Inter Milan managed to beat Torino and AC Milan also huffed and puffed to a close win.
Inter might have even lost the game to the opponent but for goalkeeper Samir Handanovic, who made a string of timely saves to keep his team in the game against a very determined Torino.
Nicolo Barella connected midfielder and Croatia international, Marcelo Brozovic with a pass providing for Brozovic to in-turn fire his shot past Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, thereby rescuing maximum points for his team.
The victory propelled Inter to the fourth position on the Serie A table.
Elsewhere, AC Milan also labored to overcome Sampdoria with Olivier Giroud scoring the winning goal through a penalty kick in the 67th minute of the game, following Filip Djuricic lelling out a Junior Messias opener.
Victor Osimhen is expected to be out of football action for about three weeks to a month following his thigh injury in the first stanza of Wednesday’s 4-1 pounding of Liverpool in Naples.
The Nigeria international aggravated the muscle problem he suffered in Napoli’s 1-0 away win against Lazio in the team’s last Serie A match before the clash with Liverpool.
The Napoli forward hurt his right thigh’s femoral bicep in the first half of the game with Liverpool at the Stadio Maradona, Naples.
He was substituted four minutes to the half-time break by new signing Giovanni Simeone in the Champions League win.
Osimhen missed Napoli’s home game against Spezia on Saturday, and will not be at least, until after this month’s international break.
He will also miss next week’s Champions League visit to Scottish side Rangers and Napoli’s Serie A game against arch-title contender AC Milan next week Sunday.
In the opening preliminary bout of UFC 279, fan-favourite fighter Chris ‘Beast Boy’ Barnett TKO’d former middleweight turned heavyweight Jake Collier in the second round, Frank Bonada writes for Low kick MMA.
Jake Collier entered this heavyweight class as a -500 favourite, with very few giving ‘Beast Boy’ a chance in winning. The first round went as expected, with Collier blitzing Barnett, stunning him early. A deep cut was opened above his eye, significantly obscuring his vision. However, Barnett weathered the storm, and towards the end of the first, Collier began to slow down.
Referee Mark Smith had the doctor step in as the round came to an end, ensuring that Barnett was still fit to fight. The doctor gave the go-ahead, and ‘Beast Boy’ came out in the second with a vengeance. The 36-year-old was able to get top control and began landing hellacious ground & pound at the clip of someone in a much lower weight class.
The strikes continued to the point where Mark Smith was forced to step in. Chris Barnett celebrated in typical ‘Beast Boy’ style.
