The Super Eagles of Nigeria threw away a four-goal lead against Sierra Leone to draw in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match which took place on Friday at Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, Edo State.
Two goals from Alex Iwobi and one each from Samuel Chukwueze and Victor Osimhen gave Nigeria a 4-0 lead in the first half before Sierra Leone’s Kwame Quee scored one just before the break
Heading back into the second half, the Super Eagles threw away the lead as Sierra Leone pulled a shocking comeback to draw the match 4 – 4.
Two goals from Al-Hadji Kamara and one from Mustapha Bundu completed the comeback for John Keister’s side.
Despite the stalemate, the Eagles are still top in Group L with seven points from three games so far while the Leone Stars are now third on the group with just two points.
Liverpool forward, Mohamed Salah has tested positive for Covid-19 while on international duty for Egypt.
The Egyptian FA said in a statement that the 28-year-old had returned a positive test, but is not showing any symptoms.
The governing body added the rest of the Egypt team tested negative for coronavirus ahead of an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Togo.
A statement on the EFA website said: “The medical swab conducted on our national football team showed that our player, Mohamed Salah, the star of Liverpool, is infected with coronavirus after his test came back positive, although he does not suffer from any symptoms, while the other members of the team tested negative.
“Our international star underwent the medical protocol after contact between the doctor of the team, Mohammed Abu Al-Ola, and his English club Liverpool, in addition to isolating him inside his room and also isolating all contacts.”
Another impressive performances from Reece James last night as he played a key major role in England international friendly 3-0 defeated Ireland.
The three Lions record comfortable Wembley win as Dortmund star Jando Sancho and Harry Maguire net for Gareth Southgate’s men before Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s second-half penalty.
James, 20, has becoming consistently brilliant for club and country as he made huge impression for Gareth Southgate’s men on Thursday night.
The England right-back, made 96% pass accuracy, won 3/3 aerial duels, delivered two key passes, made 97 touches and one shot.
Meanwhile, Frank Lampard, himself, admits he has been guilty of taking the right-back’s talents for granted, given his remarks rise since returning from a loan spell at Wigan 18 months ago.
His speed, stamina and lethal crossing have made him one of Chelsea’s most dangerous weapons this season and seen him establis himself as the most serous threat to Alexander-Arnold in the England squad.
It’s the international break and football managers and fans are holding their breath in the hope that their players who when to international duty return with a clean bill of health.
For Chelsea, like many other Premier League clubs, they have a lot of players out on international duty this week.
But there are also a number of players who have remained at Cobham for training, or to rest up with niggly injuries, with head coach Frank Lampard getting to work on how he wants to play when the Blues return to action against Newcastle United next weekend.
Here is a round-up of all the very Chelsea latest injury news ahead of their trip to Newcastle United on November 21.
Thiago Silva
The veteran defender has admitted that he has been suffering a ‘terrible headache’ in his last two Chelsea games.
‘After my last two games, I’ve had a terrible headache because there are non-stop aerial duels and a very high pace of play,’ the defender told reporters in his press conference for the Brazil national team (via the Independent).
‘We have to constantly reinvent ourselves. You lose players because of Covid-19 infections or there are others who get injured because we’re playing a lot of games.
‘We’re not machines. We have seen recent studies showing that it is more likely that we are going to get injured after having played every three days four or five times. It is very worrying for us.’
He should be fit to play for Chelsea against Newcastle United next weekend.
Christian Pulisic
USA head coach Gregg Berhalter confirmed that Christian Pulisic had returned to Chelsea to continue his recovery from a hamstring injury.
The 22-year-old playmaker picked up a slight hamstring problem during the warm-up at Burnley at the end of last month and hasn’t featured for the Blues since.
Pulisic had linked up with the USA squad for upcoming friendly internationals against Wales and Panama, and was part of the national team camp, but Berhalter confirmed that the winger has returned to Cobham training base for further treatment.
Speaking about the forward being bale to play against Newcastle, Berhalter said: ‘It’s hard for me to speculate on that. He was doing some on-field work with us as well, making a lot of progress.
‘The one thing I do know is he puts absolutely everything into it [his recovery],it’s the one thing I really admire about Christian is that he’s so focused on getting back on the field.
‘He’s getting treatment three times a day, so he’s really focused on getting back and getting better.’
Chelsea will now hope Pulisic can recover in time for the trip to Newcastle, but the former Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder is a big doubt.
Kai Havertz
Chelsea midfielder Kai Havertz will be back after the international break should he return a negative coronavirus test following his isolation period.
‘It showed up in the Uefa testing on Monday,’ Lampard said last week.”We retested yesterday when we found out. Clearly, everyone else in the squad is negative, so that is a good sign.
‘I’ve spoken to Kai a couple of times since we found out. He’s at home, he’s isolating and he was very disappointed because he wants to play.
‘He had some minor symptoms yesterday, his symptoms have escalated slightly today but he is fine. I spoke to him two hours before the game today and he’s disappointed to be out.
‘He’s trying to do all the right things. It’s just one of those things in the modern day with where we’re at. Hopefully, he isolates, does the right things, and comes back firing.’
