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Ghana Shall Overtake Egypt – Kwesi Appiah

The manager of Ghana’s national team, Kwesi Appiah still insists that promotion in his side’s World Cup qualifier group cannot be decided yet and believes any team in the group can still qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

During an exclusive interview with FIFA, Appiah recognized the fact that Ghana is on a tough spot in the qualifiers, as they have only one point, while Egypt the group toppers have six, however, that will not discourage them from winning their upcoming matches and overtake Egypt.

The Black Stars are expected to encounter Congo on the 1st and 5th of September in the third and fourth round of the qualifier matches. Even though Congo are currently at the bottom of the group, Appiah is not going to let his guard down and get caught unaware. “We’re sitting on a point, while Egypt possesses six. However, we shall win our upcoming matches and overtake them,” Appiah said to FIFA.com. “Congo are a group of good players. No team in this group can be underrated; therefore, we have to approach every match in the same manner, with unquenchable desire.

The Ghana coach stated that he is satisfied with the squad he has got. He also just wants to help them compete better in the remainder of the qualifying campaign and beyond. Egypt are currently flying on the top of the group with six points, leading the second position Uganda with two points, while Ghana sit third with only one point and Congo languish at the bottom of the group with no point.

The Black Stars got four more games to secure their move to Russia 2018. They seem set to face Congo in consecutive games, and then Uganda on the 2nd of October, and finally Egypt on the 6th of November, before the dream comes true.

MBAPPE TO MADRID WILL BE THE FINAL NAIL ON MORATA

The amount being reported as the fee to be paid by anyone in need of the latest French youngster to grow from the famed talent mill of Monaco KylianMbappe may be downright depressing.


Still suitors obsession with the young man is not far from valid justification

In leading the line of the team that managed to shame the elite club of France and the rest of the European free spenders that doing the dirty work of getting your studs down the mud of youths can still bring success, the 18-year old proved that he was one for the future.

As the summer wars linger around waiting for the transfer window to open, the figures flying around are sure not to go away quietly. What is mostly reported is the benchmark of€113 million tabled by Real Madrid.

When Alvaro Morata was brought back from Juventus last summer many expected him to be a great contributory factor in Zinedine Zidane’s first full season as coach. Continue reading MBAPPE TO MADRID WILL BE THE FINAL NAIL ON MORATA

Seedorf On Verge of taking Milan to Court

Clarence Seedorf is reportedly on the verge of taking AC Milan to the court after feeling injustice in the way he was sacked from the managerial role just before the start of the season. Seedorf was appointed as a replacement for Massimiliano Allegri midway through last season. The Dutchman came to the club with great knowledge of Milan as a whole after having been out of the team for several successful years. This was his first managerial job after having ended his playing career only a few weeks before becoming the Milan manager.

Initial results were extremely good, but they faded away very quickly. Milan ended up without any form of European football for the season after finishing in a disappointing eighth place. The team were on a string of poor results that forced the club to bring in their former striker Filippo Inzaghi as the replacement. Seedorf was out of the job after just a few months. The way in which he was forced out of the club has infuriated the Dutchman, as he claims that he is still in contract with Milan until 2016. He says that he is for around € 2.5 million in defaulted payments.

Reports are that Seedorf could be launching a lawsuit against his former employers in the next few weeks. It remains to be seen if Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi will be prepared to accept an out-of-court settlement. “We hope for a amicable solution and one that satisfies all the parties involved, but the last meeting didn’t go very well. As things currently stand, there is a strong risk that this will end up at a tribunal,” said Treu to an Italian national newspaper. Treu is one of the lawyers representing Seedorf in the upcoming lawsuit. Milan are doing extremely well under the stewardship of Inzaghi.

Abbiati Speaks About Seedorf Regime

AC Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati has spoken about the ill-fated regime of Clarence Seedorf for the first time. The Dutchman was sacked from his role as the manager of Milan only a few months ago. He has replaced by Filippo Inzaghi, who has been promoted from the youth team. The decision from Milan to sack Seedorf, who is one of the celebrated players, after just six months in charge of the team has been met with a lot of surprise. Seedorf came in as the replacement for Massimiliano Allegri only during the January transfer window.

Abbiati says that even though performances are extremely good, Seedorf has left the club because it is understood that he had off the field issues with the management. Abbiati reckons that the failure to secure a top three finish last season was primarily known to the poor form that the club experienced in the early part of the season. Even though Allegri led the club too early to tell a few years ago, he was unable to prevent the rapid decline in form after the sale of crucial players. A number of top names have departed Milan in the last few years.

The exodus is expected to continue with Mario Balotelli joining Kaka and Robinho this summer.

“In the past season, we performed poorly in the first half. Twenty-two points [between August and December] was terrible. With Seedorf in the second half [of the season] we played at a high level, but I think there were other issues that do not relate to the locker room affecting us. Inzaghi has a crazy enthusiasm. It’s infectious. The team follows him and pays attention to what he has to share. El Shaarawy? I hope he starts showing the quality he has already demonstrated in the past,” said Abbiati.

CESC AIDS RECOVERY

Barcelona recently recovered from the wobble by managing a 2-1 win over Manchester City in the Champions League. This helped them reach the quarter-finals of the competition, but there is a danger of the club losing out on the league title to either Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid. This is because they have suffered three league defeats in the last six matches and it has seen Real Madrid transform a six-point deficit into a four-point advantage with only a handful of matches remaining in the campaign. However, the Manchester City victory has put the club back on track according to midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

Barcelona have struggled for consistency under Gerardo Martino, who has also been attempting to change the style of play at the club. Fabregas has been playing a much more crucial role at the club this season and it is widely rumoured that the club are preparing for the exit of Xavi. The 26-year-old Fábregas, though, is looking at this season and says that there is no reason why Barcelona should go on and win the three trophies on offer – league title, Champions League, and Copa del Rey. The club will be taking on archrivals Real Madrid in the final of the Copa del Rey.

“I was worried that people were being overly critical of the team from all corners, because I see otherwise. I see the team wanting to be reborn. We will give it everything and the club is very much favoured in all three competitions. Yes, I’d rather avoid Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the Champions League last eight. But then again there’s also Chelsea, while Paris Saint-Germain have taken a leap in quality – any opponent are now difficult,” said Fabregas.

Fabregas has contributed 28 goals for the club in just 42 appearances this campaign.

MOU SLAMS BARCA

Jose Mourinho criticized the current Barcelona squad around 1 week ago as he stated that even though Gerardo Martino has Lionel Messi and a number of other great players in the team, the Portuguese coach still considers the squad to be the worst Barcelona of many years.

“Of course they have Lionel Messi, he is special, and they have more than him. But I think this is the worst Barcelona of many many years”. Mourinho stated.

That was the statement that Mourinho expressed just before Barcelona went head to head with Manchester City for the 1st leg of the Champions League. Mourinho was stating that the Premier League team has a chance on defeating Barcelona as it just is not the same squad it was some years ago.

Cesc Fabregas has responded to Mourinho by saying that he should focus and only talk about the responsibilities and matches he has with Chelsea instead of going into the business of another club.

“He should talk about Chelsea and their tie. I don’t think he should talk about anything else. It is not his business. Some people want us to fail all the time; some people have been talking a bit too much, for a few days they will have to shut up.” Fabregas said.

Barcelona came out on top during their match against Manchester City as they won with a final scoreboard of 2-0 which is a huge advantage as the 2nd leg will now be played in the home turf of Barcelona, Camp Nou.

“It is normal everyone gets excited over this win, especially in a nice competition like the Champions League. We knew what we had to do and did it very well.” Fabregas added.

CESC NOT HAPPY

Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas did not appear to be happy when he was substituted by manager Gerardo Martino in the recent 1-1 draw with Levante. The home team took the lead after just 10 minutes through a goal from Vyntra. Barcelona, though, did not take long to equalise the match after Gerard Pique step forward to level things up. However, this marked the last action in terms of goals in this match, as Barcelona were unable to break down the stubborn resistance of the home team.

This is not the first time Levante have done well against the top teams, as they provided a stiff opposition to Real Madrid earlier in the season. However, Madrid were able to get three points due to late goals, which were absent in this match. As a result of the dropped points, Madrid have closed to the gap on Barcelona to just one point. The talking point of the match came from Fabregas when he was substituted. He appeared to be least happy with Martino, but the Spaniard has revealed now that the frustration of not having won the match was the reason for his displeasure.

Fabregas’ future over at Barcelona was under major doubt due to interest from Manchester United, but Martino has consistently stated that the former Arsenal man remains a key player for the club.

“My reaction after I was substituted? I was frustrated with the game, not that I was taken off. I felt good and we were creating chances. It was the frustration you get when the ball just doesn’t want to go in. I have the sense that we could have played better in the first half, but in the second we dominated. We controlled the game, we were a bit unlucky,” said the 26-year-old after the match.

BARCA IS THE DREAM

Manchester United displayed interest in signing Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona during the summer transfer window but neither player were willing on making a move away from the Catalan club.

The Premier League side initially tried to secure the services of Thiago Alcantara but after failing on actually signing him, they attempted to get the midfield duo of Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas.

Rumors emerged claiming that Fabregas was tempted on moving to Manchester United but taking into consideration that he is playing in the country where he was born and bred and the fantastic season that Barcelona are experiencing it seems extremely hard to believe him making a move away from the Catalan club.

Manchester United have been trying to add into their main squad player that can freshen up the team as they already have a number of players that are reaching the end of their contracts and some of them even the end of their career’s considering the elevated age.

So it makes sense that the current champions of the Premier League are busy searching for players that might be available in the winter transfer window but even for a world renowned club as Manchester United, some players are out of their reach even for them.

It seems highly unlikely that Fabregas will be leaving Barcelona anytime soon as a matter of fact he recently expressed his intentions of remaining with the Spanish club until the day he retires and the only other club he would consider moving to is Arsenal.

“It would be a dream come true to retire with Barca,” he told fans on Facebook. I will continue to work very hard to make that happen’’.

“Playing here is a dream and means everything to me because I have always been a huge fan.”

CAZORLA SPOKE TO CESC

Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla has revealed that he learnt about the Arsenal way of life from the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Robert Pires before moving to the club last summer. Cazorla was one of the best buys for Arsenal last season, as he contributed significantly in terms of assists. His presence made the team overcome the absence of Jack Wilshere for majority of the campaign, while many even compared him with Cesc Fabregas, who was the last great Spaniard at the Emirates stadium.

Cazorla has said that he did not have any worries about moving to Arsenal, but that did not prevent him from enquiring a little bit about the club from the former players. The midfielder arrived from Malaga in a £ 12 million deal last summer. Cazorla has said that he has come to Arsenal in order to win trophies, which would be difficult to think about at the likes of Villarreal and Malaga. Arsenal, though, have not won a major trophy in the last eight years, but with the addition of players like Mesut Ozil this summer appears to have done the trick.

The club is currently top of the table with a two-point advantage over the likes of Chelsea. Cazorla has also said that the former legends like Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp also inspired him to move to Arsenal.

“I spoke with them both when Arsenal came to me, and their opinions were very important. Fabregas spoke with me and told me it’s a top club with a great history and maybe you can win trophies there. That was a big change for my career, because at Villarreal and Malaga it’s very difficult to win trophies. I had always watched Arsenal, though, because I loved the Premier League,” said Cazorla in a recent interview.

CESC DELIGHTED

Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas has said that he is extremely delighted with his performance in the 2-1 win over Uruguay at the Confederations cup in Brazil. Spain are one of the favourites to lift this tournament along with Italy and Brazil. This is due to the presence of star names like Cesc Fabregas, who have been able to define Spain in the last five years. Over the years, Fabregas has been increasingly playing as a false striker after growing accustomed to this role since moving to Barcelona two years ago.

Fabregas had enormous success while playing as the second striker or in an advanced midfield role for Arsenal. Fabregas not only created the goal for Roberto Soldado, but he also came extremely close to scoring one for himself. Due to the absence of former Liverpool midfielder Alonso, Fabregas was utilised in a free role by manager Vicente del Bosque. After the match, the 26-year-old said that he thoroughly enjoyed his new role and his performance. He also said that the performance from the entire team was very satisfactory, as Spain proved the reason why they are regarded as the best team in the world right now.

Despite having the likes of Edinson Cavani and Diego Forlan in the squad, Uruguay were not able to get a win.

“The boss asked me to play freely. He knows that when I was at Arsenal that was the position I played in the best, and it worked very well today. We played very well, we were very strong in defence and in attack. We had a very good first half. We had a great game but we were really worn out due to the heat and humidity. We feel very good about our performance and that is what’s important,” said Fabregas after the match.