Global Naija Info

Bayern players celebrate one of their goals Joshua Kimmich hit the target twice and Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller and Juan Bernat completed the scoring as the coach made a strong start to the group stage Carlo Ancelotti’s first Champions League campaign as Bayern Munich boss got off to the ideal start as his side ran out comfortable 5-0 winners against Rostov. Bayern, who will also face Atletico Madrid and PSV Eindhoven in Group D, controlled proceedings throughout in Munich, though relied on a somewhat controversial penalty call from referee Anthony Taylor midway through the first-half in order to take the lead – Robert Lewandowski drilling home. And, after birthday boy Thomas Muller had doubled Bayern’s tally in first-half stoppage time, the hosts ran riot after the interval, Joshua Kimmich netting twice in the space of seven minutes to end the match as a contest before substitute Juan Bernat added a fifth in the last minute. The victory gives Bayern a 13th consecutive Cham...

Alexis Sanchez Alexis Sanchez salvaged a point for Arsenal from their limp Champions League opener at Paris St-Germain. Edinson Cavani glanced PSG ahead after 42 seconds and should have had a hat-trick before half-time, firing wide after rounding David Ospina before slipping to fluff a simple finish. Sanchez rifled in Arsenal’s first shot on target with 13 minutes left. Alex Iwobi might have had a late Arsenal winner before Olivier Giroud and PSG’s Marco Verratti were sent off. Substitute Giroud was brought on to enliven a tame attacking display and picked up two yellow cards in his 27 minutes, the second for an altercation in which Italian midfielder Verratti also picked up a second yellow. The Gunners were often exposed by the pace of Cavani, Angel di Maria and Serge Aurier and relied on their Colombian goalkeeper Ospina – preferred to Petr Cech – to keep them in it. Iwobi’s low shot was tipped away by Alphonse Areola after Sanchez’s equaliser, while PSG would have had a 94th...

Suarez, Messi and Neymar Lionel Messi scored his sixth Champions League hat-trick as rampant Barcelona inflicted on Celtic their heaviest ever European defeat. The Argentine forward cracked in an early first goal in the Group C match. Celtic’s Moussa Dembele had a penalty saved before Messi poked in his second. In the second half, Neymar’s free-kick sailed into the net, Andres Iniesta volleyed a fourth, Messi slid home the fifth and Suarez scored with a volley and then a side-footed finish. In their two full seasons together at the Nou Camp, Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez have scored a combined 253 goals and have assisted 120 more. Those numbers are rising quickly in the early weeks of this season – 266 goals and 128 assists – and in this latest masterclass, Messi got a hat-trick of goals and Neymar a goal and five assists. They are – more often than not – unplayable. All of the weaknesses in Celtic’s make-up – and there were so many – were ruthlessly exposed. Messi scored afte...

President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in Daura called on Nigerian youths to make Nigeria great again through pursuit of knowledge, patriotism and commitment to values that promote national unity. Receiving over 100 National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members serving in Daura local government area, in his residence, President Buhari pledged his unalloyed commitment to the unity and prosperity of Nigeria. He urged them to remain focused in life, pursue their dreams and reject those fanning embers of discord and disintegration of Nigeria. The President, who specially recognised corps members from the Niger Delta and South-Eastern states serving in Daura, praised the vision of former President Yakubu Gowon in setting up the scheme in 1973. The President said the scheme has creditably promoted national unity and cohesion by exposing young people to the uniqueness and cultural diversity of Nigeria. “I asked for those from the other extreme of Nigeria because I very much apprecia...

Simone Biles The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) has condemned Russian hackers for leaking confidential medical files of US Olympic athletes. Athletes affected include tennis players Venus and Serena Williams and teenage gymnast Simone Biles. A group calling itself “Fancy Bears” claimed responsibility for the hack of a Wada database. After the leak, Ms Biles said she had long been taking medicine for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The hacker group had accused her of taking an “illicit psycho-stimulant”, but she said she had “always followed the rules”. The Rio Olympics quadruple gold medallist had obtained the necessary permission to take prescription medicine on the Wada banned drugs list, USA Gymnastics said in a statement. Wada said in a statement that the cyber attacks were an attempt to undermine the global anti-doping system. Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was “out of the question” that the Kremlin or secret services were involved in the ha...

Kenneth Gbagi Nigeria’s former Minister of State for Education, Kenneth Gbagi who served under former President Goodluck Jonathan, has berated Nigeria commercial banks for their roles in the nation’s financial and economic woes. He accused most of the commercial banks of financial activities endangering Nigeria’s economy through shady and malicious disbursement of foreign exchange to cronies, associates and foreigners. The former minister who was a guest on BEN TV’s current Affairs programme, ‘Dialogue in Diaspora,’ said that the fight against corruption by the current Buhari administration in Nigeria would be unable to solve Nigeria’s perennial foreign exchange scarcity until commercial banks and their operators were made to account for the disbursement of all dollar allocations from the Central Bank of Nigeria. Gbagi, who dismissed the claim that Nigeria currently did not have enough foreign exchange, claimed that Nigeria had enough dollars to meet the demands of genuine end use...

Lagos State Commissioner for Environment, Dr Babatunde Adejare In bid to ensure zero tolerance for waste in all parts of the state, especially after the Sallah festival, officials of Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) have intensified waste evacuation operations at notable ‘black spots’ across the metropolis. According to the Authority, about 40 tonnes of waste had already been evacuated from earmarked black spots at Abule Egba and Oshodi railway lines on Abeokuta express roads, while evacuation work is ongoing around Ajah axis. It would recalled that the Executive Chairman of LAWMA, Mr. Olumuyiwa Adejokun recent stated that the Authority would leave nothing to chance in its efforts to clear waste from all black spots across the state. Adejokun charged residents in Lagos to shun the act of indiscriminate dumping of refuse in open canals and other unauthorised places, which he said worsen the problem of flood and other negative environmental consequences.