Spain came from a goal down to overcome Georgia 4-1 in the second round of the 2024 European Championship. 

Goals from Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, Nico Williams and Dani Olmo turned the game against a spirited Georgia side that went ahead in the first half via an own goal at the Cologne stadium on Sunday.

Coming off a historic 2-0 win over Portugal in the group stage, Georgia were on the back foot but took the lead fortuitously in the 18th minute when Robin Le Normand diverted a dangerous cross into his team’s goal.

Spain, the only team with immaculate performance in the competition, restored parity 20 minutes later through a Rodri’s curler into the bottom corner, ensuring both nations went into the interval level.

La Furia Roja took the lead six minutes after the interval through Ruiz’s header from Lamine Yamal’s cross, before the electric Williams left a player for dead before slamming a shot into the top corner for 3-1 on 75 minutes.

Olmo added more gloss to the victory seven minutes from time with an identical goal to Spain’s first.

Spain will face hosts Germany in the last-eight round on Friday, July 5.

On the other hand, England required a last-gasp Jude Bellingham acrobatic-kick equaliser to force extra time before Harry Kane’s header won it for the Three Lions in their 2-1 win over Slovakia.

Saved from embarrassment, Gareth Southgate’s side will face Switzerland in the quarter-final.

Bayern Munich legend, Lothar Matthaus has named former Manchester United midfielder, Marcel Sabitzer as the best player at Euro 2024 so far.

Sabitzer has played a key role for Austria at Euro 2024.

The Borussia Dortmund star helped his nation finished top of Group D ahead of France and the Netherlands.

He will hope to lead Austria to victory when they play Turkey in the last-16 on Tuesday.

“My player of the tournament so far is Marcel Sabitzer,” Matthaus wrote in his column for German outlet Sport.

“I saw him live in Berlin during Austria’s 3-2 win over Holland.

“His speed, his lightness, his finesse, the way he uses his teammates, the way he works in the back, the speed with which he plays forward – I have hardly seen him like this in Dortmund.

‘”Sabitzer stands out in this impressive Austrian team.”

[DailyPost]

Antelopes do not fly. That’s why I often wondered why Rangers International Football Club of Enugu are nicknamed ‘the Flying Antelopes’.

I know the genesis of the name ‘Rangers’. It is a deadly and destructive cannon used by Biafran soldiers during the bloody Nigerian Civil War.

They were only halted in their march to the top only by the heroics of Amusa Adisa, the goalkeeper of WNDC FC, the team that later became IICC Shooting Stars International FC.

Adisa had dramatically caught a last-minute penalty kick taken by Godwin Achebe, Captain of the Green Eagles (before and immediately after the War) and of Rangers FC, that would have possibly helped the team to go on and win a match they were dominating up till that point in the dramatic match. That’s how Rangers lost their first major final match by 2-1 to a team that would become their greatest rival in Nigerian football through the decades since then.

That same year, 1971, in a competition that was referred to as an ‘emergency league’, Rangers FC emerged the league champions for the first time. 

But it was in 1974 that their 3-year dominance of Nigerian football truly began. From that year, they went on to win the FA Cup 3 times and the league cup twice, back-to-back.
These achievements were unprecedented in Nigeria’s football history and have not been matched fifty years after.

Remarkably, it was not only the victories that made Rangers International FC famous and a great team. It was inthe manner of their performances on the field of play. They played with uncommon passion and determination.  They had very skillful, very strong and very fast players in all departments on the field, with a goalkeeper who,at about 6 ft 5 inches tall, was a real giant between the posts. Emmanuel Okala went on to become the most celebrated goalkeeper with his award of Africa’s Best Player in 1978 by the African Sports Journalists Union.

Rangers International FC always and everywhere played as if possessed, contesting for every ball on the field as if their lives depended on it, physically intimidating and dominating teams with their physicality, power and speed, leaving a physical or mental ‘scar’ on every opposing team. 

These achievements were unprecedented in Nigeria’s football history and have not been matched fifty years after.

Remarkably, it was not only the victories that made Rangers International FC famous and a great team. It was in the manner of their performances on the field of play. They played with uncommon passion and determination.  They had very skillful, very strong and very fast players in all departments on the field, with a goalkeeper who,at about 6 ft 5 inches tall, was a real giant between the posts. Emmanuel Okala went on to become the most celebrated goalkeeper with his award of Africa’s Best Player in 1978 by the African Sports Journalists Union.

Rangers International FC always and everywhere played as if possessed, contesting for every ball on the field as if their lives depended on it, physically intimidating and dominating teams with their physicality, power and speed, leaving a physical or mental ‘scar’ on every opposing team.  

In 1977, Rangers FC added the appellation ‘International’ to its name when it won the Africa Cup-winners Cup, only the second Nigerian club side to win the same continental trophy. One year earlier, in 1976, IICC Shooting Stars International FC had blazed the international success trail. 

That achievement meant a great deal in  Nigerian football and to the global followers of the great club based inEnugu. To mark the 40th anniversary of winning the continental trophy, in 2017, the clubs patrons and supporters organised and held the biggest celebration in the history of the team in Houston, Texas, USA. 

Why USA?

Most of the surviving players of the 1970s and 1980s had moved to the USA for studies or in pursuit of a better life. It was, therefore, a great opportunity to re-unite and celebrate them in an audience of members of the Igbo community in the USA with a surprise-guest to embellish the historic event. 

… a Ranger that never played for Rangers International! 

When I received a phone call from the Patron of the Rangers FC Supporters Club in the USA, Chief Benson Ejindu,  inviting me to the celebration, it was a confirmation of my deepest love. I had always loved members of the Rangers International football players in the national team. They infected every one of us from different clubs with their positive attitude and fighting spirit. They inspired and drove us to new heights in the national teams of the 1970s. A few of the players became my best friends beyond the football field, a relationship we have sustained till this day. 

Despite this mutual admiration and respect between us, I was a tormentor-in-chief of Rangers International FC during the years of their rivalry with my team, Shooting Stars FC.  There were 6 players from Rangers FC and 5 from Shooting Stars in the 1980 AFCON-winning Green Eagles. We should have been ‘enemies’, but were not. The friendship between us sustained beyond our times as members of the national team. 

The epic semi-final matches of the Africa Cup-Winners Cup in 1977, pitched Rangers International with their fiercest domestic rivals, Shooting Stars FC. Those two matches are still considered amongst the greatest and most memorable football matches in Nigeria’s football history. Although Rangers eventually won via penalty kicks after the second match that was played on neutral ground in Kaduna, the story of what actually transpired could only be recalled and told by one deeply involved in the unprecedented football drama. 

That’s why I was invited. To grace the event with my presence and to recall the period for the benefit of the audience of over 400 Nigerians packed into a hall in downtown Houston in 2017. 

It was apparent from my unscripted story that my love for Rangers International FC is deep. It was a team I would have loved to play for in those days of our rivalry, but for the fact that I was Yoruba, and Rangers were a team that wore the banner of a team with a mission after the Civil war between ‘brothers’. 

That’s why, I refer to myself a Ranger that never played for Rangers International FC.

That’s why, last week, I celebrated Rangers International’s return to the top of Nigerian football in their achievement as professional Football League winners.  

I am hoping that this will spur other teams in the category of Movements of the people, to make a comeback and be in the fore front of football development as business in the country. 

That’s why the return of Rangers International FC as champions of the Nigerian Professional Football league is huge! I add my humble voice to the celebrations

India won the T20 World Cup title with Virat Kohli starring in a thrilling seven run victory over South Africa in a classic final at Kensington Oval on Saturday.

Kohli, who later announced his retirmenet from T20 internationals, steadied the India innings with his fine 76 taking them to a strong 176-7.

When Heinrich Klaasen blasted a superb 52 from 27 balls, it looked as though South Africa, appearing in first final, were closing in on victory but they were halted by some outstanding Indian bowling and catching at the end.

South Africa ended on 169-8 with Hardik Pandya taking 3-20 for India to the delight of the huge Indian following at the stadium.

The win is the second T20 World Cup title for India following their triumph in the first edition in 2007 and it also ends their 11-year wait for a major title going back to the 2013 Champions Trophy.

Veteran Kohli had struggled in the tournament, coming into the final with an average of just 10.7, but he delivered his best innings at the perfect moment with his balanced batting ensuring India won the title after an unbeaten tournament.

“I am so proud to get the runs for the team the day it mattered most,” said Kohli.

“The occasion prompted that change for me, I felt like it was now or never. We have wanted to lift a trophy for a long time.

“The occasion made me put my head down, respect the situation and play the innings that the team needed from me.

“I wasn’t feeling myself before today. I wasn’t confident. So I am very grateful and humble right now. It has been difficult, so there are a lot of emotions,” he added, confirming that the game was his last T20 for India.

“This was an open secret. It’s time for the next generation to take over.”

– Yadav catch –

Kohli’s asssured display was just what was needed for India who had slipped to 34 for three after their captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat.

In what has been a low scoring tournament, the total looked to be a daunting one for South Africa but then Quinton de Kock (39) and Tristan Stubbs (31) set the Proteas on their way before Klaasen turned the game in their direction in the 15th over, smashing Axar Patel for 24 including two fours and two sixes.

When Klaasen was finally removed, caught behind off Hardik Pandya, the Proteas needed just 26 off the last 23 balls.

Knowing they had to take the initiative, Rohit turned early for Jasprit Bumrah’s final over and he answered the skipper’s call perfectly, bowling Marco Jansen and conceding just two runs in the 18th over.

That meant South Africa needed 20 from the final two overs and Arshdeep Singh bowled a superb length to allow just four.

With 16 to win off the last over, Pandya bowled a full-toss at Miller who smashed it high straight down the ground but Suryakumar Yadav produced a breath-taking catch on the boundary, throwing the ball back into play before he crossed the ropes and then returning to complete the catch.

Kagiso Rabada edged a four and Pandya showed some nerves with a wide but the seamer kept his cool to ensure silverware for India after they lost in last year’s 50 Over World Cup on home soil.

For the 35-year-old Kohli it was the perfect way to bow out in the format.

“This was my last T20 World Cup and this is exactly what we wanted to achieve,” he said.

“It was an amazing game. One day you feel like you can’t get a run but one day, things just click. It hasn’t quite sunk in for me yet.”

It was a bitter end for South Africa who had reached their first World Cup final after ending a streak of seven defeats in semi-finals in both World Cup formats.

“Gutted for the time being, it’ll take some time to reflect on a really good campaign, hurts quite a bit but incredibly proud,” said captain Aiden Markram.

“We bowled well, not a lot to work with, it was a chaseable total, batted well, came down to the wire, gutted not to get over the line.

“Things happen quickly at the back end, but got into a great position to prove we were worthy finalists.

“South Africans are competitive, respectful and will go down with a fight. It’s still a proud moment for us.”