Defending champions Spain, Austrailia and Cameroon crash out of the 2014 World Cup
Seven days into the 2014 World Cup which is being held in Brazil, defending champions Spain, Australia, and Cameroon crash out of the World Cup.

 The Netherlands crushed Australia's World Cup dream with their 3-2 win while Croatia thumped 10-man Cameroon giving the Indomitable Lions an early exit from the World Cup with their 4-0 victory.
Defending champions Spain bid farewell to advancing to the second round of the World tournament after their 2-0 loss to Croatia making them the 5th defending champions in WC history to get knocked out in the first round of the World Cup.

Source:http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/06/defending-champions-spain-austrailia.html

Benoit Assou-Ekotto was involved in distasteful tangle with teammate Benjamin Moukandjo; Assou Ekotto lost his cool and headbutted his own Cameroonian teammate in the final moments of their 4-0 defeat to Croatia.
With just a minute left, the QPR left back snapped at his own teammate after whipping an inch-perfect cross from substitute striker Pierre Webo which crashed against the crossbar and the 30-year-old's attempt to convert the opportunity did not seem possible, Assou-Ekotto suddenly attacked Moukandjo who had been lingering on the edge of he box when the defender had crossed to Webo, he started out by shouting at him, then proceeded to headbut the 25-year-old player when he attempted to walk past him.

Super Eagles of Nigeria train just a day before their first World Cup encounter in Brazil






SOURCE:http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/06/super-eagles-of-nigeria-in-training.html

African teams have come a long way since Egypt became the first African country to participate in the second edition of the tournament which was held in 1934. Eighty years later, five teams (Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria) will be representing the continent, only this time, we are hoping for yet another first; that an African team will bring back the much coveted Cup to Africa for the very first time.


Nigeria:Best World Cup moment: In their first appearance in the World Cup, Super Eagles legend, the late Rashidi Yekini scored the first goal for Nigeria in the tournament in 1994 against Bulgaria. Yekini had a very emotional goal celebration, the Nigerian striker went into the net and let of tears of joy. #amazing. Still in amazing celebrations, current assistant coach of the Super Eagles Daniel Amokachi also celebrated his goal against Greece in their third match in the 1994 WC with a very unique disco move.



SOURCE:http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/06/best-world-cup-moments-in-africa-good.html

Bomb threats in Adamawa, Nigeria: Authorities ban all World Cup public viewing centers

Authorities in north-eastern state of Adamawa, Nigeria have ordered the close of all venues planning to screen the coverage of the World Cup across the state.
The authorities claimed to have received  intelligence of planned bomb attacks during the competition, which opens in Brazil on Thursday.

The state has often been targeted by Boko Haram Islamist militants.

Source: http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/06/bomb-threats-in-adamawa-nigeria.html

FIFA's ranking for June has misplaced Africa's favorite Ivory Coast position on the list as they now occupy the second spot in the top 10 African teams on FIFA's list. Their replacement, Algeria moved up to the number 1 spot in this month's ranking, the Dessert Foxes climbed 3 places in the World ranking to number 22 while The Elephants who have been the top ranked side in Africa since 2011 dropped two spots to 23.
Africa's top 10 on June's FIFA's rankings - global ranking in brackets:

Algeria (22)
Ivory Coast (23)
Egypt (36)
Ghana (37)
Cape Verde Islands (39)
Nigeria (44)
Tunisia (48)
Guinea (52)
Sierra Leone (54)
Cameroon (56)


Source:http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/06/algeria-claims-top-spot-in-africa-on.html

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will play against the US Men' s National Team on Saturday, June 7th, 2014 at 6 PM ET, the international friendly will be played at the Ever-Bank Field in Jacksonville, FLA.

The USMNT have been placed in one of  the strongest group in the World Cup; they will be playing against Ghana, Portugal, and Germany in Group G in Brazil. The USMNT pulled out two victories in their recent warm-up matches against Azerbaijan and Turkey.

 Nigeria will go-head-to-head in a team that will feature world's best player Lionel Messi in their Group F which consists of Argentina, Bosnia, Iran and Nigeria. The Super Eagles are yet to record any win so far after playing out several warm-up matches, they have achieved draws in all their encounters so far, and in what can be considered their last encounter before heading to Brazil for the real deal, they may decide unleash hidden potential in order to record a win.


Source:http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/06/road-to-brazil-nigeria-vs-usa-on.html

England's World cup squad published before their friendly against Ecuador.
The England World Cup squad had a terrible experience right before their World Cup friendly against Ecuador; their passport numbers were published in a security breach in Miami.

The passport numbers of the World Cup squad leaked just hours before England's 2-2 draw against Ecuador, the numbers were accidentally included in the team sheets handed out in the press box.
And as expected, the numbers of the players have already made their rounds on social media, it has however been blocked.



Source:http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/06/passport-numbers-of-englands-world-cup.html

A prominent Ghanaian witch doctor has claimed to be the sole cause of Cristiano Ronaldo's recent injuries. Nana Kwaku Bonsam whose name translates literally as “Devil of Wednesday” predicted on February that the Portuguese striker will be forced to miss the World Cup due to injures has come forth to claim his predictions.

The Portuguese FA released a statement on Wednesday confirming that Ronaldo is suffering from a tendinosis in his left knee and he is also recovering from a muscle problem in his left thigh which led to him missing out of his nation's friendly against Greece over the weekend.




Source:http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/06/ghanian-witch-doctor-claims-to-be.html

Let's consider this the last supper as the Super Eagles of Nigeria prepare to take on Greece on June 3rd (tonight) in a warm-up match with just a few days left to the World Cup. The international friendly will take place at the PPL Park in Philadelphia at 7 pm tonight, Eastern time.

Nigeria will try and use this opportunity to test out players however head coach Stephen Keshi may rest some of his best players tonight to avoid last minute injuries. Nigeria have been quite consistent friendly game outcome against big sides as they have drawn 2-2 against Italy, 1-1 against Mexico and their latest friendly match against Scotland at Craven Cottage ended in a 2-2 draw; courtesy to Uche Nwofor’s late strike for the Nigerians.


Source:http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/06/road-to-brazil-nigeria-vs-greece.html

Frank Lampard set to leave the Blues at the end of the month (June)

Chelsea FC legend Frank Lampard has announced he will be leaving the Blues in a statement on Monday as he heads to Brazil for his third World Cup appearance with the English national team. The legendary midfielder will bid farewell to the Blues at the end of June after a successful 13-season spell.
The 35-year-old Blues player moved to Stamford Bridge in 2001 and has become a household not just in his side but in the premier league.

Source:http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/06/frank-lampard-set-to-leave-blues-at-end.html

CAF's President Hayatou expresses "deep sorrow" over the death of fans in DR Congo

The Confederation of African Football has expressed its “deep sorrow” following the death of at least 15 people who were killed in a stampede at a match in DR Congo.
CAF's President Issa Hayatou expressed his deep sorrow at the tragic killing of at least 15 people which occurred during Congolese League match between AS Vita Club and TP Mazembe in Kinshasa and immediately asked the Congolese FA, FECOFA to give CAF full briefings of the incident.
Speaking Mr. Hayatou said: “ I would like to express my deepest sympathy on hearing of the untimely deaths of at least 15 people during the match of AS Vita and TP Mazembe, personally, and on behalf of the members of the African Football community, I should be grateful if you could extend our deepest condolences to their families, friends and loved ones. Further, we wish those that have been reported injured and receiving medical assistance full recovery.”

Source:http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/05/cafs-president-hayatou-expresses-deep.html

Congratulations!!! Nigeria's goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama named African Player of the season in French Ligue 1


Nigerian keeper Vincent Enyeama was named the best African player in French Ligue 1 on Monday. According to Lille's official site, the 31-year-old Nigerian Keeper  who succeeded Gabonese Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at Dortmund was named African Player of the season in French Ligue 1 over Ivorian defender Serge Aurier (Toulouse) and Cameroon's Henri Bedimo (Lyon) in the FRI and France 24 poll.

Source:http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/05/nigerian-goalkeeper-vincent-enyeama.html

Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure admits that family ties are being stretched to its limit following the title race with older brother Liverpool's Kolo Toure.
Speaking after City's 3-2 win over Everton which help put them in control of their Championship race, while jeopardizing Liverpool's chances of winning, the Toure brother who is most likely to win this year spoke more about dealing with title race with a family member (Kolo Toure)
"Oh yes, it's been really difficult. You can't imagine how difficult," Yaya Toure said of the fight within the family.
"Your family have to try to be balanced - they are divided. Sport is unbelievable in that it can break hearts.
"If it is my brother who wins it I would still be happy for him. It would be amazing for him.
"But whatever I'm doing I always try to win - I've always been the same. I will only lose if someone is better than us.
"But it's still so tight - Liverpool still have a chance and so do Chelsea - they beat us twice, don't forget. It's going to be exciting.
"The family don't want to choose a side. We don't know how it will end.
"They just say 'the best team will win it'. They know that both teams have the quality to do it so let's wait and see."

Source: http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/05/premier-league-championship-two.html

The reporter accidentally bumped into one of Zlatan's two sons on his way to the tunnel.Not too pleased with the action, Zlatan who also happens to be a black belt holder pushed Tallleron (the journalist) back, clenched his fist while giving the journalist the look of death.

Source:http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/05/psg-striker-zlatan-ibrahimovic-defends.html

The Gambia Sports Minister replaces GFF committee over CAF disqualification.
The Gambia's Minister of Youth and Sports Alieu K Jammeh has replaced the country's Football Association committee members following their recent CAF suspension.
CAF recently disqualified The Gambia FA from participating in all of CAF's competition, in other words, most competition within Africa for 2 years after being found guilty of age fraud.
CAF's Executive Committee imposed the 2-year ban on the Gambia Football Associaiton from all its competitions after the body was found guilty of using ineligible players in the African U-20 Championship qualifiers.

Source:http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-gambia-sports-minister-replaces-gff.html

While Cristiano Ronaldo is well-known for his goal-scoring abilities, even Ronaldo himself will be shocked by his recent goal against Valencia.
The World Cup bound striker scored his last minute goal with his heel, yes, Ronaldo netted a cross from Angel di Maria with the back of his heel on Sunday forcing a  2-2 tie against Valencia and keeping Real Madrid's hope for the title alive.


Source:http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/05/cristiano-ronaldos-spectacular-back.html

Will you rock this haircut?

MLS striker Dominic Oduro took his love for pizza to greater heights with his recent pizza haircut. Oduro premiered his new haircut via Twitter ahead of Columbus Crew's match against New York Red Bulls this past weekend along with the message: “u all know my luv for pizza is unquestionable.”


Source:http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/04/mls-striker-dominic-oduro-gets-cheesy.html

Just 3 days after racist comments made by L.A Clippers owner Donald Sterling was made public by TMZ, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced the league has banned the now former owner for life and fined him $2.5 million. For now, from all indications, Clippers President Andy Roeser will see to the day-to-day running of the club.

The commission made the announcement just hours before the Clippers were up for their 5th game in the ongoing playoffs.


Source:http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/04/nba-bans-donald-sterling-for-life-fines.html

Malian fan laments about the their loss to the Super Eagles

The fan being interviewed here was so distraught by Mali's loss to the Super Eagles during last year's Nations Cup that he did not hesitate to express his anger over the outcome of the game.
The video is being roughly translated, not too sure about the accuracy of the translation, he however seems visibly emotional, and according to the translation, he insisted that “the Super Eagles boys were looking like lions on the field and that they had “inflicted a new war on Mali.”

Sorry, not too sure how to upload videos but here's a link to the video-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfAZbS0wrZg

SOURCE:http://wasaafrica.blogspot.com/2014/04/video-malian-fan-laments-about-their.html