Pick of the week: Falcons break jinx, Everton, and Sheffield dance to deduction rhythm while the athletics federation raises the bars.
By Nengi Ernest
The world of sports is never void of actions and stories with a lot of thrills and frills dominating every moment in the games — captivating, heartbreaking, happy and what have you dominated the scenes in the week. As the week winds down, is there anything more exhilarating than a roundup of the hottest sports highlights of the week crowned with the expectations of a new week?
Anything more than 16 years could have been disastrous — Last week, some were left to overthink the consequences of a slim victory, a goal-game result, while some were overjoyed with the victory of the Super Falcons in the first leg tie of the Paris Olympics 2024 qualifiers held at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja, and after much anticipation for the second leg affair of the ultimate round, the Super falcons broke the jinx with a 1-0 aggregate win to qualify to the Olympic for the first time after failing to do so in 16 years (2008 Beijing).
Further, the Cooper Queens also locked up the last spot as they produced a shocking performance against their North African rivals Morocco and earned the ticket with a 2-3 win on aggregate.
However, we lie in Group C with the World Cup reigning champions Spain, Japan who tearfully left the last edition of the World Cup in the quarter-finals and Brazil who are hoping to redeem themselves after exiting the World Cup during the group stages. Besides, the Falcons exceeded expectations at the women’s World Cup. Will they be able to replicate the same feat?. Zambia also lies in a tough group with some successful teams in the women’s Olympics such as the USA and Germany, Australia completes the group.
Far away in Europe, it is definitely crunch time in the UEFA Champions League, with 18 goals concluding the first leg of the UCL quarter-finals. Kane vs. Arsenal, as the game was tagged, almost always leads to Arsenal failing to keep a clean sheet. Moreover, talking points surrounding the game were mostly about spot-kick calls which were not awarded by the Referee, Saka was furious over a penalty call, Mikel Arteta refused to discuss whether a penalty was supposed to be awarded and Thomas Tuchel was really angered over Gabriel’s handball which the referee referred to as “kids mistake”.
Unlike the first set of games, where the discussion was about referee decisions, in the second set of games mostly that of PSG and Barca, Dembele faltered for celebrating in the corner where Barca fans were sitting when he scored against his former club Barcelona. Before the game, a TV host was sacked by his company after making a controversial statement about lamine yamal. The conclusion of the first leg games has left everyone in high anticipation of the second leg clash.
Surprisingly, things have turned out to be really tough for Sean Dyche and the Merseyside club Everton, this season, they were deducted two more points for a second breach of the premier league financial rules over a three-year period which was breached by £16.6m. They are 16th on the EPL log with two points above the relegation zone. Recall the Blues had a 10-point deduction reduced to 6 after the appeal. That is, Everton has been deducted eight points in total and says they will appeal against their punishment.
Simultaneously, the Blades, Sheffield United, who are currently battling relegation in the EPL, will be deducted two points at the start of the next season in which they will play in the English Football League.
On the contrary, Athletes have now gotten every reason to work extremely hard for a podium finish as the World Athletics made a pivotal decision and announced it will be the first federation to award prize money at the Olympics game. In total, the prize pot made available is $2.4 million, with gold medalists receiving $50,000. It was also confirmed that Los Angeles 2028 will see the inclusion of silver and bronze medalists in the picture. In the words of Lord Coe, the organisation aims to “create a stable financial landscape for athletes.” It is worthy of note that the prize money does not apply to Paralympicspics as they are governed by World para-athletics.
In Formula 1, speculations that Fernando Alonso could join rivals Red Bull or Mercedes were put to rest as Aston Martin announced that Alonso extended his contract until the end of 2026. Fernando Alonso said his decision was born out of the motivation and belief that the team had the best project for the 2026 F1 season where new regulations will be introduced.
In addition, F1 has confirmed the 24-race schedule for 2025, citing that 2025 is a special year as the 75th anniversary of the FIA Formula One world championship will be celebrated On the whole, it will deliver top-class races across 24 venues around the world, but with a little tweak, the season will start in Australia for the first time since 2019. At variance with the 2024 calendar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain races will be moved back to April due to Ramadan.
Nevertheless, the new week comes with more actions. Evidently, Stefano Tsitsipas got an emotional 6-1 6-4 win against his opponent Casper Ruud. Tsitsipas joins some of the greats who have now won 3 Monte Carlo Master titles.
On the other hand, the NPFl matchday 30 fixtures will start by 16th April and conclude by April 17th, 2024.
For the weekend, the Lenovo Chinese Grand Prix in Formula 1 will be up. Lastly, the London marathon will be set to take place on the 21st. It will be breathtaking as the lineup reveals elite and multiple record holders.
Join me next time as we bring more exhilarating stories your way.