The Nigeria contingents for the Stars Sixes tournament have left the shores of the country to be part of the ex international world cup tournament.

Former PSG and Bolton dazzler Austin Okocha will captain the legendary team that includes Peter Rufai, Joseph Yobo, Celestine Babayaro, Uche Okechukwu, Taribo West, Victor Ikpeba, Daniel Amokachi and Garba Lawal.

This evening the Nigerian legends who are in the same group as Brazil, Italy and China will kick start their campaign against China.

They will then battle it out against Italy on Friday and Brazil the following day.

The knockout matches will be played on Saturday and Sunday.

England will be represented by the likes of David James and captain Steven Gerrard, Brazil have goalkeeper Dida and Roberto Carlos, while France will parade the likes of Marcel Desailly and Robert Pires.
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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists he is “not nervous” despite his club’s lack of transfer activity this off-season.

Mohamed Salah and Dominic Solanke have arrived at Anfield as Klopp’s men look for an improvement on last campaign’s fourth-place finish in the Premier League.

Liverpool have also been linked to the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Naby Keita in what has been an otherwise quiet window.

Klopp played down worries over the lack of additions to his squad, despite the likes of Manchester United (Romelu Lukaku), Arsenal (Alexandre Lacazette) and Manchester City (Bernardo Silva and Ederson) making big-name signings.

“If any fans think what the other teams are doing and why we’re not doing anything I can’t help, sorry,” he said after his side’s 4-0 friendly win over Tranmere Rovers on Wednesday.

“We cannot buy players because other teams buy players. We do our business as good as we can do it and we are completely in it and we are convinced about the way we are going so that’s all.

“Nervous fans? Sorry, I don’t have the right message for this. I’m not nervous, maybe that’s the right message.”Van Dijk was largely expected to join Liverpool, only for the Premier League giants to apologise to Southampton for the approach and end their interest in the defender in early June.

Asked once more about the Netherlands international, Klopp was unwilling to speak about the 26-year-old.

“Am I allowed to talk about this? I am not,” he said.

“Pretty much everything I could say would be a mistake. You or your colleagues wrote everything about this a few weeks ago.

“I was in Iceland by the way when somebody told me this was in the newspaper. Nothing happened since then, all good so far, so I can’t say anything about this.”
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Lionel Messi is excited to play under Ernesto Valverde, revealing he has heard hugely positive reviews about the new Barcelona boss.

Valverde has replaced Luis Enrique as head coach at Camp Nou, with Barca’s pre-season campaign set to get under way next week’s against Juventus in New Jersey.

Messi, who has turned 30, married long-term partner Antonella Roccuzzo and agreed to sign a new contract since the end of last season, hopes the impressive reputation of the former Athletic Bilbao boss will prove to be true as his attention moves to 2017-18.

“With the new manager everything will be new,” Messi said in Tokyo at a commercial event for new sponsors Rakuten.

“I don’t know what kind of manager he is, but he is a great person.

“He was with Valencia and Bilbao, we are hearing a lot about his very good reputation, so we are pinning our hopes on this new beginning.

“Whenever I start a new season there is a very clear-cut goal, which is that Barcelona will do our best.

“Personally I am very happy and looking forward to starting a new season. We have new coaches and assistants. I would like to work with them and enjoy Barcelona for another year.”Neymar was also at the event, along with Gerard Pique and Arda Turan, the Brazil international batting away a question about whether he would score more goals than Messi in 2017-18.

“The objective is always to win and to work together to do that, whether or not I score a goal, because we are a team,” he said.

“If I can score goals of course I will be happy, but if Pique, Messi and all the other players score, that is just as good. If we can win as a team I would be so happy.”
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Atletico Madrid have agreed a five-year deal to sign Vitolo from Sevilla, but the winger will play for Las Palmas in the first half of the season due to his new club’s transfer ban.

Diego Simeone’s side, currently serving the final window of their FIFA signing ban, will register Vitolo from January 1, before which he will play for fellow LaLiga side Las Palmas.

The complex transfer comes two days after Sevilla president Jose Castro claimed the 27-year-old had in fact signed a new five-year deal with his club.

“Atletico de Madrid has reached an agreement with Victor Machin Perez, Vitolo, for the next five years after the player rescinded his contract with Sevilla,” read Atletico’s statement on Wednesday.

“Due to FIFA’s sanction that forbids the club from registering football players during the current summer market, the player will play the first half of the season with Las Palmas and will join our team starting on January 1, 2018.

“The Spain international has signed with our club until the June 30, 2022.”

Agreement with @VitoloMachin until 2022! He will be registered as an Atlético player on January 1st #Vitolo2022 https:///4KhIN2HGEM pic.twitter.com/lZdNgkXSTo

— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) July 12, 2017
Castro claimed on Tuesday that Vitolo had agreed a new deal with Sevilla, but not physically signed it, and the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan club are reportedly considering legal action.

Vitolo played for Sevilla for four seasons after signing for them from Las Palmas, his hometown club to whom he now returns for the first half of 2017-18.

He won the Europa League three times in Seville and has earned 11 caps for Spain, including five in the current World Cup qualifying campaign.

Premier League club Chelsea had been heavily linked with move for Vitolo, but missed out on his signing – as they did with Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku.
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Istanbul Basaksehir vice-president Mustafa Saral claims Roma are rivalling Manchester City to secure the services of the club’s star teenager Cengiz Under, with a decision imminent on his future.

The 19-year-old rose to prominence last season, scoring seven goals in 32 appearances as the team surprisingly finished second in the Turkish Super Lig, securing a berth in the third Champions League qualifying round.

Basaksehir had already said that City want to sign the forward, but it appears Pep Guardiola’s side face competition from the Giallorossi.

“We’re delighted that two giants of world football are interested [in] our player,” Saral told the Anadolu Agency.

“Both Roma and Manchester City wants to sign Cengiz Under. They show their willingness for this transfer [to happen].

“Roma and Manchester City have made an official offer for him. We’ll probably give our decision today about our player’s future.”
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Cristiano Ronaldo will play no part in the International Champions Cup, but fans in the United States are set to see Barcelona trio Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.

Real Madrid named their 26-man squad for the USA tour on Tuesday and four-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo was a notable and expected absentee.

Ronaldo, 32, featured at the Confederations Cup in Russia, though he left the tournament before Portugal’s third-place play-off match to be with his newborn twins, having helped Madrid to LaLiga and Champions League glory.

Zinedine Zidane’s Madrid – who open their ICC campaign against Manchester United on July 23 – still includes a host of stars, including Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Isco, Marcelo and new signing Theo Hernandez.Alvaro Morata is also in the travelling party, despite widespread speculation of an imminent departure from the Spanish and European champions.

Morata was tipped to join United before they turned to Romelu Lukaku, and Premier League champions Chelsea have now emerged as a likely destination for the Spain forward.

While Madrid will be without Ronaldo, fellow ICC participants Barca can call upon Messi, Suarez and Neymar.

Messi, who finally signed a contract extension after marrying his long-term partner Antonella Roccuzzo in Rosario, headlines Ernesto Valverde’s first Barca squad.

Valverde replaced Luis Enrique at the end of 2016-17 and his Barca team also features Javier Mascherano, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique, Ivan Rakitic and Arda Turan.

However, first-choice goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen is not involved after helping Germany win the Confederations Cup.

Barca face 2016-17 Champions League runners-up Juventus in New Jersey on July 22.
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Five of AC Milan’s magnificent seven summer arrivals made their debuts as Vincenzo Montella’s men kicked off pre-season with a 4-0 win over Lugano.

Hakan Calhanoglu, Ricardo Rodriguez, Franck Kessie, Fabio Borini and Mateo Musacchio all started at the Stadio di Cornaredo, but a pair of academy products, Patrick Cutrone and Giovanni Crociata stole the headlines, putting Milan two goals to the good by the hour mark.

Jose Sosa enjoyed a late cameo to give the scoreline a dominant edge, volleying home before setting up Gustavo Gomez’s stoppage-time effort.

The victory and blooding of new signings rounded off a fine day for Milan, who also secured Gianluigi Donnarumma to a new deal until 2021.

“I am satisfied with the attitude and saw all the players motivated,” Montella told Milan TV.”We are working differently in training compared to last season, but will arrive in good shape for the games that count. As starts go, I am satisfied.”

Roma also began their pre-season schedule with a win, but were perhaps not made to work quite as much for an 8-0 triumph over local outfit Pinzolo Campiglio.

Diego Perotti scored twice as Eusebio di Francesco took charge of the Giallorossi for the first time.

Recent signings Rick Karsdorp and Lorenzo Pellegrini did not play due to injury and vacation respectively, but Maxime Gonalons was given a first run out.
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Peter Bosz’s first game in charge of Borussia Dortmund ended in a shock defeat as the Bundesliga giants went down 3-2 in a pre-season friendly at fourth-tier side Rot-Weiss Essen.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was named in a strong team and scored as speculation continues to intensify about his future, although Mario Gotze was not included in the squad as he continues to recover from a metabolic disorder.

Bosz’s reign got off to a poor start when Essen took the lead in the third minute, Benjamin Baier cutting inside off the left wing and picking out Roman Burki’s bottom-left corner from 25 yards with a superb strike.

Aubameyang equalised on the half-hour mark, however, the in-demand striker tapping in at the back post after Andre Schurrle’s left-wing corner was flicked on by Omer Toprak.

Baier restored the hosts’ advantage five minutes before half-time by thumping a 20-yard drive through Burki’s grasp after Kamil Bednarski’s miscued shot fell kindly.

Bosz made 11 changes at the interval and his side fell even further behind when an unmarked Marcel Platzek turned in Kevin Grund’s wicked set-piece delivery.

Dortmund quickly reduced the deficit from the penalty spot, Ousmane Dembele coolly converting from 12 yards after Grund’s handball.

Christian Pulisic and Alexander Isak went close to scoring equalisers for the visitors, but Bosz’s Dortmund debut ended in an embarrassing loss
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Jermain Defoe hopes linking up with Eddie Howe at Bournemouth can help him plot a future career in management.

The 34-year-old signed a three-year contract at Dean Court after agreeing a switch from relegated Sunderland, Defoe returning to the club where he had so much success as a loanee earlier in his career.

During that previous spell with the Cherries – in which Defoe scored in 10 successive league games – he played alongside and was captained by Howe.

At a media conference on Thursday, Defoe recalled Howe’s influence on him as a youngster and he hopes to learn off him again as he eyes a future in the dugout.

“Even back then he [Howe] was a natural leader, somebody I looked at and thought that he’d go on to be a manager,” said the England international.

“I’d love to [follow in his footsteps]. As you get older, of course you think on that sort of level. You always look at a manager and think, ‘I like the way you do this or the way you do that and if I was a manager I’d do the same’.

“That is the way I am beginning to think, I would like to take my coaching badges and I would like to try and take a lot from Eddie this year.”

And discussions with Howe helped convince Defoe to move back to the south coast following relegation with Sunderland last term.

“When we first spoke ahead of the move, he said ‘I would like to improve you’,” Defoe added.

“For me, that was huge, even at the age of 34 and that’s a mark of him really.

“That made me so excited to be here and I can’t wait to get my boots on and get started.”
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Former Everton captain Phil Neville believes Romelu Lukaku has what it takes to improve Manchester United following the departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Everton star Lukaku is believed to be on the verge of reuniting with United manager Jose Mourinho following widespread reports of a £75million bid for the 24-year-old Belgium international striker.

Antonio Conte and Chelsea were reportedly frontrunners for Lukaku – who scored 25 goals in the league last season as he finished behind Golden Boot winner Harry Kane – but United appear to have hijacked the Premier League champions in their move.

A switch to Old Trafford would see Lukaku team up with Mourinho again after he was sold by the then-Chelsea boss to Everton in 2014, while uniting him with close friend Paul Pogba.

And Neville – who spent eight years at Goodison Park having emerged from United’s youth system – feels the younger and improved Lukaku can help United become more dangerous in transition after 35-year-old Swede Ibrahimovic was not retained by the club following a serious knee injury.

“I think you’ve seen an improvement, I think there were of couple of criticisms – can he play in big games? Can he score in the big games? I think he half dispelled that last season,” Neville told BBC Radio Five Live.

“He scored in a couple of the big games and I think he is improving all the time. I think he’s a different type of striker from what United have had for a long time, someone that can probably run in behind, can be a little bit of a battering ram, that United can play on the counter-attack.

“I think with Zlatan last season United couldn’t play on the counter-attack because obviously his age and the fact his legs are slowing down a little bit. Now you’ve got someone with genuine, genuine speed that United can play on the counter-attack.

“It will be interesting to see how he fits into this United team because there’s a lot of talk about ‘Jose sold him, didn’t play him at Chelsea’, but that was four or five years ago. Romelu Lukaku is a different player now, he is a better player. His record actually is sensational. I mean 25 goals last year, 18 the year before. If you go back to his West Brom days when he was on loan there from Chelsea [he scored] 17 Premier League goals. If he gets anything like 17 to 20 this year United will be successful.”
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Confusion surrounds Manchester United’s rumoured attempt to sign Everton striker Romelu Lukaku.

Widespread reports on Thursday emerged suggesting Everton had accepted a £75million bid from United for the Belgium international.

However, conflicting claims – reportedly coming from sources at Goodison Park – insisted the Toffees had not sanctioned the sale of Lukaku, who has also been heavily linked with a return to former club Chelsea.

United’s pursuit of Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata was said to have been ended by their interest in Lukaku as the transfer market dominoes begin to fall.Lukaku said last month he had made a decision on his future amid speculation of a big-money move after an impressive 2016-17 campaign in which he scored 25 goals in 37 Premier League games.

The 24-year-old still has two years left to run on his Everton contract but turned down the option of an extension towards the end of last season.

A potential exit for Lukaku comes amid reports Everton are close to bringing United captain Wayne Rooney back to Goodison Park, adding to their deals for Michael Keane, Davy Klaassen, Jordan Pickford and Sandro Ramirez.
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Midfielder Pedro Obiang has signed a new five-year contract with West Ham United.

The Spaniard missed the closing months of last season through injury, but that has not stopped the Hammers from rewarding him for his form since signing from Sampdoria in 2015.

During that time, he has made 60 appearances in all competitions and he has admitted that he is delighted to commit his future to the Premier League side.

The 25-year-old told the club’s official website: “I’m very happy. It’s normal for you sign a new deal because you did something good in the club and this is the time to sign.

“Over the next five years, we can achieve many, many things but we are going to start from today. Of course, I trust the club and the situation and I know I am in a very good team at a very good club.

“I have a lot of teammates here and I talked to Manu [Lanzini], Adrian and Angelo [Ogbonna] over the summer when we were on holidays and that’s maybe a little bit of the reason I signed a new contract is because I prefer to be here than in another place, because I feel like part of a family here.”

Obiang made 21 starts in the Premier League last season.
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Jurgen Klopp has claimed that Liverpool will be an even tougher proposition in the 2017-18 campaign, vowing to improve on his side’s fourth-placed finish of last season.

The Reds finished in the top four of the Premier League last term for just the second time in eight years, setting up a Champions League qualifier for the middle of next month.

Klopp admits that the pressure is on Liverpool to overcome their as yet unknown opponents in that two-legged match, with the draw to take place on August 4, but the German remains confident of building on what can be considered a relatively successful campaign last time out.

“We all know in a few weeks we have these qualifiers and there will be pressure on the game,” he told the club’s official website. “But now we have the time to prepare for this and we have to use the basis we created last year – it was not too bad.

“We all know it could have been maybe a little bit better but it could have been much worse. We are now one of the top four teams in England so now we want to keep this situation and work with it and improve.

“The squad will be stronger this year than it was last year. That’s a real reason for real optimism.”

Liverpool have so far brought in Dominic Solanke and Mohamed Salah from Chelsea and Roma respectively in the summer transfer window for a combined fee of around £37m.
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Johanna Konta has reached the third round of Wimbledon for the first time in her career after over three hours of tense tennis.

The British number one overcame Donna Vekic on Centre Court with a 7-6(4) 4-6 10-8 victory.

There were signs early on that this would be a tight match as both were strong on serve before getting broken in the first set.

Konta had four break-point opportunities to wrap up the opening set, but Vekic worked hard to stay in the game and eventually forced a tie-break.

The Brit managed to edge it after one hour and nine minutes of play, but she wobbled at the start of the second set when her opponent went a beak up at the first time of asking.

Despite Konta pulling a game back, Vekic was much more composed and managed to convert another break point before leveling up on the main stage.

Both players upped their game in the third and final set, but as a result canceled each other out, which made for an agonizing battle.

With the set 9-8 in Konta’s favour, the 26-year-old soaked up the pressure to convert a second match point and seal a place in the next round of the Grand Slam.
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Manny Pacquiao has called for the WBO to review the “unfair decision and officiating” that led to his shock defeat to Jeff Horn.

Pacquiao lost the welterweight title to Horn by unanimous points decision in Brisbane on Sunday, the seventh loss of the veteran fighter’s career, despite appearing to have the better of the fight and coming close to stopping the Australian in round nine.

The Philippines Games and Amusements Board wrote to the WBO requesting a review on Monday and suggested the referee and judges could merit sanctions.

Pacquiao has echoed those calls by outlining his concerns for the future of boxing in the wake of the bout.

“I love boxing and I don’t want to see it dying because of unfair decision and officiating,” Pacquiao said in a statement.

“I had already accepted the decision but as a leader and, at the same time, fighter I have the moral obligation to uphold sportsmanship, truth and fairness in the eyes of the public.

“WBO should take appropriate action on the letter sent by the Games and Amusement Board so as not to erode the people’s interest in boxing.”

Pacquiao previously claimed referee Mark Nelson favoured Horn, commenting: “There is no problem with the style of Jeff Horn if he plays dirty, because there is a referee.

“The problem here is that the referee, I don’t know if he did it deliberately or he just did not have experience, he just allowed it and did not even give any warning for how many times. It’s as if the referee wanted to help my opponent.”
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Lyon defender Emanuel Mammana has reportedly emerged as a top transfer target for Liverpool.

Manager Jurgen Klopp is keen on making several additions to his squad ahead of a campaign which he hopes will see the club return to the Champions League group stages.

According to The Sport Review, Klopp has decided to proceed with an offer of £14.9m for 21-year-old Mammana.

In the past, Tottenham Hotspur have shown an interest in the Argentine, who made a total of 24 appearances in all competitions last season.

Lyon remain in a strong position to keep hold of the South American, who still has four years remaining on his existing contract.
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Huddersfield Town have broken their transfer record again to sign Steve Mounie from Montpellier.

The 22-year-old striker, who scored 14 goals in 32 Ligue 1 starts last season, has agreed a four-year contract with the Terriers following their promotion to Premier League as Championship play-off winners.

Huddersfield coach David Wagner expects to see plenty of improvement from the powerful young Benin international, who has left Stade de la Mosson for an undisclosed fee.

“I’m delighted that we could sign Steve ahead of the start of pre-season training,” Wagner said.

“He has a very exciting combination of attributes that makes him a very attractive proposition as a young striker.

“He has real physical attributes that should be perfect for the Premier League, plus we have already seen his talents as a footballer in his remarkable season in France.”We have met and I know he is a great character. For a man of his young age, he already has great experience both in life and as a footballer from his time in France, playing in a high-quality Ligue 1.

“At just 22 years old, he is only going to improve too. Given what he is already capable of, that is very exciting.”

Mounie follows Aaron Mooy, Laurent Depoitre, Jonas Lossl, Tom Ince and Danny Williams in moving to Kirklees Stadium ahead of the club’s first campaign in the top flight since 1972.
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