Mourinho, Lampard praise Mikel

Mikel Obi

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and his midfield star Frank Lampard praised Chelsea’s performance at West Ham on Saturday evening and paid tribute to the exceptional defensive work of Mikel Obi.

Mourinho was full of praise for Lampard and Oscar following the 3-0 London derby win at West Ham but tied Lampard’s performance to the quality cover provided by the Nigerian who now enjoys a commanding role with his national team.

Ronaldo doubtful for Galatasaray clash

Football | Champions League

Cristiano Ronaldo is doubtful for Real Madrid's Champions League match against Galatasaray on Wednesday after doctors confirmed he has a hamstring strain.
The Portuguese limped off at the start of the second half of Saturday's La Liga victory over Almeria but fears of a serious injury were immediately played down by coach Carlo Ancelotti afterwards.

Milano thrash Thanda to stay top

Football | National First Division

Milano United maintained their position at the summit of the National First Division table lead at the top of the table when they demolished a struggling Thanda Royal Zulu 4-0 at the Athlone Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Sibusiso Ntuli and Devon Saal were on target and Lesvin Stoffels netted a brace as the Cape side proved to be too strong for the KwaZulu-Natal outfit.
Milano remain at the top of the standings with 26 points from 10 matches, while Amabhubesi are rock-bottom with five points and seven losses from their 10 matches.
The action started on Friday night with Baroka FC securing maximum points away from home with a 1-0 win over Chippa United at the Philippi Stadium with Gift Motupa scoring the only goal of the match.

Oliseh: Nigerian bond is forever

Football | Nigeria

 Sunday Oliseh was a ferocious force for Nigeria’s Super Eagles during the best moments in their history. Now retired and living in Belgium, the former holding midfielder spoke to FIFA.com about the highs and lows of USA 1994 and France 1998, the Olympic title that “no one can take away.” Also on the table in this frank discussion is the Nigerian football philosophy, terrace culture in the west African nation, former clubs like Ajax and Juventus and, of course, that goal from 1998 against Spain that will live on forever.

FIFA.com: Firstly, let’s just get it out of the way, and talk about that goal. Do you still get reminded of the long-range stunner you scored in the win over Spain at the 1998 World Cup?
Sunday Oliseh [Laughs] People don’t just ask me about the goal, or remind me about the goal, they show me the goal all the time. Just two days ago someone took me aside in Abu Dhabi (UAE) and played me the video on the internet. He asked me: ‘do you know the fellow who scored this goal?’ I just laughed.

Keshi highlights Ameobi's value

Football | Super Eagles

Shola Ameobi’s inclusion in the Super eagles has divided the Nigerian fan base but with his performance against Italy, the Newcastle Striker may just have won them over.
It’s also turning to one of those fairytale stories as Shola is 32 and in the twilight of his career, and to think he only made his debut last year. He has now scored 2 goals in 4 games for Nigeria, albeit all friendlies.
Many actually believe that he is "reaping where he has not sown" but the one person who matters the most, Stephen Keshi the Super Eagles manager is however a huge fan. Keshi told supersport.com that:

Uche brace floats Yellow Submarine

Football | Nigeria

It was another good weekend for Nigerians abroad with Ikechukwu Uche hogging the biggest headlines.
The attacker netted a brace for Villarreal in La Liga as the Yellow Submarine beat Levante 3-0 away.
Uche has now scored four league goals this season but the quality of the strikes will certainly get Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi thinking about handing the 29-year-old a recall to the national team.

Michael Uchebo has been quietly and efficiently going about his business in Belgium and the again, he scored for Cercle Brugge in the Jupiler League.
Vincent Enyeama’s season of scary dominance continued in France where he kept yet another clean sheet as the Mastiffs maintained their stranglehold on second place.
Victor Moses had his moments for Liverpool in the most memorable Merseyside derby in years as supersport.com once more rounds up the best of the action from a frenetic weekend.

Belgium (Jupiler Pro League)
A day of nightmares for Kim Ojo who replaced Thomas Buffel at the start of the second half but failed to prevent Genk’s 0-4 loss to KV Oostende at the Albertparkstadion.
Ezekiel Imoh helped fired Standard Liege to the top of the table as Les Rouches beat Mons 1-0 at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne.
Imoh came on for Igor de Camargo in the 61st minute as he made his 16th league appearance of the season.

Rooney lashes TV commentators

Football | Barclays Premier League

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney hit out at two television commentators for saying he deserved to be sent off during his side's 2-2 draw at Cardiff City on Sunday.
Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler and pundit Graeme Souness, the former Liverpool manager, said Rooney was fortunate not to be shown a red card for kicking Jordon Mutch during the early stages of the Premier League game.

Muntari picks up freak injury

Football | Ghana

Days after news broke that Andre Ayew is out for two months, Ghana get more bad news that Sulley Muntari is crocked.
Muntari got a freak injury as he appeared to stick his foot hard into the turf as Milan played 1-1 with Genoa on Saturday in the Serie A.

He was taken off early in the second half, in a game that had another Ghanaian player, Isaac Cofie play the final 12 minutes for Genoa.
Kwadwo Asamoah was in action for 88 minutes as Juventus went to the top of the table on Sunday afternoon, following a win against Livorno.

Pep digging to discover Bayern mole

Football | Germany

Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola had little time to celebrate his team's 3-0 league win at rivals Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, threatening instead to uncover a mole he said has been leaking team details to the media.

"It does not matter who it is, heads will roll," Guardiola was quoted in Bild newspaper as having told his players after the game, angry that team tactics had made their way into the press before the game. "I will throw him out. He will not play under me again."

Enyimba turns to De Kruif

Football | Nigeria

 Six-time Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) winners, Enyimba, are considering their coaching options with Dutchman, Lodewijk de Kruif, heading their wishlist.
The top hierarchy at Enyimba believe the Dutchman fits the bill for the head coach job.
Enyimba head coach in the 2012/13 season, Salisu Yusuf, is close to joining either FC Taraba or El-Kanemi Warriors and his assistant, Paul Aigbogun has switched to Warri Wolves.