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Jordan Ayew Scores First Premier League In Over A Year

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Jordan Ayew Forward Scores First Premier League In Over A Year

Ghana striker Jordan Ayew netted his first goal in 43 Premier League matches for Crystal Palace in a 2-2 draw with Southampton on Wednesday.

On a long scoring drought running from last season, the attacker found the back of a net with a close-range effort to salvage a point for the Eagles in the matchday 17 fixture at Selhurst Park.

Wilfried Zaha recorded the hosts’ other goal while James Ward-Prowse and Armando Broja were on target for Southampton.

The draw leaves Palace in 11th position on the league table, four places above the Saints.

It has been a year since Ayew scored for Patrick Vieira’s outfit coming into Wednesday’s tie, the last effort coming against Leeds United in November 2020.

Cote d’Ivoire winger Zaha scored early for the Eagles in the midweek game, shooting past goalkeeper Willy Caballero from inside the box.

In the 32nd minute, Ward-Prowse drew Southampton level, curling home a beautiful free-kick.

Just four minutes later, the visitors went up for the first time through Broja, whose long-range shot sailed past Jack Butland.

READ ALSO: Why NFF Sacked Gernot Rohr – Pinnick

In the 65th minute, Ayew, who registered an assist in Palace’s last game against Everton, switched things up a notch with a personal goal this time around, hitting a low rebound into the net after Caballero kept out Edouard’s first shot.

It was the 24th of the Ghanaian’s 27th Premier League goals to be scored in the second half.

His night out on the pitch ended in the 75th minute following a substitution; compatriot and club-mate Jeffrey Schlupp watched the entire game from the bench while Mohammed Salisu played full 90 minutes for Southampton.

Now off the mark, the 30-year-old will hope to make it two goals in a row when Palace play as guests of Watford on Saturday.

Last season, Ayew similarly endured a difficult spell as he ended the term with only one goal to his name.

In the 2019-20 campaign, his fortunes were starkly different as he finished as Palace’s top scorer after hitting nine goals for the side.

His return to scoring will undoubtedly be pleasant news for Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac who will be counting on the forward for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroon.

 

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Paul Onuora Football Tournament Begins

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Participants and others in the Hon. Paul Onuora and St. Eve football competition

By Esther Kainebi-Daniel

Committed to promoting unity among Nigerians through sports, especially football and empowering more than 500 youths between ages 15 and 17, the maiden edition of Hon. Paul Onuora and St. Eve football competition, has commenced.

Dubbed Hon. Paul Onuora League Tournament, the football competition which began on Sunday with the official flag-off and unveiling of the participating teams from across 20 local government areas in Lagos is taking place at three venues – The Training Pitch, National Stadium; Eagles Club football field, and the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) field, all in Surulere, Lagos.

At the flag-off ceremony the sponsor, Hon. Paul Onuora aka Nwa Jesus said the tournament is a vehicle to extract the best potential from the youths, stressing that it doesn’t matter who the youths are, where they come from or the tribe they are of.

His words: “What matters is how those youth become successful in life, and when they become successful, the new life, they will live. Even if he touches 10 people, their lives will be changed because he has succeeded.

“That’s why anytime, anyday, in my closet, anywhere I’m, I think about how we can better the life of the youth, not even of you going to lie for the poor people in our society. This is very important.”

Asked his expectations from the participants, Onuora said, “I expect them to be of good behaviour, character and association. You can’t be a youth maybe playing football or any other sports and you are into drugs, cultism, armed robbery and other nefarious activities. You cannot succeed because you will go half way.”

“If you are a youth, you have talents, you have good behaviour, you will go far even in the shortest of time, because there is nobody that will see you as a hard working young man that will say no, I will not take this. Anybody who sees you would like to associate with you because of your character and your behaviour,” he added.

On what motivated him to finance the tournament, the businessman, who also plays active football and recently scored against one-time Nigeria number one choice goalkeeper, Peter Rufai aka Dodo Mayana said, “Beyond the tournament, we want to expose the participants to scouts from Europe.

“We are bringing in some managers, scouts that will be looking for players. Some of them are playing football but they have not really played in a good competition. So if they play this competition they will be exposed and they will have more sense of belonging because they will meet people they have not one way or the other interacted with. Because I believe this is from all the local governments and they will see more players that are more talented than them, which will inspire them to do more in what we are doing.”

On her part, Evelyn Okereke, founder of St. Eve, and brain behind the league tournament said the initiative is to encourage the youths, keep them busy during this long vacation, adding that they could play this competition and get opportunities.

He words, “You see what’s happening in Nigeria. As a mother, we thought of a way to help bring our youths and close that gap between the rich and the poor, and there is no better way than sport. Sport (football) is something that is very unique and is a unifying force.”

“Football is one of the biggest sports in the world. Whether you’re a man or you’re a woman, you know when your club or team is winning, you’re jumping and you’re excited; you’re all sharing ideas. Very soon we’re going to be having people worshipping football. It’s going to be the latest thing in the world,” she added.

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How Moroccan Footballer’s Wife Discoverd In Divorce Suit Husband Has Nothing Despite Making Millions

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Achraf Hakimi

Moroccan international, Achraf Hakimi owns nothing to his name despite earning millions of Euros with Paris Saint Germain (PSG) and the Moroccan national football team, his wife Hiba Abouk has discovered.

Abouk filed for divorce and asked for half of all the property and money owned by Hakimi.

She, however, discovered during ongoing divorce proceedings in court that Hakimi, 24, had registered all his properties and monies in his mother’s name.

Whenever the Moroccan footballer needed anything, he would ask his mother to buy it for him, it was revealed.

All his houses, cars, clothes, and jewellery were found to be in his mother’s name, and millions in salary were deposited in accounts bearing his mother’s name.

It was reported that 80 percent of all that he owns is registered in his mother’s name.

The couple began dating in 2018, married in 2020 and have two sons. She filed for divorce around March 2023.

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30 percent of Pele’s Assets Go To Widow – lawyer

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Pele

The 30 percent of the assets of the late legendary footballer Pele will go to his wife,according to his will disclosed by his lawyer.

The will states that Marcia Cibele Aoki, Pele’s third and last wife, will inherit his mansion in Guaruja, a seaside resort town south of Sao Paulo, where the couple lived, according to her lawyer Luiz Kignel.

Other assets belonging to Pele, who died after battling cancer in late December at age 82, include more real estate and a stake in the Pele brand, Kignel said, adding that a complete inventory has yet to be made.

The remaining 70 percent is reserved for Pele’s children, including an unrecognized daughter that he may have.

“He indicated the possibility of the existence of another daughter, whose recognition will depend on a DNA test, which could not be carried out (on Pele) due to the pandemic and the state of his health,” said Kignel.

According to Kignel, the woman in question is a Brazilian national and she has taken legal steps to be recognized as Pele’s daughter.

In September 2022, a court in Sao Paulo ordered Pele to submit to a DNA test, according to the G1 website. The test must now be performed on one of his seven recognized children.

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