Paris Saint-German and French striker Kylian Mbappe has vowed to win the Qatar 2022 World Cup for France after he hit four goals in an 8-0 thrashing of Kazakhstan that secured qualification. Mbappe grabbed a first-half hat-trick on Saturday, making him the first France player to achieve that feat in a competitive international since Dominique Rocheteau in 1985.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare has inaugurated a 17-man committee to create a 10-year Football Development Master Plan. The inauguration ceremony took place on Thursday at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja. President Muhammadu Buhari had charged the ministry to develop a master plan with the purpose of improving football in the country.
Steven Gerrard has been announced as the new coach of Aston Villa on the football club’s official website on Thursday. Prior to his appointment as Aston Villa’s coach, the former Liverpool captain and England midfielder was the coach of Scottish Premiership football club, Glasgow Rangers. Gerrard was the coach of the Rangers since 2018 and led his team to win the Scottish Premiership title last season.
English football club Watford, also known by their nick name The Hornets have signed super eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye on a five-and-a-half-year contract from Eredivisie side Sparta Rotterdam for a fee understood to be in the region of €6 million (£5.1million).
Newcastle United have confirmed the appointment of Eddie Howe as a successor of Steve Bruce on a three (3) year deal. Known for his success with Bournemouth, Howe has been out of work since leaving the Cherries in the summer of 2020.
Spanish and Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez has returned to Spain as the new head coach of FC Barcelona following the sacking of Ronald Koeman last month. The 41-year-old played for Barcelona for 17 years, making 767 appearances and winning 25 trophies, including four Champions League wins and eight league titles.
