Category sport-news

World number one Aryna Sabalenka won the Miami Open on Saturday, beating American Jessica Pegula 7-5 6-2 in the WTA 1000 final at Hard Rock Stadium.

The title was the Belarusian’s first at Miami and her second of the season following her January triumph in Brisbane.

Having lost the final at Indian Wells to Russian 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva earlier this month, Sabalenka was determined not to fall at the last hurdle again.

“Winning this trophy is super special”, said Sabalenka, who paid tribute to Pegula’s performance.

READ ALSO: &nbsp, Eze Leads Crystal Palace Into FA Cup Semi-Finals

Both players struggled to hold their serve in the first set, with Pegula causing Sabalenka some trouble when she brought her up to the net.

But the momentum shifted when Pegula was serving to stay in the set at 6-5 down and Sabalenka produced a delicate forehand drop and then a superb down the line winner to take the set.

Once she recovered from being broken on her first service game of the second set, it was easier going for Sabalenka, whose bid for a third straight Australian Open title was thwarted in the Melbourne final by Madison Keys earlier this year.

Sabalenka broke twice to go 3-1 up and never looked in danger from that point on as she wrapped up the win in one hour 27 minutes.

It was the third time that Pegula has faced Sabalenka in a final and she has lost on all three occasions.

The men’s final on Sunday will feature Novak Djokovic up against Czech 19-year-old Jakub Mensik with the Serb looking for his 100th professional title.

Nottingham Forest reached the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 34 years as Belgian goalkeeper Matz Sels starred in a 4-3 penalty shoot-out win over Brighton on Saturday.

After the quarter-final clash at the Amex Stadium finished 0-0 following extra-time, Sels took centre-stage to send Forest to Wembley.

Sels saved spot-kicks from Jack Hinshelwood and Diego Gomez and, although Forest’s Neco Williams blazed over, Ryan Yates held his nerve to stroke home the winner.

Forest also needed shoot-outs to get past third-tier Exeter and top-flight strugglers Ipswich in the fourth and fifth rounds respectively this season.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are enjoying a remarkable season that could culminate in Champions League qualification and a first FA Cup final appearance since 1991.

“It was such a stressful moment. Matz saved us again. He’s been doing really well. It’s the third time and we’ve always been successful. Credit to him”, Nuno said.

“We are so happy. It’s a huge moment for all of us to share with our fans.

” We have to focus on the Premier League but it’s going to be a beautiful moment for all of us on our journey. “

Forest, who last won the FA Cup in 1959, have climbed to third in the Premier League, leaving them within touching distance of appearing in the Champions League for the first time since 1980-81.

They are five points clear of fourth-placed Chelsea and six ahead of fifth-placed Manchester City with nine games to go.

Brian Clough’s men were the last Forest team to make the FA Cup semi-finals, beating West Ham before losing the final to Tottenham.

Forest join Crystal Palace in the last four after the Eagles won 3-0 at Fulham in Saturday’s other quarter-final.

On Sunday, Manchester City travel to Bournemouth and Aston Villa visit Championship side Preston, the last club from outside the top tier in this season’s tournament.

READ ALSO: Eze Leads Crystal Palace Into FA Cup Semi-Finals

Sels heroics

Forest crushed Brighton 7-0 at the City Ground in Premier League in February, a result that ranked as the Seagulls ‘ heaviest defeat for 67 years.

Since that humbling loss, Brighton had won four times in a five-game unbeaten run in the league, but they were unable to stop Forest’s penalty mastery.

Nuno surprisingly dropped wingers Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga to the bench in a move that appeared to prioritise Tuesday’s league clash with Manchester United.

Forest were also without Chris Wood after their leading scorer suffered a hip injury on international duty with New Zealand.

Wood’s replacement Taiwo Awoniyi went close to an early opener, accelerating on to Ola Aina’s pass for a stinging strike that Bart Verbruggen saved at his near post.

But, shorn of their best attacking options, Forest struggled to make headway after that.

Brighton were hardly much more incisive, with Pervis Estupinan’s long-range blast pushed away by Sels.

Carlos Baleba was inches away from putting the Seagulls ahead on the stroke of half-time, lashing just wide from the edge of the area.

After their tepid start, Forest finally showed signs of life when Morgan Gibbs-White’s strike from distance forced a superb save from Verbruggen.

But Nuno had seen enough and sent on Hudson-Odoi and Elanga.

Verbruggen repelled Elanga’s close-range effort to force the tie into extra-time.

Gomez nearly won it for Brighton in the closing stages, but his header from Brajan Gruda’s cross was brilliantly saved by Sels, foreshadowing the keeper’s heroics in the shoot-out.

It was a rollercoaster week for football fans in Nigeria. A 90th-minute goal by Zimbabwe dented the country’s hopes of reaching next year’s World Cup.

That game shaped the week for Nigerian sports fans. But the news of Dani Alves’s freedom, the adjusted transfer window in England, and the announcement of new hosts for the U-20 AFCON all made headlines in the last seven days.

From UEFA’s bid to probe Real Madrid stars Vinicius and Mbappe to preparations for the National Sports Festival, First 11 will explore the biggest sports stories this week.

Nigeria’s World Cup Dreams In Tatters

Starting from home, Nigerians are still reeling in the pains of a crushing 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, further jeopardizing the Super Eagles ‘ dreams of playing in the competition. The draw condemns Nigeria to fourth in the six-team group, six points below leaders South Africa in the race for an automatic qualification to the World Cup.

With four matches to go, Nigeria’s road to the US, Canada, and Mexico looks narrower. They will hope for results to go their way in other games in the group&nbsp, – including winning their own – to have a hope of making the competition or a playoff spot.

Four More Countries Qualify for World Cup

As Nigeria struggle to get a ticket, Argentina joined the early birds for the tournament after the latest round of qualifiers. Others are Japan, Iran, and New Zealand who have now joined the hosts US, Mexico, and Canada, for the Mundial

Adjusted Transfer Window

In England, the Premier League will have two transfer windows this summer. This is to allow Manchester City and Chelsea to register players for the Club World Cup.

Clubs in the English top flight will now be able to recruit and retain players in a special window between June 1 and 10. The exceptional registration period was approved by FIFA last October and is open to any national association that has teams involved in the new expanded Club World Cup, which starts in the United States on June 14.

A Lion’s Share

Meanwhile, the winner of this year’s expanded Club World Cup will get up to $125 million in prize money.

FIFA said a total prize fund of $1 billion for the event, which runs from June 14 to July 13, had already been made public, but the world football governing body has now broken down the sums for the 32 participating teams. Each team will share in the $525 million pot for participating.

A further $475 million will be distributed according to performance in the tournament.

Blatter, Platini Cleared

Still in football. Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and ex-UEFA chief Michel Platini have been acquitted on appeal by a Swiss court in a long-running corruption case that shattered their careers as the most powerful figures in world football.

Blatter, 89, and Platini, 69, listened in silence as the Extraordinary Court of Appeal clerk in the town of Muttenz, near Basel, read out a decision identical to the one handed down in 2022, which had initially cleared them. Prosectors had requested suspended sentences of 20 months for the pair, but charges of fraud, for which they risked five years ‘ imprisonment, as well as disloyal management, breach of trust and forgery of documents were all dismissed.

Egypt To Host U-20 AFCON&nbsp,

Returning home to Africa, Egypt have been awarded the hosting rights for the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), days after Cote d’Ivoire pulled out as host nation.

The West African nation pulled out from hosting the tournament, citing “unforeseen circumstances”, according to CAF.

But the football body said Egypt will now host the competition billed for Sunday, 27 April 2025, to 18 May 2025.

Alves Freed

In Spain, &nbsp, an appeals court has overturned former Brazil international footballer Dani Alves ‘ rape conviction. It held that his trial was marked by “shortcomings” and “inaccuracies”.

Alves was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail in February last year for raping a young woman in the VIP bathroom of a Barcelona nightclub on December 31, 2022.

Tinubu Lights NSF Torch

PRESS RELEASE

PRESIDENT TINUBU FLAGS OFF TORCH OF UNITY MOVEMENT FOR 22ND NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has officially flagged off the Torch of Unity movement, marking the commencement of the 22nd National Sports Festival, tagged Gateway 2025.

The… pic. twitter.com/FpNnsNEv6O

On the homefront, President Bola Tinubu flagged off the Torch of Unity Movement for the 22nd National Sports Festival.

During a brief event at the State House in Abuja on Tuesday, Tinubu says sports is a unifying factor and a growth catalyst.

The Gateway Games will be held in Ogun State from May 16 to 30, 2025.

World Athletics Approves Swab Test&nbsp,

Meanwhile, World Athletics has approved the introduction of a cheek swab test to determine if an athlete is biologically female.

According to Sebastian Coe, the head of the international track and field federation, the decision taken by the body’s decision-making Council was a “really important” way of protecting the female category.

UEFA Opens Probe Against Mbappe, Vinicius, Others

Back to football! UEFA says it has opened an investigation into four Real Madrid stars, including Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior, for an alleged “indecent conduct” during their Champions League last 16 win over Atletico Madrid.

Madrid’s two superstar forwards, as well as defender Antonio Rudiger and midfielder Dani Ceballos, face potential punishment ahead of their quarter-final first-leg clash at Arsenal on April 8.

NBA To Review European League Proposal

Lastly, the NBA will review a proposal to create a European basketball league. An NBA spokesperson said the new competition could feature up to 10 teams.

League owners will consider a plan that includes eight to 10 franchises, including up to four teams who already play in the EuroLeague — Europe’s top club competition. The proposed league would also feature new franchises in cities such as London and Paris, which could be worth as much as $500 million, Sportico reported, citing a source with direct knowledge of the plans.

Eberechi Eze inspired Crystal Palace to a 3-0 FA Cup quarter-final win at Fulham on Saturday with a goal and an assist in a four-minute period in the first half.

Fresh from scoring his first England goal against Latvia on Monday, Eze broke the deadlock with a stunning strike from outside the box.

He then turned provider for Ismaila Sarr to rapidly double Palace’s lead and Eddie Nketiah added more gloss to the scoreline as a second-half substitute.

After a difficult start to the season, Palace are one of England’s form teams as Oliver Glasner’s men have also marched up the Premier League table to 12th in recent months.

The Eagles have won their last six away games, including a 2-0 win at Craven Cottage last month, and will believe they can go on to win the FA Cup for the first time.

Palace were able to welcome back French striker Jean-Philippe Mateta for the first time since he needed 25 stitches in an ear wound suffered in his side’s fifth-round win over Millwall four weeks ago.

But it was Eze who was Palace’s match winner with two decisive moments in a matter of minutes.

The 26-year-old cut inside on his favoured right foot to curl in off the far post to open the scoring on 34 minutes.

Eze then jinked past Sander Berge and showed his ability on either foot with this time an inch-perfect left-footed cross for Sarr to head in at the near post.

“It’s unbelievable — the individual quality”, said Glasner on Eze’s impact.

“It was so important the first goal because we got the belief back, we were really struggling in the beginning. You need something when you’re struggling in the game, some positive actions to get the belief back”.

Fulham are four places and six points above Palace in the Premier League and will now turn their focus to trying to qualify for the Champions League for the first time by finishing in the top five.

However, their dreams of Wembley were extinguished 15 minutes from time.

Eddie Nketiah had only been on the field a few minutes as Mateta’s replacement and produced a composed finish under his former Arsenal team-mate Bernd Leno for a third goal in four games.

Brighton host Nottingham Forest in Saturday’s other quarter-final tie.

Forest thrashed the Seagulls 7-0 last month, but Brighton have won six and drawn one, 2-2 away to Manchester City, of their seven games since.

City are the favourites for the competition but face a tough trip to Bournemouth on Sunday.

After a disappointing season that has fallen well short of their usual standards, the FA Cup is City’s final shot at winning a trophy.

Dorival Junior was on Friday sacked as Brazil coach, three days after a humiliating 4-1 World Cup qualifying defeat by bitter rivals Argentina, the Confederation of Brazilian Football (CBF) announced.

“Dorival Junior is no longer in charge of the Brazilian national team. The management thanks him and wishes him success for the rest of his career”, the CBF said in a statement.

Dorival, 62, had only been in charge since January 2024, succeeding interim coach Fernando Diniz, but has overseen a lacklustre qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Five-time World Cup winners Brazil are fourth in the South American qualifying table, 10 points behind defending world champions Argentina who have already made sure of their place in the finals.

Brazil also sit behind Ecuador and Uruguay.

There are six automatic qualifying spots for teams from South America.

Brazil will visit Ecuador and host Paraguay on June 4 and 9, respectively, in the next set of qualifiers.

The writing was on the wall for Dorival after Tuesday’s rout in Buenos Aires.

“Nobody expected what we saw today, and the responsibility is entirely mine”, the coach acknowledged after the game.

READ ALSO: Mateta ‘ Ready ‘ To Return For Palace In FA Cup After Horror Injury

Dorival took over the Selecao after winning domestic titles with Flamengo and Sao Paulo.

His appointment was announced only after months of speculation about the possible arrival of Real Madrid’s Italian coach, Carlo Ancelotti.

Brazilian media claim that Ancelotti is again among the targets to succeed Dorival as is Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus, currently in charge of Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.

Fellow Portuguese Abel Ferreira, who won numerous titles with Brazilian club Palmeiras, has also been linked with the job.

Ancelotti dismissed the speculation on Friday, saying he intended to see out his contract in Madrid which runs until June 2026, despite his “affection for Brazil, its players, and its fans”.

Dorival’s debut saw a victory against England at Wembley with a goal from teenage star Endrick.

No golden age&nbsp,

However, any hopes of a new golden age of football for the spiritual home of the game, were dashed by a miserable performance at the 2024 Copa America.

At that tournament, Brazil limped into the knockout stages after just one win and two draws in their group campaign.

They then lost to Uruguay in a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw in the quarter-finals.

Adding insult to injury, Argentina went on to claim the title.

Other low points followed — a 1-0 defeat in Paraguay and a 1-1 draw against Venezuela in World Cup qualifiers.

Performances left fans bemused that Dorival was unable to bring the best out of talented players such as Vinícius Junior, Rodrygo and Raphinha.

Also missing was the traditional art and panache demanded by the team’s fans.

Adding to Dorival’s headaches was the fading talents of 33-year-old Neymar, Brazil’s all-time leading scorer who has been plagued by physical ailments.

Back in Brazil, at his boyhood club Santos, Neymar hoped to make his comeback to the national team after more than a year out due to a serious knee injury.

However, he missed the last two matches against Colombia (a 2-1 victory) and the rout in Argentina due to a thigh problem.

Whoever succeeds Dorival, the task will be to resurrect the style and bring a first title back to the country since the 2019 Copa America.

Dorival had hinted at the obstacles facing Brazil, who were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, as they limped through the ongoing qualifying round.

He insisted that the football “world order” was changing and that the five-time champions and Argentina could not just expect to waltz past regional rivals.

“South American football has grown a lot overall. If you look at the majority of the national line-ups, you see players playing in teams all over the world, which wasn’t the case until recently”, he said in an interview in November.

“The top teams haven’t had as much room to grow, while the teams at the bottom are starting to make interesting and big strides. This is levelling things a lot and making the matches tighter contests”.