Football

England have arranged to host Nigeria and Costa Rica in warm-up friendlies ahead of the 2018 World Cup in June. Gareth Southgate’s side will take on Nigeria at Wembley on June 2 and then Costa Rica at Elland Road five days later, before heading off for the tournament in Russia. Taking home games on the road is something England did in the build-up to Euro 2016, playing friendlies at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light and Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium.

FA Cup giant killers Nottingham Forest, who knocked out FA Champions Arsenal in the third round, have appointed Spanish coach Aitor Karanka as their new manager. Championship club Forest beat Arsenal 4-2 on Sunday with caretaker manager Gary Brazil in charge following the departure of Mark Warburton last month.

Nigerian defender Ola Aina is targeting an extended run in the FA Cup competition after his goal secured a place for Hull City in the fourth round at the expense of Blackburn Rovers whom the Tigers beat 1-0 last Saturday.

The win was the Tigers’ second away from the KCOM Stadium in 14 months and Aina is delighted at the feat.

Hull City will face Nottingham Forest in the fourth round of the competition following the draw on Monday.

“It was an exciting feeling (scoring his first goal),” Aina told Hull’s official website. “I’d always wondered when it was going to come and happily it came as the winning goal.

Chelsea Manager, Antonio Conte appears not to have gotten over the recent spat with Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho as the Italian has vowed never to forget. Both managers were ensued in war of words after Mourinho claimed he is still passionate despite not acting like a ‘clown’ on the touchline, which was taken as a dig at Conte.

Olympic Gold medalist, Usain Bolt is set to undergo trial at Borussia Dortmund in March 2018, preparatory for a possible switch to Manchester United. The holder of the world records for 100m and 200m disclosed this in an interview with Daily Express. According to him;

Arsene Wenger has stated that Super Eagles forward Alex Iwobi would be fined if it turns out to be true that he attended a wild drug-fuelled house party the day before Arsenal’s 4-2 shock defeat to Championship club Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup.

According to British tabloid The Sun, Iwobi was videoed screaming and dancing at 2.37am on Saturday in Soho, central London, at the wild bash where partygoers smoked cannabis and inhaled laughing gas.

Reacting to the issue in Tuesday’s press conference ahead of Arsenal’s first-leg Carabao Cup away clash against Chelsea on Wednesday, Wenger said he will have a one-on-one with Iwobi.

“If that is true he will be fined,” Wenger said. “It’s unacceptable.

“I will have to see him and see if that is right or not.”