The Tellrhodes Blog

RACE TO THE BEST BEGINS The long-awaited shortlists for four of The Best FIFA Football Awards – the top individual awards in world football - have been revealed. The 42 names for The Best FIFA Men’s and Women’s Player and Coach awards are spread across five continents, with the global game truly represented across the nominees. The shortlists were selected by two panels of experts – one for men’s football and one for women’s football . Voting is now open for these four awards, and the decision will be split between four key pillars of the beautiful game: the players, the coaches, the fans and the media. The four groups of voters – namely: national team captains, national team coaches, selected media and the fan vote conducted on FIFA.com – are weighted evenly (25% each) when determining the final result. Two-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo will be hoping to reclaim his crown from last year’s The Best FIFA Men’s Player Luka Modric, while The Best FIFA Women’s Player trophy will have...

VAN DIJK FOR BALLON D'OR? A Champions League winner and PFA player of the year, but could Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk's stellar 2019 get a whole lot better? The Dutchman is odds-on favourite to win this year's Ballon d'Or - and told BBC Sport: "If I am rewarded for the season I had, that would be unbelievable and I would be so proud." Should he win? And who else is in the running? We take a look... Who Usually Wins The Ballon d'Or? The Ballon d'Or - the award for the world's best player - traditionally used to change hands most years - until the 10-year stranglehold that 6-4 second favourite Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo (five years each) had from 2008 to 2017. That ended last year with Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric lifting football's most prestigious individual trophy after a Champions League final success and Croatia's run to the World Cup final. So what do recent winners have in common? Usually they are forwar...

NIGERIA RENEW RIVALRY WITH CAMEROON Twenty-four teams made it to Egypt but after 12 days of action, eight have to crashed out of the competition leaving sixteen others to continue with the dream of becoming champions. The two top teams from each group automatically qualified for the first knockout stage i.e. the round of 16 stage, with the other four being the third best teams across the groups. Super Eagles of Nigeria will face a tough task of qualifying to the quarter final of the Africa Cup of Nations as the tea will face defending champions, Cameroon in the round of 16 on Saturday. This tantalizing fixture was accomplished on Tuesday evening after a 0-0 draw with Benin Republic, and Ghana’s 2-0 defeat of Guinea Bissau, condemned the Cup holders to second place in Group F, and a direct confrontation with the second –placed team in Group B, being Nigeria. Cameroon defeated Nigeria in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in 1984, 1988 and 2000, but most painful for the Sup...

NO CALCULATIONS AND PERMUTATION NEEDED   After missing the previous two Africa Cup of Nations, Nigeria have announced their tournament return in 2019 with two wins from two. Their latest, against Guinea, was more about being efficient than spectacular. With two wins, they become the first team to reach the knockout stage of the expanded 24 team Africa Cup of Nations. Once again, they left it late, Kenneth Omeruo sneaking in at the near post in the 73rd minute to glance a header beyond Guinea goalkeeper Ibrahima Kone's despairing flap about. It was no less than the Super Eagles deserved for a controlled performance in which they pressured the Syli Nationale high and kept them from establishing any sort of foothold in the game, despite an edge in possession. What Nigeria Did Right Eagles Show Squad Depth And Quality At some point this might end up sounding like a broken record, but Gernot Rohr showed how deep his squad is by making five changes to the side which started agai...

ITS TIME FOR AFRICA The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations kicks off this Friday June 21st in Egypt. Last time Egypt were the hosts, back in 2006, they won the tournament. It was their first of three back-to-back AFCON titles, but the four African Cup of Nations tournaments since then have seen four different winners, including 2012’s surprise winners Zambia, who didn’t even qualify for the expanded 2019 tournament. There could be another surprise winner this year, but here’s a preview of what to expect from the frontrunners at AFCON 2019. EGYPT As many as 90,000 fans in the Borg el Arab Stadium erupted in November 2017 when Mohamed Salah’s last minute penalty against Congo sent Egypt to the World Cup. But following a disappointing performance at Russia 2018, Egypt changed their manager, bringing in former Mexico and Atletico Madrid head coach Javier Aguirre. He has got the team scoring lots of goals and playing entertaining soccer. Egypt have scored 20 goals in their last eight matches...

REAL MADRID SIGN EDEN HAZARD FROM CHELSEA Real Madrid have announced the signing of Eden Hazard from Chelsea in a deal understood to be worth up to £130 million. Talks had been ongoing for some time and appeared to hit a stumbling block in recent weeks until Real finally caved to Chelsea’s demands for their star player. The 28-year-old will be officially unveiled as a Real player on Thursday, June 13 - subject to a medical - after striking a deal that could reportedly rise to a club-record transfer of £130m once all bonus payments come into play. Hazard had one year remaining on his Chelsea contract but said it was his wish to leave Stamford Bridge after scoring twice in the Europa League final win over Arsenal. Hazard released a statement on social media after the announcement, which read: "You now know that I will be joining Real Madrid. It's no secret that it was my dream to play for them since I was a young boy just scoring my first goal. "Now the clubs hav...

'ITS TIME FOR A NEW CHALLENGE' - HAZARD BIDS FAREWELL Eden Hazard admitted he was likely to have just played his last game for Chelsea just moments after inspiring Maurizo Sarri's side to a 4-1 win over Arsenal in the Europa League final. A brace from the Belgian star, combined with Arsenal's second-half collapse, contributed to the success in Baku , but he told BT Sport  that it's unlikely to be at Stamford Bridge next season. The play-maker, who has been strongly linked with a summer switch to Real Madrid, told BT Sport: "I think it's a goodbye but in football you never know. I have made my decision already and now I'm waiting on both clubs. "My dream was to play in Premier League, I did this for seven years in one of the biggest clubs in the world so now maybe it's time for a new challenge." Speaking about the game itself, Hazard added: "In the first half both teams had a bit of stress because the final is something big...

ROAD TO BAKU There are two of the English Premier League's best supported clubs, separated by less than 13 kilometers -- but both will have to travel over 4,000 km away from home to play the Europa League final. London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal meet in an all-English Europa League Final at the end of May, with plenty at stake for both clubs. Maurizio Sarri is yet to win a trophy during his managerial career, but is now just one match away from ending a chaotic season with tangible success. Sarri appeared to be in danger of being ousted at numerous points of his debut year in England, but a Europa League triumph - coupled with the club's improbable third-placed Premier League finish - would represent a fine campaign for the Italian. As for Arsenal, finishing fifth in the table means victory in Baku is a must for Champions League football next season - but thankfully for Gunners fans, Unai Emery is a Europa League specialist having won the trophy with Sevilla in 2014, 20...

PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM OF THE YEAR: Hazard And Salah Miss Out The PFA Team of the Year was voted for by members of the Professional Footballers' Association, the players' union. It is the second successive year where Manchester City have provided the most players from one team as they had five of the 11 in the 2017-18 side. However, only Sergio Aguero retains his place from the team of 12 months ago. Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has been named in the PFA Team of the Year 2018-19 - the only player not from either Manchester City or Liverpool. City have six of the 11, voted for by fellow players - goalkeeper Ederson, centre-half Aymeric Laporte, midfielders Bernardo Silva and Fernandinho and forwards Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling. The remaining four are all Liverpool players - full-backs Andrew Robertson and Trent-Alexander Arnold, centre-half Virgil van Dijk and forward Sadio Mane. But there is no room for Liverpool's Mohamed Salah or Arsenal's Pier...

THE FINAL FOUR The semi-final games for this season’s Champions League have been confirmed after a controversial night in Etihad. It has been a thrilling tournament so far and now just four teams remain ahead of the final at Atletico Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium on June 1. Barcelona outclassed Manchester United while Ajax stunned Juventus on Tuesday night to book their places in the semi-finals. Liverpool then saw off Porto and Tottenham stunned Manchester City in a Champions League classic to complete the line-up of sides left in Europe’s elite competition. We will have a new champion this term after Real Madrid, who have won it three years running, were dumped out in the Round of 16. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL DRAW First Legs: Tottenham vs Ajax – 30/04, 8pm Barcelona vs Liverpool – 01/05, 8pm Second Legs: Liverpool vs Barcelona – 07/05, 8pm Ajax vs Tottenham – 08/05, 8pm The final will be held at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid on June 1 with kick-off at 8pm...

CAN IT HAPPEN AGAIN? And the show went down last night at Old Trafford with the Catalans emerging Victorious. Barcelona are in command of their quarter-final tie against Manchester United, Luke Shaw's early own goal giving the Blaugrana a slender first-leg win at Old Trafford. Aiming to reach a first semi-final since they last lifted this trophy in 2015, the visitors took the lead inside 12 minutes, Shaw deflecting Luis Suárez's powerful back-post header into his own net. The hosts rallied after going behind and went close either side of the interval through Diogo Dalot and Marcus Rashford, but were unable to find the finishing touch. Not at their most fluent due to an industrious United display, Barcelona's best chance of the second period fell to Suárez, who shot into the side-netting, but Ernesto Valverde's men will be confident of completing the job on Tuesday. United improved considerably after switching from a back three to a back four in the first half, bu...

IN MEMORIES OF LEICESTER CITY CHAIRMAN VICHAI SRIVADDHANAPRABHA The Foxes chairman died in a helicopter crash on Saturday following his side's match with West Ham, but his impact will be felt for years It is a tragedy that will go down in footballing infamy. The darkest day in Leicester City’s history arrived just two and a half years after the club’s greatest hour. Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the much-loved owner of the Foxes, ties together both of these moments. On May 2, 2016, the man affectionately known as just Vichai celebrated football’s most heart-warming fairy tale as Leicester were miraculously crowned Premier League champions. But on October 27, 2018, Vichai’s fairy tale would descend into a nightmare. On Saturday evening – following the 1-1 draw with West Ham - the helicopter that collects Vichai after every home match at the King Power Stadium tragically crashed just seconds after take-off. All five people on board died, including the 60-year-old Vichai. It is a...

FIFA RANKING: Nigeria Now Placed 44th, As Belgium Retain Top Spot In the ranking table published on the website of the world football governing body on thursday, Nigeria garnered 1431 points as against 1415 it had in September. The movement has now placed Nigeria as the third in Africa behind Tunisia and Senegal. The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that it was during this period that the Eagles thrashed Libya 4-0 (home) and 3-2 (away) in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers. Tunisia is ranked 22nd in the world and Senegal 25th. Congo DR (ranked 46th and Morocco(47th) are the other African countries among the top 50. On the global scene, Belgium are now ranked world number one, ahead of France with the narrowest of margin–just one point in the new the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking published. The Belgians have 1733 points to France’s 1732 points. In September, the two countries were tied on the first spot. The top two remain out in front after a month in which each of them enjoy...

Made In Africa Afcon Qualifiers Standing After Match Day 4 Madagascar have qualified for the African Cup of Nations finals for the first time by beating Equatorial Guinea 1-0 in Vontovorona. Thailand-based midfielder Njiva Rakotoharimalala, 26, scored the only goal. They became the first team to qualify for a place in the finals that have now been expanded from 16 teams to 24. They were later joined by Egypt, Senegal and Tunisia in qualifying for the finals in Cameroon next June/July. Madagascar's win moved them to 10 points in Group A with two matches left to play. The games was played in Vontovorona after Madagascar were banned from using the Mahamasina Stadium in Antananarivo for "three matches or three months". The suspension was imposed by the Confederation of African Football following a stampede at the national stadium in September, when one person was killed and nearly 40 others were injured. Madagascar become the 40th different nation to qualify for ...

2018 BALLON D'OR FULL LIST AND 10 AMAZING FACTS ABOUT THE NOMINEES In September, FIFA handed out it's 'The Best' prize for the men's best footballer, awarding it to Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder Luka Modric. But since 1956, the biggest individual prize has always been the Ballon d'Or. Dominated in the last decade by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo - the duo winning all 10 of the last awards - the Golden Ball is once more on offer in Paris on December 3. The 30-man shortlist for the prize is announced throughout the day on Monday. First won by Sir Stanley Matthews, the list is compiled by the editorial staff of the French publication France Football, with the winner voted for by journalists from around the world, with one representative per nation. The players, managers and journalists that are chosen to vote for the award allocate five, three and one point to three nominated players, and the player with the highest number of points wins. Here...