Sports
Senegal become first African team to beat England with 3-1 win in friendly
Senegal became the first African team to beat England in 22 games on Tuesday, winning 3-1 in a friendly at the City Ground thanks to goals from Ismaila Sarr, Habib Diarra and Cheikh Sabaly.
Senegal stretched their unbeaten streak to 24 games, while England’s loss, which included a disallowed late goal from Jude Bellingham for a handball in the build-up, was their first defeat in four games under new manager Thomas Tuchel.
“Not good enough,” captain Harry Kane told ITV. “We had moments, but with and without the ball things aren’t clicking, we’re not finding the right tempo.
We’ve lost that aggressive nature that we had.”England — with 10 changes from Saturday’s 1-0 lacklustre World Cup qualifying win over Andorra took the lead when Kane struck in the seventh minute after Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy saved Anthony Gordon’s shot but spilled the ball into the striker’s path.T
he hosts conceded for the first time under Tuchel when Sarr caught Kyle Walker napping to poke in Nicolas Jackson’s cross in the 40th minute.
The visitors doubled their lead in the 62nd when Diarra latched onto a ball over the top then fired through goalkeeper Dean Henderson’s legs. Sabaly struck deep into stoppage time, prompting boos from England fans after the final whistle.
We’re not going to panic but we know we need to be better,” Kane said. “New ideas, there’s new players coming into the team that don’t have experience at international level.
“It’s a mixture of things but no excuses. We need to find it quick, the World Cup is going to come around really fast so every camp is really important right now.
“Senegal peppered Henderson with nine shots on target to England’s four, including an early header from Sarr that the goalkeeper pushed wide of the post.
Gordon squandered a glorious chance to give England a two-goal lead in the first half when he mis-hit Walker’s cross from close range.
Mendy made a great late save to deny England what would have been an equaliser from Bukayo Saka before Senegal added their third.
“Disappointing result, not sure if maybe didn’t deserve a little bit more result-wise,” Tuchel said. “But felt again a bit frozen, not active enough for a long time of the match.
“We conceded the first two goals, very easy goals, that we needed to defend better.
The reaction was good after we were down, suddenly more active, more free, more fluid, more aggressive towards the opponent’s goals. We had then big chances to equalise.”
Sports
Shaibu Commits to Renewed Hope Agenda at NIS
Joel Ajayi
The newly appointed Director General of the National Institute for Sports (NIS), Comrade Philip Shaibu, has pledged to revitalise the institution and realign it with the vision of its founding fathers.
Shaibu made this commitment during a courtesy visit to the Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Malam Shehu Dikko, and to the NIS office located within Package B of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.
He formally notified the Chairman of his resumption and expressed his determination to reposition the institute for greater impact.
He underscored the importance of collaboration and teamwork in achieving the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the Nigerian sports sector.
“I am here to officially inform the Chairman of my assumption of office as Director General of the National Institute for Sports, following my appointment by Mr. President,” Shaibu stated. “I also wish to discuss areas of collaboration to help us fulfill the mandates set before us. Although we have been working towards this vision for a while, it cannot be fully achieved without a genuine passion for sports development.
“By working closely with Alhaji Shehu Dikko, I believe we can translate Mr. President’s Renewed Hope for sports into tangible results.”
In his response, Malam Dikko described Shaibu’s appointment as a perfect fit, commending his leadership qualities and past achievements.
“I am delighted to welcome my brother to the family. When he last visited, it was to congratulate us on our appointments. Today, he returns to join us in the mission to advance sports development in Nigeria,” Dikko said.
“We remain grateful to Mr. President for his continued support. The NIS plays a central role in building the human capacity required to transform our sports landscape.
“Shaibu’s passion for sports and his impressive track record make him the right person to lead the institute.”
After the meeting, Shaibu embarked on an inspection tour of the NIS facilities at the stadium, assessing the condition of training infrastructure and overall operational capacity. He identified areas that require urgent intervention and pledged to address them swiftly.
He reaffirmed his commitment to fostering teamwork and engaging stakeholders at all levels to achieve a complete transformation of the institute in line with its core mandate and national development goals.
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