Mourinho reveals the only time he's cried after a defeat

The Tottenham head coach has explained how he was left devastated after a Champions League semi-final loss to Bayern Munich back in 2012

Jose Mourinho has revealed the only time that he has cried after losing a match during his coaching career - the Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich back in 2012 while he was Real Madrid head coach.

The German giants advanced to the final of the competition that year after beating Madrid on penalties, with the semi-final tie having gone to extra-time and spot-kicks following a 2-1 win for Mourinho's men over the 90 minutes.

With the first leg having finished 2-1 to the Bundesliga side, Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice inside 14 minutes at the Bernabeu to put the hosts ahead in the tie.

Arjen Robben struck from the penalty spot after 27 minutes to level things up at 3-3 on aggregate, with Ronaldo, Kaka and Sergio Ramos all missing from 12 yards as the match went to penalties.

Bastian Schweinsteiger was on hand to net the winning spot-kick and set up a meeting with Chelsea in the final, a game that the Blues would win at the Allianz Arena in a match that was again decided by spot-kicks.

Looking back at the defeat, the Tottenham head coach told Marca: "Unfortunately, that's football. Cristiano, Kaka, Sergio Ramos... three complete monsters of football, there's no doubt about that, but they're also human.

"That night is the only time in my career as a coach that I've cried after a defeat. I remember it well... Aitor [Karanka, Madrid assistant at the time] and I pulled up in front of my house, in the car, crying.

"It was very hard because we were the best that season."

It proved to be one of few blips in an outstanding season for Madrid, who won the Liga title and earned 100 points, nine more than Barcelona, setting the record for a single top-flight season in Spain.

Los Blancos also scored 121 goals in the competition in that famous 2011-12 campaign, another La Liga record, while they would end up losing just twice in the league - to Levante and Barca respectively.

Mourinho managed Madrid between 2010 and 2013 and won 128 of his 178 matches in charge of the Spanish club.

He would then go on to coach Chelsea for the second time in his career, winning a third Premier League title for the Blues, before joining Manchester United in 2016 - a spell that would last just over two seasons prior to his sacking in December 2018.

The 57-year-old replaced Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham in November 2019, guiding the club to eighth in the Premier League table prior to the coronavirus pandemic bringing a halt to football across the globe.

Source: Goal

COVID-19: Zamfara will not cut salaries, says Matawalle

Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle

Maiharaji Altine, Gusau

Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State has assured civil servants in the state that there would be no cut in their salaries as proposed by other governors.

The governor, who spoke through his Director-General on Media and Publicity, Yusuf Idris, promised the continued payment of full salaries and wages as and when due, despite the stay-at-home order occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic.

Matawalle also approved a N470m loan subsidy on food with the aim of cushioning the effect of COVID-19 on civil servants and residents in the state.

He called on the workers to appreciate the government’s efforts in improving their welfare by rededicating themselves to duty when the pandemic was over.

Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress in the state, Bashir Mafara, who spoke on behalf of the civil servants, thanked the governor for not cutting their salaries as done by his counterparts in other states.

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control as of Friday night, the state has reported nine coronavirus infections and one attendant death.
Source: punchng

Test of the Believers

At the end of the Day of Gathering the disbelievers will follow behind the gods and idols which they used to worship. They will take their followers to the Hellfire in groups like flocks of sheep, either on their feet or being dragged on their faces. Then only the believers and their hypocrites (pretending to be of them) will be left waiting, and Allah will come to them and ask: "what are you waiting for?" They will reply: "We are waiting for our Lord." He will reveal Himself to them by exposing them to His Shin (Al-Saaq -the promised sign) whereupon they will all fall down in prostration except for the hypocrites, as Allah said of them: "The day that he reveals the Shin, and they are called to prostrate but they will not be able to...." 

Then they will follow Him, and the Bridge (Siraat) will be established (over the Hellfire), and Allah will give the believers their lights and darken the lights of the hypocrites.

No God please No! Reactions trail Kobe Bryant, daughter’s death

You cannot be a true follower of the slam-dunk game and not know Kobe Bryant. The LA Lakers and basketball legend had a successful career that spanned two decades, making and breaking records in the process. On January 26, 2020, Bryant and four others were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California – they were his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, her teammate and her teammate’s parent.
Kobe’s last tweet was a reaction to LeBron James breaking his scoring record in the NBA. From Dwayne Wade to Tom Brady, reactions have started pouring in and below are some of them.
Source: THE VANGUARD

Overhead bridges: 36 persons arrested for crossing expressway in Lagos

The Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) said it has arrested 36 persons for allegedly crossing the highways indiscriminately. The Corps Marshal of the Agency, Mrs Gbemisola Akinpelu, a retired Commissioner of Police stated this in a statement signed by Mr Adebayo Kehinde, head of Public Affairs Unit of the agency.
Akinpelu said that, apart from the suspects risking their lives and that of motorists, they also impede free flow of vehicular movement in the State, while crossing major highways where overhead bridges were erected for usage. “The Agency is geared toward attaining total compliance on road crossing and use of pedestrian bridges in line with the mandate of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on the enforcement and prosecution of the offenders.
“The distance from the pedestrian bridges where arrests can be made by LAGESC officers against erring pedestrians wishing to endanger their lives by crossing the highway is pegged at 200 metres. “The Agency is presently carrying out the total enforcement in some of the identified areas such as Ikeja Along, Ikorodu Road, Ojota, Berger, C.M.S, amongst others,” she said. Akinpelu said that the agency had established additional Divisional Offices in the State, toward ensuring adequate coverage of all areas. She stressed on the need for Divisional Commanders, Deputy Divisional Commanders, Unit Commanders and Senior Officers to adequately monitor the pedestrian bridges. The retired CP also urged the officers and men to dislodge traders around the bridges and walkways for free human movements. (NAN)
Source: the vanguard

What's going on in our brain during everyday life- MIT Technology Review

MIT Technology Review on their tweeter account, tweeting "DeepMind’s new algorithm has uncovered new details about how dopamine helps the brain learn." “It gives us a new perspective on what's going on in our brains during everyday life.”

Rahama Sarah ready to release her movie

Popular actress Rahama Sarah sets to release movie in cinemas as from 7th of February.

Fans are already looking forward to it.

Watch out!!!

Don't Forget to like and comment

Wuhan, a city of 11 million, has been in virtual lockdown since Thursday

Coronavirus: The death toll from China's coronavirus outbreak jumped on Saturday to 41 from 26 a day earlier as the Lunar New Year got off to a gloomy start, with authorities curbing travel and cancelling public gatherings. More than 1,300 people have been infected globally with a virus traced to a seafood market in the central city of Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife. Health authorities around the world are scrambling to prevent a pandemic.

State-run China Global Television Network reported in a tweet on Saturday that a doctor who had been treating patients in Wuhan, 62-year-old Liang Wudong, had died from the virus. It was not immediately clear if his death was already counted in the official toll of 41, of which 39 were in the central province of Hubei, where Wuhan is located.

U.S. coffee chain Starbucks said on Saturday that it was closing all its outlets in Hubei province for the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, following a similar move by McDonald's in five Hubei cities.

Wuhan, a city of 11 million, has been in virtual lockdown since Thursday, with nearly all flights at the airport canceled and checkpoints blocking the main roads leading out of town. Authorities have since imposed transport restrictions on nearly all of Hubei province, which has a population of 59 million.

In Beijing on Saturday, workers in white protective suits checked temperatures of passengers entering the subway at the central railway station, while some train services in eastern China's Yangtze River Delta region were suspended, the local railway operator said.

The number of confirmed cases in China stands at 1,287, the National Health Commission said on Saturday. The virus has also been detected in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Nepal, Malaysia, France, the United States and Australia.

Australia on Saturday announced its first case of coronavirus, a Chinese national in his 50s, who had been in Wuhan and arrived from China on Jan. 19 on a flight from Guangzhou. He is in stable condition in a Melbourne hospital.

"Given the number of cases that have been found outside of China and the significant traffic from Wuhan city in the past to Australia, it was not unexpected that we would get some cases," Australia's Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy told a news conference. "This is the first confirmed case. There are other cases being tested each day, many of them are negative, but I wouldn't be surprised if we had further confirmed cases." The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday it had 63 patients under investigation, with two confirmed cases, both in people who had traveled to Wuhan.

REINFORCEMENTS TO WUHAN

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new coronavirus an "emergency in China" this week but stopped short of declaring it of international concern. Human-to-human transmission has been observed in the virus.

China's National Health Commission said on Saturday it had formed six medical teams totaling 1,230 medical staff to help Wuhan. Three of the six teams, from Shanghai, Guangdong and military hospitals have arrived in Wuhan.

Hubei province, where authorities are rushing to build a 1,000 bed hospital in six days to treat patients, announced on Saturday that there were 658 patients affected by the virus in treatment, 57 of whom were critically ill.

The newly-identified coronavirus has created alarm because there are still many unknowns surrounding it, such as how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between people. It can cause pneumonia, which has been deadly in some cases. Symptoms include fever, difficulty breathing and coughing. Most of the fatalities have been in elderly patients, many with pre-existing conditions, the WHO said.

NEW YEAR DISRUPTIONS

Airports around the world have stepped up screening of passengers from China, though some health officials and experts have questioned the effectiveness of such screenings and of the lockdown.

Health officials fear the transmission rate could accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel before and during the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, which began on Saturday, although many have canceled their plans, with airlines and railways in China providing free refunds.

The virus outbreak and efforts to contain it have put a dampener on what is ordinarily a festive time of year.

Shanghai Disneyland was closed from Saturday. The theme park has a 100,000 daily capacity and sold out during last year's Lunar New Year holiday.

Beijing's Lama Temple, where people traditionally make offerings for the new year, has also closed, as have some other temples and the Forbidden City, the capital's most famous tourist attraction. Sections of the Great Wall near the capital were also closed off.

Source: Business Today

Eriksen set to join Inter Milan after being left out of Spurs squad

Christian Eriksen looks set to have played his last game for Tottenham after he was left out of their FA Cup fourth-round game at Southampton.
The Denmark international is primed to join Inter Milan before the January transfer window shuts, with reports in Italy suggesting he will travel for a medical early next week.
Eyebrows were raised when he still travelled to St Mary’s on Saturday afternoon, but Jose Mourinho did not include him in Tottenham‘s matchday 18. Despite constant speculation surrounding Eriksen‘s future this month, which Mourinho described as a difficult situation, the Portuguese has still continued to involve the midfielder. He came on as a second-half substitute in Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Norwich, but was booed by some fans who have been unhappy about the Dane’s supposed lack of commitment this season. Having said he wanted to leave in the summer for a fresh challenge, his performance levels have dropped, especially after he failed to secure a move in the summer transfer window.
However, if a move away does go through next week the 27-year-old will be remembered as one of the key men who helped Tottenham become a force in English football under Mauricio Pochettino. He scored 69 goals in all competitions across 305 appearances and made many more in a lethal combination with the likes of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Dele Alli. Defender Danny Rose was also not included in the squad at Saints amid reported interest from Newcastle. Source: Football 365

Lukaku: Conte told me I was trash in front of Inter stars

The 26-year-old hitman has said that a blast from the former Chelsea boss took him out of his comfort zone and got the best from his game

Romelu Lukaku has revealed that Inter head coach Antonio Conte’s no-nonsense approach is getting the best out of his game.

The Belgium international moved to the Serie A outfit from Manchester United for £75 million ($98m) in the summer and has rapidly established himself as one of the most dangerous forwards in Italy’s top flight.

After being perceived as a flop at Old Trafford, he has excelled in Milan, where he has 14 goals in 20 Serie A appearances this season.

He says that the mentality of Conte is getting the best from his game and even said that being rubbished in front of his team-mates after one particularly poor display has motivated him to achieve greater heights.

“I remember one of my first Champions League games against Slavia Prague when I played really bad - like I was trash that day - and I really got it from him in front of the whole team,” the former Everton hitman told Sky Sports.

“He told me that I was really trash and that he would take me off after five minutes if I would have done it again.

“It's little things like that. And we played the Milan derby just after that and I played one of my best games of the season.

“He just gave me that - he stepped on my confidence but it woke me up at the same time. He does it to everybody, it doesn't matter who you are. Everybody is equal.

“It had never really happened to me before. It had never happened.

“The manager, he tells it straight to your face if you're doing well or wrong.”

Lukaku also credits the formations used with Inter and Belgium, where Roberto Martinez is head coach, for his strong form.

“When there is a lot of movement around me, here and with the Belgian national team, I am at my best because then I can create myself and I can be at the end of the delivery,” he added.

“Right now, the systems we are playing, here at Inter with the 3-5-2, and with the Belgium national team in a 3-4-3 with players close to me.

“Here [at Inter] we play in a system where you have to be in a certain position but at the end of the day, if you stand in the right position, you get chances.

“It is different with the Belgian national team, where there is much more freedom but I have more players around me.”

Saudi Arabia wealth fund in talks to buy Newcastle United for £340 million

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is in talks to buy English football club Newcastle United for about 340 million pounds (about N156.4 billion), a source familiar with the situation told Reuters. The revelation confirmed a report in the Wall Street Journal earlier on Saturday.
British billionaire Mike Ashley, who made his fortune from sportswear retailer Sports Direct (renamed Frasers Group (FRAS.L) last month), has owned Newcastle United since 2007. Saudi’s Public Investment Fund together with a group led by British financier Amanda Staveley, are in discussions to buy the Premier League club. But the talks were at a delicate stage and could fall apart, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.
A spokesman for Newcastle United declined to comment on Saturday. Saudi’s Public Investment Fund was not immediately available for comment, nor were representatives for Ashley or Staveley. Newcastle United has been up for sale for a number of years. Three years ago, Staveley’s firm PCP Capital Partners made an offer for it for a reported 250 million pounds but the talks broke down. In 2019, Newcastle United was rumoured to be on the brink of being bought by Abu Dhabi billionaire Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan, but that deal did not go ahead either. Ashley, who owns a controlling stake in the club, has not always been popular among fans, and thousands have been staying away from matches this season to protest at his ownership. Around a third of English football clubs are under foreign ownership. English Premier League (EPL) clubs Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United are all in American hands, while Manchester City is owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group.
[Reuters/NAN]