The year was 1996 and the football team of Nigeria headed for The Olympics in Atlanta. The expectations were that Brazil or Argentina will win the tournament. And that was normal, because players like Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Bebeto, Crespo, Ortega and so on were among the participants in the prestigious tournament.
The Nigerian footballers started well and beat 1-0 Hungary in their first group game. Nwankwo Kanu scored beautiful goal after one-two passing just before the half time and that remained the only goal of the game. Two days later, on 23rd July 1996, The Super Eagles met Japan, which team was their main concurrent for taking a place in the quarter finals. Nigeria eventually won 2-0 after late goals, scored by Babangida and Okocha.
After already being qualified for the next round, Nigeria lost 1-0 to Brazil, after Ronaldo’s goal in the 30th minute of the match. In the quarter finals, the Nigerians recorded a confident 2-0 victory over Mexico and had to play again against Brazil, this time in the semi-finals.
And that was the Super Eagles’ first real test. They were 1-3 down, when 12 minutes before the final whistle Ikpeba found the net. Then, in the very last second of the match Kanu equalized 3-3! The ex Arsenal’s forward was lucky to score a golden goal in the 94th minute and sent Nigeria in the final.
The final game was even more dramatic. Nigeria was 2-1 down to Argentina. The minute was 74th. Amokachi scored! 2-2! Could you believe it? Then, in the 90th minute Argentinian defence tried to put Nigerian forwards in the offside trap, but the linesman didn’t mark the offside and Amuneke scored the winning goal. Nigeria became the new Olympic champion!
4 years later, in 2000, Cameroon were among the participants in the Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The Indomitable Lions had the same difficult task. After proceeding from their group, they beat 2-1 Brazil in the quarter finals with golden goal, scored by M’Bami in the 114th minute. Then, Cameroon were lucky to win against Chile in the semi-finals. Ivan Zamorano and his teammates missed tons of clear goal-scoring chances and eventually were punished by Mboma and Lauren, who turned things around and secured the victory for The Lions.
In the final, Cameroon were 2-0 down to Spain, but in the second half the referee sent off two of the Spanish players and The Lions were back in the match after Amaya’s own goal and Etoó’s equalizer. The match went to penalties and it was definitely not Amaya’s day, who hit the woodwork and sent the trophy to Cameroon.
So, these two tournaments are the example that everything is possible in football. Even if the weakest team is meeting the strongest…

Alessandria are currently playing at Lega Pro A, which is a part of the third level of the Italian football. The Greys are playing well in the third division, having collected 35 points of 19 matches. But the most impressive thing about the club is that Alessandria went to the semi-finals of The Coppa Italia, and are still not eliminated! The third-division club still has its chances to qualify for the final, even though Alessandria lost the first leg of the semi-final 0-1 to Milan.
But how did Alessandria progress to the semi-finals in the tournament? The Greys started from the very first round of The Coppa Italia. They had to play against the Seria D side – Alto Vicentino (fifth division). Alessandria had no troubles, beating 2-0 the team from a lower division. 24-year-old Manuel Fischnaller opened the scoresheet in the 3rd minute of the game. Then in the 7th minute, Loviso doubled their lead.
Just a week later, Alessandria had to visit Pro Vercelli (Seria B) in the second round of the tournament. That was the first real test for the Angelo Gregucci’s lads. And again Fischnaller found the net for The Greys in the first half of the game. Pro Vercelli equalized by Ardizzone in the 36th minute, but Mezavilla bagged a goal for Alessandria 30 minutes before the final whistle.
Then, Alessandria beat 1-0 Juve Stabia at home. Loviso scored the only goal of the game. And that was the easiest part of the task for The Greys. In the fourth round they had to visit the Seria A side Palermo. Everybody believed that Alessandria can’t win the match, but the coach Gregucci didn’t think so. Loviso scored from the penalty spot early in the game to give Alessandria lead. Then Marconi and Nicco scored and surprised Palermo at Stadio Renzo Barbera.
The Greys visited Genoa in the 8th finals of the Cup. And the Seria A side were lucky to reach the extra time of the game, after equalizing in the last seconds of the match. But, in the 114th minute the substitute Bocalon, who is ex Inter Player, found the net after sensational one-two passing. If you think that’s a dramatic match, you will have to hear about the quarter final against Spezia (away). The host team took the lead in the 20th minute and Bocalon had to come from the bench again to help his teammates. He stepped on the field in the 70th minute and 13 minutes later he scored! Then he did it again in the very last seconds of the match.
In the first leg of the semi-finals Alessandria lost 0-1 to Milan at home, but The Greys should have lost by more goals, so they still have their chances to go through the final match. If Milan underestimate them, Alessandria will surely knock out The Rossoneri.

Liverpool are the most successful club in the history of The English League Cup. The Reds have won the trophy on 8 occasions and have become runners-up three times. Now, they will have the chance to take part in The Capital One Cup’s final for 12th time.
The Merseysiders became the first finalist in The Capital One Cup. Jurgen Klopp’s players won the first leg 1-0 against Stoke at Britannia Stadium, but lost with the same score at Anfield and had to beat The Potters on penalties, in order to qualify for the final match at Wembley. The Reds were lucky to win 6-5 against Stoke on penalties. The hero for Liverpool became the Belgian goalkeeper Mignolet, who saved two shots from the spot. Peter Crouch and Marc Muniesa missed for Stoke.
The only goal in the match at Anfield was scored by Marko Arnautovic in the last minute of the first half. The goal had to be disallowed, because the Austrian forward was in offside position, but the linesman couldn’t see this and Stoke opened in the 45th minute.
Liverpool pressured Stoke in the beginning of the second half. Roberto Firmino had a great chance to score, but his shot deflected off the post. Marko Arnautovic missed a great opportunity for Stoke. He was unlucky to see his shot from a long distance went just wide.
Mamadou Sakho missed with a header later in the match, while Benteke hindered his teammate Flanagan to score in the 75th minute of the game.
Stoke were very close to achieve the victory in the extra time, but Marko van Ginkel was denied by the post. This led to the penalty shootout. Peter Crouch missed first for Stoke City. Then, Emre Can of Liverpool did the same thing. The seventh penalty for Stoke was hit by Marc Muniesa and Mignolet showed a great reflex, saving his shot. The decisive penalty was taken by Joe Allen, who sent Jack Butland in the wrong way and qualified Liverpool for the final.
The Reds will play against Manchester City or Everton in the final. Both City and The Toffees will play tonight at the other semi-final match. The score from the first leg was 2-1 in favour of Everton. So, The Citizens will have to give their best in order to qualify for the final. Neither Manchester City, nor Everton have met Liverpool in a Capital One Cup final so far, so it will be a very interesting match no matter which team qualifies.

Alan Shearer was a complete footballer. He wasn’t just a striker he was the team inspirer and the team leader! He had an eye for the goal and excellent positioning on the pitch, solid physics, powerful shot and great technical skills.
He started his career at Southampton FC in 1988. He made his debut at age of 17 in the home game against Arsenal at The St. Mary’s Stadium and bagged a hat-trick, becoming the youngest striker to score three goals in an English First Division game. He played in 118 games and scored 23 goals for The Saints until 1992 when he was bought by Blackburn.
Shearer scored 112 league goals in 138 games for Rovers. His biggest success at Blackburn was the Premier League title in season 1994/95. Shearer found the net on 34 occasions of 42 games. That was his best period in The English Premiership. He scored more than 30 goals in three season in a row. Then, in 1996 he moved to Newcastle United, where he played until the end of his career in 2006. The attacker appeared in 303 league matches and found the net on 148 occasions. He helped The Magpies pass their first group in The Champions League (season 2002/03), but the club was eventually eliminated in the second group stage.
He became Premier League runner-up with The Magpies in season 1996/97 and reached The FA Cup final twice, but couldn’t win the trophy.
For the English national team, he debuted in 1992 against France (even scored a goal) and played until 2000. Alan Shearer scored 30 goals in 63 games for The Three Lions. The striker holds the record for the biggest number of goals scored in the Premier League (260). He took part in three major international competitions (Euro 1996 and 2000 and FIFA World Cup 1998). Shearer helped England to reach the semi-finals of The Euro 1996 and became the tournament’s top goal-scorer with 5 goals.
The legendary striker has many individual prizes. He won The UEFA Euro Golden Boot in 1996, Premier League Player of the season (1995) and many other.
He retired from the professional football in 2006 at the age of 36. In 2009 Shearer was a temporary manager of his ex club Newcastle, but The Magpies relegated at the end of the season. Now, Alan Shearer is working for BBC.

Liverpool and Arsenal showed a great performance, finishing with a 3-3 draw at Anfield in the big derby match of the 21st round of The Premier League. The hosts played very well in the first half in which they took the lead twice after goals scored by Roberto Firmino (10′ and 19′), but serious mistakes in their defence gave a chance to Arsenal to equalize. Aaron Ramsey (14′) and Olivier Giroud (25′) were the goal-scorers for The Gunners. The Frenchman made a complete turnaround in the 55th minute, but the Liverpool’s pressure brought them an equalizing goal in the 90th minute of the match. Its author was the substitute Joe Allen.
Kolo Toure and Mamadou Sakho started in the centre of the Liverpool defence, while Reds’ new signing Steven Caulker, who was bought yesterday, sat on the bench. Roberto Firmino started in the centre of Liverpool’s attack and was supported by Jordan Ibe and Adam Lallana who were the wingers. Only one change was made in the squad was made by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger – Joel Campbell started instead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The home side went into the match on a very high speed and attacked their opponent from the very first minute. In the tenth minute Emre Can’s shot was tipped by Cech, but the ball came to Firmino, whose shot passed through the legs of Kosielny found the net. Cech had no time for reaction – 1-0. But Arsenal equalized in their next attack. Giroud headed off to Campbell, who passed through to Ramsey. The Welshman shot in the right corner, taking an advantage of poor placement of Mignolet – 1-1. Five minutes later, again Firmino put Liverpool in front after a superb strike from about 22 meters.
The match continued in the same furious pace and in the 25th minute Sakho cleared off the goal-line. Arsenal took a corner, after which Giroud equalized again.
In the first minutes of the second part Moreno missed a good opportunity for Liverpool. Walcott’s shot went just wide as a response from Arsenal. In the 55th minute the visitors came to a complete turnaround. Campbell again found Giroud in the box, and the Frenchman turned with the ball and scored his second of the match – 2-3. Liverpool looked for the equalizer until the end of the game. Ibe and Lallana tried their luck, but in both cases Mertesacker blocked them.
In the 90th minute of the match Liverpool scored a goal. Benteke headed off a cross from Henderson and Joe Allen’s shot from a volley sent the ball in the net for the final 3-3.
Arsenal remains on the first position in the standings, but the Gunners have collected the same number of points as Leicester – 43. Liverpool are lying in the ninth place with 31 points.

Diego Costa showed again what he is capable of (in a negative way again). We all know that the Spaniard is a man who doesn’t hesitate to show what he thinks and feels. Diego Costa has always let his nerves interfere his great skills.
This time, his teammate Oscar wasn’t at the right place and Costa showed him how to make a cruel tackle in the opponent’s leg. And it was just a training game between Chelsea’s players – can you imagine what would have happened if it was a competitive match? That’s the perfect way to start a training session, isn’t it?
In fact, Oscar made the first tackle in Diego’s legs, but it wasn’t so crucial to harm Spaniard’s legs. But Costa was so angry with the Brazilian that he felt a necessity to kick the midfielder.
That’s another serious scandal which is marking Chelsea’s poor season. After the tackles, the players were so angry that they started to offend each other. I remind you that this was a training match at The Blues’ base in Cobham before their next match against Scunthorpe on Sunday in the third round of The FA Cup. Oscar was slightly injured after Diego Costa’s tackle.
At both ends, Diego Costa and Oscar talked calmly after the training session and left the pitch together. But don’t wonder if you don’t see them playing together against Scunthorpe on Sunday.
This is not the first time the Spaniard does such things. We all know that he is very violent on the pitch, as he is often shown yellow cards by the referees and is also frequently banned for his unacceptable behaviour.
Diego Costa was removed from the Blues’ starting eleven by the former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, but the striker was backed by Guus Hiddink and the Spaniard scored two goals in the last three games of the team. The reason for this improvement is because Hiddink uses Costa as a centre forward, while Mourinho made him play much time on the left flank and far away from the box.
The Spanish striker is now Chelsea’s top Premier League goal-scorer with 6 goals in 16 appearances. He has also scored once in The Champions League this season. He finished the last season with 20 goals, becoming the third best scorer in the league. So, except for his occasional violent behaviour, the attacker has an eye of a goal-scoring machine.

№3 Frank Lampard

Frankie Lampard is one of the best English football players ever. He made his name as a Chelsea’s midfielder and his most important success is winning The Champions League in 2011/12 season. Lampard started his career at West Ham and played for The Hammers until 2001 when was bought by The Blues for £11 m. The midfielder spent 13 years in Chelsea and won The Premier League (3), The FA Cup (4) and The Capital One Cup (twice). Then he moved to Manchester City, where he played for a season. At the moment, Lampard is at New York City. For the English national team Frankie appeared on 106 occasions and scored the amazing number of 29 goals. He recorded that in the period between 1999 and 2014. Lampard took part in 3 World Cups and 2 European Championships.

№2 Steven Gerrard

The former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is one of the most passionate English midfielders in the history of football. He has scored 188 goals in 719 appearances at club level. Gerrard has also won 114 caps for England and he has scored 21 goals for The Three Lions. The midfielder won a treble with Liverpool in 2001 when The Merseysiders won The UEFA Cup, The UEFA Super Cup and The Football League Cup. His best record is winning the Champions League title in 2005 when Liverpool won on penalties against AC Milan. The only thing he can feel sorry about in his career is the missed opportunity of becoming a Premier League champion with Liverpool. The Reds finished in second place on 3 occasions with Gerrard in their squad. Currently the midfielder is a part of Los Angeles Galaxy.

№1 Paul Scholes

It is difficult to define which was the best part of Paul Scholes playing style. His has a trademark in long passing. Most of his goals were with powerful shots outside the box. Scholes was also very brave in defence and he didn’t hesitate to jump into a tackle. The midfielder scored over 100 Premiership goals for Manchester United, the only club he played for! The Englishman won absolutely everything with The Red Devils. He has won The Premier League eleven times! He has also won The FA Cup (3), The Capital One Cup (2), The Community Shield (5), The Champions League (2), The Intercontinental Cup (1) and The FIFA Club World Cup (1). Scholes made his international debut in 1997 in a friendly match against South Africa. Then he took part in World Cup 1998 and 2002. He has also played in Euro 2000 and 2004, when he suddenly decided to end his international career.

The Ivorian clinical striker Didier Drogba decided to retire from the professional football. He took this difficult decision, because he wants to return in his favourite club Chelsea as a coach. Drogba has already informed Montreal’s bosses of his intentions. He won’t start the new season in The MLS, but the Canadian club will receive a compensation from Chelsea for the termination of his contract, which is up to 2017.
37-year-old Drogba has achieved great things since his first match for the French team Le Mans in 1998. The striker is described as a late bloomer, because he started to play professionally at the age of 21. This is because of his complicated family life. He has never attended a football academy and that’s why he has found it difficult to cope with the training sessions of his team in the very beginning of his career.
After being bought by Guingamp in 2002, the young striker made 11 appearances and scored 3 goals, helping his new team avoid relegation. He wasn’t that impressive as a player, but received another chance from Guingamp’s bosses and in season 2002/2003 scored 17 goals in 34 appearances, providing his team 7th position in the standings (a record for the club).
He was spotted by Marseille and Les Phoceens bought him for £3.3 m. Didier Drogba found the net on 19 occasions in The French League 1 and played his first big final – in The Uefa Cup, but Marseille lost 2-0 to Valencia and became a runner-up.
Shortly after Drogba’s phenomenal performance, the Ivorian was bought by Chelsea. The Londoners paid £24 m. for the services of the goal-scoring machine. He played for The Blues until 2012. Then, Drogba returned to Chelsea in 2014. The striker scored 164 goals in 381 matches for The Londoners and became one of the team’s legends. While he was at Stamford Bridge, he managed to win The Premier League (4 times), The FA Cup (4), The Capital One Cup (3), Community Shield (2) and The Champions League (1).
Drogba has also won The Turkish Super League, Cup and Super Cup when he was at Galatasaray. The Ivorian has scored 275 goals in 636 professional games at club level. For the national team of Cote D’Ivoire Didier Drogba has found the net on 65 occasions in 104 matches. He couldn’t help his nation to win The African Nations Cup, becoming a runner-up twice.
Now, 37-year-old Drogba is going to return to his real home Stamford Bridge. But this time he won’t wear his favourite shirt with number 11 at his back, but will be on the bench next to the manager Guus Hiddink.

It was simply inevitable. Jose Mourinho was dismissed as manager of Chelsea after a run of unsatisfying results and the statement of the Portuguese at the beginning of the week, in which he said he felt betrayed by some of his star players. The way, Mourinho was sacked is very interesting. According to a British media, The Special One was fired shortly after the team’s Christmas lunch, which the coaching staff and the players of the club have organized traditional base in Cobham. The mood among the players was very good, but, however, the situation with the manager wasn’t the same, who after the defeat to Leicester on Monday night has been pretty grim.

Shortly after the lunch, when the players have already begun to leave the base, there arrived the owner – Roman Abramovich and the board members. This has been noticed by one of the players, who hasn’t left yet. The player has immediately sent a message to the rest of his teammates. So, at that moment, all have been waiting for the big news. The meeting between the bosses, which was the third this week, ended only for about five minutes. Then, Mourinho was invited to a conversation with Abramovich, the president Bruce Buck and director Eugene Tenenbaum. This meeting lasted 10 minutes and the bosses informed Mourinho of their final decision. Of course, that the Portuguese was already aware of his fate, since for several weeks, lawyers and Chelsea Manager agent – Jorge Mendes, have held discussions regarding the termination of the contract and the amount of compensation. However, The Special One hoped to get another chance, because of the easy program, according to which in the next two rounds of The Premier League Chelsea will host Sunderland and Watford and two victories would have improved his chances to stay.

The board, however, was not on this opinion, as evidenced by the statement of the Technical director of the club – Michael Emenalo: “Although we have huge admiration to the man, who has done so much for the club, we must acknowledge the fact that Chelsea is in trouble. The results are not good, and it looks there are tangible differences between the players and the manager, so it’s time for action. The owner was forced to take this difficult decision for the good of the club.”

It is expected that in the near future, Chelsea will officially announce that Guus Hiddink will lead the team until the end of the season. The strange thing is that this news has been confirmed by a surprising source – the official “Twitter” account of the Australian Football Federation, where Hiddink works. The “Kangaroos” rushed to greet the Dutchman for his new post and wish him all the best, although his appointment is not confirmed by Chelsea.