Omeruo hoping Nigeria can surprise
Omeruo hoping Nigeria can surprise
Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi has dismissed allegations of match-fixing following a mistake from his goalkeeper Austin Ejide against Scotland on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the Daily Telegraph reported on its website that officers from the National Crime Agency were investigating attempts to fix the match at Fulham's Craven Cottage ground.
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The match went ahead despite those claims, which are under police investigation, and ended in a 2-2 draw after Uche Nwofor scored a late leveller.
However, an error from goalkeeper Ejide was the subject of contention after he spilled the ball into his own net, only to see the goal ruled out by referee Lee Probert for a foul by Grant Hanley.
Speaking after the match, Keshi, whose side face Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran at this summer's World Cup, said: "We did [talk about it] because it's something ridiculous, something that we don't know where it's coming from.
"We're not gamblers, we are football players. I don't even know where that is coming from, we don't know what happened, match-fixing or no match-fixing.
"This is the first time I've been a coach or been a player and the first time I'm hearing this, match-fixing. I don't think it had anything to do with our build-up or the game."
Soccer Hot News
Duffy targeting Everton breakthrough
Shane Duffy is looking at the 2014-15 Premier League campaign as his chance to stake his claim for a spot in Everton’s first team.
The 22-year-old defender spent the previous season on loan at Championship outfit Yeovil Town, and has made just five top-flight appearances for the Goodison Park club in his fledgling career.
Duffy was an unused substitute for Republic of Ireland in their 2-1 friendly defeat to Turkey on Sunday, and is yet to earn a senior cap, but first the centre-back is concentrating on making an impact at Everton.
“Roberto (Everton manager Martinez) told me that pre-season was my chance to shine and he’s said to me that if I am where he thinks I am – from what he’s seen of me this season – then I’m going to be involved,” he told the club’s official website.
“And if I’m not, we’ll see at the end of pre-season what we’re going to do. It’s a big summer for me, it’s up to me.
“Seeing Seamus (Coleman) progress is brilliant for me because he’s such a hard worker and it’s a reward for how he lives.
“And he’s very good to me, he says, ‘If I can do it, you can do it’, so we’ll see what happens.”
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