BEB Weekend Sports: News!

Ramos misses two penalties, as he becomes Europe’s most capped player

Sergio Ramos had two penalties saved on the night he became the most capped male European player as Spain drew with Switzerland in the Nations League.

Ramos was winning his 177th cap, taking him past Gianluigi Buffon's record - but it was a game to forget.

The 34-year-old had his first penalty saved by Yann Sommer as he tried to place it in the corner. His second was an attempted chip which barely left the ground as Sommer held on to it. He had scored his previous 25 attempts for Spain and Real Madrid.

"Sergio's numbers for penalties are out of this world," said Spain boss Luis Enrique 

"If there had been a third penalty, he would have taken that one as well."

Borussia Monchengladbach keeper Sommer told Swiss broadcaster SRF: "I've come up against Ramos in the Champions League recently, so that means I've been previously engaged in preparing for his penalties.

"I think he wanted to chip the second one, but it worked out well for me."

Both of those spot-kicks were with Spain 1-0 down following Remo Freuler's clever finish from Breel Embolo's cross.

The hosts ended with 10 men after Nico Elvedi was shown a second yellow card for fouling Alvaro Morata for Spain's second penalty.

Spain eventually equalised through Gerard Moreno's 89th-minute finish from Sergio Reguilon's cross.

Spain must now beat Germany in Seville on Tuesday to reach next year's Nations League finals.

Nigeria see a 4-0 lead slip as Sierra Leone fight back

Sierra Leone fought back from 4-0 down away to Nigeria to draw 4-4 in their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier after a spectacular comeback in Benin City.

It was one of six qualifying group fixtures on Friday for the finals which will now take place in Cameroon in 2022.

The Super Eagles were coasting towards a third win from three in Group L after racing to a 4-0 lead 

inside the first half hour of their match at home to Sierra Leone.

Everton forward Alex Iwobi scored twice, with his first goal coming in the fourth minute.

Napoli's Victor Osimhen found the net after 21 minutes on his return to Nigeria's team.

Osimhen then set up Iwobi who got his second goal six minutes later and Villareal's SamuelChukwueze added a fourth, with another assist from Osimhen.

Sierra Leone began their stunning fightback just before half-time when Kwame Quee grabbed what looked to be a consolation goal.

Alhaji Kamara began to stamp his mark on the match. He added a second for the visitors after 72 minutes to make it 4-2.

Mustapha Bundu then added a third for Sierra Leone to make it 4-3 with 10 minutes remaining.

Nigeria were left stunned as Alhaji Kamara completed an astonishing performance by his team with an equaliser four minutes from time.

Nigeria remain top of their group on seven points - with Sierra Leone third, five points adrift.

Ledesma hails 'unreal, surreal' win over New Zealand

Argentina coach Mario Ledesma said his players came "through hell" to claim a first victory over three-time world champions New Zealand.

The Pumas beat the All Blacks 25-15 in Sydney on Saturday after failing to do so in 33 previous attempts since 1976.

"Unreal, unreal, surreal," said an emotional Ledesma after the Rugby Championship win. 

"We have been through hell and the boys just kept ticking. Just so proud of them."

The match is Argentina's first since last year's Rugby World Cup, more than 13 months ago, with their previous fixtures cancelled by the coronavirus pandemic.

Before the match the team released a video showing how players had trained at home, been isolated from their families and quarantined from their team-mates during the months before the match. 

New Zealand, who lost 24-22 to Australia last week in Brisbane, have been beaten in two consecutive Test matches for the first time since August 2011.

The defeat drops New Zealand to third in the world rankings, behind South Africa and England, the lowest they have been since 2003.

Dos Anjos calls out McGregor after Felder win

Rafael dos Anjos dispatched Paul Felder at UFC Vegas 14 and immediately called out Conor McGregor for his next fight.

After his points win over five rounds, the Brazilian said the lightweight division was wide open and called out the Irishman, another former champion.

"I think me and Conor is the fight to make," said the 36-year-old.

American Felder had stepped in to fight Dos Anjos with just five days' notice after Islam Makhachev of Russia pulled out of the lightweight contest.
And he took a physical battle to a split decision, which came down in favour of Dos Anjos.

Dos Anjos said he was "not too happy" with his performance but felt he could challenge for top spot following the retirement of Russian title holder Khabib Nurmagomedov.

"If Khabib has really retired it will leave the division wide open and I think me and Conor are the only real champions in the division," he said.

Former two-weight champion McGregor responded on social media to say he would be fighting American Dustin Poirier first, but added: "I'm down for it."

from Bola Esho's Blog