Super Falcons goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie has spoken for the first time since Nigeria’s shocking 3-2 defeat to Malawi at the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), promising that the team will learn from the setback and return stronger.

The nine-time African champions suffered a surprise defeat in their Group C opener, leaving their title defence under immediate pressure.

Reacting in a post on social media on Thursday, July 30, Nnadozie admitted the result was painful but praised the fighting spirit of the team.

“This one hurts really bad. Not the result we wanted, but the fight was real. Left it all on the field, but wasn’t enough to get the three points,” she wrote.

“We take full responsibility for our performance against a very tough opponent. It stings, but we grow. Falls hurt, but we do not stay down.”

The goalkeeper ended her message on a positive note, saying: “Head high, heart full. Proud of this team, always.”

Her comments came after head coach Justin Madugu defended his players following the defeat, insisting the loss was a collective failure and not the fault of any individual.

“Chiamaka Nnadozie is a top-class goalkeeper. It wasn’t the fault of one player, we generally had a bad day as a team,” Madugu said.

The coach described the defeat as a wake-up call and expressed confidence that the Super Falcons have the quality and experience to recover.

“We have identified the areas we need to improve on, and we’ll go back to work immediately. I believe this team has the quality, character and experience to bounce back stronger,” he said.

Nigeria will now shift focus to a crucial Group C clash against Zambia on August 1, knowing that victory is vital to keep alive their hopes of winning a record-extending 10th WAFCON title.

European football’s governing body, UEFA, voted unanimously to boycott FIFA competitions if the world governing body proceeds with plans to create a new commercial subsidiary valued at $20 billion (roughly €17.5 billion) and sell a non-controlling minority stake in it to investors.

The subsidiary would be responsible for FIFA’s commercial rights like broadcast, sponsorship, ticketing and licensing contracts for its competitions, including the World Cup.

UEFA’s 55 members met to discuss a response to FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s controversial plans.

“No UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive, unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership,” UEFA said in a statement.

“The World Cup cannot be treated as an investment product… No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors. The World Cup is not for sale,” the statement added.

Shortly after, North America’s soccer body CONCACAF unanimously rejected the FIFA plan, though it stopped short of a boycott.

UEFA swiftly rejected FIFA’s proposal

UEFA had come out publicly in opposition to the plan within an hour of it first being reported by the Financial Times and Times on Tuesday.

Shortly after the newspaper reports, FIFA, the sport’s global governing body, issued a statement confirming the plan.

In a later statement, it gave FIFA’s 211 member associations until September 19 to express their written support for the scheme. The proposal requires a simple majority and approval from the FIFA Council to pass. 

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Even before Thursday’s meeting, UEFA had doubled down on its criticism after learning of the deadline, saying: “Today we have learned of FIFA’s deadline to associations to support their proposals or have the one-off payout offer withdrawn. This says everything ​you need to know about this plan.

It added that talks with many stakeholders showed that “there is significant and growing opposition to FIFA’s scheme. FIFA cannot to use our sport to enrich themselves and their friends.”

DFB: FIFA plan ‘problematic and unacceptable’

Germany’s mass-circulation Bild paper reported that key UEFA officials including German FA (DFB) President Bernd Neuendorf had already discussed the FIFA plans via a video call on Wednesday.

“We must not lose the fans’ support, but we are well on the way to squandering that,” he told public broadcaster ZDF. “I consider this to be extremely problematic and unacceptable.

“If UEFA rejects this request (for approval of the plan), then it is dead, because I believe that you won’t be able to find any investor who would be willing to go ahead with this project if UEFA is out,” he added.

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Other critics have expressed fears that the deal could lead to more tournaments, teams and matches to increase revenue and boost the value of investors’ stakes.

UEFA hasn’t been the only confederation to criticize the report. CONCACAF, responsible for North and Central America, as well as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have also expressed concerns that the proposal was made public without their consultation while the African confederation (CAF) have said they will discuss the plans next week. 

Members of the FIFA Council, including Neuendorf, have said they were not consulted on the latest proposal.

FIFA: Subsidiary could raise billions ‘this year’

FIFA has said the new subsidiary, to be known as FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) would be valued at $20 billion and that it would aim to raise up to $4.2 billion “this year” by “carefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests” in the company. 

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Under the ​plan, FIFA said it could make $10 billion available for development beginning in 2027. Each federation would be eligible for up to $20 ​million in one-time Fast Forward funding, in addition to $20 million through the regular FIFA Forward program during the 2027-30 ⁠cycle. Without ​approval, FIFA projects a development package of about $2.7 billion.

FIFA unveils controversial World Cup investor plan

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Infantino: ‘A golden opportunity’

In the face of the opposition, FIFA President Gianni Infantino released a video on Wednesday evening, describing the project a “golden opportunity to turbocharge the development of the game globally.”

He added that the proposal was “part of a democratic process” and in comments directed to football fans, he stressed that “the sport they watch and love will not change.”

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Edited by: Matt Pearson

Manchester United were in the market for a goalkeeper and have already added Karl Darlow to Michael Carrick’s squad this summer

Manchester United made an enquiry for goalkeeper Orlando Gill, according to the player’s agent, Mario Jara. Gill starred for Paraguay during the World Cup, racking up acclaim for the vast volume of saves he made for the South American side.

Senne Lammens cemented his place as United’s No.1 in his debut season at Old Trafford, while Andre Onana has already has already joined Trabzonspor on loan. Michael Carrick has added Karl Darlow on a free transfer from Leeds United to his array of shotstoppers, but could yet lose Altay Bayindir and Radek Vitek.

Following Darlow’s arrival, it appears unlikely Gill will make the move to the Theatre of Dreams. Jara has confirmed that he has held talks with clubs in England and Germany, in addition to fielding an enquiry from United, however.

Gill’s agent has suggested that the goalkeeper will soon leave for San Lorenzo. He told DSports Radio: “We are in talks with English clubs as well as clubs in Germany.

“There were enquiries with Manchester United. We only received two concrete offers. We are currently in the negotiation phase.

“The sale is close, the time is right. We have to handle it very carefully because there are many things involved. It’s ideal for him to take a step up in quality. He’s prepared and capable of playing in any league, without a doubt.”

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He added, “We’re trying to finalise it as quickly as possible for everyone’s benefit. It would be very important for San Lorenzo; hopefully, it will come to fruition.”

United glovesman Lammens returned to Carrington on Thursday following his post-World Cup break. Vitek has featured in each of the club’s friendlies so far against Wrexham and Rosenborg.

After the clash against the Westlsh side, the former Bristol City loanee confirmed that he is ready to find a new club.

“I feel great and ready to go again somewhere to be, hopefully, number one, so we will see. We will see what is going to happen,” Vitek said.

“At the moment, I am still here, but we will see. I hope so. I hope there will be some interest. I think you will know when things are more concrete.

“I am ready for both, to be fair. [It] Depends what the club wants and also depends on the options. We will see.

“There have been a few interests on the table. But we hope to get the best one and hopefully it will happen soon.”

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Just as he did in Birmingham four years ago, Ball had got, well, the ball rolling,

He competes in tandem races as an athlete with a visual impairment and is a multiple world champion across the tandem sprint events, also winning a gold at the 2024 Paralympics in the tandem B kilo alongside his pilot Steffan Lloyd.

In 2022, he was Team Wales’ first Commonwealth medallist and first gold medallist This time Ball delivered the first cycling podium position in the men’s B tandem 1,000m time trial.

Ball and Rotherham matched the silver they won in Birmingham with great rival Neil Fachie from Scotland taking the gold.

It was a third successive Commonwealth Games second place in this event for Ball.

“It is special to equal to what we did in Birmingham four years ago,” said Ball.

“We have to be proud of what we’ve done. We gave it everything on the track and I was on the floor for 20 minutes afterwards.”

Fachie effectively came out of retirement for this event and now has six Commonwealth Games golds and one silver to his name.

The rivalry between Fachie and Ball is long-standing with Rotherham having been the pilot for both men.

Fachie won gold in this event four years ago, while the results were reversed in the tandem sprint.

So Ball and Rotherham will have a chance to defend their sprint title on Saturday.

Rotherham, who hails from Bolton, said: “I spent three days learning the Welsh national anthem and I’m gutted I didn’t get to sing it today.

“Hopefully we will do on Saturday.”

The Webbed Fruit is a Secret Equipment introduced in the Release Update (0.0) of Anime Expeditions on July 17, 2026. It is a Unit-type Equipment designed exclusively for String Demon (Awakened), the evolved version of the String Demon unit. You can obtain it as a drop from the Mastery Act of the Rose Kingdom.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Webbed Fruit in Anime Expeditions.

An overview of the Webbed Fruit in Anime Expeditions

How to get

The Webbed Fruit is obtained by completing the Mastery mode of Rose Kingdom, the third Story stage in Anime Expeditions.

Rose Kingdom features five Acts, an Infinite Act, and a Mastery Act. The Webbed Fruit can only drop from the last Act. The Equipment has the following drop rates:

• 5% drop chance after completing the Rose Kingdom Mastery Stage.
• 20-Run Pity, guaranteeing the Equipment if you don’t obtain it within 20 Mastery clears.

Although you can farm the Equipment at any time, it can only be equipped after evolving String Demon into String Demon (Awakened).

Stats and passive

The Webbed Fruit comes with two rollable substats:

• Range: +1% to +10%
• SPA: -1% to -5%

These values are randomized when the Equipment drops. You can improve them later by using Equipment Rerolls if you’re looking for better stat rolls. Webbed Fruit grants the Cocoon of Carnage passive, which completely overrides String Demon (Awakened)’s original passive ability.

The passive works as follows:

• Every five regular attacks, the unit Cocoons all enemies hit.
• Cocooned enemies remain trapped until they are either:
• Hit 10 times, or
• Held for five seconds.

If the Cocoon is broken after receiving 10 hits, it explodes and deals 125% of String Demon (Awakened)’s current damage. If the Cocoon survives the full five seconds without being broken, it simply disappears without dealing the bonus damage.

Thanks to its increased range, faster attack speed, and reliable crowd-control effects, the Webbed Fruit is considered the best Equipment for String Demon (Awakened) and significantly improves the unit’s overall performance.

How to evolve String Demon into String Demon (Awakened)

To evolve String Demon into its Awakened form, you’ll need the following materials:

• 1x Joker of the Nonsensical Pirates (obtained from the Strings of Captivity Unit Trial)
• 20x Yellow Sprite
• 20x Pink Sprite
• 1x Rainbow Sprite
• 5,000 Gold

Once all the required materials have been collected, you can evolve the unit into String Demon (Awakened), allowing it to equip the Webbed Fruit.

FAQs on Anime Expeditions

How do you get the Webbed Fruit in Anime Expeditions?

It drops from the Rose Kingdom Mastery Stage with a 5% drop chance and features a 20-run pity system.

Which unit can use the Webbed Fruit?

Only String Demon (Awakened) can equip this Unit-type Equipment.

What stats does the Webbed Fruit provide?

It grants +1% to +10% Range and -1% to -5% SPA, with both stats being randomly rolled.