Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle is set to invite as many as 10 promising U23 players as Nigeria begins preparations for the 2028 Olympic football qualifying campaign.
Chelle, who also handles the U23 national team, plans to use Nigeria’s proposed friendly against Russia on October 6 to assess young players and build a strong team for the Olympic qualifiers.
Nigeria have won two Olympic medals in men’s football. The country won gold at the 1996 Atlanta Games and silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
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Several young players based in Europe, Saudi Arabia and other foreign leagues are reportedly on Chelle’s list.
Among those being considered are FC Alverca left-back Isaac James, Saudi Arabia-based striker George Ilenikhena, Sabah winger Christian Nwachukwu and KV Mechelen forward Ayodele Adeshina.
The Russia friendly could give Chelle the chance to assess the players ahead of the U23 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series, which serves as the route to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
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The senior Super Eagles are expected to have a separate focus during the same international window, with Nigeria preparing for their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau.
The U23 players are expected to form the core of the squad for the Russia friendly.
Chelle and his technical team have also been monitoring young Nigerian players across Europe and other leagues as they work towards building a strong pool of players for the Olympic campaign.
The coach is also expected to keep an eye on the domestic league. He could attend selected Nigeria Premier Football League matches in the coming weeks to identify young players who may earn opportunities with the U23 team.
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The plan will give both foreign-based and NPFL-based talents a chance to break into the national team setup as Nigeria begins preparations for another Olympic campaign.
Max Dowman marked his first appearance of the season with two goals, including a stunning solo effort, to fire Arsenal to a 4-2 victory at Ipswich Town in the Carabao Cup.
The 16-year-old struck in the sixth minute of the third-round tie at Portman Road after picking the ball up just inside the Ipswich half and running towards goal.
He danced past defender Cedric Kipre on the edge of the box, leaving the centre-back tumbling to the ground, before slamming a fierce strike inside the near post.
Dowman then added a stylish second goal just 98 seconds into the second half when he took down Martin Zubimendi’s deflected pass and slotted a finish into the far corner.
It made Dowman only the second 16-year-old to score twice for a Premier League team after Wayne Rooney hit a brace in a League Cup tie against Wrexham in 2002.
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Dowman sat his GCSEs towards the end of last season while also playing a part in Arsenal’s Premier League title and run to the Champions League final.
He became the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history in March when he provided a key assist and scored Arsenal’s second goal in a 2-0 win over Everton that continued their push towards the title.
The teenager was rewarded for his patience with his first appearance of the season after Mikel Arteta’s side had started the new campaign with six wins from six in all competitions.
Dowman skips past Ipswich Town’s Cedric Kipre (Reuters)
Dowman starred on his first start of the season (PA Wire)
Arsenal made it 4-0 with 58 minutes played when Mikel Merino rifled home off the post after Dowman let Guimaraes’ pass roll into the path of Arsenal’s stand-in captain.
Ipswich boss Gary O’Neil turned to his bench and Jack Clarke made an instant impact when he dribbled past Zubimendi before he teed up Anis Mehmeti to side foot into the bottom corner in the 62nd minute.
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Arteta kept Dowman on the pitch but no hat-trick chance followed and instead another Arsenal academy graduate in Ipswich forward Chuba Akpom had the final say with a smart low finish late on after Leif Davis’ cut back.
Alexander Nikishin’s trade request from the Carolina Hurricanes remains in place, and St. Louis Blues fans may benefit as the sides look to resolve his future before training camp.
Drafts are over and Week 1 is in the books, so now is the time for Fantasy football players to begin making roster adjustments. A huge part of that is the weekly waiver wire run where players are acquired either using a Free Agency Acquisition Budget (FAAB) or waiver priority, usually decided by inverse order of the league standings. Notable NFL injuries from Week 1 included Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold (glute), Kyler Murray (concussion), A.J. Brown (ankle) and Zay Flowers (hamstring).
Who are some of the top Week 2 Fantasy football waiver targets, and how much of your budget will it take if you’re looking to plug a hole in your Fantasy football lineups or even to block a rival from landing a player? Before making any Week 2 Fantasy football waiver claims, be sure to see what SportsLine Fantasy football expert Josh Nagel has to say.
Nagel is a Reno-based analyst and radio host who has worked in the sports handicapping industry for more than 20 years. SportsLine’s assistant managing editor has covered the wagering industry on a variety of platforms, and has won numerous sports handicapping contests. He’s also a prolific Fantasy player and Fantasy editor at SportsLine.com, and his in-depth knowledge of rosters around the league makes him an ideal expert to find value on the waiver wire weekly.
Top Fantasy football waiver wire picks ahead of Week 2
One player Nagel is advising Fantasy players to target on the Week 2 waiver wire: Saints receiver Devaughn Vele, who had seven catches on nine targets for 63 yards and a touchdown in Week 1 against the Lions.
“If you’re desperate for help at flex or receiver in a 3WR league, we’d bid up to 10 FAAB dollars on him or make a priority waiver claim,” Nagel said. “This isn’t some one-week fluke as Vele collected 19 catches for 239 yards and a touchdown over the final four games of last season.”
Nagel is also targeting Cowboys running back Emari Demercado. “The former Cardinals running back was signed at the last minute after projected RB2 Malik Davis suffered a season-ending injury during the team’s final practice before its Week 1 opener. Demercado saw just two touches in Sunday night’s 28-20 loss to the Giants, but his usage should increase as he gets familiar with the system.” See who else to target on the Fantasy football waiver wire at SportsLine.
How to set your Week 2 waiver wire claims
Nagel is also targeting an overlooked receiver who is worth investing some FAAB in, saying “there’s a good chance you’ll be getting a steal.” You can only see who it is at SportsLine.
Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark and Atlanta Dream star Angel Reese had just wrapped up their first FIBA World Cup run on Sunday. The WNBA stars became temporary teammates and helped Team USA win the gold medal.
A post by a fan-run account dedicated to the Fever went viral on X. It showed an image of Clark and Reese enjoying a European lunch together after the championship game against France.
“After winning the FIBA World Cup, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese were spotted together enjoying a European lunch,” the post claimed.
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However, the photo was generated by AI (artificial intelligence). Both players in the image were in their sports attire, and fans are aware of how they dress when they’re not playing a game.
Additionally, it’s the same account that has claimed various fake reports about Clark, Reese, the Fever, and the WNBA. Following Team USA’s World Cup victory, the fan account shared a post about ESPN crowning the former Iowa star as the 2026 FIBA Women’s World Cup tournament MVP.
ESPN cannot officially name or choose the tournament MVP. FIBA has the rights to name and choose the best player in the competition. The honor was given to New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart. The two-time WNBA MVP averaged 12.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists for Team USA.
Stewart also had a great performance against France with 22 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
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The X page Fever Updates is not a reliable source for news about Caitlin Clark, the Fever and the league.
Fox News Reporter Addresses His Interaction With Caitlin Clark
After Team USA won, a Fox News reporter was curious about the deal between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Since their college days, they’ve been pitted against each other, and fans knew about their rivalry.
The reporter, Jackson Thompson, asked Clark if she’s now friends with Reese after winning a gold medal together. However, the Fever star did not like the question and shut the reporter down.
“We’ve always been friends, don’t do that,” Clark said.
Thompson clarified that he was genuinely curious about their relationship after winning as teammates.
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“She has a lot of obligations and responsibility as a leader of the sport,” he said. “But one thing I will say is a fact, a certain fact, is I did not ask the question to be inflammatory or divisive.”
Thompson said that he thinks people should know that Clark and Reese are friends. He noted that because their friendship isn’t public knowledge, keeping it quiet helps prevent people from jumping to conclusions.
The Philadelphia Phillies have suffered a major blow ahead of the postseason. Left-hander Jesús Luzardo has been placed on the injured list Tuesday, three days after he was scratched from a start with shoulder stiffness, the team announced Tuesday An MRI revealed no structural damage, though Luzardo doesn’t feel as good as hoped with his recovery.
LHP Kyle Backhus was recalled to take Luzardo’s roster spot.
“I told them I don’t feel comfortable throwing,” Luzardo said Tuesday afternoon (via The Athletic). “I know where we’re at. I know it’s an important part of the season. I want to be out there for the guys. But I feel like I’d be doing a disservice to them if I’m not at my best.”
By backdating the 15-day IL stint the maximum three days, Luzardo is eligible to return next Saturday, Sept. 26, though it is unclear if he will be ready for the postseason. Mattingly said on Tuesday that they are not ruling him out for a playoff start. The shoulder issue popped up after Luzardo’s brilliant two-hit shutout against the Atlanta Braves last week, during which he struck out 12 and threw 109 pitches.
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“Ideally, the timeline does work out that way,” Luzardo said of starting in the playoffs. “Obviously, we have to see where I’m at throwing-wise. But the plan is to be ready to go for October. And yeah, I feel fully confident.
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“It’s been a long year. I’ve thrown a lot of pitches. Three weeks off the mound or without being on the mound might be a little rusty, you would think. But I’m confident in myself in my preparation and I know that we’re gonna do all the work necessary to be ready to go that first time I touch the mound.”
The Phillies enter play Tuesday one game up on the third wild-card spot and 3 ½ games up on a postseason berth in general. The Wild Card Series will begin Tuesday, Sept. 29, meaning Luzardo will go at least 21 days between starts unless the Phillies let him pitch during the regular season’s final week. They also could consider using him as a reliever in the Wild Card Series.
Philadelphia’s strength is its rotation, with Luzardo joining Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler to form the game’s most dominant 1-2-3 punch. Aaron Nolahas had a resurgence the last few weeks, though he is not Luzardo, who has been one of the game’s best pitchers the last few months. If Luzardo is unable to start in the Wild Card Series, the step down to Nola is significant.
Luzardo, 29 in two weeks, ranks sixth among all pitchers in WAR. He is in the first year of a five-year, $135 million extension.
Sharks prospect Ivar Stenberg scored twice in 25 seconds during his Rookie Faceoff debut, giving San Jose fans another reason for optimism about the franchise’s young core.
While a big unification bout with WBA champion Teofimo Lopez was discussed immediately after the fight, Garcia has a hit-list and ‘Tank’ is high up on it.
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Many things appear to stand in the way of the pair reigniting their rivalry, not least the weight disparity or that Davis has been inactive for over a year amidst serious legal issues outside of the ring.
Still, following a recent online interaction between the fighters, Garcia has now taken to social media to announce that discussions have moved forward, and appeared to suggest that he believes ‘Tank’ will agree to the bout being set at the welterweight limit despite being naturally much smaller. The champion is also demanding Davis return in a lesser fight beforehand.
“I can confirm Gervonta and Al [Haymon] have contacted my team. 147 or nothing. And I want him to get a tune-up fight and be at his best when we fight. He has some stuff to handle, but we for sure going to get it going on. LET’S RUMBLE.”
I can confirm Gervonta and Al have contacted my team.
147 or nothing
And I want him to get a tune up fight and be at his best when we fight.
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He has some stuff to handle but we forsure going to get it going on
After dropping Garcia with a left hand in the second round, Davis ended the fight in the seventh with a perfectly placed body shot that left his rival unable to beat the count. The defeat was the first of Garcia’s professional career, while ‘Tank’ strengthened his status as one of boxing’s biggest attractions.
‘King Ry’ has since regularly spoken about wanting the opportunity to avenge the loss, even before this latest back and forth, arguing that the weight stipulations left him drained and unable to perform.
If Tottenham had their way, Cody Gakpo would have been scoring goals for them by now. Instead, he scored against them and even as they ended one barren streak, another looks set to continue.
It was quintessential Gakpo, in the manner of the goal, the right-footed finish angled across the goalkeeper. More pertinently, it felt typical Tottenham. A hideous start to the season was compounded as a club without domestic silverware for 18 years were eliminated from one of the two competitions they could have designs on winning. They have had few returns on their colossal spending spree but suffered at the hands of the man they tried to buy.
Liverpool progressed because of one they considered selling, in the Dutchman, and another who went public in his gripes that they have not done enough to keep him, in Alexis Mac Allister, with a win that was clinched by Dominik Szoboszlai’s latest wonder goal. His spectacular long-range half-volley rewarded Andoni Iraola for his policy of holding some of his premier players back and making a team showing 10 changes team stronger with his substitutions. The committed display of a youthful side was an endorsement of the Basque. Tottenham’s defeat, with a lack of urgency for too long and a needless decision to bench most of their big-money buys, was an indictment of Roberto De Zerbi.
Alexis Mac Allister (left) and Cody Gakpo (centre), two Liverpool players whose futures have been up in the air in recent times, inspired victory against Tottenham (Reuters)
“We are sorry for the result, disappointed and frustrated,” said the Italian. He feels his side are unlucky and Spurs could point to a frantic finale featuring a brilliant save from Giorgi Mamardashvili to deny Omar Marmoush a first goal for them. They could think, though, that there is a certain inevitability that their defence was breached by a man they hoped would join the Egyptian in their new-look forward line.
Tottenham spent much of last season conceding goals to players they had tried to sign, whether Eberechi Eze, Bryan Mbeumo or Morgan Gibbs-White. And now, of course, to Gakpo. It may add insult to injury that the winger they did sign instead, Mykhailo Mudryk, is already sidelined.
As Gakpo arrowed a shot past the debutant goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, perhaps it showed Virgil van Dijk’s wisdom when he urged Liverpool not to sell his fellow Dutchman. Iraola can be glad they heeded his captain. “Cody gives us not just the goals and the assists,” he said. But they help. Gakpo’s season has already brought two goals and four assists. How Spurs must wish he – or anyone else – had been that productive in their colours.
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If Tottenham had their way, Gakpo would have been scoring for them (AP)
Liverpool already led by then. Mac Allister is compiling a case to get a new contract, one classy goal at a time. Six days after a special strike against Atletico Madrid, he showed the name on the back of his shirt after finding the top corner from the edge of the box. At this rate, Liverpool should delay any offer of a new deal, if only to incentivise him to score more high-quality goals in the meantime. A senior figure with some distinctly inexperienced players around and in front of him, he had an added responsibility. He ended with an assist, too, playing the pass to Gakpo. Mac Allister, whose name was chorused regularly, said: “I am feeling the love of the fans.”
Szoboszlai had been benched, emerging to unleash an unstoppable shot in added time. It completed a terrific night for Liverpool.
Dominik Szoboszlai’s thunderbolt sealed the win for Liverpool (Reuters)
Iraola had described the performance in Saturday’s stalemate against Fulham as a step backwards. This was a sizeable step forwards. He had a forward duo with a difference, replacing the £241m double act of Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz with the academy products Lewis Koumas, making his first Liverpool start in two-and-a-half years, and James McConnell.
Koumas set the tone with his running. “The energy he shows is contagious for the rest,” said Iraola. The forward was denied a goal by Dubravka but, with his work ethic, he may have provided a lesson to Isak.
A glimpse at the team-sheets, with Trey Nyoni a third rookie in the Liverpool line-up, should have afforded Tottenham a golden opportunity. But, as has become very apparent, this is a team that struggles to take its chances.
Tottenham couldn’t take their chances even though they finally ended their goal drought against Premier League opposition (Reuters)
The pressure of their goalless start to the league campaign perhaps showed. “We have to shoot more times and we have to shoot better and we have to finish better the clear situations,” said De Zerbi. Instead, Mamardashvili repelled a low shot from the advancing Lucas Bergvall. Mohammed Kudus, starting for the first time since January, was guilty of a glaring miss when he volleyed over from close range. In the second half, he had a shot parried by Mamardashvili.
At least Tottenham scored, their first goal against Premier League opposition – if not in the top flight – since Joao Palhinha’s May winner against Everton. Amid a downpour, Conor Gallagher ended their drought, heading in Mateus Fernandes’ corner. The otherwise excellent Mamardashvili missed it.
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Yet the evening ended with Gakpo wearing the Liverpool armband, sliding on the sodden Anfield turf, celebrating Szoboszlai’s magnificent strike. Gakpo can be glad he stayed, and Liverpool that they kept him. Tottenham can only add to their list of regrets.
England captain Harry Brook hopes “hero” Kevin Pietersen can have a major impact on his career after watching highlights of the 2005 Ashes before smashing a sensational 42-ball century against Sri Lanka.
Brook was hailed as an “absolute freak” by Ben Stokes as he finished unbeaten on 114 from 49 balls to pave the way for a 119-run victory in the Vitality T20 series opener in Southampton.
Pietersen watched Brook’s exploits from the balcony at the Utilita Bowl on his return to the England set-up in a mentoring role with the white-ball side.
Kevin Pietersen is back in the England set-up (John Walton/PA) (PA Wire)
“Obviously we haven’t had too much time together so far but he’s a great figure to have in the changing room; the type of player he was, he looked at batting slightly differently, in a similar way to me as well,” Brook said of Pietersen.
“He always wants to try and look to put the bowlers under pressure, and I’m looking forward to working with him a lot more.”
Pietersen is regarded as one of England’s greatest batters of the 21st century. The 46-year-old was brought into camp by white-ball head coach Brendon McCullum in the build-up to next year’s 50-over World Cup.
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“I was actually watching his highlights earlier, funnily enough,” said Brook. “He was a phenomenal player. The way he accessed different areas of the ground made it really tricky to captain and bowl to, and I’m looking forward to having a lot of conversations about that.
“I mentioned it to him earlier, and him trying to help me in reading different surfaces and using my skills to performing on that pitch as well.
Harry Brook has been inspired by Kevin Pietersen in person and on video (John Walton/PA) (PA Wire)
“That’s not just for white-ball cricket, that’s for Test cricket as well. Hopefully he can have a big impact on my career.
“He’s a hero to a lot of players in that changing room. We all grew up watching him and admiring his work and it’s just awesome to have a man of his calibre in the changing room.”
Brook shared a 128-run second-wicket partnership with Jos Buttler and made 30 in the fifth over alone, clubbing three sixes and three fours off Dunith Wellalage.
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Former Test captain Stokes tuned in on television and was clearly impressed.
“I don’t even think the genius of KP (Pietersen) could come close to what Harry Brook has talent-wise,” Stokes posted on social media.
“You are an absolute freak, Harry. You’re mint to watch.”
Brook’s century was his first in 18 international innings in all formats – since the World Cup win against Pakistan in February, with six half-centuries in the meantime – and England’s joint second-fastest in T20.
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Opener Buttler crunched 80 off 44 balls before Hampshire bowler Sonny Baker took three for 12 on his home ground as Sri Lanka were restricted to 135 all out.
“I feel like I’ve been there or thereabouts all summer, in all three formats,” said Brook.
“I feel like I’ve let myself down a couple of times – I’ve had the opportunity to score a big score.
“Thankfully I didn’t give that opportunity up today and it was nice to get to three figures and it was a special feeling.”
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