Anything Neymar can do, Rooney can do better...

They are among the stars of the FIFA generation, with their tricks and skills, but Neymar and Wayne Rooney seem to be going in separate directions. As Rooney returns to Manchester with  his future uncertain, Neymar will fly to Barcelona for his medical on Monday following a multi-million transfer. But Rooney was the striker who scored at the Maracana on Sunday night, while Neymar went home empty handed. They both wore the iconic No 10 shirt in the re-opened Maracana. For Brazil it was the shirt of Pele and Zico… for England it was the shirt of Gary Lineker, Sir Trevor Brooking, Sir Geoff Hurst…and John Barnes in the Maracana in 1984. This is how they fared… Neymar, as would be expected, had more of the ball in the early exchanges, including one free kick that was easily saved by Joe Hart. The Brazilians of Socrates and Roberto Carlos might have done better from 25 yards. Neymar, the new star, could be seen coming off the front and dropping deep to collect the ball - a striker and a playmaker rolled into one. We used to think the same about Rooney. When Theo Walcott burst forward after 17 minutes, a sloppy exchange pass from Rooney ended that advance and Brazil went back to their rhythmic passing. One team in red, one team in yellow and an orange ball. Neymar might have scored after 18 minutes when sloppy defending by Glen Johnson saw him one-on-one against Manchester City keeper Hart, but the goalkeeper made himself big and blocked the shot. After his poor display at Wembley earlier this season, Neymar looked determined to put on a show. After 21 minutes, he created space on the edge of the England box, but sent a wicked, dipping shot wide of the far post. A long diagonal pass by James Milner, gave Rooney a chance to show he still has the pace. He tried to outmuscle Chelsea defender David Luiz and forced a corner, which was wasted by England. Luiz was in the way again when Rooney and Walcott linked to counter, but the shot was blocked by the Chelsea man. Luiz, in fact, seemed to be enjoying his battle with Rooney and looked to be coming out on top. Neymar showed he is prepared to put the hard graft in too as he chased back (and fouled) Michael Carrick, who was awarded a free kick. Rooney had little support, apart from the occasional bursts from Walcott to join him in the attacking third. He must have wondered what it must be like to play in the Brazilian team with creativity and support. Half time 0-0 and Neymar clearly the better of the two No 10’s. Neymar: 8 (out of 10). Rooney: 5. England started the second half with more purpose, but poor passing options were taken by Walcott and Milner, which again frustrated Rooney. After a reasonable opening, England went back to sloppy passing and a dipping Neymar corner required some urgent defending. It was Fred, Neymar’s attacking sidekick who scored - just as he had done at Wembley. He was playing with a cracked rib and broke England’s resistance. A James Milner cross was just too high for Rooney and England began to look tired and wide open.Neymar was penalised for a foul on England sub Ashley Cole but they were all friends as they hugged. Rooney should have equalised after 64 minutes with a header - a free header - from a corner. But he failed to make the correct contact and the ball drifted wide. When you are up against it and chances are few and far between, world class strikers finish chances like that. England were level in the 66th minute with the sort of goal Rooney used to score, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain drilling the shot home from outside the box. With the game becoming more strung out, Rooney has a shot charged down while Neymar seems to have gone off the boil. And then England breakaway and Cole’s run takes the defender away and Rooney bends a sensational shot into the top corner that took a slight deflection. But it was the Rooney of old - direct running, a stunning finish and a goal that said: ‘Come and get me’ to Europe’s big clubs. Or maybe Manchester United might not want to sell him after all. Full time 2-2 and Rooney strikes back in the battle of the No 10’s. Neymar: 7 (out of 10). Rooney 8. Well, goals change games and can change verdicts too.

Syria Rebels Clash With Hezbollah In Lebanon

At least one member of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group has been killed overnight in clashes with Syrian rebels in Lebanon’s eastern border region.
Lebanese security sources reported the death on Sunday, saying that about 15 rebels had also been killed in the violence, east of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley.

The conflict in Syria has been increasingly spilling over to its smaller neighbour, with deadly fighting shaking the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, and rockets hitting the Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Syrian rebels have said they will carry out attacks inside Lebanon in response to Hezbollah’s support for President Bashar al-Assad’s assault on Qusayr, a strategic town for rebel weapons supplies and fighters coming into Syria from Lebanon

Actress Laide Bakare Welcomes baby boy!

So all the while she was actually pregnant!  The Actress delivered the baby boy this morning in America where she is allegedly on honey moon with her new husband, Tunde Oriowo after recently separating from her previous husband....congrats to her! The question now, who is the father of the baby - her ex husband or the new one?! #JustAsking#

Omotola Paid $650,000 To Get Selected For “TIME 100″ Most Influential Person In The World?!

The rumour mongers are at work again, lol!
According to celebrity blogger sheifunmi,  Omotola Ekeinde actually paid $650,00 to get selected for the TIME 100 most influential persons in the world....oh really?
See his report below:
Before we get into it and stans or celebrities with mild relevance start coming at me with a bullet-less gun thinking they have a shot, let’s get one thing out of the way; This is a gossip type website. Any information contained on this site is reported as rumor and not actual facts unless receipts(proofs) are shown, official news/confirmation from a celeb’s rep/camp or i am talking about my own experiences. Do not take offense to any material on this site because everyone has the right to their side of the story. I am willing to hear all sides. Anyone in this industry, including myself will be subject to being put on blast. What you see is what you get! This is all for your own entertainment purposes… Now moving on.
An insider who happens to work closely with the most loved actress squealed details about Omotola making 2013 TIME Magazine 100 (Most Influential People in the World) list, stating that the actress paid a whooping sum of 650,000 dollars (which is over a 100 million naira if converted) to get a slot on that list.
Now i don’t know how true this is but i won’t find it amusing if she paid to make the list. Rich people (especially Nigerians) tend to pay for a lot of things (like Grammy,MTV,Bet award tickets which comes in different packages but the one they mostly go for is the full package with the hotel covered, access to Clive David’s pre-grammys party, red carpet, a seat next to a celebrity and after party, Forbes list, etc) to get recognised or live that ‘party with celebrities’ lifestyle.

What do you guys think?

N25m Compensation: Baba Suwe Vows To Appeal Case Against NDLEA

Following the ruling of the Appeals court which dismissed an earlier verdict of a Lagos High Court granting him N25 million in his suit against the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Mr. Babatunde Omidiran, popularly known as Baba Suwe, has vowed to appeal the Appellate Court’s ruling.
The Court of Appeals had on Friday, ruled that NDLEA had good reasons to detain Baba Suwe, and set aside the N25 million awarded by Justice Yetunde Idowu of a Lagos High Court, to the ace comedian.
Speaking through his lawyer, Mr. Bamidele Aturu, weekend, in Lagos, Baba Suwe said the Court of Appeals’ decision would be taken to the Supreme Court because it was one that could encourage the culture of impunity on the part of law enforcement agencies.

“If we do not appeal the decision, history will not forgive us. We shall be heading to the Supreme Court.
“It is a matter of public duty now.
“As soon as we get the judgment, within three or four days the appeal will be ready. Let the Supreme Court finally rule on it. We think this can also encourage the culture of impunity on the part of law enforcement agencies.”

EXCLUSIVE: Jose Mourinho out to strike deal that returns glory days to Chelsea

Jose Mourinho bids farewell to Real Madrid, and is set to be appointed manager of Chelsea again

Mourinho is set to be announced today as Chelsea’s new manager, nine years and one day after he first arrived at the club labelling himself the Special One, before taking them to back-to-back league titles.

He flew into London yesterday afternoon after his last game in charge of Real Madrid on Saturday night with a 4-2 win over Osasuna.

Chelsea have already signed Andre Schurrle for £30 million from Bayer Leverkusen.

Now Mourinho wants a striker. Fernando Torres or Demba Ba may well be sold to make room, with Romelu Lukaku returning from his successful loan spell with West Brom.

The top target is Florentina’s Steven Jovetic, who would cost around £25m. But Chelsea face stiff competition for the 23-year-old from Arsenal and Juventus.

Roman Abramovich has already seen Radamel Falcao slip through his fingers, who moved to Monaco

Chelsea have already signed Andre Schurrle for £30 million from Bayer Leverkusen

Abramovich has already seen one big target in Radamel Falcao slip through his fingers this summer, the Atletico Madrid striker joining Monaco.

Edinson Cavani, the Napoli striker, is rated too expensive at £52m, but Chelsea are still monitoring as he nears a move to Manchester City.

Chelsea have also spoken to Galatasaray about Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz.

Mourinho wants talks with Lukaku and another loanee, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, when he begins work with the squad next month, before deciding whether to allow them to go out on loan again.

He was last night finalising his four-year, £12m-a-year deal with Abramovich, which should be signed today.

England glimpse at promised land with a draw to Brazil

red puts Brazil ahead after Hernanes had hit the bar with Joe Hart well beaten

In Wayne Rooney’s case, everyone had almost forgotten. He needed to make a statement. He needed to lift a load off his mind at the end of a troubling season. He needed to remind the world and himself that he was born to do special things with a football, not to mope and worry.

So he did it by scoring for England from 25 yards on the night they re-opened the stadium where the Brazilians had just spent the first half of this extraordinary match teaching the English why the Maracana requires a much bigger trophy room than Wembley.

Out of a night which looked like it was going to confirm so many depressing realities for Roy Hodgson’s schizophrenic team, Rooney summoned up a moment befitting the grand stage here.

It was a reminder that the unique and gifted sportsmen can do the unexpected at the most critical moments. It will, it is to be hoped, inspire the men around him who looked so sluggish for so long last night that there may be similar glories and grandeur on offer to them in this land of football passion and romance if they sort out their haphazard World Cup qualifying campaign.

Neymar was a constant threat against England at the Maracana stadium last night

How infuriating can this England team be? Forty-seven years of hurt. And counting

With any luck – and still we will need it – Rooney is now going to charge through England’s Autumn of qualifiers fuelled by the dazzling memory of what he did. In fact, if he wants to come back here and do the same thing all over again at the tournament next summer, then his mission is already clear. He may, indeed, be surplus to requirements at Manchester United but England simply cannot do without him.

How infuriating can this England team be? Forty-seven years of hurt. And counting. Then a polite, but damning, observation in the Maracana’s match programme that they “have not been much of a threat since 1996”. Last night’s first-half performance looked like England had come to Brazil to do nothing but hope to escape without too many wounds. Now, though, we have not one, but two wonder goals, scored in the stadium which is the spiritual home of the greatest football nation the world has known.

And the equally paradoxical fact was that Rooney’s goal helped Hodgson’s side secure a draw which looks impressive because of its setting when, in fact, they had been played off the park throughout the first half. It was also due to the fact that the Brazilians who had looked so much more dangerous began piling on substitutes and lost their way.

But perhaps the dazzle with which Neymar threatened Joe Hart’s goal in the first half is little more than that – mere glitter. Certainly, the Brazilians are worried they are not as good as they should be.

Wayne Rooney, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Frank Lampard celebrate on a night where England struggled

That impression was confirmed once Hodgson sent on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and shifted Phil Jones out of midfield to right back. Then, his side finally looked like they could make a game of this celebratory occasion.

Throughout the first half, this had been another of those increasingly regular matches when our national side puts on a display of its new, but not very inspiring or interesting way of playing.

Bereft of creative talent and shredded of so many key players by injury, they seemed incapable of offering anything more than the damage-limitation exercise which they got away with for nearly an hour. Hodgson had set up a 4-5-1 formation and it looked like the idea was simply to get back on the night flight across the Atlantic relatively unscathed.

In truth, that idea only remained intact by half-time because of the excellence of England’s goalkeeper, Hart.

At that point, you wondered if anyone would really miss England if they do not make it back here next summer.

After Oxlade-Chamberlain’s equaliser and then Rooney’s instant of inspiration, though, England got their glimpse of Brazil’s footballing Promised Land. Now they know precisely what they will miss if they fail in the Autumn.