"Lockdown will lead to baby boom" - Pastor Adeboye

The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has said that the lockdown which is caused by the coronavirus pandemic would produce “great things”.

The 78-year-old cleric stated this today during a sermon broadcast live via the church’s media, DOVE TV.

Adeboye, who traced lockdown to the era of biblical characters like Joseph, Elijah, David, John the beloved, and many others, said one of the “great things” that would come out of the lockdown is an increase in birthrate all over the world. He said, 

“A lot of great things are going to come out of this lockdown. Let me advise those of you who are pastors – you are resting now; I am busy. 

Get ready because early next year, you’ll be having a lot of naming ceremonies. You’ll be going from house to house naming newborn babies as a result of the lockdown.”

He noted that the rate of coronavirus recoveries across the globe is “amazing”, saying that the percentage of discharged patients is less than one-tenth of the associated deaths recorded.

“Aren’t you amazed at the number of those released compared to people who died? Check all over the world, you’ll find out that the number is less than those who have been healed.

If you do a scientific study, you’ll find out that the number of people who had died as a result of coronavirus is far less than those who died by accidents and other means,” he said.

Somalia blast : 10 killed, 12 injured

The government of Somalia has said that at least 10 people died and 12 were wounded when an explosive device ripped through a minibus outside the Somalia capital, Mogadishu today.

The deadly explosion occurred near Lafole village along the Afgoye-Mogadishu where the passenger bus was travelling early in the day.

“At least 10 civilians were killed in an explosion at Lafole area this morning, those who died were all civilians,” the information ministry said in a statement, adding that the victims were on their way to a funeral.

Witnesses said the minibus was completely destroyed, and described a horrific scene with everyone on board either dead or wounded and many bodies ripped apart or burned beyond recognition.

“This was a horrible incident this morning, the explosive device went off as the bus was passing by the area and destroyed it completely,” said Daud Doyow, a witness.

“Bodies of civilians were strewn in pieces and most of the people died,” he added.

“There were more than 20 people on board and 10 of them were confirmed dead while the rest are seriously wounded and taken to hospital, this is a horrible scene here,” said another witness, Abdirisak Adan.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, but Somalia’s al Qaeda-aligned Shabaab group carries out regular attacks in and around the capital, often killing civilians.

Sinach is on the cover of the latest edition of Guardian life

Popular Nigerian gospel musician and singer, Sinach is the cover of the latest edition of @guardianlifeng.

“It is a blessing knowing that my songs continue to inspire, to make many wealthy, to prosper, to give hope to people," @therealsinach told The Guardian Life.

The magazine said:

"Singing for her was a hobby before it became a career. She has since embraced its responsibilities as the faith of many is hinged on artistes like her.

She talked about her music career, gospel music as a genre in a class of its own, achieving feats, being an instrument used to convey God's message through her songs and much more."

"The world doesn't care about Nigeria" - El Rufai

The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai has said that when it comes to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Nigeria should learn to look after itself.

He made this known on Saturday, May 30, 2020, during his presentation at the first 'Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola Colloquium.’ He said,

“We are on our own. The rest of the world doesn’t care. Nobody cares about Africa. The rest of the world is becoming increasingly nationalistic.”

The virtual conference was put together to commemorate Aregbesola’s 63rd birthday.

Aregbesola is Nigeria’s Interior Minister. He also served as governor of the South West state of Osun for eight years.

El-Rufai who recovered from coronavirus on April 22, added that it’s time for Nigeria to begin fixing its deplorable healthcare system and equip its decrepit hospitals.

“As a state government, we are even trying to get test kits for COVID-19 because America and Europe are buying up everything. Nobody cares about Africa. They only think of us when they want to test vaccines or when something dangerous is to be tried.

So, we must be more nationalistic and try to develop our internal capacity to produce and be self-sufficient. This was what Osun State under Rauf Aregbesola has tried to do and I think this is a lesson for all of us," he said.

'I wanted to show Arsenal!' - Giroud reveals Europa League final motivation to prove Gunners wrong

The French striker opened the scoring for the Blues in Baku as he helped inspire his side to silverware against his former team-mates

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Olivier Giroud has revealed his determination to prove Arsenal were wrong to let him go helped motivate him in the Europa League final last year, with the Frenchman scoring to help Chelseadefeat his former side.

The Gunners had allowed the World Cup winner to leave back in January 2018, with Giroud winning the FA Cup in his first season at Stamford Bridge before claiming Europa League glory in the following campaign.

Indeed, the former Montpellier striker opened the scoring in Baku, with further goals from Pedro, and two from Eden Hazard, ensuring the Blues won the trophy.

• training during lockdown
• David Luiz contract decision sheds light on Arsenal’s difficult transfer future

Reflecting on the game a year after the event, he told Chelsea's official club website: "That final against Arsenal was obviously very special for me emotionally. When I saw that we were going to face Arsenal in the final, I knew it was going to be special.

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"On top of that, it was only a year after I left. I have quite a lot of friends over there, people who work in the club’s offices. That was extra motivation for me and I knew that it was going to be a high-pressure match.

"You definitely prepare for the match in a special way, in a different way, because you know that they know you inside out, and they know that I know them well too.

"You have to plan for the match but not play the match before it’s happened. You have to think ahead. I thought that if I had a one-on-one with Petr Cech, who knows me really well, or a penalty, I would have to shoot there and not somewhere else.

"I knew that he knew me really well. I was also going to play against my friend Laurent Koscielny, who has also known me inside-out for years because we started together at Tours in 2008.

"It was a very special moment but it was like extra motivation for me because I wanted to show them that I still had some energy in me and some good years left in me.

"I scored, I got an assist and I won the penalty so quite a lot of good things happened there for me because I was involved in three goals out of the four that we scored.

"It was like in a dream because I couldn’t have imagined that it would go so well, so perfectly for us. I wanted to win things at Chelsea - that’s why I was even more motivated that night - but winning against your old club like that..."

As well as scoring in the final, Giroud played a big role for then-manager Maurizio Sarri in Europe as he bagged a hat-trick in the last-16 second-leg meeting with Dynamo Kyiv. 

Speaking about that impressive individual performance, he added: "After the match, I went to the changing room holding the ball and someone said 'perfect hat-trick!' 

'I don't like him' - Liverpool wonderkid Elliott snubs Real Madrid captain Ramos

The rising Reds star was courted by the Liga giants but wasn't interested in meeting their controversial captain

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Real Madrid's attempts to sign Liverpoolprodigy Harvey Elliott hit an awkward bump in the summer of 2019 in the form of club captain Sergio Ramos. 

Elliott, who came through Fulham's academy before moving to Anfield in 2019, was being shown around the Santiago Bernabeu at the end of last season with his signature up for grabs. 

After reaching a room with Ramos' shirt hanging on the wall, Real turned to Elliott and offered him the chance to meet the Spanish defender. 

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What was meant to be a lucrative offer, swiftly backfired however, with Elliott turning down the opportunity due to Ramos' role in an injury sustained by Reds star Mohamed Salah in the 2018 Champions League final. 

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"No, it's okay, thanks. I don't like him after what he did to Mo Salah," Elliott is quoted as replying by The Athletic. 

Born to a Liverpool-supporting father, Elliott ultimately turned down Real Madrid along with the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Chelseaand Arsenal to sign for the Reds. 

While still finding his feet at Anfield as he turns heads for the youth team, the attacker's affection for Salah has only grown over the past year. 

"Mo is the King," he said. "Going up against him in training I learn a lot of things. I idolise him a lot. Even in the gym, he helps and tells me to do higher weights to push myself even more.

"He’s a really big influence on the young players."

Elliott has been tipped to shine for Liverpool in the years to come, with the club's former Under-23s manager Neil Critchley full of praise for the 17-year-old.

"Harvey may be young but holding his own physically isn’t a problem for him," Critchley told The Athletic. 

"He’s got a real ‘I’ll show you’ type attitude. He doesn’t get rattled easily. He picks himself up and goes again. That’s the best way to respond to a defender who is roughing you up. He’s so good in the one v one.

"I think he’s got a big future in the game. He couldn’t be at a better place to keep learning and continue his development, considering the senior players around him at Liverpool and playing for a manager who gives youngsters opportunities and believes in them. His mindset and mentality set him apart. He’s humble and thankful for what he’s got."

Get ready for Fred 2.0! Man Utd to benefit from Brazilian's intensive training during lockdown

The midfielder has been working with a personal trainer to improve his game and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer might be about to reap the rewards

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Life in lockdown has been difficult. Everyone is just trying to stay safe and healthy, while at the same time adapting to new norms.

The difficulty in doing so hasn't been any different for Premier League footballers.

They may reside in far more resplendent and spacious homes to the rest of the world, given most players have personal gyms and swimming pools to help them stay in shape, but they face the same mental challenges as the rest of us.

Of course, most have now returned to their respective clubs' training grounds ahead of this month's resumption of play but, for two months, they had to embrace a radically different approach to fitness.

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Videos on Instagram of Premier League stars working out in their back gardens became commonplace during the most restrictive period of lockdown and Manchester United players were given weekly training programmes to ensure that they would be ready for the restart.

For Fred, the temporary suspension of football represented an opportunity to work on parts of his game that he wouldn't normally have time to address during a packed season.

The midfielder flew back to Brazil at the start of lockdown and, in addition to his programme set by the club, he worked closely with personal trainer Tulio Horta.

The pair have been friends since 2017 and Horta moved to Manchester in February in order to work with the United midfielder on a daily basis.

That collaboration played a pivotal role in Fred's fine form before the 2019-20 season was halted in March.

"I meet Fred every day, even in very busy periods during the season," Horta told Goal. "My job is to help him manage all the factors that influence performance – physical conditioning, sleep quality, nutrition, hydration and mindset."

The daily contact didn’t stop in isolation either.

While Fred was back in Brazil, the pair would chat online daily and, since the midfielder returned to Manchester earlier this month, they have been meeting in person for socially distanced sessions.

“This quarantine period gave us an important opportunity to work on some details that in the season are difficult because of lack of time," Horta explained.

"Players have so many matches and need to recover to be able to be ready for the next training sessions and matches, so it means the time available to work on other things ends up being limited

“The club sent a home programme for the athletes and all our sessions were based around that. But we also have some individual goals and we are working hard to achieve them.

"Our main focus has been on Fred’s quality of movement, as that influences his energy levels and, consequently, his actions on the field."

Horta has also been in constant contact with United’s strength and conditioning coach, Michael Clegg, to align plans and targets for Fred, not only in lockdown but throughout the season.  

“I told him that I want to be an extension of the club at Fred's house, that I want to help not only the athlete but also the club," he revealed.

"Michael is a very high-level professional and we had a great conversation. We keep in touch every week, I send training and monitoring reports to him, he gives me feedback and we make the necessary adjustments.

"We discussed exactly which exercises could be beneficial for Fred, which areas we need to improve.

"Every stimulus applied to athletes has an individual response, so I focus on some specific actions that Fred needs to improve in his performance and to prevent injuries."

That last bit has been key for Fred. Before the suspension of football, the Brazilian had been one of United’s standout players, after previously struggling to prove his worth after arriving from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2018.

Indeed, the 27-year-old has been a regular starter for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who succeeded Jose Mourinho at the helm last year, and while the midfield has been plagued with injuries during the current campaign, Fred has remained fighting fit.

‘He’s got a lot of problems’ – Sane to Bayern would be a disaster, warns Sagnol

The long-time servant of the Allianz Arena club says that they should spend a little more and get a reliable alternative

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Bayern Munich should be wary of signing Leroy Sane from Manchester City, legendary full-back Willy Sagnol has told his former club.

Sagnol spent nine years playing with FCB, turning out for them on more than 250 occasions and helping them to five Bundesliga titles and the 2001 Champions League.

The former France international also has experience in the dugout, even taking charge of Bayern for one match on an interim basis, but has since gone into punditry and says that Sane, who has spent the whole of the season to date recovering from a serious knee injury, would be a major gamble for his former side.

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“He doesn’t correspond at all to Bayern in terms of his character,” Sagnol told RMC of the 24-year-old. “He’s someone whose form is very inconsistent and who is very withdrawn. 

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“For me, he doesn’t suit the club at all. He’s had a lot of problems at Manchester City and with the national team.”

Sagnol even went so far as to suggest an alternative to Sane, who had been on the brink of signing for Bayern last summer before his Community Shield injury against Liverpool.

“We’re talking about a cost of €80 million (£72m/$89m). In that case, I would prefer to put another €20m down and sign Kai Havertz.”

The Bayer Leverkusen star has caught the eye for much of the season and has attracted the attention of many of Europe’s biggest clubs.

The 20-year-old has scored 11 goals and laid on five more in 26 Bundesliga matches this term and has looked particularly sharp since the Bundesliga resumed after the coronavirus suspension, scoring five goals in four matches, including the winner in Friday’s 1-0 success over Freiburg.

Meanwhile, Bayern continue to lead the way in Germany, opening up a 10-point advantage to Borussia Dortmund at the summit of the table after a resounding 5-0 win over Fortuna Dusseldorf on Saturday, in which Robert Lewandowski netted a brace.

Hansi Flick’s side have, therefore, won all four matches since the resumption, including a critical midweek win over their nearest rivals, who will tackle Paderborn in the late Sunday kick-off.

Ronaldo has Messi as ‘number one’ but snubs CR7 in top five that includes Salah & Mbappe

The legendary Brazilian frontman considers a Barcelona icon to be the best player on the planet, with Neymar and Eden Hazard in the group behind him.

Former Barcelona star Ronaldo considers Lionel Messi to be the undisputed “number one” in modern football, with Cristiano Ronaldo overlooked in the Brazilian’s top five as Mohamed Salah, Eden Hazard, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe get the nod.

The two-time World Cup winner has never shied away from the fact that he considers a mercurial Argentine on the books at Camp Nou to be one of the finest to have ever played the game.

He has reiterated that stance when naming those who capture his imagination in the present and it comes as no surprise to see six-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi top that chart, but the omission of Portuguese superstar Ronaldo will see eyebrows raised.

Ronaldo told AS of his choices, with Liverpool, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain stars lining up behind a Barca icon: “Messi, of course, he is number one, he is a talent that means it will take 20 or 30 years to see something similar.

“I also like Salah, Hazard, Neymar, I love watching him play, of course Mbappe.”

PSG striker Mbappe has been likened to Ronaldo, and the ex-Inter and Real Madrid frontman can see why the Franceinternational has sparked such talk.

He added on the exciting 21-year-old: “Many people say that he looks like me.

“He has a lot of speed, he finishes well, he has great movement, he shoots really well with both feet, he has an incredible stride.

“We have similar attributes, but I never liked the comparisons, especially between players of different generations, because the situations are different.”

While talking up the qualities of a star turn in France, and recognising the efforts of Liverpool forward Salah in England, Ronaldo – who now owns a majority stake in Real Valladolid – considers La Liga to be the best league in the world.

Chelsea have £45m Jadon Sancho alternative lined up

Chelsea have been linked with Villareal winger Samuel Chukwueze once again.

The Nigeria international has come up in connection with the Blues a few times in the last couple of years as he’s established himself in La Liga as a really bright attacking talent.

Now the Daily Mail are saying Frank Lampard’s side is seriously considering a bid for Chukwueze should Jadon Sancho choose to go elsewhere. They name a price of £45m, which Chelsea can afford, but may be l a bereluctant to pay in what’s likely to be a limited summer market.

If he finishes the season strongly for the Yellow Submarine that price might start to look more sensible, but as it is the Blues will be hoping they can just persuade Dortmund to sell them Sancho instead.

The England star might cost double what Chukwueze does, but is already establishing himself as one of Europe’s top talents, and looks a better bet for now.

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