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EURO 2020: Italy Crowned European Champions
If there is anything the English football fans had wish as an all time gift, it would have been the Three Lions victory at the final of the EURO 2020 game against the Azurris of Italy.
But that was not to be as Italy came from a goal to practically snatch the trophy from the English.
After the second minute goal from Shaw, bookmakers were so sure the trophy was coming home. However, a second half equiliser from Bonnocci was all the Italians needed to restamp their influence in the game.
After 120 minutes of sweat between the two teams, penalty kicks were used to decide the winner. England lost three of its kicks to lose the hard won final game.
Earlier before the match, England captain Harry Kane said the final will go down to the wire because the teams are so evenly matched.
England and Italy headed into the Wembley showdown as the tournament’s two stand-out sides.
Four-time world champions Italy, who last won the Euro in 1968, made a flying start as they tore through their group before battling past Austria, Belgium and Spain to reach the final.
England initially found it harder to hit top gear as they scored just twice while winning their group, but Gareth Southgate’s men were dominant in knockout stage victories against Germany, Ukraine and Denmark.
Kane believes either team would be fitting champions, but he is confident England have enough quality to win the European Championship for the first time.
“It’s a real 50-50 game I think. Of course Italy have a better history than us in terms of winning tournaments, but a lot of us in our team now have had experience at club level of playing in the biggest games, the biggest finals,” Kane told reporters on Friday.
“It’s a real tough game. From our point of view we have full belief in what we have been doing and how we have been setting up, and of course we believe we can win the game.
“But we also know it will be very tough. They’ve got some great players, some great experience.
“In any final, in any big game, you have to be on it on all aspects. We know that’s the case on Sunday and hopefully we can swing it in our favour.”
Asked if he had allowed himself to imagine lifting the trophy at Wembley in front of 60,000 England fans, Kane said: “For sure, as players you think of that moment, you dream of that moment.
“Obviously we’re all grounded enough to know we have a very tough game on our hands on Sunday. But there’s a good belief in this team.
“You play football to win, you dream of these moments as a kid, lifting trophies for your country and we have that opportunity now.
“A great prospect for us, we just have to enjoy the moment, take it all in, but of course perform, and we want to be on the winning side come Sunday.”
If England win their first major silverware since the 1966 World Cup, Kane can be mentioned in the same breath as Three Lions icon Bobby Moore, who lifted the trophy 55 years ago.
“Whenever your name is mentioned in the same company as players like that, it only gives you motivation, gives you confidence,” Kane said.
“Of course, it would be an incredible achievement. We’ve all waited so long as players, as public, as people to see us in a final.
“So these are the opportunities you have to grab with both hands. We have an amazing chance to win our second major trophy as a country. We’ve got to be excited for it.”
AFP
The Presidency has dismissed claims that Vice President Kashim Shettima’s recent comments were directed at the political situation in Rivers State or President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s constitutional decisions on the matter.
In a statement on Friday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha, the Presidency described the reports as a “gross misrepresentation.”
The statement clarified that Vice President Shettima’s remarks at the public presentation of a book by former Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), were misconstrued by some online platforms and individuals.
“These reports have distorted the Vice President’s comments in pursuit of a mischievous agenda,” it stated.
“They twisted his account of how the administration of former President Jonathan considered removing him as Borno Governor during the insurgency to falsely link it with current events in Rivers State.”
The Vice President, who spoke at the launch of OPL 245: The Inside Story of the $1.3 Billion Oil Block in Abuja on Thursday, was said to have referenced the past solely to commend Adoke’s professionalism while in office, and to reflect on Nigeria’s constitutional evolution regarding federal and state relations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, President Tinubu did not remove Governor Fubara from office. The constitutional measure implemented was a suspension, not an outright removal.
“This action was taken in response to the grave political crisis in Rivers State at the time, with the governor facing a looming impeachment and the State Assembly complex under demolition,” Nkwocha clarified.
The Presidency insisted that the action taken by President Tinubu in declaring a state of emergency and suspending the Governor was fully in line with Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which authorises such measures when there is a breakdown of public order requiring extraordinary intervention.
According to the statement, the President’s proclamation invoking Section 305(2) was subsequently ratified by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the National Assembly, confirming the legitimacy and constitutional propriety of the decision.
“The action of President Tinubu in suspending Mr. Fubara and others from exercising the functions of office averted the governor’s outright removal. To conflate suspension with removal is misleading,” the statement further noted.
Nkwocha also stressed that Vice President Shettima’s comments were delivered extemporaneously and intended to underline the importance of public accountability and historical documentation.
He referenced the Vice President’s mention of past public servants, including Adoke and former Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, to illustrate principled leadership.
“His remarks were not in any way a criticism of President Tinubu’s actions, which the Vice President and the entire administration fully support and stand by without reservation,” the spokesman stated.
The Vice President, the statement added, remains in “loyal concert” with President Tinubu and is committed to implementing all constitutional measures necessary to safeguard democracy and uphold order across the country.
Concluding, the Presidency called on media organisations and political actors to desist from misrepresenting public remarks for sensational or partisan purposes.
“We urge media organisations and political actors to desist from the destructive practice of wrenching statements from context in order to fabricate nonexistent conflicts,” Nkwocha said.
Headlines
Akpabio Relieves Natasha of Committee Chairmanship Position, Appoints Akwa Ibom Senator As Replacement
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has replaced suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as the Chairman, Senate Committee on Diaspora/Non-Governmental Organisations.
In her place, Akpabio named Senator Bassey Aniekun Etim (Akwa Ibom -East).
The Senate President, who made the announcement on the floor in Abuja on Thursday, did not give any reasons.
The committee position had remained vacant since March when the Senate suspended the Kogi-Central Senatorial District lawmaker for six months for flouting the Senate’s rule on the seating arrangement and seat allocation.
The suspended lawmaker, at a point, chaired the Senate Committee on Local Content before Akpabio reassigned her to the Committee on Diaspora/NGO, shortly before she ran into trouble with the Senate over her conduct on seat allocation.
The Supreme Court has affirmed the 2024 governorship election victory of Governor Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC), dismissing the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Asuerinme Ighodalo.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba, the apex court ruled that the appeal lacked merit. It upheld the earlier judgments of the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had both declared Okpebholo the validly elected governor.
