EURO BRIEFS
Onazi celebrates Lazio’s anniversary
Super Eagles midfielder Ogenyi Onazi paid tribute to his former club Lazio as they celebrate 117 years anniversary on Monday. The 24-year-old who spent five years at the Stadio Olimpico before leaving for Turkey last summer, sent his congratulatory anniversary message via his Twitter handle.
Neymar will be world’s best, says Cafu
Brazil great Cafu expects Neymar to surpass Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and become the world’s best player. Real Madrid star Ronaldo was named as The Best FIFA Men’s Player at a ceremony on Monday, beating fellow finalists Messi and Antoine Griezmann. Neymar, 24, is younger than the world’s best two players and Cafu – a two-time World Cup winner – feels it is a matter of time before he goes past both.
Odegaard: Real Madrid hell for youngsters!
Martin Odegaard is desperate to kickstart his career at Heerenveen after failing to make his mark at Real Madrid, acknowledging the Santiago Bernabeu is not an easy place for youngsters. The Norway international joined Madrid from Stromsgodset in January 2015 and became the youngest debutant in the club’s history when he featured against Getafe in May of that year at 16 years and 157 days old. He failed to build on that substitute cameo, though, and mainly featured for Castilla over the past two years.
FIFA awards snub was Barca players’ idea—Enrique
Barcelona boss Luis Enrique says the decision not to attend The Best FIFA Football Awards gala was taken by the players. Stars including Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar, Gerard Pique and Andres Iniesta did not travel to Zurich for the event on Monday, with the club confirming that the team had stayed in Spain in order to continue preparations for Thursday’s Copa del Rey match with Athletic Bilbao.
