Football

Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper Carl Ikeme is gutted that he won't be representing Nigeria at the upcoming World Cup in Russia and has sent an encouraging good luck message to his international teammates.

The 31-year-old, who played a part in Nigeria's World Cup qualification story, featuring over both legs against Swaziland and was also in between the pipes against Zambia, was unfortunately diagnosed with acute leukaemia in July 2017 which ruled him out of action for both the promoted club and his country.

The new Nigeria home kit to be worn at the World Cup 2018 in Russia was sold out minutes after its release on Friday morning as hundreds of fans queued outside London’s NikeTown store in Oxford Street.

The kit, modelled by Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi amongst others, has been hailed as the best kit of all of those to be seen in Russia this summer, with Nike having to push the release date back earlier this week due to such high demand.

Nike had already received three million pre-order for the shirt before it officially went on sale on Friday.

Peru captain Paolo Guerrero has been cleared to play at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia after a Swiss tribunal ruled on his drug ban. The court agreed on Thursday to temporarily lift a 14-month suspension, imposed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), while it considered the 34-year-old striker’s appeal.

Frank Lampard has been named as Derby County’s manager after signing a three-year deal at Pride Park.

The former Chelsea and England midfielder has been looking to take his first step into management and confirmed over the weekend that he had been talking with officials at Derby. The East Midlands club, who lost to Fulham in the Championship play-off semi-finals, have been without a manager since Gary Rowett left to take over at Stoke City last week but have now confirmed the 39-year-old’s appointment.

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr has confirmed that Chelsea wing-back Victor Moses, Tianjin Teda midfielder John Obi Mikel and ex-Watford star Odion Ighalo are in line to feature against England in a pre-World Cup friendly at Wembley on Saturday, June 2.

Whilst Moses was excused from the friendly against Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday, Chinese-based duo Mikel and Ighalo were non-playing substitutes following their long trip from Asia.

Rohr added that Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi has a slim chance of playing against the Three Lions.

Zinedine Zidane has surprisingly stepped down as Real Madrid head coach after leading them to three Champions League titles.

Zidane announced his decision in Madrid on Thursday morning, after calling a news conference just an hour-and-a-half earlier.

The Frenchman was appointed as head coach of the Real first team in January 2016 after the dismissal of Rafa Benítez, and guided the club to the Champions League title by beating Atlético Madrid on penalties in the final.