Victor Valdes has been appointed as Barcelona’s new U19A head coach, returning to Camp Nou five years after ending his time at the club as a player.

The 37-year-old racked up 539 appearances for Barca across all competitions over the course of 12 seasons between 2002 and 2014, winning 21 major titles in total.

Valdes picked up three Champions Leagues, six La Liga titles and won the Copa del Rey twice, earning legendary status at the club while also establishing himself as one of the finest shot-stoppers in Europe.

The ex-Spain international was released by Barca in 2014 and returned to the highest level the following year, signing an 18-month deal with Manchester United.

Valdes was sent out for a loan spell at Standard Liege before being sold to Middlesbrough and decided to hang up his gloves permanently in 2018 after leaving the Riverside the previous summer.

The former Blaugrana star signed a one-year contract at Camp Nou on Friday morning with the option of an extension and he will begin working with the U19A squad on July 29.

Juventus have completed the €75 million (£68m/$84m) signing of centre-back Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax on a five-year contract.

De Ligt agreed personal terms with Juventus last week that will see the defender earn €12m (£11m/$13m) per season – €8m in basic salary with €4m in bonuses.

And the 19-year-old has now finalised his move to Juve, who have seen off competition from a host of Europe’s top clubs, including Barcelona, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain.

He arrived in Turin on Tuesday and underwent a medical on Wednesday ahead of the completion of his move.

For Juventus, De Ligt is the club’s seventh signing of the transfer window as they look to win their first Champions League title since the 1995-96 season.

Adrien Rabiot, Aaron Ramsey and Gianluigi Buffon have been brought in on free transfers, while Luca Pellegrini was purchased from Roma, Merih Demiral arrived from Sassuolo, and Cristian Romero was signed from Genoa.

Nigeria clinched the bronze medal by defeating Tunisia 1-0 in the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) third/fourth-place match at Al-Salam Stadium on Wednesday.

The Super Eagles got off to a flying start in hot sunny weather with Ighalo opening the scoring with only three minutes into the encounter after pouncing on a loose ball in the area. The striker stamped home the ball with his left foot for his fifth goal in the competition.

Tunisia went close to scoring the equaliser when Sassi shrugged off Wilfred Ndidi before launching a long-range shot but the effort went an inch of the target.

Carthage Eagles continued to push for a chance to level the game but were frustrated by the Super Eagles’ water-tight defence.

Tunisia looked brighter towards the closing stages of the game but the Super Eagles did enough to hold on to their lead and claim the victory.

Here are your quick WWE Smackdown Live results for July 16, 2019. The show featured Kevin Owens making a run-in, Randy Orton setting himself up for a title shot and more.

— Earlier in the afternoon, Shane McMahon confronted Kevin Owens, where he gave him the night off.

— Shane McMahon opened Smackdown with the first Smackdown Town Hall. Roman Reigns got on the mic and said no one in the room respects him before walking out. McMahon fined him and said he’d deal with him later before calling out Charlotte Flair. Flair got on the mic and thanked McMahon, but Liv Morgan cut her off and asked if there’s anything real about her. McMahon stopped her and called out Buddy Murphy. Murphy said for Kevin Owens to keep his name out of his mouth. McMahon then called Apollo Crews. Andrade and Zelina Vega cut him off and challenged him to a match later in the evening. Elias strummed his guitar, but the New Day got on the mic and said McMahon isn’t giving enough opportunities before his mic cut out. Cesaro walked out and challenged Aleister Black to another fight. McMahon granted the match for later in the evening. Owens showed up through the crowd and dropped McMahon with a stunner.

• Aleister Black defeated Cesaro.
• Charlotte Flair defeated Liv Morgan.
• E👅mber Moon and Bayley defeated Fire and Desire.

— Mustafa Ali congratulated Shinsuke Nakamura on his Intercontinental title win.

— The New Day came out and said they know what Daniel Bryan’s announcement is, and they accepted his Smackdown Tag Team title rematch on the spot. Bryan came out with Erick Rowan and walked back and forth three times before Samoa Joe walked out to the stage. Joe said to follow his partner’s lead and put the WWE title on the line later tonight. Elias interrupted Joe and said he had his chance. Elias said he deserves a title shot. Randy Orion walked out to the stage and made his case for a title shot. Elias suggested having a six-man tag match against the New Day.

• R👒andy Orton, Elias and Samoa Joe defeated The New Day.

– R-Truth was hiding backstage in a washing machine.

• WWE Women’s Tag Team championship match: Kabuki Warriors defeated IIconics by count out.
• Apollo defeated Andrade.
• D👄olph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens ended in a no contest.

Here are your quick WWE Raw results for July 15, 2019. The Raw after Extreme Rules featured an appearance from new Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, an “all-star battle royal” to find the next opponent for the championship at SummerSlam, and more.

– The show opened with Paul Heyman and new Universal Champion Brock Lesnar. It’s announced that later tonight there will be a 10-man, “all star” battle royal, with the winner moving on to challenge Lesnar for the title at SummerSlam. Heyman told everyone that they’re Brock’s bitches.

• 2-out-of-3 Falls Match: Ricochet and The Usos defeated Robert Roode and The Revival.
• The Viking Raiders defeated jobbers.
• Cedric Alexander defeated Drew McIntyre.
• Samoa Joe defeated Finn Bálor in less than 90 seconds.
• Zack Ryder defeated Mike Kanellis in three seconds with the Rough Ryder.
• The Club defeated Lucha House Party.

– Seth Rollins was sad about having lost the Universal Championship, and said he didn’t know if Becky Lynch was going to be there tonight. Becky showed up in the very next segment.

• Number One Contender Elimination Match: Natalya defeated Alexa Bliss, Naomi, and Carmella.

– Dolph Ziggler requested to be a guest on Miz TV so he could insult Miz a bunch about being a corporate yes-man. Ziggler insulted Maryse as well, so Miz attacked him.

– R-Truth snuck into Drake Maverick’s hotel room to pin him for the 24/7 Championship during his honeymoon sex. Corey Graves said he, “utilized the small package.”

• 10-Man All-Star Battle Royal: Seth Rollins defeated Roman Reigns, Cesaro, Big E, Braun Strowman, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Baron Corbin, Sami Zayn, and Bobby Lashley.

WWE Extreme Rules 2019 is over and done with and critics were pretty much impressed at first. With top wrestling stars churning out incredible performances, the WWE pay-per-view seemed well on its way to success. That was until Brock Lesnar entered the picture.

The 2019 WWE Money in the Bank winner surprised many when he decided to cash in and target Seth Rollins. After going through a mixed tag-team match alongside Becky Lynch against Baron Corbin and Lacey Evans, it was pretty clear that the Kingslayer was battered and exhausted, WWE.com reported. And of course, this was the perfect time for the Beast Incarnate to enter the picture and reclaim the Universal title for the third time. He did just that, unleashing several German Suplexes and capping everything off with a single F-5 to pin Rollins and win the heavyweight title for the third time.

Making Lesnar WWE Universal Champion once more carries a lot of criticism. Pundits single out how this move by WWE CEO Vince McMahon and the creative team is a step in the wrong direction. The foremost concern by critics is the frequency at which Lesnar appears and defends the championship belt. With the promotion having its share of issues as far as jacking up the ratings, some feel that this development could tell in the near future.

Despite the rating drop, the good news for the WWE is that it may take some time before other promotions catch up. The creativity of storylines is what most are singling out and the WWE creative team would be wise to find ways in improving that. Paul Heyman, Lesnar’s handler, and Eric Bischoff are tasked to turn things around with most still waiting what changes are forthcoming.

Antoine Griezmann says the most exciting part of his move to Barcelona is teaming up with Lionel Messi, comparing him to basketball legend LeBron James.

And Griezmann, 28, is looking forward to playing alongside his iconic new team-mate Messi, who he says will go down as a legend like the LA Lakers star.

“The thing that makes me happiest is playing with a partner like him,” Griezmann said at a press conference. “Messi will be a legend for my son and my son’s children. He’s like LeBron James for basketball.

“I want to be an important player at this great club and try to win La Liga, the Champions League and Copa del Rey, which is what I’m missing on my list.”

Given the fairly short amount of time between rejecting Barca and then joining them, many have wondered why there was a change of heart, particularly given he signed a five-year deal with Atletico last year.

“I have a family to move,” he said. “I saw my wife, my world, and I was not ready to take the step, and this year has been different.”

The second half of 2019 is getting more fun as the biggest network providers keep unrolling binge data bundles.
A lot of cheap data plans like the 1GB data for only ₦200, 1GB Data + ₦1,000 airtime for just ₦1,000 and many more were unveiled by the telecommunication giants.
Remember when we told you about the MTN YafunYafun plan that gives you 500% of all your recharges for the first 3 months of you using your SIM. Today, we’ll also be sharing another amazing benefit of the YafunYafun plan that would make you want to buy a new SIM in the next 30 minutes…lol.

How To Get 4GB For ₦500 In The MTN YafunYafun Plan

Remember the MTN YafunYafun plan is only available to new MTN users so the first thing you need to do is to register a new SIM card. It usually costs less that ₦500 and your SIM card will be activated in less than24 hours. You’ll also be instructed by the agent to make calls in less than 24 hours after activating your SIM card to avoid losing it.
I assume you’ve gotten a new SIM card so let’s jump to how you can start getting 4GB for ₦500 in the MTN YafunYafun plan:
• Activate your new SIM and migrate to the YafunYafun plan. If you don’t migrate, you’ll still be migrated to the plan by default.
• Dial *131*1*1# and select 5 (2GB for ₦500). This is actually for the MTN Binge bundle and is valid for 2 days. Remember one of the benefits of the YafunYafun is that you’ll get double of all data plans for 3 months, so enjoy double of the MTN Binge bundle.

The steps are very easy and fast, no VPN, no routing. Remember the offer is available for the first 3 months of you using the SIM card.
Don’t forget to drop us a comment and share with your friends!

Nigeria have failed to reach the final of the 2019 AFCON after a loss to Algeria.

The Super Eagles were beaten 2-1 on Sunday.

Riyad Mahrez has scored the second goal to Algeria with a sensational free-kick into the far corner, at the end the game (90´)

W Ekong scored the first Algeria goal. Ighalo converted a penalty and scored for Nigeria.

Algeria will take on Senegal in the final next Saturday. Nigeria last won the tournament back in 2013.

Senegal reached their second Africa Cup of Nations final with an extra-time victory over Tunisia.Both sides had penalties saved in normal time before Tunisia defender Dylan Bronn inadvertently headed the only goal of the game into his own net.Mouez Hassen tipped Sadio Mane’s free-kick onto Bronn’s head as Senegal – who face Algeria or Nigeria – moved a step closer to their first Afcon title.Tunisia had a late penalty award overturned by VAR.