Nigerian striker Victor Boniface was rushed to the hospital after a terrifying car accident following Bayer Leverkusen’s 2-1 Bundesliga victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.

The 23-year-old posted photos and videos on social media, showing the wreckage of his vehicle and a bloodied hand.

Fortunately, Boniface avoided serious injury and shared an update with his followers, writing, “God is the greatest.”

Boniface on Saturday had played a crucial role in Leverkusen’s win, scoring the winning goal in the 71st minute.

The victory marked Leverkusen’s return to winning ways, ending a two-match winless streak in the Bundesliga.

The accident comes just days after Boniface’s harrowing experience with the Super Eagles in Libya.

The Nigerian national team was stranded at an abandoned airport for 18 hours without food, water, or phone connections and ultimately boycotted their Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Libya’s Mediterranean Knights.

The incident marks the second challenging experience for Boniface in a short span, highlighting his resilience and determination.

Despite these challenges, Boniface has demonstrated his ability to bounce back, scoring crucial goals for his club and hopefully for his country soon.

With five goals in seven Bundesliga games, it underscores Boniface’s importance to Leverkusen’s success

No Barcelona, Manchester United, Liverpool, AC Milan or Arsenal, not even Atletico Madrid. The Club World Cup is without five of the biggest and most supported clubs in the world. But it does now have Lionel Messi… and his five-season-old club Inter Miami.

You could almost hear the sigh of relief on the other side of Atlantic from FIFA’s new Miami offices as Messi inked his spot in FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s shiny new club tournament, a cornerstone of his FIFA competition (and commercial) expansion plan.

It is an expansion that is being contested in Europe with players’ unions and the European Leagues and World Leagues associations saying that it should be cancelled in favour of more discussion with stakeholders. Infantino has consistently refused to entertain their protests or meet their representatives on the issue.

Meanwhile FIFA is hyping the event in the US even though it has been slow to find significant commercial support in the local market. But in a political game of smoke and mirrors, FIFA is charging ahead with adjectives blazing.

Inter Miami have qualified by winning the 2024 MLS Supporters’ Shield – basically the league title but the MLS peculiarly, and somewhat sycophantically, call it something else.

Infantino was so excited at having Messi at his tournament that he declared Inter Miami will open the Club World Cup in June 2025 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Opposition to be drawn in December.

Messi is a well-behaved outlier when it comes to the inaugural edition of the Club World Cup. While the world’s leading players and their union in Europe talk about burn-out, fatigue, too many matches and too much travel and striking, Messi (who struggled in his final seasons in Europe with exactly that) has kept his mouth shut and will be putting his goody-two shoes forward as FIFA’s feel-good stooge.

Messi – who played about 35 minutes and scored three times on Saturday as Inter Miami thumped the New England Revolution 6-2 and set a new MLS points scoring record – finished the regular season with 20 goals and 16 assists in the 19 matches of the 34-game season he was fit enough to play in.

Infantino, always on hand when the stars are putting on a parade, announced the news during a fan and team celebration following Inter Miami’s final MLS regular season match.

“We all know how Miami is in love with football and how Inter Miami is supported from across Florida and beyond for your exciting brand of football,” Infantino gushed. “Congratulations on your wonderful 2024 Supporters’ Shield success. You have shown that in the United States, you are consistently the best club on the field of play.

“Therefore, I am proud to announce that as one of the best clubs in the world,” he effused, “you are deserved participants in the new FIFA Club World Cup 2025 as the host club representing the United States.”

Of more football significance is that now 31 of the 32 clubs at the 2025 tournament have now qualified. The remaining slot will go to the winner of the 2024 Copa Libertadores final on November 30.

Of the four remaining teams, Argentina’s River Plate have already qualified meaning the final slot will go to either Botafogo or Atletico Mineiro from Brazil, or Argentina’s Penarol. Conmebol have six slots at the tournament, three already filled by Brazilian clubs and two by Argentinian.

The Club World Cup 2025 will be played in 12 stadia across 11 cities from June 14 to July 15, 2025. Unless it isn’t.

Nigeria’s Flamingos continue to prove to the world that their third-place finish at the last edition of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals was no fluke, as they earned a handsome 4-0 win over Ecuador on Saturday to reach the quarter-finals of this year’s competition in style.

With the 4-1 win over New Zealand in their first match, the Flamingos have scooped maximum six points in their first two matches, with eight goals for and only one against, and are surely in the last eight, ahead of their final group phase encounter against host nation Dominican Republic on Tuesday night.

Energetic playmaker Shakirat Moshood, who scored one of the tournament’s fastest goals with her 80-second strike against New Zealand on Wednesday, sent the very busy goalkeeper Maria Rodriguez the wrong way from the penalty spot in the 26th minute, after Captain Taiwo Afolabi was impeded in the box.

Pacy forward Peace Effiong, who had seen her shot thwarted by the right leg of Rodriguez in the 18th minute, was disconcerted to see her effort again foiled by the big goalkeeper on the half hour.

Harmony Chidi, scorer of 13 goals in the qualifying series, rocked the crossbar just before the half-time whistle as Nigeria, once more, broke forward.

In the second half, Chidi finally found her first goal of the tournament, picking her spot cleverly in the 54th minute to score after a pass by Aishat Animashaun.

Peace Effiong took the cue, to also score her first goal of the competition, latching on to a faulty clearance of a backpass by substitute goalkeeper Pozo.

Nigeria got her fourth goal in added time, as Moshood picked her spot to lash home after Chidi found her from the right.

The Flamingos will take on the host nation on Tuesday night.