Former Nigeria international Obafemi Martins has revealed the immense pressure he felt after inheriting Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer’s iconic No.9 jersey during his time at St James’ Park, PUNCH Sports Extra reports. In an emotional interview with Football Fans Tribe, the now 40-year-old striker reflected on the weight of expectations following his £10m transfer from Inter Milan in 2006, when he was tasked with filling the void left by the Magpies’ all-time record goalscorer. “It wasn’t easy at all playing as the No.9. I took Shearer’s No.9 shirt, so the pressure alone is high. They wanted me to be the next Shearer, to score more goals. But I did my part and I moved on. You are the one wearing the jersey, the shirt doesn’t wear you,” Martins said. The Nigerian forward, who became a fan favourite for his acrobatic goal celebrations, electric pace and powerful left foot, scored 35 goals in 104 appearances across all competitions during his three-year stint with the Tyneside club. Martins also faced the challenge of leading Newcastle’s attack following Michael Owen’s ACL injury at the 2006 World Cup, adding to the pressure on his shoulders when he arrived in England. “Leaving Inter Milan to go to Newcastle United, I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task and I remember my first game I got injured,” he stated. “Back then, as a striker, if you didn’t score in two or three games, you already start feeling sad.” Despite the difficulties, Martins still holds Newcastle’s supporters in high regard, becoming visibly emotional while praising them as the best fans he encountered during his career. “Newcastle, first of all, they have the best fans ever, out of all the teams that I played for in the world,” he told the podcast. “Out of those who I played for, Newcastle have the best fans. (They get) 52,000 fans are always there at the stadium supporting. Win or lose, they’re there. I’m very happy for them that they won (the Carabao Cup). They didn’t win for 70 years. It’s a great honour for the new owners, the coach of course and the players. Seeing these players, you can tell they wanted to win. Congratulations to them.” Martins left Newcastle in 2009 following their relegation to the Championship, with the club recouping most of his initial transfer fee when he moved to Wolfsburg. However, he is still remembered fondly by the Toon Army for memorable moments, including his spectacular strike from outside the box in a 3–2 victory over Tottenham at St. James’ Park on January 14, 2007.

Real Madrid beat Real Sociedad 1-0 in their Copa del Rey semifinal first-leg tie, but match marred by racist abuse. Real Madrid secured a 1-0 win at Real Sociedad in a Copa del Rey semifinal first-leg clash marred by further racist abuse of Brazilian international Vinicius Junior. Fellow Brazil forward Endrick scored the only goal of the game in the first half at Reale Arena in San Sebastian in the north of Spain. However, there was controversy just before half-time when the match was paused because of chants of “Asencio die” being aimed at Real Madrid defender Raul Asencio. A video subsequently emerged on social media of a Real Sociedad fan appearing to make monkey gestures at Vinicius Junior while the game was stopped. Fans have aimed the chant at 22-year-old centre-back, Asencio, at various stadiums in recent weeks, but this was the first time the match has been stopped. Asencio is alleged to have shared a sexually explicit video of a minor recorded by two former Real Madrid youth players and is under investigation by a Spanish court. The match was stopped just before half-time after Vinicius reported the chants against Asencio to the referee. “Vinicius spoke to the referee, the referee stopped the game, he applied the protocol, that was what had to happen,” Real Madrid coach Ancelotti told reporters. The coach substituted the defender at halftime for Lucas Vazquez. “I took him [Vinicius Jr]off because of two things, he was affected, and he had a yellow card, so I preferred to take him off,” explained Ancelotti. “I think nobody likes that a stadium chants for you to die. I think he was affected in that sense. He wasn’t exactly happy, I preferred to take him off in case how he was feeling could affect the game.” Real Sociedad forward Mikel Oyarzabal added: “The insults should be condemned, we don’t like them … there are other ways to condemn the actions that others may have committed. We don’t think this is the right way.” The images of the racist abuse aimed at Vinicius were quickly recirculated online, while with the match delayed, Sociedad posted a message on the big screen inside the stadium saying: “No to racist, xenophobic and intolerant chants. Encourage and support the team while respecting the rival.” Vinicius has long been a target of racist abuse in Spanish football. In October, four people were arrested and questioned in Spain on suspicion of conducting an online hate campaign against the 24-year-old. In June last year, three Valencia fans were each sentenced to eight months in prison for hate crimes against the forward. It was a landmark case as they were the first convictions for racist insults in a football stadium in Spain. Spanish and European champions Madrid will entertain Sociedad in the second leg on April 1 at their Santiago Bernabeu stadium for the right to meet either Barcelona or Atletico Madrid in the final. Endrick’s 19th-minute strike, finishing with the outside of his boot after racing on to Jude Bellingham’s diagonal ball, was enough to claim the first tie. Madrid were without French superstar Kylian Mbappe after a dental problem as well as Fede Valverde and Thibaut Courtois. Ancelotti chose to rotate his side further ahead of the visit to face Real Betis in LaLiga on Saturday – and next week’s Champions League last 16 clash against Atletico Madrid – by making seven changes in total from Sunday’s 2-0 win against Girona. Despite his many replacements, including starts for Arda Guler, Fran Garcia and Eduardo Camavinga, Madrid put on a solid showing. Endrick sent Los Blancos ahead when Bellingham sent the 18-year-old attacker in on goal. After taking one touch to control, with his second Endrick stroked home stylishly at the near post. It was his sixth goal of the campaign, four of those coming in the Copa del Rey, where Ancelotti has given him the most chance to shine. Bellingham, who missed Madrid’s win at the weekend through suspension, looked refreshed and helped his side stay largely on top. Vinicius came close with a low shot which Alex Remiro tipped to safety. Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin made a fine double save early in the second half to keep Mikel Oyarzabal and Takefusa Kubo at bay. Madrid came close to a second at the other end when Endrick crashed a shot against the bar from the edge of the box. Remiro produced a fine save to push away Bellingham’s deflected strike and then another to thwart the same player from long range in the final stages, keeping Real Sociedad’s hopes of a second-leg comeback alive. In the other semifinal first leg on Tuesday Atletico Madrid fought back to draw 4-4 with record 31-time cup winners Barcelona. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

Leeds United returned to the top of the Championship table with a deserved victory over mid-table Preston to move closer to a return to the Premier League. Sheffield United's third successive defeat - at lowly Plymouth - means the Whites are now five points clear of the third-placed Blades with four games to play. Daniel Farke's men took the lead after four minutes through Manor Solomon's super curled strike from 20 yards but the visitors equalised 107 seconds later when right-back Kaine Kesler-Hayden cut in on to his left foot and thumped home an emphatic finish. Parity was short-lived, though, as Leeds went back in front after 13 minutes through Jayden Bogle's close-range finish from Solomon's fine cross from the left. The promotion-chasing hosts totally dominated thereafter and should have wrapped up the win when striker Joel Piroe smashed a close range shot against the crossbar. Preston never looked like getting a second equaliser and they have now won just one of their past 11 league matches as their season peters out. Leeds' vastly superior goal difference means seven points from their remaining four games will now be enough to guarantee promotion. Burnley had knocked Leeds down to second with a 2-1 win over Norwich on Friday but the Whites made the perfect start on Saturday to reclaim top spot. Farke's side scored inside the first five minutes for the seventh time this season - and second time this week after Daniel James' goal at Middlesbrough on Tuesday - when Tottenham loanee Solomon curled home a sumptuous effort. However, a goal from another Premier League loanee quickly silenced the vast majority of Elland Road, as Aston Villa's Kesler-Hayden scored his second goal in three matches. Leeds have now won 16 of their 21 home games, though, and once Bogle got in between two Preston defenders to put them back in front they had more than enough to win the match. Top scorer Piroe, now without a goal in eight games, should have made it 3-1 and Joe Rodon also missed a chance from close range from a Solomon corner. The Whites visit struggling Oxford on Friday evening, while Paul Heckingbottom's side host Queens Park Rangers earlier that same day in pursuit of just a second league win since 11 February. Leeds United boss Daniel Farke told BBC Radio Leeds: "It feels pretty good after an exhausting week with three difficult games. It was a priceless three points for us. "It was a really good performance and we could have made life easier by taking a few of our chances, it must have been one of our highest expected goals of the season. We should have scored six or seven. "If you don't score the third goal and miss this crazy amount of chances then you always need to stay switched on because Preston played with freedom. It was crucial that we returned to our best behaviour against the ball. "I didn't know the scoreline at Plymouth but you sense the reaction of the supporters. I wanted to make sure that we stayed focused and not thinking about what happened on other pitches. "I like the balance because we played with fire in the heart but cool in the head." Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom told BBC Radio Lancashire: "I'm really disappointed with the two goals we conceded, I thought they were poor on our part. "We were brave with how we passed the ball and tried to take the game to them, I was really pleased with that. "We knew if we could keep one goal in it then we'd get opportunities but they defended their box well and we couldn't open them up. "Overall I'm delighted with the effort and commitment of the players but Leeds had the better chances."

A 14-year-old was also killed in the attack that killed staff from Russia’s Izvestia newspaper and Zvezda TV channel. A Ukrainian rocket attack killed six people, including three Russian state media workers, in eastern Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Luhansk region, according to Russian news organisations and officials. The attack on Monday killed war correspondent Alexander Fedorchak, a journalist from Russia’s main pro-Kremlin Izvestia newspaper, as well as a camera operator, Andrei Panov, who worked for Russian television channel Zvezda, and the channel’s driver, Alexander Sirkeli, the Moscow-appointed governor of the Luhansk region, Leonid Pasechnik, said. Pasechnik said a 14-year-old child was also killed in the attack in the region’s Kremina district. Izvestia said Fedorchak had entered the Luhansk region – most of which has been captured by invading Russian forces – after reporting from the Kupiansk area in the neighbouring Kharkiv region, one of the areas where Russian forces have made advances against Ukraine’s troops in recent months. “Izvestia correspondent Alexander Fedorchak was killed in the zone of the special military operation,” the newspaper said, using Moscow’s term for its war on Ukraine. Russia’s state-controlled English-language RT outlet posted an image of Fedorchak on social media, saying only that the war correspondent’s “circumstances of death” are “not clear yet”. Izvestia correspondent Alexander Fedorchak killed in SMO zone His last report aired just yesterday — he was working in Kharkov region, near Kupyansk Circumstances of death not clear yet pic.twitter.com/UJMLHPHLDf — RT (@RT_com) March 24, 2025 Izvestia said that its correspondent was killed “in the Kupiansk direction” – a city that has been under intense Russian attack and where Russian forces have been advancing. “His last report was broadcast literally the day before,” Izvestia said on its website. The Zvezda channel – which is sponsored by Moscow’s Ministry of Defence – later said that its correspondent, Nikita Goldin, had also been seriously wounded in the attack, which it described as a strike on a civilian vehicle. Ukrainian officials have yet to comment on the Russian claims that the journalists were targeted. Russian news agencies quoted security sources as saying the attack had been carried out by advanced HIMARS rockets, which have been supplied to Ukraine by the United States. Alexander Miroshnik, an ambassador-at-large for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said there was evidence the journalists had been deliberately targeted. “More and more details are emerging of the killing of these guys that point to the premeditated and terrorist nature of the strike on journalists and people alongside them,” he wrote on Telegram. Figures from the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine show that 18 Ukrainian and foreign reporters have been killed on assignment since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Another 10 journalists have been killed by bombs or shelling while not at work. More than 80 media employees have been killed while serving in the Ukrainian military. Alexander Martemyanov, a freelance reporter working for Izvestia, was killed in Ukraine in January. Fighting has been particularly intense in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas area – made up of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions – where Russian forces have concentrated on capturing more territory from Ukraine after an initial drive failed to reach the capital Kyiv in the early stages of the war. Follow Al Jazeera English:...