Grain Coast Magazine

24/12/2022

Grain Coast Magazine presents Liberia's top ten weekly songs. These tracks were selected based on how frequently they are being played at entertainment places, radio stations, and how they perform on streaming platforms. They are all available on YouTube and AudioMack.

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30/05/2022

Grain Coast Magazine Weekend Football Summary (Champions League Special)
- By: Robert Serge Saint-Pé


*. Real Madrid Wins Their 14th Champions League Title

Despite a delay in this weekend's Champions League final made a by logjam of fans due to fake tickets, Vinicius Junior was made hero as he grabbed the only goal at the Stade de France in Paris against Liverpool to earn his club a 14th European title from their 17th final. Karim Benzema finished as this season's competition top scorer with 15 goals from 12 appearances, and was denied an opener after his goal was ruled offside by VAR.

Real Madrid have won the Champions League trophy more times than any other club, and are victors of the elite European competition, 14 times. AC Milan is the only Club closed to the European Champions coming in with seven wins, followed by Liverpool who have won the competition on six occasions.


*. Players With The Most Champions League Titles

With Real Madrid 14th Champions League triumph over the Liverpool this weekend, nine Blancos players in the likes of Karim Benzema, Marcelo, Luka Modric, Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Nacho, Isco, Gareth Bale and Dani Carvajal have now made the list of players with five Champions League finalist medals. Toni Kroos was a European champion with Bayern Munich in 2013, before winning four titles with Real, while the other eight players have won all of their five titles with Real Madrid.

The list already included Real Madrid legend, Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the European Competition once with Manchester United in 2008 and four times with Real Madrid. The Portuguese ace was previously tied with AC Milan legends Alessandro Costacurta, Paolo Maldini and Clarence Seedorf as well as other Los Blancos giants in Hector Rial and Marquitos.

Real Madrid Iconic left-winger, Paco Gento currently holds the record of the player in possession of the most UEFA Champions League titles. He won the European trophy six times during his 18 years illustrious career at the Santiago Bernabeu.


*. Carlos Ancelotti Becomes The Most Decorated Coach In Champions League History.

After the Champions League final, Real Madrid players were not the only ones creating records as their coach, Carlos Ancelotti now stands alone as the only manager to win four Champions League titles, surpassing Bob Paisley's three European Cups with Liverpool and Zinedine Zidane's hat-trick as Madrid boss between 2016 and 2018.

The Italian previously won the European competition with AC Milian in 2003 and 2007, and his third title came in 2014 during first first stint at Real Madrid.

*. Players Leaving & Staying At Real Madrid/Liverpool

- Liverpool
Sadio Mané, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, are all entering their final year contracts with Liverpool, and negotiations over new deals were shelved some time ago. But now, the Senegalese African Cup winner has decided not to renew his contract at Anfield, and announced his decision to leave shortly after his side 1:0 defeat to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League final in Paris. Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are the two favorites to sign the Senegalese hero, while Barcelona might also be front runners for his signature as he has claimed to be a fan of the Blaugrana side since he was a youngster.
Mo Salah has agreed to remain at Liverpool, but in terms of contract negotiations nothing has been finalised. Meanwhile, talks are still being held over whether or not Firmino will remain at the club.

- Real Madrid
Marcelo, the veteran Brazilian left-back waited till after his side's successful Champions League final win against Liverpool to announce his decision to leave the club. He leaves the Blancos as a free agent and as the club's most decorated player with 25 trophies. Marcelo has been at Real Madrid for 15 years and amongst his titles are five Champions League titles, four Club World Cups, three European Super Cups, six La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey trophies and five Spanish Super Cups.

Gareth Bale, Isco, and Marion Diaz are players Real Madrid will be looking to offload this summer, while Eden Hazard might be sent on loan after failing to establish himself with the Spanish giants since arriving from Chelsea in 2019 from a blockbuster transfer.

Meanwhile, Luka Modric has agreed a one year contract with Real Madrid which will make him remain at the club until 2023. The Croatian and one time Ballon d'Or winner has spent nine seasons with the Spanish Champions which has been accompanied with 19 trophies, including the success of this season's Supercopa de Espana, La Liga, and his fifth Champions League triumph.


*. Benzema Becomes Favorite To Claim The 2022 Ballon D'or

Karim Benzema becomes the favorite to win this year’s golden ball after climaxing a successful season with the Blancos which saw the French man winning the Supercopa de Espana, La Liga, and a Champions League title, and finishing with 44 goals and assists 15 in 46 games. He became the first Real Madrid player to score 40 goals in a season since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, his best individual goal tally since becoming a professional player. His goals exploit made him the top scorer in La Liga with 27 goals, and Champions League golden shoe winner with 15 goals which included two back to back hat-tricks against Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.

The only other two players in contention to Karim Benzema are Liverpool’s forwards, Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah. In terms of accolades, Sadio Mané won the African Cup of Nations, the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup, while his teammate, Mohamed Salah shared the Premier League golden shoe with Tottenham’s Heung-min Son on 23 goals and won the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup.

The Ballon d'Or remains the most important individual award in world football, and the race to claim the 2022 prize is all-but over as France Football announced in March that the rules for Ballon d'Or voting have changed, with the key one being that the award will be based on performances over a single season, rather than a calendar year.

That means performances at the 2022 World Cup, which is set to kick-off in November, will not be considered this year, and instead will be judged when voting for the 2023 Ballon d'Or gets under way.

23/05/2022

Grain Coast Magazine Weekend Football Summary
- Robert Serge Saint-Pé

From Mbappe dishing Real Madrid to stay at PSG, to Manchester City coming from behind to retain the Premier League title, Salah and Son sharing the English League golden boot through late goals on last match day, and AC Milan winning their first Serie A in 11 years. Grain Coast Magazine brings you the exciting recaps from this weekend’s football summary.

- Saturday Recaps

*. Kylian Mbappe Remains At Paris Saint-Germain

Kylian Mbappe has been a hot topic on transfer news since he rejected a contract renewal from Paris Saint-Germain last season, and it was hugely speculated that he would join Real Madrid as a free agent and line up for the Blancos beginning next season. The World Cup winner's decision to stay at PSG caused a mixed of emotions between football fans around the world. Even though it is suggested that French President, Emmanuel Macron played a huge role in making the 23-year old remain at PSG, the Spanish Football Federation filed in a law suit against the French champions on breach of financial fair play.

Mbappe unveiled his new 3-year contract in front of the home fans by displaying his club's jersey with the number 2025 writing at the back, and celebrated the news by scoring a hat-trick in their 5:0 win against Metz. He ended the season as Ligue 1 top scorer with 28 goals and top assist by helping his team mates 17 times in front of goals.

*. Juventus Finished Fourth In A Second Successive Season

Juventus ended another season at fourth place, the second time in a row, and finished trophyless for the first time since their 2010/2011 campaign after a Coppa Italia final defeat to Inter Milan. Ironically, Inter Milan defeated Juventus this year to win their first Coppa Italia since the 2010/2011 season.

The Bianconeri began this season on a poor run as they were left struggling in the Serie A after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, but an admirable recovery saw them comfortably claim a Champions League spot after the arrival of Dusan Vlahovic who was acquired in January. They were defeated 2:0 in their last league game by Fiorentina who finished the season at 7th place. This should have been the season for Allegri to revive Juventus, but his return has fallen short of the club’s expectation as they bid farewell to veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini and Argentine striker Paulo Dybala.

- Sunday Recaps

*. Manchester City Seal Dramatic Win To Win The Premier League Trophy

Manchester City won the Premier League title on Sunday through late dramatic goals. They scored three goals in five minutes to come from behind and beat Aston Villa 3:2 at the Etihad Stadium, while Liverpool also narrowly won their game against Wolverhampton at Anfield through late goals from Mohamed Salah and Andrew Robertson. Manchester City have now won three Premier League titles for a second successive season, with the first-team triumph added to the Premier League 2 and Under-18s Premier League successes. Their recent league title became their fourth in the last five seasons, as they finished with 99 goals from 38 games.

Even though Liverpool lost the English title, they ended the season very strong as they gained more league points (92) than other top European league winners: FC Porto (91) Paris Saint-Germain (86), Real Madrid (86), AC Milan (86), and Bayern Munich (77).

*. Manchester United Almost Slipped to 7th Place

Meanwhile, Manchester United almost missed a chance to play Europa League after a 1:0 defeat to Crystal Palace. Wilfred Zaha, a former Red Devil player was the man responsible for United’s defeat, and he became the first former Manchester United Player to score three goals against them in the Premier League. Cristiano Ronaldo, their star man was excluded from the team’s line-up and bench, as United ended their worst league campaign. If West Ham United would have won its game, United would have finished 7th place, and would have been out of Europa League standings.

Manchester United’s tally of 57 goals conceded in the Premier League this season is their most in a top-flight campaign since 1978-79 (63), which also contributed in them failing to have a positive goal difference in the Premier League for the first time ever. Those 57 goals conceded were four more than relegated Burnley (53) – the first time that United had conceded more goals in a top-flight league season than a relegated club since 1976-77, when their 62 goals conceded were more than relegated sides Sunderland (54) and Stoke City (51).

*. Tottenham Hotspur Qualified For The Champions League

During the remaining last fixtures, not many football fans or pundits would have expected Tottenham to have finished fourth on the Premier League table, but after they defeated Arsenal 3:0 at White Hart Lane, they became the favourites to finish top four ahead of fifth place Arsenal and sixth place Manchester United.

Heung-Min Son was the man to be at Tottenham as his brace in Sunday’s win at Norwich City saw him become the joint-winner of this season’s Premier League Golden Boot with Mohammed Salah – making him the first Asian player ever to claim the award, an award he accomplished without scoring a penalty. He also became the third Spurs player to win the Golden Boot in the Premier League era after Teddy Sheringham in the competition’s inaugural year (1992/93) and Harry Kane, who claimed it for a third time last season.

*. AC Milan Clinched Their First Serie A Title In 11 years

Goals from Olivier Giroud and Franck Kessie were enough to seal the league title for AC Milan as the cruised through Sassuolo to win their 19th Serie A title for the first time in 11 years. Former Serie A players such as Clarence Seedorf, Filippo Inzaghi, Sinisa Mihajlovic, Vincenzo Montella and Gennaro Gattuso have all since tried and failed to revive the former European champions, but the man to bring back the trophy laden years is no other than, Stefano Pioli.

Veteran striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic was part of the last Milan side that won the Serie A and at age of 40, he lifted the trophy once again with the club for a second time. By winning the title on last match day, midfielder Daniel Maldini follows in the footsteps of his father Paolo Maldini, who won seven league titles with Milan, and Grandfather Cesare Maldini who won it on four occasions. With all the celebration, Pioli’s league medal was stolen. He later made an appeal to the federation in the words “They snatched my medal in the celebrations: if you can make an appeal I thank you, it is the only one I have”. He was heard, and he has been promised to receive another medal.

*. Barcelona Lose 2:0 To Villarreal On Last Match Day

Barcelona finished the season trophyless, not a result fans would have anticipated after the appointment of Xavi Hernández, and second return league game that saw them thrashed now champions, Real Madrid 4:0 at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Sunday’s game saw Barcelona lose to 7th place Villarreal, while they ended their season with 73 points. The absence of Messi and the plague of injuries suffered along the season sums up much of the teams’ negative results, but players and fans should be happy to have finished second in La Liga which comes with a return to the Champions League.

12/12/2021

Below is a story that gives us the "Top 7 Iconic Music Videos Directed By Jackie Russ".

https://frontpageafricaonline.com/entertainment/top-7-iconic-music-videos-directed-by-jackie-russ/

Alex Nyenga, alias, Jackie Russ has enjoyed a seven-year stint as a videographer which has put him behind the camera of numerous memorable Liberian music videos, earning him several nominations and awards. He has again proven himself as a top-notch video director over the past months, which has land...