Lamine Camara scored twice as Senegal kicked off their Africa Cup of Nations title defence with a 3-0 victory over 10-man Gambia in Yamoussoukro on Monday.

Senegal moved top of the early Group C table ahead of Cameroon’s game against Guinea later Monday.

Aliou Cisse’s showed enough quality in the Ivorian heat to suggest they could become the first team to win back-to-back AFCON titles since Egypt reeled off three in a row in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

Senegal’s XI featured just five of the starting team which beat Egypt on penalties in the final two years ago and it was youngster Camara who stole the show.

Gambia already face an uphill task to reach the knockout stage two years after a shock run to the quarter-finals on debut.

The holders wasted little time in piling the pressure on their West African neighbours and took the lead in the fourth minute.

Sadio Mane was left in plenty of space at the back post and his lay-off was swept home left-footed by the unmarked Pape Gueye from inside the area.

Gambia endured a troubled build-up to the tournament, boycotting a training session over an unpaid qualification bonus before their flight to the Ivory Coast was forced to turn around just nine minutes after take-off due to technical problems.

But they grew into the game after the early setback, going close to an equaliser when Musa Barrow curled a free-kick into the side-netting.

Gambia were dealt a blow shortly before half-time though when Cardiff City midfielder Ebou Adams was dismissed for a studs-up challenge.

The underdogs continued to threaten after the restart however, as Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was forced to dive to his right to palm away Barrow’s long-range drive, with Ali Sowe slicing the rebound wide.

Senegal effectively killed off the game just moments later, though, as a slick passing move ended with 20-year-old Camara collecting Ismailia Sarr’s pass and drilling a low shot into the far corner.

The Lions of Teranga rounded off the scoring with an early contender for goal of the tournament in the 86th minute.

Clever trickery from Iliman Ndiaye took him away from two defenders and his pass was expertly bent into the top corner from the edge of the ‘D’ by Metz midfielder Camara.

Mohamed Badamosi came close to grabbing an injury-time consolation for the Gambians when he headed wide, but they were ultimately outclassed and will now turn their attentions to their second game against Guinea on Friday.

Senegal will likely face a tougher assignment when they face five-time winners Cameroon.

Source: AFP

It was no memorable performance, but delighted supporters nevertheless clogged the streets and parties continued late as host Ivory Coast opened proceedings at the Africa Cup of Nations finals with a 2-0 victory over Guinea Bissau in Abidjan on Saturday.

Fans lined the route from the Alhassane Ouattara Olympic Stadium in the north of the city and mobbed their team’s bus as coach Jean Louis Gasset declared it mission accomplished and spoke of a sense of relief at winning.

Goals in each half from Seko Fofana and Jean Philippe Krasso ensured victory but it was far from a strong statement of intent that the hosts were looking to make.

“The main thing was to win this match. Playing an opening match of a tournament in a packed stadium is no easy task,” said Ivorian coach Jean-Louis Gasset afterwards.

“It was hard psychologically but we tried to do the best we could. We had a very good start to the match where we scored, but it’s true that overall the performance was average.”

Fofana had them ahead in four minutes while Krasso’s acrobatic second goal came early in the second half.

“When we didn’t have the ball, we were a little scattered. We’re going to work on it. But overall, we had seven chances and we hit the post twice.”

Players looked exhausted afterwards by the exertions in high humidity, even a match played late in the evening.

“There is still work to do, it’s the start of the competition. Today we are relieved … relieved to have won this match because we were really under pressure,” added Gasset.

It is a major step up next for the hosts, whose second Group A match in Abidjan on Thursday is against powerful Nigeria.

“We know the strengths of the Nigerians. They have an impressive offensive armada. Their leading striker is the best player in Africa,” Gasset said of recently crowned African Footballer of the Year Victor Osimhen.

“So we know that we will have to raise our game but, knowing my players, I think we will respond,” the Ivorian coach added.

Source: Reuters

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp joked Friday that he is not wishing Mohamed Salah too much luck at the Africa Cup of Nations as he prepares for a crucial spell of games without his top scorer.

Salah is away with Egypt for the tournament in Ivory Coast while Japan captain Wataru Endo will be involved at the Asian Cup in Qatar, with both players expected to go deep in the respective competitions.

That could mean they will not be back until the second week in February but Klopp said he sent them on their way this week without wishing them too much success.

“I said if I wish you good luck it would be a lie,” Klopp said ahead of Liverpool’s FA Cup third-round tie at Arsenal on Sunday.

“From a personal point of view, I would be happy if they go out in the group stage but that’s probably not possible. They can go on and win it.

“So it was ‘Good luck and come back healthy’. We have to deal with it and we will deal with it. I am pretty positive that we will find a way.”

Klopp does not really have a suitable replacement for Salah, who plays on the right side of his attack and has scored 18 goals in all competitions this season.

Midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai was touted as a potential option but he has been ruled out for at least two matches with a hamstring injury sustained in the New Year’s Day win over Newcastle.

But Klopp, whose side are top of the Premier League, is confident Liverpool can fill the hole left by Salah.

“I think we played against West Ham (in last month’s League Cup quarter-final) without Mo on that side and Harvey Elliott played there,” he said.

“We have different offensive options who can all play that wing in a different way. Nobody else can play like Mo, it is not possible — we just have to use the boys with their skills.

“Do we want to play without Mo? No. In the past we didn’t have to do it often but we always found a way.

“But we play Arsenal and you can lose to Arsenal with Mo Salah so it’s possible to lose to them without him.”

Klopp said he was braced for a challenging January, even though there are fewer Premier League games due to a mid-season player break.

Liverpool’s game at the Emirates comes just two weeks after the title-chasing sides drew 1-1 at Anfield in the Premier League and will be followed by the first leg of their League Cup semi-final against Fulham on Wednesday.

“Some teams obviously don’t play that often in January,” he said. “We don’t have that, we have now with the semi-final, we have a proper rhythm.

“I think a re-match against Arsenal would really not be helpful, that’s how it is, because it just doesn’t fit in, would kill the winter break, stuff like this.”

Source: AFP

Ugandan athlete Benjamin Kiplagat has been found dead in Kenya, police said Sunday, with local media reports saying he had been murdered.

The Kenyan-born Kiplagat, 34, had represented Uganda internationally in the 3,000m steeplechase, including several Olympic Games and World Championships.

His body was found in a car on Saturday night on the outskirts of the Rift Valley town of Eldoret, home to many athletes.

“An investigation has been launched and officers are on the ground pursuing leads,” local police commander Stephen Okal told reporters in Eldoret.

He said Kiplagat’s body had a deep knife wound to his neck, suggesting he was stabbed.

Source: AFP

Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen has been named the 2023 CAF Player of the Year following his heroics for his country and club.

The Super Eagles superstar claimed the CAF gong at Monday’s awards ceremony in Marrakech after his goal glut inspired Napoli’s league title triumph last term.

Osimhen saw off challenges from Morocco full-back Achraf Hakimi and Egypt striker Mohammed Salah to land African football’s biggest individual prize.

Napoli hot-shot won the coveted prize after firing his club to a first Serie A title in over three decades.

The honour capped a remarkable year for the powerful front man who also fired Nigeria to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations with 10 goals to finish as the top scorer of the qualifiers.

The Italy-based striker plundered 27 goals across all fronts as the Napoli entertainers lit up Italian football.

In doing so, the 24-year-old became the first Napoli player to finish top scorer in Italian football since Diego Maradona in 1987/88.

Osimhen is now the first Nigerian winner of the men’s award since Kanu Nwankwo in 1999 after another prolific campaign.

His goals propelled Napoli to their first Serie A crown since the days of Maradona – a triumph few predicted last summer.

And with a historic title under his belt, Osimhen’s victory was just reward after a season that demonstrated his development into one of Europe’s most fearsome No.9s.

Source: CAFonline

The CAF Awards 2023, one of the most eagerly awaited events on the African football calendar, takes place on Monday 11 December in Marrakech, Morocco.  

With 48 hours to go before the prestigious ceremony, CAF has announced the presence of several renowned guests who will join the nominees in celebrating the excellence and remarkable achievements of African football.  

Among the prestigious guests who have confirmed their presence are football legends, music and art celebrities and prestigious names from other sporting disciplines, including Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Abedi Pele (Ghana), El Hadji Diouf (Senegal), Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo), Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria), Jonathan Pitroipa (Burkina Faso), Kalusha Bwalya (Zambia), Ahmed Hassan (Egypt), Perpetua Nkwocha (Nigeria), Patrick Mboma (Cameroon), Mikel Obi (Nigeria), among others.  

These renowned personalities will bring an aura of grandeur to the event and help make this edition of the CAF Awards even more memorable.  

On the sidelines of the event, a charity football game will be held at Marrakech Stadium on Sunday, 10 December at 16h00 local time (15h00 GMT) to honour earthquake victims. 

The CAF Awards are a special opportunity to recognize and reward outstanding performances by African players, coaches, teams and clubs over a given period.  

This year, the period under consideration runs from November 2022 to September 2023 for the men’s categories and from December 2022 to November 2023 for the women’s categories. 

Full List  of Legends  

Hosts Ivory Coast were joined in Group A by Nigeria in the draw for the Africa Cup of Nations in Abidjan on Thursday.

Fast-improving Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, who have qualified for a fourth straight edition, complete the mini-league.

Other heavyweight pairings included defending champions Senegal with five-time winners Cameroon, while Africa’s first World Cup semi-finalists Morocco face Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ivory Coast, seeking a third Cup of Nations title, will face Guinea-Bissau in the opening match on January 13 in Abidjan, the economic hub.

The Ivorian clash with three-time champions Nigeria will attract most attention among the six Group A fixtures.

Nigeria were last crowned Cup of Nations winners in 2013 in South Africa and the Ivory Coast succeeded them two years later in Equatorial Guinea.

Morocco were drawn in Group F with DR Congo, Zambia and Tanzania.

The Atlas Lions have won the premier African football competition only once, in 1976 in Ethiopia. Their best performance since then was finishing runners-up to 2004 hosts Tunisia.

Defending champions Senegal are in Group C with five-time winners Cameroon, Guinea and the Gambia.

South Africa will face Tunisia, Mali and Namibia in Group E while Ghana take on Egypt, Cape Verde and Mozambique in Group B.

Group D, comprising Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Angola, completes the line-up for a tournament that will reach a climax with the final on February 11.

Draw

Group A

Ivory Coast (hosts), Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau

Group B

Egypt, Ghana, Cape Verde, Mozambique

Group C

Senegal (holders), Cameroon, Guinea, Gambia

Group D

Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Angola

Group E

Tunisia, Mali, South Africa, Namibia

Group F

Morocco, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Tanzania

Notes

— Group winners and runners-up and the four highest ranked third-placed teams qualify for knockout stage

— Tournament kicks off on January 13 and ends on February 11, with matches at six stadiums in five cities

Source: AFP

Mali paid a final, moving tribute in Bamako on Wednesday to African football legend and “monument man” Salif Keita who died at the weekend at the age of 76.

Hundreds of people, including former teammates and Mali Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maïga, flocked to his funeral at the Place du Cinquantenaire, on the banks of the Niger River.

There they said goodbye to the man who in 1970 became the first winner of the African Ballon d’Or.

“He gave everything to Mali — as a player, coach, minister. His football academy produced geniuses for Mali,” said Idrissa Maïga, a friend and former club and national teammate. “Go in peace.”

Keita made his debut for Mali at just 16 and went on to play 28 times for his country. He was part of the Mali squad which finished second in the 1972 African Cup of Nations.

Giant pictures of him were posted and his remains were draped in the green, yellow and red flag of the country.

Delegations came from neighbouring Senegal, Ivory Coast and Guinea as well as from France where Keita played for Saint-Etienne and Marseille.

“Salif Keita is a monument, he took nothing lightly, and each Mali-Guinea match was a challenge for him,” said former Guinea international Cherif Souleymane.

Keita retired in 1980 after a successful club career in France. While at Saint-Etienne he won the French league title three times and French Cup twice.

“The Black Panther has left us, taking a part of our club with him,” Saint-Etienne said in a statement on social media.

After leaving Saint-Etienne, Keita joined Marseille and then moved to Valencia in Spain, Sporting Lisbon in Portugal before ending his club career with New England Tea Men in the United States.

He also appeared in a movie, loosely inspired by his story, which was released in 1994.

Source:  AFP

Nigeria’s women’s football team fresh from an impressive run to the last 16 of the World Cup are demanding with the support of FIFPRO their national federation “honour their commitments” and pay them outstanding bonuses and expenses.

The Super Falcons resumed their battle with the federation after they bowed out of the World Cup losing on penalties to European champions England on Monday.

Their build-up to this year’s tournament was overshadowed by a row with their national federation over bonuses.

They had even threatened to boycott their opening game but put that behind them to draw with Olympic champions Canada and then beat co-hosts Australia.

However, on Tuesday the team and FIFPRO — who represent professional footballers — released a statement saying the matter was far from over.

“FIFPRO can confirm it is assisting players in a disagreement with the Nigeria Football Federation concerning bonus payments, camp allowances and expenses, some of which date back to 2021.

“During the World Cup, the players expressed the desire to remain focused on their performance without making public statements or facing other distractions.

“However, the Super Falcons believe that it is now time for the Nigeria Football Federation to honour their commitments and pay the outstanding amounts.”

Nigeria have appeared at every Women’s World Cup going back to the inaugural edition in 1991, but the 2023 vintage said they found it “regrettable” they needed to confront their federation.

“The team is extremely frustrated that they have had to pursue the Nigeria Football Federation for these payments before and during the tournament and may have to continue doing so afterwards,” read the statement.

“It is regrettable that players needed to challenge their own federation at such an important time in their careers.

“FIFPRO will continue to work with the players to ensure their contractual rights are honoured and the outstanding payments are settled.”

Source: AFP

Defender Mohamed Abdelmonem equalised on the night as Al Ahly of Egypt drew 1-1 at Wydad Casablanca of Morocco on Sunday to win the CAF Champions League for a record-extending 11th time.

His goal cancelled the lead Yahia Attiyat Allah gave the defending champions and earned the Cairo club a 3-2 aggregate victory after building a 2-1 first-leg lead seven days ago.

Ahly scored 27 goals in 14 matches en route to continental glory and four of them came from Egypt centre-back Abdelmonem.

Defeat for Wydad ended a run of two final victories over Ahly, and they paid the penalty for concentrating on defending their fragile second-leg lead instead of seeking further goals.

Unlike Europe, away goals count double in African club competitions when sides finish level on aggregate and Wydad would have retained the trophy had they won 1-0.    

Ahly pocketed a record four million dollars for winning and Marcel Koller became the first Swiss coach to win the premier African club competition.

It was the third Champions League triumph in four seasons for Ahly after victories over fellow Egyptians Zamalek in 2020 and Kaizer Chiefs of South Africa the following year.

Wydad made two changes to the side that began the first leg in Cairo last weekend with attackers Mohamed Ounajem and Saifeddine Bouhra replacing Reda Jaadi and Zouhair el Moutaraji.

Veteran Ounajem was part of the Wydad team to beat Ahly in the 2017 final while Bouhra scored last Sunday after coming on as a late substitute.

Ahly made one change with fit-again first choice goalkeeper Mohamed el Shenawy returning in place of Ahmed Shobeir.

The second leg was the 13th time the African club giants had met in the Champions League with Ahly holding a 5-3 lead and four matches drawn.

Special occasion

Among the capacity crowd in the 65,000-seat Stade Mohammed V was Patrice Motsepe, a South African billionaire and president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

For referee Bamlak Tessema Weyesa from Ethiopia it was a special occasion — his last match before retiring at the age of 42 after 14 years handling international fixtures.

As the first half got under way, an unfortunate feature of African football reared its ugly head again with green lasers pointed at visiting players to try and distract them.

Moroccan Ayoub el Amloud had the first clearcut chance just past the 10-minute mark, but after a dazzling dribble into the area, his tame, inaccurate shot posed no threat. 

The Ahly strike force of Mahmoud Kahraba, South African Percy Tau and Hussein el Shahat had scored 15 Champions League goals before the second leg, but were unable to trouble Wydad early on.

Wydad broke the deadlock when an Attiyat Allah free-kick close to the touchline floated into the goalmouth, eluded El Shenawy, and landed in the far corner of the net.

Ahly made no headway before half-time as they tried to equalise and their frustrations led to yellow cards for Kahraba and El Shahat, while Bouhra was cautioned for time wasting.

Nobody was more relieved when a 51-minute opening half finished than the referee, who was battling to keep control of some bad-tempered Moroccans and Egyptians.

Midway through the second half smoke from flares restricted visibility leading to play being temporarily halted.

A set piece gave Wydad the lead and another one — a corner from Ali Maaloul — set up Abdelmonem to equalise with a glancing header into the far corner that stunned the crowd.

Ahly had plenty of second-half possession, but did not seriously threaten Wydad goalkeeper Youssef el Motie before levelling.

Source: AFP