Sports

7, December 2019

Qatar postpones launch of new 2022 World Cup venue ⁰

Qatar has postponed to next year the opening of Education City stadium, its second newly built venue for the 2022 football World Cup, FIFA said on Saturday.

The venue was due to be inaugurated when it hosted the semi-final of the Club World Cup between Liverpool and an as yet undetermined side on December 18.

But delays to the certification of the stadium by the authorities will mean that the fixture will instead be played at Khalifa International Stadium which was already due to host several Club World Cup fixtures.

Education City will now be opened in 2020 although the world football governing body did not give an exact date.

“Construction at Education City stadium is complete and the venue is now operational,” FIFA said in a statement.

“However, the necessary certification process took longer than expected and therefore the stadium was unable to host the required test events prior to the semi-final and final of the FIFA Club World Cup at full capacity.

“The priority is to ensure an enjoyable experience for all fans so it was decided to open the stadium at a later date.”

Three years ahead of the start of the 2022 tournament, Qatar has already launched the brand new 40,000-capacity Al-Janoub stadium and the refurbished Khalifa International ground.

Five new stadia remain under construction. On Tuesday, Qatar will open the remaining line and stations on its new three-line metro system.

Source: AFP

7, December 2019

Football: Oyongo gets contract extension at Montpellier ⁰

The Cameroon left-back joined the Ligue 1 outfit in January 2018 from Montreal Impact, and has made 39 appearances for La Paillade since joining

Cameroon international Ambroise Oyongo has had his contract at Ligue 1 side Montpellier extended, the French club has confirmed.

The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations winner signed for La Paillade in January 2018 on a four-and-a-half-year deal, but could make only three league appearances for the south coast club owing to injury and the form of Jerome Roussillon.

Oyongo went on to feature 26 times last season, as Montpellier ended in sixth on the Ligue 1 table, just outside the European places. The left-back, who’s played 13 of the club’s league fixtures this term, is happy to have signed an extension to his current deal.

Montpellier head coach, Michel Der Zakarian, was equally pleased with the defender’s choice as he wants the side to keep its best players.

“I am very happy that Ambroise is making a long-term commitment with the club, as we are trying to keep the team together,” Der Zakarian told the club’s website.

“We work today to keep our best players, and Ambroise is part of it, so we are very happy he agreed to spend a few more seasons with us.”

Montpellier currently are in sixth spot in the standings on 24 points, one behind Lille in fourth place.

Oyongo is likely to feature when they host Paris-saint Germain on Saturday as they seek their seventh win of the campaign.

Source: Goal.com

6, December 2019

Football: Klopp doesn’t care about Christmas No. 1 spot for Liverpool ⁰

Jurgen Klopp says he does not care about being top of the Premier League at Christmas as he prepares his Liverpool team for a hectic few weeks.

Liverpool, who finished a single point behind champions Manchester City last season, travel to Bournemouth on Saturday with an eight-point lead over Leicester. City are a further three points adrift.

A win on the south coast would mean Liverpool cannot be caught before December 25.

Only three times in the past 11 years has the top-placed team at Christmas failed to go on to win the title — and on every occasion it was Liverpool, including last year.

Klopp, targeting Liverpool’s first English top-flight title for 30 years, said he was not interested in such numbers.

“There are a lot of people who celebrate already, a lot of people who worry still and a lot of people who hope that we will still fail so that’s it,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Friday.

“I don’t listen to (any) of them, to be honest. So I’m completely fine. We want to try and win at Bournemouth.

“What that means for Christmas, I never thought about. So it’s not really interesting. We know that we are in a really, really difficult situation with the games coming up.

“We know that but we accepted that a long ago. But now we have to deal with it and we are really positive in this moment but we need to be lucky with the players that they stay fit and healthy.”

The European champions face 10 matches between Saturday’s game at Bournemouth and their FA Cup tie against Everton on January 5, including two within 24 hours in the League Cup and Club World Cup, for which Liverpool will use two squads.

Klopp’s much-changed team coasted to a 5-2 win over Everton at Anfield on Wednesday, with rarely used Belgian striker Divock Origi scoring twice and Xherdan Shaqiri once to underline the depth of resources at the German manager’s disposal.

“Very often we used three other players up front, but Div was always so important for us and it’s really nice that he can show his importance as well in a game like this,” he said.

The Liverpool manager was asked whether he would follow a similar template to last December, when he made multiple changes to cope with a busy calendar.

He said: “It was not a plan last year to make 30 changes… but it’s a time where you have to make changes, that’s clear. It’s not a specific number. It’s just the need of the situation and that’s what we will do, 100 percent.

“I know when you are a football supporter then you want to play in your mind the best 11 all the time but it’s not FIFA or PlayStation where they don’t need a rest.”

Source: AFP

6, December 2019

Why Cameroon’s 2021 Afcon venues are lagging behind ⁰

Cameroon’s ability to host the 2021 African Cup of Nations (Afcon) has once again been put to doubt as the company charged with the construction of the main stadium for the competition has abandoned the project.

The Cameroon government withdrew the contract for the construction of the Olembe Sports Complex in Yaoundé on grounds that Italian company Piccini was not delivering on time.

The complex that includes a 60,000 capacity stadium to host the opening game of the tournament was due to be completed in December last year but the government says Piccini unilaterally abandoned the project site.

Cameroon’s minister of Sports and Physical Education, Prof Narcisse Mouelle Kombi, said the construction of the complex, including the stadium named after the country’s long-serving president Paul Biya, had been rescinded from the Italian company and awarded to Canadian firm, MAGIL Construction.

In a statement on Friday which cancelled the contract of the Italian company, Mouelle Kombi said the work had been abandoned even after the government showed good faith by making available the sum of FCFA 2 billion (3.3 million US dollars)to get work started. The minister had earlier issued a two-week ultimatum for Piccini to complete the pitch.

In reaction, Piccini in a communiqué said it could seek legal action both at national and international levels for the government decision to be reversed.

The new contractor, MAGIL that was due to start work yesterday has promised to deliver the infrastructure by June 2020. Franck Mathiere, the firm’s Vice president for International Operations said in Yaounde on Tuesday that they will complete the works within record time.

“We will immediately work on the stadium, especially the pitch before the next inspection by the Confederation of African Football. A greater part of the work has already been done and we are going to use Canadian expertise to complete it,” Franck Mathiere said.

The Canadian company is also in charge of renovating the decades old Reunification Stadium in Douala.

Source: Daily Nation

4, December 2019

London now Paris: Rwanda signs tourism promotion deal with PSG ⁰

Rwanda signed a deal on Wednesday with French soccer club Paris St Germain to promote tourism in the east African nation, its second such agreement since last year.

“We invest part of our tourism revenues in strategic collaborations such as the one with Paris St Germain because we understand the positive effect they have on the overall perception of the country globally,” the Rwanda Development Board’s chief executive, Clare Akamanzi, said in a statement after the signing.

Akamanzi did not say how much Rwanda would pay for the deal. A source close to the French club said it was worth between 8 and 10 million euros.

Under the deal, PSG will promote Rwandan products, while messages promoting Rwanda will be displayed on its women’s team kit and in the club’s stadium.

PSG said on Twitter that it had signed a deal “inviting the world to participate in the remarkable transformation of Rwanda”.

Last May, Rwanda signed a sponsorship and tourism promotion deal with the English soccer club Arsenal.

Rwanda earned $380 million from tourism in 2018, the central bank said last month, and was forecast to earn $405 million this year. It expects to earn $800 million by 2024, mainly from conferences and high-end tourists who trek with gorillas.

REUTERS

3, December 2019

Football: Diouf tells irate Senegalese fans to cool it after Messi beats Mane ⁰

While fans in Africa reacted with indignation after Sadio Mane finished fourth in the Ballon d’Or voting, another striker who played for Senegal and Liverpool, took a slightly more balanced view.

Mane, who won the Champions League, finished behind Argentine winner Lionel Messi of Barcelona, Dutch team-mate Virgil van Dijk and Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo.

Many fans in Senegal were quick to blame racial prejudice. Journalists blamed African voters.

“We can’t talk about racism, but only about favouritism,” said El-Hadji Diouf, who played 55 games in three seasons at Anfield and won 70 international caps, told AFP.

Diouf agreed, however, that players from the continent were at a disadvantage.

“Being an African footballer is of course a handicap, as the main decision-makers and influential media are not from the continent. But Messi deserves it by far. Sadio had an exceptional year but Messi, he is stratospheric,” said Diouf.

The voting panel was made up of one journalist from each FIFA nation who listed their top five order. In total 176 cast votes. Can Dijk was first on 69 ballots, Messi on 61 and Ronaldo and Mane each with 17.

Messi edged the vote with 686 points, just seven ahead of Van Dijk. Ronaldo totalled 476 and Mane 347. Only a dozen of the 46 African voters put Mane first. Messi and Van Dijk both collected more first places on the continent.

Messi collected the most total points in Africa with 187. Mane was second on 170. Van Dijk, who dominated voting from European journalists, collected 154 in Africa.

Aboubacry Ba, who used to cover football on the continent for Canal+ Africa, blamed a lack of solidarity by African journalists on the voting panel.

There is “nothing racist, but if African votes went to the continent’s stars, things would be different”, he told AFP. “The Golden Ball is no longer played on the pitch. You have to give it to a player who sells, who amazes, but not only on the field. African voters have not understood that sometimes it is necessary to vote realistically.”

Lassana Camara, a Mauritanian journalist, wrote in Senegalese newspaper Sud Quotidien that he was frustrated by the absence of Africans on the podium.

“We refuse to believe that there is racism,” he said pointing out that Eusebio, Weah, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo, all former winners are “all players of colour”.

“But when Africans vote against Africans, we will not see the end of the tunnel tomorrow,” he wrote.

Source: AFP

3, December 2019

Football: Cannavaro expects to stay at Guangzhou after ‘miracle’ title ⁰

Fabio Cannavaro said taking Guangzhou Evergrande to the Chinese Super League title was “a miracle” and gave the strongest indication yet that he expects to keep his job.

The 46-year-old Italian World Cup winner was temporarily moved aside as coach in October but returned to lead China’s most successful club to the championship on Sunday.

It was the former Juventus and Real Madrid defender’s first major honour as a coach and a personal triumph after a turbulent few weeks during which he appeared to be on the brink of the sack.

“I know that many names have been mentioned as a replacement for me, including (Jose) Mourinho, (Zinedine) Zidane and (former Guangzhou coach) Scolari,” Cannavaro told the Guangzhou Daily in a report published Tuesday, referring to recent rumours.

“For a team of Evergrande’s level, fans hope to have the top coaches and the coach will definitely face various pressures.

“I’m definitely not a perfect coach and it’s impossible to make everyone satisfied.”

Guangzhou were still top of the CSL in late October but a poor run led them to briefly push Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning skipper aside and put veteran captain Zheng Zhi in charge.

Cannavaro made a surprise return at the start of November but only after a reprimand by the club, which scolded him for his “weak ability to rectify mistakes”.

Guangzhou went on to win the next three matches and seal their eighth title in nine years with a 3-0 win over Shanghai Shenhua at the weekend, after which Cannavaro was tossed in the air by his jubilant players.

“I know very well that the outside world had various opinions about it,” Cannavaro said of the brief period when he was relieved of his duties.

He did not say how close he came to leaving, but said winning the CSL had fulfilled Guangzhou’s demands for the season.

Bearing in mind injuries and the need to revamp an ageing squad, winning the title was almost “a miracle”, Cannavaro said, hailing Brazilian midfielder Paulinho as a “superhero”.

“An average team can’t do it,” he added.

Cannavaro said he has several priorities for next season, suggesting that he expects to still be in charge at Guangzhou.

“I hope to further reduce the average age of the team, get in better replacements and continue to provide talent for the national team,” he said.

Source: AFP

1, December 2019

Football: Euro 2020 draw puts Portugal, France and Germany in same group ⁰

Reigning European champions Portugal will come up against World Cup winners France and Germany in the standout group at Euro 2020 following Saturday’s draw for the tournament in Bucharest, as England came out alongside Croatia.

Neither France nor Portugal were in Pot One for the 24-team competition being held in 12 cities across Europe, making them the dangerous teams to avoid for the top seeds.

In the event, they came out together in an incredibly tough Group F alongside Germany, who will play group games at home in Munich. That is where Joachim Loew’s team will face France in their first match on June 16.

Group F will be completed by one of the winners of the play-offs to be played next March, leaving open several possibilities including Hungary, who will play at home in Budapest should they make it.

France beat Germany in the semi-finals of Euro 2016 on home soil, before losing in the final to a Portugal side who claimed the title for the first time.

Meanwhile, England were drawn with Croatia and the Czech Republic in Group D, with Gareth Southgate’s team to play home group games at Wembley, which will also be the venue for the semi-finals and final.

That section will be completed by the team to emerge victorious from Path C in the play-offs, between Serbia, Norway, Israel and Scotland. The latter have the added incentive of knowing they will play home games in Glasgow in the group stage should they qualify.

England faced the Czech Republic in qualifying, winning 5-0 at Wembley but suffering their only defeat of the campaign in Prague, where they went down 2-1 in October.

England will kick off at home to Croatia on June 14 in a repeat of the 2018 World Cup semi-final, which was won by the Croatians.

However, should England win their group they will have to play the runners-up from Group F, setting up a possible clash with Germany, France or Portugal in the last 16.

Elsewhere, Italy will face Turkey in Rome in the tournament’s opening game on June 12, with Switzerland and Euro 2016 semi-finalists Wales also in that section, Group A.

Spain will take on Sweden and Poland as well as a play-off winner in Group E.

The month-long tournament will conclude with the final in London on July 12.

(AFP)

29, November 2019

Indomitable Lions: Aboubakar scores brace in first Porto start since September 2018 ⁰

The Cameroon striker heralded his return to the Dragons’ starting XI with two second-half goals on Thursday

Vincent Aboubakar scored a brace in his first start of the season to help Porto secure a 2-1 comeback win over Young Boys in their Europa League game.

Aboubakar last started a game for the Portuguese giants in September 2018 against Tondela, in a league fixture where he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament which eventually ruled him out of the entire 2018-19 season.

On Thursday, Porto found themselves behind in Bern as early as in the sixth minute but the 27-year-old’s partnership with Mali’s Moussa Marega saved them from defeat.

Marega provided the assists as Aboubakar found the back of the net in the 75th and 79th minutes.

The Cameroonian’s brilliance in front of goal sealed Porto’s second win in Group G as they moved to second spot with seven points after five games.

Aboubakar will be aiming to maintain his goalscoring form when the Dragons host Pacos Ferreira on Monday. Their final Europa League group game is against Feyenoord on December 12.

Source: Goal.com

27, November 2019

Webo lands coaching job at Turkish Super Lig club Istanbul Basaksehir ⁰

The 37-year-old has returned to his former club in Turkey, where he will take up his first coaching job

Istanbul Basaksehir have confirmed the appointment of Cameroon legend Pierre Webo as one of their assistant coaches.

On Tuesday, the Istanbul outfit announced the return of Webo to the club, alongside Ekrem Dag, as assistants to manager Okan Buruk.

The former Cameroon forward played for the Owls from 2011 to 2013, and boasts of vast experience in Turkey having previously turned out for Fenerbahce, Osmanlispor, and Gaziantep FK before he hung up his boots earlier this year.

During his seven-year stint in Turkey, Webo won the Turkish Super Lig title, Turkish Cup and Turkish Super Cup at Fenerbahce.

The 37-year-old will be hoping to help Istanbul Basaksehir, who are placed third in the Super Lig standings, to end their wait for a top-flight crown after finishing as runners-up last campaign.

Source: Goal.com