23, November 2018
Essien, Adebayor hail Drogba’s impact on African football 0
Didier Drogba, former Ivorian skipper has been celebrated by two of his former colleague footballers tagging him as an ambassador for the game in Africa.
Ghanaian international Michael Essien played along with Drogba at English Premier League side Chelsea – both were brought in by Portuguese manager, Jose Mourinho.
Essien who is also in the twilight of his career thanked Drogba for being an inspiration to many in the game and wished him well in his future endeavours.
For his part, Togolese skipper Emmanuel Adebayor who still plies his trade in Turkey said Drobga was a competitor at the club and national team levels. “But deep inside, I know we are fighting the same fight, which is to make Africa proud. You have done it so well over the years. I watched you work so hard,” he added.
His final club stint was in the United States for Phoenix Rising. He had two spells at Chelsea, scoring 164 goals in 381 games having spearheaded the west London club’s revival under owner Roman Abramovich.
Drogba, 40, began his career at French side Le Mans in 1998, but did not play top-tier football until he was 23 when he was signed by Guingamp in 2002.
He moved to Olympique de Marseille in 2003 and a year later was signed by Chelsea where he became the attacking focal point of the team under Jose Mourinho and helped the club win their first top flight English title in 50 years.
He went on to win three Premier League titles in his first eight years at Chelsea as well as four FA Cups and two League Cups.
His first spell in west London ended on a high as he scored the winning penalty in the Champions League final shootout against Bayern Munich having also equalised with a thumping header to force extra time.
He had spells in China and Turkey before returning to Chelsea where he won a fourth Premier League title and a third League Cup, leaving the club as their fourth highest scorer of all time.
Drogba, who made than 100 appearances for the Ivory Coast and was voted African footballer of the year twice, ended his playing days with Phoenix Rising where he was a player-owner.
Source: Reuters
23, November 2018
Cameroon and Mali reach the Women’s Afcon semi-finals as hosts Ghana go out 0
Cameroon and Mali qualified for the 2018 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals from Group A on Friday as hosts Ghana were eliminated along with Algeria.
Ghana drew 1-1 with Cameroon in Accra but the point was not enough for the home favourites as Mali beat Algeria 3-2 in Cape Coast.
It means that both Cameroon and Mali have a chance to represent Africa at next year’s World Cup with the top three finishers in Ghana all qualifying for France 2019.
In Accra, Ghana played like the team that needed the win against Cameroon, keeping a lot of the possession – but the early chances were long range efforts that either went wide or over the bar.
Captain Elizabeth Addo, restored to the starting line-up, had a free-kick saved and then saw a decent strike from a narrow angle hit the post and go for a corner.
On the half-hour mark the hosts took the lead when a Portia Boakye free-kick from the left floated high into the area and Anette Ngo Ndom misjudged the flight of the ball which dropped behind her into an empty net.
Cameroon equalised shortly before half-time when Aboudi Onguene was fouled running down the left wing for a blatant penalty.
Captain Christine Manie rolled the ball to the left with Asantewaa, who replaced previous first choice Patricia Mantey, diving the other way.
With the score level at 1-1 in Accra, Ghana looked as though they would progress at the expense of Mali, but the Malians staged a dramatic fight-back after twice going behind to Algeria in Cape Coast.
Mali could have taken the lead themselves after 19 minutes when they were awarded a penalty but Bassira Toure’s effort was saved by Kahina Takenint.
Lydia Belkacemi then put Algeria ahead after 37 minutes, with Fatoumata Diarra hitting an equaliser for Mali in the second half.
Imene Merrouche restored Algeria’s lead from the penalty spot in the 62nd minute to make it 2-1 with Mali seemingly down and out.
But a dramatic goal from Aissatou Diadhiou seven minutes from time made it 2-2 to Mali – which meant Ghana needed to score again to avoid elimination.
Mali made sure of their place in the semi-finals with an injury-time winner, again from the spot, from Fatoumata Diarra – her second of the game.
On Saturday, the focus will be on Group B as holders Nigeria face former champions Equatorial Guinea, with Zambia up against South Africa in the other match.
All four sides have a chance to reach the semi-finals.