A total of 282 people were arrested in France after unrest following the Algerian football team’s qualification for the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, the interior ministry said Monday.

Riotous celebrations erupted around the country after Algeria beat Nigeria 2-1 in the semi-final. The arrests were made nationwide on Sunday evening, the ministry said.

Some of the arrests were also linked to unrest surrounding events marking France’s national day celebrations on Sunday.

Unruly scenes erupted in Paris, Marseille and Lyon. Fifty people were arrested in the French capital and there were incidents between football fans and police on the Champs-Elysees avenue.

Dozens of cars were torched overnight in the eastern city of Lyon.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner on Monday congratulated police and firemen for their “speedy reaction and professionalism which contained the violence and to the perpetrators” being apprehended.

Of those arrested, 249 people were in custody.

Last Thursday, when Algeria defeated Ivory Coast to reach the semi-finals, fans went on the rampage in central Paris, looting shops.

On the same day in the southern city of Montpellier, an Algerian football supporter celebrating his team’s win lost control of his car at high speed and ran into a family, killing a woman and seriously injuring her baby.

Paris and Marseille are home to large minority communities of Algerian origin. Football celebrations, with supporters brandishing large national flags, have on occasion been a source of tensions.

AFP

Global football governing body FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Cameroon over their behaviour in Sunday’s Women’s World Cup last-16 match against England.

On two occasions during the contest in Valenciennes, which England won 3-0, Cameroon remonstrated with the officials at length and looked as if they may not play on after VARdecisions went against them.

What are the charges?

‘‘We can confirm that proceedings have now been opened by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee against the Cameroonian Football Association for alleged breaches related to article 52 (team misconduct) and article 57 (offensive behaviour and fair play) of the FIFADisciplinary Code,’‘ a FIFA spokesperson said on Wednesday.

“As proceedings are now ongoing, please understand that no further comment can be made at this stage. Further updates will be provided in due course.”

The two moments of fierce protest from Cameroon where it appeared play might not be able to continue came just before half-time, when the decision to rule out Ellen White’s finish for offside was overturned via VAR to make it 2-0, and just after the break, once again involving an offside call, as Ajara Nchout’s strike was disallowed following a review.

The ill-tempered game at the Stade du Hainaut also saw yellow cards issued to Cameroon’s Yvonne Leuko after catching Nikita Parris in the face with an elbow, and Alexandra Takounda for a poor challenge on Steph Houghton.

There was also an incident in which England’s Toni Duggan had her arm spat on by Augustine Ejangue.

After the match England boss Phil Neville said “it didn’t feel like football” and spoke of feeling “completely and utterly ashamed of the behaviour” of Cameroon.

Neville’s counterpart Alain Djeumfa said there had been a “miscarriage of justice” and that “the referee made a lot of mistakes”.

AFP

Cameroon face an inquiry and possible disciplinary action from soccer authorities after a series of incidents in their 3-0 defeat by England in the last 16 of the women’s World Cup on Sunday.

Cameroon players furiously protested refereeing decisions and twice delayed the game while appearing to consider leaving the contest.

The ill-tempered match also included an incident where Cameroon defender Augustine Ejangue spat on the arm of England forward Toni Duggan.

FIFA’s disciplinary body is likely to look, as part of its routine reviews of matches, at some of the incidents while Isha Johansen, the chair of the women’s football committee for the African Football Confederation (CAF) said her body will be opening an inquiry.

“Whilst remaining proud of our African teams that participated in the FIFA Women’s World Cup, yesterday’s match between England and Cameroon reflected badly, not only on African women’s football but African football on the whole,” said Johansen, who is also president of the Sierra Leone Football Association.

“It is an issue which will be addressed and dealt with at the appropriate levels of governance,” she added in a statement.

FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

England manager Phil Neville has heavily criticized the behavior of his side’s opponents.

“I am completely and utterly ashamed of the opposition,” said the former Manchester United player.

“If that was my team – and it will never be any of my players – they would never play for England again. Those images are going out worldwide about how to act, the young girls playing all over the world that are seeing that behavior. For me, it’s not right,” he added.

Cameroon coach Alain Djeumfa pointed the finger at the referee, calling the 3-0 defeat a “miscarriage of justice”.

Source: Reuters

England will face Cameroon in the last 16 of the Women’s World Cup in France.

The Lionesses’ place in the knockout stages was already secured before Wednesday night’s 2-0 victory over Japan. But they were made to wait 24 hours for their opponents to be confirmed for the game in Valenciennes on Sunday.

Cameroon beat New Zealand 2-1 courtesy of a stoppage-time goal from Ajara Nchout which enabled them to finish third in Group E and advance.

Should Phil Neville’s side get past Cameroon, they will face either Norway or Australia in the quarter-finals.

Source: Football365.com

Nchout’s goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time lifted Cameroon into the knockout stage to cap an exhilarating finish. She caught New Zealand pushed too far upfield and made her way into the left side of the box before shaking Ria Percival with a couple of moves and bending a right-footed shot past Erin Nayler:

Nchout also scored in the 57th minute and was named Player of the Match for Cameroon, which finished as one of the four best third-place teams and advanced past the group stage for the second straight World Cup.

Source: Yahoonews

Born in Cameroon, raised in Colorado, forged in the North American women’s league, Estelle Johnson adds reassuring defensive experience as the Indomitable Lionesses as they try to grab their last World Cup chance against New Zealand on Thursday.

Johnson smiles all the time, happy to be playing in her first World Cup at the age of 30 for her country of birth.

“I’m a happy person, I just enjoy football and I enjoy everything that goes along with it,” she told AFP. “But I think I’m extra happy because it’s a great competition.”

Even though Cameroon have lost their first two games in Group E, Johnson says her first World Cup has “been even better that I could have imagined.”

A victory over New Zealand in Montpellier would give Cameroon three points and could be enough to earn a place in the last 16 as one of the four best third-place teams.

Johnson was born in Maroua, Cameroon, in 1988. Her American father was a crop scientist.

At seven she moved to Fort Collins in Colorado. She tried “all type of different sports, basketball, volleyball. I’ve played baseball as well with a team full of boys, only girl on the team!”

“But soccer has always been the sport for me.”

She has played for three US clubs, but was aware that she could appear on the international stage with Cameroon.

“I’ve always thought about it, but once I saw them playing in 2015, I think that’s what really made me want to join the team and I’ve been trying to get on the team for a little while now.”

Her dream was held up by red tape.

“I wanted to play in the African Cup a couples of years back, but nothing really was happening,” she said.

Once Alain Djeumfa took over as coach in January he moved to have her application approved.

“When the second coach Alain took over everything started working,” she said.

VERY MOTIVATED

Djeumfa said he wanted Johnson on his team.

“She is a girl of unparallelled maturity in the game, she is really experienced, has an excellent reading of situations, she anticipates a lot and has a very good footwork,” he said. “She was very motivated. Now she is in Cameroon and we are very proud of her.”

She had a week in Cameroon in May to meet her teammates “and eat African food,” said Djeumfa. “She laughs, and eats all the food!”

In a bilingual, French and English-speaking country, the US star, who plays for New Jersey’s Sky Blue in the National Women’s Soccer League, quickly adapted on the field as well.

“On the pitch, I try to communicate in French,” she said, laughing as she repeated the terms. “‘Droite’, ‘dans ton dos’, stuff like that, it’s not good French but get the message across.”

She’s even trying to adapt to the fact that in most of the world outside the United States the sport is not called ‘soccer’.

“Sometimes I say ‘football’ talking with my Cameroonian teammates.”

Johnson now has six international caps. The last two came in the 1-0 loss to Canada and a 3-1 defeat by the Dutch.

“We’ve played really good matches so far, but sometimes football doesn’t go the way that it’s supposed to go. Against Canada we could have come away with a point,” she said.

Even victory against the Kiwis might not be enough, depending on results in other groups.

“Some things need to happen in our favour, but we just need to make sure we win on Thursday and make sure we do everything possible and get to the next round,” she said.

“We all believe we can do it, we’ve no doubt in our mind we are going to put on a good performance.”

Source: Supersports

Manchester United have identified Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana as their preferred successor for David de Gea this summer.

The Red Devils are expecting to lose the long-serving Spaniard this summer, who looks ready to move after failing to extend his contract which now has just 12 months left to run.

De Gea last month rejected United’s final contract offer to him, meaning the club will be left with little choice but to sell him off for the best price.

The club has been linked with Jasper Cillessen as a replacement, but with Barcelona seemingly looking to hold out for the player’s €60m asking price, a move for the Dutchman looks beyond what they’re willing to pay.

And if £54m is too much for Cillessen, that’s very much the case when it comes to Jan Oblak; the Atletico Madrid keeper once again emerging as a surprise option this week amid claims the €100m keeper wants out at the Wanda Metropolitano this summer.

As such, The Independent claims United have instead identified Cameroon keeper Onana as their No 1 choice – mainly due to the fact that they believe Ajax will do business at around £40m.

That will keep funds free for the club to spend more on rebuilding their defence, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer identifying the need to sign a new right-back and possibly a new centre-half too.

Onana is set to be confirmed as Cameroon’s first-choice keeper for the upcoming African Cup of Nations and United are set to monitor his performances before making a move.

AND THE REST

Tottenham are set to make an improved transfer offer for Real Betis attacker Giovani Lo Celso – but the LaLiga side are determined to hold out for £65m – a club record for Spurs – for the Argentine (Daily Mirror)

Aaron Wan-Bissaka has told Crystal Palace he wants to make a dream move to Manchester United (Daily Mirror)

Arsenal are interested in Roma midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini, who has a £27m buy-out clause in his contract, but face competition from Tottenham, AC Milan and Inter Milan for the Italy international (Daily Mirror)

Zinedine Zidane has won his transfer battle with Florentino Perez with Real Madrid set to move for Paul Pogba over Christian Eriksen (Daily Mirror)

Source: Talkteam.com

Former Chelsea and Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho, has given a prescription on how Egypt international Mohamed Salah could compete for the coveted Ballon d’Or gong.

The Portuguese manager who managed Salah during his stint at Chelsea, told Beinsports that the Egyptian could compete for the Ballon d’Or only if he manages to win the upcoming African Cup of Nations, AFCON, with the Pharaohs.

“Salah has to win the African Cup of Nations if he wants to compete for the Ballon d’Or,” Mourinho said in post-match analysis of the UEFA Champions League final last Saturday.

26-year-old Salah’s first medal for the season came with Liverpool, last Saturday, after they beat Tottenham in the final of the UEFA Champions League in Madrid. Salah became the first Egyptian to win the title.

He was a joint goal king winner in the English league, sharing the award with Senegalese team mate Sadio Mane and Gabon international and Arsenal forward, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang. It was the second time in a row he was winning the golden boot.

Egypt, hosts of the 2019 AFCON, are drawn in Group A of the AFCON which starts on June 21. They are drawn along with Zimbabwe, Uganda and DR Congo.

The team will be looking to go one better after finishing runners up in the last edition of the tournament staged in Gabon. The Pharoahs lost in the final to eventual winners Cameroon.

Source: Africa News

Paris Saint-Germain’s star striker Neymar has been accused of raping a woman at a hotel in Paris, Brazilian media reports said Saturday, charges that the player’s father slammed as attempted blackmail.

According to a complaint filed with São Paulo police and reported by the UOL and GloboEsporte websites, the Paris Saint-Germain star is accused of “using violence to have sex with the victim without her consent”.

São Paulo’s security secretariat would not provide a copy of the complaint to AFP, confirming only that one had been filed but saying its contents were classified.

The unidentified woman, who lives in Brazil, allegedly met Neymar through Instagram and, after exchanging messages, the footballer invited her to visit him in Paris in mid-May.

According to the complaint, Neymar arrived at the hotel “apparently intoxicated”, and the two chatted and exchanged “caresses”.

But then “he became aggressive and used violence to have sex with the victim without her consent”, the document said.

Neymar’s father, who is also his agent, categorically denied the accusations in an interview with Brazilian broadcaster Bandeirantes.

“This is not true, he has never committed any crime,” said Neymar Santos, arguing that his son was a victim of blackmail. “We have all the evidence and we already gave everything to the lawyers.”

According to Neymar Santos, his son and the woman went on a date, but Neymar did not want to see her again. Since then, the woman has tried to extort money from the player and his family, he said.

“My son can be accused of many things, but I know what kind of man he is… It’s clear that this was a trap,” he said, adding that the family was prepared to release WhatsApp messages that would exonerate Neymar.

According to the media reports, the accuser was in Paris from May 15 to 17, but waited until last Friday to file the complaint in Brazil because she was “emotionally shaken”.

Neymar has recently been embroiled in assault scandals. In May the French football authorities banned him for three matches after he lashed out at a fan after PSG’s embarrassing French Cup loss to Rennes in April.

Neymar, 27, is currently in Brazil preparing for the Copa America, which takes place in the country from June 14 to July 7.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

The German goalkeeper has commended the Cameroon international for his fine displays for the Sons of Gods this term

Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has praised Ajax’s Andre Onana for his impressive displays between the sticks this season.

Onana helped Erik ten Hag’s side complete a domestic double of the Dutch Cup and Eredivisie triumph this campaign.

Unfortunately, the Cameroonian goalkeeper was unable to save the Sons of Gods from a disappointing 3-2 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in the return leg of the Uefa Champions League semi-final fixture.

Ajax bowed out of the tournament based on the away goals rule after settling for a 3-3 aggregate score.

“Hey Onana, it is Neuer from Munich. I’m your biggest fan, of course, you played a very good season for Ajax,” Neuer said in a Twitter video.

“You and your guys deserved to be in the finals so don’t be too sad maybe you will get any chance in the future to come back to the semi-final final and have a better result than the last one.

“Take care and enjoy the celebration with Ajax for the Cup and for the championship in your league. You did a great a job and all the best in the future, my friend.”

Source: Goal.com