APOY Shortlist Reduced To Five

The 2014 African Player of the Year (APOY) shortlist has been now cut to 5 candidates by the Confederation of the African Football (CAF).

It was originally a list of 25 footballers which was announced last month, November.

The award is divided into two separate categories. One is for players that are plying their trade outside Africa and the second category is for players playing in Africa.

Vincent Enyeama

The votes for the awards will be decided by the chief coaches of the national football federations affiliated to the CAF.

The winners of the two categories will be announced in a gala on the 8th of January, 2015, in Lagos, Nigeria.

The 2013 winner of the award is the Ivorian international and Man City midfielder, Yaya Toure, who is also among the five candidates. He has won the award in three occassions.

Without further ado, the following are the names of the five players.

African Player of the Year: (Foreign Based)

1).  Ahmed Musa      (CSKA Moscow and Nigeria)
2).  Asamoah Gyan   (Al Ain and Ghana) 
3).  Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Dortmund and Gabon)
4).  Vincent Enyeama  (FC Lille and Nigeria)
5).  Yaya Toure          (Man City and Ivory Coast)

African Player of the Year: (African Based)

1).  Akram Djahnit  (Entente Setif and Algeria)
2).  El Hedi Belamieri (Entente Setif and Algeria)
3).  Fakhreddine Ben Youssef (CS Sfaxien and Tunisia)
4).  Firmin Mubele Ndombe  (AS Vita and DRC)
5).  Senzo Meyiwa       (Orlando Pirates and South Africa)

The South Africa goalkeeper, Senzo Meyiwa, who was killed in his girl friend's house, last October by armed robbers, was also among the five candidates.

Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com

The Conclusion Of The Afcon Qualifiers

The last of the 2015 African Cup of Nations qualifiers games were concluded on Wednesday, all over the continent, with the shocking result in Group A of Nigeria, the defending champions failing to qualify to the tournament after playing a 2 - 2 draw at home with South Africa.

The visiting South African team, popularly known as the Bafana - Bafana had already qualified to the tournament, but Nigeria needed a win in the match to seal up their qualification.

While the third placed Congo which had 7 points as Nigeria before the games began, needed to win to qualify if only Nigeria fail to win their match.

Nigeria Vs South Africa

Before the matches began, Nigeria was second on the Group A table as a result of CAF rule of head to head advantage between two teams that have the same points.

Anyway, Nigeria failed to get a win, while Congo playing away in Sudan got a 1 - 0 win to finish second on the table.

Nigeria still failed to clinch the best third finisher on the tables as Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) beat them to it with 9 points to their 8 points.

In Group B, Mali made it through to the second position by beating Algeria 2 - 0 which had already qualified with 15 points. Mali finished with 9 points.

The Group C qualifiers was already decided last weekend, when the two teams of Gabon and Burkina Faso went through. So the Wednesday match was just to know, which team will finish on top of the table.

So Gabon finished on top of the table with 12 points after beating Lesotho 4 - 2.  Burkina Faso came second after playing a 1 - 1 draw with Angola, finishing with 11 points.

In Group D, Ivory Coast needed a draw while hosting Cameroon the table leader with 14 points, which had already qualified.

Ivory Coast qualified after playing a 0 - 0 goalless draw, and finishing second with 10 points to the third placed DRC with 9 points. Fortunately, for the DRC they also qualified, after beating Sierra Leone 3 - 1. 

Before the Wednesday matches, the Group E was more or less open to the four teams to qualify. Ghana was on top of the table with 8 points, while Guinea and Uganda had 7 points and Togo had 6 points.

So you see, the home teams of Ghana and Guinea had to fight hard to win in order to make sure of their qualifications. And they both did not disappoint their fans, as the Nigerian team did. Ghana won Togo 3 - 1 to finish top with 11 points while Guinea defeated Uganda 2 - 0 to finish second with 10 points.

In Group F, Cape Verde and Zambia had already qualified last weekend first and second respectively. Zambia beat Cape Verde 1 - 0 in their last match on Wednesday, but that did not change their positions on the table. Cape Verde top the table with 12 points and Zambia Finished with 11 points.

The last group which is Group G, already had Tunisia and Senegal qualified, before the Wednesday games. Senegal won Botswana 3 - 0 to finish second on the table with 13 points, while Tunisia defeated Egypt 2 - 1 and finished on top of the table with 14 points.

As I mentioned earlier on in this article, the Democratic Republic of Congo, completed the 16 teams to participate in the January 17 to Febrary 8 tournament in Equatorial Guinea. The DRC finished as the team with the best result of all the teams, that finished third on the table.
Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com




 

AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS QUALIFIERS RESULTS (14 & 15/11/14)

The African Cup of Nations qualifications matches today have been virtually completed all over of the continent. There were no surprises in the games of today except probably that Malawi defeated Mali 2 - 0.

After today's games six countries qualified for the tournament, which is now slated to be hosted by Equatorial Guinea in January to February next year.

The six countries that qualified for the tournament today after the games are Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Senegal, Zambia and South Africa. They join the three that have already qualified - Algeria, Cape Verde and Tunisia.

The last qualification matches will be played Wednesday next week by which time the remaining teams will know whether they qualified or not. The following are the results of the games today.

        Group  A                                    Group  B

Congo           0  -  2  Nigeria      Malawi  2  -  0  Mali        
South Africa  2  -  1  Sudan        Algeria      -       Ethiopia  

        Group  C                                    Group  D

Lesotho      0  -  1  Burkina F     Cameroon  1  -  0   DRC
Angola       0  -  0  Gabon        Sierra Leone 1 -   5   I. Coast

        Group  E                                     Group  F

Uganda     1  -  0  Ghana      Mozambique 0  - 1 Zambia         
Togo         1  -  4  Guinea     Cape Verde   3  - 1  Niger

                                     Group  G

                      Egypt           0   -   1    Senegal
                      Botswana     0   -   0    Tunisia

As at the time of writing this article Algeria which has already qualified is leading Ethiopia by 3 to 1 goals.
Read also: Africanfootie.blogspot.com




    

AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS WEEKEND QUALIFIERS

This weekend the first of the last two qualifier games will be played all over the African continent, amid the cloud of uncertainty over where the 2015 biannual tournament will be held.

Morocco the nation that was slated initially to hold the event was disqualified, because the country wanted Confederation of African Football (CAF), to move the tournament to 2016 as a result of the fear of the ebola virus in West Africa.

CAF refused to change the date of the event, and gave them an automatum to decide by Saturday, whether they will host the event or not. So Morocco decided that they will not host the event next January.

Ghanian Fans

CAF disqualified them from participating, because as host they were not involved in the qualification series, because they had automatic qualification as host. So since they are not hosting the event anymore, it was withrawn.

Anyway, CAF announced on Tuesday, that there were three countries ready to host the event, and that they will make the decision on which country will be given the right to host the tournament in 2 or 3 days time.

After this weekend matches, the last of the qualification series will be played on Wednesday, the 19th of November.

Without much ado, before I digress once again, the following are the matches for Friday and Saturday.

Friday, 14/11/14

                       Group  D

Sierra  Leone     -      Ivory Coast    (Time: 15.00)

                       Group  G

Botswana          -      Tunisia            (18.00 hours)

Saturday,  15/11/14

                      Group  A

South Africa        -         Sudan             (15.00)
Congo                  -         Nigeria           (15.30)

                      Group  B

Malawi               -         Mali                  (14.30)
Algeria               -         Ethiopia            (20.30)

                       Group  C

Angola              -         Gabon                (18.00)
Lesotho            -          Burkina Faso     (16.00)

                       Group  D

Cameroon       -          DRC                    (15.00)

                        Group  E

Togo               -          Guinea                 (15.30)
Uganda           -          Ghana                  (16.00)

                        Group  F

Mozambique  -          Zambia                (16.00)
Cape Verde     -         Niger                    (16.00)

                        Group  G

Egypt              -         Senegal                (19.00)

Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com

THE 2014 BBC AFRICAN FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST

The shortlist of five players has been released by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), for the 2014 BBC African Footballer of the Year.

The list included the title holder Yaya Toure who is Ivorian international and Manchester City player. Toure has been nominated for the award for the past 6 years.

He was in the summer World Cup with Ivory Coast and is the new captain of the Ivory Coast national team.



Yaya Toure

Vincent Enyeama is Nigeria international goalkeeper and captain of his national team. He ply his club football with French Ligue 1 top club FC Lille, where is the first choice goalkeeper and has performed well. He was with the Nigeria national football team at the World Cup.

Another player on the list is the Algeria international and FC Porto player. The former FC Granada hitman was named the best African player in Spain last  season, which contributed to Porto signing him this season. Brahimi was also at the World Cup in Brazil with Algeria.

Next on the shortlist is Ivorian international and AS Roma forward Yao 'Gervinho' Gervais. The former Arsenal striker was at the summer World Cup with Ivory Coast. He is currently enjoying a good form in his career with his club.

The last but not the least on the list is the Borussia Dortmund and Congo international, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. He is the only player on the shortlist that was not at the World Cup in Brazil. He is enjoying good form in his game at the moment.

Voting is open to members of the public from the 10th to the 24th November. The winner will be announced on the 1st  of December.

People can vote online or through Sms to this phone number,
+447786202008. Note that voting is limited to one vote per mobile phone number.

To vote for the BBC African Footballer of the Year 2014, text the number of the footballer to the above listed phone number.

Text 1. for  Pierre-Emrick Aubameyang
Text 2. for  Yacine Brahimi
Text 3. for  Vincent Enyeama
Text 4. for  Gervinho
Text 5. for  Yaya Toure
Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com 

NOMINEES OF THE AFRICAN PLAYER OF THE YEAR (BASED IN AFRICA)

The following are the 20 names of the African based footballers, that has been nominated for the African Footballer of the year Award. The names are listed in an alphabetical order.

1.   Amr   Gamal                (Egypt, Al Ahly)
2.  Abdelrahman Fetri        (Libya, Ahly Benghazi)
3.  Akram Djahnit               (Algeria, ES Setif)
4.  Bernard Parker               (South Africa, Kaizer Chiefs)
5.  Bogani Ndulula              (South Africa, Amazulu)
6.  Ejike Uzoenyi                 (Nigeria, Enugu Rangers)
7.  El Hedi Belamieri           (Algeria, ES Setif)
8.  Fakhereddine Ben Yousef    (Tunisia, CS Sfaxien)
9.  Ferdjani Sassi                     (Tunisia, CS Sfaxien)
10. Firmin Mubel Ndombe      (DRC Congo, AS Vita)
11. Geoffery Massa            (Uganda, Pretoria University)
12. Jean Kasusula               (DRC, TP Mazenbe)
13. Kader Bidimbou            (Congo, AC Leopards)
14. Lema Mabidi                 (DRC, Congo AS Vita)
15. Mudathir Al Taieb        (Sudan, Al Hilal)
16. Roger Assale                (Ivory Coast, Sewe Sport)
17. Senzo Meyiwa              (South Africa, Orlando Pirates)
18. Solomon Asante           (Ghana, TP Mazembe)
19. Souleymane Moussa    (Cameroon, Coton Sport)
20. Yunus Sentamu            (Uganda, AS Vita)

Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com

THE 2014 NOMINEES OF THE AFRICAN FOOTBALLERS OF THE YEAR

The Confederation of African Football (CAF), the body governing football in Africa has just released the names of 25 players, as the nominees for the 2014 African footballer of the year.

The award is divided into two categories - the first is only for Africans plying their trade outside Africa, while the second category is for players playing their club football in the continent.

Vincent Enyeama

Among the nominees of the foreign based players is Yaya Toure of Manchester City and Ivory Coast, who has won the last three of the award and is among the favourites to win the honour again.

Without much ado, the following names are the full list of the foreign based players, listed alphabetically.

1.  Ahmed Musa        (Nigeria, CSKA Moscow)
2.  Asamoah Gyan     (Ghana,  Al Ain Club)
2.  Dame N'doye       (Senegal, Lokomotiv Moscow)
4.  Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo, Tottenham Hotspur)  
5.  Eric Maxim Choup-Moting (Cameroon, Schalke)
6.  Fakhreddine Ben Youssef (Tunisia, CS Sfaxien)   
7.  Ferdjani Sassi      (Tunisia,  CS Sfaxien)
8.  Yao Kouassi 'Gervinho' Gervais (Ivory Coast, Roma)
9.  Islam Slimani           (Algeria, Sporting Lisbon)
10. Kwadwo Asamoah   ( Ghana, Juventus )  
11. Mehdi Benatia          (Morocco, Bayern Munich)
12. Mohammed El Neny  (Egypt, Basel)
13. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang  (Gabon, Dortmund)
14. Rais M'bolhi            (Algeria, Philadelphia Union)
15. Sadio Mane              (Senegal, Southampton)
16. Seydou Keita            (Mali, AS Roma)
17. Sofiane Feghouli      (Algeria, Valencia)
18. Stephane M'bia         (Cameroon, Sevilla)
19. Thulani Serero           (South Africa, Ajax)
20. Vincent Aboubakar    (Cameroon, Porto)
21. Vincent Enyeama       (Nigeria, Lille)
22. Wilfried Bony             (Ivory Coast, Swansea)
23. Yacine Brahimi           (Algeria, Porto)
24. Yannick  Bolasie         (DRC, Crystal Palace)
25. Yaya Toure                  (Ivory Coast, Manchester City)

Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com 

KILLER OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOALKEEPER CHARGED

A 25 year old man, Zanokuhle Mbatha, has been charged to court with the murder of the South African goalkeeper -  captain, Senzo Meyiwa (27).

He will appear again in the court on the 11th of November, 2014.

The national football goalkeeper, Senzo, was shot dead when three men came into the home of his girl friend, and demanded for their mobile phones and valuables, in Vosloorus, Johannesburg.

 

Senzo Meyiwa

Meyiwa, the slained keeper played his club football with the Orlando Pirates, a top football club based in Johannesburg.

The South African Police Services had put up a financial reward for anyone that has information that will lead to the arrests and conviction of the perpetrators.

The Police appealed to the public to keep on assisting them with vital information concerning the case.

They said that they are still investigating and searching for the other two men involved in the murder of the footballer.

Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com

ZAMBIA WOMEN FOOTBALLERS PROTESTS AGAINST FAZ

The Zambia Women National Football team has occupied the Football Association's technical centre and refused to leave until they are paid their allowances due to them for representing the country in the just concluded CAF African Women Championships in Namibia.

The ladies have been at the centre since they came back from participating in the 9th African Women Championships in Namibia two weeks ago.

Kenneth Kalusha Bwalya President of (FAZ)

 

One of the players who did not want to be named, said that they were in camp for a month in preparation for the tournament and was two weeks at the mondial.

She also said that they only got US$15 for transportation. She further stated that since over one week they returned the officials of the Football Association (FAZ) did not see anything wrong in paying them just $15 for their services.

The player added that they made history by being the first set of women to qualify the country to the Championships.

One of her team - mate who was listening to the discussion
added, "Football is everything to us and we have families to support.''

''If these people (FAZ) have a heart for us, they should give us at least $2,000 for qualifying for the tournament for the first time in our country's history.''

The spokesman for the Zambia Football Association (FAZ),
Nkweto Tembwe, said that they know that they owe them money, but it will only be paid to them, when the money is ready.

''We owe them money - and we have never said we don't owe them. The money shall be paid to them as and when it is ready,'' Mr Tembwe said.

Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com

SOUTH AFRICA NATIONAL GOALKEEPER SENSELESSLY KILLED

The South Africa national football goalkeeper and captain, Senzo Meyiwa (27), was senselessly killed yesterday, sunday night in his girl friend's house in Vosloorus, Johannesburg.

The South Africa Police Service said in their statement that two men entered the house and demanded for their mobile phones and valuables around 20.00 hours.

According to the police a third man of the gang waited outside the house and they said that it was a robbery case.

Senzo Meyiwa was shot at the chest by one of the men and made away with one mobile phone. The three men ran away on foot.

The player was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

His girl friend Kelly Khumalo is a musician and a celebrity in South Africa.

Senzo Meyiwa

Senzo was the goalkeeper of the Orlando Pirates football club and played on Saturday in the South African League Cup, in which they beat Ajax Cape Town 4 - 1 to advance to the semi - final.

He also kept a clean sheet in the four games the country played in the African Cup of Nations qualification games.

The African football community is still in a shock as regards to the unfortunate news.

Ephraim 'shake' Mashaba, Senzo's national coach, said tearfully in a press conference on Monday that Senzo was a kind person and he never saw him angry in the camp.

''Senzo is a very kind person. I have never seen Senzo being sad or angry in the camp.'' He added, ''Senzo is a team player, Senzo is everything.''

The chairman of his club, Irvin Khoza said that in whichever way you look at the incident, it is a sad loss to his family, his club and the country - South Africa.

''This is a sad loss whichever way you look at it, to Senzo's family, his extended family, Orlando Pirates and to the nation,'' Mr Khoza said.

Reacting to the tragic incident, the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma said in a statement on Monday:
''We mourn the death of this young footballer and team leader whose life has been taken away at the prime of his career. Words cannot express the nation's shock at this loss.''

Indeed words cannot express this kind of senseless killing. The government and the law enforcement officers must leave no stone unturned until the wicked criminals are caught and given appropriate punishment.

May Senzo's soul rest in peace and may the Almighty God give his family the hearts to bear their lose. I pray that our Lord Jesus will take care of his young family, amen.

Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com

NIGERIA'S FALCONS LIFTS 7th AWC TITLE

The Nigeria Women Football team popularly known as the
(The Falcons) defeated the Cameroonian women team (Les Lionesses) 2 - 0 in the final of the 9th CAF African Women Championships on Saturday at the  Sam Nujoma Stadium, Windhoek Namibia.

The two countries which had already qualified to represent Africa for the 2015 Fifa Women World Cup in Canada along with Ivory Coast began the match with each team determined to lift the trophy.

African Women Championships Champions

Both teams were very impressive throughout the tournament
with the Falcons having won all their games without dropping any point, while Les Lionesses only lost one game in the group phase.

While the Cameroonians were hoping to upset the Nigerians which were slightly billed before the match as the favourites, and win their first title since the inception of the tournament in 1991, the Nigerians were determined to win their 7th title.

Nigeria lost the title in 2012 as the defending champions, when South Africa knocked them out 1 - 0 in the semi - final in the Equatorial Guinea.

Equatorial Guinea won the title that year but surprisingly did not qualify to participate in this year's tournament, so they could not defend their title.

Anyway, in the Saturday finals, it was the two top Nigerian strikers, Desire Oparanozie and Assisat Oshoala, who each scored a goal in the first half of the game.

Oparanozie who was the highest goal scorer of the tournament, scored Nigeria's first goal in the 12th minute of play while her team-mate Oshoala who again won the Most Valueable Player (MVP) of the tournament doubled Nigeria's scoreline just before the interval.

Assisat Oshoala had already won the MVP award and the Golden Boot award this summer in the Fifa Women Under - 20 World Cup tournament in Canada.

The Cameroon goalkeeper, Annette Ngo Ndom who produced good saves in the match and also throughout the Championships won the Best Goalkeeper award.

Tournament's Individual Awards:

Golden Boot Award:  Desire Oparanozie (5 goals, Nigeria)

Most Valueable Player:  Assisat Oshoala (4 goals, Nigeria)

Best Goalkeeper Award: Annette Ngo Ndom

Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com

IT's NIGERIA Vs CAMEROON IN THE AWC FINAL

AFRICAN WOMEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

The semi-finals of the African Women Championships tournament that is on-going in Namibia were played on Wednesday at the Sam Nujoma stadium in Windhoek.

In the first semi - final of the day, the six time champions, Nigerian ladies nicknamed the Falcons laced their boots against their arch rivals Bayana-Bayana of South Africa.

Assisat Oshoala with her Fifa Awards

Before the match the Falcons said that they want to revenge losing 1 - 0 to South Africa in the semi-final of the 2012 tournament.

The Falcons won the match 2 - 1 through a brace from Assisat Oshoala in either of the halfs.

Assisat who turned 20 years old last week, also played in the Fifa Women Under-20 World Cup in Canada this summer, where she won the Golden boot and the MVP of the tournament.

In the second semi - final game Cameroon won Ivory Coast 2 - 1 and will meet Nigeria in the final on Saturday.

The three top teams in this tournament will represent Africa in the Fifa Women World Cup in Canada next year.

On Saturday, the third country to join Nigeria and Cameroon will be decided in the third place match between South Africa and Ivory Coast.
Read also, Africanfootie.blogspot.com

AWC SEMI - FINAL, NIGERIA Vs SOUTH AFRICA, CAMEROON Vs I. COAST

The semi - finals of the 2014 African Women Championships which is currently being held in Namibia, will be played Wednesday, the 22nd of October.

In the first semi - final of the day, the six time champions of the tournament, Nigeria will be meeting South Africa at the Sam Nujoma Stadium at the 17.00 hours.

Fans from Ghana

In the second semi - final Cameroon will be locking horns with Ivory Coast in the same Sam Nujoma Stadium at the 20.00 hours.

Both games will be very interesting to watch, because all the four teams are capable at this juncture of the tournament, to win and get to the final.

Since the inception of the tournament in 1991, only two countries have shared the titles. Nigeria has won it a record six times and Equatorial Guinea has won it twice.

The other three teams in the semi -finals are dying, to taste the euphoria of lifting the trophy, for the first time, while the Nigerian ladies which won the title last in 2010, said that they want to regain the title, which is currently held by Equatorial Guinea.

It is going to be a very interesting semi - finals, because all the four teams are hungry to win the title.

''Each of the teams is capable of winning and going to the final. You cannot predict the outcome of the games at this stage,'' the Ghanaian midfielder, Elizabeth Cudjoe said.

Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com

NIGERIA'S INTERIM COACH, KESHI IS SACKED

Nigeria interim coach, Stephen Keshi has been sacked by the newly elected Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). This action came after a series of poor performances of the national football team nicknamed - the Super Eagles, during the ongoing African Cup of Nations qualifiers.

The Super Eagles is the defending champions of the tournament and is at a great risk of not qualifying for the 2015 tournament in Morocco. The former coach of the team, Shaibu Amodu has been appointed to take charge of the remaining two games next month.

Nigeria is in the 3rd position on the Group A table with 4 points after 4 games. South Africa is on top of the table with 8 points followed by Congo with 7 points.

The team needs to win South Africa at home and Congo in away to even stand a chance of qualifying. This is a herculean task to say the least, but it is not impossible.

The spokesman of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ademola Olajire, told the media that, ''The Executive Committee took a unanimous decision to let Keshi go and Shaibu Amodu to take charge for the next two matches.''

Amodu will be assisted in this task by Gbenga Ogunbote and Salisu Yusuf and Aloysius Agu, while Garba Lawal will serve as the Co-ordinator of the team. Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com

The 2015 AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS QUALIFIERS (15/10/14)

The second leg of the double header of the 2015 African Cup of Nations qualification games were played today all over the continent.
Some of the big footballing nations are doing very well, while some are surprisingly doing very badly, to the amazement of many fans.

Among the countries that are doing well in the qualifications series are Cameroon, Algeria, Tunisia, Ghana to mention be a few. While some countries are not doing well such as the defending champions - Nigeria which has only 4 points from 4 games.

The surprise result of today was Ivory Coast losing at home to DRC.
Anyway, the following are the results of today's games, that were played in different cities of the African continent.

Group  A                                       Group  B

Nigeria           3  -  1   Sudan           Algeria   3  -  0   Malawi
South Africa   0  -  0   Congo          Mali       2  -  3   Ethiopia

Group  C                                       Group  D

Angola           4  -  0   Lesotho     Cameroon  2  -  0  Sierra Leone
Burkina Faso  1  -  1   Gabon       I. Coast      3  -  4   DRC

Group  E                                       Group  F

Togo          1  -  0   Uganda        Cape Verde  1  -  0  Mozambique
Ghana        3  -  1   Guinea           Zambia       3  -  0  Niger

Group   G

Egypt        2  -  0    Botswana
Tunisia      1  -  0    Senegal

Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com

THE 9th AFRICAN WOMEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 9th African Women Championship began over the weekend in Namibia. There are eight countries participating in the two week event, from 11th to 25th October. 

The teams were divided into two groups of A and B with each group containing four teams and they will play the first phase of the tournament in a round robin.

The matches are being played in two stadiums namely - the Sam Nujoma Stadium, Windhoek, and the Independence Stadium Windhoek. In group A, are Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Zambia and the hosts Namibia. In group B, are Cameroon, Ghana, South Africa and Algeria.

Nigerian women celebrating

On the opening day of the tournament, Saturday the 11th, in group A, the host nation - Namibia beat Zambia by 2 - 0 in the Sam Nujoma Stadium. 

Later in the same stadium, the six time winners of the tournament, Nigeria took on Ivory Coast, which were making their first appearance in the biannual female soccer fiesta, and defeated them  4 - 2.

Then in group B on Sunday the 12th, at the Independence Stadium, Cameroon defeated South Africa with a late lone goal to earn the full three points. While in the second match after that, Algeria beat Ghana with a lone goal also.

 

On the group A table, Nigeria which is aiming to regain the trophy, is on top of the table while Namibia is in the second position, followed by Ivory Coast and then Zambia.

On the group B table, Algeria is on top although it has the same position as Cameroon. They are then followed by Ghana and South Africa which lost their first games with same scoreline.

Group    A

Nigeria       4  -  2    Ivory Coast

Namibia     2  -  0    Zambia

Group    B

Cameroon   1  -  0   South Africa

Algeria        1  -  0   Ghana

On Tuesday, the 14th at the 17.00 hours, in group A, Zambia will lock horns with Nigeria, while at the 20.00 hours later at the same Sam Nujoma Stadium, Ivory Coast will take on Namibia.

Then on Wednesday, the 15th at the 17.00 hours, in group B, Cameroon will play against Algeria, while Ghana will face South Africa, at the Independence Stadium.

The defending champions of the tournament, Equatorial Guinea did not qualify to take part. Ivory Coast knocked them out in the qualifiers series. Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com

AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS QUALIFIERS RESULTS (10/10/14 & 11/10/14)

The 2015 African Cup of Nations qualification matches were played this weekend all over the continent. The matches were the first leg of the double encounters and the second leg will be played by all the teams on Wednesday next week.

There were few surprises in this weekend games, Nigeria, the defending champions suffered yet again another defeat in Khartoum 1 - 0, after losing at home to Congo in their first match 3 -2.

Dedicated Fans

The other surprising result was in the match between Cameroon and Sierra  Leone, the game ended in a goalless draw. Cameroon in their last match defeated Ivory Coast 4 - 1, so playing goalless today was a bit surprising but hey that is football. It is a game that nobody can predict its outcome with 100% accuracy every time. 

Without much ado the following are the whole results of this weekend encounters.

Group A                                               Group  B

Congo      0  -  2   South Africa            Malawi   0  -   Algeria
Sudan      1  -  0    Nigeria                    Ethiopia  0  -   Mali 

Group  C                                             Group  D

Lesotho    0  -  0    Angola                   DRC       1  -  2  I. Coast
Gabon      2  -  0    Burkina Faso         S. Leone  0  -  0  Cameroon

Group  E                                            Group   F

Uganda   0  -   1    Togo                 Mozambique 2  -  0   C. Verde
Guinea    1   -  1    Ghana               Niger            0  -  0   Zambia

Group   G 

Botswana    0   -   2    Egypt
Senegal       0   -   0    Tunisia 

Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com            

WEEKEND AFCON QUALIFIERS FIXTURES (11/10/14)

This is a follow up to the first article that I have already uploaded. The Saturday fixtures are as follows:

Saturday, 11/10/14

Group  A

Congo        Vs   South Africa   (15.30) Pointe - Noire Stadium

Sudan         Vs   Nigeria         (20.00)  Khartoum Stadium

Group   B

Malawi        Vs    Algeria    (14.30)   Kamuzu Stadium Blantyre

Ethiopia       Vs    Mali      (16.00)   Addis Ababa Stadium

Group   C

Gabon      Vs   Burkina Faso   (18.30) Libreville Stadium

Group  D

Sierra Leone  Vs   Cameroon   (15.00)  Ahmadou Ahidjo Stade

DRC         Vs    Ivory Coast   (15.30)    Kinshasa

Group  E 

Uganda      Vs   Togo     (16.00)  Mandela National Stadium

Guinea    Vs   Ghana  (20.00) Complex Mohammed Casablanca

Group  F

Mozambique  Vs  Cape Verde  (15.30) Estadio Da Machava

Niger    Vs   Zambia  (16.00)  Stade General S.K Niamey

Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com

WEEKEND AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS QUALIFIERS (10/10/14 & 11/10/14)

This weekend another round of the African Cup of Nations will be played all over the cities of the African continent for the qualification of the 2015 ACN tournament in Morocco.

Although only two games have been played by each participating countries, already some countries are feeling the pressure of qualifi-
cation as a result of their poor performances and results in the previous matches. 

Among the big footballing nations of the continent, two have so far performed woefully, the defending champions Nigeria have put themselves under serious pressure by losing their first match against visiting Congo 3 - 2 and drawing 0 - 0 against South Africa. 

Nigeria is 3rd on the Group A table with just a point, while Egypt the tournament most successful winners have lost all their two games against Senegal 2 - 0 and at home 1 - 0 against Tunisia.

So both Nigeria and Egypt need to play very well and win this weekend and in the return leg on Wednesday next week to give themselves a fighting chances to qualify. 

While Egypt and Nigeria have performed poorly in the qualification so far the other big footballing nations are doing alright. Algeria, Cameroon and Tunisia have 6 points while Ghana and South Africa have 4 points. Ivory Coast has 3 points.

Burkina Faso continued their fine form from the last tournament of 2013 where they reached the final and only lost by a lone goal to the eventual champions - Nigeria. Burkina Faso so far has won their two matches, so earned the maximum 6 points.

The team that has done surprisingly well in this qualifications series is Congo which has won the 6 points and is on top of the Group A table. Cape Verde has done really well by maintaining their successful progression in the world of football in the last couple of years since their emergence. They have 6 points also so far. Uganda also has done well earning 4 points.

Anyway, without much ado the following is the fixture for this weekend encounters in the continent.

Friday, (10/10/14)

Group  G

Botswana      Vs      Egypt    (18.30) National Stadium Gaborone

Group  C

Lesotho         Vs     Angola    (19.30)  Setsoto Stadium Maseru


Group   G

Senegal       Vs   Tunisia  (20.00)  Stade Leopold Sedar Senghor

Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com

Note: I am busy with tomorrow's fixtures and will upload it shortly.
          Please check back later for it. Thanks.

SPORTS NEWS IN BRIEF

Amaju Pinnick (43), has been elected the new President of the Nigeria Football Federation on Tuesday. He received 32 votes out of the 44 which was available in the second phase voting. The former Nigeria international Dominic Iorfa was second with 8 votes while the former NFF Secretary-General, Taiwo Ogunjobi received 4 votes. Pinnick who is the chaiman of the Delta State Football Association will replace the incumbent, Aminu Maigari for a four year tenure. By conducting this election today, Nigeria avoided Fifa ban from international football, which could have lasted until next Fifa congress meeting in May 2015.

Isaa Hayatou of CAF

The Ajax Amsterdam midfielder, Thulani Serero has been recalled to the South African national team - Bafana Bafana for the October double African Cup of Nations qualification games of 10th and 15th. Serero was not invited in the first two matches this month against Sudan and Nigeria. The coach, Ephraim 'Shakes' Mashaba wants the very talented and energetic midfielder to help them prosecute the next two games.

The two years ban on international football placed on The Gambia has been lifted on Tuesday, by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The Executive Committee of the African football governing body had promised to lift the ban if the country could conduct a free and fair election in their football federation. The Gambia Football Federation elected the former sports minister Modou Kabba Bajo as their new President on Saturday. CAF banned the country from international football after it was discovered that the GFF intentionally falsified the ages of their under - 20 players in April. Fifa sacked the administration of the GFF in July.

Issa Hayatou, the President of CAF has been made the new senior Vice - President of Fifa. The President of Fifa, Sepp Blatter, announced Hayatou's new position in the last Fifa Executive Committee meeting. Hayatou replaced the Argentine, Julio Grondona who died in July. The Cameroonian is now the second in command to the office of the presidency and will take over the leadership of Fifa if Blatter unfortunately becomes incapacitated.

The Egyptian club Al Ahly has booked their spot in the final of the Confederation Cup, by beating the Cameroon club, Coton Sport 2 - 1 in the second leg of the semi - final encounter in Cairo. Ahly defeated Coton 1 - 0 in the first leg game. They will now meet the Ivorian club Sewe Sport in the final. Read also,Melvinsports.blogspot.com

THE LIST OF 2015 UNDER - 17 AFRICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS IS COMPLETED

The list of the Under - 17 African Championship for the 2015 CAF tournament in Niger has been completed with the remaining three matches played today, Sunday the 28th of September.

Ghana was at home against Cameroon in what turned out to be a 7 goal thriller. Ghana did not waste time to register their first goal, five minutes after kick-off time through Issa Abass. By half time the Black Starlets were leading 3 - 1.

But in the second half, the Cameroon Cubs took control of the mid-field as soon the match resumed. They were able to make good use of that opportunity just four minutes after the interval, and reduced the scoreline to 3 - 2.

In the 78th minute Ghana's Henry Medrious scored his second goal of the game to make it 4 - 2
but four minutes to stoppage time Cameroon's Forkem Kong reduced the scoreline to 4 - 3.

With this result Ghana qualifies for the mundial on a 6 - 4 aggregate.

In the other two matches played today, Tunisia lost 3 - 1 to the visiting Mali boys. Mali qualifies on a 5 - 1 aggregate, while visiting Guinea crushed Togo 3 - 0 to qualify on a 4 - 0 aggregate.

Seven teams qualified this weekend to join the host nation - Niger in February for the tournament.
The countries are Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Zambia, South Africa, Ghana, Mali and Guinea.

Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com

CAF AFRICAN UNDER - 17 CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS

The 2015 CAF African Under - 17 Championship qualification matches are being played this weekend in some African cities. Today, Saturday the 27th of September, four games were played.

There were no surprises as per the results of the games, beacuse the teams that were expected to win their matches won.

 

The finalist in the last tournament and the current Fifa under - 17 World Cup Champions - Nigeria Eaglets made good on their promise before the game, to revenge the humiliation they suffered in the hands of Gabon, in the first leg encounter, which they lost 2 - 1 in Libreville.

The Eaglets were very angry after losing the first game, not only because of what they termed bad officiating, but most all was the Gabonese fans chanting in Libreville during the match, ''Ebola Nigeria," ''Ebola Nigeria.''

So in today's match, Nigeria boys was ready to teach the visiting Gabon boys some manners on the pitch, by handing them a crushing 5 - 0 defeat.

The Emmanuel Amuneke led team qualifies for the tournament, which will be played in February 2015 in Niger, on a 6 - 2 aggregate.

Nigeria skipper, Kelechi Nwakali scored the first goal through a penalty. Ebere Osinachi and Kehinde Ayinde both scored two goals each.

The defending champions of the tournament, Ivory Coast hosted the Angolan team and defeated them 3 - 0. Surprisingly, South Africa which was leading their hosts Egypt 2 - 0 lost their lead and ended the game on a 2 - 2 draw.

The other match that was played today was Uganda hosted Zambia and lost 2 - 1 to the visiting team.

Tomorrow being Sunday the 28th, three matches will be played at the 17.00 hours simultaneously.

Ghana will be hosting Cameroon, while Tunisia will host Mali. And finally, Togo will be at home against Guinea. Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com

THE NIGERIA FOOTBALL FEDERATION ELECTION FIXED

The Nigeria Football Federation has fixed 30th September as the day, the organisation will hold its election according to the Fifa directives.

The Congress of the federation met at the weekend in the city of Warri, which was presided over by the out - going NFF President, Aminu Maigari. Executive Committee members will be elected on the 30th of this month.

Electoral Committee and Electoral Appeals Committee were inaugurated at the meeting in Warri.

The NFF Presidency is to be contested by Mike Umeh, Taiwo Ogunjobi, Amanze Uchegbulam, Dominic Iorfa, Shehu Dikko, Abba Yola and Amaju Pinnick.

On the 26th August Chris Giwa was elected by a group of members after President Maigari was arrested and election held in his absence and some members boycotted the election in protest.

Fifa did not recognise the election of Giwa and threatened to ban Nigeria from international football, if he and his group did not vacate the offices on a particular date.

According to Fifa the 26th August election did not follow Fifa's electoral directives, so they ordered the reinstatement of Aminu Maigari.

Maigari was mandated as the President of the NFF to conduct a free and fair election, following the normal Fifa electoral directives. So that is what they are trying to do at the end of the month. Cheers. Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com

AN INTRIME COACH FOR GHANA

A long time coach will not be engaged for the Black Stars of Ghana, according to an Executive Committee member of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Mr Fred Pappoe.

He said that an interim coach will probably be brought in to take charge of the next two games against Guinea in the 2015 African Cup of Nations (ACN) qualifiers.

Guinea which plays their home games in Morocco due to the out - break of the deadly Ebola virus in Guinea will meet Ghana on the 10th October.

Then five days later on the 15th Ghana will in turn host Guinea in Accra.

Since the former coach Kwesie Appiah left his post by mutual consent with GFA, the Association has been going through the screening process of the many applications they received for the vacant post.

Mr Pappoe said that a long time coach for the national team will not be appointed before the next two qualifier matches.

''The process is ongoing after we got 29 or so applications and after the first screening we got it down to 11.''

He added, ''We are still pushing the process to see if we can get to about six by the end of this week.''

Read also: Melvinsports.blogspot.com