The Confederation of African Football (CAF) have unveiled the three finalists for the 2017 African Player of the Year award and sadly Nigeria/Chelsea’s Victor Moses didn’t make the cut. The final shortlist features: Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon/Borussia Dortmund) and Sadio Mane (Senegal/Liverpool)
Egypt’s Mohammed Salah, who was recently adjudged BBC Africa Footballer of the Year is the huge favourite to win the award. The 25 year-old’s performances for both club and country in this campaign has been nothing short of stellar and his role in ensuring the Pharaohs book a spot in the 2018 World Cup (since 1990) can never be ignored. The former Chelsea man has netted a total of 20 goals for Liverpool this season; the first premier league player to achieve that in all competitions this season.
CAF Coach of the Year shortlist includes Super Eagles manager Genort Rohr, Egypt’s national team coach Hector Cuper and L’Hussein Amoutta of Casablanca
The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Accra on 4th January 2018.
Photos: Thierry Henry crowned ‘Igwe of Football’ in Lagos.
Former France international striker Thierry Henry has always been regarded as the ‘Igwe of football’ by his teeming Nigerian fans, however, he was ‘officially’ crowned during his visit to Lagos for the Guinness Made of Black programme. The Arsenal legend who is in Lagos to meet the ‘Be a Front Row Fan’ winners; a consumer promotion of the company also watched the West Brom v Manchester United EPL game at Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The 40-year-old is currently the assistant coach of the national team of Belgium.
The 40-year-old is currently the assistant coach of the national team of Belgium.
Super Eagles’ Odion Ighalo to Launch Orphanage Home in December
Super Eagles striker, Ighalo Jude, has joined the growing list of celebrities who are giving back to the society.
Come 16th of December, 2017, the Changchun Yatai FC forward will launch his orphanage, the Ighalo Orphanage Home, situated at Ijegun, Ikotun, Lagos. He shared the good news as well as pictures of the home on his official Twitter page.
15 facts about Yakubu Aiyegbeni as he retires from professional football.
Former Super Eagles, Portsmouth & Everton striker, Yakubu Aiyegbeni has retired from professional football after 2 decades in the game. The Yak as fondly called hung his boots today November 22nd, his 35th birthday.
“I would like to officially announce my retirement from professional football today,” he told SkySports.
“Firstly, I would like to thank God for the career I have had. I would like to thank the entire Nigerian Football Federation and my Nigerian national team-mates for all the memorable years I had playing for the Super Eagles. I would also like to thank all the football clubs I played for. The managers, all club staff, owners, fellow players and my dearest family and friends who immensely supported me throughout my career.
“When I started my career at Julius Berger in Nigeria all those years ago (1997) I could only have dreamt of the success that was to follow years after. Also playing in England especially helped me grow as a player and as a person so much that I am now settled here. I feel the time is right for me to now focus on the next chapter in my life.”
FACTS ABOUT THE PLAYER
- He was born in Benin, Edo State.
- He retires as Nigeria’s 3rd highest scorer.
- His nickname was ‘The Yak’
- The Yak scored 21 goals in 57 appearances for Nigeria.
- He is the first African player to get a hat-trick in the Champions League, against Greek giants Olympiakos.
- He has featured in 250 English premiership games with 96 goals.
- He played for 14 different clubs namely; Julius Berger, Gil Vicente, Maccabi Haifa, Hapoel Kfar Saba, Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Everton, Leicester City, Blackburn Rovers, Guangzhou R&F, Al-Rayyan, Reading, Kayserispor, Coventry City
- He scored 17 Premier League goals in the year Blackburn were relegated (2011/2012)
- He is the second highest African goalscorer in Premier League history
- He represented Nigeria at four African Cup of Nations finals, the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the football at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
- The Yaks started his career with Julius Berger FC in Lagos as a teenager
- Yakubu helped Portsmouth win the 2002–03 Division 1 title, scoring at a rate of one goal every two games (7 in 14 matches).
- He scored his first Premier League goal in his second match, opening a 1–1 draw versus Manchester City on 23 August 2003
- He Portsmouth’s highest ever scorer in the Premier League, with nine more than their second-highest scorer Benjani Mwaruwari.
- He finished his first season with 15 Premier League goals to his name, and 21 goals in all competitions for Everton. He achieved his highest goal tally for a single season, and also became the first Everton player since Peter Beardsley to net 20 goals in a season
Thank You for all the beautiful memories, The Yak!
Additional information from Wikipedia
UEFA Announce Nominees For 2017 Team Of The Year
UEFA have announced the 50 nominees for the official 2017 Team of the Year. Real Madrid have the highest number of nominees, 11. With Manchester United, Juventus, Barcelona etc all coming behind. The list also features one African, which is Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The 50-man shortlist is selected by UEFA’s journalists for the best performers in European club competition, domestic competitions and international tournaments, and now UEFA.com users can vote for their favourite team online.
COMPLETE NOMINEES LIST
Goalkeepers:
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), David de Gea (Manchester United), Keylor Navas (Real Madrid), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)
Defenders:
Dani Alves (Juventus/Paris Saint-Germain), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/AC Milan), Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Kamil Glik (Monaco), Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Benjamin Mendy (Monaco/Manchester City), Thomas Meunier (Paris Saint-Germain), Gerard Pique (FC Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Davinson Sanchez (Ajax/Tottenham Hotspur), Alex Sandro (Juventus), Antonio Valencia (Manchester United)
Midfielders:
Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Marco Asensio (Real Madrid), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Christian Eriksen (Tottenham Hotspur), Fabinho (Monaco), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Andres Iniesta (FC Barcelona), Isco (Real Madrid), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Manchester United), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Miralem Pjanic (Juventus), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Saul Niguez (Atletico Madrid)
Forwards:
Sergio Aguero (Manchester City), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint-Germain), Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Radamel Falcao (Monaco), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Dries Mertens (Napoli), Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona), Neymar (FC Barcelona/Paris Saint-Germain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Luis Suarez (FC Barcelona), Kylian Mbappe (Monaco/Paris Saint-Germain)
Nigeria Women's Bobsled Team make Winter Olympics history.
Nigeria women’s bobsled team recently made the Winter Olympics history by becoming the first men’s or women’s African team represented in the category at an Olympics. Consisting of Seun Adigun (Driver) who represented Nigeria in 100mH at London 2012 and began training for bobsled in 2014, Ngozi Onwumere (Breakmen) won a Silver & Gold medal at the 2015 AAG Akuoma Omeoga (Breakmen), the bobsled event will be held at the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang.
The trio completed the fifth of their required five qualifying races on Wednesday, becoming the first African team, men or women, to qualify in the Bobsled category.
“This is a huge milestone for sports in Nigeria,“Nothing makes me prouder than to know that I can play a small role in creating opportunities for winter sports to take place in Nigeria. Our objective now is to be the best representation of Africa that the Winter Olympics have ever witnessed.” Adigun told KweséESPN.
“I commend the personal dedication and commitment of these women. Their hard work was inspiring and I hope Nigerians can appreciate what it took for them to achieve this – the work, the discipline, and the personal sacrifices. They were amazing throughout this journey. They are all very successful people in their own right – in sports and out of it, and somehow they are still motivated and still push for more success.
“I have watched them train and work hard to represent Nigeria at the Winter Olympics in a very technical and high risk sport and they have achieved that. They should be very proud, and I am very proud of them.” Solomon Ogba, President of the Bobsled and Skeleton Federation of Nigeria, said in a media statement:
Additional Information from ESPN.
Lionel Messi donates €70k to charity after libel case win
Last year, Barcelona talisman, Lionel Messi won a libel case against Spanish newspaper, La Razon who published an article following Argentina’s World Cup final defeat to Germany in 2014, criticizing the player and claiming he wore a wig and had used performance-enhancing drug Nandrolone.
Spain’s Supreme Court agreed with the Barcelona court’s ruling that the article went outside the bounds of an opinion piece and ordered that La Razon, its editor, Francisco Marhuenda and Ussia should pay €72,783.20 to Messi. The case was closed today, with Messi donating the money won in the case to medical charity, Doctors Withour Borders.
“The football player Lionel Andres Messi Cuccittini has donated a total of €72,783.20 to the organisation Doctors Without Borders. It corresponds to the full amount of compensation requested by the player in the conflict arising from the publication of the article ‘Sonatina’ in La Razon by the journalist Alfonso Ussia. The decision made by a Barcelona court [last year] has now been declared inadmissible by the Supreme Court. [Messi] will continue to defend himself against false and inaccurate accusations which attempt to dishonour him.” Messi’s management company confirmed in a statement.
Victor Moses, Troost-Ekong, others nominated for CAF African player of the year award.
Nigerian duo, Victor Moses and William Troost-Ekong have been shortlisted for the 2018 edition of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) player of the year award. Both Nigeria Internationals ply their trades in England and Turkey respectively.
A statement from CAF released on Wednesday reads thus. “The winner will be decided by votes from the head coaches/technical directors of the national associations affiliated to CAF, members of the CAF technical and development committee and a panel of media experts,” said CAF.
“The awards gala will be held on Thursday, 4 January 2018 in Accra, Ghana.
“Nigerian energy giants, Aiteo, are the headline sponsors of next year’s edition that will see players, officials and administrators who distinguished themselves exemplary during the year under review being honoured for their efforts towards the development of the game on the continent.”
FULL NOMINEES LIST
African Player of the Year
1. Ali Maaloul (Tunisia & Al Ahly)
2. Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso & Lyon)
3. Cedric Bakambu (DR Congo & Villareal)
4. Christian Atsu (Ghana & Newcastle)
5. Christian Bassogog (Cameroon & Henan Jianye)
6. Denis Onyango (Uganda & Mamelodi Sundowns)
7. Eric Bailly (Cote d’Ivoire & Manchester United)
8. Essam El Hadary (Egypt & Al Taawoun)
9. Fabrice Ondoa (Cameroon & Sevilla)
10. Fackson Kapumbu (Zambia & Zesco)
11. Jean Michel Seri (Cote d’Ivoire & Nice)
12. Junior Kabananga (DR Congo & Astana)
13. Karim El Ahmadi (Morocco & Feyenoord)
14. Keita Balde (Senegal & Monaco)
15. Khalid Boutaib (Morocco & Yeni Malatyaspor)
16. Mbwana Samata (Tanzania & Genk)
17. Michael Olunga (Kenya & Girona)
18. Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)
19. Moussa Marega (Mali & Porto)
20. Naby Keita (Guinea & RB Leipzig)
21. Percy Tau (South Africa & Mamelodi Sundowns)
22. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon & Borussia Dortmund)
23. Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool)
24. Thomas Partey (Ghana & Atletico Madrid)
25. Victor Moses (Nigeria & Chelsea)
26. Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon & Porto)
27. William Troost-Ekong (Nigeria & Bursaspor)
28. Yacine Brahimi (Algeria & Porto)
29. Youssef Msakni (Tunisia & Al Duhail)
30. Yves Bissouma (Mali & Lille)
African Player of the Year – Based in Africa
1. Achraf Bencharki (Morocco & Wydad Athletic Club)
2. Ahmed Fathi (Egypt & Al Ahly)
3. Alkhaly Bangoura (Guinea & Etoile du Sahel)
4. Ali Maaloul (Tunisia & Al Ahly)
5. Aristide Bance (Burkina Faso & Al Masry)
6. Ayman Majid (Morocco & FUS Rabat)
7. Aymen Mathlouthi (Tunisia & Etoile du Sahel)
8. Ben Malango (DR Congo & TP Mazembe)
9. Dean Furman (South Africa & Supersport United)
10. Denis Onyango (Uganda & Mamelodi Sundowns)
11. Elsamani Saadeldin (Sudan & Al Merreikh)
12. Fackson Kapumbu (Zambia & Zesco)
13. Fawzi Chaouchi (Algeria & MC Alger)
14. Geoffrey Serunkuma (Uganda & KCCA)
15. Jeremy Brockie (New Zealand & Supersport)
16. Junior Ajayi (Nigeria & Al Ahly)
17. Karim Aouadhi (Tunisia & CS Sfaxien)
18. Mohamed Meftah (Algeria & USM Alger)
19. Mohamed Ounnajem (Morocco & Wydad Athletic Club)
20. Muaid Ellafi (Libya & Ahly Tripoli)
21. Nasr Eldin Ahmed (Sudan & Hilal Obeid)
22. Oussama Darfalou (Algeria & USM Alger)
23. Percy Tau (South Africa & Mamelodi Sundowns)
24. Sabelo Ndzinisa (Swaziland & Mbabane Swallows)
25. Saber Khalifa (Tunisia & Club Africain)
26. Saladin Said (Ethiopia & Saint George)
27. Sylvain Gbohouo (Cote d’Ivoire & TP Mazembe)
28. Tady Etekiama (DR Congo & AS Vita)
29. Taha Yassine Khenissi (Tunisia & Esperance)
30. Tarek Hamed (Egypt & Zamalek)
England beat Spain 5-2 to win the U17 World Cup.
In what can be described as an astounding victory, England win their first U-17 World Cup after turning an 0-2 deficit into a resounding 5-2 victory over Spain. Manchester City’s Phil Foden‘s double strikes inspired the incredible comeback victory at the Salt Lake Stadium in India.
England now double world youth football champions in 2017, having won U20 WC earlier this year.
It has been a rollercoaster year for England’s youth teams.
U17 Euros – Final
U18-20 Toulon – Winners
U20 WC – Winners
U21 Euros – Semi
U17 WC – Winners
Liverpool FC/England player, Rhian Brewster won the Man of the match award.
Asamoah Gyan obtains license to operate private airline in Ghana.
Ghana national team captain, Asamoah Gyan, has obtained a license from the government of Ghana, to operate an airline in the country. The airline, which is called Baby Jet Airlines, is expected to commence operations soon. The announcement was made by President Akufo-Addo at the 2017 African Airshow at the Kotoka International Airport.
The ex Sunderland striker will focus initially on cargo trips and grow from there.
“I’ve been reliable informed that the Captain of our senior national football team, the Black Stars, Asamoah Gyan, Baby Jet has obtained an air carrier license and is working feverishly to establish an airline, obviously called Baby Jet airlines. I want to call on other Ghanaians both home and abroad to invest in the rapidly growing aviation sector.” President Akufo-Addo said.