MOLATsportgist

AFCON 2021 Special: The confirmed squads by the participating nations for the tournament

The 33rd edition of the continent’s most prime national team tournament was scheduled for this year but was pushed to 2022 due to the COVID19 pandemic.

24 teams will battle it out for the crown. Defending champions Algeria will want to defend the title they won in Egypt. Cameroon will love to host and win, Egypt has been missing the trophy for the last 11 years. West Africa giants; Ghana, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast will all fancy their chances.

Algeria remains one of the favourites considering all factors, they have won the competition on two occasions and are the defending champions. The North African giants are on 39 matches unbeaten run since the 1-0 defeat against Benin on 16th October 2018 during the qualifiers for the 2019 AFCON in Egypt.

Ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations Cup tournament due to kick off in Cameroon on January 6, some countries have confirmed their squads.

The nations that have confirmed squads are champions Algeria, 2019 runners up Senegal, hosts Cameroon, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Gambia, Cape Verde, Comoros, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Malawi and Morocco.

SENEGAL

Goalkeepers: Edouard Mendy (Chelsea, England), Alfred Gomis (Rennes, France), Seny Dieng (Queens Park Rangers, England).

Defenders: Bouna Sarr (Bayern Munich, Germany), Saliou Ciss (Nancy, France), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli, Italy), Pape Abou Cisse (Olympiakos, Greece), Abdoulaye Seck (Royal Antwerp, Belgium), Abdou Diallo (Paris Saint-Germain, France), Ibrahima Mbaye (Bologna, Italy), Fode Ballo-Toure (AC Milan, Italy), Cheikhou Kouyate (Crystal Palace, England).

Midfielders: Pape Matar Sarr (Metz, France), Pape Gueye (Marseille, France), Nampalys Mendy (Leicester City, England), Idrissa Gana Gueye (Paris Saint-Germain, France), Moustapha Name (Paris FC, France), Mamadou Loum (Alaves, Spain), Joseph Lopy (Sochaux, France).

Forwards: Boulaye Dia (Villarreal, Spain), Sadio Mane (Liverpool, England), Habib Diallo (Strasbourg, France), Bamba Dieng (Marseille, France), Ismaila Sarr (Watford, England), Famara Diedhiou (Alanyaspor, Turkey), Mame Baba Thiam (Kayserispor, Turkey), Keita Balde (Cagliari, Italy).

IVORY COAST

Goalkeepers: Sylvain Gbohouo (Wolkite Ketema, Ethiopia), Badra Ali Sangare (JDR Stars, South Africa), Abdoul Karim Cisse (Asec Mimosas, Ivory Coast), Ira Eliezer Tape (San Pedro, Ivory Coast).

Defenders: Serge Aurier (Villarreal, Spain), Eric Bailly (Manchester United, England), Willy Boly (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England), Wilfried Kanon (Pyramids, Egypt), Odilon Kossounou (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Simon Deli (Adana Demirspor, Turkey), Ghislain Konan (Reims, France).

Midfielders: Habib Maiga (Metz, France), Maxwel Cornet (Burnley, England), Serey Die (Sion, Switzerland), Ibrahim Sangare (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro (Lazio, Italy), Franck Kessie (AC Milan, Italy), Hamed Traore and Jeremie Boga (both Sassuolo, Italy), Max Gradel (Sivasspor, Turkey), Jean Michael Seri (Fulham, England).

Forwards: Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace, England), Jean Evrard Kouassi (Trabzonspor, Turkey), Nicolas Pepe (Arsenal, England), Sebastien Haller (Ajax, Netherlands), Christian Kouame (Anderlecht, Belgium), Yohan Boli (Al-Rayyan, Qatar), Karim Konate (Asec Mimosas, Ivory Coast).

Fridolina Rolfö Wins 2021 Swedish Player and Forward Of The Year Award

FC Barcelona forward, Fridolina Rolfö has emerged as the winner for both the 2021 Swedish Player of the Year Award and also clinched the Swedish Forward Of The Year.

The 28-year-old was part of the Swedish side that won a silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics which took place in 2021.

Rolfö on winning the Swedish forward of the year award said: “It means a lot. This means that you have been involved and helped your teammates in the offensive part. I feel that I have been able to contribute a lot, especially with goals and assist.”

The impressive player joined FC Barcelona from the German Bundesliga Women’s side, Wolfsburg ahead of the 2021/2022 league season.

CAF Confederations Cup Draw and Fixtures released

The draws for the 2021/22 CAF Confederation Cup group stages was held at the Confederation of African Football (CAF) HQ in the 6th of October City, Egypt.

The sixteen qualified teams were split into four groups of four teams each. The top successful two from each group will then qualified for the quarter-finals.

Group A has Tunisia’s CS Sfaxien, Zambia’s Zanaco, Libya’s Al Ahly Tripoli and Pyramids who lost the title back in 2020 to RS Berkane.

In Group B, Orlando Pirates will battle it out with JS Soura, Al Ittihad and either of JS Kabylie or Royal Leopards whose match is yet to be decided by CAF.

Group C consists of TP Mazembe, Coton Sport, Al Masry and AS Otoho.

Group D will see RS Berkane, Simba, ASEC Mimosas and USGN battle for quarter-finals qualification.

The group stage of the CAF Confederations Cup is set to start in February alongside the Champions League.

CAF Champions League Draw and Fixtures: Pitso Mosimane to face former club while Amazulu draw Raja

The draws for the group stages of the 2021/22 CAF Champions League has been concluded at the October 6 City, Egypt.

The sixteen qualified teams were split into four pots, with Al Ahly placed in pot 1 alongside Tunisian giants Esperance de Tunis, and Moroccan sides Wydad Casablanca and Raja Casablanca.

In pot 2, Zamalek were in with South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns, Horoya of Guinea, and Tunisian outfit Etoile du Sahel.

Sudan’s Al Hilal, Angolan champions Petro de Luanda, Algeria’s CR Belouizdad, and ES Setif took Pot 3.

Pot 4 had Sudan’s Al Merrikh, Angola’s Sagrada Esperanca, Jwaneng Galaxy of Botswana, and South Africa’s AmaZulu.

It will be a reunion for Pitso Mosimane when he faces his former side, Mamelodi Sundowns in Group A.

Al Ahly go into the group stage as the tournament’s last two editions’ title-holders as they look for a historic achievement that’s never been done in winning their third title in a row.

The group stage of the CAF Champions League is set to start in February, with the top two spots of each group advancing to the quarter-finals.

History maker debutants, Gambia ready for a fairytale AFCON outing

Gambia national scorpions head coach Tom Saintfie has named a final 28 man squad that will be representing the Scorpions in their debut Africa Cup of Nations set to kickoff in January.

Former Manchester United youngster Saidy Janko, who plays for Spanish second tier side Real Valladolid headline the historic list.

The former Togo and Namibia coach has kept most of his squad that took part in the qualifying campaign. The list includes record goalscorer and the scorer of the historic qualification goal against Angola Assan Ceesay. The FC Zurich forward has scored 13 goals this season.

Until this tournament, The Gambia was the only West African country yet to make the AFCON and coach Saintfiet believes he has the team to make a statement in Cameroon.

The team will leave for Qatar for a pre-tournament camp where they will play two test matches against the reigning AFCON title holders Algeria and Syria on 1st and 5th January respectively, with both matches to be played in Doha.

The Scorpions will then fly to Cameroon on 7th January, where they will face Tunisia, Mali and Mauritania in Group F.

Globe Soccer Awards: Putellas, Lewandowski, Mbappe among top winners

Monday night’s 12th edition of Globe Soccer Awards hosted the world’s biggest football set against the splendid backdrop of Armani Hotel located in the iconic Burj Khalifa.⁠

FC Barcelona Femeni midfielder, Alexia Putellas, and the club won the Women’s Player of the Year and Club of the Year Award at 2021 Globe Soccer Award on Monday.

The Spanish midfielder has played for FC Barcelona Femení since 2012; a prodigious goal scorer, she holds the record of 93 caps for Spain in the women’s game. With many titles and trophies to her credit at the club and country level, Alexia Putellas deservedly takes Globe Soccer’s award for Best Women’s Player of the Year for 2021.

Bayern München striker Robert Lewandowski received yet another accolade as the winner of Globe Soccer’s Maradona Award highlighting him as “Best Goal Scorer of the Year” for his amazing record in 2021 of 64 goals and 10 assists.

The record-breaking, spectacular player Robert Lewandowski is consistently exciting to watch, and this endears him to fans much the way Diego Maradona did, making him the ideal candidate for this year’s Globe Soccer Maradona Award.

Elegant and versatile on the pitch, Kylian Mbappé is famous for his incredible speed, and dramatic goal-scoring. Not surprisingly. He clinched this year’s choice for Globe Soccer’s Best Men’s Player of the Year 2021.

Phenomenal goal scorer, both for club and country, French forward Mbappé has achieved more by the age of 23 than many other players manage in an entire career.

Cristiano Ronaldo needs no introduction to the Globe Soccer audience as he has been the winner of multiple Best Player awards, and has always been a mega star attraction at the awards ceremony.

With a huge following of football fans around the world, Cristiano Ronaldo is an elite sportsman who matches his heroic feats on the pitch with professional dedication to the sport and a formidable work ethic – now he is justifiably being crowned Top Goal Scorer of All Time by Globe Soccer Awards.

Goalkeeper for Paris Saint-Germain and the Italian national team, Gianluigi Donnarumma is famous for making the game-winning save that made Italy the winners in the European Championship. In fact, he also played more minutes than any player in the competition.

Known for his remarkable tackling skills and his ability to win aerial duels, Leonardo Bonucci is currently one of Juventus’ strongest players, as well as having been crucial to Italy’s success in UEFA Euro 2020.

An exceptional all-round player, whether it’s a matter of defensive, playmaking or technical skills, Leonardo Bonucci is also praised for his leadership qualities, making him the ideal choice for Globe Soccer’s Best Defender of the Year prize.

After an illustrious career as a player for Sampdoria and then Lazio, Roberto Mancini embarked on a career as football manager at Fiorentina in 2001 and ever since has successfully led prestigious teams, culminating in taking on the job of managing the Italian national team in 2018.

Under Roberto Mancini’s brilliant leadership, Italy was the only team in UEFA Euro 2020 to win all three-group stage matches without conceding a goal. This is the sort of statistic that has earned him the respect of the world of international football, and now more than qualifies him as Globe Soccer’s Best Coach of the Year.

Other award winners:

• Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello

• Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)

• Best Football Academy in Africa: ZED FC of Giza, Egypt

• Best national team of the year: Italy

• Player Career Award: Ronaldinho

• Innovation Award: Serie A

• Best Esports Player of the year: Aldossary “Msdossary7” Mossad

• Best Men’s Club Of The Year: Chelsea

• Best Women’s Club Of The Year: Barcelona Femení

Aubameyang and Gabon ready for AFCON with Uganda friendly clash

Gabon coach, Patrice Neveu has named a total of 30 Panthers in a provisional squad steered by Arsenal star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, for the 2021 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will be making his 5th appearance at the tournament having previously played at the 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2017 editions and the captain is the all-time top scorer with 29 goals to his credit.

The Central African country are in the same Group with four-time champions Ghana, Comoros as well as Morocco and Neveu has already emphasized that the first target is to qualify from the pool.

The Panthers of Gabon has opened camp in Dubai, where they will play two friendlies, one against the local selection of Uganda on December 30 and another undisclosed opponent, before the squad will be trimmed to 28 before the start of the tournament.

Gabon return for their 8th continental showpiece after missing out on the 2019 edition in Egypt. The Central Africans reached the quarter-final of the 1996 and 2012.

CAF to use VAR for all matches at 2021 Africa Cup of Nations

The Confederation Of African Football (CAF) have told participating nations that Video Assistant Referee (VAR), will be used throughout the competition at the Cameroon 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

The VAR was first used in a continental tournament at the 2019 AFCON held in Egypt.

Also, during the African Nations Championship (CHAN), the VAR system was tested in six of the tournament’s principal venues.

This year’s event will take place from the 9th of January to the 6th of February in 2021.

All 52 games will have the VAR unlike the 2019 edition which had only the knockout stages making use of the video assistant referee.

Soccer Queens Cup: Nasarawa Amazons pledges financial support

As preparation for the inaugural Soccer Queens Cup continues, Chairperson of Nasarawa Amazons, Hajia Husseina Suleiman has pledged financial support for the course.

The organisers of the Soccer Queens Cup have heaped praises on the Chairperson of Nasarawa Amazons, Hajia Husseina Suleiman for her support and encouragement towards the tournament which is slated to kick off in February 2022.

Speaking to Molatsportgist, Mr. Moses Bako confirmed on Sunday that Hajia Suleiman has sent ‘some money’ on behalf of Nasarawa Amazons to support the grassroot tournament.

Bako who is the front bearer and organizer of the tournament stated that ” I got a call from the Chairperson of Nasarawa Amazons Hajia Suleiman, it’s a call of support. She has sent us some money (undisclosed) to prepare for the tournament. I want to appreciate her and the entire team for supporting grassroot tournament and trusting in the development of women’s football.”

The one week tournament which cut across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria will be an annual tournament aimed at talent discovery and girl child empowerment.

“We hope to get the support we needed and maybe other teams would come out and support us both financially, morally and physically” he added.

He also lauded the contributions of the professional players who have been lending their voices towards promoting the tournament. The Soccer Queens Cup tournament has been gaining attention as professional players like Onome Ebi, Vivian Ikechukwu, Jane Abraham and Abdulkareem Ramat lend their voices in promoting the tournament.

The theme for the inaugural edition is “PLAYING FOR LOVE” which is inspired to using football to advocate for love and unity in Nigeria and Africa at large.

NPFL Round-up: Enyimba perfect under Finidi, Newcomers Remo Stars top the log, Rivers United wins big as Kano Pillars poor start continues

The Nigeria Professional Football League entered its second match day on boxing day with a total of 16 goals scored across ten match centres in the country.

Enyimba FC maintained their impressive start under new manager Finidi George following a 1-0 away win against Rangers while both Rivers and Remo Stars registered identical 3-0 victories over Katsina United and Heartland FC respectively in their home duels.

The remodelled Lekan Salami Stadium, playing host to its first major football clash after it was unveiled in September, received over 10,000 supporters as the Oluyole Warriors welcomed defending Champions Akwa United.

Utibe Archibong gave the Promise Keepers the lead but Ayo Adejubu who recently joined from Vandrezzer FC scored the equalizer in the last minute as football returned to Ibadan for the first time in four years.

The encounter between Nasarawa United and Gombe United also ended in a stalemate as both sides settled for a 1-1 draw.

Enyimba continued their perfect run under coach Finidi George as they snatched a 1-0 win against Rangers to win the Oriental Derby at the Ifeanyiubah Stadium, in Nnewi. The only goal of the match was scored by Emeka Ogbonna in the 89th minute.

Enyimba FC have now won all of their matches since the appointment of Finidi George, ‘The People’s Elephant’ are now on a five-game winning run across all competitions. They have also conceded just one goal in those matches.

Enyimba FC recorded their first away win in the NPFL against Rangers International FC since July 2015.

Kano Pillars’ poor start to the season continued on Sunday as they were held to a 0-0 home draw at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium (ABS) Kaduna by Lobi Stars.

Stanley Eguma’s Rivers United recorded one of the biggest win of the day thrashing Katsina United 3-0 at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt.

Rafiu Kayode opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark and another one in the 57th minute to record a brace before Chijioke Akuneto sealed victory five minutes after with the third goal for the hosts.

Rivers vs Katsina highlight

Elsewhere, Sunshine Stars lost 1-0 to Abia Warriors in their away match with Paul Samson netting the only goal of the game in the 28th minute.

➕3️⃣#Warriors #NPFL22 #ABISUN pic.twitter.com/zoBm1xpWli
— Abia Warriors FC (@AbiaWarriors) December 26, 2021

New boys Remo Stars defeated Heartland 3-0 at home. An Andy Okpe quickfire double in the 4th and 5th minute and a Samuel Anakwe’s 72nd minute goal gave Gbenga Ogunbote’s side maximum points in the game. Okpe has now scored three goals in two league games this season.

Plateau United earned their first win of the season thamks to a goal from Mohammad Zulkifilu for a 1-0 win over Kwara United.

Abdulateef Balogun scored the lone goal as Wikki Tourists pipped Niger Tornadoes at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Bauchi.

Kano Pillars, Sunshine Stars and MFM are the only sides yet to score a goal in the NPFL this season after matchday two.