Morocco: Real Madrid defender pulls out of squad

The Lions of the Atlas will be without breakout teen, Achraf Hakimi for this months’ friendlies as result of the injury he picked out on his first day of training. The 19 year old suffered the injury in Turin ahead of Morocco’s match against Serbia in preparation for the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in June. Hakimi came to the spotlight after being deployed by Zinedine Zidane on the right back position of the Los Blancos set up in the absence of injured Dani Carvajal. Since then, he has appeared 14 times for Real Madrid this season scoring once and was handed his Moroccan debut by Herve Renard also scoring in his four international caps so far.

Achraf Hakimi was born in Spain and has always represented Morocco at youth level even though he had an option to play for the European giants.

Are we seeing a wave of many teams starting to take Women’s football as seriously as they should?

This report might come off as a surprise to many that Manchester United, one of the biggest football clubs, had not registered a Women’s team up to this point after scraping it altogether in 2005. However, that is out of the way now as the club have decided to register to join the Women’s League 2 in the upcoming season. This decision has probably resulted from continuous criticism from respected people in the footballing world with Former United player and current Lioness’ boss Phil Neville stating that he would have a conversation with them about it. Manchester United chairman Ed Woodward has said that “The Women’s side should be built with the same image as the male’s team.” If their application is successful, the women’s side will be based at the Cliff training ground in Salford. Besides this decision being long overdue, what are your thoughts?

The French forward acknowledges the possibility of a move

Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann has given a deadline about his future. He talked about how is ambitious and wants to focus on winning major trophies as one of his goals. The player has been linked to a move to Manchester United before and has stated that he wants his future to be resolved before he goes for the World Cup in June. Griezmann does not want any distractions during the tournament that comes with being asked whether or not he is staying in Spain. The 27 year old dreams of being a Ballon d’Or winner but only when it is accompanied by winning trophies like the UEFA Champions League, FIFA World Cup, Euros among others. That is all we have heard from the striker about his future now we want to hear from you about what you think will happen. Is Griezmann going to stay if Atletico offer him the rumored bumper contract? Will he go to Manchester United who seem to already have a good strike force? Where else could he go? Drop your comments below.

The player’s agent challenges the decision to omit Super Mario

Mino Raiola is one of the biggest player agents in world football. He represents players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Mkhitaryan and the controversial forward Mario Balotelli. Balotelli has had a history of causing havoc in the team’s that he has represented before with his temper issues and arrogance. This led to a clash between him and his old national team coach Ventura which ended up in him being dropped out of the squad. Ventura has since left the post but the problem seems to persist. The player has once again been omitted from the Italy squad that will play against England and Argentina although he has been in fine form having scored 21 goals in 33 matches this season. His agent Raiola is angry at this decision and wants to understand why he has been snubbed ahead of other strikers who have less production than Balotelli. Raiola calls for a different management at national level which supports players that are the best. Caretaker boss Di Biagio has disappointed many by this decision. Do you think he was justified and that Italy don’t need the polarizing vibes brought by the talented forward? Have your say in the comment section.

Egypt: Could Salah bankrupt Vodafone Egypt?

The man of the moment, Mohamed will possibly make the mobile telecoms giant regret riding on the Salah wave. They have recently released a memorable advert announcing that every time the Liverpool speedster scores a goal, Vodafone subscribers will get 11 extra minutes of free airtime/credit.

On a scale of 10-10, how confident are you of the EPL leading goal scorer bankrupting Vodafone?

International break: Four nations tournament in the spotlight, Nigeria-Poland friendly sold out

All eyes on Zambia’s Levy Mwanawasa stadium from 22-25 March as Zimbabwe and Angola will battle for a place in the final against Zambia or South Africa in a mini-tournament pitting the Southern African top teams. The losing teams will have to play for a third-place finish. All coaches have picked relatively strong and youthful squads for the friendly tournament as they prepare for AFCON qualifiers in September.

Elsewhere, all the 42 000 matches for the match featuring Nigerian and Wroclaw in Poland, have been sold out. The two teams will clash on Friday, 23rd of March and the fans are expected to be in full voice cheering their world cup bound heroes.

Kenya: Tough times ahead for KFF

The Harambee stars recently released their head coach, Paul Put, three months in his contract over possible challenges in meeting his salary. This came after the government’s decision to increase the tax on gaming revenues which saw SportPesa withdrawing their sponsorship of the Kenyan Football Federation (FKF) in January. Now, the country’s two CAF approved stadiums which are currently under renovations might not be ready for the FIFA World Cup and AFCON qualifiers in September as a result of extended politics, short rains, and payment delays. To add insult to injury, China-based, Ayub Timbe will likely miss the Morocco friendly after arriving late in Marrakech and Maritzburg United’s Brian Mandela is a doubt after picking an injury in PSL action in South Africa.

Perhaps the possible matchup of Tottenham’s Victor Wanyama and his returning elder brother, McDonald Mariga will be the silver lining in Kenya’s dark clouds.

Future Champions Tournament: Pirates defeated, Wits triumphant and Sundows held

The much anticipated under-17s football tournament hosted by South Africa kicked off in Soweto and has been nothing short of fireworks. Most notably, local favorites Orlando Pirates succumbed to a 2-1 defeat against Russia side, FC Spartak in a breathtaking encounter while Mamelodi fought hard to earn a 1-1 draw against Netherlands’ ADO Den Haag. The Clever Boys, Bidvest Wits, recorded a comfortable 2-0 win over Spain’s RCD Espanyol to move to the top of Group D. Zambian side Nkana FC were also winners on the day, inflicting a second defeat on Jomo Cosmos.

The 12-team Future Champions Gauteng International tournament is celebrating 10 years of giving top junior players a chance to share the pitch and learn from each other. Past winners’ include Spain’s Atletico Madrid, Brazil’s Atletico Mineiro, Shandong Luneng from China amongst many others.

Legends: Returning Yaya Toure misses training and Demba Ba eyes Senegal return

Just a few hours after the announcement of Yaya Toure’s return to the ailing Elephants’ national team, the midfielder did not show up for training in France ahead of the Togo and Moldova friendlies. The football motherbody in Ivory Coast (FIF) confirmed that they were in the dark over Toure’s whereabouts. The four-time African player of the year recently came out of retirement on the backdrop of falling out of favor at Manchester City to join an Ivory Coast team who missed on going to world cup finals in Russia 2018 and failed to reach the knockout stages of last year’s AFCON finals in Gabon.

Meanwhile, the Turkish based striker, Demba Ba has revealed his hope in receiving a call to join the Senegalese camp for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. The 32-year-old has been in fine form, scoring 5 times in 7 matches for Goztepe and believes his experience can be an asset for the Lions of Teranga in June. The former Newcastle and Chelsea striker last played an international match in 2015.

Central African Republic: Coach describes football as the country’s bearer of good news

The Wild Beasts’ boss, Raoul Savoy has expressed delight over his team’s ability to bring people together in the country. CAR has been hit with religious and ethnic conflicts since 2013 claiming thousands of lives. At times, football matches had to be postponed or played in other countries because of the unrest.

““The national team are unifying the country. When the Wild Beasts play, people think of something else. If we have good results, then we bring positive news.”- Savoy told BBC”

— http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/43473972

CAR is currently going through an internationally supervised transition and the games will be played in the Capital Bangui, once again. The Wild Beasts will play a friendly with the Scorpions of Gambia on 23 March in preparation for the resumption of the 2019 AFCON qualifiers where they were pitted in the same group with Guinea, Ivory Coast and Rwanda. A group they currently lead.

Zimbabwe: Mighty Warriors put their game face on

The Southern African country’s first team has commenced preparations ahead of the Africa Women Cup of Nations in the capital, Harare. Team manager, Charity Munemo is delighted with players’ swift turn up for training. Only a handful players are still expected to join the Mighty Warriors camp, including star striker, Rutendo “Madzimai” Makore who is plying her trade at Spanish side, Sporting de Huelva.

"So far we have 27 players in camp and I can say the turnout was very good. It's quite impressive because sometimes we start camp without most of the players but this time around we had most of them on the first day.” - Charity Munemo

Coach, Sithethelelwe Sibanda otherwise known as “Kwinji15” for her heroics on the pitch has maintained the squad that won silver at last September’s COSAFA championships.

The Mighty warriors will have to overcome a tricky Namibia on April 5 and 8 in their first-round encounter to face either Tanzania or Zambia.

Chelsea Ladies knocks out Liverpool

The team cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win against Liverpool Ladies on Sunday. Drew Spence provided the spark in the game as she crossed for Jonna Andersson to tap home in the 21st minute. The captain Katie Chapman (pictured above) made it 2-0 right before the break when she headed home at the 45th minute. More coverage should be provided for women’s football because it is as entertaining as the men’s where teams score goals galore in a match. The second half of the match was the same as Chelsea continued to dominate and Alex Greenwood could not help but bring down Gemma Davison who was in a dangerous position. Liverpool Ladies conceded the third goal from the resulting penalty kick that was taken by Maren Mjelde on 58 minutes. Both teams made their 4 substitutes before the end of the game but none were ready to be an impact player and change the course of the game for Liverpool. What a shame. Next up, Chelsea Ladies will be at home and will host either Sunderland or Manchester City in the semi-final once a winner between the two has been confirmed on the 25th of March.   

Xavi shares some of his footballing genius

Xavi Hernandez has shared his secrets in football after being called a ‘Master of Football’ by fellow legend Diego Maradona. The 38 year old Al Sadd midfielder plans to retire at the end of this season after a stellar career predominantly played at Barcelona and the Spanish national team where he won all trophies that can be won by a player i.e. FIFA World Cup, Club World Cup, Euros, UEFA Champions Leagues, Domestic Leagues and Cups. He has lifted them all. His secret is using his strengths. He claims to be just a student of the Cruyff’s school and that he has found a way to compensate for his weakness in lacking speed. He was taught to use his brain and look 360 degrees every time he is on the ball so that he is aware of the options around him. He gave an example of Mbappe saying that the young forward can put the ball forward, run, and pass the player because he has the legs for it but Xavi’s strength was to find the next option and make a quick pass before the opponents close down the spaces. His brain was his mantra and his basic football made him one of the greats admired by many. Do you think that football is really that easy and that keeping it simple can make someone a ‘Master of Football’? Could it be that the Spaniard does not want to tell us his secrets on how to be a great player? Drop your comments below.

Unsettled Pogba wants to play with Neymar

Paul Pogba has shown that he is an individual that admires a lot of things in different players that play in his position. He looks at players like Iniesta, Yaya Toure, Kevin De Bruyne and Luka Modric for inspiration to improve his game. He also had time to mention a player who is also world class but does not play in his position or even for Manchester United. The unhappy player who has been benched by Mourinho in recent matches has admitted to being a big fan of Neymar and appreciates the fact that the player is always happy on the pitch. It is clear that the player is not enjoying his current form and situation which was also backed by his French national team coach Didier Deschamps. Pogba went on to say that he would like to play with Neymar someday. Could it be that the player is hinting at a move to Real Madrid where he could be a long-term replacement for Modric and be joined by Neymar if Florentino Perez bids the rumored €400 million? Surely, he is saying something when he is talking about playing with a player from another club.   

Ronaldo once again won the Portuguese player of the year award

In the wake of Real Madrid’s 6-2 win where Ronaldo scored 4 goals, the Portuguese forward has since been awarded the best Portuguese player again. He did not fail to mention the players who he owes much for the award after a record season with Madrid where he won 5 trophies in 2017 including his fifth Ballon d’Or and the second FIFA award. He was voted the best player by fans, coaches, and a jury that is led by former Portugal number 7, Luis Figo. This should probably the smallest accolade that he has won considering the caliber of the player and what he has achieved as an individual at club level. Nonetheless, it is something to add to his Resume and he could not make his agent Jorge Mendez anymore proud. Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva and Sporting goalkeeper, Rui Patricio came second and third respectively.

Former Borussia Dortmund boss opens up about the reasons behind leaving the club

Former Borussia Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel has publicly stated that he is no longer the man-in-charge thanks to the bomb attack that his team experienced during his time. Before the attacks, Tuchel had successfully managed to transition his team from Klopp’s old foe and tactics as he brought fresh players like Dembele and Pulisic who made his team’s attack very threatening. He won the DFB-Pokal in 2016/17 which was his only trophy before leaving the club at the end of the season. He admits that some of his former players are still traumatized by the bomb attack which happened so close to his team bus. This definitely had an effect on the team’s performances thereafter. There was also a major discrepancy claimed by Aki (Borrusia Dortmund Chairman) and Tuchel says that the essence of this discrepancy was that Tuchel was on the bus and the Chairman was not. This led to a fall out which resulted in Tuchel leaving. He is a talented manager and should be given a platform to express his abilities. Who do you think should hire Tuchel in the summer?  

Luke Shaw could be on his way out of Manchester United

The English left back moved to Manchester United from Southampton in 2014 as a promising teenager who looked capable of becoming one of the best players in the world under the right manager. He has since suffered from injuries that have hindered his progress at Old Trafford. Mourinho took over at United in 2016 and has showed that he does not trust the player’s abilities. Instead of looking after a fragile young player and boosting his confidence, Mourinho has criticized the 22-year old defender whenever he has set his feet on the pitch. He was once quoted as having said that, “Shaw had a good game because he was using his body and I was controlling his brain because I was telling him what he had to do with the ball.” Some analysts have since come up with theories to explain the pair’s relationship suggesting that the Portuguese manager might be bitter over the fact that Shaw chose United over Chelsea in 2014 when he was still at the helm of the West London club. It is clear that Mourinho will not prioritize the player so he should seriously consider his future in the summer.   

COSAFA Cup: Botswana steps down, South Africa steps up

Botswana has receded their right to host the 18th edition of the Council of Southern African Football Associations tournament. According to Botswana Football Association CEO, Mfolo Mfolo, South Africa who were last year’s hosts will come to the rescue.

"South Africa has provisionally agreed to step in and host the COSAFA cup and we are grateful for that," Mfolo told the media.

The COSAFA cup is for national team players based in their respective domestic leagues. Sixteen nations participant in the tournament and the Warriors of Zimbabwe is the most successful team with a record five titles, followed by Zambia with four.