The young defender does not mind the increased competition

England International Joe Gomez continues his development after joining the first team fold at his club last year. The defender sees himself as a sponge who is learning a lot from the experienced Virgil Van Dijk who joined the club in a record deal. Some questions were being raised about his future and what this meant for Gomez but he has since proved that he is still important as he has filled in for the injured Clyne in the right-back position. Van Dijk’s move might have slowed the young player’s progress as a central defender but the player sees this as an opportunity to learn from the world’s most expensive defender. He commends the experienced player’s presence and quality on the ball. That is something he hopes will rub onto himself after an impressive season which has resulted in him being called to represent his country England in the friendlies against Netherlands and Italy.

Russia 2018: Africa’s world cup five out to cap off friendlies in style on Tuesday

Nigeria: After snatching a 1-0 win against Poland (sixth-ranked team in the world), away from home, courtesy of a Victor Moses penalty, the Super Eagles will be out to prove their doubters wrong by putting up a more convincing performance against Serbia.

Morocco: The Atlas of the Lions have been a great revelation under Herve Renard and they continued that streak by dominating Serbia in a 2-1 win at home. With their recent performances and the backing of legend, El Hadji Diouf to write history for Africa in Russia, Morocco will be expected to come out on top against Uzbekistan.

Egypt: The Pharaoh's performances against Portugal were not too bad. They fell out by two goals to one, thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’ stoppage time brace after Mohamed Salah had opened the scoring. Anyone would tip them to bounce back against Greece.

Tunisia: The Carthage Eagles won hearts with their 1-0 victory over Asia’s surprise package, Iran, who will also face North Africans, Morocco in the June world cup finals. Whether or not they are not they will do the same against the challenge of Costa Rica tomorrow, one would be brave to pick a winner there.

Senegal: The Lions of Teranga shared the spoils with Uzbekistan in 1 -1 draw on Friday in Casablanca. With at least three key players expected to be on sidelines through injury, the Senegal camp will be desperate to show that they have enough depth in their squad to overcome any opponent as they face Edin Dzeko’s Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Internationals: Iran-Sierra Leone friendly subject to match-fixing scrutiny

Sierra Leone FA’s (SLFA) president, Isha Johansen has petitioned FIFA’s Match-Fixing Enquiry Committee to investigate the Iran-Sierra Leone friendly that took place in Tehran, in February 2018. Isha claims that an under-strength side left the country without her consent and suspects that all the logistics and communications between SLFA and the Iranian federation( FFIRI) were handled by rival cabals in the SLFA.

FFIRI funded Sierra Leone ’s flights and accommodation in this arrangement and alluded that they would have canceled the match if they had known of its alleged true nature.

"My fear is that activities may have already taken place unknowingly to me for which I may one day [have] to account for." - Isha Johansen, SLFA President
Iran won the match 4-0 and is currently in its final phases of their world cup appearance in June 2018 where they will play Portugal, Morocco, and Spain in Group B.

Women’s African cup of Nations: Ghana gives the tournament a USD $8 million boost

During the launch of the Women’s African Cup of Nations tournament in Accra on Friday, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Isaac Asiamah revealed that the government has approved eight million dollars to be channeled towards a successful delivery of the games.

The honorable minister praised the Local Organizing community and the women world in their relentless efforts to deliver a world-class football tournament in the West African nation. He has also highlighted that the facilities will be ready to hosts all the eight visiting nations and assured the nation that preparations were underway to ensure the Black Queens of Ghana have a strong campaign and perhaps win the top prize.

"The women have demonstrated that they could sometimes do better than men as far as organization of such tournaments are concerned. They are ensuring that Ghana emerges as one of the best destinations for hosting football in the world." - Isaac Asiamah, Ghana’s Minister of Youth and Sports

The first and second ladies of the country, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, and Samira Bawumia are also on board to renovate some facilities for the tournament.

Four Nations Tournament: South Africa wins gold medal

Bafana Bafana claimed the ultimate prize in Ndola after overcoming the hosts, Zambia, 2-0 in the final on Saturday, 25 March. South Africa booked a place in the final by narrowingly beating Angola 4-3 in penalty shootouts but after fielding a different team for the match, the visitors were fairly comfortable against Zambia. Bafana coach, Stuart Baxter was elated with his charges’ performance and will be keen to use this as a springboard to take South Africa back to glory days with the first stop being the AFCON 2019.

“This was indeed a fruitful exercise for the technical team as well as the players. We had two highly competitive opponents in a short space of time and did well in both games. We played two different teams because we wanted everyone to play, especially the kids and they really held their own in tough conditions,” - Stuart Baxter.

In a bronze medal match played on the same day, Angola beat Zimbabwe 4-2 on penalties after playing out to a 2-2 in which the Warriors of Zimbabwe gave up the lead twice as they did against Zambia.

Zimbabwe: Senior women’s team coach appeals for support

Head coach, Sithethelelwe “Kwinji 15” Sibanda has made a familiar cry surrounding the exploits of the Mighty Warriors camp. Kwinji 15 who is a former Zimbabwean international has called upon the corporate world and any willing hearts to lend a hand as they prepare to tackle Namibia on April 5 for a place in the Women’s African Cup of Nations scheduled for November 2018 in Ghana. In particular, the Mighty Warriors mentor mentioned the lack of competitive matches in the form of international friendlies or a challenge-free domestic league as the main pain points before revealing that all the issues stem out of underinvestment into the women’s game.

"I think the whole thing is about sponsorship. My plea really is if there are any companies out there who can put their money in women football, it can go a long way in helping our girls. So that at least our national league is kept going." - Sithethelelwe Sibanda

Mighty Warriors enjoyed a fruitful 2016 that saw them qualify for the Rio Olympic games as well as the African Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) finals in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Abroad: Arsenal tie down Egypt’s Mohamed Elneny

The Gunners and Pharaohs midfielder has signed a contract extension with the club which will see him stay in North London for a “long time.” The length of the contract has not been revealed but Elneny was not shy to share his commitment and focus to the twitter world.

"Officially we will be together for a longer time, in order to reach what we started, and to put Arsenal in its deserved spot in Europe and the whole world." - Elneny

Mohamed joined Arsenal in January 2016 from FC Basel and has since made 65 appearances for the club. He has not featured regularly for the Gunners this season but still remains an integral part of the midfield. He is currently with the Egyptian squad in Switzerland for a series of friendlies in preparation for the FIFA World Cup finals in June, Russia.

The Arsenal boss believes he is being discriminated by his age

Arsene Wenger has commented about his situation at Arsenal and he feels that criticism directed at him is not fair. He believes that the negative energy towards him is discrimination and that is coming because of his age. The manager has faced calls to leave the club after 21 years in charge and is convinced that he is on the spotlight because of his age more than it is because of bad results. Rumors have been going around that the manager will finally step down this summer because of his failure to bring the Premier League to the Emirates in 14 years. Wenger, however, has accepted that he will be criticized since he is in a public job. The 68-year old is trying his best to bring success to the club. He has the experience. Do you think time is up for him?

Teammate Delaney talks about the importance of the Ivorian

Damien Delaney is lamenting on the injury woes that are keeping their star man on the sidelines. The 36-year old believes that Wilfried Zaha is the man to take Crystal Palace to safety. The Ivorian forward is currently struggling to remain fit but has dazzled the fans with some fantastic displays which have resulted in 4 goals and two assists. Delaney is quoted as having said, “Without him, we lose someone with the ability to release pressure.” Such is the dependence of a club on a young African forward who has a promising future. Palace is currently sitting on 16th position with a 2 point advantage over Southampton who are also in the relegation battle.  

Carvalhal says the Manchester United manager enjoys fights with players

Carlos Carvalhal says that the Manchester United boss enjoys fighting with people. The Swansea City boss used to work under Mourinho during his second tenure at Chelsea and the two managers will have a clash this weekend when Swansea face Manchester United. Carvalhal admits to having some similarities with the Portuguese but says Mourinho is more confrontational than him. He observed how the manager picked up fights with a lot of people and how it propels him to succeed under those circumstances. Some reports have surfaced about a possible clash between Mourinho and Pogba which has resulted in the player’s below par performances in recent weeks. I guess this explains why Pogba is not happy at the current situation and we know that Mourinho is to blame. It is just a matter of time before Mourinho picks another fight at United. Could that one be his last since he is failing to live up to the hype he created for himself when he arrived? Have your say below.

The Portuguese forward is on the track to become the all-time international goalscorer

The Portugal international recently moved close to Ferenc Puskas on the list of the highest goalscorers on the international scene. He scored two in the last minutes against Egypt last weekend before succumbing to a 3-0 defeat to the Netherlands on Monday. This means that he is 3 goals shy of Puskas’ 84 who is in second behind Iranian Ali Daei at 109. Not many expected the winger to reach these heights when he was starting out his career at United when he was more of a creative player. Cristiano Ronaldo does not look like he is stopping anytime soon with his eyes set on the FIFA World Cup tournament hosted by Russia in June this year. The odds are against his team to pull another shocker after winning the Euros in 2016. Do you think he will go on to win the World Cup and smash the goalscoring record in the process?

International Friendlies Round-Up: Ronaldo, Coutinho and Lingard amongst the goals

World Cup hosts Russia succumbed to a 3-0 defeat to a Neymar-less Brazil. Barcelona players Philippe Coutinho and Paulinho stepped up in the absence of their main man and scored one each. Miranda scored the other in the thrilling match which is a test for the teams that want to challenge in FIFA’s biggest tournament in less than 2 months.

In other news, France lost 2-3 to Colombia on the same night. The result is quite surprising considering the fact that France had an early 2 goal advantage as Giroud and Lemar both scored a goal each. Muriel scored for Colombia to make it 2-1 before the break. Falcao and Quintero’s penalty completed the comeback and downed Deschamps’ side.

Germany and Spain’s clash ended in a disappointing 1-1 draw. Rodrigo scored at the 6th minute for Spain before Muller leveled the matters on the 9th minute.

England won 1-0 against the Netherlands thanks to a Jesse Lingard goal in the 59th minute.

De Bruyne praises Messi and Ronaldo

Belgian sensation talks about the comparisons between him and the very best i.e. Messi and Ronaldo. Kevin De Bruyne could not deny the fact that he is tired of being compared to the duo because they play different roles for their respective teams. This is a bit unfair to the player who does not play as much further on the pitch as the aforementioned Barcelona and Real Madrid players. De Bruyne’s coach Pep Guardiola has suggested that the player is scaling his heights to that of Ronaldo who has consistently delivered for the biggest club in the world. What do you think about this comparison? Is it fair? Should his name be mentioned among the greatest-in-making?

Pique talks about his rocky relationship with Pep

Gerard Pique enjoyed a successful period under the management of Pep Guardiola during his early years at Barcelona. The Spanish defender won a treble in his first season with Pep and saw the birth of a new era which was dominated by the Catalans both domestically and in Europe. The defender, however, fell out of favor from Guardiola because he lost his obsession of football. The 31-year old could not understand why their coach wanted the players to be obsessed with football 24/7 even after being with the players for so many years and knowing that they already understand his concepts. The defender was eventually benched in the El Clasico (Barcelona vs Real Madrid) match that followed and he was angry. He started thinking if it was the end of his playing career and these thoughts crushed him.

The player returned to scene in a big match against Chelsea in the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League only to be replaced on the 20th minute after suffering an injury. Barcelona was eliminated and Guardiola announced his departure shortly after that. What he cannot process to this day is how things would have turned out if he had stayed at Barcelona. Pique was given a wakeup call by that experience and has not looked back. He has proved to be reliable whenever he is called upon since then and does not look like he will be replaced anytime soon. Do you think Pique’s attitude was justified? Tell us why in the comments below?

Egypt: Striker surplus to South Africa’s Bidvest Wits, finds favor in Europe

Egyptian forward Amr Gamal who was on loan from Al Ahly was released last week by Bidvest Wits. Gamal has joined the Finnish champions, HJK Helsinki, who have described his arrival as welcome development.

“Amr Gamal is a clever striker. The competition is becoming very tough and is developing. We want to have a competitive, energetic and offensive squad through the spring and summer.” - Juho Rantala, Helsinki’s Director of Football

Gamal will be keen to use this loan spell as a pedestal to bounce back and make it to the Pharaohs’ squad for Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup finals. It is not every day when you get to hear about a player not winging it in Africa, getting warm welcomes in Europe. It’s perhaps a sign that the quality of football in the continent’s domestic leagues may be improving at a rate faster than we realize.

Ghana: Essien may be reaching the end of his international career

If you are wondering, yes, he has been playing football but maybe not for long. The Ghanaian midfield maestro is falling of favor at Indonesia’s Persib Bandung. A rule that forbids Indonesian football clubs from having more than three foreign players has seen Michael Essien being moved to the sidelines. A 26-year-old Argentine, Jonathan Bauman has been picked ahead of 35-year-old who was one of the best midfielders in the world in his prime.

The acclaimed midfielder is known for his “no nonsense” midfield approach and charming smiles enjoyed an illustrious career where he featured for Chelsea, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Olympique Lyonnais winning several league titles and most notably a champions league trophy with North Londoners (Chelsea).

Four Nations Tournament: Zambia book a date with Bafana Bafana in the final

The four Southern African titans are so competitive up to a point that both semi-finals had to be decided on penalty shoot-outs. On Wednesday, the hosts, Zambia had to come from behind twice to force a draw with neighbors Zimbabwe. Chipolopolo eventually overcame their long-standing rivals 5-4 on penalties to set up a meeting with South Africa who also beat Angola on penalties after a hard fought 1-1 draw.

The final matches will be on Saturday when Zimbabwe will face Angola for the bronze medal with the finale kicking off three hours later.

CAF Champions League Draw: The battle lines have been drawn

With the second round matches scheduled for as early as 6-8 May 2018, the match-ups for the final 16 teams have been decided in a draw conducted in Cairo, Egypt.

The stand out fixture has to be between the 2017 and 2016 Champions. Wydad Casablanca(Morocco) and Mamelodi Sundowns(South Africa) are in Group C together with AS Port of Togo and Horoya of Guinea. Masandawana will be keen to settle a score with Wydad after the former was knocked out last year on penalties with the latter eventually claiming the prize. With several debutants like Mbabane Swallows (Swaziland), AS Port of Togo and seasoned competitors such as the eight-time champions, Al Ahly (Egypt) in the mix for the title hunt - the final stages of the tournament promises to be full of thrills and spills. In fact, reacting to the draw, Sundowns gaffer Pitso Mosimane highlighted how ready they are to take on any challenge but admitted that fresh boys like AS Port of Togo are closed books which will need to be studied.

““Horoya plays good football with great passing technique. They are a good team, tactical and have some good individual players. The team we don’t know much is AS Port (Togo), and we will have to conduct a research on them” ”

— - Pitso Mosimane

Here is the complete list of the groups....

2018 Champions League groups:

Group A: Al Ahly (Egypt), Township Rollers (Botswana), KCCA (Uganda), Esperance de Tunis (Tunisia)

Group B: TP Mazembe (DR Congo), Mouloudia Alger (Algeria), Difaa El Jadidi (Morocco), Entente Setif (Algeria)

Group C: AS Port of Togo (Togo), Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa), Wydad Casablanca (Morocco), Horoya (Guinea)

Group D: Zesco United (Zambia), Primeiro de Agosto (Angola), Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia), Mbabane Swallows (Swaziland)