Sports
Mane, Salah renew rivalry with top African award up for grabs
Another chapter in the personal rivalry between former Liverpool teammates Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah will play out in Rabat on Thursday when the annual African award winners are announced.
Mane was a key figure in the Senegal team that defeated Salah-captained Egypt in the 2021/2022 Africa Cup of Nations final and in a 2022 World Cup play-off.
Both the African title decider in Cameroon and the Qatar eliminator in Senegal were won by the Teranga Lions after penalty shootouts.
Mane scored in each shootout while the final was decided before Salah could take his kick, and he blazed wide in the play-off.
The Senegalese successes have made Mane favourite to win a second straight Player of the Year award after 2019 — the following two editions were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Should Mane win in the Moroccan capital, he will become the first Bayern Munich star to be voted the top African footballer.
The closest a player from the German giants has come to winning was in 1999 and 2001 when Ghanaian Samuel Kuffour finished second.
Mane moved to Bayern last month on a three-year deal after joining Liverpool in 2016 from Southampton and Anfield boss Jurgen Klopp calls him “a complete forward”.
“My only criticism of Sadio is that maybe at times he is the only one not to realise just how good he is.”
Liverpool defender Andy Robertson hailed the predatory instincts of the 30-year-old: “Whenever he is in front of the goal you do not think he will miss.”
Salah lifted the award in 2017 and 2018 and the victory of Mane the following year raised to four the number of winners from Liverpool with another Senegalese, El Hadji Diouf, topping the 2002 vote.
– South Africans dominate women hopefuls –
The Egyptian had an outstanding 2021-2022 season for the Reds, sharing the Golden Boot award with South Korean Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur.
Salah was voted Premier League Player of the Season by both the Professional Footballers’ Association and the Football Writers’ Association.
Algeria captain and Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez is the other former winner among the 10 nominees having come first in 2016 after helping rank outsiders Leicester City become Premier League champions.
Mahrez and Algeria have struggled lately, however, with the defending champions making a humiliating first round exit from the Cup of Nations, then losing a World Cup play-off against Cameroon.
The 10 candidates for the Club Player of the Year include Brazilian Tiago Azulao, whose chart-topping seven goals in the CAF Champions League took Angolan outfit Petro Luanda to a surprise semi-finals spot.
South Africans dominate the Women’s Player of the Year nominees with 2018 winner Thembi Kgatlana, Andile Dlamini, Refiloe Jane and Bambanani Mbane among 10 hopefuls.
Ghana, notable absentees from the ongoing Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco after losing a first round qualifier against Nigeria, have two representatives, Evelyn Badu and Doris Boaduwaa.
Nigeria, the powerhouse of women’s football in Africa for decades, have one candidate, highly decorated Asisat Oshoala, who plays for 2022 European Champions League runners-up Barcelona.
Ruled out of the Cup of Nations in Morocco by injury, Oshoala has been voted African Player of the Year four times, most recently in 2019.
Choosing the best women’s national team will be delayed until after the Cup of Nations final between Morocco and South Africa in Rabat on Saturday.
African football legends, CAF technical committee members, coaches and captains of national teams and of some clubs and selected media pick the winners.
The Chairman of Agbele Sporting, Hon. Ponmile Omidiji, has rejoiced with and extended warm felicitations to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Remo Stars Football Club, Hon. Kunle Soname, on the occasion of his birthday.
This was contained in a statement personally signed by Omidiji and made available to journalists in Ibadan on Sunday.
The statement reads: “It is my greatest pleasure to felicitate with you, the man of the masses and a philanthropist par excellence, on your day of birth.
“You are a morale booster and a great motivator to this generation. You always utilise any position you occupy for the benefit of others. Indubitably, you are a good man and worthy of emulation,” he added.
Omidiji also seized the opportunity to commend Hon. Soname’s contributions and tireless efforts towards the development of football in Nigeria and beyond, noting that such commitment is truly appreciated.
He offered heartfelt prayers for the celebrant, praying that Almighty God would continue to bless and protect him, that God’s grace would abound in his life, and that all his concerns would be firmly in God’s hands. He further wished that the world would always be kind to him.
Christian Chukwu, former captain and head coach of Nigeria’s national football team, the Super Eagles, has died at the age of 74.
The football icon passed away in the early hours of Saturday, though the exact circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear at the time of reporting.
The news of his demise was confirmed by his longtime friend and teammate, Chief Olusegun Odegbami, who spoke to Channels Television. Odegbami, who played alongside Chukwu in Nigeria’s triumphant 1980 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) squad, expressed deep sorrow over the loss.
“I just received the news that between 9:00 and 10:00 this morning, ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu, MFR, my bosom friend and teammate, one of the greatest football players in Nigeria’s history, has passed on,” said Odegbami.
“Babuje, Emmanuel Okala, MON, gave me the sad news a few minutes ago. May ‘Onyim’ find peace with Our Creator in Heaven and console his family,” he added.
Born on 4 January 1951 in Enugu, Chukwu carved a legendary career in Nigerian football, notably captaining Enugu Rangers to numerous domestic triumphs and leading them to continental glory in 1977 with victory in the now-defunct African Cup Winners’ Cup.
He made history in 1980 as the first Nigerian captain to lift the African Nations Cup trophy following a 3–0 win over Algeria in the final held in Lagos.
Chukwu went on to contribute to Nigeria’s football success off the pitch, serving as assistant to Dutch tactician Clemens Westerhof during the Super Eagles’ victorious 1994 AFCON campaign and their debut appearance at the FIFA World Cup the same year.
As head coach, Chukwu led the Super Eagles to a third-place finish at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia. His tenure as national coach lasted from 2002 to 2005, ending during the qualification phase for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
Nicknamed “Chairman” for his commanding presence on and off the pitch, Chukwu also played a role in Nigeria’s youth football development, working as assistant coach during the 1985 FIFA U-16 World Cup, which Nigeria won in China.
In 2019, he battled prostate cancer, which affected his mobility. A public appeal for support was launched, and Nigerian billionaire Femi Otedola stepped in to cover his overseas medical expenses, reportedly donating $50,000 for his treatment.
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim believes Marcus Rashford was unable to see football “the way I see it” before the unwanted England striker was shipped out of Old Trafford.
The 27-year-old Rashford fell dramatically out of favour with the Portuguese boss and spent seven weeks on the sidelines until he was loaned to Premier League rivals Aston Villa during the transfer window.
“I couldn’t put Marcus to see the way you’re supposed to play football and to train the way I see it,” Amorim said on Thursday.
“And sometimes you have one player that is really good with one coach, and the same player with another coach is different.
“I just wish the best to Rashford and to (Aston Villa coach) Unai Emery, and they can connect because he’s a very good player.”
Amorim, whose team face Leicester in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday, said his focus now is on turning around a wretched season.
“Guys, in the summer… like we said before, we are fighting for our jobs until the summer,” he said.
“So, I am just focused on these games. Thankfully about Marcus he is in Birmingham now with Unai, so you can take these questions to another coach. We are just focused on our players at the moment.”
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