Pool B of the Futsal AFCON 2024 kicked off with a North African derby between Egypt and Libya on Friday afternoon. The Pharaohs came out on top with a comfortable 4-0 victory. The Egyptians scored two goals in each of the two periods.
Incredible but true. A "simple" trip from Africa to Europe cost $220,000 (around 207,000 euros) yet this sum was paid out at the beginning of April by the Pretoria Bulls. The South African team was due to travel to England for the Champions Cup rugby match against the Northampton Saints.Worse still, the players and staff had to take 8 planes to reach their destination, with various stopovers.
"This situation, made necessary by the complexity of the schedule and last-minute decisions, has aroused the indignation of their manager Jake White, who points the finger at the failings of the organization", writesrugby-transferts.com.
Former Napoli striker Cristian Bucchi is delighted that Napoli have Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen in their ranks. For Bucchi, the Super Eagle, who has been with Napoli since 2020, has progressed enormously, to the point of becoming one of the benchmarks in his position. Proof of this is his place in the top 10 of the last Ballon d'Or and his title of top scorer in Serie A last season.
This season, the player may be hampered by injury, but his stats remain respectable.Osimhen has 12 league goals in 19 matches, plus 3 assists. Which prompted Bucchi to say."Osimhen, for me, is one of the best strikers in the world, because he brings together extraordinary physical characteristics: speed, elevation, excessive power. Over the years, he's grown a lot, he scores a lot of goals, he weighs a lot in terms of goals and is therefore decisive. Finally, there's the attitude: I'm someone who observes a lot, I film the attitude of players, especially the most important ones .Every time there's a pass for Osimhen, he turns around and claps his hands with his team-mate, one of the most beautiful things ever. I don't know if he'll stay at Napoli, but he's certainly one of the 5 best in the world."
La détente de Victor Osimhen sur son but est incroyable. 🇳🇬🤯
— Actu Foot (@ActuFoot_) April 8, 2024
Victor Boniface is back in goal. The Nigerian striker's rise to prominence with Leverkusen was hampered by an injury sustained just before the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations finals, but he scored on Thursday in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals.
After coming on in the 76th minute, he gave Bayer a bigger advantage over West Ham by scoring the 2-0 winner in added time. Pierre Emerick Aubameyang also scored. But the Gabonese, the competition's all-time top scorer, was unable to prevent Olympique de Marseille's 1-2 defeat at Benfica. Aubame reduced the deficit, his 10th this season in the Europa League. Never before has a player from a French club reached the 10-goal mark in a European Cup in a single season.
In the other two games, Liverpool suffered a heavy defeat at Anfield against Atalanta Bergamo (0-3). Jurgen Klopp rotated his team, leaving Mohamed Salah and Luiz Diaz on the bench. They came on at the start of the second half, but to no avail. Finally, the first leg of the Italian derby went in AS Roma's favor, with a 1-0 win at AC Milan.
Olympique de Marseille have released the squad that will face Benfica in the Europa League on Thursday April 11th. Chancel Mbemba, who has been out of action since picking up an injury against Paris Saint-Germain on March 31, has been named in the squad for this vital encounter. The Congolese defender made his return to training on Tuesday April 9.OM will, however, be without the injured Ismaïla Sarr.
𝗟𝗘 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗣𝗘 👥 #SLBOM
Voici les 2️⃣0️⃣ joueurs retenus par 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗚𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁 🧢 pour le déplacement en terres lusitaniennes ! ✈️ 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/sFXV8IxlLl
— Olympique de Marseille (@OM_Officiel) April 10, 2024
Despite South Africa's failure to qualify, Thembi Kgatlana can console herself with the title of top scorer. The Banyana Banyana striker scored 5 goals in the four qualifying rounds for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. She finished ahead of Nigeria's Rasheedat Ajibade, Zambia's Barbra Banda and Ghana's Evlyn Badu. They each scored four goals.
With the NBA play-offs kicking off on April 20, Milwaukee had a scare last night. Against Boston, Giannis Antetokounmpo injured his leg. The worst was expected, with an absence of several weeks. However, according to journalist Adrian Wojnarowski, the Nigerian-born Greek is "only" suffering from a sprain. There is no damage to his Achilles tendon after the MRI. He should only miss one or two weeks. More fear than harm, then.
In February 2024, Tiémoué Bakayoko hinted at a possible move to the Côte d'Ivoire national team. The Lorient midfielder, who was capped once with France in 2017, is still eligible to wear the Elephants' jersey.But in an interview with 90 Football, Ivorian coach Emerse Faé set the record straight. Asked whether Bakayoko's thinly veiled calls were tiring him, the African champion clarified his thoughts.
" It's not that I'm tired of it. It's that he (Bakayoko) is in his situation where he was in the French team (in 2017) but he also has Ivorian origins that mean he can play for us. Today, he's between the two. That's his right. But we're not going to go after players who are in between. We're really going to go for players who are 100% sure and ready to come and fight for the country. But frankly, it didn't upset me. I just wanted to give our state of mind with the staff, so that there's no confusion between the players and us ".
Emerse Faé continues: "You have to start from the principle that you are Ivorian. Some are Ivorians because they were born here, others because their parents are Ivorians. The most important thing is not to know what kind of Ivorian you are, but to know if you're ready to fight for Côte d'Ivoire. Whether you were born at home or in France of Ivorian parents, for me, there's no difference. You are simply Ivorian ".
🎦 C’était hier sur 90Football 👇
🔸Emerse Faé, les binationaux et la clarification.
▶️ https://t.co/hdHwsNC05Z🔸Neuer est-il toujours Neuer ?
▶️ https://t.co/PdUERZLOW7🔸Jean-Philippe Krasso, souvenir d’un Man City injouable.
▶️ https://t.co/qKTVvOEX52 pic.twitter.com/jW7SKUN95J— 90football (@90footballFr) April 10, 2024
This Thursday, April 11, AC Milan host AS Roma in a 100% Italian clash in the quarter-finals of the Europa League. Ahead of this duel, Ismaël Bennacer spoke about his ambitions. The Algerian midfielder, African champion in 2019, dreams of winning this European title.
" When you play in a competition like this, I think you don't just want to get to the final, you want to win the trophy. Especially when you play for Milan, a club that has the mentality to win everything," reveals Ismaël Bennacer, relayed by Pazzi Di Fanta.
Last week, the murder of Johannesburg Kaizer Chiefs player Luke Fleurs shocked Africa and the soccer world. The 24-year-old footballer was shot dead. On Wednesday April 10, the South African police announced that they had made arrests."The police have arrested six suspects for the attempted robbery and murder," said police representative Mavela Masondo.
According to the judicial authorities, these six people are members of a crime syndicate responsible for other car thefts in Gauteng, one of South Africa's nine provinces. The police add that "the search for other suspects is continuing".Crime is a real scourge in South Africa. According to official statistics, 84 murders a day were committed between October and December 2023.