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International Football

HOW VICTOR MOSES LOST OUT

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BY KUNLE SOLAJA.

 

Nigeria’s wingback, Victor Moses lost out in the race for the African Footballer of the Year as well as being named in the Fans Finest XI. He was one of the front runners until the last ‘legs’ of both races.

According to data collected by www.sportsvillagesquare.com from the Confederation of African Football, CAF, Moses possibly lost out from being in the final shortlist as two Nigerians in the voting panel did not vote in the Phase 1 of the poll.

Moses ended up in that phase with 60 points to a joint third with Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

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Voting by them, especially if Moses was indicated as their prime candidate, could have given the Nigerian right wingback an additional 10 votes.  But all the same, Moses still made the top 11 as at that stage.

Among the 18-man CAF Technical & Development Committee that voted, Zambia’s Kalusha Bwalya voted Victor Moses as his second preferred candidate behind Egypt’s Mohammed Salah. Kalusha’s vote fetched Moses, four points.

Korici Toufique of Algeria is the only one who voted Moses as number one, thus giving him a maximum five points.

Overall, the Technical & Development Committee ranked Moses as number four with 22 points behind Mohammed Salah (63), Sadio Mane (34) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (28).

The other Nigerian in the initial 30-man list, William Troost-Ekong did not get any vote from the members of the CAF Technical & Development Committee. He was not alone in that poor outing. Christian Bassogog of Cameroon, Fabrice Ondoa, Fackson Kapumbu, Junior Kabananga, Mbwana Samata, Michael Olunga, Moussa Marega, Percy Tau and Thomas Partey are the others with zero votes.

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Eventually, the Nigerian central defender, Troost-Ekong got three votes from the second panel of voters – the CAF Panel of Media Experts. Nigeria’s Ayotunde Adelakun gave him his least vote of one point while Marceline-Maze Muakumanya of DR Congo gave him two points.

The CAF Panel of Media Experts cumulatively gave Moses 23 votes to rank him third behind Sadio Mane (52 votes) and Mohamed Salah (51 votes).

The third group of voters are the Independent Media and TV Consultants where all the 10 but one did not vote. The missing vote, if given to Moses could have seen him come second here. But he finished fourth with 15 votes behind Mohammed Salah (44), Sadio Mane (25) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (16).

The last set of voters was the national associations where the coaches and captains formed the Electoral College.

Victor Moses’ votes were from diverse national associations except the following that had neither their captain nor coach voting for him: Rwanda, Central African Republic, Morocco, Mozambique, Guinea, Liberia, Niger Republic, Djibouti, Sudan, DR Congo, and Burkina Faso.

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Significantly, Zambia, eliminated by Nigeria from the World Cup, offered Moses six of maximum 10 points.

The Coach of Cameroon voted Moses second, offering him four of possible five points while the Cameroon skipper gave him the maximum five points. Thus, Moses got nine of maximum 10 points from Nigeria’s eastern neighbours, Cameroon.

When all the points were summed up, Moses had 155 points as against 452 by Mohammed Salah, 391 by Sadio Mane, and 241 by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.  That way, Moses placed fourth and could not make the final three shortlist.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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International Football

Portugal call up same player named in England Under-18 squad

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Mateus Mane in England's colour

Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Mateus Mane has become hot property after Portugal named the 17-year-old in their Under-18 squad on Friday, one day after England included him in their squad.

Mane was called up for a second successive England youth camp by coach Liam Bramley before the team travel to Marbella for a four-team tournament this month.

Mane is eligible for both teams having played for the Portugal Under-17 side last season. As the Under-18 team is a non-UEFA age group, both nations are entitled to call the player up.

He made his England international debut last month against the Portugal Under-18 side who have named Mane in their squad for a four-nation tournament this month.

With both tournaments running concurrently, Mane can only play for one team and Wolves and England confirmed he would feature in Bramley’s side.

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Reuters has contacted Portugal’s football association for clarification.

While players with multiple nationalities have played for more than one country if they are eligible, they are not allowed to switch allegiances at senior level – unless they have played only in friendly matches for the first country.

-Reuters

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International Football

Soon Cisse ceases to be Senegal’s Coach

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After 107 matches spanning nine years, Aliou Cisse will not have his contract renewed as Senegal coach, officials confirmed on Wednesday. Of the 107 matches, Cisse’s team won 70, drew 24 and lost 13.

But the impressive scorecard is not enough to impress his employers.

Thus, the end beckons for Cisse’s successful nine-year spell in charge of the side that included a first Africa Cup of Nations title and two World Cup qualifications.

He had been under increasing pressure after Senegal’s surprise last 16 exit at the 2023 Cup of Nations when they lost on penalties to hosts Cote d’Ivoire.

Senegal are unbeaten in six matches since then, but home draws with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burkina Faso, and criticism from certain quarters over their style of play, made up the mind of the country’s sports ministry, who fund the salary of the national team coach, that a change was needed.

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“The FSF would like to thank Aliou Cisse for his good collaboration and his brilliant results at the head of the various national selections that he has managed since his arrival in 2011 and wish him every success for the future,” the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) said in a statement.

FSF added Cisse’s exit stemmed from a failure to fulfil the targets in his last contract, which expired at the end of August, which included victory at the 2023 Cup of Nations and reaching the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup.

They also said the “regression of our national team in the FIFA rankings and the risk of disaffection between our national team and the Senegalese (public)” had played a role.

The FSF will appoint an interim technical team to lead the side in Cup of Nations qualifiers against Malawi at home on Oct. 11 and away four days later.

Cisse, 48, was captain of Senegal when they reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup with what is heralded as a golden generation of players.

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He briefly had a spell as caretaker coach of the national team in 2012, but took over full time three years later.

He led Senegal to 2018 and 2022 World Cup qualification, making the last 16 in the latter before losing to England. They were beaten in the final of the 2019 Cup of Nations by Algeria.

The side made up for that disappointment when they beat Egypt in the final two years later to be crowned African champions for the first time.

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International Football

Why  FIFA banned Samuel Eto’o

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Always in the news for bad reasons, Samuel Eto’o has again made global headlines. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has banned the former striker and the current president of the Cameroon Football Federation.

He is banned from attending Cameroon’s matches for the next six months for violating conduct rules during the recent U-20 Women’s World Cup, where his national team faced Brazil in the round of 16.

According to FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee, Eto’o was found to have breached articles 13 (“Offensive behaviour and violations of fair play principles”) and 14 (“Misconduct of players and officials”) of FIFA’s Disciplinary Code.

The sanction stems specifically from the match between Brazil and Cameroon, held on September 11 in Bogotá, Colombia. As a result, Eto’o will be prohibited from attending any matches involving Cameroon’s national teams, both male and femaleacross all age groups.

“Mr Eto’o has been notified today, the date on which the sanction comes into force,” stated the FIFA press release.

This is not the first time Eto’o has faced controversy. He previously drew attention for his behavior towards players and national team coach Marc Brys, whom he allegedly threatened in front of cameras if his directives were not followed.

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During the Qatar World Cup, the former Real Madrid, Mallorca, and Barcelona player made headlines again after assaulting a fan who filmed him outside a stadium after a match.

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