International Football
MO SALAH SET TO RETAIN AFRICAN FOOTBALLERS’ CROWN
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
If precedence is anything to be considered, Egyptian football star, Mohamed Salah will be named the 2018 African Footballer of Year this Tuesday. He is expected to emerge top again in the same field of trio that contested for the 2017 edition.
The two other contestants are club mate in Liverpool, Sadio Mane of Senegal who will be right at home at the event and Arsenal and Gabon’s forward, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Past winners have always been the echoes of what European media announced. In December 2018, BBC announced Mohamed Salah as the organisation’s African Footballer of the Year.
As in the past, this is expected to get the endorsement of CAF electorate composed of CAF Media Experts, Legends, Coaches of the quarter-finalists of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup, and Coaches & Captains of the 54 Member Associations.
If he wins, he becomes the first North African to win back-to-back. West African players have achieved that feat in the past.
Samuel Eto’o did it from 2003 to 2005.
Yaya Toure of Cote d’Ivoire won in three straight years from 2011 to 2014.
PAST RESULTS
Year Position Player Team
1992 1st Abedi ‘Pele’ Ayew Ghana/Marseille
1993 1st Rashidi Yekini Nigeria/V. Setubal
1994 1st Emmanuel Amuneke Nigeria/Sporting CP
2nd George Weah Liberia/PSG
3rd Rashidi Yekini Nigeria/Setubal
1995 1st George Weah Liberia/Milan
2nd Emmanuel Amuneke Nigeria/Sporting CP
3rd Daniel Amokachi Nigeria/Everton
1996 1st Nwankwo Kanu Nigeria/Inter
2nd George Weah Liberia/Milan
3rd Daniel Amokachi Nigeria/ Beşiktaş
1997 1st Victor Ikpeba Nigeria/Monaco
2nd Japhet N’Doram Chad/Monaco
3rd Taribo West Nigeria/Inter
1998 1st Mustapha Hadji Morocco/Deportivo
2nd Austin Okocha Nigeria/PSG
3rd Sunday Oliseh Nigeria/Ajax
1999 1st Nwankwo Kanu Nigeria/Arsena
2nd Samuel Kuffour Ghana/Bayern
3rd Ibrahima Bakayoko Cote d’Ivoire/Marseille
2000 1st Patrick M’Boma Cameroon/Parma
2nd Lauren Etamé-Mayer Cameroon/Mallorca
3rd Samuel Eto’o Cameroon/Mallorca
2001 1st El Hadji Diouf Senegal/Lens
2nd Samuel Kuffour Ghana/Bayern
3rd Samuel Eto’o Cameroon/Mallorca
2002 1st El Hadji Diouf Senegal/Liverpool
2nd Papa Bouba Diop Senegal/Lens
3rd Ahmed Hossam Mido Egypt/Ajax
2003 1st Samuel Eto’o Cameroon/Mallorca
2nd Didier Drogba Cote d’Ivoire/Marseille
3rd Austin Okocha Nigeria/Bolton
2004 1st Samuel Eto’o Cameroon/Barcelona
2nd Didier Drogba Cote d’Ivoire/Chelsea
3rd Austin Okocha Nigeria/Bolton
2005 1st Samuel Eto’o Cameroon/Barcelona
2nd Didier Drogba Cote d’Ivoire/Chelsea
3rd Michael Essien Ghana/Chelsea
2006 1st Didier Drogba Cote d’Ivoire/Chelsea
2nd Samuel Eto’o Cameroon/Barcelona
3rd Michael Essien Ghana/Chelsea
2007 1st Frederic Kanoute Mali/Sevilla
2nd Michael Essien Ghana/Chelsea
3rd Didier Drogba Cote d’Ivoire/Chelsea
2008 1st Emmanuel Adebayor Togo/Arsenal
2nd Mohamed Abou Trika Egypt/Ahly
3rd Michael Essien Ghana/Chelsea
2009 1st Didier Drogba Cote d’Ivoire/Chelsea
2nd Samuel Eto’o Cameroon/Inter
3rd Michael Essien Ghana/Chelsea
2010 1st Samuel Eto’o Cameroon/Inter
2nd Asamoah Gyan Ghana/Sunderland
3rd Didier Drogba Cote d’Ivoire/Chelsea
2011 1st Yaya Toure Cote d’Ivoire/Man. City
2nd Seydou Keita Mali/Barcelona
3rd Andre Ayew Ghana/Marseille
2012 1st Yaya Toure Cote d’Ivoire/Man. City
2nd Didier Drogba Cote d’Ivoire/S.Shenhua
3rd Alex Song Cameroon/Barcelona
2013 1st Yaya Toure Cote d’Ivoire/Man. City
2nd Mikel Obi Nigeria/Chelsea
3rd Didier Drogba Cote d’Ivoire/Galatasaray
2014 1st Yaya Toure Cote d’Ivoire/Man. City
2nd Pierre-Aubameyang Gabon/Borussia
3rd Vincent Enyeama Nigeria/Lille
2015 1st Pierre-Aubameyang Gabon/Borussia
2nd Yaya Toure Cote d’Ivoire/Man. City
3rd Andre Ayew Ghana/Swansea
2016 1st Riyad Mahrez Algeria/Leicester City
2nd Pierre-Aubameyang Gabon/Borussia
3rd Sadio Mane Senegal/Liverpool
2017 1st Mohamed Salah Egypt/Liverpool
2nd Sadio Mane Senegal/Liverpool
3rd Pierre-Aubameyang Gabon/Borussia
Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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