CAF Confederation Cup
THIS DAY IN HISTORY: 25 YEARS SINCE AMIR ANGWE DROPPED DEAD ON THE FIELD
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
How time flies! It is 25 years today since Nigeria recorded yet another on-field obituary. Easily recalled is the death of Samuel Okwaraji on the pitch of the National Stadium, Lagos.
But hardly remembered is that of another Nigerian footballer on international assignment – Amir Angwe.
Sports Village Square recalls that he died almost in the same circumstances like Okwaraji.
The striker, who in the 1990 final, opened scoring for BCC Lions in Tunisia, was aiming to be a part of Berger’s victory five years later.
He came in as a substitute for Taiwo Oloyede who scored the only goal of the semi-final match. He was pronounced clinically dead 10 minutes after the game.
Angwe was barely 15 minutes old in the game when he fell without anyone having contact with him, bringing in sad memories of Sam Okwaraji who died six years earlier.
Help came too late apparently because the fallen player did not have body contact with anyone, making the Ugandan referee, Charles Massembe, and other players to probably think that the fall was due to exhaustion.
When he failed to rise, his teammate, Ikponwosa Omoregie, who was nearest to him, had to call the attention of the referee who in turn called for medical attention.
Four medical doctors among them, Jose Novao, the Portuguese team doctor of Maxaquine, battled in vain to revive Angwe.
The player’s wife, Ann, was reportedly in the crowd that saw her husband make the death fall.
“It’s too bad. It is not a normal thing in sports. He is not breathing. He had heart failure. Then his breathing also failed. I can’t confirm, but I think he has passed on. He is dead, but let’s wait for what your doctors can do,” said Jose Novao, the Portugal-born Maxaquine team doctor, before leaving the scene.
At that point, it was almost certain it was over. The Nigerian doctors also lost hope and called for an ambulance that took the player’s body to the General Hospital mortuary.
In the quarterfinal match with Motema Pembe of Zaire, Angwe barely survived as he had also slumped. But he could not be revived on the fateful 29 October 1995 match.
Controversy set in on why the late player was fielded in the match as the NFA Secretary General, Sani Toro, said the club had been given medical advice against fielding the player, although his team mates believed he was healthy from the layman’s point of view, having participated in the trainings and endurance tests that preceded the match.
But according to the NFA which recalled that Angwe barely survived a similar incident during quarterfinals game with Motema Pembe, it was suggested that a more thorough examination of the player and his teammates be made.
One doctor, from Imo Sports Council was asked to do the tests two days to the match with Maxaquine. The NFA claimed that the doctor advised against fielding of Agwe.
But a Julius Berger official claimed the doctor cleared him for the game on the day of the match while his teammates said they had even expected him to be on the starting line-up as he played full time in the first leg two weeks earlier in Maputo.
That was weeks after he passed out in the game with Motema Pembe. Moreover, he reportedly practised for three hours with the remaining players two days to his death.
Jose Novao said from what he saw of available facilities at the Onikan Stadium, “the administration here did not seem well equipped to meet any serious emergency. “What is clear to me is that he died of heart failure which a good test could have revealed before the game… I did not see any medical facility that could have assisted even the best doctor to save that situation.
“I am an orthopaedic surgeon and as football team manager, I expected to see better facilities than cold water and stretcher at the venue of an international match”.
The Maxaquine team doctor said although he sympatised with Nigeria over Angwe’s death, his team would not have taken it easy with the NFA if it was a player of his side that died.
“Of course, all my players were well tested before we came for the match, but emergencies can develop anytime and that is why FIFA and other international sports bodies take sports medicine very seriously,” remarked Novao.
What happened to Angwe remains a mystery. Two weeks after he collapsed in the game with Motema Pembe, he was invited to the Super Eagles’ camp preparatory to the 1995 Afro-Asian Cup matches with Uzbekistan.
In the Super Eagles’ camp, he reportedly told a newspaper of the incident at the Motema Pembe match: “I don’t know what happened, I just entered the match and the next thing I noticed was that I could neither breathe nor see. It was terrible. But I’m alright now.”
Angwe, a striker of Julius Berger, slumped and died on the field during an African Winners Cup semi-final with Maxaquine of Mozambique.
Algerian club USM Alger were crowned CAF Confederation Cup champions for the second time after edging Egyptian giants Zamalek SC 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at the Cairo International Stadium on Saturday night.
Zamalek won the second leg 1-0 through an early penalty by Oday Dabbagh, but the tie ended 1-1 on aggregate following USM Alger’s first-leg victory in Algiers last weekend. The Algerians then held their nerve in the shootout to secure the continental title, adding to the trophy they first won in 2023.
The hosts made a dream start, levelling the aggregate score within five minutes. Adam Kaied was brought down inside the penalty area by Che Malone Junior, prompting the referee to point to the spot. Dabbagh calmly converted to hand the White Knights a 1-0 lead on the night.
Zamalek, however, suffered an early setback when goalkeeper Al Mahdi Soliman was forced off injured before the half-hour mark and replaced by Mohamed Awad.
Before his substitution, Soliman had produced an important save to deny Islam Merili’s long-range effort that appeared destined for the top corner. Despite dominating possession for long spells, USM Alger struggled to create clear-cut opportunities in a tense and scrappy first half.
The visitors nearly found a crucial away goal shortly after the restart when Ahmed Khaldi fired wide from the edge of the box.
As the match progressed, nerves and tension intensified on and off the pitch, with several heated exchanges adding pressure on the match officials as the prospect of penalties drew closer.
Zamalek almost settled the contest late on when substitute Nasr Mansy connected with a cross from the right, but goalkeeper Oussama Benbot made a vital save to tip the header over the bar in the 85th minute.
With the aggregate score locked at 1-1 after full time, the final went straight to penalties. The two sides converted 14 consecutive spot kicks before Zamalek’s Mohamed Shehata blasted his effort over the bar. Glody Likonza then converted the decisive penalty to hand USM Alger a famous triumph.
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CAF Confederation Cup
Zamalek Face Uphill Battle Against Confident USM Alger in CAF Confederation Cup Final
Egyptian giants Zamalek SC will attempt to overturn a first-leg deficit when they host USM Alger in the decisive second leg of the CAF Confederation Cup final at Cairo International Stadium on Saturday night.
Zamalek trail 1-0 after a tense first leg in Algiers last weekend and must now produce another memorable continental comeback in front of an expected capacity crowd in Cairo.
The Egyptian side will draw confidence from an impressive home record in the competition, having lost only once in 24 Confederation Cup matches on home soil. They have also never conceded more than one goal at home in the tournament.
However, USM Alger arrive in Cairo with growing belief and momentum.
The Algerian club are unbeaten in their last three Confederation Cup matches against Egyptian opposition, winning two and drawing one while keeping clean sheets in all three encounters.
They also carry the form of a side that has lost only once in their last 19 matches in the competition, underlining why they are now just 90 minutes away from another continental title.
Saturday’s final is expected to provide another dramatic chapter in a rivalry already marked by controversy, late tension and tactical intensity.
Zamalek will be encouraged by another significant statistic — the club has never lost back-to-back matches in the Confederation Cup across 50 games played in the competition. That record will now be severely tested against a disciplined USM Alger side that frustrated them repeatedly in the first leg.
The Algerians created numerous opportunities in Algiers, attempting 23 shots — the highest by any team in a Confederation Cup final since records began in the 2016-17 season.
Much of USM Alger’s attacking threat has come from midfielder Ahmed Khaldi, who is joint top scorer in this season’s competition with four goals. Three of his last four goals have come from the penalty spot, highlighting the Algerian side’s efficiency in pressure situations.
For Zamalek, defensive midfielder Mohamed Ismaeil produced one of the standout individual performances of the first leg with seven tackles, one of the highest totals ever recorded in a Confederation Cup final.
The match will be officiated by Gabonese referee Pierre Atcho.
With continental glory at stake and the aggregate score delicately poised, Saturday’s showdown in Cairo is shaping into one of the most finely balanced CAF Confederation Cup finals in recent years.
For Zamalek, it is a chance to add another famous African night to their rich history. For USM Alger, it is an opportunity to confirm their emergence as one of the continent’s most resilient and dangerous cup sides.
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CAF Confederation Cup
Shooting Stars, Ikorodu City, in Winner-Takes-All Quest for Confederation Cup ticket
By Kunle Solaja.
The battle for the Nigeria Premier Football League’s remaining CAF Confederation Cup ticket will go down to the wire on the final day of the season, with Shooting Stars and Ikorodu City locked in a tense race for third place.
While title contenders, Enugu Rangers International and Rivers United, have already secured Nigeria’s slots in next season’s CAF Champions League, the contest for the Confederation Cup place remains delicately poised.
Shooting Stars currently occupy third position with 60 points, holding a narrow two-point advantage over fourth-placed Ikorodu City, who sit on 58 points ahead of the 24 May decisive fixtures.
The Ibadan side is in pole position and needs only to avoid defeat away to Niger Tornadoes to confirm a return to continental football next season.
However, Ikorodu City still has a fighting chance of snatching the ticket.
The Lagos-based club must defeat title-chasing Rangers and hope Shooting Stars stumble against Niger Tornadoes to overturn the deficit and leapfrog the Oluyole Warriors into third place.
Their clash against Rangers is expected to rank among the standout fixtures of the final day, with both teams carrying huge ambitions into the encounter.
For Ikorodu City, the situation revives painful memories from last season when they chased a continental ticket from two fronts but ended up empty-handed.
The club narrowly missed out on third place after suffering a heavy 4-1 defeat to eventual champions Remo Stars in Ikenne on the final day, despite taking the lead in the encounter. The result pushed them down to fourth position.
Their hopes of reaching the continent through the Federation Cup also ended in heartbreak after a penalty shootout loss to Abakaliki FC in the semi-finals following a goalless draw.
Now, with another opportunity within reach, Ikorodu City will hope fortune finally smiles on them as they seek what would be a historic continental qualification.
With the title race, continental qualification battle, and survival struggles all still unresolved, the final day of the NPFL season is set to deliver tension and drama across the country.
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