AFCON

Parting gifts from Afcon duo not enough for Liverpool as Chelsea battle back

Published

3 years ago

January 2, 2022

Chelsea came from 2-0 down to earn a point from a pulsating 2-2 draw with Liverpool on Sunday (Jan 2) that does little for either side’s hopes of catching Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.

City’s lead now stands at 10 points from Chelsea with Liverpool a point further back, albeit with a game in hand.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was absent along with three key players due to positive coronavirus cases, but the Reds still raced into a two-goal lead thanks to parting gifts from Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah before they head off to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel made the bold call to drop record signing Romelu Lukaku after the Belgium attacker went public with his displeasure at being used sparingly by the German.

The Blues still had the firepower to fight back before half-time thanks to Mateo Kovacic’s stunning strike and Christian Pulisic.

But Chelsea have now won just one of their last five league games, while Liverpool have taken just two points from their last three matches to allow City to streak towards a fourth title in five seasons.

A thrilling 90 minutes that raged from end to end from the first whistle took just six seconds to explode into life when Mane was lucky to escape with just a yellow card for the use of an elbow on Cesar Azpilicueta.

Liverpool were missing goalkeeper Alisson Becker, Joel Matip and Roberto Firmino due to Covid infections.

However, Alisson’s understudy Caoimhin Kelleher proved his worth by saving an early one-on-one with Pulisic.

Chelsea’s frustration at Mane’s reprieve was only heightened when the Senegalese took advantage of Trevoh Chalobah’s error to round international teammate Edouard Mendy and smash home his first goal in 10 games.

Liverpool will now have to cope without their two top goalscorers for up to month with Salah and Mane headed to Cameroon on international duty.

The return of standing to English top-flight football for the first time in 26 years as part of a trial contributed to a fervent atmosphere with full crowds still permitted despite record levels of Covid-19 infections in England.

But Salah momentarily silenced most inside Stamford Bridge with a stunning moment of quality to double Liverpool’s lead.

The Egyptian killed Trent Alexander-Arnold’s pass, eased beyond Marcos Alonso and then slotted the ball in at Mendy’s near post for his 23rd goal of the season.

Chelsea then had their own disciplinary reprieve when Mason Mount was not punished by a VAR review for kick out at Kostas Tsimikas.

That proved pivotal as the European champions hit back with two goals in four minutes to go in level at the break.

Kovacic’s goals are few and far between, but often spectacular and the Croatian’s volley in off the post was a goal of the season contender.

With Liverpool still reeling, Pulisic made amends for his earlier miss by lifting the ball over Kelleher.

Mount nearly completed the comeback in first half stoppage time as his shot trickled wide.

The pace did not relent in the second half and only the goalkeepers ensured there were no more goals.

Mendy was forced to full stretch to deny Diogo Jota, Salah and Mane.

At the other end, Kelleher stood up well to parry Pulisic’s powerful effort.

But a share of the spoils meant City were the real winners of the weekend after they beat fourth-placed Arsenal 2-1 on Saturday.

-AFP

AFCON

One year to kick-off of Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025

Published

7 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Kunle Solaja

In exactly 12 months from today, Africa’s biggest event: the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations will kick-off in Morocco.

Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 is expected to break all records set by the previous edition in Côte d’Ivoire.

The AFCON is now the single biggest event on African soil attracting a television audience of over 1.5 billion and more than 2.4 billion digital streams.

Morocco will play host to the continental finals for the first time since 1988, and much work has already been done in preparing for the 24-team tournament that will run from 21 December, 2025 to 18 January, 2026.

The countdown has begun, with the draw for the group stages at the finals set for 27 January, 2025 in Rabat, Morocco, after which teams will learn their fate and their path to the trophy.

The tournament will be the 35^th staging of Africa’s greatest sporting show and another chapter in the rich history of a competition first played in 1957.

Morocco boasts world-class facilities, including the iconic Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca, which hosted the 1988 AFCON final where Cameroon edged Nigeria 1-0.

The venue, and several others, will be filled with passionate fans, many of who will hope to see Morocco lift the continental crown for the first time since 1976.

Before the Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco will host the CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (30 March-19 April, 2025) and the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (5-26 July, 2025).

Morocco was also this month confirmed as co-host of the 2030 FIFA World Cup along with Spain and Portugal.

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AFCON

Super Eagles, others to know AFCON 2025 opponents on 27 January

Published

4 days ago

December 17, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Super Eagles and the other 23 finalist teams of the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 will get to know the route they have to navigate to the final match of the competition.

This is one of the key points of the executive committee meeting of CAF held in Marrakech, Morocco ahead of the CAF Awards on Monday.

CAF President, Dr Motsepe announced that the Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 Final Draw will be held in Rabat, Morocco, on 27 January 2025.

The calendar for the year was also streamlined as the key dates were announced.

Key dates:

CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025: Opening Match will be played Sunday, 30 March 2025; Final Match will be played Saturday, 19 April 2025
CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2025:

Opening Match will be played Saturday, 26 April 2025; Final Match will be played Sunday, 18 May 2025

CAF Confederation Cup 2024-25:

Final, First Leg will be played Saturday, 17 May 2025; Final, Second Leg will be played Sunday, 25 May 2025

CAF Champions League 2024-25:

Final, First Leg will be played Saturday, 24 May 2025; Final, Second Leg will be played Sunday, 1 June 2025

CAF Women’s Champions League 2025:

Opening Match will be played Saturday, 8 November 2025; Final Match will be played Sunday, 23 November 2025

CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025:

Opening match will be played Sunday, 21 December 2025; Final Match will be played Sunday, 18 January 2026.

AFCON

Two Congo republics consider joint bid for AFCON 2029

Published

7 days ago

December 15, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo Brazzaville may put up joint candidacy for the host of the 2029 Africa Cup of Nations.

If that happens, it would be the first collaboration between the two neighbouring countries for a sporting event.

No official announcement has yet been made, but speculations in the media have it that the Minister of Sports of DR Congo, Didier Budimbu, confirmed this ambition in a statement relayed by local media: “With my counterpart from Congo-Brazzaville, we are determined to organize the CAN 2029 together. “

Morocco will be hosting the 2025 edition while the trio of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania already have that of 2027.

At the 46th General Assembly of CAF in Addis Ababa in October,

Ethiopia’s president, Taye Astike Selassie, requested that CAF endorse the East African nation’s bid to host the Africa Cup of Nations in 2029.

Ethiopia last hosted the Africa Cup of Nations in 1976. None of the two Congo republics has ever hosted.

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