International Football
Costa Rica 2022: Falconets will leave no chance for errors against Cameroon
Nigeria will look to avoid an upset when they take on Cameroon in the second leg, fourth round of the African qualifiers for the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup, Costa Rica 2022 this week.
The Falconets thrashed the Central African Republic 11-0 on aggregate before seeing off Congo with a 4-0 first leg win but were held to a 0-0 first leg draw by Cameroon at Stade de la Reunification on 22 January, 2022.
The two-time world silver medalists are aiming for a 10th outing in Costa Rica and coach Christopher Danjuma insists his side will leave nothing to chance at the MKO Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.
“We are preparing adequately and everyone expected is on the ground and doing great,” Danjuma exclusively told CAFOnline.com.
“We are in an excellent mood with everybody on fire because this is the chance to inch close to grabbing the U20 Women’s World Cup ticket and the mentality is to settle for nothing short of victory.
“The match is extremely important to us because Nigeria has always been present at every World Cup edition since its inception. This is a trend that we hope must continue.
“Some of these young ladies were not privileged to play at the cancelled 2020 edition due to coronavirus outbreak but now this is the life time opportunity at the stage to achieve their dreams.”
In 2019, the two teams had met for the first time in the African Games final in Morocco, where the Nigerians edged the Cameroonians to the gold on 3-2 onpenalties after a 0-0 draw.
Following a drab scoreless draw with the Baby Lionesses in Douala, Danjuma is upbeat about his side’s readiness to subdue the Central Africans.
“We know a great deal about the Cameroonian team which helped us in drawing out a plan as to what we should be expecting and how to go about it,” the tactician, who also doubles as Nasarawa Amazons head coach continued.
“One lesson we learned from the first leg match was that a game has to win during regular time by making sure all the opportunities that come our way is taken and conceding no goal and to always be in front scoring goals throughout the game.
“This is the qualifiers and the target is to be in Costa Rica for the main tournament come August this year. The goal now is that we are consumed by the desire that everything we feel and have about this tie is beating Cameroon and going to the final round.”
Representatives from four national players’ unions on Thursday launched a new global organisation in Madrid, which they say will strengthen footballers’ rights and improve dialogue with governing bodies.
Opening a new front in the battle over who speaks for players, the International Footballers’ Association (AIF) was unveiled, with David Aganzo, president of Spain’s Association of Footballers (AFE) and a former head of the global union FIFPRO, appointed to lead the organisation.
Players’ unions from Brazil, Mexico and Switzerland were also represented.
The initiative drew a swift rebuke from FIFPRO, which said in a statement that Aganzo was acting out of self-interest and aligning himself with organisations linked to football governing bodies, as well as groups expelled from FIFPRO over alleged mismanagement.
Aganzo rejected the criticism, saying he “will not seek confrontation with FIFPRO”.
The launch comes amid strained relations between players’ unions and football authorities, particularly over the expanding international match calendar.
Relations between FIFA and FIFPRO deteriorated in 2024 after the union lodged a complaint with the European Commission, arguing that the global governing body was abusing its dominant position by adding competitions without sufficient consultation.
Aganzo denied suggestions that the new initiative was backed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but said “direct dialogue with FIFA” was essential.
AFE’s Extraordinary General Assembly approved the initiative in February with 99.8% of votes cast in favour of spearheading the creation of the AIF.
The same assembly also backed AFE’s withdrawal from FIFPRO, citing what it described as a “complete lack of transparency, as well as its total lack of dialogue with international bodies.”
“We represent over 30,000 footballers, and we come here with a new model aimed at safeguarding players’ rights and facilitating direct communication with all international bodies,” Aganzo told reporters.
“We are in contact with 15 to 20 unions already who were very aware of this moment and waiting for this announcement to make their move and join our initiative.”
He declined to identify any unions beyond those present.
Asked about a report that a senior envoy to U.S. President Donald Trump had urged FIFA to replace Iran with Italy at the upcoming World Cup, Aganzo urged caution.
“These are more political issues; on April 30th, I’ll be speaking to Gianni (Infantino) at the FIFA Congress, and we will discuss those things,” Aganzo said.
“People who want to go to the World Cup have to earn their place on sporting merit.”
-Reuters
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A new trial over the death of Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will begin on Tuesday, with seven members of his medical team charged with negligent homicide nearly a year after a previous case collapsed in a mistrial.
An enduring presence in Argentina – from towering murals to tattoos, opens new tab – Maradona died on November 25, 2020, at 60, after a heart attack while he was recuperating from brain surgery to remove a blood clot.
A court in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires, will hear testimony from just under 100 witnesses as it tries Maradona’s medical team over alleged negligence in the death of the 1986 World Cup champion.
His medical team has denied wrongdoing. The defendants are psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychologist Carlos Angel Diaz, physician Nancy Edith Forlini, nurse Ricardo Almiron, head nurse Mariano Ariel Perroni, and physician Pedro Pablo Di Spagna. An eighth defendant, nurse Dahiana Madrid, will be tried in a separate jury trial, with no date yet set.
Two months into the first trial, which started last March, a mistrial was declared when one of three judges, Julieta Makintach, resigned after video surfaced showing her being interviewed by a camera crew in the corridors of the courthouse and in her office as part of a documentary, in breach of judicial rules.
The retrial will require both prosecutors and defense lawyers to reassess their strategies after the first trial aired photographs, videos, audio recordings and forensic evidence. Many witnesses, including Maradona’s children and his former wife, Claudia Villafane, have already testified.
Prosecutors argued in the initial trial that medical professionals broke treatment protocols and that the home where Maradona was recovering from surgery amounted to a “theatre of horror,” where necessary care was not provided.
The defense countered that his death was inevitable given his longstanding health problems. Maradona struggled for decades with cocaine and alcohol addiction.
The negligence charges emerged in 2021 after prosecutors appointed a medical board to investigate Maradona’s death. The panel concluded his medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless” manner.
-Reuters
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Aliou Cisse has been named coach of the Angola national team, the country’s football federation (FAF) announced on Thursday, 24 hours after the Senegalese left his post in Libya.
The 50-year-old coach, who led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022, ended his short stint with the Libyan national team on Wednesday, after taking charge in March 2025.
“Welcome, Aliou Cisse, head coach of the Angola national team,” the FAF said on Facebook. Angola, which failed to reach this year’s World Cup, will start their 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign in September.
-Reuters
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