AFRICA FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Stats ahead of African Football League Final as Mamelodi Sundowns host Wydad AC
Mamelodi Sundowns face Wydad Athletic Club in the finals of African Football League (AFL) on Sunday, 12 November at 15h00 Local Time (13h00 GMT) to decide who will be crowned champions of the inaugural edition.
Wydad come into the clash at the back of a narrow 2-1 lead over the South African champions who will be banking on home support at the Loftus Stadium to rally them over the finish line.
- Mamelodi have won just one of their last six encounters against Wydad Casablanca (D4 L1), scoring just four goals, and conceding twice in each of the last two games (D1 L1).
- Having won the first leg (2-1), Wydad Casablanca are looking to win consecutive matches against Mamelodi Sundowns for the first time since April 2019.
- Mamelodi Sundowns have never lost a home match against Wydad Casablanca, alternating between a win and a draw in their six such games against the Moroccan side (W3 D3).
- The last two matches between Mamelodi Sundowns and Wydad Casablanca have seen an average of 3.5 goals per game (2-1 in the first leg and 2-2 in the CAF Champions League in May), after the first 11 games between the two sides saw an average of just 1.2 (13 goals in total).
- Mamelodi Sundowns are unbeaten in their last 24 home matches in all competitions (W20 D4), keeping clean sheets in five of their last seven such games.
- Wydad Casablanca have won seven of their last eight matches in all competitions (L1), while their sole defeat did come away from home – in the second leg of their semi-final against ES Tunis (1-0) in the African Football League (progressed to the final on penalties).
- Wydad Casablanca are the only team in the inaugural African Football League to name an unchanged side (in the first leg against Mamelodi Sundowns). Indeed they’ve made just four changes to their starting eleven across their five games (0.8 per game), with only TP Mazembe making fewer changes per game in the competition this season (0.5 – 1/2).
- There have been just six goals in Mamelodi Sudowns’ five matches in the African Football League (half of which came in the first leg against Wydad Casablanca) – only Petro de Luanda’s games have seen fewer goals per game (1 – 2/2) in the competition than the South African finalists (1.2).
- Mamelodi Sundowns’ Teboho Mokoena had four shots in the first leg against Wydad Casablanca, twice as many as any other player. Indeed, he has attempted nine shots (three on target) overall in the African Football League, the most of any player without scoring.
- Wydad Casablanca’s Yahya Attiat-Allah has created 11 chances for his teammates, at least four more than any other player in the African Football League this season – he’s also played the most passes into the box in the competition (34).
- Mamelodi Sundowns have scored 100% of their goals (4/4) in the African Football League in the second half of games, netting more second half goals than any other team in the competition, while both goals Wydad Casablanca have conceded came in the second half.
President of Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau was a very happy man on Monday night, as Nigeria swept important honours at this year’s CAF Football Awards held in Marrakech, Morocco.
The NFF supremo was personally present at the Hotel Movenpick and collected the first honour that came Nigeria’s way – Women’s National Team of the Year.
He dedicated the award to all women football teams on the African continent.
Chiamaka Nnadozie, who shone brightly at the FIFA World Cup finals in Down Under this year summer as the Super Falcons reached the Round of 16, was the undoubted winner of the honour of Goalkeeper of the Year (Women)
The Paris FC of France safe hands made a moving speech: “To all the young girls growing up in Africa, dreaming of becoming a footballer one day, believe me dreams do come true. My dad didn’t want me to play football but I’m sure he’s gonna see this and be happy. So, keep dreaming, keep working and I believe that one day you’ll get to this stage.”
After Asisat Oshoala won a record-extending sixth award as Player of the Year (Women) the auditorium went silent as it was time to present the men’s version. Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen, Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah were the final three.
Osimhen was crowned, becoming the first Nigeria player in 24 years to take the gong. The last person was Nwankwo Kanu, back in 1999. Kanu also won in 1996, after Rashidi Yekini in 1993 and Emmanuel Amuneke in 1994. Victor Ikpeba took the crown in 1997.
Gusau said: “I am very excited tonight. This has been hugely rewarding for our football and for our country as a whole. I congratulate Osimhen, Oshoala and Nnadozie, and I congratulate the Super Falcons as a team for bringing us this honour.
“My charge would be that they all keep doing what they know how to do best, keep improving and keep winning. The sky will be the beginning for them.”
Osimhen became the first player in the history of the African Football Awards to have been crowned Player of the Year (Men) after having pocketed the Young Player of the Year (Men) in an earlier year. Only last Monday, the 24-year-old was crowned the 2022/2023 Player of the Year in Italy’s Serie A, after having won the Young Player of the Year in the same league in the 2021/2022 season.
President of Nigeria Football Federation, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau was a very happy man on Monday night, as Nigeria swept important honours at this year’s CAF Football Awards .
The NFF supremo was personally present at the Hotel Movenpick and collected the first honour that came Nigeria’s way – Women’s National Team of the Year<span.
He dedicated the award to all women football teams on the African continent.
Chiamaka Nnadozie, who shone brightly at the FIFA World Cup finals in Down Under this year summer as the Super Falcons reached the Round of 16, was the undoubted winner of the honour of Goalkeeper of the Year (Women).The Paris FC of France safe hands made a moving speech: “To all the young girls growing up in Africa, dreaming of becoming a footballer one day, believe me dreams do come true. My dad didn’t want me to play football but I’m sure he’s gonna see this and be happy. So, keep dreaming, keep working and I believe that one day you’ll get to this stage.”
After Asisat Oshoala won a record-extending sixth award as Player of the Year (Women)<span;>, the auditorium went silent as it was time to present the men’s version. Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen, Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah were the final three.
Osimhen was crowned, becoming the first Nigeria player in 24 years to take the gong. The last person was Nwankwo Kanu, back in 1999. Kanu also won in 1996, after Rashidi Yekini in 1993 and Emmanuel Amuneke in 1994. Victor Ikpeba took the crown in 1997.
Gusau said: “I am very excited tonight. This has been hugely rewarding for our football and for our country as a whole. I congratulate Osimhen, Oshoala and Nnadozie, and I congratulate the Super Falcons as a team for bringing us this honour.
My charge would be that they all keep doing what they know how to do best, keep improving and keep winning. The sky will be the beginning for them.”
Osimhen became the first player in the history of the African Football Awards to have been crowned Player of the Year (Men) after having pocketed the Young Player of the Year (Men) in an earlier year. Only last Monday, the 24-year-old was crowned the 2022/2023 Player of the Year in Italy’s Serie A, after having won the Young Player of the Year in the same league in the 2021/2022 season.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA. Palais des Congrès, Movenpick, Marrakech, MOROCCO
The star man of the day, Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen has finally landed in the Atlas Mountain city of Marrakech which is hosting the 2023 CAF Awards.
Dressed in sky blue shirts over an orange vest and blue shorts, the Napoli talismanic striker landed in a chattered private jet.
He is hoped to break the 24-year jinx that has afflicted Nigeria in the lead category of the CAF Awards. Nwankwo Kanu who was honoured on the opening match of the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations in Lagos was the last Nigerian to have won.
That award was for the 1999 edition.
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