International Football
‘Marrakech battle’ is World Cup qualifying dress-rehearsal for Nigeria and Ghana
Nigeria and Ghana will clash in a prestige international friendly match in Morocco on Friday with the minds of players of both teams attuned to their Matchday 3 and 4 encounters in the 2026 FIFA World Cup African qualifying campaign in the first week of June.
The Super Eagles, with only two points from a possible six in their first two matches, entertain South Africa’s Bafana Bafana in Uyo before squaring up to the Cheetahs of Benin Republic away in the Matchday 3 and 4 games.
Ghana’s Black Stars, with three points from beating Madagascar and losing away to Comoros, are up against Les Aigles of Mali in Bamako before hosting Central African Republic during the same international window.
While Nigeria are in Group C of the FIFA World Cup race alongside South Africa, Benin Republic, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Lesotho, Ghana are housed in Group I with Mali, Madagascar, Central African Republic, Comoros Islands and Chad.
Both teams, with seven AFCON titles between them, will duel without their top-impact players. Reigning African Player of the Year Victor James Osimhen, Nigeria’s major fear-carrier to the opposition, has had to scratch the big game due to an injury, same as his opposite number in the Black Stars camp, Mohammed Kudus.
The Black Stars will also play Uganda’s Cranes in Morocco, while the Super Eagles are up against Ghana’s group mates Mali on Tuesday.
Both Nigeria and Ghana were tied 0-0 in their last friendly game – played in London in October 2011.
Just as Thomas Partey’s first-half strike that went past Francis Uzoho’s flailing arms sent Ghana to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in a 1-1 draw with Nigeria in Abuja on 29th March 2022, Asamoah Gyan’s header that flew past Vincent Enyeama in Luanda on 28th January 2010 sent Ghana to the AFCON final and Nigeria to the third-place match.
The Super Eagles have not beaten the Black Stars in an official match since the latter fell to a well-taken free-kick by Taye Taiwo in an AFCON group phase encounter in Port Said, Egypt 18 years ago.
On Friday, opportunity arises for new heroes to emerge as Nigeria bank on AFCON 2023 stars Ademola Lookman and Moses Simon, as well as Kelechi Iheanacho and Sadiq Umar at the fore to light up the Grand Stade de Marrakech.
Italy-based Lookman’s three goals sent Cameroon (two) and Angola (one) packing from the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire and sent Nigeria to the last four.
Cyriel Dessers, who scored a delight against Mexico in a friendly in Dallas in the summer of 2022, and Nathan Tella are also available to Coach Finidi George.
At the rear, George is likely to stick to AFCON 2023 number one Stanley Nwabali in goal, and perhaps Chidozie Awaziem, Kenneth Omeruo, Semi Ajayi, Calvin Bassey and Jamilu Collins behind a midfield of Alex Iwobi and Frank Onyeka or Alhassan Yusuf.
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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