International Football
WHAT PROSPECTS AFTER 20 YEARS SINCE NIGERIAN LAST WON CAF AWARD?
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
It is 20 years since a
Nigerian last won the African Footballer of the Year award. The last Nigerian recipient
was the legend, Nwankwo Kanu who was decorated on the opening match day in
Lagos at the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations for his exploits in 1999.
When the final shortlist was released on New Year Day, the sole Nigerian candidate in the top 10, Alex Iwobi, crashed out. Nigerians can only look forward to next year to find out if any of the country’s footballers can win the award.
Yet in the first eight years of the CAF organised award, Nigerians dominated, winning five times, while five other Nigerian players made the final cut of three in other years of the early period.
Ever since 1999, Nigeria’s best outings were the runners-up position by Mikel Obi in 2013 and the second-runners up ranking of Vincent Enyeama in 2014.
Another edition of the award holds tomorrow on the slave-trade island of Gorée, two kilometres off the Atlantic Ocean coast of Dakar the capital city of Senegal.
When a shortlist of 34 was initially composed, there were three Nigerians – Alex Iwobi, Ahmed Musa and Odion Ighalo.
When the list was pruned to 10, speedy striker, Ahmed Musa and current highest goal scorer in the qualifying series for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, qualifying series, Odion Ighalo did not make the cut.
Iwobi, a nephew to the legendary Austin Jay Jay Okocha, had a mountain to climb among the penultimate 10 before last week’s final shortlist. It was a heavyweight composition, hence he could not make it to the last three like his uncle, Austin Jay Jay Okocha did some years ago.
Despite his acclaimed fame and admiration, Okocha never won the title as he agonizingly missed out in 1998, 2003 and 2004. Incidentally, those were the eras when Nigerian footballers made waves across the globe.
When Victor Ikpeba won the 1997 award, Nigeria’s Taribo West, then featuring for Inter Milan was the second runner up.
In 1998 when Okocha lost the award to Morocco’s Mustapha Hadji, Sunday Oliseh, then playing for Ajax Amsterdam.
The African Footballer of the Year Award has a long history as it was initially done by French publication, FranceFootball magazine in the 1970s. Expectedly, the award skewed in favour of players from the Francophone countries who were the main focus of the magazine.
In 1980, with the assistance from the late Bashorun MKO Abiola, the then African Sports Journalists Union (ASJU), now simply AIPS-Africa, initiated its awards ceremony that were held in irregular intervals and often adopt the results released by FranceFootball,
In 1992, CAF started its official awards. At the early stage, Nigerian dominated. Even though Abedi ‘Pele’ Ayew of Ghana won that of 1992, the next years saw a preponderance of Nigerians.
Rashidi Yekini won that of 1993 while Emmanuel Amuneke beat Liberia’s George Weah to win that of 1994 and Yekini emerged as the second runners-up.
George Weah won that of 1995, but had two Nigerians as runners-up – Emmanuel Amuneke and Daniel Amokachi.
Nwankwo Kanu beat George Weah to the award in 1996 while Daniel Amokachi was the second runners-up.
Iwobi could see his club mate and former winner, Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang emerging as winner again. He won in 2015.
Apart from Arsenal as a common denominator for both, they also have Gernot Rohr as a coach both have passed through.
Rohr handled Gabon to the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations and had Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as one of his players. Iwobi is one of Rohr’s key players in the Super Eagles.
Also, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s father, Pierre-François Aubameyang who had 80 international caps, was in the Gabonese team beaten 3-0 by Super Eagles at the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia.
In a final shortlist that is a replication of that of 2017, Aubameyang have Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Senegal’s Sadio Mane to contend with. The Egyptian was two weeks ago named as BBC’s African Footballer of the Year 2018.
If past trend is anything to go by, CAF Award may just re-echo the award result of BBC.
Those who fell out along with Iwobi in the final shortlist are Andre Onana (Cameroon & Ajax), Anis Badri (Tunisia & Esperance), Denis Onyango (Uganda & Mamelodi Sundowns) and Mehdi Benatia (Morocco & Juventus).
The
others are: Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City) and Walid Soliman
(Egypt & Ahly).
The final phase will involve votes from CAF Media Experts, Legends, Coaches of
the quarter-finalists of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup,
and Coaches & Captains of the 54 Member Associations.
With Iwobi out of contention for the topmost award, there are other Nigerians who hope to begin 2019 with accolades. Asisat Oshoala is hoping to win the women’s version of the African Footballer of the Year. She is the reigning queen of the pitch. Contending with Oshoala are two other Nigerians; Francisca Ordega and Onome Ebi.
Nigeria still eyes awards in other categories. Super Eagles’ Wilfred Ndidi who features for Leicester City in the English Premiership is in line for the Youth Player of the Year Award. His challengers are Achraf Hakimi of Morocco and Borussia Dortmund as well as Franck Kessie of Cote d’Ivoire and AC Milan.
Nine time African champions, Super Falcons are shortlisted along with Cameroon and South Africa for the Women’s National Team of the Year Award.
The three teams will be at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France next year. Nigeria beat the other two countries via penalty shoot-out in the semi finals and final respectively of the CAF Women’s Nations Cup in Ghana.
The coaches of the three women’s teams are also in line for the Women’s Coach of the Year Award. For the Men’s National team of the Year, the big teams are glaringly absent. The shortlisted are Madagascar, Mauritania and Uganda.
Madagascar, the home country for CAF president, Ahmad, got into reckoning by becoming the first team to qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. The team will make a debut at the competition which venue remains undecided.
Hard playing Uganda qualified back-to-back for the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since their 1976 and 1978 qualifications.
Mauritania is another surprise qualifier for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, profiting from the disqualification of Sierra Leone. Like Madagascar, Mauritania will be debuting at 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
SHORTLIST FOR AFRICAN FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR 2018
- Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon & Arsenal)
- Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool)
Women’s Player of the Year Nominees
- Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria & Dilian Quanjian)
- Chrestinah Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa & Houston Dash)
- Francisca Ordega (Nigeria & Washington Spirit)
Youth Player of the Year
1. Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Borussia Dortmund)
2. Franck Kessie (Cote d’Ivoire & AC Milan)
3. Wilfred Ndidi (Nigeria & Leicester City)
Men’s Coach of the Year
1. Aliou Cisse (Senegal)
2. Herve Renard (Morocco)
3. Moine Chaabani (Esperance)
Women’s Coach of the Year
1. Desiree Ellis (South Africa)
2. Joseph Brian Ndoko (Cameroon)
3. Thomas Dennerby (Nigeria)
Men’s National Team of the Year
1. Madagascar
2. Mauritania
3. Uganda
Women’s National Team of the Year
1. Cameroon
2. Nigeria
3. South Africa
Former Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has been named new coach of the United States men’s team, U.S. Soccer announced on Tuesday.
Pochettino, who parted ways with Premier League side Chelsea in May after one season in charge, will take the reins of the national team ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Mexico, Canada and the United States.
The Argentine, a former Paris St Germain and Tottenham Hotspur manager, said his decision to join U.S. soccer was not just about football, but about the journey the country was on and he could not pass up the opportunity.
“The energy, the passion, and the hunger to achieve something truly historic here – those are the things that inspired me,” he said in a statement.
“I see a group of players full of talent and potential, and together, we’re going to build something special that the whole nation can be proud of.”
U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker said Pochettino was a “serial winner with a deep passion for developing players”.
“His track record speaks for itself, and I am confident that he is the right choice to harness the immense potential within our talented squad. We are thrilled to have Mauricio on board as we embark on this exciting journey to achieve success on the global stage.”
The U.S. have been without a permanent coach since a humiliating early exit from the Copa America on home soil in July led to the sacking of Gregg Berhalter after his second stint as head coach.
The 51-year-old boss was first appointed in 2018 and led the Americans to the knockout stages of the 2022 World Cup, but just weeks later found himself embroiled in a bitter public row with one of the team’s brightest emerging talents, Gio Reyna.
U.S. Soccer’s search for a new coach when Berhalter’s contract expired at the end of 2022 included names such as Canada coach Jesse Marsch, but they ultimately rehired Berhalter in June last year with the full support of the players.
However, it proved unsuccessful as the U.S. failed to progress beyond the group stages of the Copa America after a shock 2-1 defeat to Panama and a crushing 1-0 loss to Uruguay.
Pochettino will take over after Mikey Varas, who has been appointed interim coach, oversaw friendlies against Canada last Saturday and New Zealand on Tuesday.
The U.S. drew 1-1 with New Zealand in Cincinnati after Christian Pulisic’s goal was cancelled out by Ben Waine’s late equaliser.
The U.S. will next play friendlies against Panama on Oct. 12 and Mexico three days later.
-Reuters
At last, Nigeria’s striker Victor Osimhen is out of the limbo. He has accepted to join Galatasaray on loan.
He is now asking for a release clause at Napoli to become €75m instead of €130m
He also wants a break clause for January in case top clubs approach him over move.
The final points are being discussed. He has been videoed celebrating with the Turkey club’s fans.
Uruguay striker Luis Suarez announced his international retirement on Monday, ending a 17-year career with his national team as their top scorer with 69 goals.
The 37-year-old, who has 142 caps for his country, made his international debut in 2007 and was key in the squad that reached the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup and won the Copa America a year later.
“Friday will be my last match with my country’s national team,” an emotional Suarez told a press conference.
“The fact that is my decision to retire and that I’m not retired because of injuries or that they stop calling me for one thing or another, that gives me a lot of comfort, it helps me individually.
“It’s difficult but it gives me peace of mind that until the last game I have given my all, and that flame has not been extinguished little by little,” the striker added.
Uruguay take on Paraguay at the Centenario stadium in Montevideo on Friday in the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup before facing Venezuela four days later.
Suarez scored the stoppage-time goal against Canada that secured third place at the Copa America in July and the striker added that one of his aims was to show he could continue to contribute to the national team.
“My dream was for my children to see me win something important with the national team … that last goal was very nice for them and even though it wasn’t a trophy to take home, it was very nice for them,” he said.
“I wanted to show people again that I can continue to contribute to the national team and, well, I had the Copa America and yes, I could have done it (retired) perfectly after that, but having analysed the situation, I want to do it with my people, in my stadium.
“I want my children to live this experience. Saying goodbye with the people here is something that I don’t know if many have done.”
Suarez has already said Inter Miami will be his last club after joining the Major League Soccer side last year to reunite with former Barcelona teammates Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.
-Reuters
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