International Football
NIGERIA’S KELECHI NWAKALI RANKED AMONG PLAYERS TO WATCH FOR IN EGYPT 2019
Will the Egypt 2019 Africa Cup for the U23 throw up new stars? That will be determined as the competition, which enters its third edition kicks off this Friday.
Apart from the three tickets for the 2020 men’s football event that are at stake, already eyes are on the potential stars. Among those picked for special attention is Nigeria’s Kelechi Nwakali.
The midfielder was the Nigerian captain in the U-17 FIFA World Cup Chile 2015 where he guided them to their record fifth title, winning the Golden Ball in the process.
Currently featuring for the Spanish side, Huesca, will he live up to expectation? He is expected to be on parade with the Nigerian side, which take on Cote d’Ivoire on Saturday in a West African derby.
Also being focused on is Egypt’s Ramadan Sobhy, teammate of Nigeria’s Junior Ajayi at the fanatically supported Al Ahly of Cairo.
Sobhy, who had previously played in England
for Stoke City and Huddersfield Town was among Egypt squad in FIFA World Cup, Russia 2018. He also
was among The Pharaohs side
that finished Africa Cup of Nations Gabon 2017 as losing finalists. He played
in the previous edition of U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, Senegal 2015, scoring
once.
Squaring up against Sobhy in the opening match of the Egypt 2019 is Mali’s Aly Mallé. A winger with Turkish side, Balikesirspor, Malle won the bronze ball in the U-17 FIFA World Cup Chile 2015, scoring two goals and assisting as much as Mali finished the global tournament as runner ups.
Also to be on parade is Cameroon’s Eric Ayuk. Like Mali’sMallé, he also plays in Turkey. But his club is Osmanlispor.
He scored twice in the qualifiers. He is a regular starter with his Turkish side, and scored once in this season’s league.
The Ghanaian star to watch is Owusu Kwabena who plays for
Cordoba, in Spain. He has three caps with the Black Stars and was a part of Ghana squad in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, also in Egypt. He scored four goals in the U-23 AFCON qualifiers.
On Saturday when Nigeria takes on Cote d’Ivoire, the player to watch out for is Christian Kouamé. The player who wears shirt number 11 and features for Italian side, Genoa, scored twice in the qualifiers.
He has been in a brilliant form with Genoa, having scored five goals and assisted three in Serie A this season.
In the South African squad is Luther Singh who plays for Morirense in Portugal. He won the Golden Boot as top scorer of the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations Zambia 2017. He scored two goals in five caps with senior Bafana Bafana side.
The star player to watch out for in the Zambian squad is Patson Daka of Red Bull Salzburg in Austria. He was voted best player when Zambia won the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations at home in 2017. He won CAF Youth Player of the Year award for the same year.
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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