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/ 30 May 2008

Africa kicks off month of World Cup qualifiers

Africa’s top footballers head wearily back from a demanding club season in Europe for an intensive month of World Cup qualifiers starting this weekend. Players like Michael Essien, Samuel Eto’o, Frederic Kanoute, Nwankwo Kanu and Emmanuel Adebayor go from the cauldron of top club competition into an equally demanding round of qualifiers for the 2010 finals in South Africa.

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/ 15 February 2008

The riddle of the sphinx

First things first: the best team won. Many, including myself, dismissed Egypt’s chances of defending their crown because of a ropey qualifying campaign and because they lost a number of important players from their 2006 squad. But the Pharaohs showed that their domestic league continues to cultivate quality footballers.

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/ 7 February 2008

Africa gears up for top-grade semis

Hosts Ghana kick off a high-calibre Africa Cup of Nations semifinal programme when they take on Cameroon at Accra’s Ohene Djan stadium on Thursday at 5pm GMT. The Black Stars will have to make do without suspended captain John Mensah, banned for one match after being sent off in Ghana’s 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Nigeria.

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/ 5 February 2008

CAF deny Drogba and Kanoute award allegations

African soccer’s governing body has denied telling Didier Drogba and Frederic Kanoute that they had to attend last week’s African Footballer of the Year award ceremony to have a chance of winning. Côte d’Ivoire striker Drogba opted not to travel to Togo and Mali’s Kanoute, who did go, was declared the winner.

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/ 2 February 2008

Kanoute wins top African soccer award

Mali and Sevilla forward Frederic Kanoute was named Africa Player of 2007 on Friday, beating Chelsea clubmates Michael Essien and Didier Drogba to become the first European-born player to earn the honour. Nigeria’s Cynthia Uwak was chosen as the best women’s player ahead of South Africa’s Modise Portia.

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/ 24 October 2007

Arsenal equals league’s record win

Arsenal and Manchester United moved closer to a place in the next round of the Champions League on Tuesday with big wins that extended the English duo’s perfect starts. Arsenal beat visiting Slavia Prague 7-0 to equal the competition’s biggest win, while English champion United won at Dynamo Kiev 4-2.