TOURE REMAINS AFRICA’S BEST!

Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure made it two titles in a row by winning the 2012 African Player of the Year at a glamorous Glo-CAF Awards Gala in Accra on Thursday at the Banquet Hall, State House in Accra. The votes from the Head Coaches or Technical Directors of the National Associations affiliated to CAF determined the winner.

Toure was crowned the best African player at a colourful ceremony attended by the crème de la crème of African football officials, current and former players and administrators. Ghana’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Clement Kofi Humado and Minister of Communication, Haruna Iddrisu graced the event as did CAF President Issa Hayatou and members of the CAF Executive Committee.

Top international musicians who performed included Salif Keita, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Nigerian afrobeat musician Lagbaja and Ghanaian songstress, Irene Logan.

The back to back titles put the 29-year-old into the company of Senegal’s El- Hadji Diouf and Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o who achieved similar feats. The Manchester City player beat his compatriot Didier Drogba who finished second with Cameroon’s Alex Song coming third.

Drogba whose last kick for English club , Chelsea won the European Champions League for the Blues in a penalty shoot-out also scored in FA Cup win for Chelsea but Toure’s immense contribution in helping Manchester City win their first domestic championship in 44 years saw him pick up Africa’s most prestigious individual award
Egyptian and Al Ahly midfielder Mohamed Aboutreika was crowned African player of the Year Based in Africa. The 34-year old bagged his second title after winning the same award in 2008.

Reigning African champions Zambia won the National Team of the Year award after their heroics of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea and it was no surprise either that their charismatic coach, Herve Renard walked away with the Coach of the Year award for steering Chipolopolo to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title.

Equatorial Guinea playmaker Genoveva Anonma was adjudged Women’s Footballer of the Year for her exploits with club and country. Her goals helped Equatorial Guinea win their second African Women’s Championship this year. Egypt’s Mohamed Salah scooped the Most Promising Talent of the Year and Algeria’s Haimoudi Djamel as Referee of the Year.

CAF Champions League winners’ Al Ahly of Egypt was adjudged Club of the Year whilst Gabonese national team supporters grabbed the Fair Play award.

The late Egyptian football icon Mahmoud El Gohary was posthumously awarded with the Legend Awards in recognition of his contribution and dedication to African football. Rigobert Song of Cameroon was also presented with Legend Awards for his contribution to the game over the years.

This is the fourth time the award has been staged in Ghana after 2006, 2009 and 2011.


FULL LIST OF AWARD WINNERS

LEGEND AWARD – Mahmoud El-Gohary (Egypt)
LEGEND AWARD – Rigobert Song (Cameroon)
PLATINUM AWARD - John Mahama (President of Ghana)
AFRICA’S BEST XI:
GOALKEEPER: Lutunu Dule ( Congo)
DEFENDERS: Ahmed El- Basha (Sudan), Walid Hicheri (Tunisia), Stoppila Sunzu (Zambia), Ahmed Fathi (Egypt)
MIDFIELDERS: Mohamed Aboutreika (Egypt), Yaya Toure (Cote d’Ivoire), Alex Song (Cameroon), Younes Belhanda (Morocco)
FORWARDS: Didier Drogba,(Cote d’Ivoire), Christopher Katongo (Zambia)
COACH: Herve Renard (France)

CATALONIA LIST XAVI, PIQUE FOR EAGLES

An array of Barcelona stars have been called up to play for Catalonia in a friendly with the Super Eagles on January 2.

The game is to serve as part of the preparation for the Eagles as they head to South Africa for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Catalonia, coached by Dutch legend Johan Cruyff, is a region of Spain but plays friendly games against national teams from time to time but is not permitted to play in official competitions.

Cruyff is taking the friendly seriously and it has been confirmed that Barcelona superstars Xavi, Sergio Busquets and Gerald Pique will face the 1994 African champions on January 2.

Other Barcelona players that will be involved include Victor Valdes, Martin Montoya, Cristian Tello and Jordi Alba. Other Catalonia stars that have been confirmed for the game are Bartra and Sergi Roberto.

The game will take place at Estadi Cornellà El Prat, home ground of Spanish side Espanyol.

This will be the second meeting between the Eagles and Catalonia. The first match, in December 1998, ended in an emphatic 5-0 defeat for Nigeria.

Merry Christmas

Bayon Team 

Papa Billy presenting a gift to visiting British Singapore team captain

Special wishes to Papa Billy who is undergoing medical surgery in Nederland. We miss you and prayingand hoping everything go well with you and we're eagerly looking forward to have you back with us. Bayon team wouldn't be the same without your true leadership.We will wait as long as it takes you to back  to your normal state and there's absolutely no rush. Get well soon old man!

Tributes flow in after death of Solomon Damagudu

Nigerian coach Solomon Demagudu (centre) was well liked and respected by his former colleagues at Cambodian football clubs. Photograph: Sreng Meng Srun/Phnom Penh Post

Naga Corp assistant coach Solomon Demagudu of Nigeria died in the early hours of Saturday morning at Calmette Hospital after losing his battle against a blood cancer that had spread to his intestines.

He was 30 years of age.

Ken Gadaffi, former president of the Nigerian Community Association and adviser to theNational Olympic Committee of Cambodia, expressed the “great loss” felt by his fellow nationals and the sports fraternity in Phnom Penh.

“It’s a shock to us all. He contributed so much to Cambodian football,” Gadaffi told the Post yesterday. “Solomon was a born leader and brought the African players together during his time here.”

Demagudu is the second Nigerian footballer to die on Cambodian soil in just over two years, following 25-year-old Wilson Mene’s fatal heart attack during a game in May 2010.

“At the time of [Demagadu’s] death, he was the President of the African Football Union and helped organise a tournament last year. He always fought for the welfare of the players,” added Gadaffi.

Solomon Demagadu joined Navy club Phouchung Neak in 2008 after a spell playing in Azerbaijan.

He made appearances for Post Tel Club before a recurring knee injury forced him to hang up his playing boots and turn coach.

He lead Khemera Keila for the 2010 season when the club was in a dire financial situation, before taking control of Division A1 club Chhlam Samuth. After successfully orchestrating their promotion to the Metfone C-League, Demagudu got a contract as assistant coach at Naga under head coach Prak Sovannara.

“Solomon knew of his health problem nine months ago and revealed it to me five months ago,” Sovannara told the Post. “Doctors tried to keep his spirits up as his condition became serious over the last month and he made regular trips to the hospital.”

He coach noted how, over the last 10 days, players and coaching staff at Naga had donated blood and spent time with him at his bedside.

“Solomon is the first foreign colleague of mine who left all his problems at home and concentrated fully on work. He never showed any weaknesses to his players,” added Sovannara. “We want to hold a minute’s silence in his honour when the league kicks off again [this Saturday].”

Phnom Penh Crown striker and national team star Kouch Sokumpheak, who had captained Khemera during Solomon’s stint, expressed his emotions at the tragic news.

“When I got the call from my friend [Naga defender and former Khemera team-mate] Tiet Chandara Sokha, I was very, very shocked. I knew him very well,” said Sokumpheak. “Solomon is a good foreigner who tried to help Khemera when they had financial problems. He tried to help Cambodian football.”

Demagudu is survived by two sons, his Azerbaijani wife and a sister, who all currently live in Phnom Penh. Burial arrangements are being made.

---

To contact the reporters on this story: Ung Chamroeun atchamroeun.ung@phnompenhpost.com
Dan Riley at dan.riley@phnompenhpost.com

San-siro in Cambodia

There's a sandy space in left corner of the national stadium of Cambodia mainly occupied by Africans and other nationals sometimes join in the gathering to enjoy beautiful game of football-soccer- from Mondays to Fridays starting at 4pm. The place has been named as San-siro by it founder Mr.Uba Anyanwu!

 Uba is an ex footballer of home base Enyimba FC of Aba who had played professional football in Maldives before moving to the kingdom. He's currently among two others in-charge of everyday activities at san siro ground and friendly matches. The aim is to bring players who are not currently under contract with teams to train and  play matches with premier league clubs in order to be seen and possibly get club's trials.

Uba Anyanwu with pot-belly posing for a shot before a game @ new Khmera field

San siro starting XI against Police FC @ new khmera field

Police FC starting XI

There are two coaches in-charge and one of which is current coach of lower division championship winner Ukachukwu Chidozie aka coach nasal (dozie) presently with Cambodia Mekong University FC and  Idowu aka coach wicked due to his strict fitness training. There are a lot players playing in Metfone league today that were discovered from san siro and such is leading scorer of 2011/2012 season

Mekong League Champion 2012

This year Mekong League came with huge challenges from all participating teams and according to a source they were determined to clinch the championship. However, more determined and better focus side is Cambodia Mekong University Football Club-CMUFC which is base in capital with hard working coaches ensuring a progressive attainment of the team in this edition.

Winning team handed the trophy by special guest

Star players for CMU 

Harry leading the striking role

Nwafor Kenneth greater defensive midfielder of CMU

Harry with trophy

Champions League round of 16

The second leg encounters for the champions league round of 16 kicks off on Tuesday with some exciting games coming up: 

Arsenal Vs Ac milan

First leg 4-0 C Victory to Milan

After a rather crushing and bitter defeat at the San siro stadium, Milan Italy (4-0),Arsenal welcome Ac Milan facing a Mountainous task to overturn this heavy defeat.

 From a first view it seems a lost battle but after the Recent overturn against Tottenham hotspurs the Gunners must fancy their chances of coming off this game with something. For those unaware, Arsenal were two goals down and came back to emphatically beat Harry Redknapp's Tottenham Hotspur 5-2.

 In football everything is possible but with all due respect, Ac Milan is not Tottenham Hotspur defensively, hence I feel an Arsenal elimination is at hand!

Benfica vs Zenit

First leg 3-2 Victory for Zenit

 Some shady goalkeeping by the reserve goalkeeper for Zenit gratified Benfica two goals but Zenit showed so much resilience and great team play to overcome this Talented Benfica side. This is a very open encounter and could easily swing either way, but Benfica will fancy their chances playing at home in front of their fanatical fans.

 Lately they have suffered their first two defeats of the season, first to Zenit and the second just days later in the local championship. It Would be a very unwelcome time to be experiencing the normal dip in form of the season.

  For Zenit,for a club that had gone practically more than two months without a competitive league game below their belt (due to the annual weather invoked league break in Russi) Zenit showed that the 8 friendly games they had played before the first leg encounter were enough to be very competitive. The coach, Spaletti, seems to have his team in the right direction.

 They have to be at their best anyway to beat this Benfica side that has won 15 of their last 19 home games and topped the preliminary group that had Legendary Manchester United and the surprisingFc Basel side with relative ease! It points to a very probable victory for Benfica, just football is not statistics!

 I take a joker on this prediction! 

Barcelona vs Leverkusen

Barcelona  Vs  Bayer Leverkusen: first leg 3-1 Barça victory

 Barcelona practically played as if it was a practice match when they visited Leverkusen for the 1^st leg. With the La Liga title largely slipping off their hands in favour of Real Madrid, thisgreat team's only means of crowning this season as another remarkable one is to win the champions league. Leverkusen have been doing quite well lately in the Bundesliga Germany, but In a stadium much longer and wider than the Leverkusen one like the Nou Camp ,compact defending would be Difficult for the Germans and with the possible absence of defender Abidal and  Xavi back in the team we could see a shower of goals in this encounter! I see Barcelona comfortably sailing through.

Apoel vs Lyon

First leg victory to Lyon 1-0 .

History making Apoel welcome Lyon. Who could have thought these ever possible just months ago and The Ivan Jovanovich?s side do not seem to be satiated by their historic champion?s league second round qualification, they earned a well fought out 0-1 away defeat in the hands of Lyon and hence keeping the dream much alive.

 Lyon is clear historic favorites to qualify, but their away record is not very shinny of late. Winning just one of their last 7 previous European away fixtures. 7-0 in Zagreb in a very suspect game!

 The pressure is on Lyon and I expect the whole Cyprus to come out to support their pride bringing Apoel to success. Apoel should capitalize on this euphoria and play without pressure but ambition and they could just be on the way to writing a new page in champion?s league history.

All said it's time for them to play and for us to sit back watch and enjoy!

source: sundayolisehblog

Andre Villas Boas sacked!

AVB was sacked Sunday after watching his side losing to WBA in EPL last weekend. According to Sir Alex Ferguson this is not coming to people as a shock anymore.
Also from stamford bridge, midfielder Remires has just signed another new contract with blues with Di matteo standing in as interim or care taker manager till end of season (summer break). The question is can he stand the pressure if Chelsea fails to make last four which means no champions league next season?

Five star Real Madrid rout Espanyol

Real Madrid moved back 10 points clear at the top of the Primera Division thanks to a routine 5-0 win over Espanyol.

• La Liga review: Saturday's matches

GettyImagesReal Madrid have now scored an incredible 54 goals in 13 La Liga home games this season

Gonzalo Higuain scored twice, Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his customary goal and Sami Khedira and Kaka were also on target.

Ronaldo got the ball rolling for Real after 23 minutes, with the result never in doubt from then. Mesut Ozil quickly moved the ball Higuain, who found Ronaldo inside the area. The Portuguese stroked past Casilla for his 30th of the campaign.

Another lovely exchange of passes between Ronaldo and Ozil then found Khedira bursting through to score his first league goal for the club.

Just two minutes into the second period Kaka broke clear down the left and his reverse pass through to Higuain was expertly dispatched at the near post and the fourth goal arrived when Higuain slipped in Kaka, who accelerated past Didac Vila and finished neatly off the far post.

Higuain then took advantage of another intelligent pass from Kaka to blast high into the roof of the net, though he was denied a hat-trick by an excellent save from Casilla.

Sofiane Feghouli's first-half goal was enough to hand Valencia a hard-fought 1-0 win atGranada.

In a game of few clear-cut chances it was the Algerian's strike after 32 minutes that proved vital as he burst onto Jonas Goncalves' pass, turned inside Guilherme Siqueira and fired in a left-foot shot that Julio Cesar will have been disappointed to see slip through his grasp and into the net.

Jordi Alba came within inches of doubling Valencia's lead just before the break and despite having the better of the game after half-time Jaime Romero's shot off the inside of the post was the closest Granada came to an equaliser.

Two goals from Markel Susaeta guided Athletic Bilbao to their second victory over Basque rivals Real Sociedad this season, a 2-0 win which took them back into the top four of the Primera Division.

The hosts had by far the better of the opening period and deservedly went ahead when Susaeta collected Andoni Iraola's pass to fire past Claudio Bravo.

Susaeta also hit the bar and Bravo made a terrific triple save just before the break to keep the scoreline down, but Sociedad should have been level within minutes of the restart.

Carlos Vela's effort had clearly trickled over the goalline before Gorka Iraizoz pulled it into his grasp, however the goal was not given and, despite being under pressure, Athletic sealed all three points when Susaeta curled in a wonderful free-kick with 10 minutes remaining.

Abraham Fernandez scored an injury-time winner as bottom side Real Zaragoza produced a stunning late fightback to beat Villarreal 2-1.

The visitors had started the brighter and went in front after wonderful build up play from Nilmar and Javier Camunas left Alejandro Martinuccio with the simplest of finishes to score his first goal for the club.

Villarreal had chances to extend their lead in the first period but were sloppy after the break and they were made to pay when Luis Garcia fired in a wonderful volley from the edge of the area to equalise five minutes from time.

Carlos Marchena and Borja Valero then passed up good opportunities to take all three points for Villarreal, but it was the hosts who grabbed only their fourth victory of the season when the ball fell kindly to Abraham inside the area and he tucked the ball calmly past Diego Lopez

Arsenal finalising Nigeria tour plans

 

English Premier League side Arsenal getting ready for Nigeria pre-season trip

English Premier League side Arsenal are finalizing plans for a pre-season visit to Nigeria this summer.

Officials from the London club are in Nigeria to inspect more facilities across the country for the tour, scheduled for August.

Organisers DanJan Sports and Arsenal officials also met with some fans of the North London side.

"It's been a lovely time here, the energy level is absolutely unbelievable," Arsenal's marketing director Angus Kinnear.

"We are still inspecting potential facilities in different states and the fans are excited about the tour.

"Essentially, the connection with the fans has been amazing.

"Arsenal went to Asia last year and what we've seen on the ground here is encouraging.

"Like we've emphasised, there is a strong desire to connect with our fans in Africa and the first step starts in Nigeria."

The club traditionally hosts an annual pre-season tournament at the Emirates Stadium, but they opted to postpone the event for a year because of the 2012 London Olympics.

As part of their preparation for the 2012/13 season, the club have opted to connect with their huge fan base in Africa, by visiting the continent.

John Okusi of DanJan Sports said: "Arsenal has got a huge fan base in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, so far everything is going well."

"They've been to several states and officials are excited about the prospect of hosting the club here.

"There are only few things to be sorted out."

On a lighter note, Angus Kinnear revealed how the fans stunned him with their reaction to the North London derby victory against Tottenham Hotspur.

"The celebration and mood of the fans was shocking." Kinnear said.

"They celebrated that victory more than what I've ever experienced in London.

"It's amazing and I'm touched. The passion is incredible"

Interestingly in July 2008, DanJan Sports brought two other English clubs, Manchester United and Portsmouth, to the Nigerian capital Abuja for pre-season friendly.

Manchester United took on Portsmouth before Pompey then played against Nigeria Premier League (NPL) side Kano Pillars.

The English Premier League is hugely popular in football-mad Nigeria, with millions of fans following the league on both terrestrial and satellite television

Zambia crown Africa champion

2012 Africa Cup of Nations

Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast missed a penalty

Zambia 0-0 I Coast  Feb 12 2012 | Libreville

 

Zambia are champions of Africa!

After an epic shoot-out, the Chipolopolo defeated Cote d'Ivoire 8-7 on penalties in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations Final.

The match was 0-0 after 120 minutes.

Chipolopolo honoured the memory of their fallen 1993 team by clinching their first ever Africa Cup of Nations title.

Zambia emerged as winners at the Angondje stadium in Libreville by proving to be cooler customers than Cote d’Ivoire during the penalty kick session.

Cote d’Ivoire kicked off the final but Zambia were the first to threaten through a close range Nathan Sinkala strike that drew an excellent reaction save from Boubacar Barry.

The chance set the tone for what followed, clearly indicating that that the Zambians were hardly overawed by the occasion and prepared to cause problems for their star-studded opponents.

Just as they have been at the entire tournament, the southern Africans were revelling in their underdogs tag. Not even an early game-ending injury to Joseph Musonda could dampen Zambian enthusiasm, though it did force Herve Renard to use his first substitution just 10 minutes into the game by inserting Nyambe Mulenga to deputise at left-back.

13 minutes later, Rainford Kalaba came close to scoring the opener with a powerful free kick from distance. The ensuing Chipolopolo corner was converted into an inconclusive Elephants counter attack that was led by Gervinho, hinting at a possible Ivorian awakening.

Francois Zahoui’s men showed some glimmers of their quality on 30 minutes, their best chance coming when Didier Drogba’s clever backheel pass found an unmarked Yaya Toure who missed despite being well placed to score. Even so, the Zambians closed out the half looking the more composed side after having unsettled the title favourites.

Zambia’s superiority continued in the second period despite it initially seeming that that Francois Zahoui’s halftime chat had had the desired effect on the Ivorians. Their vigour quickly faded though and the tempo dropped, with Renard’s men creating a few chances through Christopher Katongo.

Despite their mediocrity up to that point, the Elephants were gifted a chance to take the lead in the 69th when Gervinho was taken down on the edge of the penalty area by Isaac Chansa.

Drogba stepped up to shoot the generous spot kick but missed his second penalty of the tournament, blasting his effort over high over Kennedy Mweene’s crossbar.

The dramatic sequence injected some much-needed urgency into the match for both sides but clear-cut scoring opportunities were still lacking. In the 87th minute substitute Max Gradel dragged an effort wide after twisting past his marker.

Zambia nearly punished their opponents for their wastefulness but Kolo Toure recovered well to intercept a Chansa chip headed towards the pacey Emmanuel Mayuka for regular time to end goalless.

At the start of extra time, Zambia picked up where they left off as Christopher Katongo first time shot forced an outstanding save from the ever-alert Barry. Cote d’Ivoire dominated possession but continued to have no effective response for the Chipolopolo.

With the dreaded penalty kicks approaching, the Ivorians pushed hard for a winner but failed to make their pressure count while Zambia were content to defend deep and make brief forays forward. No winner was found and a marathon penalty kick session followed in which Kolo Toure missed first and looked to have eliminated his team.

Rainford Kalaba handed the Elephants an improbable lifeline that Gervinho wasted. Stophira Sunzu stepped forward and proved much less merciful that his prior teammate, burying his shot confidently to offer his country their first continental title and washing away the final failures of 1974 and 1994.