SPORT - The African Mirror

Aug

03

2021

‘For the football purists, there’s no better league than LaLiga’ – Teko Modise

SPORT

TEKO Modise was one of South African football’s greatest thinkers and technicians, so it’s no surprise that the former Bafana Bafana creative midfielder regards Spain’s LaLiga as the best league in the world for the football artist. With the kick-off of the 2021/22 LaLiga season now just days away, Modise brought some Soweto sauce to Spain as he launched the new season’s LaLiga Puma Accelerate and Adrenaline match balls with a special photoshoot in his Meadowlands hometown with football visual artists, Kasi Flavour. “In LaLiga they put the emphasis on what makes football football, which is the highly technical and…

Aug

01

2021

By The African Mirror

Olympics: Italy hails new sprint king, as drama unfolds at airport

SPORT

GABRIELLE TETRAULT and MITCH PHILLIPS LAMONT Marcell Jacobs has won the most coveted crown in athletics, giving Italy its first 100 metres gold on a night of high drama in Tokyo. As Jacobs stormed to the first Olympic title of the post-Usain Bolt era, the fate of a Belarusian sprinter's Tokyo Games was playing out at a nearby airport. Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who had been due to compete in the women's 200 metres on Monday, told Reuters she had sought the protection of Japanese police at Tokyo's Haneda airport after being taken to the airport against her wishes. She said the…

Jan

08

2021

By The African Mirror

Percy Tau recalled by Brighton & Albion

SPORT

BOITUMELO RANTAO SOUTH Africa’s top strike Percy Tau has returned to one of the best leagues in the world, the British Premier League and is set to feature for Brighton Hove & Albion in Britain's Premier League. Tau has been on loan in Belgium for two and-a-half years since being acquired in 2018. The 26 year-old began his international club career in Belgium’s second division, before being sent to UEFA Champions League in Club Brugge for a loan spell. Tau netted four goals, and tallied 8 assists, in a league title winning season in 2019/20. Tau then joined RSC Anderlecht,…

Jan

03

2021

By The African Mirror

The impact of Brexit on British Premier League

SPORT

BOITUMELO RANTAO FOR talented African football players, the English Premier League is viewed as one of the elite football leagues in the globe, an aspiration that has now been marred by various barriers. The political decision by the British government to leave the European Union (EU) has created an atmosphere of uncertainty for non-UK players on a journey to the highest-level of football. The call to push into Brexit unknown has plunged players and football clubs into uncertainty, amid already strict regulations that foreigners face after receiving a callup from Premier league teams. Prior to Brexit, eligibility was subject to…

Jan

13

2021

By The African Mirror

F1 team principal sacked ahead of 2021 season

SPORT

BOITUMELO RANTAO FORMULA One team Alpine Racing, formerly known as Renault F1 Racing, has ended their tenure with team boss Cyril Abitebou. The French-owned team made the announcement on Monday. “I would like to thank the Groupe Renault for having trusted me for many years, particularly with the relaunch and reconstruction of the team since 2016,” Cyril Abiteboul said in a statement. Speaking on his departure, Abiteboul said that he felt that he was leaving behind a concrete base for the French manufacturer to grow. “The solid foundations of the racing team and the entities in France and England built…

Jul

23

2022

By The African Mirror

Mane named African Footballer of Year again

SPORT

SADIO Mane was named African Footballer of Year after a season in which he kicked the winning penalty for Senegal as they claimed their first Africa Cup of Nations title and repeated the feat when they secured World Cup qualification. Mane finished ahead of Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah, his former Liverpool teammate, and fellow Senegalese Edouard Mendy in the voting. It was the second time the 30-year-old Mane, who last month joined German champions Bayern Munich, has won the award. He was the last winner of the award in 2019. The Confederation of African Football did not hold it over…

Jul

23

2022

By The African Mirror

Olympic champion Korir leads trio of Kenyans into 800m final

SPORT

AMY TENNERY KENYA'S Olympic champion Emmanuel Korir produced his best performance of the season to win his 800 metres semi-final, while Algerian Slimane Moula came from behind to win his race in the fastest time of the day. Korir, one of three Kenyans to advance to Saturday's final in Eugene, Oregon, took it easy to move through his opening heat but took a more aggressive approach in the semi-final. Nearly half a second behind the leader with 100m left, he sprinted ahead of compatriot Wyclife Kisasy and Australian Peter Bol down the final straight, sneaking across the finish line in…

Jul

23

2022

By The African Mirror

Lyles retains 200m crown as US sweep podium, Jackson wins women’s title

ATHLETICS

NOAH Lyles retained his 200 metres title as U.S. sprinters secured their second podium sweep while Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce made it a 1-2 finish for Jamaica in the women's event at the World Championships on Thursday. Lyles, bronze medallist at the Tokyo Games, scorched to victory in 19.31 seconds to become the third-fastest athlete of all time over the distance and break four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson's national record. Five days after Fred Kerley led a U.S. 1-2-3 in the 100m, Lyles produced another dominant performance to clinch gold ahead of Tokyo runner-up Kenny Bednarek in 19.77 while…

Jul

21

2022

By The African Mirror

Morocco vs South Africa as women’s football enters a new era

SPORT

THIS weekend’s Women’s African Football Championship (Wafcon) final between Morocco and South Africa in Morocco marks a new era. With it, women’s football in Africa has reached a second phase of its development. If the first phase was about the rise of a few superpowers, led by Nigeria, then the new phase is about a spread of teams rising to the top as development of the game takes hold on the continent. Author CHUKA ONWUMECHILI, Professor of Communications, Howard University Wafcon is the women’s Afcon, the biggest national tournament on the continent, held every two years. The championship final is…

Jul

21

2022

By The African Mirror

Superstars Sadio Mané and Mo Salah eclipse African football at home

SPORT

SENEGAL’S Sadio Mané and Egypt’s Mo Salah are among 10 players nominated for the African Footballer of the Year prize at this year’s Caf Awards held by the Confederation of African Football in Rabat, Morocco. Both players rose to global prominence playing for Liverpool in the English Premier League, propelling the club to three champions league finals and winning a title. Both have won Caf player of the year before, Salah twice in 2017 and 2018, and Mané once in 2019. Now Mané is poised to even the score at 2-2. Star forwards, their pursuits on the field are the…