SPORT - The African Mirror

May

11

2023

South African steps into world trail running

ATHLETICS

MBULELI Mathanga, winner of this year’s Two Oceans Half Marathon, Johardt van Heerden, multiple winner of the Otter, Whale and Cape Town Trail marathons and Siboniso Soldaka, fastest 3000m steeplechaser in the country this year will represent South Africa - and the continent - at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships. They will be joined by world-class, internationally-based athletes, Toni McCann, Naomi Brand and Meg Mackenzie. While South Africa has participated in both trail and mountain running championships in the past, this will be the country’s first involvement in the newly constituted, combined event. Both disciplines have been formally…

May

10

2023

By The African Mirror

Messi and Fraser-Pryce win top Laureus awards

SPORT

ARGENTINA'S World Cup-winning captain Lionel Messi was named the Laureus Sportsman of the Year, while sprint champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce bagged the top women's honour at the awards ceremony. Messi also received an award on behalf of the Argentina men's football team, who were named World Team of the Year after their triumph at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The 35-year-old Paris St Germain forward has previously won the award once before, sharing it with Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton in 2020. Messi also became the first athlete to scoop both the World Sportsman of the Year Award and the…

May

06

2023

By RAMIRO SCANDOLO

Messi receives offer from Saudi club Al-Hilal

SPORT

LIONEL Messi has received a formal offer to join Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal next season, a source close to Argentina's World Cup-winning captain said. The offer from the Saudi club is the only one Messi has received so far, the source added. Argentine media have reported that the offer is worth around $400 million a year. Al-Hilal did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of normal business hours. The 35-year-old Messi has also been linked in the media with a move back to his boyhood club Barcelona, with the United States Major League Soccer club Inter Miami…

May

06

2023

By ANTONIO DENTI and GABRIELE PILERI

Naples goes wild after first league title since Maradona era

SPORT

DOZENS of revellers were injured in wild celebrations in the southern Italian city of Naples after its soccer team became Serie A champions for the first time in 33 years, local officials said. Mass street partying, punctuated by fireworks, flares, horns and firecrackers, began late on Thursday after the Napoli team secured the "Scudetto" title with a 1-1 draw away at Udinese in northeast Italy. "Even those who don't follow football took to the streets to celebrate. I am not a supporter, but I took to the streets for a sense of belonging to this wonderful city, which has so much to…

May

06

2023

By STEVE KEATING

Lots of sporting buzz in Miami but can F1 deliver?

SPORT

WITH Formula One drivers facing off at the Miami Grand Prix, the Florida Panthers making a surprising Stanley Cup playoff run and Miami Heat facing the New York Knicks in the NBA - there is no shortage of sporting buzz this week in South Florida. But sports fans may have to look to the Panthers and Heat for some genuine excitement, warned Aston Martin's double world champion Fernando Alonso, with the Miami Grand Prix shaping up as another Red Bull victory parade. "Maybe not too many surprises," Alonso told reporters on Thursday. "If you have the fastest car, you can…

May

04

2023

By The African Mirror

Embid become the 2nd African to win NBA MVP Award

BASKETBALL

PHILADELPHIA 76ers centre Joel Embiid has won the NBA's Most Valuable Player award for the first time, the league announced. Embiid was chosen over Denver Nuggets centre Nikola Jokic, to whom he lost the award in the past two seasons, and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who won back-to-back awards in 2019 and 2020. The Cameroonian big man received 73 first-place votes from a panel of 100 broadcasters and journalists, marking the fifth consecutive win for an international player. The 29-year-old is only the second African player to become MVP after Nigerian-American Hakeem Olajuwon from the Houston Rockets in the…

May

05

2023

By The African Mirror

Jon Moncayola, a rising star who is already a leader for CA Osasuna

SPORT

THE midfielder, who has also filled in at right-back this season, has played the third-most minutes of the squad. Jon Moncayola is only 24 years of age, but he has already impressed enough on the pitch to earn a 10-year deal tying him to his boyhood club CA Osasuna until 2031. Such a long-term deal is almost unheard of in modern football, but Moncayola isn’t a typical footballer. He is a CA Osasuna fan first and foremost, and it was a dream come true when he debuted for the first team on opening day in 2019/20: a 1-0 victory away…

May

05

2023

By The African Mirror

Abde Ezzalzouli, the Moroccan youngster powering CA Osasuna’s Copa del Rey charge

FOOTBALL

THE 21-year-old has been key to the Pamplona side’s run to the Copa del Rey final and has earned praise from Xavi Hernández, the coach of his parent club FC Barcelona. When it became clear towards the end of the 2022 summer transfer window that FC Barcelona was going to loan out their talented young winger Abde Ezzalzouli, CA Osasuna coach Jagoba Arrasate urged the club’s sporting director Braulio Vázquez to do all he could to bring this rising star to El Sadar. And, he succeeded. On the final day of the window, Abde was brought in on a season-long…

May

05

2023

By The African Mirror

How CA Osasuna rejuvenated its youth structure to usher in a new generation of first-team players

FOOTBALL

THROUGHOUT its 103-year history, CA Osasuna has punched above its weight. Coming from a city, Pamplona, of fewer than 200,000 people and surrounded by huge historical clubs in the Basque Country such as Athletic Club and Real Sociedad, they have had little choice. And given the meagre resources at their disposal, their achievements are admirable. They have spent 41 seasons in LaLiga Santander and achieved eight top-10 finishes, their best being when they came fourth in 1990/91 and 2005/06. They also had memorable campaigns in knockout competitions, reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2007 and Copa del Rey…

May

05

2023

By The African Mirror

Five things you may not know about CA Osasuna

FOOTBALL

HERE comes a look at five interesting facts about one of the clubs to have spent the most time in the top flight of Spanish football, a club which is owned by its members and which prides itself on never giving up. Having spent 41 seasons in the top flight of Spanish football, and 37 in the second tier, CA Osasuna is one of the most historic clubs in LaLiga. It is also, along with Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Athletic Club, one of just four professional football clubs still owned by the club members. Throughout its more than 100…