football - The African Mirror

Apr

2023

Five things you may not know about Real Zaragoza

THE club from Spain’s fifth-largest city have been playing at LaLiga SmartBank level for almost a decade, yet boasts a glorious past. Here come five things you may not know about the club. Real Zaragoza may not have played at LaLiga Santander level since 2013, but the team from the city of the same name boast a glorious past and is one of the most successful clubs in the history of Spanish football. Los Blanquillos – a nickname which refers to their white shirts – was founded in 1932 and have achieved a lot in its 91 years of history.…

Apr

2023

By MICHAEL SARPONG MFUM, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Former Ghana midfielder, Doreen Awuah, is bringing football to young girls

FOOTBALL

FOOTBALL is often seen as a male sport, but for Doreen Angelina Awuah, it was worth running away from home for. "As a young girl, I received lashes from my father on several occasions when I returned home from playing football. My parents warned me not to play football because it was considered a sport for males and told me to concentrate on my education," said Awuah. However, she was determined to pursue her passion, which led her to run away from home and relocate to the Western Region of Ghana for three years. "I was not given the opportunity…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

LaLiga acts to kick racism out of football

NEWS

LALIGA - one of the biggest football leagues in the world - has kicked off its campaign against racism. Many African football players, starting with the great Samuel E’to of Cameroon and Yaya Toure of Senegal, have been subjected to racist chants by soccer fans, leading to the start of the campaign. The campaign started on March 14 and ends on March 21, the World Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The aim of the campaign, launched in partnership with EA SPORTS TM, is to raise awareness of the importance of eradicating racism in all areas of society. It…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Lethal Liverpool smash Manchester United for seven in record win

SPORT

LIVERPOOL brought Manchester United's bandwagon to a shuddering halt as Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah all scored twice in a record 7-0 hammering of their arch-rivals to boost their Premier League top-four hopes at Anfield on Sunday. A week after a resurgent United claimed their first trophy since 2017 by winning the League Cup and amid talk of a late title push they were blown away either side of halftime as Liverpool recorded their biggest ever victory in the fixture. Third-placed United had looked marginally the better side for 43 minutes but it turned into an Anfield horror show for…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

Africa looks to football to accelerate tourism, grow talent in Africa

NEWS

BIRD STORY AGENCY MORE African countries are seeking to leverage their tourism potential while simultaneously developing sports by partnering with football clubs across Europe. Malawi is the latest country to strike deal with a European club, signing with Spanish Segunda División club, CD Leganes, to make the country a rotating main sponsor for the club. Under the partnership, officially launched on January 22 before a match against Levante UD at the Butarque Municipal Stadium, "Malawi, the Warm Heart of Africa" will appear on the front of the first team's kits during matches and in media backdrops. According to CD Leganes…

Dec

2022

By The African Mirror

Are Moroccans Arab or African? Geopolitics, football, and the future of Africa

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

OPINION PIECE BY RICHARD ALI WHEN Morocco held firm with a 1-0 win over Portugal despite Portugal's dominance in the quarterfinal match at the Qatar World Cup, Africans worldwide roared their approval. An African side had made it to the World Cup semi-finals for the first time. However, a statement by team captain Sofaine Boufal following their round-of-16 win against Spain, acknowledging Muslim and Arab support and ignoring Africa altogether, ignited a virtual riot that touched on one of Africa's most dramatic fault lines—the identity question. Did the Moroccans not see themselves as African? Millions of African supporters said "no"…

Dec

2022

By The African Mirror

Messi or Ronaldo? Football’s hottest debate rages on in Qatar

SPORT

PHILIP O'CONNOR IT may have been a rest day at the World Cup on Thursday but there was no stopping the football discussion that never ends - who is the better player, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? With no games in the Qatari capital for the second straight day, fans streamed to the Souk Waqif to shop and see the sights, and the decade-long debate about who is the GOAT - the "greatest of all time" - continued in the cafes and restaurants. Fans of Argentina, who meet the Netherlands in their World Cup quarter-final on Friday, and Portugal, who…

Nov

2022

By The African Mirror

Can an African team win the World Cup? New football study crunches the numbers

SPORT

MANY football lovers hope an African team will finally win the men’s 2022 Fifa World Cup. The world has been waiting for this since the great Brazilian player Pelé predicted (in the 1970s) that an African country would win before the year 2000. That didn’t happen, but it didn’t stop Patrice Motsepe, president of the Confederation of African Football, from saying (in 2021): An African team must win the World Cup in the near future. But is it realistic to keep hoping? Are African teams doing what they need to compete with the world’s best, making it just a matter…

Nov

2022

By The African Mirror

No major surprises in Tunisia’s World Cup squad

SPORT

TUNISIA has dropped the French-based winger Saif-Eddine Khaoui for the World Cup but coach Jalel Kadri made no other major changes in naming his 26-man selection. Khaoui was chosen in the squad that competed at the World Cup in Russia four years ago and, although infrequently played for Tunisia since, had been expected to be included given his form in Ligue 1 for his club Clermont. A total of 10 players survive from the squad that competed at the last World Cup, where Tunisia were beaten by both Belgium and England but did win their last group game against Panama. Veteran goalkeeper…

Oct

2022

By The African Mirror

Griezmann scores twice as Atletico Madrid win at Real Betis

SPORT

TWO second-half goals from Antoine Griezmann, one scored directly from a corner kick, gave Atletico Madrid a 2-1 win at Real Betis on Sunday, extending their unbeaten run in LaLiga to five games. Atletico climbed back to third in the standings on 23 points, eight behind leaders Real Madrid and two from second-placed Barcelona, who have a game in hand and host Athletic Bilbao later on Sunday. Betis are fifth on 20 points. It was Atletico's fifth win in six away games this season and Betis's first loss at home. "We had lost two important points against Rayo at home…