football - The African Mirror

Jul

2022

Superstars Sadio Mané and Mo Salah eclipse African football at home

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…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Massive quarter-finals await at WAFCON 2022 with World Cup spots up for grabs

SPORT

The group stages are done and dusted. Eight teams have progressed to the quarter-finals of the 2022 TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, as we reach the business end of the tournament. 3️⃣ 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒, 3️⃣ 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐒 ✅#TeamMorocco and #TeamSouthAfrica have won all of their #TotalEnergiesWAFCON2022 games so far! 🧤Many more to come? 🤔#EmpoweringOurGame | @Banyana_Banyana | @EnMaroc pic.twitter.com/J85IleBYGE— #TotalEnergiesWAFCON2022 (@CAFwomen) July 11, 2022 Morocco vs Botswana The hosts have been perfect in the tournament so far, grinding their way through their Group A matches and amassing nine points, scoring five goals and conceding just once, to top the…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Nkrumah and football: how Ghana’s top players ended up in North America

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

AFRICAN footballers have been migrating overseas since the 1920s when French leagues attracted some West African players. The migration of African talent to Europe intensified from the 1980s to the 2000s as football became more globalised and economically viable. Thousands of African footballers have since found their way to Europe. Many have succeeded in carving a niche for themselves, like Abedi Pele, Didier Drogba, George Weah and Samuel Eto'o. The performances of these stars have reinforced the perception that the African continent has some of the best football talent. Author ERNEST YEBOAH ACHEAMPONG, Lecturer/Researcher, University of Education, Winneba Less is…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

LaLiga wonderkids primed to steal the show

SPORT

The emergence of lively young talent in the Spanish LaLiga Santander has breathed fire into an exciting 2021/2020 season. Today, we shine the light on the most exciting budding prospects that are expected to lift the mantle and usher in a new era of flair and excellence. Pedri LaLiga is notorious for creating technical players who are excellent on the ball and work best in fluid systems. Pedri, who broke into Barcelona’s first team last season, was the driving force of their midfield, initiating the offense with a unique creative spark. The young midfielder came through at Las Palmas before…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Banyana Banyana Ace joins Athletico Madrid

SPORT

FORWARD sensation Thembi Kgatlana has officially become an Atlético de Madrid Femenino player. The Spanish giants announced the two-year signing of the 25-year old South African from rival team SD Eibar after a successful 2020/21 season. While playing for Eibar, she excelled for the team, scoring 10 goals in 21 games, which led to Atlético Madrid securing her signature. #BienvenidaKgatlana 🔴⚪ pic.twitter.com/qOAzCr3Ilk— At. Madrid Femenino (@AtletiFemenino) July 6, 2021 The 2018 CAF African Woman Footballer of the Year’s international football career involves time spent in the United States for Houston Dash, in China for Beijing BG Phoenix and in Portugal…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Euro 2020: football’s promotion of unhealthy consumption must end

HEALTH

THE Euros are here – Europe’s festival of football, featuring some of the best players on the planet in peak physical condition. Yet alongside this spectacle runs a carnival of corporate advertising – often marketing unhealthy products such as alcohol, junk food and gambling apps. ROBIN IRELAND, PhD Candidate, Commercial Determinants of Health in Sport, University of Glasgow CHRISTOPHER BUNN, Lecturer in Sociology, University of Glasgow How is it that a showcase for health and fitness became so saturated with unhealthy messages? As Gareth Southgate has said, the tournament means a lot to players and fans alike. That means these…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Football versus faith – the Ramadan conundrum

RELIGION

MAHER MEZAHI WHEN Senegalese striker Demba Ba got off to a slow start with Newcastle United after joining them in July 2011, his coach, Alan Pardew, blamed it on his decision to fast during the holy month of Ramadan. “It’s difficult for strikers. Fasting takes their sharpness away,” Pardew said in a post-match interview. A devout Muslim, Ba partakes in the annual custom of abstaining from food and drink from sunrise to sunset throughout the ninth month in the Muslim calendar. Fasting during Ramadan is obligatory for all able-bodied Muslims. Special exemptions are made for children, the elderly, those who…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria’s Super Falcons: playing and begging

SPORT

OLUWASHINA OKELEJI DESPITE being Africa’s most successful side by far, with more continental titles than their male counterparts, the Nigerian women’s national football team have been denied the respect befitting their hegemonic dominance and treated as an afterthought. This culture of disrespect is not new. It goes back close to two decades at least and has seen the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) deploy a number of deplorable tactics – from scapegoating to gaslighting and using the divide-and-conquer approach to devastating effect – to shirk their responsibilities and browbeat successive national teams into submission. As Africa’s sole representative at the first…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Dybala regretful on breaking regulations

SPORT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER PAULO Dybala has apologised for breaking COVID-19 lockdown laws while out partying. The Juventus forward acknowledged his error after being fined by police for attending a party with teammates Weston McKennie and Arthur Melo. The three were caught after police were called by neighbours who reported a social gathering taking place at US midfielder’s McKennie’s home in Turin. Dybala apologised on Instagram for disappointing his team and his Juventus fans for breaking the covid-19 lockdown. Italy’s government imposed another lockdown as a measure to prevent high cases from super spreader gatherings during the popular Easter season, where…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Bafana Bafana coach fired after failing to qualify for AFCON

SPORT

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER THE South African Football Association (SAFA) has fired coach Molefi Ntseki after the team failed to qualify for the 2022 AFCON tournament in Cameroon. The national football team - Bafana Bafana - lost 0-2 to Sudan in a match which they needed just a point to qualify for the AFCON. SAFA CEO Teboho Motlanthe announced that SAFA’s national executive committee met this morning and agreed, throught a vote, to terminate Ntseki’s contract. Motlanthe said he, as head of administration, would attend to all the legalities associated with the decision to part ways with the national coach. He…