STATISTICS AND NEWS OF THE WEEK
Last monday, 30 September, the First ever Women’s Club Championship ,which involves 21 clubs, began in Khartoum with the match between Tahadi and Difaain . It was a historical day for women and for Sudan ,where new Minister of Sport Wala Essam and many diplomats attended the match. One battle more won by Equality !
“This is a historical game not only for women’s sport but for Sudan,” Essam told reporters.
“We will give special attention to women’s sport and women’s football.”
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UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RECORDS
After the success of Juventus against Leverkusen last tuesday, Cristiano Ronaldo broke a new Record in the UEFA Champions League. He is the Player with the MOST WINS in the History, 102, one more than Iker Casillas, the Goalkeeper of Real Madrid and FC Porto.
Ronaldo equals also the record of Real Madrid’s Legend Raul in scoring against 33 clubs in the Champions League !
Real Madrid (34 matches) holds the record of the Longest Serie of matches with scoring minimum one goal in Champions League History. FC Barcelona (29 matches) is ranked second before Paris SG, which has scored in his 26th consecutive match in Galatasaray last tuesday and is able to break the Record …
Serge Gnabry , the German striker of FC Bayern München, has scored 4 goals last week in Tottenham (Bayern success 7-2) and is the first Player since 4 years (Cristiano Ronaldo was the last in december 2015) to realise this exploit. He is the First in the Champions League history to score the 4 goals in one half !
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FOOTBALL LEGENDS CELEBRATE PRESIDENT WEAH.
Members of the African Football Legends Organisation have celebrated one of theirs, George Opong Weah, President of Liberia, and IFFHS legend, on the occasion of his birthday as he turned 54 on October 1, 2019.
George Weah receiver the IFFHS Award of AFRICA’S CENTURY PLAYER in 2000 !
Birthday best wishes which streamed in through social media posts, text messages and phone calls, came from legendary football players who are members of the six-year old organization based in Johannesburg, South Africa; some of them featuring in the IFFHS Legends roll-call. These include the likes of Nwankwo Kanu, Samuel Eto’o, Lucas Radebe, Essam Hadary, Kolo Touré, and some fifty more legends, who all had very kind words and wishes for the man who in years gone by was a truly iconic figure in global football.
George Weah, President of Liberia !
In response to the wishes, President George Opong Weah, on twitter, and facebook, expressed his appreciation, that of his wife, the First Lady of Liberia, and his entire family; while also extending same wishes, as well as peace and prosperity for the country he governs. He also prayed for all those born in the month of October.
The African Football Legends Organisation founded by a group of six in Johannesburg in 2013 to unite, promote, and support retired legends in need, now feature 102 members. They have organized fund-raising activities with the help of sponsors, and have a number of them lined-up in Uzbekistan, Turkey, and Russia, respectively, in the months ahead.
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FOOTBALL COMMENTATOR PREDICTS U-23 GOLD FOR CAMEROON.
A credible football commentator and analyst has predicted that the Cameroon U-23 squad would win the gold medal when the eight best Africa Under-23 national teams square up in Egypt from November 8-22 in a tournament marking the third edition of the African Cup of Nations in that category. Apart from seeking the successors of Nigeria who are current champions, the best three at the end of the tournament will represent the continent in the football tournament of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
Following the final draw made in Alexandria, Egypt on Wednesday, October 2, hosts, Egypt are top seeds for group A that also features Mali, Ghana and Cameroon. Group B, with defending champions, Nigeria, as top seeds will also feature Ivory Coast, South Africa and Zambia.
The commentator who is one of Cameroon’s rising stars in the art, René Katche banks his argument on the premise that the team’s head coach and most capped player of the Cameroon national football team, and deputy and former team mate, Rigobert Song, and Raymond Kalla, respectively, have the charisma and coaching savvy to deliver on promise.
“Rigobert Song has succeeded in transferring his footballer qualities to the teams he has coached already. His deputy, Raymond Kalla was known to be a dependable player who can also dispense coaching techniques with good results. The two can tangle well,” says René.
The commentator further says: “with the crop of players in the squad, all we now need is the required logistics and appropriate preparation program and we’ll be there. In fact, Cameroon will win the gold medal.”
Of the eight teams in contention for the three places to Tokyo 2020, two of them have won the football Olympics gold before. Nigeria, led by IFFHS legend player, Nwankwo Kanu won the gold medal in Atlanta in 1996. Cameroon led by a senior professional trio, Patrick Mboma, Samuel Eto’o and Geremi Njitap duplicated same in Sydney in 2000.
The upcoming tournament will be the second continental party to hold in Egypt this year after the 2019 Total African Cup of Nations, the first to feature 24 teams, which held from June 21 to July 19, and won by Algeria.