NATIONAL TEAM - CONGO DR - COACH - Florent Ibenge appointed new coach

The 52-year-old, who fills the position left vacant since Claude LeRoy's departure, will combine the duties with his role as coach of AS Vita Club. President of the Congolese Football Federation Constant Omari said: "We decided to give a local coach a chance.

17 Aug 2014
TRANSFER - MOROCCO - Marseille sign Abdelaziz Barrada

Barrada started his career at Paris Saint-Germain before making his name in Spain with Getafe. The 25-year-old scored 15 goals in 34 appearances for Al Jazira last season.

17 Aug 2014
Transfer - Senegal - West Ham have signed striker Diafra Sakho from French side FC Metz

The 24-year-old Senegal international has moved to Upton Park after agreeing a four-year contract. His 43 goals over the last two seasons helped Metz win back-to-back promotions into France's Ligue 1.

16 Aug 2014
FIFA RANKING - Sierra Leone break new ground

Sierra Leone have climbed 14 places in the Fifa world rankings for August, lifting them into the top 50 for the fist time in their history.

14 Aug 2014
AFRICAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2014 - GROUP STAGE - 5TH MATCHES - ALL RESULTS

Semi-final line-ups complete.

11 Aug 2014
AFRICAN CONFEDERATION CUP 2014 - GROUP STAGE - 5TH MATCHES - Leopards stun Coton Sport as Nkana beat Al Ahly

A second-half hat-trick from Kader Bidimbou and a Cesaire Gandze strike gave Leopards the victory which helps them close the gap on leaders Coton Sport to just two points with one round of group matches remaining.

10 Aug 2014
African Confederation Cup 2014 - GROUP STAGE - 5TH MATCHES - PREVIEW

GROUP A
• Coton Sport vs AC Leopards -:-
• Asec Mimosas vs Real Bamako -:-

GROUP B
• Nkana vs Al Ahly -:-
• Etoile Sahel vs Sewe San Pedro -:-

8 Aug 2014
Transfer - ALGERIA - Carl Medjani and Kevin Constant join Trabzonspor

Algeria international Medjani, 29, has signed a three-year deal after Monaco agreed to terminate his contract. Constant, who can play in defence or midfield, has joined from Italians AC Milan for an undisclosed fee.

8 Aug 2014
TRANSFER - CONGO DR - Forest sign Congolese striker Assombalonga

Britt Assombalonga 
• son of Fedor Assombalonga, former Zaire international. 
• He scored 33 goals in 58 games for Posh last season and had attracted interest from Premier League clubs.

7 Aug 2014
NATIONAL TEAM - ZAMBIA - COACH - Honour Janza appointed as new coach

Janza's first challenge will be the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Zambia are placed in Group F and will open their campaign at home to Mozambique on 6 September, followed by a trip to Cape Verde four days later.

7 Aug 2014

NATIONAL TEAM - USA - 2014 WORLD CUP - USA look to bright future despite lost opportunity

LAST SIXTEEN

The Arena Fonte Nova provided the stage for 52,227 spectators to witness a pulsating encounter between USA and Belgium that was only decided after a nail-biting finale in extra time. 

Infectious chants of “USA, USA” coursed through the stands in waves and even had the local Brazilian fans joining in by the end. 

However, come the final whistle it was still not enough to book USA a place in the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ quarter-finals, as the Red Devils edged to victory.

“It was a dramatic match,” USA coach Jurgen Klinsmann told FIFA.com afterwards.

“Belgium had more chances than we did but Tim Howard kept us in the game. 

The longer it went on the more opportunities we created though.

Even after going 2:0 down we still hoped that we could get ourselves back in it if we got a goal, and that’s what happened. 

We had a couple of really good chances in the last few minutes and that’s where you hope that luck is on your side. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case today. 

I congratulate Belgium on reaching the next round.”

Despite the defeat and the post-match chaos taking place around him, Klinsmann was a calm figure and smiled as he spoke. 

Indeed, that composure served the 49-year-old well during the match, as his decision to bring substitute Julian Green on in the 105th minute paid swift dividends when the youngster scored with his first touch to reduce the deficit and give the Stars and Stripes hope of a comeback.

 

BRIGHT FUTURE

“Julian is one of our brightest talents and he’s still developing,” Klinsmann said of the 19-year-old Bayern Munich forward. 

“He showed what he’s capable of in the 15 minutes he had. 

Of course he still needs time and it won’t just happen overnight. 

We’ve got a few young players coming through and that gives us optimism looking ahead to the future of American football and the national team. 

“It was a phenomenal tournament for us,” Klinsmann continued. 

“We survived the group of death with Germany, Ghana and Portugal and were able to give as good as we got against Belgium for 120 minutes. 

The team deserve huge credit for that and there are a lot of positives we can take from this experience.” 

The side may have suffered a painful defeat in Brazil, but football in the USA in general has gained from the exposure and the level of support has been overwhelming. 

Stars from other sports, such as baseball, basketball and American football have been cheering the team on, as have a number of Hollywood actors.

“Football is definitely on the right track in the USA,” a visibly disappointed Green told FIFA.com. 

“I’ve seen a few pictures on television of the pubs and stadiums in America and it’s fantastic to see so many people. 

I think the World Cup has been decisive in getting things going there. 
When I scored my goal I was so happy and I thought: ‘now it’s 2:1, we can still come back from this.’ 

Unfortunately we weren’t able to.”

 

GROWING FAN BASE  

Nevertheless, the team’s style of play won over countless neutrals and showed that football is thriving in a country more renowned for its preference for other sports. 

“We had a really good World Cup,” Jermaine Jones said in an interview with FIFA.com after the game. 

“We showed a few countries who weren’t expecting us to do well that they always need to give 100 per cent against us. 

We’ve got a young team and now it’s up to the older players to try to lift them again. Losing is part of sport and unfortunately we experienced that today, but we’ll bounce back. 

I’m absolutely sure of it. 

I hope football’s standing has changed now. 

After the last World Cup the euphoria went a bit over the top but we’ve always said we’re a team that can create a lot of hype.” 

That is certainly true, and after sweeping an entire country along with them in the process, the disappointment at being eliminated has been tempered somewhat. 

“I’m supporting Germany now,” said Jones, who was born and raised in Germany as well as spending over 15 years of his career there. “I hope they win it.”

 

2 Jul 2014
(FIFA.com)

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