FIFA rankings - Egypt makes big leap in latest rankings

Egypt have climbed up more places than any other African country in Fifa's latest world rankings for March.

14 Mar 2014
2014 World Cup - warm up - Ghana

Ghana Sports Minister Elvis Ankrah is confident the team will prepare in the right way for a successful World Cup.

12 Mar 2014
2014 World Cup - warm up - African sides ready

All five of Africa's World Cup finalists are in action this week as they continue their preparations for this summer's tournament in Brazil.
(Algeria; Cameroon; Ghana; Côte d'Ivoire; Nigeria)

5 Mar 2014
stars in Europe - Yaya Toure's incredible journey

He won the Champions League and two La Liga titles while with Barca. Toure also won league titles in Greece and England, and domestic cups in each country too. According to the people who know him best, Yaya Toure always had the ability and ambition he needed to make his journey from a barefooted boy footballer to one of the best players in the world. 

22 Feb 2014
stars in Europe - AC Milan set to sign Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien

Chelsea have agreed a deal with AC Milan to sell midfielder Michael Essien to the Italian side. Essien has flown in for talks and a medical with Clarence Seedorf's underachieving Serie A club.

25 Jan 2014
NATIONAL LEAGUE - TUNISIA - COACH - Ruud Krol appointed as new Esperance coach

The 64-year-old former Dutch World Cup captain joined the Tunisian side only a day after leading CS Sfaxien to glory in the Confederation Cup with a 3:2 aggregate win over TP Mazembe. Krol's departure ends a successful year at the club in which he also led the Tunisians to a first league title in eight years in May. "It was my decision to leave. 

20 Jan 2014

AFRICAN CONFEDERATION CUP 2014 - SEMI FINALS - 2ND LEG - PREVIEW

AFRICAN CONFEDERATION CUP 2014

Semi-finals second legs
• 27.09.2014: AC Leopards vs Sewe Sports -:- (Agg: 0:1) 
• 28.09.2014: Al Ahly vs Coton -:- (Agg: 1:0)

The Cairo 'Red Devils' have home advantage and a 1:0 lead over Cameroonians Coton Sport going into the second leg of their semi-final this weekend.

A goal by diminutive midfielder Walid Soliman put Ahly in a powerful position against opponents they have constantly had the edge over.

Ahly defeated Coton 4:2 on aggregate in the 2008 Champions League final and on penalties last year in a semi-final of the same competition.

While Egypt are the dominant African club force with 31 titles - including a record 18 won by Ahly - the furthest they have gone in the Confederation Cup is the semi-finals.

Unfashionable Cairo outfit ENPPI reached the last four in 2009 before losing 6:4 overall to eventual title winners Malians Stade Malien.

Ahly, demoted to the second-tier Confederation Cup after losing a Champions League final-round qualifier, have made steady rather than spectacular progress to the semi-finals.

A win and a defeat against Zambians Nkana, a win and a draw against Ivorians Sewe Sport and two draws with Tunisians Etoile Sahel earned top spot in Group B.

Lack of goals has been the chief headache for Spanish coach Juan Carlos Garrido with only eight in nine games and no marksman managing more than two.

Some comfort for Coton is an unbeaten away Cup record this season with a win at Ivorians Asec Mimosas and draws with Angolans Petro Atletico, Congolese AC Leopards and Malians Real Bamako.

They also boast a consistent scorer in five-goal Niger star Daouda Kamilou, a survivor of the losing 2008 final team.

The other second leg is harder to call after first-time semi-finalists Sewe Sport established a slender 1:0 home lead over 2012 Confederation Cup winners AC Leopards.

Christian Kouame scored after a goalmouth scramble 12 minutes into the second half at the palm tree-lined Stade Robert Champroux in Abidjan.

It is a slight advantage, but Sewe have won two and drawn one of four away games en route to the semi-finals and conceded just two goals in 360 minutes.

Behind a solid defence Sewe have Sylvain Gbohouo, one of the three Ivory Coast goalkeepers at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Leopards have been erratic lately, hammering four goals past Coton and past ASEC and then firing a blank against Sewe.

The biggest Congolese threats are likely to be teenager Kader Bidimbou and Cesaire Gandze, who have bagged 11 Confederation Cup goals between them.

Whichever sides advance to the final will have a long wait with the first leg scheduled only for the last weekend in November due to fixture congestion.

 

26 Sep 2014
(BBC Sport UK)

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