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

STARS IN EUROPE - BURKINA FASO - CLUB - TRANSFER - Bakary Kone joins Strasbourg on loan

RC Strasbourg Bakary KoneEmbed from Getty Images

 

Burkina Faso defender Bakary Kone previously played in France for Guingamp and Lyon.

Burkina Faso international defender Bakary Kone has joined newly-promoted French club Strasbourg on a season-long loan from Spanish side Malaga.

The 29-year-old is making a swift return to France after a season in Spain, where he only made seven appearances for Malaga.

A French Cup winner in 2009 with Guingamp and 2012 with Lyon, Kone played 89 matches in Ligue 1 and scored six goals with Lyon between 2011 and 2016.

"It feels good to return to France and I'm ready to give everything to defend the colours of Strasbourg," Kone told the club's official twitter account.

Strasbourg manager Thierry Laurey is delighted with the 2017 French Ligue 2 champions' signing of the Stallion.

"We've been searching for an experienced and dynamic defender like this for a while, so I'm pleased with Kone's arrival," Laurey said.

Kone is expected to join his new club after Burkina Faso's back-to-back 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Senegal next month.

Born in Ouagadougou, Kone began his career at Étoile Filante before moving to France to join Guingamp in 2006.

He has made 62 appearances for his country - scoring twice, and his last game for the Stallions was the third place play-off against Ghana at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.

Kone has played in five consecutive Nations Cups in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017.

 

27 Aug 2017
(BBC Sport by Oluwashina Okeleji)

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