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)
LEGENDS - CAMEROON - Samuel Eto'o - Africa Cup of Nations all time leading scorer
Eto'o was a part of the squads that won the 2000 and 2002 Africa Cup of Nations, and was a gold medalist at the 2000 Summer Olympics. At the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, in which Cameroon finished as runners-up, he scored his only goal in a 1:0 group-stage upset of Brazil on 19 June.
Arthur Wharton honoured - Football's first professional black player
Arthur Wharton is to be honoured outside Rotherham United's New York Stadium. Born in 1865 in Jamestown, Gold Coast, in what is now Ghana. His pioneering footballing career started as a goalkeeper at Darlington FC and he played for numerous teams. Wharton played for the original Rotherham Town, a team of the same name was the forerunner of Rotherham United.
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.
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.
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.
Debutants The Gambia booked their place in the quarter-finals at the Africa Cup of Nations as Musa Barrow's goal gave them a famous 1:0 victory over Guinea.
Bologna forward Barrow collected a pass and slotted past Aly Keita from the centre of the box in the 71st minute.
Defender Ibrahima Conte had an equaliser ruled out for offside before The Gambia's Yusupha Njie was sent off.
Guinea struck the post in injury time before another shot was tipped onto the crossbar by Baboucarr Gaye.
It was a stunning save by Gaye to keep out the powerful strike by Jose Kante, which came immediately after Conte had rattled the left-hand upright from a narrow angle.
Even then, Guinea forward Morgan Guilavogui latched onto the rebound off the bar and had his follow-up attempt blocked by Pa Modou Jagne.
Kante headed over from the resulting corner and the Scorpions, the lowest-ranked side at the tournament, held on to win as Guinea centre-back Conte was also dismissed in injury time for a second booking.
The Gambia, who are 150th in the world, will now face Cameroon in the last eight on Saturday after the hosts saw off Comoros 2:1.