International Football
Super Stores, Ghana’s Ashanti Kotoko Renew Rivalry
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Nigeria’s oldest existing football club, Stationery Stores will set the Teslim Balogun Stadium agog as it plans an international friendly tie with its age-long rivals, Kumasi Ashanti Kotoko of Ghana.
The management of the Nigerian club informed Sports Village Square that the match is planned as part of efforts to bring the once fanatically supported Nigerian club back into national prominence and also, a contribution to Lagos State at 50 celebrations.
Both Stores and Ashanti Kotoko set the continent agog in the late 1960s as their rivalry also bordered on bitterness.
Sports Village Square recalls a major instance when Stores made a debut in 1970 at the then Africa Cup of Champions Clubs which has now changed to CAF Champions League.
Both clubs were drawn together in the second round. Asante had the famous Ghanaian goalkeeper, Robert Mensah in goal at the time.
Stores won the ill-tempered first leg match, 3-2 at the then Liberty Stadium, Ibadan. The second leg match was similarly characterised.
With score line still goalless, trouble started in the second half when Ghana’s skipper Osei Kofi took a header which Stores’ Goalkeeper Peter Fregene snatched before it could prove dangerous.
But the Ugandan referee, Mukasa Misaevi who was sandwiched between the Kotoko captain and Fregene ordered a penalty kick which Stores initially disputed before being allowed to be taken.
The conversion of the kick put scores at 3-3 but Stores staged a walk out and the match was awarded to Asante Kotoko which went on to win the trophy that year.
The match soiled the Nigeria-Ghana sporting relationship to the point that the annual Nigeria-Ghana annual Academicals football tournament was cancelled that year.
Stores, this year proposed a friendly match which Asante Kotoko in a March 22 dated later to the Executive Chairman of the club, accepted.
In the letter addressed to Mr. Adetilewa Adebajo, Asante Kotoko conveyed the complements from His Royal Majesty, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II who is the life patron of the popular Ghanaian club.
No date has yet been fixed for the match. But according to Adebajo, the match venue will be the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.
Rose Padmore Yeboah, the Asante Kotoko administrative manager who signed the club’s acceptance letter remarked the club was studying the Ghanaian domestic league calendar which is on-going and will suggest the most suitable time.
Adebajo added that Insight Communications has been appointed to put the event together and has been mandated to secure sponsorship, branding, broadcast and media coverage.
The organisers are also seeking the assistance of Lagos State Sports Commission in securing Teslim Balogun Stadium as the venue and also the necessary support and security for the event. They also plan to invite Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for the event.
International Football
Portugal call up same player named in England Under-18 squad
Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Mateus Mane has become hot property after Portugal named the 17-year-old in their Under-18 squad on Friday, one day after England included him in their squad.
Mane was called up for a second successive England youth camp by coach Liam Bramley before the team travel to Marbella for a four-team tournament this month.
Mane is eligible for both teams having played for the Portugal Under-17 side last season. As the Under-18 team is a non-UEFA age group, both nations are entitled to call the player up.
He made his England international debut last month against the Portugal Under-18 side who have named Mane in their squad for a four-nation tournament this month.
With both tournaments running concurrently, Mane can only play for one team and Wolves and England confirmed he would feature in Bramley’s side.
Reuters has contacted Portugal’s football association for clarification.
While players with multiple nationalities have played for more than one country if they are eligible, they are not allowed to switch allegiances at senior level – unless they have played only in friendly matches for the first country.
-Reuters
International Football
Soon Cisse ceases to be Senegal’s Coach
After 107 matches spanning nine years, Aliou Cisse will not have his contract renewed as Senegal coach, officials confirmed on Wednesday. Of the 107 matches, Cisse’s team won 70, drew 24 and lost 13.
But the impressive scorecard is not enough to impress his employers.
Thus, the end beckons for Cisse’s successful nine-year spell in charge of the side that included a first Africa Cup of Nations title and two World Cup qualifications.
He had been under increasing pressure after Senegal’s surprise last 16 exit at the 2023 Cup of Nations when they lost on penalties to hosts Cote d’Ivoire.
Senegal are unbeaten in six matches since then, but home draws with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burkina Faso, and criticism from certain quarters over their style of play, made up the mind of the country’s sports ministry, who fund the salary of the national team coach, that a change was needed.
“The FSF would like to thank Aliou Cisse for his good collaboration and his brilliant results at the head of the various national selections that he has managed since his arrival in 2011 and wish him every success for the future,” the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) said in a statement.
FSF added Cisse’s exit stemmed from a failure to fulfil the targets in his last contract, which expired at the end of August, which included victory at the 2023 Cup of Nations and reaching the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup.
They also said the “regression of our national team in the FIFA rankings and the risk of disaffection between our national team and the Senegalese (public)” had played a role.
The FSF will appoint an interim technical team to lead the side in Cup of Nations qualifiers against Malawi at home on Oct. 11 and away four days later.
Cisse, 48, was captain of Senegal when they reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup with what is heralded as a golden generation of players.
He briefly had a spell as caretaker coach of the national team in 2012, but took over full time three years later.
He led Senegal to 2018 and 2022 World Cup qualification, making the last 16 in the latter before losing to England. They were beaten in the final of the 2019 Cup of Nations by Algeria.
The side made up for that disappointment when they beat Egypt in the final two years later to be crowned African champions for the first time.
International Football
Why FIFA banned Samuel Eto’o
Always in the news for bad reasons, Samuel Eto’o has again made global headlines. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has banned the former striker and the current president of the Cameroon Football Federation.
He is banned from attending Cameroon’s matches for the next six months for violating conduct rules during the recent U-20 Women’s World Cup, where his national team faced Brazil in the round of 16.
According to FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee, Eto’o was found to have breached articles 13 (“Offensive behaviour and violations of fair play principles”) and 14 (“Misconduct of players and officials”) of FIFA’s Disciplinary Code.
The sanction stems specifically from the match between Brazil and Cameroon, held on September 11 in Bogotá, Colombia. As a result, Eto’o will be prohibited from attending any matches involving Cameroon’s national teams, both male and female, across all age groups.
“Mr Eto’o has been notified today, the date on which the sanction comes into force,” stated the FIFA press release.
This is not the first time Eto’o has faced controversy. He previously drew attention for his behavior towards players and national team coach Marc Brys, whom he allegedly threatened in front of cameras if his directives were not followed.
During the Qatar World Cup, the former Real Madrid, Mallorca, and Barcelona player made headlines again after assaulting a fan who filmed him outside a stadium after a match.
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