International Football
VICTOR MOSES LOSES OUT AS FINAL SHORTLIST OF AFRICAN FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR IS UNVEILED
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Nigeria and Chelsea star player, Victor Moses has lost out in the race for the 2017 Africa Footballer of the Year. Confederation of African Football on Monday revealed the identities of the top three for all the categories of the Aiteo CAF Awards 2017 in Accra, Ghana.
Sports Village Square recalls that Nigeria’s Victor Moses who made the initial cut of five when the list was pruned from 30 to 11. At that stage, the other Nigerian shortlisted, central defender, William Troost-Ekong had dropped out.
In the final list are Egypt’s magic man, Mohamed Salah who also features for Premiership side, Liverpool, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Gabon and German side, Dortmund as well as Sadio Mane of Senegal and Liverpool.
Egypt’s Mohammed Salah who has played crucial roles for both club and country looks highly favoured to win the award. Earlier, he has been crowned the BBC African Footballer of the Year. The Aiteo/CAF edition will be an icing on the cake for the prolific striker.
The shortlists for the topmost award, African Player of the Year, were unveiled by Ex-Ghana defender, Sammy Kuffour who lost out to Senegal’s El Hadji Diouf of Senegal at the 2002 Award Ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The unveiled list however did not show the African Footballer of Year based in Africa for which Nigeria’s Junior Ajayi of Al Ahly of Egypt was listed.
But in the women’s category, Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala is still in the final race along with South Africa’s Chrestina Kgatlana and Cameroon’s Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene.
The Coach of the Year Award will be a tough contest between the duo of Egypt’s Hector Cuper and Nigeria’s Gernot Rohr. Both qualified their respective teams for the World Cup but with the Nigerian coach finishing unbeaten on the field of play.
But Egypt’s Hector Cuper can lay claim to additional advantage of leading his team to the final match of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. The third contestant is Wydad Athletic Club of Morocco’s L’Hussein Amoutta whose club won the CAF Champions League.
The National Team of the Year is being contested by Cameroon, the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations winners, but complete disappointment in the race to the World Cup; Egypt, the runners-up in the Africa Cup of Nations, but qualifiers for the World Cup for the first time in 27 years and Nigeria, the clinical finisher of the World Cup qualifiers and perhaps the most rejuvenated of the three contestants.
The unveiling ceremony of the final shortlist was attended by CAF President Ahmad, CAF First Vice President Kwesi Nyantakyi, CAF Executive Committee member, Amaju Pinnick, with Ghana’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Isaac Asiamah, the Guest-of-Honour.
Also present were sponsors, Aiteo, represented by Senior Vice President, Commercial and Gas, Victor Okoronkwo, who expressed his outfit’s pride in partnership of the event that celebrates the various stakeholders of African football. The Awards Gala will take place on Thursday, 4 January 2018 in Accra, Ghana.
Below are the top three (Nominees are listed in alphabetical order);
African Player of the Year
- Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon & Dortmund)
- Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool)
Women’s Player of the Year
- Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria & Dalian Quanjian)
- Chrestina Kgatlana (South Africa & UWC Ladies)
- Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene(Cameroon & CSKA Moscow)
Youth Player of the Year
- Krepin Diatta (Senegal & Sarpsborg)
- Patson Daka (Zambia & Liefering)
- Salam Giddou (Mali & Guidars)
Coach of the Year
- Gernot Rohr (Nigeria)
- Hector Cuper (Egypt)
- L’Hussein Amoutta (Wydad Athletic Club)
Club of the Year
- Al Ahly
- TP Mazembe
- Wydad Athletic Club
National Team of the Year
- Cameroon
- Egypt
- Nigeria
Women’s National Team of the Year
- Ghana U-20
- Nigeria U-20
- South Africa
Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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