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How African Stars Played In Europe

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This concludes our cov
erage for Saturday, 27 August. Please join AfricanFootball tomorrow for more coverage of the continent’s best players in Europe at the weekend.
Full time in the Ligue 1 matches, where Thievy Bifouma’s Bastia went down 2-0 away to Caen, Benoit Assou-Ekotto has made a sub appearance for Metz in a 2-0 win over Angers, Ryad Boudebouz provided an assist for Montpellier in their 1-1 draw with Rennes, Mustapha Diallo scored for Guingamp in a 2-0 win at Nancy and Yassine Benzia provided an assist for Lille in their 1-1 draw at Nice.
Closing in on full time in France’s Ligue 1, while we’re half an hour away from kick-off in the late La Liga game which sees Leganes (who have Algeria’s Carl Medjani on the bench) host mighty Atletico Madrid.
News of another goal for Faouzi Ghoulam and Kalidou Koulibaly’s Napoli, who are now 2-0 up against AC Milan thanks to a second goal from Arkadiusz Milik.
Past the hour mark in the Ligue 1 games, Mustapha Diallo has scored to put Guingamp 1-0 up away to Nancy.
News of a goal in Italy, where Arkadiusz Milik has scored to put Faouzi Ghoulam’s Napoli 1-0 up at home to Italy. No further goals in the second half in France’s Ligue 1.
Back underway in the second half in the Ligue 1 games, while in Italy it’s still 0-0 between Kalidou Koulibaly’s Napoli and AC Milan.
Half time in France, no African goal scorers as yet, here are the scores so far: Caen 0-0 Bastia, Metz 1-0 Angers, Montpellier 1-0 Rennes, Nancy 0-0 Guingamp and Nice 1-1 Lille (where Algerian Yassine Benzia provided an assist for the latter’s goal).
Ten minutes from the second and last Serie A game of the day which sees Napoli host AC Milan. The former feature Faouzi Ghoulam and Kalidou Koulibaly in their starting XI.
Finished in the Premier League, where Eric Bailly’s Manchester United snatched a late, late 1-0 win over Hull City. In the Bundesliga, Ibrahima Traore’s Monchengladbach beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1.
We’re also finished in Spain’s early games, where Aymen Abdennour’s Valencia lost 1-0 at Eibar, while Real Sociedad won 2-0 at Osasuna. Kicking off now is the third La Liga match, Real Madrid v Celta Vigo, which has no African involvement.
Done and dusted in Italy, where Kwadwo Asamoah, Mario Lemina and Mehdi Benatia have helped Juventus win 1-0 at Lazio.
We’re underway in France’s Ligue 1 evening games, where we are sure to have a few African scorers…
Nancy v Guingamp sees Guy N’Dy Assembe and Youssouf Hadji start for the former, while Mustapha Diallo features for the latter. Nice have Jean-Michael Seri in their XI for the visit of Lille, who feature Adama Soumaoro, Younousse Sankhare, Vincent Enyeama and Yassine Benzia.
Kwadwo Asamoah’s Juventus have a lead at Lazio thanks to Sami Khedira’s goal, while Aymen Abdennour’s Valencia are 1-0 down at Eibar. Further team news from France: Montpellier feature Ryad Boudebouz and Steve Mounie for their home match against Rennes, who have Rami Bensebaini, Giovanni Sio and Sitoe Mexer in their XI.
Let’s start looking ahead to French Ligue 1 matches kicking off at 20h00. Caen feature Syam Ben Yousseff for their home clash with Bastia, who have Thievy Bifouma and Mehdi Mostefa in their starting XI, while Georges Mandjeck and Cheick Doukoure start for Metz at home to Angers, who have Karl-Toko Ekambi, Cheick N’Doye and Ismael Traore in their run-on team.
Half time in the Premier League, Ahmed Elmohamady’s Hull are holding Man United 0-0. In the Bundesliga, Ibrahim Traore’s Monchengladbach are 1-0 up against Leverkusen.
Not many goals at the moment… still 0-0 between Hull and Eric Bailly’s Man United in the Premier League, as well as between Lazio and Juve in Italy, and Ibrahim Traore’s Monchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen.
Full time in the early Ligue 1 game, where Dijon have beaten Lyon 4-2 at home. The victors featured two African goal scorers: Julio Tavares of Cape Verde and DR Congo substitute Dylan Bahamboula.
Almost up to half time in Serie A, where Kwadwo Asamoah’s Juventus are being held 0-0 at Lazio.
Underway in both the Premier League and Bundesliga, while in France’s Ligue 1 Nicolas N’Koulou’s Lyon are 3-2 down away to Julio Tavares’ Dijon with about 20 minutes to play.
Fifteen minutes until the final Bundesliga game of the day, where Ibrahima Traore starts for Borussia Monchengladbach at home to Bayer Leverkusen.
In five minutes we have the first two La Liga matches of the day kicking off in Spain. Tunisian defender Aymen Abdennour starts for Valencia at Eibar, while Osasuna host Real Sociedad in the other fixture.
The six Premier League matches have wrapped up, here are the full time scores: Chelsea 3-0 Burnley, Palace 1-1 Bournemouth, Everton 1-0 Stoke, Leicester 2-1 Swansea, Southampton 1-1 Sunderland and Watford 1-3 Arsenal. The final game of the day in England kicks off in half an hour and sees Hull City host Manchester United. Ahmed Elmohamady starts for the former, while the latter have Ivorian defender Eric Bailly at centre-back.
Julio Tavares has scored for Dijon, who are holding Lyon 2-2 at half time in the early Ligue 1 game.
Victor Moses has a goal for Chelsea, making it 3-0 over Burnley as we approach full time in the Premier League matches which kicked off at 16h00.
We’re done and dusted in the Bundesliga, with the highlight from an African perspective the two goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to see Dortmund win 2-1 against Mainz. Here are the other results: Koln 2-0 Darmstadt, Augsburg 0-2 Wolfsburg, Frankfurt 1-0 Schalke and Hamburger 1-1 Ingolstadt. Modou Barrow has provided an assist to see Swansea pull a goal back against Leicester, it’s 2-1 to the champions at King Power Stadium.
The first Italian Serie A match of the day kicks off in 25 minutes and sees Lazio host champions Juventus. The home side has Angolan Bastos in their starting line-up, while Juve’s run-on XI features Moroccan Mehdi Benatia as well as Mario Lemina and Kwadwo Asamoah of Gabon and Ghana respectively.
Lyon lead 1-0 away to Dijon, with Clorentin Tolisso scoring to put Nicolas N’Koulou’s team ahead in the early Ligue 1 match. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has a second goal for Dortmund today, netting from the penalty spot to give them a 2-0 lead against Mainz.
Riyad Mahrez has just had a penalty saved, it remains 2-0 to Leicester against Swansea, while Watford have a goal back against Arsenal, with Odion Ighalo playing a role in a strike from Roberto Pereyra.
Everton lead 1-0 against Mame Biram Diouf’s Stoke after a penalty from Leighton Baines, while Wes Morgan has scored to put Riyad Mahrez’s Leicester City 2-0 up against Swansea.
We’re back underway in the second half of the Premier League matches, while in Germany Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s Dortmund remain 1-0 up against Mainz thanks to the Gabon attacker’s goal.
We’ve hit half time in the Premier League matches, here are the scores at the break: Watford 0-3 Arsenal, Chelsea 2-0 Burnley, Southampton 0-0 Sunderland, Leicester 1-0 Swansea, Everton 0-0 Stoke and Crystal Palace 0-0 Bournemouth. No African scorers as yet.
It’s not a great day for Odion Ighalo’s Watford, who now found themselves 2-0 down at home to Arsenal, while Victor Moses’ Chelsea have gone 2-0 up at home to Burnley.
Riyad Mahrez’s Leicester City have the lead at home to Swansea, with Jamie Vardy netting his first Premier League goal of the new season.
We have some early team news from the first Ligue 1 match of the day, which will see Dijon host Lyon at 17h00. Morocco’s Fouad Chafik and Cape Verde’s Julio Tavares start for the home side, while the visitors have Cameroonian Nicolas N’Koulou in their XI.
We have our first goals in the Premier League, with Eden Hazard putting Chelsea ahead against Burnley, while Nordin Amrabat gave away a debatable penalty which has seen Arsenal take a 1-0 lead at Watford.
We are underway across the Premier League matches, let’s hope for plenty of African goals and assists in England’s top flight this afternoon…
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored for Dortmund to give them a 1-0 lead at home to Mainz. The Gabonese striker is continuing where he left off last season…
Let’s move onto team news ahead of the 16h00 Premier League matches. Victor Moses is on the bench for Chelsea, who host Burnley; Pape Souare starts for Crystal Palace at home to Bournemouth, who have Max Gradel on the bench; Yannock Bolasie and Idriss Gueye start for Everton at home to Stoke, who have Mame Biram Diouf playing up front; Leicester City feature Riyad Mahrez and Daniel Amartey in their XI (Ahmed Musa’s on the bench) at home to Modou Barrow’s Swansea; Southampton host Sunderland, who have Steven Pienaar, Lamine Kone and Papy Djilobodji in their starting team and Wahbi Khazri on the bench; and finally Watford feature Nordin Amrabat, Adlebe Guedioura and Odion Ighalo (with Isaac Success on the bench) against Arsenal, who have Mohamed Elneny waiting in reserve.

We’re 10 minutes into five Bundesliga matches, here is the African involvement: Tunisia’s Anis Ben Hatira starts for Darmstadt away to Koln, Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will come up against Nigerian defender Leon Balogun for Dortmund v Mainz, Cameroon’s Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting starts for Schalke at Frankfurt and his compatriot Marvin Matip features for Ingolstadt at Hamburger.

We begin with news from the Premier League, where Kenyan Victor Wanyama played the full 90 minutes for Tottenham as they were held 1-1 at home by Liverpool, who had Senegal’s Sadio Mane and Cameroonian Joel Matip in their line-up. We have a further six matches in England’s top flight coming up at 16h00…

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Expert Wants Parents To Enroll Children In Vector Programme

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In a bid to have more young talented Nigerians to play professional football abroad, Johnny Ogbah, a sports lawyer and football intermediary, has called on parents to enroll their children in Vector Programme.
He stated that the programme is in conjunction with Conventry Football Club in United Kingdom (UK), saying that the programme includes academics where a child can acquire a degree.
Ogbah, made the call while addressing sports journalists recently in Port Harcourt, as the programme will admit students into Brooke College between the age of 11 and 18 Football Academy.
The major objective of Vector Programme is to give the young ones a career through sports and good education. The programme does not train people on football only but also other things that is related to sporting environment, he said.
According to him,  more than 20 Nigerians have benefited from the programme on scholarship and most of them are now playing football in top clubs in Europe.
“Vector programme was poised to create an avenue to give people to play football to the highest level.
Apart from football the child can also have quality education. It will interest you to know that those in Vector programme play friendly games that attracts scouts from different countries and football clubs.
The programme doesn’t train you on only football but also train people on everything that is associated to sports”, Ogbah said.
The former Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) player further disclosed Vector programme pathways provides the practice opportunities that players need if they are to successfully graduate as a professional player.

By: Tonye Orabere

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NLO: Khana FC Coach Blames Players For Missing Chances

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The Head Coach of Khana FC in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, Sam Ledor, has blamed his players as they were unable to convert scoring chances.
According to him, if those chances created in their opening match against Jet Bomber FC at the ongoing Nation wide League One (NLO), in Omoku centre were  converted, it  would have given them victory.
Ledor, said this on Saturday in a chat with Tidesports shortly after they played goalless draw against Jet Bomber FC in their opening match in 2024 NLO Division in Omoku, Rivers State.
“ We created a lot of scoring chances but could not find the net”, he said.
He explained that playing goalless draw is not a bad result in football but in a competition like this, they need to score goals and win matches.
“ My brother, we missed a lot of scoring chances which is not good. I trainned my players  on how to create chances and to convert them.
“ What is important in a competition is winning but as we did not lose the game,  we will look forward for our next game.
“We will go back to the drawing board and correct the grey areas in our game and ensure we get better results in our next outing.
“Today’s game is gone, what we need to do is to make sure we win our next game,” he stated.
He pointed out that no game comes easy but the effort you put in will give good result. They tried their best today and the result was good for both teams but we need to win our next game.
“My opponents were also  a good side; they tried all what they could but didn’t score also. It was a good game but my team needs to win games,” he added.

By: Kiadum Edookor

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Wilkins Backs Rivers Hoopers To Spring Surprises At 2024 BAL

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A French-American, John Walter Wilkins is confident Rivers Hoopers can make it to the playoff round of the 2024 Basketball Africa League (BAL).
Wilkins, who is the son of former NBA player Jeff Wilkins, linked up with his Hoopers teammates at the team’s training camp in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, ahead of the 2024 BAL Savannah Conference games, which tip off on Saturday, 4th May, 2024, in Dakar, Senegal.
Wilkins is no stranger to African basketball, having played for Moroccan sides AS Salé (2015-2016) and Ittihad Tanger (2017-2019), before leading Stade Malien to a third-place finish at BAL 2023.
Looking ahead to the 2024 BAL, Wilkins says the quality of basketball across Africa has improved, with the BAL requiring a high level of competitiveness, but backed Rivers Hoopers to spring a surprise at the tournament.
“It’s a really high level, a great competition; [it’s] one of the best I’ve played in since I’ve been in Africa. But we don’t need to be scared. We need to just attack the moment, be there, be present, and I think if we are confident in our abilities, we can surprise people,” he said.
Since its inaugural season in 2021, Nigerian teams have appeared twice at the BAL, with Rivers Hoopers playing in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2021 and Kwara Falcons featuring at BAL 2023.
Despite failing to reach the playoffs on both previous occasions, Wilkins is optimistic that with the quality of players in the Hoopers squad as well as the recruitment done ahead of the BAL, Rivers Hoopers will be more competitive in this season’s BAL.
“I’m really optimistic. I know that those past years the teams from Nigeria didn’t do well, but I think with me, Kelvin [Amayo], Will [Perry], and the other guys, I think we can show the way, have some wins, and be more competitive,” he stated.
The Nigerian Champions were drawn in the Savannah Conference alongside former BAL Champions US Monastir (Tunisia), last year’s runners-up AS Douanes (Senegal), and APR (Rwanda).

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