Sports
African Scorers In Europe: Manucho Scores, Sees Red In Spain
It was a red card filled day for African players in Europe at the weekend following a harvest of red by three of them.
Angola’s Manucho saw red in Spain, Ivory Coast’s Cheick Tiote and South Africa’s Steven Pienaar were also sent off in England.
However, 28 African players registered their names on the score sheets across Europe, albeit, Demba Ba scored against his team.
SPAIN
In Spain Angola striker Manucho scored the opener in the ninth minute for Real Valladolid away to Malaga but his early jubilation was spoiled when he was sent off on 81 minutes, and his side lost 2-1.
Morocco striker Youssef El-Arabi pulled a goal back for 10-man Granada but his side still went down 2-1 at home to Real Zaragoza.
NETHERLANDS
Ivory Coast striker Wilfried Bony became top scorer in the Dutch top-flight at the weekend after his two goals for Vitesse Arnhem helped his side to secure all three points in the 3-0 win over NAC Breda.
Zambia striker Jacob Mulenga secured the points for Utrecht with his 40th-minute goal as his side came from behind to beat ADO Den Haag 2-1.
FRANCE
League holders Montpellier continue to struggle after losing 2-1 to Rennes. Morocco midfielder Younes Belhanda scored in the 69th minute from the penalty spot for Montpellier. Cameroon midfielder Jean Makoun had given Rennes a 13th-minute lead.
Vincent Aboubakar scored twice in the last 10 minutes for Valenciennes who crushed Lorient 6-1. The Cameroon striker had only been on the pitch as a substitute for two minutes when he scored his first goal of the season in the 81st minute before helping to finish the rout in the last minute.
GERMANY
Karim Matmour gave Eintracht Frankfurt the lead in the fifth minute as they strolled to a 3-1 win over Hannover ’96. It was the Algeria midfielder’s first goal in the Bundesliga this season.
UKRAINE
Nigeria striker Issy Lucky Idaho scored the vita third goal for Zorya who picked up all three points by beating Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 3-2.
GREECE
The Greek league’s top scorer Rafik Djebbour from Algeria took his tally to eight goals after scoring twice at the weekend for Olympiakos who dismissed Xanthi 4-0.
RUSSIA
Anzhi Makhachkala maintained their lead at the top of the table after coming from behind to beat Spartak Moscow 2-1. Anzhi equalised through their Ivory Coast striker Lacina Traore who came on as a second-half substitute to level in the 64th minute.
Nigeria’s Ahmed Musa continued his fine form after scoring his fifth goal of the season for CSKA Moscow in their 2-0 win over Rubin Kazan.
BELGIUM
Ebrahima Ibou Sawaneh became the top scorer in the league after his hat-trick inspired Leuven from a goal down to a 4-1 win over Club Bruges. The Gambia striker, who has 11 goals this season, scored twice in the first half and completing his hat-trick in the 78th minute from the penalty spot. Leuven’s fourth goal came through their Zimbabwe midfielder Ovidy Karuru.
Morocco midfielder Moustapha Oussala scored the only goal of the game as his side Kortrijk edged out Gent to move to fourth position in the standings.
Lokeren won 3-0 away at Zulte-Waregem with the Tunisia striker Hamdi Harbaoui scoring the third goal in the 81st minute.
Mechelen played the last three minutes with 10 men after the Cameroon defender Antonio Ghomsi was sent-off, but they still beat Cercle Bruges 2-1 with Ghana midfielder Abdul-Yakinu Iddi scoring the opening goal.
Cameroon striker Aloys Nong scored twice in the last two minutes for Mons who came from behind to beat Standard Liege 3-1. Gambia striker Mustapha Jarju had equalised for Mons in the 34th minute.
TURKEY
There were plenty of African goal scorers in the game between Antalyaspor and Sivasspor. Nigeria’s Isaac Promise scored twice, while two other goals by Senegal striker Lamine Diatta and Morocco midfielder Ismail Aissati gave Antalya a 4-2 victory. Sivasspor’s Nigeria striker Michael Eneramo scored one of the goals for his side in the 48th minute.
Senegal striker Moussa Sow equalised for Fenerbahce in the 23rd minute in his side’s 1-1 draw with Bursaspor.
Another Senegalese, Diomansy Kamara, scored twice for Eskisehirspor who outclassed Karabukspor 5-2.
ENGLAND
Malian Modibo Maiga was on target for West Ham, helping his side to beat their fellow Premier League newcomers 4-1. Maiga, whose two other goals since his pre-season transfer came in the League Cup, had only been on the pitch five minutes when he beat three Southampton defenders with a fine run before curling his shot past Artur Boruc.
There was misery for two of Newcastle’s Africans involved in the 1-1 draw at Sunderland and Newcastle. Ivory Coast Coast midfielder Cheick Tiote was sent off mid-way through the first half for crunching into Steven Fletcher with his foot high. Senegal striker Demba Ba scored an own goal late on, deflected John O’Shea’s header into his own net, to hand Sunderland a share of the points.
Everton’s South African midfielder Steven Pienaar was another to see red. The former Bafana Bafana captain was dismissed for two bookings in the second half of a 1-1 draw at QPR. Pienaar ‘s second booking was for a trip on Jose Bosingwa, a decision which Everton boss David Moyes called “ludicrous”.
SCOTLAND
Kenyan striker Victor Mugabe Wanyama scored twice in the space of six minutes to help Celtic beat St Mirren 5-0. Nigeria defender Efe Ambrose also scored in the game as Celtic led 4-0 at half-time.
Sports
I Joined Saudi League To Win Titles – Senegal Keeper
Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has said that criticism that he and other players chased money by moving to Saudi Arabia is wide of the mark.
The 33-year-old left Chelsea for Al-Ahli in a £16m ($21.4m) deal in 2023, and in May the Africa Cup of Nations winner helped his Saudi club win the Asian Champions League, making him one of the few players to win both that competition and its European equivalent.
But, like many others, Mendy has been criticised for playing for money rather than prestige in the lucrative Saudi Pro League.
When asked about such criticism, Mendy told a Tidesports source, “Al-Ahli’s project came along and they made me feel I had a big role to play.
“Two years later, we won the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. So yes, that validates my choice. And I hope the coming years will validate it even more.”
He added: “Some people will quickly jump to conclusions and say the only reason is money. From the start, I always said that when I left Chelsea, I knew I was joining another team where I could win everything , which was no longer the case at Chelsea.”
The Blues have since won the Conference League, Europe’s third-tier club competition, under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
But it comes after the regime’s trophyless first two years, a period which has frustrated some supporters after the success enjoyed under Roman Abramovich’s stewardship in the previous 19 years.
Mendy has also been celebrating what he describes as a historical win with Senegal against England at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground, but days earlier he had been in Dakar delivering a different kind of win.
He is the sponsor of Yakaar, a school in Keur Massar, which seeks to improve funding and access to digital learning tools for local children from underprivileged backgrounds.
Famously, as Mendy grew up in France, he was unemployed, aged 22, while struggling to find a club, with members of his family still living on the outskirts of Dakar.
That is why Yakaar, a word meaning “hope”, was chosen, a word Mendy has carried with him in his career.
“Hope is what kept me going. When I was without a club, it was the hope of getting that first professional contract.
“Then the hope of playing for the national team. The hope of making my family proud by doing the job I had always dreamed of.
“Indeed, hope is the best word to describe my career.”
Mendy was also asked whether the responsibility of being an African goalkeeper had weighed heavily on him.
“Of course. When I was in England, there weren’t many African goalkeepers in top clubs,” he admitted.
“Whether nationally or internationally, I had that responsibility. It’s the same for other African goalkeepers like Andre Onana [Manchester United] or Yassine Bounou (Al-Hilal).”
Sports
Spanish Football Fires Entire Refereeing Committee
The entire refereeing committee has been fired by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), with structural reforms soon set to follow.
According to sources, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has dismissed the entire refereeing committee in response to mounting pressure from clubs demanding structural reform. A major shake-up aimed at modernising Spanish refereeing from top to bottom has now been set in motion.
Head of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Luis Medina Cantalejo and Head of VAR, Carlos Clos Gomez, have been removed from their positions. They are joined by several senior officials, including Antonio Rubinos Perez and three vice presidents, who are also stepping down. A new leadership model will be introduced, led by a CEO and a sporting director, aiming to overhaul how refereeing is managed covering assessments, promotions, and daily operations. While the leadership changes are sweeping, the current pool of referees in La Liga and the second tier will remain, ensuring continuity on the field during the transition.
Sports
Ronaldo Renews Stay With Saudi Pro League
Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a new two-year contract with Al-Nassr that means he will stay with the Saudi Pro League club until beyond his 42nd birthday.
The Portugal captain, 40, joined the Riyadh-based team in December 2022 after leaving Manchester United in acrimonious circumstances, having criticised the club and said he had no respect for manager Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr deal had been due to expire at the end of June and there was speculation he could leave, but that has now been quashed.
In a post on X, Ronaldo wrote: “A new chapter begins. Same passion, same dream. Let’s make history together.”
Although Al-Nassr have not added to their nine domestic titles during Ronaldo’s time at the club, they have benefited from a flood of goals from the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Ronaldo scored 35 times in 41 matches across all competitions last term and was the league’s top scorer for a second consecutive season.
He has managed 99 goals in appearances overall for Al-Nassr and is well on his way to reaching 1,000 senior goals in his career, with a current tally of 938 for club and country.
Having helped Portugal win the Uefa Nations League a little over two weeks ago, the former Manchester United, Real Madrid, Sporting and Juventus forward will almost certainly now be targeting a sixth World Cup appearance next summer.
Only a month ago, Ronaldo posted on social media to say “the chapter is over”.
That came after the Saudi Pro League wrapped up with Al-Nassr finishing third and trophyless once again.
The comment fuelled rumours that Ronaldo was ready to leave the league where he reportedly became the best-paid player in football history with an annual salary of £177m when he joined.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino raised the prospect of Ronaldo joining a team involved in the Club World Cup after Al-Nassr failed to qualify for the extended tournament which is being held in the United States.
Ronaldo said he had received offers from participating teams but had turned them down.
The decision to stay until at least 2027, which is certain to be highly lucrative, appears to rule out any future prospect of Ronaldo returning to play at the highest level in Europe.
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