Sports

Nigerian forward, Victor Osimhen bag 2023 FIFA Men’s Player of the Year award nomination

Published

8 months ago

September 15, 2023

Nigeria and Napoli forward, Victor Osimhen, has entered the list of elite African footballers to be nominated for the prestigious 2023 Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year Award.

Osimhen was unveiled by World football governing body, FIFA, alongside 11 other star players as a nominee on its official website, Thursday, September 14, 2023.

Osimhen’s inclusion in the 12-player shortlist stems us coming a few days after he was named in the 30-man list of nominees for the 2023 Ballon D’or which is the pinnacle of awards for players across the globe.

The Nigerian star striker’s nomination is a well deserved honour following his sterling performances in the Italian Serie A in the 2022/2023 season where he was instrumental to the team’s first Scudetto win since 1990, scoring 26 goals to emerge top scorer in thr league.

With that feat, Osimhen also became the first African player to win the Golden Boot in the Serie A.

On the African continent, the Lagos-born Osimhen was also in free scoring form, chiming in with 10 goals in the recently concluded AFCON qualifiers.

To win the 2023 FIFA Men’s Player of the Year Award, football fans around the world would have the chance of casting their votes for their favorite players across various categories.

According to the voting process amnounced by the football governing body, fans will have the opportunity to vote via FIFA.com, with a combined input from an international jury comprising national team captains, coaches, and select global journalists.

The voting period for fans commenced on Thursday, September 14 and will concludes at midnight on Friday, October 6, 2023.

The stipulated qualification period for the Best FIFA Football Awards 2023 extends from December 19, 2022, to August 20, 2023, a day after the end of the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Related Topics:Award Featured FIFA Nigeria Nomination Victor Osimhen

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Sports

Al Ahly, Esperance to clash in CAF Champions League final

Published

23 hours ago

April 27, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Two of Africa’s club giants, Egypt’s Al Ahly and Esperance of Tunisia, will do battle next month over two legs for the right to be crowned champions of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.

Title-holders Al Ahly and their long-standing rivals Esperance both booked their places in the final with dramatic semi-final victories over DR Congo”s TP Mazembe and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa respectively on Friday night.

While Al Ahly, winners of five of the last seven editions of the continent’s top draw tournament, with a record 11 in total, overcame TP Mazembe with a 3-0 aggregate victory in the semi-final second leg after a goalless first leg last Saturday, Esperance surprised Sundowns with a 1-0 victory in Pretoria to wrap up a 2-0 aggregate win.

The two-legged final will mark the third encounter between Ahly and Esperance in the Champions League final, with the Egyptians winning in 2012 and the Tunisians triumphing in 2018.

In 2023, the two clubs clashed in the semi-finals with Ahly emerging victorious home and away, securing a 4-0 aggregate triumph.

Esperance who are aiming for a fifth Champions League title, will host the first leg in Rades on May 18, with the return fixture scheduled in Cairo seven days later.

Sports

Former Zambian captain Rainford Kalaba discharged from hospital after near-fatal accident

Published

2 days ago

April 26, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Former Zambian national team captain, Rainford Kalaba, has been discharged from hospital weeks after he was involved in a near-fatal accident where he sustained serious injuries.

The accident which involved a head-on collision between a Mercedes-Benz car in which Kalaba was in, and a truck, had initially sparked fears for his life and has since been in the Intensive Care Unit of the Zambian University Teaching Hospital (UTH).

The good news on the footballer’s progress was released by the UTH Public Relations Officer, Nzeba Chanda, who informed that the Chipolopolo legend has been discharged after showing positive signs of recovery.

“Mr. Rainford Kalaba has been discharged from the UTH-Adult where he was admitted after being involved in a road traffic accident two weeks ago,” Chanda said, adding that Kalaba will continue his recovery at his family home.

According to local media reports, the 37-year-old was a passenger in a Mercedes Benz when it collided with an oncoming truck in the south-eastern Zambian town of Kafue a week and five days ago.

In his active playing days, Kalaba spent the majority of his club career at TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo, winning the CAF Champions League with the club in 2015 and the CAF Confederation Cup in 2016.

He also had a spell with clubsides in Portugal including FC Braga, and was a major part of the Zambian squad that won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012 under Frenchman, Herve Renard.