Sports

African men, women footballers make prestigious Ballon d’Or awards shortlist

Published

1 year ago

September 7, 2023

Four African male footballers made the 30-man shortlist of contenders to win this year’s prestigious Ballon d’Or award. The prize is awarded to the footballer deemed to be the best in the world during a football season.

Cameroon and Manchester United goalkeeper, André Onana, who was part of the team that made it to the final of the elite European club Championship, the UEFA Champions League, was among the nominees. Onana had a controversial World Cup experience in Qatar after falling out with his national team manager and was not even included among the substitutes for the Indomitable Lions’ second Group G outing at Qatar 2022.

The second African on the list is Egyptian and Liverpool striker, Mohamed Salah, whose club side had an underwhelming 2022/2023 season after the loss of Senegalese Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich. But Salah managed to acquit himself well with 19 league goals. In the same season, he overtook Robbie Fowler to become the club’s all-time top Premier League goalscorer, and only four men have ever netted more for the Reds in all competitions.

Morocco’s Yassine Bounou, another goalkeeper, also made the list after outstanding performances at the Qatar 2022 World Cup where he kept four clean sheets, the most out of any goalkeeper in the tournament, and made two saves during the round of 16 penalty shoot-out against Spain, leading to Morocco qualifying for the quarter-finals for the first time in their history. He was the first African to reach three clean sheets at a World Cup.

The fourth African on the list is Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen, who is considered one of the best strikers in the world. The 24-year-old sticker had a record-breaking season with Italian side, Napoli, where he scored 26 goals to win the Serie A top scorer award, which led to Napoli winning the Scudetto after a 33-year wait. Osimhen became the first African to win the highest goal scorer award, while also becoming the first player since Zlatan Ibrahimovic to win both the Capocannoniere (top scorer award) and the Scudetto (the league title) in the same season, a record which has stood for 14 long years.

Other nominees on the list are Josko Gvardiol – Manchester City/Croatia, Karim Benzema – Al Ittihad, Jamal Musiala – Bayern Munich/Germany, Jude Bellingham – Real Madrid/England, Bukayo Saka – Arsenal/England, Randal Kolo Muani – Paris Saint-Germain/France, Kevin De Bruyne – Manchester City/Belgium, Bernardo Silva – Manchester City/Portugal, Emiliano Martínez – Aston Villa/Argentina, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia – Napoli/Georgia
Rúben Dias – Manchester City/Portugal, Nicolo Barella – Inter Milan/Italy, Erling Haaland – Manchester City/Norway.

Others are Martin Ødegaard – Arsenal/Norway, Julián Álvarez – Manchester City/Argentina, Ilkay Gündogan – Barcelona/Germany, Vinícius Júnior – Real Madrid/Brazil, Lionel Messi – Inter Miami/Argentina, Rodri – Manchester City/Spain, Lautaro Martínez – Inter Milan/Argentina, Antoine Griezmann – Atletico Madrid/France, Robert Lewandowski – Barcelona/Poland, Kylian Mbappé – Paris Saint-Germain/France, Kim Min-Jae – Napoli/South Korea, Luka Modric – Real Madrid/Croatia, and Harry Kane – Bayern Munich/England.

In the women’s category of the award, the continent has one representative on the list. Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala, who plays for FC Barcelona Femini in the Spanish League, made the list. Oshoala is the reigning African women’s player of the year. She scored 21 goals in just 28 games to lead FC Barcelona to the 2022/23 Spanish league title and was the Spanish club’s top-scorer with 27 goals in all competitions.

Oshoala made history at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand by becoming the first female African and Nigerian player to score in three different FIFA World Cups.

Others on the women’s list include Khadija Shaw -Man City/England, Mapi Leon – Barcelona/France, Mary Earps-Man United/England, Wendie Renard – Lyon/France, Katie Mccabe – Arsenal/England, Jill Roord – Wolfsburg and Man City/ England, Yui Hasegawa -Man City/Japan, Alexandra Popp – Wolfsburg/Germany, Aitana Bonmati – Barcelona/Spain, Debinha -Kansas City/ Brazil, Sam Kerr – Chelsea/ Australia, Guro Reiten – Chelsea/ Norway,
Ewa Pajor – Wolfsburg/Poland, Patricia Guijarro – Barcelona/Spain, Daphne Van Domselaar – Twente and Aston Villa/ Netherlands.

The list also has Lena Oberdorf – Wolfsburg/Germany, Hinata Miyazawa – MyNavi Sendai and Man United/ Japan
Millie Bright- Chelsea/England, Salma Paralluelo – Barcelona/Spain, Sophia Smith – Portland Thorns/USA, Hayley Raso (Man City and Real Madrid/Australia, Amanda Ilestedt (PSG and Arsenal/ Sweden, Georgia Stanway – Bayern Munich/ England, Olga Ramona – Real Madrid/ Latvia, Fridolina Rolfo – Barcelona/Sweden, Rachel Daly – Aston Villa/England, Alba Redondo – Levante/ Spain, Linda Caicedo – Real Madrid/ Colombia, and Kadidiatou Diani – Lyon/French.

The winner of the award is voted by journalists from FIFA’s 100 top-ranked member nations. The winners will be announced at a prestigious gala in France in October.

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Sports

Coach of Mamelodi Sundowns female team suspended over sexual harassment allegations

Published

3 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Isaac Dachen

The head coach of Mamelodi Sundowns women’s team, Jerry Tshabalala, has been suspended indefinitely amid allegations of sexual harassment of players.

A statement by the management of the top South African team said the 44-year-old Tshabalala, who has been in charge of Sundowns’s women’s team for over a decade, has been accused of a number of allegations, including making inappropriate sexual comments to his players, as well as entering the dressing room and refusing to leave while players are completely naked.

In a statement released on Saturday, Sundowns said they had appointed a law firm to investigate the allegations against the coach with specific instructions to unravel allegations of improper conduct by the Tshabalala.

The club said it views the allegations in a very serious light and has relieved the coach of his appointment pending when the investigations are concluded.

“Sundowns has, in the interim, put Coach Jerry Tshabalala on special leave pending the outcome of the investigation,” the club statement said.

“This is not done to pre-empt the outcome of the investigation, but to ensure that the investigation can proceed expeditiously and protect the rights of all parties.

“In the event that the investigation establishes facts that warrant action, the Board will immediately take such steps as are appropriate.

“Mamelodi Sundowns will in due course make announcements on the findings of the investigation and the action to be taken,” the statement concluded.

The Sundowns female team have been a dominant force in women’s football in South Africa and on the continent since Tshabalala took over in 2012, winning seven domestic league titles, as well as two CAF Women’s Champions League crowns.

Sports

FIFA Ranking: Nigeria ends 2024 as fifth best team in Africa

Published

2 days ago

December 20, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Nigeria’s men’s football national team, the Super Eagles, ended the year 2024 as the fifth best team in Africa in the latest FIFA world ranking for the month of December.

According to the rankings published by the world football governing body, Nigeria remains unchanged from its previous position, despite having a challenging international break.

The FIFA rankings also reveal that Nigeria suffered a significant decline this year, dropping eight places to end 2024 ranked 44th globally.

The decline follows disappointing performances during the final AFCON qualifiers for 2025, where the Super Eagles struggled against the Benin Republic and Rwanda, resulting in a lack of wins.

However, some of the Super Eagles bitter rivals like South Africa’s Bafana Bafana experienced a resurgence, climbing three positions to finish the year ranked 57th in the world, showing a marked improvement in their recent form and successful matches during the qualifiers.

It was a woeful year for West African rivals Ghana who ended the year in 77th position, which highlights the challenges the Black Stars have encountered in the outgoing year in its bid to maintain its positions among Africa’s elite teams.

Meanwhile, the Moroccan national football team, the Atlas Lion, retained its 14th position in the in the world while still maintaining its number one spot in Africa, holding the first position for the third year in a row.

In the world ranking, Morocco is followed by Senegal on 17th position, Egypt, 33rd, Algeria 37th, Nigeria, 44th, Côte d’Ivoire, 46th, Cameroon, 49th, Mali, 51st, and Tunisia in the 52nd position.

Top 10 African teams in 2024

1. Morocco – (14th)

2. Senegal – (17th)

3. Egypt – (33rd)

4. Algeria – (37th)

5. Nigeria – (44th)

6. Côte d’Ivoire – (46th)

7. Cameroon – (49th)

8. Mali – (51st )

9. Tunisia – (52nd)

10. South Africa – (57th)