28 February 2017

Asian Champions league history

Last year she became the first female coach to work with men's professional football team while this year she already set a new chapter in a major AFC tournament.
At the end of January, Champions league from the Asian region began with the preliminary stage. And in the new season a 28 year old woman debuted for the first time in the competition. However Chan Yuen-ting managerial skills in the opening game did not go well at all last Wednesday. Her Hong Kong team Eastern AA was humiliated by the most powerful Chinese giants Guangzhou Evergrande. The result is insignificant and will not be mentioned here.

27 February 2017

Pele's son already in serious trouble

Edson Cholbi do Nascimento, or shortly Edinho, has decided not to run anymore from authorities. Carrying the name from his father and great footballer ever for all times Pele, Edinho has been found guilty in 2005 for money laundering and drug trafficking. Nine years later, in June 2014 the 46 year old Brazilian was convicted on 33 years for money laundering for the drug mafia and these days he announced to call it a day and turn himself in. Probably of a good will the judge on Thursday, after hearing his appeal, reduced the sentence to 12 years and 10 months.
Until today Edinho denies all charges for trafficking, although he admits he is addicted to drugs.

26 February 2017

Banned for life

Last Wednesday AFC took some drastic measures about match fixing. Wanting so badly to know the result upfront, totally 22 footballers and functionaries in Laos and Cambodia have lost their right ever to be seen on football fields. From this number, even 15 are players of current and former team from Laos together with Lao Toyota FC. The investigation began in 2014, is still ongoing and everyone has been named.

25 February 2017

First knockout round, second leg results plus last 16 pairs

Osmanlispor - Olympiakos 0:3

Scorers: 0:1 47 Karim Ansarifard

              0:2 70 Tarik Elyounoussi
              0:3 86 Karim Ansarifard

Ajax - Legia 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 49 Nick Viergever


APOEL Nicosia - Athletic Bilbao 2:0 

Scorers: 1:0 46 Pieros Soteriou

              2:0 54-pen Giannis Gianniotas

Besiktas - Hapoel Beer Sheva 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 17 Vincent Aboubakar

              1:1 63 Anthony Nwakaeme
              2:1 86 Cenk Tosun

Roma - Villarreal 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 15 Rafael Borre


Zenit St. Petersburg - Anderlecht 3:1

Scorers: 1:0 23 Giuliano

              2:0 71 Artem Dzyuba
              3:0 78 Giuliano
              3:1 90 Isaac Kiese Thelin

FC Copenhagen - Ludogorets Razgrad 0:0

Genk - Astra 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 66 Alejandro Pozuelo

Olympique Lyon - AZ Alkmaar 7:1

Scorers: 1:0 05 Nabil Fekir
              2:0 17 Maxwel Cornet
              2:1 25 Levi Garcia
              3:1 27 Nabil Fekir
              4:1 34 Sergi Darder
              5:1 78 Nabil Fekir
              6:1 87 Houssem Aouar
              7:1 89 Mouctar Diakhaby

Shakhtar Donetsk - Celta Vigo 0:1, after extra time 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 90-pen Iago Aspas
              0:2 108 Gustavo Daniel Cabral

Sparta Prague - Rostov 1:1

Scorers: 0:1 13 Dmitri Poloz
              1:1 84 Vyacheslav Karavaev

Tottenham - Gent 2:2

Scorers: 1:0 10 Christian Eriksen

              1:1 20-own goal Harry Kane
              2:1 61 Victor Wanyama
              2:2 82 Jeremy Perbet

After the excitement of last 32, UEFA on Friday performed the draw for the second knockout round.

Celta Vigo - Krasnodar.

APOEL Nicosia - Anderlecht.

Schalke 04 - Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Olympique Lyon - Roma.

Rostov - Manchester United.

Olympiacos - Besiktas.

Gent - Genk.

FC Copenhagen - Ajax.

These 8 pairs will play 09 March its first leg, while seven days later it will all be decided in return games.

23 February 2017

Wins in both games

Porto - Juventus 0:2

Scorers: 0:1 Marko Pjaca 72
              0:2 Dani Alves 74

Sevilla - Leicester 2:1

Scorers: 1:0 25 Pablo Sarabia
              2:0 61 Joaquin Correa
              2:1 73 Jamie Vardy

22 February 2017

Russian persistence enough for next stage

Fenerbahce - Krasnodar 1:1

Scorers: 0:1 07 Fedor Smolov
              1:1 41 Souza

Fierceful guests took the whole prey

Bayer Leverkusen - Atletico Madrid 2:4

Scorers: 0:1 17 Saul Niguez
              0:2 25 Antoine Griezmann
              1:2 48 Karim Bellarabi
              1:3 58-pen Kevin Gameiro
              2:3 68-own goal Stefan Savic
              2:4 86 Fernando Torres

21 February 2017

Legendary stadium goes into history

Last Monday Spanish FA has confirmed that Copa del Rey final between, current champions Barcelona and Alaves is going to be played on 27 May in Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid. After the game this venue will be completely torn down. This means that the final will be the last match played at the estadio Vicente Calderon (unless if owner, Atletico Madrid has to play European qualifier in August). Under the Manzanares river, on the reconstruction area will build up lots of shops and business center. The club after the summer plans to move to bigger facility called Wanda Metropolitano which is still under construction.
Madrid's red and white footballers played in Vicente Calderon from October 1966 which is planned to be demolished in 2018.

19 February 2017

Five time slots next week over three nights

European competitions are entering into second midweek of playing in this year. In total 20 matches will be in action and most of them will be decisive.

Remaining four matches will be played from last 16 in the Champions league. We will be introduced with 8 'new' clubs who will open their first leg encounters and all of them will begin from 20.45 CET.

Tuesday, 21 February: Bayer Leverkusen - Atletico Madrid and Manchester City - Monaco.

Wednesday, 22 February: Porto - Juventus and Sevilla - Leicester.

For the first time (in the knockout phase), the Europa league will introduce us with 4 time slots. Most of the games will be played on its regular day, but 3 of them will break and be in action one day earlier.

Wednesday, 22 February at 18.00 CET: Fenerbahce - Krasnodar.
Wednesday, 22 February at 18.00 CET: Schalke 04 - PAOK.
Wednesday, 22 February at 18.00 CET: St. Etienne - Manchester United.

Thursday, 23 February at 17.00 CET: Osmanlispor - Olympiakos.

Thursday, 23 February at 19.00 CET: Ajax - Legia.
Thursday, 23 February at 19.00 CET: APOEL Nicosia - Athletic Bilbao.
Thursday, 23 February at 19.00 CET: Besiktas - Hapoel Beer Sheva.
Thursday, 23 February at 19.00 CET: Roma - Villarreal.
Thursday, 23 February at 19.00 CET: Zenit St. Petersburg - Anderlecht.

Thursday, 23 February at 21.05 CET: FC Copenhagen - Ludogorets Razgrad.
Thursday, 23 February at 21.05 CET: Fiorentina - Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Thursday, 23 February at 21.05 CET: Genk - Astra.
Thursday, 23 February at 21.05 CET: Olympique Lyon - AZ Alkmaar.
Thursday, 23 February at 21.05 CET: Shakhtar Donetsk - Celta Vigo.
Thursday, 23 February at 21.05 CET: Sparta Prague - Rostov.
Thursday, 23 February at 21.05 CET: Tottenham - Gent.

Forbidden entry

Former Trinidad and Tobago player Dwight Yorke for the first time experienced trouble entering United States of America (USA). The actual 'cause' is IR Iran - USA relations which have been worsened lately. On Friday he was not allowed entering the country because Yorke has a stamp on his passport from IR Iran. Although the seal was from 2015 two officials refused to grant him access. Currently working for BeIN sports company, the 45 year old was travelling from Doha to Miami and from there supposed to continue to his residence in Caribbean where he lives. Yorke was staying countless times to USA and yet he did not believe what was happening and that he 'was being made to feel like a criminal'.
The controversial 'moment' was played two years ago when Yorke was present in capital Tehran for a humanitarian match regarding opening a new stadium, where he did not even stayed overnight.

Never giving up

Hosting big sporting events is proving to have big success for the country. However, in order to get the rights sometimes you may apply more than once.
Bidding process for EURO 2024 has already begun, and one nation announced this Wednesday that it will candidate for the second time. After losing EURO 2016 from France, Istanbul have lost from Tokyo organizing summer Olympic games in 2020, persistent Turkey wants the European championship to be on its soil seven years from now. They are offering 12 stadiums for the show. If the country gets the green light then it will be the first biggest sporting event to be held in Turkey. After the announcement, full support came from president of the state Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In related news, yesterday Germany announced that even 18 cities wants to be host for the same event. The FA already said that EURO 2024 will play in 10 cities, but on offer showed interest almost double: Berlin, Bremen, Cologne, Dortmund, Dresden, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt, Freiburg, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Hanover, Kaiserslautern, Karlsruhe, Leipzig, Monchengladbach, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart. Unfortunately 8 will be dropped off from the list by the German FA in the middle of September.
Apart from Turkey and Germany, Scandinavian joint bid (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden) also wants to watch matches at their stadiums. So far it is still unclear whether Estonia and Russia will join forces together and Netherlands as a sole country will join the party for gaining the right to host the European championship 2024. Final decision will be made in September next year.

18 February 2017

Accused in Spain

While some of us are attempting to earn some money in legal way, others are trying to deceive us. Those 'others' were successful until three years ago...
All national leagues throughout the world must have good defence system for knowing the results up front, but it seems that even one of the best leagues in Europe is not immune to game fixing. Pamplona judge on Thursday has said that 18 people will go on trial for scamming every passionate football lover from the LaLiga matches of 2013/14 season. Out of that number, three are former players of Real Betis: Xavier Torres, Antonio Amaya Carazo and Jordi Figueras. The tribunal said there was proof that Osasuna executives paid the trio 400.000 euros to beat Real Valladolid with additional 250.000 to lose to Osasuna in their next game. All that was done with an 'effort' to provide Osasuna to stay in Primera division in the final two games of the season. What was wanted - that was achieved: Real Betis beat Real Valladolid 4:3 and at the final game Real Betis lost as guests to Osasuna 2:1. However, whenever something is going your way in calculations suddenly something must go wrong: all three above mentioned teams were relegated. In other words 650.000 euros was a real waste. All parties strongly is denying taking bribe.
In total 29 people were under suspicion, 11 were thrown out from the investigation which lasted 2 years. From those 15 remained, 6 'wise' Osasuna functionaries are now framed for 'document and account forgery, corporate crime and sporting fraud'.

17 February 2017

One hundred eighty eight seconds were necessary for the opening goal of last 32

Krasnodar - Fenerbahce 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 03 Viktor Claesson

AZ Alkmaar - Olympique Lyon 1:4

Scorers: 0:1 26 Lucas Tousart
              0:2 45+2 Alexandre Lacazette
              0:3 57 Alexandre Lacazette
              1:3 58-pen Alireza Jahanbakhsh
              1:4 90+5 Jordan Ferri

Astra - Genk 2:2

Scorers: 0:1 24 Timothy Castagne
              1:1 43 Constantin Budescu
              1:2 83 Leandro Trossard
              2:2 90 Takayuki Seto

Celta Vigo - Shakhtar Donetsk 0:1

Scorer: 0:1 26 Gustavo Ezequiel Blanco Leschuk

Rostov - Sparta Prague 4:0

Scorers: 1:0 14 Miha Mevija
              2:0 37 Dmitri Poloz
              3:0 40 Christian Noboa
              4:0 68 Sardar Azmoun

Gent - Tottenham 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 59 Jeremy Perbet

Ludogorets Razgrad - FC Copenhagen 1:2

Scorers: 0:1 02-own goal Anicet
              0:2 52 Youssef Toutouh
              1:2 81 Claudiu Keseru

Olympiakos - Osmanlispor 0:0

Anderlecht - Zenit St. Petersburg 2:0

Scorer: 1:0 05 Frank Acheampong
             2:0 31 Frank Acheampong

Athletic Bilbao - APOEL Nicosia 3:2

Scorers: 0:1 36 Georgios Efrem
              1:1 38-own goal Giorgios Merkis
              2:1 61 Aritz Aduriz
              3:1 71 Inaki Williams
              3:2 89 Giannis Gianniotas

Hapoel Beer Sheva - Besiktas 1:3

Scorers: 0:1 42-own goal William
              1:1 44 Elyaniv Barda
              1:2 60 Cenk Tosun
              1:3 90+3 Atiba Hutchinson

Legia - Ajax 0:0

Villarreal - Roma 0:4

Scorers: 0:1 32 Emerson
              0:2 65 Edin Dzeko
              0:3 79 Edin Dzeko
              0:4 86 Edin Dzeko

15 February 2017

Champions' turnaround

Real Madrid - Napoli 3:1

Scorers: 0:1 08 Lorenzo Insigne
              1:1 18 Karim Benzema
              2:1 49 Toni Kroos
              3:1 54 Casemiro

All details are now familiar...except one

For the main north American football championship we have to wait for five more months. In the meantime everything is known about the Gold cup, except for knowing the groups.
Bit by bit and day by day, CONCACAF is releasing useful facts about this summer's major football holiday event. Today the organization presented the last remaining leading seed in one of the groups plus the knockout stage venues.
We already knew that group B leaders will be, the hosts - United States of America, while Mexico is the best team from group C. The only questionable spot was who will lead group A, and that was assigned to Copa Centroamericana champion from last month - Honduras. First 2 quarterfinals will be played in Philadelphia (Lincoln financial field), while Phoenix (University of Phoenix stadium) will host the remaining two games (from the first knockout stage). AT&T stadium in Dallas is assigned for the first semi final and Rose bowl in Los Angeles will give the final finalist. Already is determined that the last game will be on Levi's stadium, the same venue where the final puzzle will be revealed in the competition 07 March - complete groups and full schedule.

Argentine international's brilliant goal is the first of the knockout phase

Benfica - Borussia Dortmund 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 48 Konstantinos Mitroglou

PSG - Barcelona 4:0

Scorers: 1:0 18 Angel di Maria
              2:0 40 Julian Draxler
              3:0 55 Angel di Maria
              4:0 72 Edinson Cavani

14 February 2017

Valentine Champions opening night

After the winter break both European tournaments are back. At the second week of this month Champions league usually starts first and this evening are the first 2 pairs from last 16. You just have to love football (especially) on this night as two powerhouses are playing against each other.

- Benfica - Borussia Dortmund. If we are looking from alphabetical order tonight Estadio da Luz opens the knockout stage. Portuguese champions has made a strong second start of the season and all odds of winning this match are in their favor. On the other hand they have a tough Borussia Dortmund side, who is playing much better and better from home. Although Germans are counting to score at least a goal and maybe holding the home team to a draw, nothing can stop Benfica of winning this first leg.
- PSG - Barcelona. Out of the two pairs this is maybe the most interesting game. In other words this can be also characterized as the REAL battle of true champions. And having being title holders in their own countries tonight they have to prove that strength on the pitch. From 2013 these two giants have played three times in this competition with plenty of goals and three types of outcomes of results. In cases like this and PSG and Barcelona looks to win, however if two things are positive they have to cancel each other at the end to a draw. Everything points out that this derby will be full of goals, like previous three meetings, and, as is very tough to predict this match, the guests might snatch it at the end.

Angola's worst tragedy

At the start of last weekend Angola experienced the worst football tragedy in the country. The beginning for the new season in Girabola (Angola Premier league) turned into a nightmare on the first official match between Santa Rita de Cassia and Recreativo do Libolo.
Three days ago, in the northern city of Uige supporters were trying to enter the venue to see the above mentioned match. In that pushing, stampede was created that left 59 injured, while 17 people have died, with many of them were trampled to death or suffocated. Many of the deceased happened to be children, while most of the injured are reported to be in critical condition.
For this incident the guests have issued a statement on its website that read 'while the players were on the field, outside fans were trying to get into the stadium and a gate probably gave way to the pressure of the crowd causing several people to fall who were literally trampled on by the crowd'. 'Some people had to walk on top of other people. There were 76 casualties, of whom 17 died' said Ernesto Luis, general director of local hospital. Local media also reported that Angolan president has ordered an investigation which blames police for this tragedy. Witnesses also accuse them for the havoc by throwing tear gas while trying to disperse the crowd.

13 February 2017

Return of the European competitions

The rest is over and now is time for the real business. After qualifiers and group stage games we have reached the third and final part of the European cups: knockout stage. As the winter break is over, from next week the real battle will begin in the first knockout round at the two European tournaments and no mistakes will be allowed anymore. National championships already begun, but who will have luck in these competitions we will find out in the following weeks.

First 4 matches of last 16 will begin mid week in the Champions league. All pairs are starting at the usual time from 20.45 CET.

Tuesday, 14 February: Benfica - Borussia Dortmund and PSG - Barcelona.

Wednesday, 15 February: Bayern Munich - Arsenal and Real Madrid - Napoli.

Sixteen more teams from its predecessor, Europa league in the new year starts from round of 32. This first leg will have 3 time slots.

Thursday, 16 February at 17.00 CET: Krasnodar - Fenerbahce.

Thursday, 16 February at 19.00 CET: AZ Alkmaar - Olympique Lyon.
Thursday, 16 February at 19.00 CET: Astra - Genk.
Thursday, 16 February at 19.00 CET: Borussia Monchengladbach - Fiorentina.
Thursday, 16 February at 19.00 CET: Celta Vigo - Shakhtar Donetsk.
Thursday, 16 February at 19.00 CET: Rostov - Sparta Prague.
Thursday, 16 February at 19.00 CET: Gent - Tottenham.
Thursday, 16 February at 19.00 CET: Ludogorets Razgrad - FC Copenhagen

Thursday, 16 February at 19.00 CET: Olympiakos - Osmanlispor.

Thursday, 16 February at 21.05 CET: Anderlecht - Zenit St. Petersburg.
Thursday, 16 February at 21.05 CET: Athletic Bilbao - APOEL Nicosia.
Thursday, 16 February at 21.05 CET: Hapoel Beer Sheva - Besiktas.
Thursday, 16 February at 21.05 CET: Legia - Ajax.
Thursday, 16 February at 21.05 CET: Manchester United - St. Etienne.
Thursday, 16 February at 21.05 CET: PAOK - Schalke 04.
Thursday, 16 February at 21.05 CET: Villarreal - Roma.

12 February 2017

Worldwide ban for dishonest officials

This week the world football organization had plenty of work by removing some dishonorable football officials and banning them to appear on a worldwide basis.
Last month FIFA has discovered a documents scam in Timor-Leste FA for 12 players. Officials, with the help of falsifying birth papers, deliberately made Brazilians to play for the national team. As Timor-Leste nationals those footballers played freely mostly in competitive games, such as Asian cup preliminaries together with World cup qualifiers for Russia 2018. In total 29 games were affected and under jurisdiction of FIFA, couple were punished as well. One of them, general secretary Amandio (Amandio de Araujo Sarmento) got a 3 year expulsion first, plus a fine, but from now on he is barred to participate in the sport throughout the world. In relation to this scam at the end of January, AFC has thrown out the team to participate at the Asian cup 2023 edition.
Five functionaries from Nigeria FA are also penalized. Muazu Suleyman, Yahaya Adama, Sani Fema, Christopher Giwa and Johnson Effiong are all guilty of influencing the game in the country. Because of that, they will all take 'forced rest' from football on 5 years.
The man in black gave himself a direct red card...at least for the next 18 months. For year and a half we will not see South Korean Kim Sang-woo anywhere in the world. Besides many, the 41 year old referee also officiated matches from the World cup qualifiers and K(orean)-league.

11 February 2017

Bolivia rejected

In the World cup qualifying games for Russia 2018 at the CONMEBOL region, one south American country has done a dreadful mistake not once, but twice for the same reason.
This is actually a good lesson of how to lose (probable) six points in a matter of few seconds (even if you want DO NOT try this at competitive matches because you will get punished). Maybe this was done in negligence, however Bolivia has lost precious four points that could help the team to reach that magical fifth place which goes to additional play off. On 01 September the team played against Peru, which Bolivia won 2:0, but with 'the help of' ineligible player. Five days later they repeated the same mistake again against Chile, and this game has finished goalless. Nelson Cabrera, who was identified as 'that guilty' sanctioned player, also brought a fine for the federation - 6.000 Swiss francs for each meetings, and of course both matches were forfeited 0:3 to their opponents. The 12.000 Swiss francs (11.069 euros) penalty was issued by FIFA on 01 November.
Seven days ago the world football organization dismissed the appeal from Bolivia for this case and just confirm the decisions from last year.

10 February 2017

Suspended player

Significant footballer for Bayer Leverkusen would not be able to help his team for the rest of the season.
Seven day ago the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has suspended Turkish international Hakan Calhanoglu on four months for breaching the agreement he had with Trabzonspor. In the process the tribunal also ordered him to pay the Trabzon based club 100.000 euros for damages. It all started in 2011 when, then 17 year old broke the deal by signing for Karlsruhe. Trabzonspor then sued Calhanoglu to FIFA which the world football organization assigned the case to the Turkish club. Dissatisfied about handling the subject he took the whole thing to CAS, which (unfortunately) has lost (again). This decision brought plenty of trouble to his club Bayer Leverkusen, which means that the 23 year old will miss Champions league knockout games against Atletico Madrid. Sports director Rudi Voller is actually in right when he commented this matter by saying 'It is a heavy blow for Hakan, but also for us. Although Bayer Leverkusen had nothing to do with the events in 2011, we are now being heavily punished. Now we are missing a very important player during a decisive part of the season'.
Being thrown out completely from the team and not able to play football, three days ago came the news that the midfielder will not receive nor wages nor any bonuses while he is on suspension.

09 February 2017

All will be revealed next month

This year it is destined that we will find out two confederations' champions. One has already been decided last Sunday in a breathtaking final while the other we hope to end in the same way. The only problem is that for it we have to wait for five more months.
What we do know about the tournament is the start and the end dates of when will be played, together with where will be played. What we do not know and is (still) missing are the groups and the schedule. Of course, we talk about the major north American football championship - Gold cup which will be this summer from 07 until 26 July in United States of America.
CONCACAF decided today that groups and schedule of the competition will be disclosed on the first Tuesday of next month. All coaches from the qualified teams, general secretary and confederation's president will be seen on 07 March at the same stadium where 2017 final will be played - Levi's stadium in Santa Clara, California. The whole program will start from 19.00 CET.

Anniversary celebration in Africa

Just three days after the dramatic final in Gabon at the African cup of nations the continent have special jubilee today. Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan and South Africa were the first four countries to hold an assembly general for the Confederation Africaine de Football, short for CAF, in Khartoum, Sudan on 08 February 1957. Over the years more and more nations joined the association so that 60 years later, African continent is the second largest confederation which counts 54 members. Newest nation who entered the family is South Sudan FA on 10 February 2012. Nowadays, CAF enjoys equal status in FIFA with the other five confederations. Time surely flies fast.
We congratulate to CAF wishing them to celebrate more anniversaries like this one!

08 February 2017

'Avaricious' Europe wants more places

It is no news that from 2026 we will see an increased number of teams in the World cup. Four years after Qatar, spectators in north America for the first time will have to adapt on new format for the main football event with 48 teams. And from now, one 'greedy' confederation wants more places at the show.
'In worst case scenario, we demand at least 16 places for Europe', said Aleksander Ceferin last Monday for the German newspaper 'Die Welt'. Maybe the UEFA president is fearing that the old continent will remain with 13 spots, which has nowadays, but he also stated that best quality football is playing in Europe and south America. The Slovenian also added that UEFA was against the expansion of more teams, however the decision nevertheless was accepted. Upon his 'request' on determination of participants Ceferin is asking FIFA to take into account the number of states who are playing quality football (does it?), while from the other side the world organization wants to allocate more places for Asia and Africa.
Who will have more, who will have less, who will stay disappointed or who will be happy all continents will find out on the congress in May in Bahrain.

07 February 2017

Plenty of digits, interesting facts, awards and team of the tournament

At the thirty first edition of the Africa cup of nations there were many surprises, disappointments, lots of goals and of course new champions. Here are some statistics from the event:

- Goals. In total 66 goals were scored or 2.06 per match. This number was little higher after the end of group stages when there was an average of 2.16 per game where 52 times the ball crossed over the line. But then it was 'drastically' decreased from 8 matches in the knockout stages were scored 14 goals or 1.75 per game. Divided by groups: B gave the most goals -21, followed by C - 14, in the third place is A with 11 and with one number D had only 6 goals. Players were in the mood for second 45 minutes where they scored 34 times against 32 in the first half. 
Results. Minimal results of 1:0 and 0:1 repeated 8 times, 5 games finished 1:1 with 0:2 and 2:0, 2:1 and 1:2 together with the unpopular result (0:0) has ended 4 times, 2:2 was repeated in 3 games, 2 times were 3:1 and 1:3, while 1 game finished 2:4.
- Actual scorers. Herve Kage Kabananga (Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC) is the best scorer with 3 goals. Eleven players deceived goalkeepers 2 times: Islam Slimani and Riyad Mahrez (Algeria), Aristide Bance and Prejuce Nakoulma (Burkina Faso), Michael Ngadeu Ngadjui (Cameroon), Paul Jose Ebunge Mpoku (DRC), Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Andre Ayew (Ghana), Sadio Mane (Senegal) and Naim Sliti (Tunisia). With one goal - 39 other footballers have entered the score sheet.
- Unfortunate scorers. Only 2 names went against their own goalkeepers: Algerian Aissa Mandi gifted Tunisia while Rudnilson Brito e Silva (Guinea-Bissau) netted his own goal for Burkina Faso.
- Punishments. In 32 games there were 7 penalties given. All of them were converted successfully, with 5 of them were in the first half while second 45 minutes only had 2. Referees gave most to Tunisia - 3 times, Ghana was 'favored' 2 times, while for Zimbabwe and the hosts, Gabon were given only once.
- Bad boy. Among many yellow cards, only one 'unhappy' player received both of them in a game: Lomalisa Mutambala (DRC).
- Additional time and penalties. No goals were scored in the extra 30 minutes from the first knockout stages on wards, but the two finalists survived the lottery from the penalty shootout: Senegal - Cameroon of the second quarter final and Burkina Faso - Egypt from the first semi final.
- There was extreme joy for the debut team in this edition of the Africa cup of nations from the first game: exactly 90 minutes were needed for Juary Marinho Soares to score his opening first goal for Guinea Bissau and thus entered into the history books in his country.
- One game provided 'double' excitement: own goal and a penalty were scored in Algeria - Tunisia.
- As we mentioned earlier, that players were not in the mood for goals in the first half, that 'drought' continued in 8 successive games. However, this 'spell' was broken by Egypt in the grand final.
- Total disappointment for this edition were the teams from Algeria, hosts Gabon and defending champions Ivory Coast who did not even pass the group stages.
- Losing finalist Egypt did get a prize from the event: they were named the fair play team. Now champion, Cameroonian Christian Bassogog was chosen for the best player of the tournament.


- In a 3-5-2 formation here is the best 11 for the whole event:
Goalkeeper: Fabrice Ondoa (Cameroon).
Defenders: Modou Kara Mbodji (Senegal), Ahmed Hegazy (Egypt), Michael Ngadeu Ngadjui (Cameroon).
Midfielders: Charles Kabore (Burkina Faso), Daniel Amartey (Ghana), Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso), Christian Atsu (Ghana), Mohamed Salah (Egypt).
Forwards: Christian Bassogog (Cameroon), Herve Kage Kabananga (DRC).

06 February 2017

Jubilance for Indomitable lions - new African champion!

Egypt - Cameroon 1:2

Scorers: 1:0 22 Mohamed Elneny
              1:1 59 Nicolas Nkoulou
              1:2 88 Vincent Aboubakar

Additional information: We will see more from Indomitable lions this summer, where fresh victors will take part at the Confederations cup in Russia - a warm up event before the World cup. From 17 June until 02 July, Cameroon will be in group B together with Australia, Chile and Germany.

05 February 2017

In search for new king of Africa

Gabon this evening will see the last game in the African cup of nations for 2017. In the thirty-first edition the continent will have new champion which will rule for the next two years.

- Egypt - Cameroon. There is no doubt that Libreville tonight will see a spectacular final match between (probably) the two best teams in the championship. Egypt did not receive a goal in the event up until the semi-final, which shows that their defence can be vulnerable (sometimes). Cameroon poses a big threat to them, with lots of good players capable of reaching the net. Out of the two Cameroon have scored maximum two goals which will be extremely difficult even to repeat that. Unless the players are focused enough they can achieve that, but Egypt will always strike back. Since both are very strong, it looks like that the game will end in a stalemate and after additional time penalties will decide: either eighth title for The pharaohs or fifth for Indomitable lions.

04 February 2017

Traore's remarkable and powerful strike puts Burkinabe into third place

Burkina Faso - Ghana 1:0

Scorer: 1:0 88 Alain Traore

Bronze medal match

We slowly came at the penultimate game of the African cup of nations. Losing semi finalists will battle each other for the consolation prize: best third team in the continent.

- Burkina Faso - Ghana. After midweek action both sides may look disappointed for not being in the grand final on Sunday. However being third in Africa is not at all bad thing, so tonight we have to see some lively game and also expected to be tough. Unballasted from all worries it is no doubt that these two wants the same spot. Over the past three weeks lots has been either for Burkina Faso or Ghana about effectiveness, their form, readiness to perform, their dreadful play thus here we will not repeat the same thing. It is anticipated that minimal result will be in focus (again), we have same favorites for this evening (Black stars), but the other team looks like having more advantageous over their rival (The stallions)...only IF both are treating this as a competitive and momentous game and not some meaningless thing.

New competition introduced

If you want to enter in major European tournament through backdoor there is another chance. However, in order to get that chance you have to be very very successful with practically no mistakes.
Last Thursday UEFA has introduced completely new tournament, simply called Nations league. Its main point is to replace, reduce or to have no participation at all - the meaningless friendly games, which more and more coaches and FAs are against them. All 55 member states will take part at the event and for the winners there are, of course, lots of fantastic prizes: partaking at the EURO 2020 event (for starters).
The format of the new league is very perplexed, as all nations want the same thing: being at the finals (future EURO tournaments). But in order to get to those finals lots of matches have to be played, and first kick off is scheduled to start from September 2018. There will be four leagues: from A with the strongest to D with the weakest teams. Each of those four leagues will then be divided in four groups with four or three teams...

Last team will be decided in Nicaragua

Who will all participate for the north American football championship in five months time? Eleven teams are already known and only one is missing. For that remaining spot real battle awaits us at the end of next month. 
The north American confederation conducted a draw today where two sub-regional teams learned who will host first and second leg. Fifth place finishing country from the Caribbean cup's mini-tournament, Haiti will first host Nicaragua, a side which took same spot at the Copa Centroamericana competition, on 24 March. Just four days later the largest central American country will return the hospitality. From that point on, fiesta may begin and the real prize for the overall winner will be this summer's Gold cup.
Haiti hunts its seventh appearance at the event, while Nicaragua will try to enter for the second time (after 2009).

02 February 2017

Hateful first half for goals for seven successive games

Cameroon - Ghana 2:0

Scorers: 1:0 71 Michael Ngadeu Ngadjui
              2:0 90+3 Christian Mougang Bassogog

Indomitable lions or Black stars, part two

Match number 30 is in fact the second semi final playing in Franceville. We will see more from these two this weekend when tournament is closing with classification places.

- Cameroon - Ghana. After yesterday's penalty shootout drama we might see exactly the same situation this evening, but with different actors. Neither Cameroon nor Ghana produced something extraordinary football at the event so far, both finished as runner-up in their respective groups A and D, and whoever wins tonight can hope to lift the title for the fifth time in Africa. This may show how these teams are equal in many ways and by wanting the same thing - final on Sunday. Sometimes powerhouses in the continent, now they barely score any goals, are definitely not the same teams as they used to be. Copied message from 24 hours ago: this may look like the draw is imminent (to happen again), Ghana are clear favorites, however Cameroon are also dangerous and can take this game in normal time. Because surprises are still possible at the event.

Final game in California

Apart from Africa another championship will be decided in 2017 and this time on the other corner of the world. North America will stage its own event simply called Gold Cup. Played entirely in United States of America this summer, from 07 until 26 July, CONCACAF revealed today that the final match will take place on Levi's stadium in Santa Clara, California.

01 February 2017

Egypt on course to become African champion for the eighth time

Burkina Faso - Egypt 1:1, on penalties: 3-4

Scorers: 0:1 65 Mohamed Salah
              1:1 72 Aristide Bance

One game away from title, part one

After two days break the action in Africa cup of nations continues with the knockout stages in Gabon. Only one game will be introduced tonight in the first semi final.

- Burkina Faso - Egypt. Lucky spectators in Gabonese capital will see perhaps the most interesting game so far at the championship. From one side we have a team who has scored in every match played, while from the other the best team which is yet to concede a goal. Burkina Faso has scored in each game maximum two goals unlike Egypt, whose efficiency is not so great. Putting that aside, their defence is so strong and Burkinabe may desperately struggle to even give any. Additional time or penalties are not a option for anyone here so matches like this can easily be characterized only as a (boring and scoreless) draw. Still, one goal difference can prove as vital for this game and Egypt are little bit closer achieving that.

Additional games for final spot

It has been announced that the final, twelfth place at this summer's Gold Cup grand event will be decided at the end of March.
The decider between fifth place teams from CONCACAF's two sub regions: from the Caribbean Cup mini-tournament - Haiti and Copa Centroamericana competition - Nicaragua have to meet on 24 and 28 March. Which country will host first or second game it will be specified in the draw who is going to be held this Friday, 03 February in the confederation's headquarters at Miami beach, Florida, United States of America from 18.00 CET, streamed live on its facebook page.