African soccer roundup

African soccer roundup

LONDON ─ Here’s a roundup of African soccer brought weekly courtesy of the African Soccer Agency.

2010 FIFA World Cup

Could the event be played on artificial pitches? It is possible according to FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
 
Meanwhile reports indicate rumblings of discontent within the World Cup local organising committee, just as the latest FIFA inspection visit is about to take place.
 
MTN Africa Cup of Nations

A great tournament (the 26th)  finished with a victory by holders Egypt as they clinched their sixth title by beating Cameroon 1-0 in Accra.
 
Top Goalscorer: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)  5 goals
 
Best Player:  Abd Rabou (Egypt)
 
CAF Best X1: Al-Hadary (Egypt), Geremi (Cameroon),  Gomaa (Egypt), Michael Essien (Ghana), Sulley Muntari (Ghana), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast), Alexandre Song (Cameroon), Abd Rabou (Egypt), Aboutrika (Egypt), Amr Zak, (Egypt) & Manucho (Angola)
 
100 Yellow and 3 Red Cards:  Feindouno (Guinea), Mensah (Ghana) and Bikey (Cameroon)
 
There were a record number of goals scored (99) in the 32 games. Eleven penalties were taken and all were scored.
 
Two coaches left their positions during the tournament – Henri Kasperczak (Senegal) and Henri Michel (Morocco)
 
Player News and Gossip

More rumours about Didier Drogba leaving Chelsea. And maybe Samuel Eto’o could go to the Premiership ?
 
Eye Witness

In Portugal Djalma (Angola) had a moderate game for Maritimo and ended up being sent off after getting two yellow cards. Sektioui (Morocco) fared much better, coming on as a substitute to score an easy second goal in the 3-0 win by league leaders Porto.

General News

The latest FIFA rankings show significant upward movement for: Ghana (up 29 places to 14th), Cameroon (up 8 to 17th), Ivory Coast (up 14 to 24th), Egypt (up 6 to 29th), Angola (up 8 to 64th), South Africa (up 8 to 70th), Equatorial Guinea (up 6 to 78th), Libya (up 8 to 85th), Gambia (up 8 to 103rd) and Niger (up 5 to 152nd)