Football in Africa- news

Nigeria draws Egypt, others in Afcon U23

Nigeria’s Dream Team VI will vie for a place at the upcoming 2016 Rio Olympics together with Algeria, Egypt and Mali.

The results of the draw on Monday at the Caf headquarters in Cairo, Egypt showed that Nigeria will compete in Group B together with Algeria, Egypt and Mali at the forthcoming 2015 Africa U23 Cup of Nations in Senegal

The countries in Group A include hosts, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia and Tunisia.

The draw was conducted by Caf Secretary General, Hicham El Amrani and assisted by Caf executive committee member, Amadou Diakite.

The final tournament will take place from November 28 – December 12, 2015 in the Senegalese cities of Dakar and M’Bour.

The top three teams will qualify automatically to represent Africa at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Africa U23 Olympic pairings:

Group A: Senegal, South Africa, Zambia, Tunisia

Group B: Egypt, Algeria, Mali, Nigeria

Banyana out of AAG via draw of lots

Banyana Banyana were eliminated from the African Games Brazzaville 2015 after their Group B was decided by the drawing of lots in Congo on Monday morning.

Both Banyana Banyana and Ghana finished equal on points and goals scored, conceded and difference and as per CAF rule, the toss of the coin was to decide who among the two who would proceed to the semifinals.

South Africa lost the toss and Ghana progressed to play in the penultimate stage of the tournament while Banyana Banyana is heading home.

Vera Pauw’s charges drew 1-1 with Cameroon in the opening match and 0-0 with Ghana while Cameroon and Ghana also ended deadlocked at 1-1; meaning Cameroon led the 3-team log standing on superior goal scored while Banyana Banyana and Ghana ended deadlocked on the same number of points and goals.

Banyana Banyana coach Vera Pauw said while she was disappointed by the drawing of lots she had accepted fate as this was part of the rules.

“Well, I don’t really have much to say except that I am very disappointed at the way we were knocked out but then again rules are rules. I still think things went wrong for us when we had a penalty awarded against us late in the first match.

“We then had to play Ghana who hadn’t played a match and were still fresh. I guess we were just unlucky because the toss could have gone either way,” added Pauw.

“We really needed to play more matches as part of preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympic qualifier against Equatorial Guinea later this month. We will re-group and re-strategise to ensure we are more than ready when we play that match. But it is a bit disappointing for the girls to lose this way.”

Sunshine's title bid alive says Aggreh

Sunshine Stars winger Prince Aggreh has refused to accept that his club's chance of winning a first Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) title has been passed up.

Aggreh explained to supersport.com that despite their 2-3 loss to Nasarawa United at home on Sunday, he believes that Sunshine Stars can still claw their way back into contention as the nine games offer them that chance.

The former Heartland man acknowledged that their title aspirations have taken a big hit "but it is not yet over".

"It was a very painful loss," began Aggreh. "We didn't go out there to lose and especially at home. Yes it will be difficult now that we have lost at home but it (our title ambition) is not yet over. The season is not yet over. There are nine more games to go, and anything is still possible."

The Nigerian international now knows that Sunshine Stars will have to bring their best to the plate when they face Kwara United in the coming weekend.

Aggreh is rallying his teammates to put their home loss to Nasarawa United behind them and focus on the job at Kwara United.

"We are up for another tough game. The truth is that we have to put the loss on Sunday behind and face the game against Kwara United with our very best. Like I said, it will be very tough but if we do our best I am sure we can win because we have the quality in this team," he told supersport.com.

The former Bendel Insurance winger has scored nine goals this season in the Nigerian top flight but that has seen Sunshine Stars in fourth place with 47 points, eight behind leaders Enyimba..

Kiongera keeping the belief

Talismanic KCB forward Paul Mungai Kiongera is still confident the bankers can survive the drop despite being just a point above the drop zone with four matches to go.

The team suffered a humiliating defeat in the 2 – 5 loss at the hands of bottom side Nakuru AllStars on Sunday 13 September and Kiongera admits that the defeat made things even harder but he is backing his team to come good in the next few games.

“It is becoming harder and harder now. The loss to Nakuru AllStars was devastating and we know we need to recover. We have a team that can do the job and I still believe we will survive; we are not giving up hope because we have the capability and the team spirit to do it,” he said.

Kiongera is on loan at KCB from Tanzanian side Simba SC and he says he is waiting for communication from the Tanzanian side to know if he is in the team’s plan or if he will be seeking another move.

“I can only wait for Simba to communicate at the end of my loan period which is on the 15th of November. Up until then I am focused on giving my best for KCB to see that we survive,” he added.

'Zamalek deserved win over Pirates'

Zamalek head coach Jesualdo Ferreira has declared that his team deserved to win their clash against Orlando Pirates of South Africa.

The Giza-based team thrashed the South African powerhouse 4-1 on day six of the group stage of the Caf Confederation Cup with Ahmed Tawfik, Ahmed Hassan, Mostafa Fathy and Mahmoud Abdelmonem Kahraba scoring their goals.

Ferreira though happy with the big margin victory was quick to acknowledge the quality of opposition in the South African club.

"We won with four goals to one. We were able to score more but that couldn't be fair because Orlando Pirates is a very good team and didn't deserve that (kind of loss in such big margin). We played a very good game and will have a tough clash against Etoile du Sahel in the semifinals and we are ready for them," Ferreira said.

While Orlando Pirates head coach, Eric Tinkler, assured that their 4-1 defeat is a good lesson before the next match against Al Ahly in the Confederation Cup semifinals.

Tinkler admitted that Zamalek were good on the day and deservedly won. But he wants his team to focus on the task ahead and put the loss to Zamalek in the past.

"Zamalek deserved the victory. They played well and they made us suffer. We need to stop talking about the Zamalek match and think about the Al Ahly clash," he said.

Orlando Pirates will host Al Ahly in South Africa on the weekend of September 25-27, while Zamalek will travel to Tunisia where they will play against Etoile du Sahel on the same weekend.