Tributes have been pouring in for former Ivory Coast defender, Sol Bamba, who has died at the age of 39.

Turkish club Adanaspor, where he was technical director, made the announcement on Saturday saying he had fallen ill before a match the day before.

Bamba made 46 appearances for his country, representing it at the 2008 Olympics and in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

He also played for the likes of Cardiff City, Leeds United, and Leicester City and had spells at Italian side Palermo, Scottish clubs Dunfermline Athletic and Hibernian, and Turkish side Trabzonspor.

In a post on X, Cardiff City which Bamba helped to clinch promotion to the Premier League in his first full season, described him as “a true gentleman” and called his impact on it “immeasurable”.

Bamba was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2021 while at Cardiff, but was declared cancer-free after a course of chemotherapy.

He returned to play for two English clubs before retiring in January 2023.

Bamba then went on to coach, first as assistant manager at Cardiff before taking up the post of technical director at Adanaspor.

His wife, Chloe, also paid tribute to him on Instagram saying while he fought the cancer head on with stoicism, it was never a fair fight.

“These years have been indescribably difficult but we still managed to find joy and laughter in it,” she said, adding that it had been an “honour to have loved and been loved by Sol”.

Source: Africa News

Jose Peseiro announced his decision to step down as coach of Nigeria on Friday after leading the country to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations last month.

The 63-year-old Portuguese coach met the target of guiding the Super Eagles to the semifinal of the tournament set for him by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), but opted to move on.

Peseiro said it was a great privilege to work with Nigeria and he and his staff will miss both the officials and players they have worked with over the past two years.

“It has been 22 months of immense dedication, sacrifice, emotion, and enormous enthusiasm. We feel a sense of fulfillment,” Peseiro posted on X, formerly Twitter, after his contract with the NFF ran out Thursday.

“Guys, we are thankful; it has been a privilege to be part of this family.

“We will miss you, but we will always be there for you, no matter where you are. A big hug to all of you.”

Peseiro was appointed Nigeria coach in May 2022 amid concerns he would not make a success of the job going by his past record.

He helped the country qualify for the delayed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, which was staged in Ivory Coast last month, when the Super Eagles went all the way to the championship game.

His critics knocked his defensive tactics even though the team reached the final against most expectations.

His extended contract covered only the Africa Cup of Nations after which officials said he was offered a new deal with the same monthly salary of $50,000, which he earned when he took a pay cut last year to keep his post.

Widely travelled Peseiro has said he has received several offers after Nigeria were beaten in the final by hosts Ivory Coast.

His departure will signal what could possibly be a long-drawn search for a replacement with growing calls for the often cash-strapped NFF to hire a local coach, who they can afford, in his place.

Peseiro, a former Real Madrid assistant coach, previously managed Saudi Arabia and Venezuela and clubs including Sporting Lisbon, FC Porto, Panathinaikos, Rapid Bucharest, Al-Hilal, Al-Wahda, Al-Ahly Cairo and Sharjah FC.

Source: AFP

Cash, houses and honours are being bestowed on footballers from Ivory Coast and Nigeria, after Sunday’s riveting Africa Cup of Nations final.

Every player in Ivory Coast’s winning squad will pocket $82,000 (£65,000) and get a villa worth a similar amount, the presidency announced.

“You have brought happiness to all Ivorians, bravo, bravo,” said President Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast, which hosted the pan-African tournament.

Nigeria also got a heroes’ welcome.

Although their 2-1 loss in the final spelled heartbreak for the Super Eagles’ millions of fans at home and in the diaspora, their efforts are being handsomely rewarded by President Bola Tinubu.

Each member of the Nigerian squad has received one of the country’s highest honours – the Member of the Order of the Niger. The president is also giving them each an apartment and a piece of land near the capital, Abuja.

Third-placed South Africa are also set to receive about $52,000 per player, according to local media.

It is not clear what cash payment Nigeria’s players are to receive from the state purse.

But all of the perks listed above are in addition to the usual prize money doled out by the Africa Cup of Nations, which they say they have boosted by 40% since the last tournament.

This means that winners Ivory Coast get $7m, runners-up Nigeria get $4m, semi-finalist South Africa and DR Congo each get $2.5m, while the four teams who made the quarter-finals take home $1.3m each.

This year’s Africa Cup of Nations enjoyed the highest viewing numbers in its 67-year history – thanks to bigger broadcasting and commercial deals, and social media buzz. Almost two billion people are said to have watched worldwide.

Analysts hope the global appreciation for Africa’s footballing flair will translate into more starting slots for African teams at future World Cups.

As it stands, Africa has only nine World Cup spots to Europe’s 13, despite the fact these two continents have a near-identical number of Fifa-affiliated countries.

African national teams have in the past complained their salaries and bonuses have not been paid.

The Cameroon side who won global admiration for their quarter-final performance against England in the 1990 World Cup waited over 30 years to get houses they were promised, by which time their captain had died.

At last year’s Fifa Women’s World Cup, South African footballers won a pay dispute after sitting out a match in protest. Their hastily assembled substitutes had included a 13-year-old girl.

Source: BBC

World marathon record holder Kelvin Kiptum and his coach Gervais Hakizimana died in a car crash in western Kenya that left a third passenger injured, police said Sunday.

“The accident happened around 11 pm (2000 GMT). The car had three occupants, two died on the spot, while one was taken to hospital. The two are Kiptum and his coach,” said Peter Mulinge, police commander for Elgeyo Marakwet County in western Kenya.

He said the car was heading to Eldoret, a city in western Kenya, when the accident occurred.

Kiptum ran a world record 2:00:35 in the Chicago Marathon in October, taking 34 seconds off fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge’s previous record.

Source: AFP

Sebastien Haller scored a dramatic late winner as hosts Ivory Coast fought back to beat Victor Osimhen’s Nigeria 2-1 in Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations final and complete the most remarkable of major tournament turnarounds by claiming their third continental title.

Nigeria looked set to repeat their 1-0 victory over the Ivorians here at the Ebimpe Olympic Stadium during the group stage when captain William Troost-Ekong — who had netted a penalty to decide that first meeting — rose to head in the opener late in the first half.

However, Franck Kessie equalised just after the hour mark and Haller turned in Simon Adingra’s cross in the 81st minute to spark wild celebrations among the sea of orange in the Abidjan stands.

Ivory Coast’s success sees them add this year’s title to those claimed in 1992 and 2015, while this win also allows them to join Nigeria on three Cup of Nations triumphs overall.

Only Egypt, Cameroon and Ghana have won the title more often, with the Super Eagles squandering the opportunity to match their Ghanaian rivals on four victories.

Spearheaded by reigning African player of the year Osimhen, the Nigerians had looked the most formidable team in the competition over the last month.

But Ivory Coast’s sense of destiny was simply too overpowering, as they became the first host country to win the AFCON since 2006.

Didier Drogba captained the Elephants team that lost on penalties to Egypt in Cairo in that final 18 years ago, while this time he was among the spectators to witness a stunning victory for his country.

Back from the brink

It is an incredible achievement for a side that was on the brink of elimination in the group stage after losing 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea on January 22.

That was their heaviest ever home defeat and the Ivorians then parted company with coach Jean-Louis Gasset, replacing him with Emerse Fae, a teammate of Drogba’s in 2006.

They then began a remarkable turnaround which saw them oust holders Senegal on penalties, beat Mali with a last-gasp goal in extra time, and edge out DR Congo with a Haller goal in the last four.

Their supporters packed out the stadium to its 60,000 capacity, with many fans having to watch the game from vantage points on stairways.

Anyone wanting to dampen the excitement levels might have pointed out that Cup of Nations finals tend to be low-scoring affairs.

There were just 10 goals scored in the last 11 finals, five of which were decided on penalties after a 0-0 stalemate.

Indeed, Ivory Coast’s four previous final appearances had all ended goalless before going to penalties, two of which they had won.

This looked set to be another nervy, low-scoring affair with chances few and far between early on.

However the home side then had a great chance on 34 minutes when Kessie found Adingra on the left and his shot was turned away by Nigerian goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali.

That proved crucial as Nigeria went ahead just four minutes later when Ademola Lookman’s corner from the left was touched on and Troost-Ekong headed in from the edge of the six-yard area.

Earlier in the tournament the Ivorians would have crumbled in such a scenario, but they deserve great credit for regrouping at the interval and throwing everything at Nigeria.

Max-Alain Gradel’s netbound shot was blocked in front of the line by Calvin Bassey five minutes after the restart, before Nwabali turned an Odilon Kossounou long-range piledriver around the post on 62 minutes.

They drew level from the corner which followed that, as Kessie — whose late penalty had rescued the hosts against Senegal in the last 16 — appeared at the back post to head into the net.

It seemed inevitable that a second Ivory Coast goal would follow and it duly did with nine minutes of the 90 to play as Haller got his studs to Adingra’s cross and diverted the ball into the far corner.

Behind for the first time since their opening match, Nigeria could not react, and Ivory Coast held on for victory.

Source: AFP

No single player symbolises Ivory Coast’s remarkable turnaround to reach this weekend’s Africa Cup of Nations final quite like striker Sebastien Haller.

The 29-year-old was the host country’s match-winner in the semi-final against the Democratic Republic of Congo in his first start of the tournament after injury.

That came after a year marked by a return from cancer and then an agonising climax to the German Bundesliga title race with Borussia Dortmund.

Like Didier Drogba once upon a time, Haller is the poster boy of the Elephants team at this, their home Cup of Nations.

He appears on billboards across Abidjan, advertising anything from mineral water to deodorant and a major mobile phone operator.

“It’s bizarre. I wasn’t expecting that,” he admitted ahead of the tournament when asked about seeing his face everywhere.

“I need to use this notoriety to serve as an example to others.”

Yet it looked like he might not play any part in the competition as an ankle injury picked up playing for Dortmund in December prevented him from featuring in the group stage.

The Ivorians were on the brink of a humiliating group-stage exit after a stunning 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea in their third game, but squeezed through as the last of the four best third-placed teams.

Haller was therefore able to play a part from the bench under interim coach Emerse Fae — appointed mid-tournament to replace the sacked Jean-Louis Gasset — as Ivory Coast faced Senegal in the last 16.

He scored in the penalty shoot-out as the hosts knocked out the holders, and he again played an important part as a substitute in the dramatic quarter-final win over Mali.

Finally considered fit to start in the semi-final, it was his volley that saw off DR Congo at the Ebimpe Olympic Stadium.

“It is true that we had a few slip-ups at the start of the competition but maybe we are a different team now,” he told broadcaster Canal Plus Afrique after that game before playing down his own role in the semi-final triumph.

“I wasn’t really thinking that I absolutely had to score. The most important thing was to help the team,” he said.

Struggles at club level

Haller was born in France and represented them up to Under-21 level, playing alongside 2018 World Cup winners such as Benjamin Pavard and Ousmane Dembele.

However, with the call from France senior coach Didier Deschamps never coming, he accepted the offer in 2020 to play for Ivory Coast, the country of his mother’s birth.

“When I scored my first goal on my first cap against Madagascar, it was really something. I was so happy,” he later recalled in an interview with So Foot magazine.

Haller played in the Ivorian team that went out of the last Cup of Nations in Cameroon in the last 16.

At that point the former Eintracht Frankfurt and West Ham United forward was starring for Ajax, banging in the goals in the Netherlands and in the UEFA Champions League.

A big-money move to Dortmund followed in July 2022, with the German club seeing him as the man to replace Erling Haaland, who had just been sold to Manchester City.

However, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer just days after joining, and several months of treatment followed, including four rounds of chemotherapy and two operations.

His first competitive appearance for the club only came on January 22 last year against Augsburg.

He went on to score nine goals in the run-in as Edin Terzic’s side looked certain to end a decade of Bayern Munich dominance and win the Bundesliga.

They were in the driving seat on the final day of the campaign, but Haller missed a penalty in a 2-2 draw with Mainz which allowed Bayern to pip Dortmund on goal difference.

There has been little to shout about at club level since then for Haller, who has not started a game for Dortmund since September and has not scored since netting a brace in a Cup tie against lower-league opponents on August 12.

Yet now he has the chance to lead his country to Cup of Nations glory on Sunday against Nigeria, something which he will also hope can kickstart his club career.

Source: AFP

Nigeria are through to the final of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations after a pulsating penalty shootout against South Africa.

The Super Eagles prevailed 4-2 on penalties following a gripping 1-1 draw over 120 minutes in the city of Bouake.

Goalkeeping heroes Stanley Nwabali and Ronwen Williams took center stage at the Stade de la Paix.

Both men made athletic saves throughout the game to keep their teams level. However, the tie was defined by their penalty shootout exploits.

Nwabali emerged triumphant, saving two spot-kicks to break South African hearts.

Source: CAFonline