Cameroon seal AYC final spot

 

Cameroon beat Egypt 4-2 on penalty shoot out to get to the finals of the Orange Africa Youth Championship after a long and action packed game at the Dobsonville Stadium in Johannesburg.

This win sends Cameroon to the finals where they will play against the Flying Eagles of Nigeria. This leaves a repeat of the Group B second match which was won by Cameroon by 1-0.

The last semi final match between Cameroon and the Young Pharaohs’ started with both teams at each others neck. It was a game of two halves and two determined sides.

Both teams looked desperate to get the goal that will put them in the lead in this thrilling encounter.

---

At the 18th minute Mohammed Ghaly of Egypt forced a spectacular save from Cameroon’s Thierry Tangouatio.

Cameroon’s Ohandza Franck took a promising free kick that was tipped over the posts by the Young Pharaoh’s Ahmed Shanawy.

After thirty good minutes of play it was not clear who will emerge victorious. Nonetheless only one team can make it through to the final to face the Flying Eagles.

Cameroon’s Haman Jacques was a remarkable player to watch as he persistently tried his luck at goal but was met with the determined efforts of Egypt’s goal stopper. The game went to half time with a goal less draw yet an entertaining game.

The teams came back from half time showing the very same ambition but the Young Pharaohs’ dominated the second half; technically frustrating Cameroon.

Both teams showed their hunger as they started firing shots from every angle.

Mohammed Sobh took a convincing shot that went over the post (59th). Both teams failed to optimize on their chances.

The game dragged on to extra time, which came as no surprise since both teams were on fire. The first half of extra time did not yield any fruits.

The Egyptians were harassing Cameroon in the last 3 minutes of the second half but yet failing to find the back of the net. 

The game ended on penalties where Diaar El Sayed’s boys lost to the Flying Eagles by 4-2.

Egypt missed the first two penalties and scored the consecutive two penalties that followed, while Cameroon scored their all four which saw them cement a place in the CAF Orange African Youth Championship.

Egypt will battle it out with Mali for the third position on the 1st of May at 12h00 at Dobsonville stadium, while the pièce de resistance will be between Cameroon and Nigeria on the same day at 15h00.

Source: African Soccer
PIX:Ambroise Oyongo of Cameroon challenges Omar Gaber of Egypt

Nigeria book's place in the AYC final

Nigeria have booked a place in the 2011 African Youth Championships final after a comprehensive 2-0 victory over Mali at the Dobsonville Stadium on Thursday afternoon.

The Flying Eagles were always in control of the game and earned their victory via goals from Uche Nwofor, his third of the tournament, and Stanley Okoro (penalty).

Mali looked toothless in attack, though they did have one golden chance with the score at 1-0, but Ibrahima Diallo missed with a point-black header would he could only guide the ball onto the post.

---

There was an element of good fortune about the Nigerian opener on 22 minutes as Olanrewaju Kayode looked to have used his hand at the near post to flick on a cross, before Nwofor steered home the ball at the back post.

The Mali players were furious and protested against the goal, but it stood and Nigeria had a deserved lead.

Amara Malle struck the post with a shot from 18-yards as Mali looked to get back into the game, while just before the break Nwofor should have grabbed his second as his point-blank header was brilliantly saved by Cheick Sy in the Malien goal.

Ibrahima Diallo should have leveled up the game with that header that struck the woodwork with 16 minutes on the clock, but the win was finally made safe for Nigeria eight minutes into injury-time as Kayode was felled in the area and Okoro kept his nerve to score the spot-kick.

Source: African Soccer

PIX: Amara Konate of Mali tackles Chidi Osuchukwu of Nigeria

T.T Brothers fetes SOS Village kids in Tema

T.T. Brothers Ghana Limited, on Monday, feted over a 100 children from the SOS Village in Tema after which he presented items worth $12,000 to the forster home for the upkeep of the home.
The items included bags of rice, cooking oil, biscuits and assorted products of T.T brothers.

Mr. Isaac Tetteh, Chief Executive Officer of the company who donated the items on behalf of the company said the donation forms part of his commitment to support the home some years ago and assured of his continued support to the Village as part of contribution to the development of society.

Mr Tetteh who doubles as a board member of Accra Hearts of Oak as well as Pure Joy Star stated that the donation formed part of his company's social and corporate responsibility of assisting the community in which it operates added that if everything goes on well the home will benefit from bigger packages in the coming years.

“I am happy to see the kids happy during the yuletide and the Easter season’s as well as it makes them not feel rejected by society during these periods which also serves as a family reunion and homecoming for Christians the world over.”
He commended his family, staff of his company and friends for the support towards the programme over the years.

He later feted over 100 children a party for the children of the Tema SOS Village.
On her part, Ms Esther Anagbano commended Mr. Isaac Tetteh and staff of T.T Brothers Limited for their kind gesture towards the upkeep of the children.

She asked for God’s guidance and blessings for Mr. Tetteh and his company for remembering them at such a crucial time whilst appealing to other institutions and companies to emulate his shining example .

We have to go back to drawing board - Preko

World and African champions Ghana are out of the Orange African Youth Championship South Africa 2011 contest following a 2-1 defeat by Nigeria, and a 1-1 draw with Gambia and Cameroon respectively.

Following this, Ghana assistant coach, Preko Yaw, who was a member of Ghanaian Olympic bronze medal team in 1992 and the U-17 World Cup winning team in Italy 1991, gave an audience to cafonline.com.

Cafonline.com: What went wrong with your team in this competition?

Preko Yaw: I strongly believe it was overconfidence. Being the World and African Champions, the boys thought they could walk away easily with 3 points in every game.

---

They just couldn’t replicate what their predecessors did. This is a lesson for us and in future, we just have to put things in order.

Cafonline.com: Was Ghana missing some players in this tournament?

Preko Yaw: This is the best we have. The point is that when your best don’t perform as expected, one now feels that those players dropped may have done better.

Cafonline.com: What is the impact of this early exit on Ghanaian youth football?

Preko Yaw: It will have enormous effect because this is a generation set up to build the national team. With this, we may experience big gap from now in racing future players for the national team. However or fortunately, we still have many players from the previous junior team in the national team.

Cafonline.com: What plans to you have to correct this?

Preko Yaw: We have to go back to the drawing board. Take a proper check on our selection of players; looking at their character and ability to withstand tournament pressure. Some players can only perform on home soil. We just have to take this, among other characteristics, into consideration.

Cafonline.com: As World and African Champions, what is your advice to the semi finalists:

Preko Yaw: They just have to believe in themselves. With the elimination of Ghana, it is now an open contest. For the World Cup in Colombia, they just have to be well prepared because it is not going to be easy. All eyes will be on them since Africa is the defending champions. Also, the absence of Ghana shows that the best teams qualified. Note that it was a surprise to many that Africa could be world champions in junior level.

Cafonline.com: How do you evaluate the competition so far?

Preko Yaw: I saw a lot of potentials. Individually, the boys were very good. Egypt, South Africa and Lesotho gave a good account of themselves. It is a competition that will continue to attract world attention and produce great talents.

Cafonline.com: What is your advice to people at home after this exit?

Preko Yaw: They have to be patient.  We are sorry for what happened. At the same time, it is a part of football that is difficult to swallow. We just have to move on, make sure that the mistake we made is corrected and forge ahead with how best to move youth football forward again.

 

 

 

Poor Ghana exit AYC

Cameroun and Ghana shared the spoils yesterday at the Dobsonville stadium in Johannesburg in an intriguing 1-1 encounter .

With nothing much at stake and parading some new faces having won two of their last matches to become the first team to qualify in Group, Cameroon took the game on a lighter note.

It was a different approach for Ghana who with a better ball possession were more businesslike but could not breakdown the Cameroonian defence.

In the 6th minute, Nsor Kwame collected a through ball in the midfield, beating his man comfortably, raced down the left flank but a Cameroonian defender managed to block his shot before Boakye could make contact.

Ghana continued to pile pressure, another close opportunity was thwarted by the Cameroonian goalkeeper, Ngana Eric in the 13th minute when Masahudu Alhassan’s shot was almost in.

Cameroon relied on counter attacks, with Ella Armand operating from the left flank and Tagueu Joel with some support finding it difficult to dazzle the Ghanaian defense.

Ghana’s constant pressure paid off in the 20th minute, the lanky Nsor Kwame took his height advantage head in the ball and gave his team the lead.

The Ghanaians made several unsuccessful attempts to increase tally before the break but Cameroon never sat back to watch.

Action continued in the second half Ghana still pressing for another goal while Cameroon still employs the tactics of taking advantage of every opportunity to rattle the Ghanaian defense.

As the clock runs down, it became a battle for Ghana to increase their standing and Cameroon determined to maintain a clean record in Group B.

What seemed like a Ghanaian dominance began to fade gradually as Cameroon gathers more momentum as Mbongo Emmanuel finally game his team a fought for equalizing in the 90th minute.

Source: AFRICAN SOCCER

PIX: Christian Toko of Cameroon battles for the ball with Ghana's Paul Aidoo

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi creates Spanish football history by scoring 50 goals in single season

Messi outwit Osasuna' s Iranian midfielder Javad Nekounam (L) and midfielder Alvaro Cejudo Carmona (C) enroute to scoring the historic goal

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has created yet another record by becoming the first player in Spanish football history to score 50 goals in a single season.

The 23-year-old etched his name in the record books on Saturday evening in round 32 of La Liga against Osasuna at Camp Nou when he scored in the 86th minute after coming on as a second half substitute.
The Argentine bagged his landmark goal when he raced onto a through ball from Dani Alves in between two defenders before slotting the ball under opposition goalkeeper Ricardo.

                     Barcelona's Brazilian defender Dani Alves carry's  Messi up high after his goal

This is the first time in the history of Spanish football that a player has scored 50 or more goals in a single season. On April 12 against Shakhtar Donetsk in Barca's second-leg Champions League quarter-final tie in Ukraine, Messi scored his 48th goal of the 2010-11 campaign to equal a Spanish record set by Athletic Bilbao legend Telmo Zarra in 1950-51 and overtook Ferenc Puskas (Real Madrid) and Ronaldo’s (Barcelona) tally of 47 goals in 1959-60 and 1996-97 respectively.
Last Saturday against Real Madrid in La Liga's Clasico, Messi netted his 49th of the season when he slotted a penalty past Iker Casillas in a match that ended in a 1-1 draw.
However, the Argentina international, who won the 2010 FIFA Ballon d’Or award, is not the first player to score 50 or more goals in a single European season. Here is the list of players who have achieved this feat.

                         Messi being congratulated by his teamate Daniel Alves after the goal

Torres breaks duck as Chelsea cruise

After 734 minutes, Fernando Torres finally scores his first goal for Chelsea since £50m move from Liverpool. 
On a rainy day in London, the Spaniard ended his goal drought with a composed finish to complete a 3-0 victory over West Ham and lift the roof off Stamford Bridge

Fernando Torres scored his first goal for Chelsea. He struck in the 84th against West Ham United at Stamford Bridge, turning sharply in the box to swivel and shoot low into the left corner of Robert Green's goal.

Chelsea won the game 3-0, after Frank Lampard opened the scoring in the first half and then Florent Malouda completed the scoring in stoppage time, with Torres providing the assist.
   
It brings to an end a sorry spell for the Spaniard, who had also failed to score for his country since moving to Chelsea from Liverpool in a £50 million deadline day move in January.