Some of the best soccer in the world is being played at the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, but away from the African continent, few seem to be paying attention.
Africa Cup games are mostly not freely accessible for fans in Europe to watch, while news about the biennial tournament featuring 24 of the continent’s best national teams is often overshadowed by domestic competitions.
With this edition of the Africa Cup being played at the same time as Europe’s “big five” leagues — in England, Spain, Italy, France and Germany — the tournament is in danger of being overlooked.
Photo: AFP
That is despite teams boasting stars such as Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Victor Osimhen and Riyad Mahrez, along with enthusiastic fans dancing in the stands and on-field passions stirred up by old rivalries.
The matches have been exciting, even spectacular — not one of the 24 group games played before Monday had ended in a scoreless draw.
Players and coaches at the tournament think the tournament is not shown the respect it deserves.
“This is a fantastic tournament, top organized in a beautiful country, with top infrastructure and with all the top players,” Gambia coach Tom Saintfiet said. “People go to the stadium in Manchester or in Liverpool to see these players playing, but why don’t we show this live all over Europe on TV? I think that’s where the respect starts.”
Coaches and clubs in Europe’s top leagues have been known pressure African players not to play for their national teams or to skip the tournament, and it can be a balancing act.
Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel asked Morocco not to play Noussair Mazraoui until its final group game because of injury concerns.
Cameroon goalkeeper Andre Onana joined the team late because he was playing for Manchester United a day before Cameroon’s opening match against Guinea. He ultimately missed the game despite his rush to make it.
Cape Verde federation president Mario Semedo criticized Portuguese club Portimonense for allegedly pressuring Helio Varela to miss the tournament. It should have been a highlight for the 21-year-old forward. Cape Verde became the first team to clinch its place in the last 16.
“The European coaches have no clue about African football,” Saintfiet said. “They still think we play on a — sorry for my words — on a [expletive] pitch in a [expletive] stadium, but Africa is developed, Africa is top [tier]... Europe must open its eyes, but also television must open its eyes. These are big tournaments that deserve all respect, not only from the clubs or the coaches, but also from the media.”
Players at the Africa Cup have repeatedly spoken of their passion to play for their countries at the tournament.
Ghana goalkeeper Richard Ofori said it should not matter what other people think of the tournament if Africans take pride in it.
“We must all support it as Africans, and then we raise our game, and then we make sure our tournament becomes successful and beautiful,” Ofori said. “That’s the most important thing. What a European nation thinks or whatever they are showing or doing or whatever, it’s not our problem. The problem for Africans is that we must focus on our game.”
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
RSS