Angola - Mali open Orange Nations Cup

Sunday, the curtain will be drawn on the 27th Orange CAF Nations Cup final in Luanda Angola.while the Angolans will be expecting their team to make it to the final of the competition and even win the cup, the Malians are not under such a pressure and this suits them fine.

since october 10 2008 when they were eliminated from the first round of the CAN-Nations Cup qualifier, came out second of group 3 behind Benin, the angolans have not gotten involved in major competitions contending itself instead with friendly matches that have not really brought out the best in the team.in July, the authorities recriuited the Portuguese Manuel Jose hoping that his superlative showing with the Egyptian club Al Ahly will rub off on the team.

Under him the team played a total of nine matches, won two against Togo and Malta, drew six and lost one against Estonia on december 30 in Portugal where they were in camp. if the attack can be said not to be potent with seven goals, the defence can be credited with conceding just five goals.

Angola, world cup qualifiers in 2006 are loooking forward to another glorious dawn in their football, despite the pressure that goes with host countries.

The Eagles of Mali on the other hand, too long in the shadows of African football, are targetting this competition to satisfy the yearnings of a hungry country. so far the spanish based trio of Mahamadou Diara, Seydou Keita, Frederick Oumar Kanoute have not risen to the expectations of taking Mali to great heights.

it is hoped that unlike what happenned in 2008 when they had to bow out in a group involving Nigeria, Benin and Cote Divoire, this time around the memories of 1972, finalist and 1994 and 2002 semi finalist will push them even further.

meanwhile, the Malians are no strangers to opening matches. in 1994 they spoilt the party for host Tunisia when they won 2-0, and in 2002 before their public they rallied back through Seydou Keita to level a George Weah goal.

just back from a four nation playing tour against North Korea,Iran, and Qatar the Eagles lost 0-1 against the Pharaohs of Egypt.

all is set for a match that will also determine the preparedness of the host to organise the competition.

courtesy: CAF

Nigeria Super Eagles worried with Odemwingie injury

The Nigerian camp in Durban is sweating over the fitness of Locomotiv Moscow striker Peter Odemwingie who suffered a foot injury in a warm-up match at the weekend. Odemwingie stayed away from training on Monday after he got injured in the Super Eagles 1-0 win over South African club Thanda Royal Zulu on Sunday. "I don't think it's a serious injury. I only have to rest the leg for another day or so and I will be fine," said Odemwingie.

The striker is now likely to miss the proposed friendly against Zambia today.

The Eagles, who are drawn in Group C of the 2010 Nations Cup along with defending champions Egypt, Mozambique and Benin, are billed to depart Durban, South Africa, on Friday

Orange African Cup Angola 2010 - Schedule & Groups

For a complete Schedule and groups for Orange African Cup 2010 please go to the official website of the tournament by clicking here...

Ivory Coast cruise past Tanzania's Taifa Stars

Dar Es Salaam - A header by Chelsea striker Didier Drogba lifted Côte d'Ivoire to a 1-0 victory over Tanzania on Monday as the Ivorians began their last stage of preparations for next week's African Cup of Nations.

Playing at Dar es Salaam's National Stadium, the home side started quite brightly but never found a way through the tough Ivorian defense.

After a long spell of pressure, the Elephants took the lead in the 39th minute when Drogba flung himself forward to nod a cross by Emmanuel Eboué out of the reach of Tanzania goalkeeper Muharami Mohamed.

Vahid Halilhodzic completely changed his team in the second half of the match, giving the rest of the Elephants a chance to get some live game action, but Tanzania - ranked 106th in the world - nearly equalized at the end when Jerson Tegete struck the post.

The Ivorians open Group B play a week from Monday in Cabinda against Burkina Faso.

Cameroon in final preparations - Orange CAN 2010

The national football team of the Cameroon will have a training camp of five days in Kenya ahead of their preparations for the Orange Africa Cup of Nations- Angola 2010, scheduled from January 10-31 of 2010 in our country.
The Indomitable Lions had earlier chose Rwanda for training but later changed their plans to have one week of training Nairobi, where the Cameroonians are expected on January 4th.

During the Cup of Nations, the Cameroon will evolve in the same group as Gabon, Tunisia and Zambia.

The Indomitable Lions will play their first match of the tournament on January 13th against Gabon in Luanda, South Angola.

Ivory Coast arrives in Tanzania

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba is part of the Cote D`ivoire national team, The Elephants that arrives in Dr es Saalam, Tanzania tomorrow (Saturday) to pitch camp ahead of the Orange CAN 2010 in Angola.
The 50-man delegation including players and officials is expected to arrive in the afternoon before their first build-up against Taifa Stars of Tanzania on Monday at the National Stadium.
The secretary general of the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF), Fredrick Mwakalebela, told Cafonline.com that Cote D’Ivoire Coast that will also represent the continent in the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa will also battle Rwanda at the same venue three days after the Monday game. Mwakalebela said the two matches, which form part of Cote d’Ivoire’s build up for the Orange Africa Cup of Nations finals will also be a showcase for Tanzania fans and players alike.
“The arrival of the two teams will give us experience to host other countries which we are still negotiating with to use Tanzania as a base for their build up and training ahead of the World Cup finals in South Africa,” said Mwakalebela.
Mwakalebela said The Elephants are expected to fly in with English premiership regulars in the likes of Chelsea’s Didier Drogba and Solomon Kalou, Yaya Toure who features for the reigning European Champions League winners Barcelona. Others are Aruna Dindane and Manchester City’s Habib Kolo Toure.
Meanwhile, Taifa Stars head coach Marcio Maximo has said his players are at high morale ahead of the friendly opener of the year. “The response is good and fans should expect a good performance,” said Maximo. However, Maximo said the team’s trio of Mussa Hassan, Kelvin Yondan and Shadrack Nsajigwa are doubtful

Manchester United suffers a shameful loss!!

Jermaine Beckford consigned Manchester United to FA Cup humiliation by sending League One Leeds United into the fourth round with a first-half winner that signalled the Yorkshire club’s first victory at Old Trafford since 1981.

Beckford, who is expected to leave Leeds for Newcastle United this month, scored on 19 minutes to become the first Leeds player since Brian Flynn to score a winner at Old Trafford.

The defeat for United also ensured that Sir Alex Ferguson experienced a third round exit for the first time. It was United’s first defeat to lower league opposition in the FA Cup since a 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth in 1984.

United manager Ferguson had vowed to field a strong team against the Elland Road outfit, but the Scot performed a selection about-turn by naming youngsters Darron Gibson, Gabriel Obertan and Fabio da Silva in his starting line-up.

Having seen a half-strength team defeat Spurs in the Carling Cup quarter-final last month, however, Ferguson would have expected his players to repeat that performance against an opponent from the third tier.

But the Premier League champions were outfought by Leeds from the kick-off and the sheer intensity of the fixture appeared to catch many of United’s players by surprise.

Ferguson had spoken of the bitter rivalry between the two clubs in the build-up to the game and how his players could expect a raucous atmosphere with Leeds backed by 9,000 travelling fans.

The message apparently didn’t sink in, though, and Grayson’s team were the first to every ball in a ferociously fought encounter.

So United could have no complaints when Beckford put Leeds ahead on 19 minutes with what could be his last goal for the club.

Jonny Howson’s stunning 40 yard pass found Beckford 25 yards from goal and the forward escaped Wes Brown before guiding a left foot shot into the far corner past goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak.

United attempted to respond, but Leeds matched fire with fire, with captain Richard Naylor joining Brown in referee Chris Foy’s notebook.

Wayne Rooney was denied an equaliser on 25 minutes, though, when full-back Jason Crowe cleared his goalbound effort off the line.

Other than that near miss, however, United struggled to test Leeds goalkeeper Casper Ankergren and it was the visitors that looked likelier to add to the scoring.

The game threatened to boil over 48 minutes when Brown’s late tackle on Michael Doyle prompted both sets of players to confront each other on the edge of the United penalty area.

Once the game settled down, Leeds continued to take the game to United and Beckford should have made it 2-0 on 78 minutes when he sprung the offside trap before shooting wide of the far post.

And substitute Robert Snodgrass rattled the United crossbar with a 20-yard free-kick on 80 minutes.

Despite finishing the game with Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen on the pitch, though, United just could not find the goal to save the tie and avoid humiliation.

Ivory Coast coach fears for Chelsea’s Didier Drogba

Head coach Vahid Halilhodzic says he is worried about the freshness of Ivory Coast’s main striker Didier Drogba.

The Bosnian was speaking at a news conference before the team depart for their training camp in Tanzania.

He said: “Drogba has played two matches in three days plus the travel. If we’re not careful he’ll come to pieces.

“I’m very worried about his freshness. He’s committed to lots of things and has lots of ambition. He wants to win everything. [He's] playing too much.”

Halilhodzic revealed that Drogba is nursing a slight ankle injury, but the Chelsea striker later told journalists that he is fit.

Ivory Coast travel to Tanzania on Saturday for two friendly games, before heading to Angola next week for the tournament.

Ivory Coast are in Group B, with Togo, Ghana and Burkina Faso

Nigerian Squad is here!!

Nigeria have trimmed their African Cup of Nations list to 24 from the squad of 32 earlier announced by head coach Shaibu Amodu.

After a meeting involving the NFF leadership, members of the NFF technical committee and the Super Eagles’ technical crew at the NFF secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday morning, eight players were dropped from the playing body for the final training camp that starts in Durban, South Africa, on New Year’s Day.

Team captain Nwankwo Kanu is set to make his sixth appearance in the continental showpiece, with his deputy Joseph Yobo and other ‘senior’ players like Oluwaseyi Olofinjana and Yakubu Aiyegbeni also listed.

The three goalkeepers who were at the last competition in Ghana earlier last year also head to Angola, with youngster Elderson Echiejile set to compete in his first African Nations Cup.

The full squad

Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama, Bamidele Aiyenugba, Austin Ejide

Defenders: Joseph Yobo, Danny Shittu, Obinna Nwaneri, Taye Taiwo, Elderson Echiejile, Yusuf Mohammed, Chidi Odiah, Onyekachi Apam

Midfielders: Nwankwo Kanu, Mikel Obi, Dickson Etuhu, Sani Kaita, Yusuf Ayila, Oluwaseyi Olofinjana, Kalu Uche

Strikers: Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Osaze Odemwingie, Michael Eneramo, Obinna Nsofor, Obafemi Martins, Chinedu Obasi.