FOOTBALL HEADLINES
Friday 10 February 2017
Tuesday 7 February 2017
MOHUN BAGAN EDGE COLOMBO FC TO BAG AFC CUP PLAY-OFF SPOT
Mohun Bagan booked themselves a place in the AFC Play-off Stage on Tuesday as a 2-1 win over Sri Lanka’s Colombo FC saw the Indian side secure a 4-2 aggregate success.
Sanjoy Sen’s charges will now face Club Valencia from the Maldives on February 21 and 28 with a spot in Group E awaiting the winner.
Buoyed by last week’s first leg victory in Colombo, Haitian forward Sony Norde, who was returning from injury, opened the scoring for Bagan on 28 minutes.
Fellow striker Darryl Duffy duly extended Bagan’s lead with 56 minutes gone, before Balwant Singh missed from the penalty spot after Colombo’s Afeel Mohamed had handled in the area.
Midfielder Seka Jean Yapo pulled one back for the visitors on 88 minutes, but it proved a case of too little too late as Bagan marched through to their Play-off encounter against Club Valencia ,Maldives
Monday 6 February 2017
Shorn of stars and dubbed the ‘worst team ever’, Cameroon beat Egypt to win AFCON 2017
Cameroon defeated Egypt 2-1 in the final of the African Cup of Nations to win the tournament for a fifth time. Vincent Aboubakar scored the winning goal in the 88th minute.
Egypt had been the favorites going into the final of the 2017 African Cup of Nations and they took the lead through a goal from Arsenal’s Mohamed Elneny in the 22nd minute. The seven time winners were on course for another tournament win until Nicolas Nkolou equalized for Cameroon, powering in a header on the hour mark.
Substitute Aboubakar swept in the decisive goal with two minutes remaining to stun the much-fancied Egyptians. He flicked the ball over Egyptian defender Ali Gabr and thumped it home. In celebration he ran towards the Cameroonian fans, pursued by his delirious team-mates and coaching staff.
Before the tournament this Cameroon squad had been dubbed as the worst ever. Eight players, including Liverpool’s Joel Matip, withdrew from the squad, and coach Hugo Broos dropped a number of senior players. His young and inexperienced team, however, showed much resilience to progress from the group stages, eliminate tournament favorites Senegal in the quarter-finals and overcome Egypt in the final.
With their fifth title Cameroon are the second most successful nation in the competition’s history behind Egypt. The Indomitable Lions had not won the African Cup of Nations since 2002 when they won the final on penalties against Senegal with a team that included Samuel Eto’o, Rigobert Song, Geremi and the late Marc-Vivien Foé.
“I am happy for the players,” said Cameroon coach Hugo Broos, who celebrated his first African Cup of Nations title. “This is not a group of football players, they are a group of friends.”
Egypt coach Hector Cuper was left to contemplate another defeat in a major final, having lost two European Champions League finals with Spanish club Valencia. “The sadness I have is not because I lost another final,” said Cuper. “It’s because there was so much hope especially among the people in Egypt and I am sorry for the players who put in so much effort.”
Saturday 4 February 2017
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