Egypt, under Hassan Shehata, had unarguably the most successful era in its football history, winning three consecutive AFCON titles between 2006 and 2010.

Considered one of the strongest teams, Egypt’s forte has always been on the continent, winning a record seven titles, but not on the global stage.

Going into AFCON 2023 with Mohamed Salah leading the line, Egypt would once again prove to be a football powerhouse and take one step further to improve their outing at the last edition, where they lost on penalties to Senegal in the final.

Egypt have been drawn alongside Ghana, who is expected to battle for the top spot, and Cape Verde, who in recent tournaments have shown they could beat the bigger teams and cause an upset. Not much can be said about Mozambique, who will complete the four-man team in Group B.

Coach

Rui Victoria succeeded Ehab Galal in July 2022 and has settled down to life in the North African country rather impressively.

The 53-year-old Portuguese tactician has an impressive CV, having managed Benfica in his homeland, leading them to the Primeira Liga in consecutive seasons (15-16 and 16-17). In his stint with Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr, he also led the team to winning the Saudi Professional League in the 2018–19 season.

AFCON 2023 will be his managerial assignment in national team football, Rui has won 12 out of 14 games he’s managed with the Egyptian national team, with a draw and a loss each. In what will be his first outing with the Pharaohs, he will hope his team wins the tournament after losing on penalties to Senegal in the final of the last edition held in Cameroon.

Star Player

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah is one to watch out for at the tournament. The 31-year-old was named as one of the three finalists for the 2023 CAF Player of the Year, with Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen winning the award earlier in the month.

Known for his trickery and goalscoring prowess, Salah has scored over 200 goals for the Merseyside team, and his teammates will be banking on his boots to lead their attack when the light comes up in AFCON 2023.

Rising star

Eintracht Frankfurt’s Omar Marmoush is having a good season at the Bundesliga club, with 12 goals in 24 appearances.

The 24-year-old is famed for his pace, and aside from playing as a forward, he could also play as a winger, making him a terrific forward and one to cause problems for defenders at AFCON 2023.

Fixtures

Egypt vs Mozambique – January 14

Egypt vs Ghana – January 18

Cape Verde vs Egypt – January 22

Vanguard News

Former Super Eagles forward, Nwankwo Kanu, has revealed that representing Nigeria at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations affected his game time at Arsenal during the 2003/04 season, PUNCH reports.

Arriving at Arsenal midway through the 1998/99 season, Kanu swiftly became a key figure, contributing significantly to the club’s triumphs. As the Invincibles season approached, he boasted an impressive record, having secured three major honours for the Gunners and accumulating more than 150 first-team appearances.

In January and February of 2004, Kanu represented Nigeria at the 2004 AFCON finals in Tunisia, a tournament that would significantly impact the remainder of his Arsenal season.

The Super Eagles made it to the semi-final at the competition, losing to Tunisia on penalties and eventually claimed the bronze medal.

Upon his return to England, Kanu struggled for game time as Arsenal completed the historic Premier League invincible season.

Kanu had played in nine league matches before representing Nigeria at AFCON, but only played one more match in the EPL for the rest of the season upon his return.

“It was difficult, because in a squad of so many good players, when you lose your place, it’s hard to get it back,” Kanu said on the club’s official website, arsenal.com.

“Obviously Arsenal did very well while I was away, so it was hard for me to get into the team again after going away.

“Sometimes it worked the other way, when you go away sometimes, they need you back in the team or need to change things, but this season they didn’t need to change anything.”

Kanu concluded his Gunners career with 44 goals from 198 appearances in all competitions.

Manchester City won the Club World Cup for the first time to end 2023 with five trophies after a 4-0 win over Fluminense in Jeddah on Friday.

City’s victory extended European clubs’ domination of the competition since 2012 and was never in doubt once Julian Alvarez opened the scoring inside the first minute.

Nino’s first-half own goal realistically ended the Brazilians’ dreams of an upset, before Phil Foden and Alvarez rounded off the scoring in the final 20 minutes.

City’s poor Premier League form before flying out to Saudi Arabia had raised Fluminense hopes that Pep Guardiola’s men could be vulnerable.

But the growing chasm between Europe’s elite clubs and the rest of the world thanks to huge financial imbalances in the global game was instead exposed.

European clubs have won 22 consecutive games at the Club World Cup.

City laboured for 45 minutes to break down Japan’s Urawa Reds in the semi-final before cruising to a 3-0 win.

This time, they needed less than 45 seconds.

Fluminense’s old guard saw them through a tricky semi-final against African champions Al Ahly. But it was one of their experienced heads that was at fault for the opening goal as former Real Madrid captain Marcelo gifted possession to Nathan Ake with a wayward pass.

The Dutch defender strode forward and curled a fine effort off the post from outside the box. The rebound fell for Alvarez to chest into an unguarded net.

At just 23, Alvarez added to his remarkable haul of silverware that includes the World Cup and Copa America with Argentina at international level, the Copa Libertadores during his time at River Plate, plus Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and UEFA Super Cup medals during just over a year at City.

Premier League side. Aston Villa are interested in signing Super Eagles striker, Kelechi Iheanacho

According to online reports, Aston Villa, are planning to make a move to sign the in-form Nigeria international during the January transfer window.

The Super Eagles forward has just six months on his current contract and will be free to discuss terms with other clubs from January.

Following the Foxes’ relegation from the Premier League to the championship, a host of clubs like West Ham, Fulham, Brentford, and Wolves all showed interest in the Nigerian but he remained at the King Power Stadium.

So far, Iheanacho has made 20 appearances in all competitions for the Foxes this season under new manager Enzo Maresca, scoring six goals and providing two assists.

Adesuwa Sonia, the estranged wife of Super Eagles forward Jude Odion Ighalo, has found love again.

She disclosed this recently via her Instagram story. The mother of three shared a photo of her new lover, concealing his face. She, however, revealed that the mystery man is a lawmaker.

Sharing the photo, Sonia wrote: “One of the most handsome lawmakers in Nigeria. #myguy.”

In another post, she described the mystery man as “Mi Amor,” which translates to ‘my love’ in Spanish.

Meanwhile, Sonia has detailed her separation from Ighalo.

According to her, they “divorced” without the footballer signing the divorce papers.

In an Instagram story post, she wrote: “Separated 2019, got back 2021. I divorced him 2022 (without his signature).

“They crawled back again I said OK for the sake of our children. We’ve been doing it lowkey (Despite their foolish display on IG with different women).

“I was doing Saudi, Dubai, Naija with the kids to see him..But he didn’t want his family to know. Cox they would reinforce spiritually to separate us- He said.

“I got tired.

“Since he was scared to let Mama Mama know I’m happily back with my family
I’m like f*ck off bro. I no fit break covenant wey I no de there him enter.

“Good luck to my successor.”

The Super Eagles finished 2023 in 42nd position after the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) released its end-of-the-year men’s ranking on Thursday.

The Super Eagles were also ranked in the same position last month.

The latest ranking was published on FIFA’s website.

Jose Peseiro’s side also maintained sixth position in Africa.

Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia Algeria and Egypt are the top five teams on the continent.

The Super Eagles will be hoping to improve their position on the ranking with a good performance at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire next month.

The European Court of Justice on Thursday ruled in favour of the Super League and handed a fresh blow to both FIFA and UEFA.

The court said the two football governing bodies cannot abuse their power, block the formation of the new league or ban the clubs planning to participate in the competition.

“The powers of FIFA and UEFA are not subject to any such criteria. FIFA and UEFA are, therefore, abusing a dominant position. Moreover, given their arbitrary nature, their rules on approval, control and sanctions must be held to be unjustified restrictions on the freedom to provide services,” the statement read in part.

“That does not mean that a competition such as the Super League project must necessarily be approved. The Court does not rule on that specific project in its judgment.”

FIFA and UEFA had argued that A22, the backers of the Super League, were breaking the law.

However, the ruling today by the highest court in Europe has gone against them.

Recall that Real Madrid and Barcelona are the only clubs remaining from the twelve clubs who joined forces to form the new Super League.

The likes of Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Juventus and AC Milan were also involved but left the table soon after their fans protested against it.

Football transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano has said that Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz remains Arsenal’s top midfield target ahead of the January transfer window.

Luiz has been regularly linked with Arsenal.

He was the subject of three bids worth up to £25 million in the summer of 2022.

But Aston Villa rejected those offers, wanting to keep hold of the Brazilian, According to Sky Sports.

Providing an update for the 25-year-old, Romano wrote on his X account on Wednesday:

“Douglas Luiz remains Arsenal fav option as midfielder, he is considered the perfect player but Aston Villa remain on their position as they don’t want to sell Douglas.

“No changes since November, yet.”

[DailyPost]

Liverpool destroyed West Ham 5-1 to reach the League Cup semi-finals on Wednesday, easing the frustration of their weekend Premier League stalemate against Manchester United.

Curtis Jones scored twice and Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah were all on the scoresheet for Jurgen Klopp’s dominant team.

They join Chelsea, Fulham and Middlesbrough in the last four of the competition.

No team have won more League Cups than Liverpool, who lifted the trophy for the ninth time in the 2021/22 season, and they tore into the visitors from the start at Anfield.

Liverpool, who had 34 shots against United on Sunday without finding the net, launched wave after wave of attacks, with West Ham struggling to lay a glove on their opponents.

Harvey Elliott blasted over the bar in the 14th minute and Szoboszlai fired wide but the Hungary midfielder gave the home side the lead they deserved shortly before the half-hour mark.

It came after Said Benrahma lost the ball carelessly in midfield, squandering a chance for a rare West Ham break.

Jarell Quansah fed Szoboszlai on the right of the Liverpool attack and he let fly with powerful shot from outside the area that flew into the far corner, giving goalkeeper Alphonse Areola no chance.

The game continued in the same pattern, with West Ham forced to feed off scraps — a familiar feeling for a team who have won just once at Anfield since 1963.

The home side, who had Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold on the bench, could have doubled their lead in the final moments of the opening period but Gakpo headed narrowly wide following a fine cross from Elliott.

Liverpool had 11 shots in the first 45 minutes to West Ham’s zero.

The London side also had a clutch of star players on the substitutes’ bench, with Lucas Paqueta and James Ward-Prowse omitted from the starting line-up.

The second half unfolded in a similar way to the first, with Liverpool probing and David Moyes’ men looking toothless.

Darwin Nunez, who started the game without a goal in his past 10 games for Liverpool, got a shot away after wriggling clear in the box but Areola was equal to the task.

However, Jones gave Liverpool a buffer in the 56th minute, firing the ball through Areola’s legs at the near post.

Moyes threw on Paqueta but Klopp countered by bringing on Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate.

Liverpool made it 3-0 when Konate surged forward before finding Gakpo, who took a touch on the edge of the box and fired home.

Bowen pulled one back, cutting inside Quansah and producing a fine curling finish but Salah restored the three-goal margin and Jones scored his second of the night to complete the rout.