The men’s tournament had been set to take place in January next year.

Elsewhere, the African Nations Championship (Chan), which should have been played in April, will now take place in January 2021.

Cameroon is to host both competitions.

“Health is our number one priority. We must remain vigilant,” Caf president Ahmad Ahmad said in a news conference announcing the move.

The decision means the biannual tournament will now be in the same year as the 2022 World Cup – something that last happened in 2010.

It was moved to odd-numbered years in 2013 – that year’s tournament coming only a year after the previous one – to avoid such clashes, which risked disadvantaging African teams at the World Cup by giving them such an extended season of competition.

Traditionally held in January, the most recent Africa Cup of Nations, in 2019, was moved to the summer in an effort to avoid clashing with the major European league competitions.

This was meant to be the case for the Cameroon tournament as well, but that was then changed back to January owing to climate conditions in the country and a potential clash with the Club World Cup.

The move means that defending Premier League champions Liverpool will play all of next season without losing their key strike force of Senegal’s Sadio Mane and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah to international duty.

“I think this is a wise decision because time is very short now and they could not postpone to the summer,” Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr told BBC Sport Africa.

“I can understand this decision – we have more time now to prepare our young boys. It is not all bad.

“There is a positive side in all this and we have time for some friendlies and also for the beginning of the World Cup qualifiers – normally we will begin in November with this, and I think we can follow the plan and still have time to the Afcon qualifiers starting in October, so it is a wise decision and it will be a big year in 2022.”

Meanwhile the cancellation of the women’s Africa Cup of Nations comes as little surprise given the tournament had no host, while not one qualifier had been played.

There was a boost for the women’s game however with the launch of a new Women’s Champions League for Africa in 2021.

With the uncertainty as to the pandemic situation in six months’ time, it always looked impossible for the Cup of Nations to take place in January and February next year.

That is especially the case when you consider that the final qualifying round is nowhere near to being completed, with four match days still left to play.

Postponing the tournament for 12 months was the wise option.

It’s a decision which, on the face of it, has the biggest impact on international football but many European clubs will be feeling relieved today.

For example, think about what this means for the Premier League title race next season; Liverpool would have lost Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita for six weeks in 2020-21 had the tournament gone ahead as planned. That surely would have handed an advantage to their rivals – but now those players will be available for the full campaign.

That may add weight to the argument that Jurgen Klopp doesn’t need a new forward player and that the decision against trying to sign Timo Werner isn’t a problem.

For Africa’s top players though, 2022 is set to be an exhausting year. Along with their club commitments, many will start the year with the Africa Cup of Nations and then end it with a World Cup in Qatar.

Source: bbc.com, Author: John Bennett

Send your news, stories or articles to info@chrife.com.gh or via Whatsapp +233550144803

The post Africa Cup of Nations: Men’s competition moved to 2022, women’s tournament cancelled appeared first on Chrife.com.gh.

Second half substitute Odion Ighalo scored the only goal after 77 minutes in Alexandria with a curled finish past Burundi goalkeeper Jonathan Nahimana.

Burundi – the lowest-ranked side at the tournament – had struck the crossbar in the first half through defender Frederic Nsabiyumva’s looping header.

Guinea face Madagascar in the other Group B match later on Saturday.

• What to look out for at the Africa Cup of Nations
• What can we expect from day two in Egypt?

FC Midtjylland striker Paul Onuachu had Nigeria’s first real chance on goal after 12 minutes as his header forced Burundi goalkeeper Jonathan Nahimana in to action.

Burundi, 134th in the world standings, remained unfazed and Cedric Amissi’s close-range shot required a good save from Nigeria’s Daniel Akpeyi.

Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi and Villarreal 20-year-old Samuel Chukwueze offered the Super Eagles’ main attacking threat, but Gernot Rohr’s side were frustrated by a resolute and organised Burundi side – captained by Stoke City striker Saido Berahino – until Ighalo’s introduction.

The Shanghai Greenland Shenhua striker, formerly of Watford, produced a quality finish just four minutes after entering the field, following Ola Aina’s delightful back-heeled pass.

Nigeria were without striker Samuel Kalu, who had been taken to hospital after suffering from “severe dehydration” in training on Friday – a day after players’ union Fifpro had called for the tournament organisers to increase their planned number of heat breaks from two to four per match.

The Super Eagles now face Guinea on Wednesday (15:30 BST), while Burundi take on fellow debutants Madagascar on Thursday (15:30).

The post Nigeria Beats AFCON Debutants Burundi appeared first on Chrife.com.gh.

Mahmoud Trezeguet scored the only goal of the game with a curled finished just before half time.

Liverpool forward Mo Salah came close to doubling his side’s lead in the second half but his low drive was kept out by Zimbabwe keeper Edmore Sibanda.

Ovidy Karuru had Zimbabwe’s best chance with a 30-yard strike late on.

• Africa Cup of Nations: What to look out for in this summer’s tournament
• Africa Cup of Nations scores and fixtures

This year’s tournament is the biggest Africa Cup of Nations ever with 24 teams, and the first to be played in Europe’s summer.

It got off to a spectacular start, with the fans inside the 75,000 capacity Cairo International Stadium treated to an eye-catching opening ceremony that featured giant pyramids on the pitch, elegant dancers forming the shape of a pharaoh’s face and culminating in a huge fireworks display.

But the game itself failed to match that level of sparkle, with Egypt dominating for large periods without troubling Sibanda in the Zimbabwe goal often .

Salah was a lively presence in the first half but put a number of efforts wide of goal and while he did manage to get one shot on target before the interval it was a routine save for Sibanda.

Just as Zimbabwe were enjoying their best spell of half, Egypt took the lead. A neat one-two allowed Trezeguet to break into the box before cutting inside his marker and then despatching a clinical effort into the far corner.

From then on Egypt were comfortable rather than dominant.

Salah forced a decent save out of Sibanda midway through the second half after being picked out by Trezeguet’s defence-splitting pass.

The Liverpool man then raced through just before full time but was this time denied by substitute goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze, who had come on for the injured Sibanda with 10 minutes to go.

The win puts Egypt top of Group A, which also contains DR Congo and Uganda. Those two sides face each other on Saturday at the same ground.

Egypt need to improve – analysis

BBC Arabic’s Mohamed Qoutb at the Cairo International Stadium:

Fireworks were abundant before kick-off but Egypt netted only once in the first half. The Pharaohs could have scored very early on but afterwards the pace of the game declined gradually but it was crucial for the morale of fans and the players to get to half time with the lead.

However, Trezeguet’s goal didn’t give the boost to the performance that was perhaps expected in the second half. The team looked even slower and lacked the rhythm needed to create a threat to the Zimbabwe goal.

In the end it was an important but unconvincing win for the hosts with lots of areas for improvement. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s performance should give them hope of competing for a place in the second round.

Source: BBC Sports

The post Host Egypt Beat Zimbabwe in First Match of AFCON 2019 appeared first on Chrife.com.gh.

Namibia’s Manfred Starke scored the only goal of the game in the first half after goalkeeper Lawrence Ati Zigi was unable to grab a shot at the first attempt.

The Stars tried getting back into the game and they were afforded a chance with a penalty but Mubarak Wakaso crashed his kick against the bar.

Ghana head coach Kwesi Appiah used the match to test the team’s level of readiness after a week of training. In the first half, he used a lineup of :

Ati Zigi, Joseph Attamah, Baba Rahman, Joseph Aidoo, Jonathan Mensah, Afriyie Acquah, Abdul Fatawu, Christian Atsu, Yaw Yeboah, Abdul Majeed Warris, Jordan Ayew.

In the second half, he made loads of changes to the team and used a team that had:

Felix Annan, Andy Yiadom, Lumor Agbenyenu, Kasim Nuhu, Mohammed Alhassan, Mubarak Wakasso, Ebenezer Ofori, Samuel Owusu, Thomas Agyepong, Kwabena Owusu, and Caleb Ekuban.

The team’s captains, Andre Ayew and Asamoah Gyan, did not feature in the game.

Kwesi Appiah is expected to name his final 23 players for the tournament in Egypt during the second week of training before a second friendly with South Africa on June 15.

Source: citisportsonline.com

The post AFCON Warm Up: Ghana Loses to Namibia in friendly appeared first on Chrife.com.gh.

The match will be played in Dubai where the four-time African champions have been camping since Monday.

Ghana coach Kwasi Appiah will also get to see his players compete for a slot in the final squad which will be sent to CAF before midnight of Monday, 10 June, 2019.

Appiah is expected to name his final 23-man squad for the tournament after the friendly.

The Black Stars will take on South Africa in their second friendly game to be played four days later.

Ghana will begin their campaign against Benin on June 25, 2019 at the Ismaili Sports Stadium.

Below is the provisional 29-man squad for the tournament.

Goalkeepers

Richard Ofori (Maritzburg United, South Africa, Lawrence Ati- Zigi (Sochaux, Montbeliard, France), and Felix Annan (Asante Kotoko, Ghana).

Defenders

John Boye (Metz, France), Andy Yiadom (Reading, England), Abdul Baba Rahman (Reims, France), Lumor Agbenyenu (Goztepe A.S, Turkey), Kassim Nuhu, (Hoffeinham, Germany,) Jonathan Mensah (Columbus Crew SC, USA), Joseph Aidoo (Genk, Belguim), Nuhu Musa (St Gallen, Switzerland), Joseph Attamah (Basaksehir, Turkey), and Mohammed Alhassan (Hearts of Oak, Ghana)

Midfielders

Mubarak Wakaso (Deportivo Alaves, Spain), Thomas Partey (Atletico Madrid, Spain), Kwadwo Asamoah (Internazionle, Italy), Ebenezer Ofori (New York FC, USA), Afriyie Acquah (Empoli, Italy), Andre Ayew ( Fenerbache, Turkey), Christian Atsu (Newcastle United, England), Samuel Owusu (Cukaricki, Serbia), Thomas Agyepong (Hibernian, Scotland), Yaw Yeboah (Numancia, Spain), Abdul Fatawu (Asante Kotoko, Ghana).

Strikers

Asamoah Gyan (Kayserispor, Turkey), Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace, England), Abdul Majeed Waris ( Nantes, France), Caleb Ekuban (Trabzonspor, Turkey) and Kwabena Owusu (Leganes, Spain).

Source: ghanasoccernet.com

The post AFCON Warm Up: Ghana Lock Horns with Namibia Today appeared first on Chrife.com.gh.