Search: ' Tunisia'
Stories
President Ali Bongo is under pressure after AFCON 2017 was controversially awarded to Gabon, but the football itself is an enticing prospect
With uprisings across the Arab world dominating the world press, can change be sparked in football’s most powerful regime?
The popular uprisings in the Middle East are now receiving more coverage than football in the UK press. Even the Arsenal v Barcelona Champions League tie, apparently regarded by some pundits as the most momentous event in the history of the game, couldn’t keep the revolution in Libya off the front pages. So it’s surprising that no one has yet asked the keen Tweeter Jay Bothroyd for his views on the implosion of the Gaddafi regime.
James Calder explains how the World Cup winners have benefitted from a change of generation and clever management
Inclusiveness has been a feature of Spain’s World Cup-winning side. While Ángel María Villar, the president of the federation, dedicated the team’s South Africa 2010 success to the “entire Spanish football family”, the players also made a point of celebrating the triumph with the reporters covering their campaign.
Black Africa produces many great players, but the powerbase of club football in the continent lies elsewhere, says James Copnall
The coach, of a sub-Saharan African team expected to challenge for the African Champions League title most years, was getting more and more depressed. He kept pausing the tape of his side’s last meeting with the reigning African champions, Al Ahly, then rewinding it to revel in his misery once more. “See that? See that Egyptian right-back?” he said, almost angry. “Look at the way he gets that cross past his man under heavy pressure, and it lands right on the attacker’s head. I love my boys, but I don’t think many of them could do that – let alone my right-back!” The game – like so many of late – ended in an Al Ahly victory. Coaches all over black Africa are getting used to losing to the Egyptians – and to north African sides in general.