Dreams FC striker John Antwi is confident his side can get a good result against Zamalek on Sunday.
The FA Cup holders are in Egypt for the CAF Confederation Cup semi-final first leg.
Antwi, who played for five Egyptian clubs between 2012 and 2020, has been one of the competitions best performers with five goals and two assists.
Having played for Al Ahly, Pyramids, Gaish, Ismaily and El Makasa in Egypt, Antwi has an intimate knowledge of Sunday’s opponent.
Flashback: John Antwi celebrates scoring for Egyptian money bags, Pyramids FC. He remains the highest scoring foreigner in Egyptian football with over 100 goals
“It’s a big club looking at where they are.They have played African competitions several times and considering the quality of players they have,” he tells JoySports.
Dreams progressed to the semi-final stage after securing a 3-2 aggregate win over Stade Malien.
Their opponents who won the competition in 2019, qualified following a 3-2 aggregate win over Egyptian counterparts, Modern Future.
John Antwi is under no illusions on the enormity of the task.
“So it’s not going to be an easy encounter. But then like I said, I believe in the boys, the hardwork, everything we’ve put into this game and I know God willing were going to come out with a positive result.” He concluded.
The reverse fixture has been scheduled for Sunday, April 28, 2024.
If Dreams progress, they will become only the third Ghanaian club to qualify for the final of the competition, after Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has charged the playing body of Asante Kotoko to turn their ailing season around in the final stretch of the campaign after their recent misfortunes.
Kotoko are winless in seven games in the Ghana Premier League and occupy the 11th position after 26 genes played.
The team met the Asantehene who opened discussions with the players and technical team to determine the issues accountable for their poor performances.
He also used the opportunity to address the team’s grievances.
In his discussion with the team, he stated explicitly that “no member of the team works for any individual but him, and therefore should put their differences aside and fight for the team, as he won’t watch the team go down under his reign.”
“I am expecting something better from you,” said Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
“Prove to me that you are capable and if the coach is the problem, then I will take a decision on him. But for now, make sure you go and play and win.”
The Porcupine Warriors take on league leaders FC Samartex on Sunday on matchday 27 of the league looking to bounce back to winning ways.
The All Regional Games kicked off its nationwide journey towards revitalising grassroots sports with a spectacular Torch Relay ceremony reminiscent of the Olympic Games.
The torch relay ceremony which was held on Thursday, April 18, at the Black Stars Square in Accra, set the tone for a nationwide movement aimed at rejuvenating the spirit of sportsmanship and athleticism across the country.
The ceremonial torch was ignited by the Director General of the National Sports Authority, Dadzie Numekevor, alongside the celebrated football icons Asamoah Gyan and Baffour Gyan.
This symbolic gesture marks the beginning of an inspirational journey to promote and nurture sporting talent at the grassroots level.
A city-wide float procession traversed the streets of Accra, carrying the illuminated torch to prominent landmarks, effectively raising awareness for the upcoming All Regional Games.
The participation of esteemed torchbearers including a Para-athlete, boxing legend Braima Kamoko (Bukom Banku), ex-Black Stars players Agyemang Badu, Samuel Inkoom, Kwadwo Asamoah and the Gyan brothers, Asamoah and Baffour, added to the fervour and excitement surrounding the event.
The All Regional Games aims to traverse all 16 Regions of the nation, scouting for promising athletes across eight sporting disciplines, including soccer, athletics, boxing, tennis, basketball, arm-wrestling, volleyball, and table tennis.
This comprehensive approach underscores the commitment of the All Regional Games to foster talent development and sports excellence at every level.
The main launch of the All Regional Games sports festival is slated for June at the Baba Yara Stadium.
Hosts Morocco produced a scintillating performance to beat Zambia 13-0 in front of a sold Prince Moulay Abdellah Hall while Angola cruised past Ghana 11-3 at the Salle IBN Yassine on Monday night.
The flawless Atlas Lions finished as Group A winners with 9 points to book a place in the semifinals of the TotalEnergies CAF Futsal AFCON.
The Sable Antelopes of Angola finished second with 6 points three more than Zambia in third and Ghana without a point sit at the bottom of the table.
Hicham Dguig’s ruthless side made their intentions known early when captain Soufiane El Mesrar broke the deadlock just two minutes into the one sided match.
Idriss Raiss El Fenni doubled the two time champions advantage before three more goals in the space of three minutes from Ismail Amazal and Soufian Charraoui’s brace made it 5-0.
Zambia’s Prince Lungu saw his effort blocked by the keeper before Bilal Bakkali crashed the Chipolopolo post with a fierce drill from distance.
Idriss Fenni doubled his tally and Morocco’s sixth of the match before the impressive Anas El Ayyane hit a quick brace to make it 8-0 going into the break.
The hosts returned from the break with more purpose and zeal to score more goals and stamp their authority on the game.
Bilal Bakkali latched on to a clever Khalid Bouzid back heel pass to increase the lead before Otmane Boumezou fired his effort through the legs of the keeper to hit double digits.
Backed by their home fans Morocco added more salt to Zambia’s injury with goals from Anas Dahani’s back heel, an own goal by Jackson Simwami and Youssef Jouad’s strike at the stroke of full time completed the hammering.
The Atlas Lions will face the runners-up of Group B in the semifinals on Friday, 19 April at 19:00 GMT while Angola have a date with the winner of Group B on the same day at 16:00 GMT at the magnificent Prince Moulay Abdellah Hall.
Fulham’s Calvin Bassey (left) and West Ham United’s Edson Alvarez battle for the ball during the Premier League match at the London Stadium, London. Picture date: Sunday April 14, 2024.
There were some standout performances from African players on matchday 33 in the Premier League as Alex Iwobi got two assists for Fulham, while Frank Onyeka scored his first goal in a Brentford shirt.
Goalkeeper:
Andre Onana (Manchester United) – The Cameroon international had a decent performance against Bournemouth on Saturday and wasn’t at fault for either of the two goals in the 2-2 draw at the Vitality Stadium. Onana made three saves, the most crucial of which came just before half-time when he instinctively denied an unmarked Justin Kluivert with the Cherries 2-1 up at the time.
Defenders:
Calvin Bassey (Fulham) – The Nigeria international didn’t really put a foot wrong in the 2-0 win over West Ham at the London Stadium on Sunday as he helped marshal a defence that kept their first clean sheet in four matches. Bassey managed 75 touches throughout the game and made four tackles, although Vladimir Coufal was able to get past him inside the box early on, only to see Michail Antonio blaze over on the rebound.
Nayef Aguerd (West Ham) – The Morocco international was recalled to the starting line-up for the first time in five games and looked assured for the most part, having done just enough to put Rodrigo Muniz off in an aerial challenge from a corner in the first half. Aguerd had the third-most touches on the ball for West Ham with 87 and made three tackles.
Ola Aina (Nottingham Forest) – The Nigeria international looks to have made a full recovery from the injury he picked up at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations after being handed his fourth consecutive start in the 2-2 draw with Wolves at the City Ground on Saturday. Aina was heavily involved in Nottingham Forest’s build-up play down the left flank, getting 68 touches on the ball, while making two tackles.
Midfielders:
Mohammed Kudus (West Ham) – The Ghana international was one of West Ham’s better performers against Fulham and came close to breaking the deadlock when he curled a shot narrowly wide of the left post from the edge of the box on the right early in the first half. It was one of four attempts on goal from Kudus – more than any other Hammers player – although he failed to hit the target on each occasion.
Alex Iwobi (Fulham) – The Nigeria international played a starring role in the 2-0 win over West Ham and had a hand in both goals. Iwobi’s searching ball into the box wasn’t dealt with by Konstantinos Mavropanos, who gifted possession back to Andreas Pereira to score the opener and the duo combined again for the Brazilian’s second goal following a pin-point pass from the Nigerian, which saw him register his first two assists of the season.
Pape Sarr (Tottenham) – The Senegal international was introduced from the bench on 57 minutes with Tottenham trailing 3-0 to Newcastle at St James’ Park on Saturday and he did a good job of shoring up the midfield after the hosts had exploited gaping holes in the middle of the park prior to that. Sarr managed 41 touches on the ball and completed 33 passes, almost identical figures to Rodrigo Bentancur, whom he replaced and played 12 less minutes.
Yasser Larouci (Sheffield United) – The Algeria international made only his sixth start of the season as he replaced the injured Jack Robinson for the 2-0 defeat to Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday. Larouci got involved in the action early on when he had a shot deflected behind for a corner and he created a chance for Ben Brereton following a powerful run down the left flank. The 23-year-old midfielder was substituted on 57 minutes as Blades manager Chris Wilder opted for fresher legs.
Forwards:
Simon Adingra (Brighton) – The Ivory Coast international produced another lively display in the 1-1 draw with Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday, hitting the target with three of his four shots on goal. Adingra managed 43 touches on the ball as most of Brighton’s play was focused on the opposite flank, although he still got himself involved in the game.
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) – Not one of the Egypt international’s better performances against Crystal Palace, although he still had an opportunity to equalise late on, only to be denied by a goal-line block from Tyrick Mitchell. Salah failed to hit the target with his only other shot and got 46 touches on the ball, more than the other attackers for Liverpool.
Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford) – The Cameroon international made just his second start since returning from an ankle injury that ruled him out of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. Mbeumo released Neal Maupay through on goal with a lovely pass in the first half, only for the Frenchman to miss the target and he set up Mikkel Damsgaard to score on volley from his free-kick, although the goal was ruled out for a block on Oli McBurnie inside the box.
Roma defender Evan Ndicka has been discharged from hospital after collapsing during his side’s Serie A match at Udinese on Sunday.
Roma said the 24-year-old Ivory Coast international had suffered chest pains on the pitch but hospital tests showed he did not suffer a heart attack.
“The player has been discharged and will carry out further checks in Rome,” the club said.
Roma also sent their thanks to Udinese, the referee and the hospital.
“AS Roma would like to thank Udinese and the referee Luca Pairetto for their great professionalism and the medical and healthcare staff of the Santa Maria della Misericordia hospital in Udine.
“All together, in those apprehensive minutes, we demonstrated the values of sport and put the protection of life first.”
The Serie A game was abandoned after Ndicka collapsed in the 72nd minute and was taken off on a stretcher.
He appeared to be conscious as he left the pitch, with the score at 1-1, and the remainder of the match is set to be played at a later date.
Roma posted a photo of him in hospital on Sunday night, saying he “feels better” and that his team-mates had visited.
After Ndicka’s collapse, Roma’s medical staff and emergency services were called on to the pitch and after discussions with the referee, the match was abandoned.
Ndicka joined Roma on a free transfer from Eintracht Frankfurt in 2023 and has made 19 appearances for the Italian club.
Roberto Pereyra had given Udinese an early lead before striker Romelu Lukaku equalised for Roma on Sunday.
The Mourabitones of Mauritania marked their first ever TotalEnergies CAF Futsal AFCON match with a scintillating 5-4 victory over Namibia in Group B.
The two newcomers put up a show at the magnificent Prince Moulay Abdellah Hall on Friday night at the ongoing seventh edition of the tournament.
The west Africans had a nervous finish to the match as Namibia staged a late fight back to score four goals in the second half.
Abdallah Selami’s team got off to a great start when captain Abderhemane Bouhoumadi headed in the opener from close range.
The goal rattled the Brave 5 of Namibia and it allowed Mauritania to move forward and create more chances.
Dioncounda Sow saw his efforts agonizingly missed the target on three occasions.
The Torcy Futsal ace forced a smart one hand save from Usurua Riya with just six minutes on the clock before hitting the woodwork and firing over the goal.
Yakhouba Sylla scored twice in a minute to extend Mauritania’s advantage and send their fans into wild celebrations.
The France based star who was named the Man of the Match scored his first with cool finish from close range after his initial effort was blocked by the goalkeeper.
Sylla made it 3-0 right after the restart when he arrived late at the back post to slot in Dioncounda Sow’s low cross seven minutes before halftime.
Moudery Drame scored with a lowe drive on 18 minutes to hand Mauritania a comfortable 4-0 halftime advantage.
M’hamed M’hamed turned home captain Abderhemane Bouhoumadi’s cross to score the Mourabitones’ fifth of the night.
The Brave 5 pulled a goal back courtesy of captain Ken Salote’s fierce drive from distance to beat Imam Saff in the Mauritania goal.
Remario Mathys slotted in the second for Ryan Jawo’s team ten minutes from time. The diminutive star wriggled away from his marker before hammering his effort past Imam.
The Namibians continued to pile more pressure on Mauritania who locked nervous in defense and were forced to concede two more goals from George Haikali and Ken Salote.
Jago’s team came close to scoring a fifth and force a draw but Clive Willemse’s effort canoed off the post in the last minute of the brushing match.
The Mourabitones held on to win it 5-4 and join Egypt who earlier beat Libya 4-0 with three points
The Pharaohs of Egypt beat Libya 4-0 in the opening fixture of Group B in the ongoing TotalEnergies CAF Futsal AFCON in Rabat, Morocco.
The winners of the first three editions of the quadrennial competition showed their dominance against the Mediterranean Knights at the Salle Prince Moulay Abdellah on Friday evening.
Mohamed Abdelrazek Koki scored twice and a goal each for Alaa Eissa and Mohamed Mohamed Careca handed Egypt the perfect start to the tournament.
The three-time champions started brightly at the Prince Moulay Abdellah with Essam Ramadan and Khaled Abdelhalim pulling the strings for Gehad Arafa’s side.
Ramadan who plys his trade in the Saudi championship with El Nasr warmed the hands of the Ziyad Azeez in the Libyan goal with a fierce toe-poked effort inside sixty seconds of the highly charged first half.
Khaled Abdelhalim hit the side netting of Ziyad Azeez’s goal with a first time smart effort as the Pharaohs dominated possession and the chances.
The Mediterranean Knights weathered the early Egyptian storm and came close to breaking the deadlock through Mohamed Said.
The 29-year-old latched on to a through pass in the heart of the Egypt defence rounding the onrushing keeper before seeing his composed effort cleared off the line by Alaa Eissa.
Mohamed Mohamed was denied a goal by the Libyan keeper Ziyad with eight minutes on the clock. The confident Ziyad Azeez made himself big in front of Mohamed who fired straight at him.
The competition’s most successful side broke the deadlock midway through the first period courtesy of Mohamed Abdelrazek Koki’s close range effort. The Eleelameen ace made no mistake from just outside the area with a poachers toe-poke goal to give Gehad Arafa’s charges the lead.
Abdulhakim Rashid should have drawn Libya level after 15 minutes when a slick interchange of passes in the Pharaohs half set him free but he failed to hit the target.
Koki doubled his tally on the stroke of half time with a cool finish to beat the helpless Azeez and tightened Egypt’s grip on the game.
The second half saw a more spirited Libyan side who tried to find a way back into the game but couldn’t beat Gamal Badawy in goal for Arafa’s team.
Mohamed Said Careca made it 3-0 on 29 minutes from Essam Ramadan’s assist. Ramadan won possession in the Libyan half before playing in Careca who stylishly side-footed his effort into the far corner.
Alaa Eissa completed the rout with an audacious chip from his half to beat Ziyad who was off his line.
Ghana international Mohammed Kudus has named former Nigeria superstar Augustine “Jay-Jay” Okocha as the greatest African to have played football.
Okocha won the hearts of many during his playing days with his style and flair. The ex-Super Eagles star also chalked many successes including winning back-to-back BBC African Footballer of the Year in 2004 and 2005.
The 50-year-old won the Nigerian Footballer of the Year on seven occasions and though he never won the CAF African Player of the Year award, he was part of the top three thrice (1998, 2003 and 2004).
In an interview with Sky Sports, Kudus spoke highly of Okocha, highlighting the long-term influence of his creative talent and ability to entertain audiences.
“I will say [Jay-Jay] Okocha,” the West Ham United midfielder said when quizzed about who he thinks is the greatest African player ever.
“I will say explaining from my lens how I see creative players and trying to entertain the game. That can never be washed away. The fans can never forget the experience and the entertainment you give them on the pitch.
“I know now goals and assists are important but I like creative players and players that like to entertain the fans. I like to do something that is different from what everyone is doing.”
Kudus has become a fan favourite at the London Stadium despite only arriving last summer from Ajax.
The Ghanaian has racked up 12 goals and 4 assists across all competitions for the Hammers.
