Obuh warns against complacency

Flying Eagles coach John Obuh has warned his players to shun complacency ahead of this weekend's second leg clash against Mauritius this weekend in the final round of the Libya 2011 Orange African Youth Championship.

The Flying Eagles posited a 2-0 win over the Islanders in the first leg and are in pole position to book their place at the final tournament backed their home invincibility.

Despite the advantage, Obuh who guided Nigeria’s U-17 team, Golden Eaglets, to second place at the FIFA U-17 tournament on home soil last year has described the outcome of the clash as crucial, that he is leaving no stone unturned in their bid to qualify.

 “This weekend’s game is very important,” the trainer disclosed to the local media.

For the Sharks FC trainer, the result in the first leg is no guarantee of a place at the final tournament, warning that Mauritius are capable of springing a surprise.

“We won the first leg in away game, and there is every tendency that they could also beat us here before our home crowd. The game is not won until the final whistle.”

The Flying Eagles, bronze medalists at the last championship in Rwanda in 2009 have emerged winners in the biennial tournament five times – 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989 and 2005.

Libya will host the final tournament from March 18 to April 1, 2011.

Mazembe reach final

Holders TP Mazembe reached the final of the Orange CAF Champions League after managing a barren draw with JS Kabylie of Algeria in Tizi Ouzou on Saturday.

By the result, Mazembe qualified 3-1 on aggregate after beating the Algerian giants by a similar margin in the first leg held in Tizi Ouzou a fortnight ago.

The Mazembe defence remained resolute by thwarting the attacks to JSK to cruise to a convincing victory.

JS Kabylie ended the game with 10-men after Naili Bilal was given the marching off orders on the hour mark but his absence was little to tilt the game in favour of the Congolese.

Mazembe will face the winner of the Esperance-Ahly semi final clash at the Rades Stadium at the grand finale next month.

Huge stakes for Esperance and Al Ahly

There is much expectation both in Cairo and Tunis a few hours to the North African duel between Esperance Sportive and Al Ahly, whose target will be a ticket to the finals of the Orange Champions League.  Ahly won the first leg in Cairo 2-1.

Esperance, which hopes to present a complete team including their striker Wajdi Bouazzi who missed the first game due to groin injury, had scheduled its last three training sessions out of public view. Ahly have also closed the door to the public, a move which shows both teams intention not to reveal their game plan before the much awaited encounter.

In a press briefing on Wednesday, Faouzi Benzarti, coach of the red and gold insisted on the need for concentration at all times but without dismissing the overwhelming pressure on the team.

"There are so many parameters that we cannot control in this kind of do or die encounters. But we are confident," said the coach who had led the same Esperance in 1994 to win its only trophy in the former African Clubs Champions Cup.

On his part, President of Esperance promised to reserve a warm welcome to their guest, Ahly. "I myself will be at the airport on Thursday to welcome the Egyptian delegation. Whether we win or lose, I will throw a dinner. We must exonerate ourselves from the harm caused to Cairo by some of our supporters. Moreover, Al Ahly fans will gain free access to the Rades stadium on Sunday, "promised Mr. Meddeb.

These actions demonstrate the commitment by both sides to place the match under the sign of friendship in order to bury the sad memory of the violence of the first round on October 3, in the tribunes reserved for 5000 Tunisian fans.

Al Ahly arrived in Tunis on Thursday at noon amidst worries about the health of some of its players. If the scorer of the last 2010 ACN, Mohamed Nagy Gedo is fielded, it may not the same for Moawadh Sayed, Hossam Ghali (suffering from ankle and knee injury) , Mohammed Shawki, Osama Hosni and Francis Doe of Liberia, who was very spirited in their slim victory at the Cairo Stadium.

The boys of Hossam Al Badri won two local  friendlies with a double from  Gedo, who showed that he is ready for the task ahead. 

Latest results: Orange Confederation Cup 2010

	17/10/10		Haras	1-1	Zanaco
	17/10/10		FUS	2-1	CSS
	16/10/10		Ittihad	2-0	Djoliba
	16/10/10		AS FAN	0-0	Hilal

Esperance beat Ahly to reach final

Nigerian-import Michael Eneramo was the hero as Tunisian giants Esperance reached the last two of the Orange CAF Champions League on Sunday in Rades.

The burly striker scored the only goal of the match in the first minute as Esperance inched past their guests on the away goal rule after both ties ended 2-2.

The keenly contested game was a true a manifestation of the rivalry between Tunisian and Egyptian clubs, and eventually, Esperance came out tops.

It was the first time since 2000 that Esperance had reached the final of the continental showpiece football event.

The Tunisian giants were winners in 1994 and will face holders TP Mazembe in the final.

Stade d’Abidjan survive relegation scare

Former Ivorian champions Stade d’Abidjan had to wait till the final day of the season to survive the relegation scare that has haunted them throughout the 2010 season.

Stade d’Abidjan, one of the oldest clubs in Cote d’Ivoire were on the verge of relegation, only for a 3-1 win over ASC Ouragahio in their week 26 encounter on Sunday in Abidjan, reaffirmed their status in the elite division.

The victory by the five-time Ivorian league champions ensured that Sabe Sports and Hire FC were relegated after placing 13^th and 14 ^th in the 14-club league standings. Sabe lost 0-2 to Stella Club whilst Hire FC lost 1-2 to SOA.

Stade d’Abidjan, winners of the defunct Africa Cup of Champions Clubs in 1966 finished 12^th on 32 points, with Sabe and Hire in that order on 29 points and 19 points respectively.

The biggest surprise of the 2010 Ivorian Ligue 1 was JCAT, who finished second and will play in next year’s Orange CAF Champions League alongside champions, ASEC Mimosas.

Africa Sports and Sewe San Pedro, who placed third and fourth respectively, will also play in the Orange CAF Confederation Cup.

Bafana continue to climb up rankings

Bafana Bafana have continued the climb on the Fifa world rankings.

On the latest rankings released on Wednesday, the Senior Men’s National team has jumped six places to 52 (previously they were on 58). Bafana Bafana’s rise comes at the back of an unbeaten run of four matches – three victories and a draw. South Africa started with a 2-1 win over France in the 2010 Fifa World Cup in June this year.

This was followed by a one nil victory over Ghana in a friendly international match in August. South Africa defeated Niger two-nil to kick start the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, before the goalless draw against Sierra Leone in Freetown two weeks ago in another Afcon qualifier.

Coach Pitso Mosimane was in charge of the last three matches.

“We are delighted with the latest turn of events, this shows that we are doing something right. We cannot afford to rest on our laurels though, the rise of Bafana Bafana on the Fifa rankings is encouragement enough for us to continue working hard. But we must not lose sight of our vision, to be one of the best on the continent.

"And for us to achieve that, which is part of our Vision 2014, we have to do well in the qualifiers and also perform remarkably in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations as well as the 2014 Fifa World Cup tournaments. We are greatly encouraged by this achievement and will continue working hard to ensure that we improve,” said Mosimane.

Spain is still number one in the world. Making up the top five are the Netherlands, Brazil, Germany and Argentina.

Bafana Bafana has dropped one place down on the continental rankings – and they are out of the top ten. They are eleventh, after being overtaken by Guinea who leaped 34 places to occupy 10th position.

Egypt is still top of the list followed by Ghana, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon and Tunisia in ninth place.

The next Fifa rankings will be released 17 November – on the day when South Africa hosts the USA in Cape Town.

Top rankings:

1. Spain (1); 2. Netherlands (2); 3. Brazil (4); 4. Germany (3); 5. Argentina (5); 6. England (6); 7. Uruguay (7); 8. Portugal (8); 9. Croatia (11); 10. Russia (25); 11. Egypt (9); 12. Greece (12); 13. Norway (14); 14. Chile (10); 15. Slovenia (19); 16. Italy (13); 17. Ghana (20); 18. France (27); 19. Ivory Coast (23); 20. Slovakia (16); 52 South Africa (58).