Namibian marksman Peter Shalulile has picked up from where he left off last season as he mantains his prolific form in front of goal. In the just ended PSL season, the Brave Warriors forward fired 23 times in 31 outings to guide his side Mamelodi Sundowns to their 5th consecutive league title. In the process, the 28 year old fell just 2 goals shy of Collins Mbesuma’s record of 25 goals. The Zambian legend set that record back in the 2004-05 season for Soweto outfit Kaizer Chiefs.
The former Chipolopolo striker enjoyed an illustrous career in South Africa where he became the first and only player to win two top-flight Golden Boots not until the feat was equalled last season by, guess who? Peter Shalulile! The Namibian previously shared the Golden Boot with Gabadinho Mhango back in 2020 at 16 goals.
This season, Shalulile is yet again at his scintillating best with an amazing return of 6 goals in only 8 games. If he continues in this form, he will fancy equalling and maybe even breaking Collins Mbesuma record after a failed attempt last term.
If that happens, the Brazilians will comfortably collect yet another league title currently being chased by Orlando Pirates in the title race with Mbesuma’s former side Kaizier Chiefs far off the top in bottom table berth.
A number of Rangers fans have taken to social media to troll Zambian striker fashion Sakala over his performance in his first start and second match of the season.
It was the first time Sakala started a match this season having gone 8 matches without playing before he was handed only two minutes of game time in the UEFA champions league qualifiers against PSV last week.
On Tuesday night, Sakala who scored 12 goals in 51 matches in his debut season in Scotland started against Queens of the south in the league cup but his performance has caused a buzz on social media with some Rangers fans taking to twitter to mock the rapid forward with unpalatable tweets.
Below are some of the reactions from Rangers fans after the match which ended 3-1 in favor of Rangers Fc.
Fashion Sakala is an absolute imposter of a footballer
Fashion sakala not for me , to raw needs to much work for rangers and his technique hasnt improved in the time he’s been here. To casual and needing far to much work to even try to bring up-to speed at rangers fit and fast but no end product and no nearer one either
Do you think Manchester city youngster Jadel Katongo and other young European born footballers should be given a national team call up for the U23 Africa cup qualifiers ?
CAF released the qualifiers roadmap for the Morocco 2023 Africa Cup of Nations which will be held in June and used as qualifiers tournament for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Zambia and South Africa as the two highly ranked countries from Southern Africa will join the qualifiers in second round stage in the Cosafa region.
Zambia failed to qualify to the Olympics during the last u23 AFCON with the team comprising the likes of Patson Daka, Mwepu and Sakala who may now not be part of the U23 squad this year.
What should they do to qualify to the U23 AFCON and the 2024 Olympics this time around ?
Zambia has some decent talented players born in Europe who have reportedly expressed interest to representing the national team Colours, one such example is Manchester city young defender Jadel Katongo who was born from Zambian parents in English.
The 18 year old signed his first professional contract with Manchester city at the start of this season after a successful season with the club’s u23 team where he won the league three times.
Other players that Zambia can consider apart of the talented local based youngsters include Cardiff city striker Chanka Zimba who is on loan to Newport County.
Zimba , 20-years old is another player who is yet to be capped by England and has reportedly expressed interest to represent the Chipolopolo of Zambia, his country of origin.
He has so far been a key player for Newport County who some weeks ago made a cut in this season Carabao cup and could be a great addition for the Chipolopolo boys and good to start him with the under 23 team.
These are just a few names that Zambia can add to their U23 national team and look to qualify to the Olympics in 34 years.
The last Olympic qualification for the Zambia mens national team was in 1988 when the team reached the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, the draw for the qualifiers of the TotalEnergies U23 Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2023 will take place on Thursday 18 August 2022 at 13:00 Cairo time (11:00 GMT).
The TotalEnergies U23 Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2023 scheduled in June 2023 in Morocco and will serve as qualifying tournament to the Summer Olympics Paris2024.
Below is the roadmap for the 2023 U23 AFCON QUALIFIERS;
– 1st round: the 20 least ranked teams will play the 1st round (knock out from home & away matches) qualifying 10 teams to the 2nd round.
– 2nd round: The 10 teams qualified from the 1st round + the 18 exempted from the 1st round will play the 2nd round (knock out from home & away *matches) qualifying 14 teams to the 3rd round.
– 3rd round: The 14 teams qualified from the 2nd round will play the 3rd round (knock out from home & away matches) qualifying 7 teams to the final tournament in addition to the host country Morocco.
First Round (19 – 27 September 2022)
The participating teams in the 1st round (20 teams):
1 team from UNAF: Libya
3 teams from WAFU A: Gambia, Guinea Bissau & Mauritania
3 teams from WAFU B: Burkina Faso, Niger & Togo
1 team from UNIFFAC: RD Congo
5 teams from CECAFA: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Sudan & Tanzania
7 teams from COSAFA: Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique & Namibia
Teams exempted according to the ranking (18 teams):
UNAF: Algeria, Egypt & Tunisia
WAFU A: Guinea, Mali, Senegal & S. Leone
WAFU B: Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana & Nigeria
CECAFA: Sudan & Uganda
UNIFFAC: Cameroon, Congo & Gabon
COSAFA: South Africa & Zambia
The zones will be mixed geographically in the preliminaries as follows:
POT A: 3 teams of WAFU A + 3 teams from WAFU B
Gambia
Guinea Bissau
Mauritania
Burkina Faso
Niger
Togo
POT B: 5 teams of CECAFA + 1 team of UNAF:
Djibouti
Ethiopia
Rwanda
South Sudan
Tanzania
Libya
POT C: 7 teams of COSAFA + 1 team of UNIFFAC:
Angola
Botswana
Eswatini
Madagascar
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
RD Congo
Match 1 & 2: The 1st team drawn from pot A plays against the 2nd team drawn from pot A (1st team drawn plays 1st match at home)
Match 3 & 4: The 3rd team drawn from pot A plays against the 4th team drawn from pot A (1st team drawn plays 1st match at home)
Match 5 & 6: The 5th team drawn from pot A plays against the 6th team drawn from pot A (1st team drawn plays 1st match at home)
Match 7 & 8: same procedures of Pot A to be applied in pot B
Match 9 & 10: same procedures of Pot A to be applied in pot B
Match 11 & 12: same procedures of Pot A to be applied in pot B
Match 13 & 14: same procedures of Pot A to be applied in pot C
Match 15 & 16: same procedures of Pot A to be applied in pot C
Match 17 & 18: same procedures of Pot A to be applied in pot C
Match 19 & 20: same procedures of Pot A to be applied in pot C
Second Round
Teams of level 1 and teams of level 2 will play the winners from the 1st round by drawing of lots
Teams of level 3 will play against each other by drawing of lots.
Level 1: Egypt, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa, Algeria
Green Buffaloes womens football club have become the first Zambian womens football club to qualify to the CAF womens Champions league.
Buffaloes Cruised their way to the final of the Cosafa womens champions league after thrashing Olympique de Moroni 4-0 courtesy cup f a hatrick by Copper queens stars Ireen Lungu and a solo goal by Natasha Nanyangwe.
With Sundowns’ qualification to the COSAFA final also confirmed on Thursday afternoon after winning group B on a goal difference advantage following Double Action Ladies’ 2-0 win over Coasta Do Sol and failure to win with a minimum number of 8 goals to win the group , Buffaloes learned their opponent for the Saturday final and automatically booked a place at the Morocco CAF champions league for the first time.
This is because Sundowns already secured a place at the Morocco finals by virtue of being defending champions of the inaugural CAF champions league to give Southern Africa a second slot in the competition as per the CAF regulations.
The COSAFA womens championship final is now set for Saturday between Sundowns and Buffaloes , in what will be a repeat of the last edition which saw Buffaloes lose to the South Africans.
The confederations of African football- CAF president Dr Patrice Motsepe has today launched the 24 clubs Africa Super League and its set to kick off next year in August.
Dr Motsepe said, the first 24 clubs that will participate are set to receive an annual contribution of $2-5-million dollars for being part of the African super league to use for expenses, including transport and player transfers.
The CAF president also said CAF intends to give all the 54 member associations one million United States dollars each for football development as part of the African super league project which has been launched today and set to kick off in August 2023.
The super league budget is $100 million with the winner receiving $11.5 million.
“Our intention is to use $100-million as prize money and to do that every year in the African Super League, so the club that wins gets $11.5-million,” said Motsepe
The Tournament will kick off in August 2023 with 24 high ranked teams in Africa participating , a thing which has been received with mixed feelings as some countries feel left out.
Other social commentators also feel the super league will disadvantage small clubs and as advantage the big clubs in their respective domestic league.
Barely weeks after her impressive performance at the Womens Africa cup of nations with Zambia where she scored a screamer for the copper queens who minted bronze and qualified to the 2023 Womens World Cup, Midfielder Ireen Lungu has sent warning shots to potential opponents in the COSAFA womens champions league.
Lungu scored a hatrick for Green Buffaloes football club on Tuesday afternoon when they thrashed Comoros’ Olympique De Moroni by 4-0 to qualify to the final of the competition set to be played on Saturday.
Ireen LUNGU takes home the match ball and woman of the match award/////// Photo credit: Backpage pix
Lungu who is now the leading goal scorer at the competition has so far scored five(5) goals in two(2) matches at the regional competition which is also used as the qualifier for the CAF champions league(women)
Green Buffaloes who will now look to win the tournament and become the first zambian womens club to qualify to the CAF champions league are likely going to face African champions Mamelodi Sundowns who are leading group B with a seven goals difference and four points.
Sundowns beat Buffaloes during last year’s edition to lift the regional trophy but Ireen LUNGU thinks they did so because Buffaloes did not have majority of their strikers.
The attacker has set her eyes on winning the tournament and qualifying to the CAF champions league with or without champions Sundowns in the picture.
Ireen Lungu’s post match interview after the match Courtesy of super sport Tv
Southern Africa will for the first time send two representatives at the CAF womens champions league whose inaugural edition was won by South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns who have already qualified as defending champions.
Photo by BackPagePix
With Green Buffaloes already in the final, they will wait to know their opponent on Thursday following Double Action Ladies’ 1-1 draw with Sundowns which left group A undecided.
“Double Action will now need to beat Costa do Sol from Mozambique in their final clash by seven or more goals to stand a chance of overtaking Sundowns at the top of the group,” and book a place in the final on Saturday.
Sundowns took the lead in group A after thumping Costa do Sol 8-1 in their group opener.
Rangers football club coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst has confirmed that Ryan Kent and Fashion Sakala are in the squad for tomorrow night’s Champions League qualifier against Belgium side Union Saint Gilloise.
The coach confirmed the development to Rangers Tv on Monday afternoon during their pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow night’s clash.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst confirms that Ryan Kent and Fashion Sakala are in the squad for tomorrow night’s Champions League qualifier.
Kent took part in some training today but they will asses him tomorrow.
Has yet to make a decision on whether Morelos is ready to start too.
Fashion Sakala missed Rangers’ league match last weekend as he was not named in the match day squad, a thing which sparked many debates regarding his future at the club as transfer talks linking him to Spain and France rose.
Sakala has not started any match this season since preseason under coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst and he told the media that he does not know where he stands in the coach’s plans.
Coach Giovanni was also criticized after the team failed to find the back of the next in their first leg Champions league qualifier against Union Saint Gilloise who are leading them 2-0 on aggregate and will look to make amends tomorrow night in the return leg.
Rangers will host Gilloise at Ibrox and with Fashion Sakala confirmed back in the squad, the Zambian rapid forward will look to prove a point by scoring and helping his side overturn the 2-0 deficit in the UEFA Champions league third round qualifiers.
Zambian midfielder Enock Mwepu like many other Brighton and Hove Albion fc players, took to social media to react to their their first premier league victory this season at old Trafford.
Mwepu who was introduced in the match as a late second half substitute in the 76th minute to replace Adam Lallana, put in an impressive shift as he managed to make 15 touches and completing nine(9) passes in just 15 minutes to finish the match with a solid 89% pass accuracy.
The Zambian midfielder later took to social media describing his club’s win against United as a massive win and also got an applaud from his club for the solid performance in just few minutes of play.
Brilliant when you came on, Enock 👏
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) August 7, 2022
Brighton recorded a massive 1-2 away victory on Sunday when Pascal Gross scored twice to help Seagulls secure victory at Old Trafford in their opening Premier League game of the new season.
The 31-year-old Germany midfielder found the net twice in nine minutes during an impressive first half for the Seagulls, and although an Alexis Mac Allister own goal gave the Red Devils a lifeline midway through the second half, Graham Potter’s side held on for their first-ever win at Old Trafford at the 15th time of asking.
Despite Brighton being without without their key midfielder of last season Yves Bissouma who left the club in the summer widow, Graham Potter was not short of options as Ecuador’s Moises Caicedo, Argentine Alexis Allister as well English man Adam Lallana were enough to lock down the United midfield for 76 minutes before a fresh and energetic Enock Mwepu came in to hit the last nail on the head.
The confederation of African football- CAF says it is “appalled by the irresponsible and unacceptable remarks made by Napoli President, Mr Aurelio De Laurentiis on African players and the Africa Cup of Nations.
“By publicly declaring that players who sign for Napoli must sign a waiver denouncing participation in the Africa Cup of Nations as a condition of employment, De Laurentiis’ comments likely to fall under Article 14 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations. CAF therefore urges UEFA to initiate disciplinary investigation against him.
“We have no doubt that Napoli and UEFA are as committed as CAF is to these global humanitarian objectives.
“Are we to assume that the Chairman of Napoli is going to include similar restrictive conditions to players from South America, Asia and other Confederations prohibiting them from playing in their Continental competitions which are important for the development and growth of football globally?
“The African Cup of Nations is the flagship competition of the African continent and one of the leading global football competitions. Its last edition in Cameroon was shown in more than 160 countries and attracted more than 600 million viewers.” Read the official statement issued by CAF on Sunday Afrternoon.
Italian Serie-A side Napoli football club president Aurelio De Laurentiis said last week that his club can only sign African players on condition that they snub the Africa cup of nations.
The clubs president said he is nolonger interested in signing African players unless they meet that requirement henceforth .
Quoted by Football Italia, De Laurentiis further disclosed that African players can only be signed by Napoli until they sign a document agreeing to boycott the Africa Cup of Nations which is Africa’s biggest football showpiece.
“I told them lads, don’t talk to me about Africans anymore!” said De Laurentiis during a streamed event as quoted by Football Italia.
“I love them, but either they sign something confirming they’ll back out of playing the Africa Cup of Nations, or otherwise between that tournament, the World Cup qualifiers in South America, these players are never available!
“We are the idiots who pay salaries only to send them all over the world playing for others” he concluded.
With two players still in the Napoli squad; Victor Osimhen of Nigeria and Andre Zambo Anguissa of Cameroon, it remains to be seen if the club will stop them from playing for their respective countries next year during the AFCON qualifiers or will decide to sell the them.
Just a week after some of the Zambia womens national team players were promoted by the Zambia army for their splendid performance at the Womens Africa cup of nations , the country’s airforce commmander has also announced that the copper queens players that play for the Airforce sponsored football club Red Arrows will be recruited in the service to honor their contribution to the national team.
Margret Belemu, Ochumba Lumbaji, Mary Wilomba and skipper Grace Chanda who is left the airforce sponsored side last season for Kazakhstan club BIIK Kazgurt are the four copper queens players that will be recruited in the Zambia airforce as soldiers.
According to a press statement issued by the Zambia Air Force, “The Zambia Air Force Commander, Lt Gen Colin Barry has with immediate effect employed all the Red Arrows Women’s Football Club players and assured those that featured at the WAFCON in Morocco that they would be part of the recruitment of Defence Force personnel announced by the Defence Minister.
“Lt Gen Colin Barry was speaking when he hosted Red Arrows Women and Copper Queens players Margret Belemu, Mary Wilombe and Ochumba Oseke Lubanji at Zambia Air Force Headquarters on Friday, 05 July 2022.
“Lt Gen Barry commended the Red Arrows Women’s Football players for emerging second during the 2021/2022 FAZ Women’s League and minting bronze at the WAFCON in the 3rd and 4th playoffs against Nigeria.
Defender Magret Belemu receives a medal recognition from the Zambia airforce commander Collin Bary ….. Picture by Zambia Airforce Copper queens’ Mary Wilomba receives a medal recognition from the Zambia airforce commander Collin Bary ….. Picture by Zambia AirforceMidfielder Ochumba Oseke Lumbaji receives a medal recognition from the Zambia airforce commander Collin Bary ….. Picture by Zambia Airforce
“Lt Gen Barry also commended, Copper Queens Interim Captain Grace Chanda, who is away at her base in Kazakhstan, on her nomination as CAF Women’s Player of the year saying that the nomination in itself is a great achievement. He also praised the ‘Amazing Grace’ for providing leadership to the team.
“The Air Force Commander also recognized Grace Chanda and Margret Belemu for being listed among the top 11 the Total Energies 2022 WAFCON alongside other players from South Africa, Morocco and Nigeria.
“Lt Gen Barry also announced that all the 35 Red Arrows Women’s Players were employed by the Zambia Air Force as Cilivians and the the Four (04) that represented the Zambia Air Force at national level would be recruited as soldiers in the next recruitment.
“Margret Belemu thanked the Air Force Commander and said joining the Zambia Air Force as a soldier was a dream come true for her and her team mates.” Concluded the statement.
The Zambia womens national team have received all sorts of accolades in their country after against all odds storming the semifinals of the Womens Africa cup of nations and qualifying to the FIFA womens World Cup for the first time in the history of Zambian womens football.
They finished third at the WAFCON after beating record Champions Nigeria 1-0 in the third place playoff at the tournament held in Morocco which was won by South Africa who happened to be the only team to defeat the copper queens in the tournament.
African Football Greats 