West Brom, Brentford in race to sign Trevoh Chalobah

West Brom, Brentford in race to sign Trevoh Chalobah

by | 15 Jul, 2021 | African News, Sport News

Trevoh Chalobah has been a transfer target for both West Bromwich Albion and newly-promoted Premier side Brentford.

The Sierra Leonean-born versatile player is currently with Chelsea’s squad for preseason training.

Trevoh, 22, who last season play with the French top division FC Lorient will be hoping to impress boss Thomas Tuchel for a place with the European Champions.

But latest reports indicating another move away from Chelsea as WestBrom faced stiff competition from the Premier League side for his signature.

The Baggies see the versatile midfielder as a potential summer addition, but Brentford hoping that their Premier League status will help them pip the Baggies in the chase.

FC Lorient, who had him on loan last season, now want to bring him back.

Connect with us @football_sierra, on Facebook/ Instagram Football Sierra Leone, the writer John Bangura.

FC Copenhagen attacker Mohamed Daramy on AC Milan radar

FC Copenhagen attacker Mohamed Daramy on AC Milan radar

by | 11 Jul, 2021 | African News, Football Africa, Sport News

  • Danish journalist David E. Bastian-Moeller has given an insight on AC Milan’s reported interest in signing Mohamed Daramy from Copenhagen.
  • In recent weeks, Daramy has been on the Italian giant radar as It seems the winger is a concrete target of the Rossoneri.

Anto Vitiello of MilanNews reported how the 19-year-old is on Milan’s wish list and contacts have taken place with Copenhagen in the last few days. However, in order to get to an advanced stage, the Rossoneri would have to sell Jens Petter Hauge.

Bastian-Moeller – a journalist at Copenhagen Sundays – spoke to MilanNews about the player’s current situation as well as his key strengths and potential for the future.

“Daramy, or Mo, as we call him in Copenhagen, is a young, fast and strong player. He is 19 and already has 82 appearances for Copenhagen. He arrived at Copenhagen in the suburb of Hvidovre in the U14 team. At the age of 15 years old he was the top scorer of Copenhagen U17 and at the age of 16 he made his debut with the first team,” he said.

“His family is originally from Sierra Leone, but Mo was born in Denmark. The day before his 18th birthday he had citizenship and on the same day he was preselected for the Danish national team, playing this summer in the Under 21 European Championships.”

Assuming the outcome, Bastian-Moeller further noted that Copenhagen in no rush to sell Daramy as other big clubs interested in the talented winger.

The attacker joined the club in July 2018 and made his debut on 27/09 2018 against Viby IF at the Sydbank Pokalen stadium.

Connect with us @football_sierra, on Facebook/ Instagram Football Sierra Leone, the writer @bittar32 Contact bi****@*********************ne.net.

Nigerian Peter Etebo joins Watford on loan from Stoke City

Nigerian Peter Etebo joins Watford on loan from Stoke City

by | 9 Jul, 2021 | African News, Sport News

  • Watford has completed the signing of Nigerian midfielder Oghenekaro Peter Etebo from Stoke City.
  • The newly-promoted Premier League side contracted the player on a season-long loan deal, with an option to buy.
 Etebo, 25, began his career in his home country with Warri Wolves before switching to Portuguese outfit Feirense in 2016.
 
With Feirense, he earned an immediate promotion to the Primeira Liga, then helping the team establish themselves in the top flight.
 
The former Stoke City man played 29 times for Galatasary as they finished in 2nd place, missing out on the title to Beşiktaş on goal difference.
 

Etebo played a pivotal role when he was the top scorer as Nigeria won that year’s African U-23 championship in 2015 before he then scored four goals to help his country clinch Olympic bronze at Rio 2016.

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Daniel Akpeyi committed to break trophy jinx with Kaizer Chiefs

Daniel Akpeyi committed to break trophy jinx with Kaizer Chiefs

by | 8 Jul, 2021 | African News, Sport News

Nigerian goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi has expressed his commitment to go a step forward in winning CAF Champions League final with Kaizer Chiefs.
 
The South African giant will face defending champions Al Ahly of Egypt at Stade Mohammed V in Morocco on July 17.
 
Daniel Akpeyi, 34, is expected to be in goal for Kaiser Chiefs in the hunt to help his side lift the continental title.
 
Chiefs qualified for their first-ever TotalEnergies CAF Champions League final with a 1-0 aggregate victory over the Moroccan side Wydad Club Athletic.

Akpeyi, the 18-time capped Super Eagles goalkeeper, was a member of the Heartland FC, a Nigerian side that played and lost to Congolese club TP Mazembe in the 2009 two-legged final.

Now 12 years later, Akpeyi again has a rare chance to play in a final. He also points out that Chiefs have waited over half a century for this to happen.

“Looking back in history, one can see that it has taken Chiefs more than half a century to reach a Champions League final,” told IOL Sports.

“The achievement of playing in a CAF Champions League final has brought the smiles back to supporters who have been patient all these years.

“I have always looked forward to playing the final again.

“I have tried with different teams which were eliminated in the early stages. Now, with hard work and determination, we are in the final again. I am grateful for this moment.”

Akpeyi was for some time Chiefs’ second choice goalmouth custodian behind Itumeleng Khune, but once he forced his way into the starting line-up, he delivered several first-class performances.

In all six Champions League matches he played this season, he came away with clean sheets. He has now gone a total of 491 minutes without conceding a goal in the CAF blue-ribband club competition.

“Being in the CAF Champions League final, and even winning it, is my biggest dream. The Champions League is the biggest in Africa, and every player wants to be there. I cannot explain the feeling.

African Football News – Follow us on Twitter @football_sierra On Facebook & Instagram; Football Sierra Leone

Raja creep, Kabylie cruise Into CAF Confederation Cup final

Raja creep, Kabylie cruise Into CAF Confederation Cup final

by | 28 Jun, 2021 | African News, Sport News

  • Raja Casablanca of Morocco and JS Kabylie of Algeria made contrasting entries on Sunday to the final of the CAF Confederation Cup in Benin next month

Title favourites Raja edged 2020 runners-up Pyramids of Egypt 5-4 on penalties after the second leg of the semi-final produced the same 0-0 result as the first encounter last weekend.

Six-time CAF title winners Kabylie had a far easier passage to the July 10 climax in Cotonou, outplaying Coton Sport of Cameroon 3-0 in Algiers to complete a 5-1 aggregate triumph.

Raja are hoping to become the first club from the north African kingdom to win the African equivalent of the UEFA Europa League twice having beaten V Club from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2018 final.

They won all six group matches this season without conceding and brushed aside famed South African club Orlando Pirates in the quarter-finals thanks largely to three goals from Ben Malango.

The physically imposing DR Congo forward came closest to breaking the deadlock in the second leg as his first-half header struck the woodwork.

Morocco has not been a happy hunting ground for Pyramids, an expensively assembled Cairo club bankrolled by Saudi and Emirati businessmen.

They lost 2020 final 1-0 to Renaissance Berkane in Rabat and fell 2-0 to Raja at the group stage this season.

In Algiers, Kabylie had sewn up a place in the final by half-time as they stretched a single-goal advantage from the first leg in Yaounde into a 5-1 overall lead by scoring three unanswered goals.

Former Atletico Madrid academy footballer Zakaria Boulahia was first to strike, firing past Coton goalkeeper Narcisse Nlend after a sixth-minute counterattack set him free.

Badreddine Souyah notched his fourth goal of the African campaign by converting a penalty on 37 minutes with a shot into the bottom right corner after waiting for Nlend to commit himself.

Boulahia completed the rout in first-half stoppage-time by tapping the ball into an unguarded net after being set up by Walid Bencherifa.

While Raja are set to start the final as favourites, they dare not underestimate the Kabylie Canaries, who have succeeded in every CAF final they contested.

The Algerian club won the CAF Champions League in 1981 and 1990, the African Cup Winners Cup in 1995 and the CAF Cup three times in a row from 2000.

By AFP – Agence France Presse – African Football News – Follow us on Twitter @football_sierra On Facebook & Instagram; Football Sierra Leone

Al Ahly ease past Esperance into Champions League final

Al Ahly ease past Esperance into Champions League final

by | 27 Jun, 2021 | African News, Sport News

Holders Al Ahly thrashed 10-man Esperance 3-0 on the night and 4-0 on aggregate as they book a date with South African Kaizer Chiefs for the July 17 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League grand final.

Ali Maaloul opened the scoring from the penalty spot as the Red Devils scored two more second-half goals from Mohamed Sherif and Hussein Elshahat to cement their victory at the AL Salaam Stadium in Cairo.

Esperance, however, created some early chances, but despite their dominating possession, they failed to carve a way through the lines of Al Ahly’s defence.

Meanwhile, South African giants Kaizer Chiefs qualified for their first-ever TotalEnergies CAF Champions League final with a 1-0 aggregate victory over the Moroccan side Wydad Club Athletic on Saturday

Following a one-goal victory in the first leg in Casablanca last week, Amakhosi just needed a draw in the return fixture at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.

Chiefs held on at the FNB Stadium to set a record for themselves and setting a date with Egyptian side Al Ahly on July 17.

Al Ahly (1) 3 (Maaloul 35’ pen, Sherif 57’, El Shahat 60’) – Al Ahly won 4-0 on aggregate.

Kaizer Chiefs won 1-0 on aggregate to reach the CAF Champions League Final