 |
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
African Roundup France's Lemerre confirms he will coach TunisiaPosted: Wednesday October 02, 2002 7:09 PM
PARIS (Reuters) -- Former France coach Roger Lemerre, sacked after his country's woeful World Cup campaign, is to become the new coach of the Tunisian national side, officials from the north African country have confirmed. Wednesday's L'Equipe newspaper reported that Tunisian officials announced on Tuesday that Lemerre had accepted the post. He has signed a contract until after the 2004 African Nations Cup, which Tunisia are hosting, with an option for an extension if they do well in the tournament. Tunisian officials provisionally announced the news last week, saying that Lemerre would sign a two-year contract to replace Ammar Souyaha, who resigned in July after the African country went out of the World Cup after the first round with just one point. Lemerre, 61, was fired after France also were also knocked out in the first round. With only one point from three matches it was the worst performance of the defending champions in the history of the tournament. Lemerre's first match in charge of Tunisia will be a friendly against Portugal on October 12. Esperance switches game to MonastirTUNIS (Reuters) -- Tunisian club Esperance will play their next African Champions League match at Monastir after being banned from hosting Saturday's group B match against Costa do Sol of Mozambique in the capital Tunis, officials said on Wednesday. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) banned Esperance from using the El Menzah stadium in Tunis for one match after an attack on a referee in the Champions League game against Zamalek of Egypt in August. CAF ordered the match against Costa do Sol, which is the penultimate game for both sides in group B, to be played at least 100 kilometers from Tunis. The ruling body also slapped Esperance with a $5000 fine for the attack on Moroccan referee Abderrahim El Arjoune at the end of the 1-1 draw with Zamalek. The official was attacked by a spectator after El Arjoune had disallowed a late effort by Esperance striker Kandia Traore. The spectator ran on to the pitch and threw a punch before being apprehended by security officials. Earlier in the match, the referee had also awarded Zamalek a controversial penalty, which the Egyptians missed. At the end of the game, El Arjoune was also jostled and verbally abused by Esperance players. The change to Monastir has also meant a change in the kickoff time from an evening game to an afternoon start because of the lack of floodlights at the alternate venue. Saber recalled to Morocco squadRABAT (Reuters) -- Morocco coach Badou Zaki has recalled Italian-based fullback Abdelilah Saber for the first time in 18 months for the friendly international against Niger on Thursday. Saber, who played for Morocco in the 1998 World Cup finals in France, is one of seven foreign-based players named in an experimental 19-man squad for the game in Rabat. Zaki's third match in charge since replacing Portuguese Umberto Coelho will serve as a warm-up for Morocco's next African Nations Cup qualifier against Equatorial Guinea on October 13, also in Rabat. Squad: Goakeepers: Abdelilah Bagui (Maghreb Fes), Abderrafiq Gassi (Royal Armed Forces) Defenders: Tarek Chihab (FC Zurich, Switzerland), Othmane El Assas (Al Charika, United Arab Emirates), Talal El Karkouri (Paris St Germain, France), Mourad Fellah (Maghreb Fes), Abdelilah Saber (Napoli, Italy) Midfielders: Ali Bouab (Royal Armed Forces), Abderrahim Chklit (Maghreb Fes), El Amin Erbate (Raja Casablanca), Omar Hassi (Maghreb Fes), Noureddine Kacimi (Raja Casablanca), Hassan Mouataz (Royal Armed Forces), Abderrahmane Rafik (Olympique Khourgiba) Strikers: Hicham Aboucherouane (Raja Casablanca), Mustapha Bidoudane (FUS Rabat), Noureddine Boukhari (Ajax Amsterdam, Netherlands), Rachid Rokki (Al Taaoune, Qatar), Hicham Zerouali (Al Nasr, United Arab Emirates). Abidjan match goes ahead despite rebellionJOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -- Saturday's African Champions League match between ASEC Abidjan of the Ivory Coast and Egypt's Zamalek will go ahead despite the two week rebellion in the west African country, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said on Wednesday. The group B match is a vital tie for both sides, seeking to finish in the top two places in the standings to qualify for the semi-finals of the competition next month. The match had been threatened by the crisis in the Ivory Coast, in which hundreds have died and thousands been displaced by fighting between army factions. Rebel soldiers have held major towns in the country but the CAF said it was confident the fighting held no danger in Abidjan, the capital. Zamalek are scheduled to depart for Abidjan in a private jet and return directly after Saturday's match, Egyptian newspapers reported. A draw would be enough to ensure the Cairo club progress to the last four but ASEC must win to have any realistic chance of staying in contention. African DigestJOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -- A digest of soccer stories from around Africa in recent days: SEYCHELLES -- English-born striker Chris Dawson made his debut for the Seychelles last Thursday as the tiny Indian Ocean island lost 1-0 in a friendly international away in Mauritius. Dawson, 23, was born in Coventry and served as an apprentice at Bolton Wanderers but never played in the club's first team. His mother hails from the Seychelles and the player was recently granted citizenship in order to compete for the country in the 2004 African Nations Cup qualifiers. A paperwork delay meant Dawson missed out on last month's 1-0 win over Eritrea at the start of the Nations Cup qualifying campaign but he made his debut in the match at Flic-en-Flacq on Thursday, attended by 166 paying spectators. Dawson, who is also qualified to play for Ireland through his father, now plays for Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. He contacted the Seychelles high commission in Malaysia to explore the possibility of an international career. ---- MOZAMBIQUE -- Ferroviario Maputo clinched the Mozambican league title last Thursday after beating Matchedje 2-1 in their penultimate game of the season. Ferroviario's win came at the same times as their closest rivals Maxaquene, lost 2-1 away at Ferroviario Quelimane. Ferroviario Maputo regain the title they last won in 1999. Defending champions Costa do Sol finished third. ---- BURKINA FASO -- Army club USFA won the Burkina Faso Cup on Sunday, beating AS Fonctionnaires Bobo-Dioulasso 2-0 in the final in Ouagadougou. Bonfice Zioundi, who was the leading goal scorer in the Burkina Faso league this season, opened the scoring in the 15th minute and substitute Saidou Traore added a second in the 56th minute. USFA were coached by Sidiki Diarra, who last year was in charge of the Burkina Faso national team before being fired at the end of the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. ---- MOROCCO -- Morocco have agreed to participate in the Arab Nations Cup in Kuwait in December, federation officials said in Rabat at the weekend. Morocco will send their national team to the tournament after participating in past events with an under-23 side. The dates for the eighth edition of the tournament have yet to be fixed, but organizers said Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Palestine, Sudan and Yemen had confirmed their participation. The draw will be made in Kuwait on November 17. The last Arab Nations Cup was played in Qatar in 1998 and won by Saudi Arabia. ---- TUNISIA -- International midfielder Kaies Ghodhbane, who played for Tunisia at the last two World Cups, has been sold by Etoile Sahel to Bani Yas in the United Arab Emirates, the Tunisian club announced on Saturday. Ghodhbane, 26, captained Etoile Sahel for several years, helping the Sousse-based club to two Confederation of African Football (CAF) Cup titles in 1995 and 1999 and the African Cup Winners' Cup trophy in 1997. Etoile Sahel were eliminated in the quarter-finals of this year's CAF Cup last month, which hastened the sale of Ghodhbane to Bani Yas, who were relegated from the United Arab Emirates first division last season. Ghodhbane, who has been capped 64 times by Tunisia, joins up with fellow African, James Moja Joseph from Sudan at Bani Yas. ---- IVORY COAST This Saturday's African Champions League match between ASEC Abidjan of the Ivory Coast and Egypt's Zamalek will go ahead despite the two week rebellion in the west African country. The match had been threatened by the crisis in the Ivory Coast, in which hundreds have died and thousands been displaced by fighting between army factions. Rebel soldiers have held major towns in the country but the CAF said it was confident the fighting held no danger in Abidjan.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
