African Roundup

England, South Africa to meet Mandela

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -- England and South Africa's soccer teams will meet former South African president Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg on May 21, a South African soccer official said on Tuesday.

South Africa 2010 World Cup bid company chief executive officer Danny Jordaan said that both teams would fly on a chartered plane from Durban to Johannesburg for the meeting with Mandela on May 21, the day before a friendly international between the two countries in Durban.

The match between South Africa and England forms part of South Africa's bid campaign for the 2010 World Cup finals.

Sierra Leone

Kabba, born in London of Sierra Leone parentage, is one of 22 foreign-based players named for the top of the table group seven clash in Rabat.

Sierra Leone's coach Jose Nogueira said he had watched the 22-year-old Kabba in Sheffield United's FA Cup win over Leeds United, where he scored the game winner, and their semifinal against Arsenal last month.

"I think he is good and he partner well up front with our other strikers," he told the BBC. Both Sierra Leone and Morocco have seven points at the halfway mark of the qualifiers for the 2004 finals in Tunisia. Kabba scored 17 league and Cup goals for Sheffield United this season.

The club are currently involved in playoffs for promotion to the English premier league.

Uganda

Uganda are to offer a short-term contract to former Argentine international Pedro Pasculli to coach their team for the rest of the African Nations Cup qualifiers, officials said on Monday.

Pasculli, who played for Argentina at the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico, would take over from Paul Hasule, who would serve as his assistant.

The Football Union of Uganda are seeking government financial assistance to play for the new coach. Uganda lead group 13 of the qualifiers for the 204 finals in Tunisia with four points after two matches.

They play Rwanda in Kampala on June 7 before traveling to Ghana for their final qualifier on June 22.

Mauritius

Gowreesungkur abused match officials at last month's first-round second-leg clash against Ferroviario Maputo of Mozambique.

The ban means Gowreesungkur, a former national coach of Mauritius, will not be able to sit on the touchline for the two legs of the second-round tie against Ismailia of Egypt.

AS Port Louis host the first leg in Quartier-Militaire on Sunday.

Egypt

The last eight clubs in all three competitions will be known by June 1, when the second-round, second-leg matches are completed.

The eight sides in the Champions League will be divided into two groups of four. The top two finishers in each group go on to the semifinals in November. The other two competitions continue on a knockout basis over two legs. The Cup Winners' Cup and the CAF Cup will be discontinued after this year's editions and combined into one new tournament, the Confederation Cup.

Tunisia

Anis Ayari scored the golden goal from a penalty spot to put Stade through to the final against Club Africain on June 8.

Esperance had clawed their way back to force the game into extra time when Tunisian international defender Radhi Jaidi scored a stoppage time equalizer.

Club Africain won 1-0 at US Marsa with a penalty from Khaled Mouelhi. The final will be played at the Rades stadium on the outskirts of Tunis.

 

Related information

Stories

Africa: USM Alger wins Algerian league title

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video

Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.