
South Africa round off CHAN 2024 qualifiers
South Africa became the final nation to qualify for the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) with a 2-0 victory over Malawi on Sunday.Goals from Victor Letsoalo and captain Neo Maema in Pretoria proved enough for the hosts to turn around a 1-0 deficit from the first leg of the tie.Letsoalo gave South Africa the lead in the 12th minute with a close-range shot after a goalmouth scramble and, after wasting several chances to increase their second-leg advantage, Maema sidefooted home following another melee in the 87th minute.Algeria beat The Gambia 3-0 on Friday to progress by the same scoreline over the two legs.Both qualifiers will be in Group C alongside co-hosts Uganda, Niger and Guinea.The 19-team tournament, which is for domestic-based players on the continent, was due to be held in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in February.However, the finals were postponed just 18 days before the opening game and rescheduled to be played from 2-30 August.
CHAN 2024 draw
Group A: Kenya (co-hosts}, Morocco, Angola, DR Congo, ZambiaGroup B: Tanzania (co-hosts), Madagascar, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Central African RepublicGroup C: Uganda (co-hosts), Niger, Guinea, Algeria, South AfricaGroup D: Senegal, Equatorial Guinea*, Sudan, Nigeria*Equatorial Guinea replaced Congo-Brazzaville after the latter fielded an ineligible player in qualifying
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


BBC News
23 minutes ago
- BBC News
Key selection questions for Scotland after Iceland blow
As abject Scotland performances go, Friday's home defeat by Iceland - 30 places below their hosts at 74th in the world rankings - was right up there on a long and growing Clarke's side have only one more friendly - Monday's trip to minnows Liechtenstein - before visiting Denmark in their opening World Cup qualifier in questions does the head coach face before his side take to Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, and what can he really learn from a game against a team sitting 205th in the world rankings? Who is left to play in goal? Clarke had warned last month the lack of available goalkeepers was "probably an oversight" by the Scottish FA, but little did he know that his words would become so immediately unable to call up Craig Gordon, Zander Clark and Liam Kelly, he was shorn of Robby McCrorie when the Kilmarnock man pulled a thigh muscle in the warm-up on Friday before recalled former first-choice Angus Gunn twisted his ankle six minutes into the game at is fair to say Cieran Slicker would not have been expecting to make his international debut - especially as the 22-year-old had only played 10 minutes for Ipswich Town last season and is still to make his league debut for the slack clearance almost immediately handed Iceland their opener and, while not the only culprit in Lewis Ferguson's own goal, he was badly at fault for the third as a bad night for Scotland turned into a personal admitted tackling the depth of goalkeeping talent is "more for the long term", but he desperately needs a short-term fix and is seeking to draft in "another goalkeeper in Scotland who's not on holiday", with Ross Doohan, who left Aberdeen last week, reportedly the head coach said Slicker had been thrust into a limelight "he wasn't quite ready for" and former Scotland midfielder Michael Stewart says Clarke faces "a big call" should Gunn and McCrorie fail to recover in time."Do you stick with him and hope he can put in a performance that gives him some belief and feels like he's capable, or do you go for damage limitation and recognise that Cieran Slicker is not really going to be playing for Scotland in the future?" he said on BBC Sportsound."I feel for Slicker. It's a horrible situation to be in, but that is the ruthlessness of football at this top level, and it's been exposed there badly."Perhaps it will not matter who is in goal considering Liechtenstein did not have any touches inside Wales' penalty box - never mind an attempt on goal - in Friday's 3-0 Nations League defeat in Monday's hosts have only won one of their past 48 games - 1-0 in a friendly against Hong Kong in October - and have scored once in five defeats since a goalless draw with Gibraltar. Back three or back four? Whether Scotland should play with two or three central defenders has long been a debating point - and especially so when both Kieran Tierney and captain Andy Robertson are you have two top-class left-backs at your disposal, the tendency has been to use Robertson as a wing-back and Tierney on the left of a central three, where the 28-year-old has proven during regular injury absences that have partly led to Tierney exiting Arsenal for a return to Celtic, Clarke has recently reverted to a back that formation produced heartening away wins over Poland and Greece - and at home to Croatia - it was cruelly exposed by the Greeks in the Nations League play-off return in Scotland looked equally porous when Clarke reverted to a five on Tierney's return on thought Slicker had been put "in a desperate situation" as Scotland attempted to play out from the back."Defensively, we were shocking at times," he said. "When we went back to four against Iceland, we looked more comfortable."Former Scotland captain Willie Miller also prefers a return to two central defenders."The two that finished the game [John Souttar and Scott McKenna] are more than capable - athletic, tall, quick and read the game well," he said. Where is the midfield creativity? Midfield has, rightly so, long been viewed as Scotland's main with Celtic captain Callum McGregor calling time on his international career and Norwich City's Kenny McLean also missing, the holding midfield options have been reduced Gilmour helped Napoli to the Serie A title in that position, but clubmate Scott McTominay, Aston Villa's John McGinn and Bologna's Ferguson are all more effective in a more advanced paper, the quartet would have been expected to dominate an Iceland midfield containing players from Preston North End, Al-Orobah, Fortuna Dusseldorf, Hertha Berlin and Lille, but they failed to do thinks 18-year-old Motherwell midfielder Lennon Miller, given his debut as a substitute on Friday, is worthy of being given a chance on Monday as he "looked a player of real quality when he came on". Where is the speed? Finding some speed in attack is of the essence for Scotland and the introduction of Ben Doak provided a spark Clarke's side had been lacking when the Liverpool winger made his debut in five appearances thereafter, the 19-year-old quickly became one of his country's most potent threats - only to have his season curtailed by an injury picked up on loan to thinks his absence has been keenly felt in successive home defeats by Greece and Iceland, where Clarke was unable to introduce anyone with significant pace to exploit the width of the Hampden pitch to his advantage."We played in the Nations League and we were absolutely outstanding against the top teams," he said. "Doak transformed this side. "We don't have him at the moment and we've gone back to the back three with Kieran Tierney and Andy Robertson in the team and there's a big debate and decision to be made when Ben Doak is fit again." Who will play up front? Souttar scored Scotland's goal against Iceland on Friday, so it is still a year since a striker last netted for Clarke's side - Lawrence Shankland in a 2-2 draw with the Hearts captain absent after a difficult season with his club, George Hirst was handed his first international start against 26-year-old made just seven starts for Ipswich Town last season but was given the nod despite Che Adams having been praised after his debut campaign for Torino in Serie thought Hirst "looked alright" but "did not have a great deal to feed off".However, he hopes Hibernian 22-year-old Kieron Bowie is given a chance on Tuesday "because it is a position that's up for grabs".Given that Liechtenstein have lost 2-0 to Malta, 3-1 to San Marino, 3-0 to North Macedonia, 2-0 to Kazakhstan and 3-0 away in their latest five games, there should be plenty of opportunities for whichever striker starts."He's got a couple of big decisions to make in terms of system and a few personnel calls, but I don't have any major concerns," Stewart added.


Daily Mail
41 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Club World Cup will feature FIVE new 'trailblazing' rules as Chelsea and Man City gear up for $1bn tournament
The Club World Cup will feature five new rule changes as well as a brand new format when it begins next week. The new tournament kicks off in the United States on Sunday June 15, with Al Ahly taking on Inter Miami in the tournament's opening match. In total, 32 teams will take part from all over the globe, including Manchester City and Chelsea from England as well as the likes of Real Madrid, Juventus and Bayern Munich. Previous iterations of the competition have included just seven teams, with Manchester City winning the last tournament in 2023. But this year's competition has an enormous prize fund of £777m ($1bn), to be split among the teams. The Club World Cup has typically been viewed as a minor affair for European clubs and fans, but FIFA wants it to be 'the football event of the year'. As well as the new format, the competition is also going to feature a host of 'trailblazing' rule changes, which FIFA claim will 'improve football. The most significant innovation is that referees will wear body cameras, allowing fans to see closer into their decision making process. The footage will used during live match broadcasts on DAZN, who agreed a $1billion (£787m) deal with FIFA for rights to the tournament. The new camera angle will be trialled to see if it can improve the viewing experience for fans at home, while FIFA will use the experiment to create guidelines for its possible use in other competitions. Fans at the game will finally be able to watch footage from the VAR monitor inside the stadium, and it will be displayed live on giant screens to 'enhance transparency'. Advanced semi-automated offside technology will also be used as referees seek to make quicker decisions throughout the match. The Club World Cup will also see an increased use of artificial intelligence-driven data, while substitution tablets will be used and will replace the traditional manual process Pierluigi Collina, the chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, said that the referees taking part in the tournament will be 'making history'. The new Club World Cup format has received criticism from players and FIFA is currently facing legal action surrounding the tournament's scheduling. Players' union Fifpro says the footballing calendar is too busy and 'risks player safety and wellbeing'. Manuel Akanji, currently in the US on Switzerland duty for their upcoming pair of friendlies, has candidly spoken out against the fixture congestion. The Manchester City defender said: 'I have been a strong critic of this competition for some time now. We players would love to have some holidays, and some time for our bodies to rest.' My City teammates are not exactly overjoyed about the tournament either. But it's now right in our faces, and there is nothing we can do about it. 'If we take part, then of course we want to win it. But if we reach the final, then the time period for us to recover ahead of the new season will become even shorter.'


The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Man Utd gave Zinedine Zidane a blank cheque to take over as manager.. he's not in it for money, says Premier League icon
ZINEDINE Zidane rejected a blank cheque to join Manchester United as manager, according to his old team-mate. Former Chelsea centre-back Marcel Desailly also adamantly revealed that Zidane is NOT driven by cash - which is something the ex-Ballon d'Or winner proved this week. 3 Zidane has been approached by some of the biggest clubs in the world since quitting Real Madrid after failing to win a trophy in 2021. The World Cup icon, 52, was heavily linked with a move to Man Utd before, during and after Erik ten Hag 's rollercoaster two years. One of the reasons he supposedly turned Old Trafford chiefs down was because he didn't feel confident speaking English. A few years on and ahead of the upcoming 32-team Club World Cup, Zizou was offered an eye-watering £84million to commit to a one-year contract at Saudi Pro League runners-up Al-Hilal. And his former team-mate Desailiy has revealed how difficult it is for club's to persuade him to join, and where he's likely to go next. "Well he had a blank cheque on the table from Chelsea and a blank cheque from Manchester United and turned them down. "He isn't in it for the money. I don't see why money will change anything, I know privately that he won't change his lifestyle. "He likes to travel and always keeps an eye on the France national team. He's ready because Didier Deschamps has started the transition. " France will be one of the favourites for the World Cup and win or lose it's not the end of this era for France." Zinedine Zidane suffers embarrassing wardrobe malfunction as he brings out Champions League trophy at Wembley Zidane is the only manager in the world to have won a staggering three Champions League titles in a row during his first spell with Real. And he followed that up by lifting two LaLiga titles during his second stint, having only managed the Spanish giants. Desailiy believes that Zidane is most attracted to the France job because they have a new generation of superstars, including Champions League hero Desire Doue. He added: Since 2016, France have been growing and growing. New players have come into the team constantly and now they have the right guys. " Rayan Cherki is one of them alongside Ousmane Dembele, Kylian Mbappe is still there and on top of his game. "There is a real dynamic. William Saliba is in defence with Ibrahima Konate, Bayern have Dayot Upamecano. "There is a squad and a philosophy and Zidane will know how to take that on to rebuild his own team. For another eight years at least France will be at the top level in Europe." Zidane made a £4MILLION investment into a new sport project in February, which turned out to be a new padel centre in France. 3 Zidane's managerial career Zizou spent 18 months in charge of Real Madrid Castilla before being given his shot at the big time following the sacking of Rafael Benitez. Zidane, 51, took charge of the first team in January 2016 and guided them to a second-place finish in his maiden season at the Bernabeu helm. But he went one better in the Champions League, sealing Real's 11th European Cup triumph with a shootout victory over Atletico Madrid. The former Los Blancos star went one better in the league in the 2016-17 season, in which they also won the Uefa Super Cup and Club World Cup. A second successive Champions League triumph also followed, with Real beating Italian giants Juventus at the Principality Stadium. He would create history the following season by becoming the first manager to win the tournament three times on the bounce. A 3-1 win over Liverpool saw Real become the first team to win Europe's elite club competition three times in a row. Zidane announced his resignation five days after the final, insisting the club needed a "change" of direction. He would return to the Bernabeu in March 2019 following Santiago Solari and Julen Lopetegui's short reigns. A return to the summit of Spanish football would follow in the 2019-20 season, in which Real also scooped the Spanish Super Cup. Zidane would leave the Bernabeu again in June 2021 after overseeing Real's first trophyless season in 11 years. Zinedine Zidane's Honours: - La Liga: 2016–17, 2019–20 - Supercopa de España: 2017, 2019–20 - UEFA Champions League: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 - UEFA Super Cup: 2016, 2017 - FIFA Club World Cup: 2016, 2017