Latest news with #CAF_Online
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
🐣 Gem of the week: Emile Witbooi 🇿🇦
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here. Every week, OneFootball introduces you to the new gems of world football. Today, we're heading to Cape Town! After closely following the U17 Africa Cup, we were impressed by a dozen hidden talents from the continent of Mandela. One of the brightest gems of this competition is South African: Emile Witbooi. Emile Witbooi's skills speak for themselves. 🇿🇦The journey's just beginning. 👀@Football2Gether | #TotalEnergiesAFCONU17 — CAF_Online (@CAF_Online) April 9, 2025 Last March, Witbooi made his professional debut at the age of 16 in the South African championship (one of the most competitive on the continent), becoming the youngest player in Cape Town City's history. A record of precocity that calls for others. Long before stepping onto the Premiership pitches, he had started training with the first team at the age of... 15! History made ✨A proud moment as Emile Witbooi, at just 16 years, 6 months, and 2 days old, becomes the youngest player to ever represent Cape Town CityA special milestone 💎#iamCityFC — Cape Town City FC (@CapeTownCityFC) March 2, 2025 Witbooi's signature move is the step-over. He uses his low center of gravity to his advantage and always looks to operate vertically. A true old-school number 10 who fits with the long tradition of tiki-taka of the Bafana Bafana. Orphaned by the legendary Steven Pienaar, South Africa has been searching for a top-notch metronome for many years. Witbooi could well embody this talismanic figure in the future. No doubt he has the intellectual football quotient to achieve it. Last November, Witbooi was invited by Chelsea for a four-week training session in the U18 category. The London club has already sniffed out the good deal. Other contenders may rush to the gate. Meanwhile, Puma and Roc Nation have already taken him under their wing. Witbooi's emergence confirms a clear trend: South African football is on the rise. Semi-finalists of the 2024 CAN and winners of the U20 CAN, the Bafana Bafana are finally capitalizing on their local nurseries. An image to summarize Emile Witbooi's dazzling dribbles. For the love of the step-over. Also read: - The five revelations of the U17 Africa Cup - The gem of the week: Malian Seydou Dembélé
IOL News
19-05-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Smith, Smythe-Lowe and April shone for Amajita in Egypt at U20 Afcon
Patrick Autata of South Africa celebrates winning the Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations. Photo: BackpagePix Image: Backpagepix The South African U-20 men's team achieved the improbable as they won the country's first ever African Youth Championship title in Egypt on Sunday night. En route to the crown, Amajita beat Morocco 1-0 in the final at 30 June Stadium in Cairo courtesy of Gomolemo Kekana' scorcher. Coach Raymond Mdaka opened up during his post-match press conference that it was a team effort that enabled them to surpass the class of 1997 which only finished as runners-up. But there were individuals that ensured Amajita climbed to the top of the continental rankings, and that's why we look at three of them below. Man of the Competition. ✅#TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 Champion. ✅ Amajita's celebrate and Tylon Smith has two reasons to. 🏆 — CAF_Online (@CAF_Online) May 18, 2025 Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Tylon Smith – Defender Smith duly walked away with the Player of the Tournament award, thanks to a host of Player of the Match performances throughout the tournament. Smith didn't only marshall Amajita's defence against the run of play or out of possession, but he was creative in build-up play, linking defence with midfielders. The towering defender put his height into good use during setpieces, chipping in with crucial goals, including the lone header during the win over Nigeria in the semi-final. 🏅 𝕄𝔸ℕ 𝕆𝔽 𝕋ℍ𝔼 𝕄𝔸𝕋ℂℍ 🏅 Amajita goalkeeper Fletcher Smythe-Lowe! 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 🇿🇦 1⃣➖0⃣ 🇲🇦 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐨 🚨 LIVE 🥇 Final 📺 SABC 2 📱 #TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 — SABC Sport (@SABC_Sport) May 18, 2025 Fletcher Smythe-Lowe – Goalkeeper After making crucial saves and assisting Kekana's goal in the final, there were also a range of expectations for Smythe-Lowe to scoop the Player of the Tournament award. But it wasn't to be as he lost out to teammate Smith. Nevertheless, he showed his goalkeeping prowess, and is tipped to follow in the footsteps of some of the country's greats. Smythe-Lowe, en route to four clean sheets in the tournament, pulled off some incredible saves and was able to organise his defence against set-pieces. Shakeel April – Winger Having arrived in Egypt with some few minutes under his belt for the Cape Town City first team, that showed in April's game against his peers. The winger wasn't only a thorn in the flesh for the opposition's defence, but his decision-making was spot on, especially when he was in possession. Sure, he didn't score as many goals as he'd have liked to, but his attacking prowess opened up space for the rest of his teammates up front.
Arab News
19-04-2025
- Sport
- Arab News
Morocco U-17 make history after winning their first AFCON title
BEIRUT: Morocco's U-17 national football team made history on Saturday by winning their first Africa Cup of Nations 2025 title after edging past Mali 4-2 on penalty shootouts. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport They came. They played. They owned the moment. #TotalEnergiesAFCONU17 — CAF_Online (@CAF_Online) April 19, 2025 Goalkeeper Chouaib Bellaarouch emerged the hero, saving two spot-kicks to secure a historic victory for his teammates, winning their first continental title at the U-17 level. With this victory, Morocco has now conquered every single AFCON title, from U-17 to U-20, U-23 and the senior level. On the way to the final game, tournament hosts Morocco faced off against Cote d'Ivoire in the semifinal and edged them out 4-3 on penalties following a goalless draw. Meanwhile, runners-up Mali beat Burkina Faso 2-0 in the second semifinal. The Atlas Lions had topped Group A with seven points ahead of Zambia, Uganda and Tanzania. Meanwhile, Mali came second in Group D, six points behind leaders Cote d'Ivoire, who led the group with seven points.
