Renaissance Berkane win African Confederation Cup after stalemate in second leg of final
A two-goal advantage from last week's home first leg provided the foundation for a third success in the Confederation Cup in the last six years for the club from the north-east of Morocco.
But they endured a difficult afternoon at the Amaan Stadium in Zanzibar as Simba went ahead in the 15th minute through Joshua Mutale and then missed a gilt-edge chance in front of goal minutes later.
Simba had midfielder Yusuph Kagoma sent off five minutes into the second half for a second cautionable offence and two more members of their technical staff were sent to the stands in a tempestuous encounter.
Despite the one-man disadvantage, Simba had the ball in the Berkane net again in the 73rd minute after Steven Mukwala glanced home Jean Charles Aboua's free kick but the goal was ruled offside after a lengthy VAR check.
Berkane then made sure of success when substitute Soumaila Sidibe snatched an equaliser from a tight angle at the start of nine minutes of stoppage time.
It crowned a dream season for Berkane, who won a first Moroccan league title earlier in the season. Their third Confederation Cup success equals the record for the most successes in the competition, held by Tunisia's CS Sfaxien. REUTERS
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Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
Fifa World Cup draw in Vegas on Dec 5: reports
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The 2026 Fifa World Cup draw is set to take place on Dec 5. LOS ANGELES – Las Vegas will play host to the 2026 World Cup draw on Dec 5, according to multiple reports on July 30. ESPN and TUDN'Mexico said that the desert city of Vegas had been picked for the draw of the expanded 48-team global football event, which will be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. In all, 12 groups of four nations will be drawn. Mexico (Group A), Canada (Group B) and the United States (Group D) have already been selected for their groups. When the United States played host to the 1994 World Cup, the draw ceremony was also conducted in Las Vegas. Vegas was reportedly selected over cities in Canada and Mexico this time. However, Fifa officials have not officially confirmed the date or site. Pachuca executive Pedro Cedillo, who is campaigning for Mexico to be the site for World Cup training camps, recently told ESPN he expected the draw to take place in Vegas. 'Dec 5, if I'm not mistaken, is precisely the day the draw takes place, or at the beginning of December,' he said. 'I understand it will be in Las Vegas.' ESPN's original report said that The Sphere, a 17,500-seat venue which opened in 2023, was seen as the front runner for the draw site. But Sphere sources confirmed to AFP that the World Cup draw would not take place there, and ESPN later reported that Sphere sources told the sports network it would not be held there. In 1994, the draw was staged in Las Vegas even though it was not a host city for any matches, a situation that is also the case for next year's event. Reuters said that Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium was rejected as a host venue. Eleven United States cities/venues were selected, along with three in Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey) and two in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver). The US sites are divided into three regions. New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston, Miami and Atlanta are a part of the Eastern region, Kansas City, Dallas and Houston comprise a part of the Central Region, while Los Angeles, Seattle and the San Francisco Bay area make up three of the four cities in the Western Region. Only 13 teams, including the hosts USA, Mexico and Canada, have qualified for the World Cup so far. The rest are Japan, New Zealand, Iran, Argentina, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Australia, Brazil and Ecuador. MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jerset, will host the final match on July 19, 2026. In other news, Fifa last weekend inaugurated a regional office in Morocco – the first in North Africa and fifth in the continent – as the kingdom ramps up preparations for the 2030 World Cup which it will host jointly with Spain and Portugal. 'This is a day that will be written in golden letters in the magnificent history of Fifa, African football, Moroccan football, and world football,' said Fifa president Gianni Infantino at the inauguration ceremony. The inauguration, also attended by the head of the African Football Confederation, Patrice Motsepe, took place before the 2025 Women's Africa Cup of Nations final in Rabat, the capital where Morocco faced Nigeria. The Nigerians won 3-2. Morocco will be the second African nation to host the World Cup in 2030, following South Africa's edition in 2010. This follows five unsuccessful bids by the kingdom. Fifa's other African offices are located in Senegal, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and South Africa. AFP, REUTERS
Straits Times
06-07-2025
- Straits Times
Lionesses eager to get delayed Asian Cup qualifying campaign under way
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Forward Farhanah Ruhaizat is looking forward to facing new sides and seeing where the Lionesses stand against their continental counterparts. SINGAPORE – After a period of uncertainty due to the conflict in the Middle East, the national women's football team are eager to return to action as they kick off their 2026 Women's Asian Cup qualifying campaign against Bhutan on July 7. Originally slated to take place from June 23 to July 5 in Jordan's capital Amman, the escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict prompted the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to delay and relocate the competition just days before it was set to begin. The Group A matches were initially shifted to Qatar, before a US-brokered ceasefire on June 24 allowed the games to return to their original location – the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman – from July 7 to 19. 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New Paper
04-07-2025
- New Paper
'The game has lost a legend': Liverpool fans in Singapore mourn Diogo Jota
It was a regular work afternoon for Eddy Chua on July 3 when the Singaporean received a Telegram notification that read "Diogo Jota died". Stunned, he turned to Google to check if it was true and saw early reports from several outlets claiming the Liverpool footballer had passed away. Soon after, chatter picked up in a WhatsApp group comprising fellow Liverpool fans, and reports from more established sources - Liverpool Echo, Sky News and the BBC - confirmed the worst: the Portuguese forward and his brother Andre Silva, also a professional footballer, had died in a car crash in Zamora, Spain. The authorities said Jota, 28, and Silva, 25, died after the Lamborghini they were in had veered off a motorway and burst into flames shortly after midnight on July 3. Chua, 29, found it difficult to return to work after reading the news. The content lead said: "Throughout the late afternoon, I was just stoning in front of my screen, trying to take in the fact that one of our own just left like that. "Some of the fans posted Jota's wedding photos to the chat too, which made me even more emotional. He had just won the Premier League, gotten married and Liverpool had also been making ambitious signings this summer. "It was supposed to be like a start of something new for Jota, in his career and family. But he is just gone like that." Like Chua, many Singaporean Reds fans were still coming to terms with the news hours after it broke. Real estate agent Eric Kwek recalled how a month ago, he was in Liverpool among hundreds of thousands of fans, as Jota and the rest of the squad marked the club's 20th top-flight league title with an open-top bus parade through the city. Earlier this week, he had come across clips of fans singing Jota's chant, which he noted was voted one of the most popular among Liverpool supporters. The 47-year-old also expressed his sympathy for Jota's family. Jota and long-time partner Rute Cardoso, who have three children, had just tied the knot less than two weeks ago. One fond memory Kwek has of Jota is his last goal for Liverpool - the winner in a 1-0 Merseyside derby victory over rivals Everton in April. It was a crucial victory in the Reds' title charge as they returned from the international break, bouncing back from their Champions League exit against Paris Saint-Germain and a League Cup final loss to Newcastle United. Kwek said: "To lose two games in a week this season was not common for Liverpool so it was quite tough for them to pick up again, especially since they had not secured the title. "He gave confidence back to the team to pursue the last trophy." Despite injury setbacks last season, Jota played a key role in the Reds' Premier League title win, making 26 league appearances and contributing six goals and four assists. In all, he recorded 65 goals and 26 assists in 182 Reds matches. Suren Daniel, who is self-employed as a hawker, remembers Jota for his work ethic and humility. The 38-year-old said: "A true fans' player. Every time he was on the bench, or back from injury, and when he was called upon to perform, he was a player who never let us down and would always give his all without complaining." Student Megan Foo, 22, shared the same sentiment, saying: "What stood out most was how he never seemed to disappoint on the pitch... He had this quiet determination and came across as a genuinely humble and grounded guy. I'll always remember him as a clutch, consistent and committed player." While many praised his abilities on the pitch, what left a lasting impression on Kwang Yu, who runs online sports platform Grandstand alongside his day job in marketing, was Jota's personality. When Liverpool visited Singapore as part of their pre-season tour in 2023, the 32-year-old recalled that Jota took the time to answer questions in the media mixed zone. He said: "He was one of the players who stopped for a post-match interview by one of our media colleagues. It was very chill, nice chat, (he was) down-to-earth and very humble. "One of the questions that was asked to him is which fantasy player would he pick for the new season, and cheekily he mentioned himself. "Very, very nice guy, I would say. Not every player would stop for an interview, so kudos to him." Benjamin Raj, 32, a senior executive at a statutory board, said the news was a sobering reminder of life's fragility. He said: "The game has lost a true legend. It just shows you need to enjoy life whenever you can, because you just don't know what's going to happen next." Flower tributes for Liverpool's Portuguese footballer Diogo Jota outside Anfield Stadium in Liverpool on July 3. PHOTO: REUTERS Fellow Liverpool fan Melvin Wong, who is self-employed, recalled Jota's standout performances against Arsenal - a team he often thrived against. Jota scored on his Premier League debut for the Reds in a 3-1 win over the Gunners in September 2020, and later netted a brace in a 2-0 League Cup semi-final victory during the 2021-22 season, helping Liverpool reach the final, which they eventually won. The 49-year-old said: "He was a clinical striker, an outstanding header of the ball. I think I can say on behalf of every Liverpool fan that we will miss him and never forget him."
