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CAF
3 days ago
- Sport
- CAF
Aïssata Traoré (Mali): "During our absence, we never doubted"
Seven years after Mali's last appearance at the TotalEnergies CAF Women's AFCON, Aïssata Traoré returns with fire in her belly and one goal in mind: proving that the 2018 story was only the beginning. At 27, she combines maturity and sharpness. She heads to Morocco in peak form, driven by a consistency that commands respect. Up against the defending South African champions, Ghana, and Tanzania, Mali's No. 10 knows every ball will count. She has a frank gaze, a direct way of speaking, and the kind of dribbling that can flip a match on its head. At 27, Aïssata Traoré is no longer just the future of Malian football — she is its present. She's about to return to the stage she never wanted to leave: the TotalEnergies CAF Women's Africa Cup of Nations. Seven years after the historic 2018 run in Ghana that ended in a semi-final, the striker is back with a clear goal: to take the 'Aiglonnes' even further. After five seasons at Guingamp, she reached a new level with her move to Fleury in the summer of 2024. In a highly ambitious squad, she quickly became the spearhead of the attack: 9 goals and 4 assists in 20 D1 Arkema matches, including 19 starts. The stats speak for themselves — but they don't tell the full story of her impact: her off-the-ball movement, her ability to involve teammates, and her defensive work ethic make her a complete player. The Malian international knows the pride — and pain — that comes with wearing the national jersey. She hasn't forgotten the frustration of 2022, when Mali failed to qualify and had to watch the tournament from the sidelines. But she turned that disappointment into fuel. 'No one ever doubted,' she says calmly. 'When you work hard, there's no room for doubt.' And Mali has been working. Now drawn into Group C alongside South Africa, Ghana, and Tanzania, the team knows there will be no easing into the tournament. For Aïssata Traoré, it will be a moment of truth. She'll lead a dangerous frontline that includes Agueicha Diarra. Together, they represent the rebirth of a generation that has been away from top-tier African football for too long. As the TotalEnergies CAF Women's AFCON approaches, Aïssata Traoré shares her goals and ambitions in this interview with You were part of Mali's last run at the TotalEnergies CAF Women's AFCON in 2018 in Ghana. What do you remember most from that experience? Aïssata Traoré: I have very good memories — amazing, even. We reached the semi-finals, which was a first for most of us. It was a very positive and unforgettable experience. But in the last edition, Mali wasn't there. As an international player, how did you experience that absence? It was incredibly frustrating. I really wanted to play in that WAFCON, but unfortunately, we didn't qualify. Watching other teams on TV, from home… that left a bitter feeling. It's not an easy thing to go through. Seven years later, Mali is back and making a strong return. What does this comeback mean to you, and why do you think it's happening now? This return shows we never stopped working. After our last appearance, we kept moving forward as a group. No one gave up. We stayed united. We knew qualifying would be tough, but we kept listening to each other, pushing ourselves, working hard — and in the end, it paid off. So yes, this comeback is very satisfying. What was the most difficult part of that rebuilding period? Did you ever doubt that Mali would return to this level? Honestly, no. Mali is a powerhouse in African women's football. Finishing fourth in 2018 wasn't a fluke. So yes, we told ourselves we had to come back — that we couldn't remain absent. No one doubted. And when you work the right way, there's no space for doubt. How is this upcoming tournament different from the one you played in 2018? Very different. In 2018, it was my first WAFCON. I gained a lot of experience and lived through intense emotions. Now I return with that experience, and I'm surrounded by new players who bring so much to the team. And the context has changed — in 2018 we were in Ghana, this time it's Morocco. Different country, different culture. We'll have to adapt, but we're ready. Mali is in Group C with South Africa, Ghana, and Tanzania. What's your take on that group? It's a very tough group. Every team will bring their best. There are no favourites — anyone can qualify, and anyone can go home after the group stage. The key will be to start strong, right from the first match, no matter the opponent. We have to be ready to give everything. What are Mali's ambitions for this TotalEnergies CAF Women's AFCON? Mali is an ambitious country. We didn't qualify just to participate. We want to go as far as possible in this competition. That begins with managing our first matches well. Then we'll move forward step by step. But yes, our goal is to go far. Mali has serious attacking weapons. How would you describe the team's offensive chemistry? And what do you personally want to contribute? I want to be as decisive as possible — to contribute offensively, of course, but also defensively. A good attack starts with a good defense. So I also want to help in that area — be present in both boxes, be effective at both ends of the pitch. We're a team. And to go far, we need to score a lot… and concede little, or nothing at all. That's where we'll focus. You seem to have great game awareness — we can almost see the future coach in you. (laughs): Maybe! A future coach… why not? Finally, if you could speak to the younger Aïssata from ten years ago — the one playing football in the street — what would you tell her? I'd tell her to enjoy herself. To play like a kid, without overthinking — just for the love of the game. Not to listen too much to outside noise, and to stay focused on her passion. Because at the end of the day, playing football is a privilege — not everyone gets to do it. So yes, just have fun, play with your friends in the street — that's what really matters.
The South African
19-06-2025
- Sport
- The South African
RUMOUR: Kaizer Chiefs target Bafana veteran in France
Kaizer Chiefs are exploring the option of bringing Lebogang Phiri back to South Africa after a long stint in Europe. 30-year-old Phiri plays for Ligue 1 side Guingamp in France. His European adventure has taken him to Denmark and Turkey, too. 'Mayele will only come to South Africa for a holiday and Amapiano' Lebogang Phiri, a versatile central midfielder, has spent his entire senior career in Europe. He left the Bidvest Wits junior setup in 2013 for Denmark's Brondby and never looked back. Phiri has six caps for Bafana Bafana. 'Word reaching iDiski Times is that Kaizer Chiefs could be looking to bring another South African midfielder back from Europe, with Lebogang Phiri the latest name linked to the Nedbank Cup champions. Phiri, a former Bidvest Wits youth player, left the country as a teenager,' the outlet reported. 'He spent the past season in France with Guingamp. The 30-year-old, who came to the fore at Brondby, is believed to be considering his options, and while there are European opportunities for Phiri, a good offer from Naturena may be able to persuade him to return to Mzansi. 'In the 14 years Phiri has been abroad, he has played in Denmark, France and Turkey,' the report concluded. Kaizer Motaung Jr has plenty to ponder as the 2025-2026 season rolls closer. Image: © Sydney Mahlangu Let us know by leaving a comment below or sending a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Also, subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The South African
18-06-2025
- Sport
- The South African
Kaizer Chiefs to sign midfielder from France?
Kaizer Chiefs brought Thabo Cele from Russia's Fakel Voronezh in January. Is Lebogang Phiri also coming back home to Amakhosi? Phiri, a 30-year-old central midfielder, has played in Europe since 2013. His locations included Denmark, Turkey and France. The Johannesburg-born player's contract with Ligue 2 side Guingamp ends on 30 June, and no renewal has been offered. Kaizer Chiefs star leaving after 41 matches? Kaizer Chiefs' Sporting Director, Kaizer Motaung Jr, and the head coach, Nasreddine Nabi. Images: @kaizerchiefs/X 'Word reaching iDiski Times is that Kaizer Chiefs could be looking to bring another South African midfielder back from Europe, with Lebogang Phiri the latest name linked to the Nedbank Cup champions. Phiri, a former Bidvest Wits youth player, left the country as a teenager,' the outlet reported. Orlando Pirates news: Two clubs target Mofokeng 'He spent the past season in France with Guingamp. The 30-year-old, who came to the fore at Brondby, is believed to be considering his options, and while there are European opportunities for Phiri, a good offer from Naturena may be able to persuade him to return to Mzansi. 'In the 14 years Phiri has been abroad, he has played in Denmark, France and Turkey,' the report concluded. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The Guardian
01-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
AS Cannes: the fourth-tier club dreaming of a Coupe de France final
'The spotlight is on us,' says Cannes CEO Félicien Laborde on a radiant day on the Côte d'Azur as he reflects on the club's latest giant-killing win in the Coupe de France. And 'giant-killing' is the word for a 3-1 win against Guingamp in the quarter-finals; Guingamp are flying high in the second tier and, despite their once-great past, Cannes are down in the fourth tier. Their spectacular run to the semi-finals, where they will face Reims, has put the historic club back on the footballing map. The quarter-final was a reminder of past glories. It was also a night that bore unmistakable scars of the club's tumultuous recent history. There were 9,000 fans packed into the Stade Pierre de Coubertin, but that's 8,000 short of the stadium's record attendance, which was set back in 1993 before the north and south stands were dismantled – a decline that coincided with the club's fall from grace and out of the professional game altogether. 'If we still had those two stands for the quarter-final, they would have been full,' says Laborde, whose task is to awaken the sleeping giant that is famous for producing two of the greats of the French game, Zinedine Zidane and Patrick Vieira. After qualifying for the Uefa Cup twice in the 1990s, it was a vertiginous drop for Cannes. They reached their nadir in the 2014-15 season after a DNCG ruling saw them excluded from the national leagues and banished to the seventh tier. It was a big step down for a club that had been a founding member of the French top flight in the 1930s. 'The job is to help the club be proud again because what the club has gone through for the past 20 years hasn't been easy,' says Laborde, who occupied backroom roles down the coast at Monaco before joining Les Dragons in January 2024. Naturally, the recovery has been incremental, an arduous climb back up the ladder. But, since the Friedkin Group bought Cannes in June 2023, optimism and ambition have permeated a club that was languishing. 'The club's objective is a long-term one and it comes through promotions to the higher divisions,' says Laborde. The club now have the financial means to reach those objectives, although the CEO insists their budget is 'not a lot bigger' than their National 2 rivals. But means in football are no guarantee of success. Sébastien Pérez, who played for Blackburn Rovers and Marseille, arrived as sporting director a year ago and 'audited' the squad. 'There were good players but, for me, the cycle had more or less come to an end, so we had to regenerate the squad by adding quality,' he says. The club brought in 16 players and a new manager in Fabien Pujo. 'It isn't easy to change 16 players and have an osmosis and a connection between the players,' says the sporting director. And that showed in the opening weeks of the season. More change was needed. The warning signs were already evident in the pre-season training camp. 'We put everyone together and we observed for six weeks and saw what was working and what wasn't working,' says Laborde. 'What didn't work was the manager's management. Unfortunately, the leadership wasn't working; there wasn't enough of it. In terms of the goalkeeper, we didn't have that assurance we needed.' The club changed course: Damien Ott replaced Pujo as manager in October, and they signed the former Birmingham City and Senegal midfielder Cheikh N'Doye – 'the missing piece' in Pérez's words – and the goalkeeper Jérémy Aymes. Ott's impact has been revolutionary. His predecessor won just one of his seven games in charge; Ott has won nine of his 16 games in the National 2, putting Cannes in contention for promotion, and led them to the semi-finals of the Coupe de France. If they are promoted, there will not be a repeat of last summer's mass recruitment. 'It isn't about 16 changes every year,' says Pérez. 'We are trying to construct a team that has a strong core that will allow us to make steps forward.' Laborde agrees, adding: 'If one day we go up to National 1, the team is already there. We have made a team that is capable of going up and having a lasting impact. Will we have the means to compete and play at an even higher level? Yes. We will.' The club believe their squad and manager coalesce with a wider Friedkin-instigated philosophy of all-out attack, seen as the key to climbing back up the ladder. 'We did a study to find out what kind of clubs make the jump from National 2 to National 1. What came out of it is that we needed to score more goals. Over the last 10 years, clubs that have gone from National 2 to National 1 have scored a lot of goals,' says Laborde. 'When you look at the squad, there are more attackers than defenders,' notes the CEO. 'The owners say that we play to win. Sometimes we concede goals but the risk is accepted by everyone and, first and foremost, by the owners who tell us not to play for a draw.' It is no coincidence that their striker Julien Domingues tops the goalscoring charts in the Coupe de France with 11 goals, becoming the first player since Jean-Pierre Papin to hit double figures in the competition. When Cannes began their Coupe de France campaign in the preliminary stages in August, the plan was to use the competition as a 'laboratory' to 'test things' and 'create chemistry' between the squad. Having beaten Ligue 2 sides Grenoble, Lorient and Guingamp, they believe their ultra-attacking style will translate to the higher divisions. And while promotion remains the big objective this season, Cannes are allowing themselves to dream in the cup. 'We won't be playing with 11 behind the ball against Reims,' says Laborde. 'Now we are here, we want to win it and to go to the Stade de France, but it has never been an objective.' The objective, as Laborde emphasises throughout, is to secure a promotion that will take Cannes closer to their former identity. 'We want to once again have professional status – to be able to reopen an academy, to start bringing through our own players again. That is Cannes' DNA. We brought through Vieira and Zidane. The goal is to do that again,' says Laborde. Promotion would provide more opportunities to work with the other clubs in the Friedkin Group. 'To be able to collaborate with Roma and Everton, we have to go a bit higher first,' says Laborde. 'When we close this big gap, we can think about collaborating together.' Closing that gap will take place out of the spotlight that is currently shining on the club. 'We have the light on us but it will go away again,' Laborde acknowledges. But in a town famed for its film festival, it is fitting that a film producer, in Friedkin, is at the heart of a project to bring AS Cannes back to the big screen for good. This is an article by Get French Football News
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Yes, oui, Cannes! Glamour name eyes place in French Cup final
Cannes players celebrate after beating Guingamp in the French Cup quarter-finals in February. They host Reims of Ligue 1 in the last four on Wednesday (Frederic DIDES) The French Cup is a tournament with a reputation for producing upsets and Cannes are the latest name dreaming of a shock result when the fourth-tier club play host to top-flight Reims in the semi-finals on Wednesday. Advertisement Paris Saint-Germain have unsurprisingly dominated the competition in recent years and are favourites to retain the trophy as they prepare to take on Dunkerque of Ligue 2 in the first semi-final on Tuesday. However, Cannes are following the example set by numerous other clubs from the lower leagues in recent years. Les Herbiers and Quevilly, both from the third division, each got to the final in the last decade, losing narrowly to PSG and Lyon respectively. More recently, fourth-tier clubs Versailles and Rumilly-Vallieres have made the semi-finals in the last four seasons. The ultimate example, however, is Calais, who in 2000 emerged from the fourth tier to get to the final, where they were unlucky to lose to Nantes. Advertisement Nevertheless, the Channel port of Calais does not have quite the same glamour as Cannes, the Cote d'Azur resort better known for its annual film festival than its football team. - Zidane's first club - And yet AS Cannes are a historic name in the French game. They won the French Cup in 1932 and were a fixture in the top flight for a time in the 1980s and 1990s, even making it to the UEFA Cup. Zinedine Zidane began his career in the Cannes youth academy and was handed his debut aged 16 in 1989, while a few years later Patrick Vieira was given his senior bow in a Cannes shirt. But the club slipped out of the professional leagues and disappeared practically into oblivion, being expelled to the depths of the seventh tier in 2014 due to financial problems. Advertisement They have slowly been working their way back up the divisions, and in 2023 were taken over by the US-based Friedkin Group which is involved in the film industry but also owns Roma and recently bought Everton. A world away from Serie A and the Premier League, Cannes have an operating budget of five million euros ($5.4m), and a total wage bill of one million euros, the club's general manager Felicien Laborde told AFP in February. - Friedkin takeover - Of the Friedkins, Laborde told sports daily L'Equipe that "they delegate completely, just like they do at Roma and Everton, with whom there is no collaboration". Advertisement "The difference in level is too great and they respect the different characteristics of each club," he said. He was speaking ahead of the quarter-final against Guingamp, who became the third Ligue 2 club eliminated by Cannes in this season's Cup, after Grenoble and Lorient. The stars in this Cannes team are the 39-year-old former Senegal midfielder Cheikh N'Doye, once of Birmingham City, and the prolific forward Julien Domingues. Cannes currently find themselves in the National 2, France's fourth tier which is split into three regionalised divisions, each comprising 16 teams. Advertisement The side finishing top of each group wins promotion, although Cannes are third in Group A, eight points behind leaders Le Puy with seven games left. "The Cup has give us a taste of the top level, as well as the desire to get back there," admitted Laborde, who insisted promotion was the priority over the Cup. However, after going five months unbeaten, Cannes have lost their last two matches, and it looks like that is going to prove costly in terms of promotion. Now Reims stand in their way in a Cup tie which Cannes will host at their Stade Pierre de Coubertin, a few kilometres west of the Croisette. Advertisement Two-time European Cup finalists in the 1950s, Reims are themselves hoping to reach the French Cup final for the first time since 1977 amid a difficult season in Ligue 1. "They are a Ligue 1 club, so if they want to take us they will take us. It all depends on them," admitted Cannes coach Damien Ott, subtly nudging the pressure onto the opposition. bur-as/pi
