Bloogle - A Swaziland Blog » Sports

CITY TO CITY MOUNTAIN BIKE CLASSIC 2010

Jackson — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:45:15 +0000

Bikers Brace yourself for the 2010 Edition of Inyatsi Construction’s City-City Extreme mountain Bike Classic.

Early Bird Entries Close Friday 3 September 2010 Tel: (+268) 4049609
NET CARE Units on route Race Timing by Spectrum Sports
SWAZILAND Valid Passport Required! . Swaziland Border Opening hours.
65 km START: 6.30 am

Adventure Sport (Mbabane)
Early Bird Entries R180.00
Late Entries R200.00
35 km START: 8.30 am

Lozitha Primary School (Mbabane – Manzini Highway)
Early Bird Entries R90.00
Late Entries R110.00?
10 km START: 9.30 am

Enjabulweni Private School
Entries R35.00
FINISH:

Enjabulweni Private School Manzini
Collection of Goodies Bags + Numbers
FRIDAY 1ST OCTOBER at Adventure Sports Shop until 8 pm

Ghana cruise to win against Swaziland

Jackson — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 10:35:20 +0000

The Black Stars of Ghana were comfortable 3-0 winners away in Swaziland in a 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Sunday.

They are thus tied on top of Group I with Sudan, who also beat Congo 2-0 in Omdurman Saturday night.

The Black Stars went in front after 12 minutes through Andre ‘Dede’ Ayew, who connected home a pass by Italy-based midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah.

Prince Tagoe doubled Ghana’s advantage with a low shot from the top of the box in the 67th minute.

Germany-based left fullback Hans Sarpei netted his first-ever international goal on 80 minutes when scramble home after a Swazi defender failed to properly clear his lines.

Jordan Ayew, 18, made his full international for Ghana when he replaced his older brother Andre in the 79th minute.

Sunderland record-breaking signing Asamoah Gyan would have made it 2-0 for Ghana after 32 minutes, but his shot missed target narrowly after he was put through by Hoffenheim striker Tagoe.

Tagoe’s header crashed against the crossbar a minute to half-time and a follow-up by Kevin-Prince Boateng was cleared off the goalline.

In the second half, the home team lifted their game considerably with Orlando Pirates winger Dennis Masina leading the Swaziland charge.

In the 66th minute, Swazi captain Eugene Dlamini fired wide on the edge of the Ghana 18-yard box, only for the host team to let in the second a minute.

Ghana played this match amid rumours that Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac has signed a lucrative year’s deal with Saudi club Ahli of Jeddah. Neither coach nor the Ghana Football Association (GFA) would comment on this.

Bar the retired Stephen Appiah, Ghana paraded the team that did Africa proud at the 2010 World Cup by reaching the last eight of the tournament.
Supersport

This Weekend’s AFCON 2012 qualifying wrap

Jackson — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:54:45 +0000

Zimbabwe get their Group A campaign under way at Liberia’s SKD Sport Complex. The Warriors have included in their squad the Mamelodi Sundowns trio of Method Mwanjali, Lionel Mtizwa and Nyasha Mushekwi as well as Thomas Sweswe and Knowledge Musona from Kaizer Chiefs. Meanwhile, the Lone Star have also named a powerful squad led by SuperSport United forward Anthony Laffor. European-based players George Baysah, Gizzie Dorbor, Jimmy Dixon, Dulee Johnson, Theo Weeks and Patrick Doeplah are also in the fray. In the group’s other fixture, Mali travel to Cape Verde.

___________________________________

In Group B, Ethiopia take on Guinea while Nigeria will hope to put a dismal World Cup behind them when then host African lightweights Madagascar in Calabar on Sunday. The Super Eagles are without the services of the injured duo Dickson Etuhu and Joseph Akpala while local-based players Ahmed Musa, Bassey Akpan, Emmanuel Anyanwu and Valentine Nwabili are included in the squad.

Mozambique, Libya, Zambia and Comoros make up Group C and Chipolopolo’s new boss, Dario Bonetti, will be looking for victory at the Konkola Stadium on Saturday. The Katongo brothers, James Chamanga, Jonas Sakuwaha and Orlando Pirates star Isaac Chansa, who has been in sensational form in South Africa, form the core of a competitive-looking lineup.

___________________________________________

North African rivals Morocco and Algeria are the big hitters in Group D but they are not scheduled to meet until later in qualifying. The Atlas Lions start off with a home clash against the Central African Republic in Rabat on Saturday. Caretaker coach Dominique Cuperly has named two new faces in his 23-man party, Fettah Boukhris and Youssef El Arabi while Mounir El Hamdaoui of Ajax Amsterdam and Arsenal’s Marouane Chamakh will provide the firepower up front. Algeria failed to score a goal at the World Cup so Raabah Sadaane has recalled forwards Chadli Amri and Abdelmalek Ziaya for Saturday’s tie against Tanzania at the Mustapha Tchaker Stadium. Meanwhile, Mohamed Chakouri could make his debut but Antar Yahia (suspended) and Medhi Lacen and Foued Kadir (both injured) miss out.

___________________________________________

Group E is arguably the Group of Death with Cameroon kicking off against Mauritius on in Port Louis on Saturday before DR Congo host Senegal in Lubumbashi on Sunday. New Indomitable Lions coach Javier Clemente is shorn of the services of both Samuel Eto’o and Stephen Mbia, nevertheless, his men are the favourites. The other tie, between the Congolese and the Lions of Teranga will be a closer affair as the Leopards can call upon Monaco striker Dieumerci Mbokani and a raft of the TP Mazembe stars who won the African Champions League last year. The West Africans, who are in a rebuilding phase, have named a squad filled with overseas-based players with Fenerbahce striker Mamadou Niang the star attraction.

___________________________________________

Owing to Mauritania’s withdrawal from AFCON qualifying, Group F is made up of just three teams, hence Burkina Faso’s bye this weekend. Namibia travel to the Independence Stadium in Bakau for a clash against Gambia, the group’s only match in this round.

___________________________________________

Defending champions Egypt, 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa along with Sierra Leone and Niger are the contenders in Group G. Bafana Bafana start their campaign against Mena in Nelspruit with new boss Pitso Mosimane taking charge of his first competitive match. Pharaohs coach Hassan Shehata has a formidable team at his disposal despite the absence of Amr Zaki, Ahmed Eid, Shikabala and Emad Meteeb. The bulk of the squad that won AFCON 2010 are included while the uncapped duo of Walid Soliman and Ahmed Abdul Zaher enter the fold for Sierra Leone’s visit to Cairo.

___________________________________________

Rwanda visit Ivory Coast in the pick of the Group H action. Francois Zahoui takes charge of the Elephants but he cannot call on Chelsea star Didier Drogba, who is sidelined with a groin injury. The Toure brothers and Euro-based stars Gervinho and Salomon Kalou are available for a match that the Ivorians should win with ease. In the group’s other tie Burundi visit Benin.

___________________________________________

In Group I, Congo travel to Sudan while World Cup quarter-finalists Ghana visit Swaziland on Sunday. The Black Stars omitted Sulley Muntari, although the bulk of their World Cup stars were included in Milovan Rajevac’s squad. Rajevac also called up two new players in Asante Kotoko’s goalkeeper Isaac Amoako and Jordan Ayew, son of Abedi Pele.

___________________________________________

AFCON 2010 hosts Angola resume competitive action with an away trip to Uganda’s Mandela National Stadium while Guinea-Bissau host Kenya in Group J.

___________________________________________

Group K, meanwhile, is made up of five teams who have been in action since July. Botswana currently top the group and they welcome Togo to Gaborone on Saturday, Malawi travel to Tunisia and Chad sit out.

Football365.co.za

Premier League Round Up

Jackson — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:41:14 +0000

The EPL is coming into its forth week this weekend with the opening transfer window closing this week, here is a round up of news going round in circles.

Football roundup: EPL final day transfer dealings

In the end, no big headlines were made on the transfer day deadline of the English Premier League. The day is usually an important step towards bringing in quality players just before the transfer window shuts down. Yet it seems that this English Premier League transfer deadline seemed to be suffering from England’s very own World Cup hangover. Except for Manchester City, which did most of its dealings before the deadline date, there were no real movers and shakers in the league. This transfer lethargy continued up till the deadline.

In fact, the biggest transfer on the day might not even go through. The English Premier League has still to approve of the move made by Tottenham Hotspur for Real Madrid’s Dutch midfielder Rafael Van Der Vaart. A deal around 8 million pounds seems to have been approved, and it is strange that there were not many more suitors for the world-class talented player. One would have thought that given the lack of creativity in the middle of the park, Liverpool would have moved for the playmaker. Yet that never came to pass as Spurs made a late bid on transfer day to capture Van Der Vaart. Now it is up to the Premier League to decide if the deal has been done before transfer deadline midnight.

What can be confirmed, however, is Spurs’ loan signing of goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa on a yearlong deal. The Croat has been bought to provide competition to the goalkeeping department at White Hart Lane.

Liverpool did, however, sanction the purchase of left back Paul Konchesky. Konchesky joins from Fulham to be reunited with his former manager Roy Hodgson. Konchesky was part of a mean defence at Fulham for Hodgson, as they made all the way to the final of the Europa League. It is by no means a spectacular signing but Konchesky, along with Fabio Aurelio, will provide stability. And unlike his Brazilian counterpart, Konchesky has a better medical record, which should mean that Daniel Agger might not have to deputise at left back anymore. Someone who will not provide competition for Konchesky at left back will be Argentinean teenager Emiliano Insua who left Liverpool for Turkish giants Galatasaray. The deal is a yearlong loan with the option to make it permanent at the end of that duration.

Liverpool were also looking to bolster their attacking options but failed in their bid to bring West Ham United striker Carlton Cole to Anfield. A deal could not be struck and now Liverpool will have to rely on Fernando Torres remaining consistently fit until at least January.

Arsenal failed to sign any goalkeepers as Mark Schwarzer stayed at Fulham and Shay Given decided to duke it out with Joe Hart for the goalkeeper’s jersey at Manchester City. This could be a significant lack of business on Arsenal’s part, as their goalkeeping has left much to be desired and has usually been cited as a major weakness. It remains to be seen how much this will cost manager Arsene Wenger. There was an exit on the deadline day as Armand Traore left for Juventus on a yearlong loan.

The biggest financial move on the day came at the stadium of light, as Sunderland swooped in for Asamoah Gyan in a club record 13-million pound deal. Steve Bruce finally got the Ghana international, who famously missed his penalty in the quarter finals against Uruguay. Gyan will fill in the gap left by striker Kenwyne Jones who had earlier in the summer moved to Stoke City.

Birmingham FC were active in the market as they secured the signings of defender Martin Jiranek and Chilean attacking midfielder Jean Beausejour. They also managed to squeeze in the loan signing of former Arsenal player Alexander Hleb. Birmingham has reinforced wisely in the closing moments of the transfer window and manager Alex McLeish must be delighted with the squad at his disposal after a successful buying summer.

Meanwhile, Premier League new boys bolstered their ranks with the signing of DJ Campbell on a permanent basis, while Wigan secured the signing of Chelsea striker Franco Di Santo on a permanent 3-year deal basis.

Premier League Round Up – Part 2: News from the premier league clubs

The transfer window finally came to an end yesterday as the sides made some important transfers towards the end. Some high profile players joined the premier league yesterday as a finishing touch to this transfer window.

Blackpool: Winger Matt Philips has joined premier league club Blackpool from Wycombe Wanderers for a reported fee of 325,000 pounds. The deal could be exceeded to 700,000 pounds should the Seasiders stay in the top flight next season.

There are more conditions to the deal, which state that more fee would be paid if Blackpool yet again qualifies for the Premier league within four years of relegation and there is also a sell-on clause inserted. The manager of the club, Ian Holloway claimed that Matt has been on their radar for some time now and has done well in the Euro U19 tournament in England.

The manager went on claiming that the winger has made over 80 appearances with Wycombe, which is a major achievement for a 19 year old. Holloway added that he can’t wait to get him involved at Blackpool and looks forward to working with the exciting prospect.

Bolton Wanderers: Wanderers have officially signed Benfica striker Rodrigo Moreno on a season long loan but is still subject to International clearance. The player only just made it to Portugal from Spain as he was part of the Angel Di Maria deal, who joined Real Madrid from Benfica last month. The Spanish has produced some impressive performances and would be joining former team mate Marcos Alonso at the Reebok Stadium. Alonso joined Bolton towards the end of July and both are expected to combine well together.

Chelsea: Premier league Champions Chelsea’s captain John Terry has confirmed that his hamstring injury, which would lead him to miss England Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, dates back to the World Cup. The former English Captain will be forced to see the qualifying match with Bulgaria as well as with Switzerland four days later. The defender has been ordered to take rest for 10 days minimum. The defender said: “I have had a bit of a problem since the World Cup and I was hoping after the World Cup that I would have two weeks off and it would completely go away. But that wasn’t the case and, coming back working hard, it came back on.”, claimed the Chelsea Captain. The player would be extremely happy with his team’s performance, as the club maintains a 100% win record in the premier league so far

Everton: Everton defender Joseph Yobo is expected to travel to Turkey to join Fenerbahce FC on a season long loan deal. The Turkish club has also been given the option to acquire the player on a full time deal at the end of the loan deal. However, the deal is still not official as the player still hinges on a medical and reaching a full agreement. The defender is expected to meet the prospective employers on the transfer deadline on Wednesday. The 29 year old has made over 250 appearances for the Toffees since arriving from Marseille in 2002.

Fulham: Newly signed manager Mark Hughes is happy to keep Australian goal keeper Mark Schwarzer at the club. The shot stopper has been linked with Arsenal throughout the summer, with the player and both the clubs all making clear that they would like to reach an agreement. Fulham, however, has been stern over the fact that they would only let Schwarzer go if they find a suitable replacement in time. That could take place in time and Schwarzer thus remained part of Hughes’s plan for the coming season.

The manager is now pleased to retain the player of his quality and claimed that they have had conversation regarding Mark’s situation on a number of occasions. Hughes added that ideally, he wanted the player to stat and even though there was an offer from Arsenal, the current goalkeeping situation at the club wouldn’t allow for such a move to happen.

The transfer window finally came to an end yesterday as the sides made some important transfers toward the end. Some high profile players joined the premier league yesterday as a finishing touch to this transfer window.

Liverpool: Merseyside club Liverpool have officially completed the transfer of Damien Plessis to Greek outfit Panathinaikos. The fee has not be disclosed yet and the Frenchmen has made the move owing to his omission from Roy Hodgson’s plans. The player arrived at Anfield back in the summer of 2007 from Lyon, but could never make his way into the midfield of the Reds, as he just appeared 8 times, scoring just one goal.

Manchester City: Midfielder Adam Clayton has signed a permanent deal with Championship side Leeds United. The 21 year old arrived at Leeds on loan at the start of the month and has since made 2 appearances against Derby County and Nottingham Forest. Adam is one of the many Manchester City players who have climbed the ranks at City’s academy.

The player was loaned out to Carlisle United last season, where he made 28 appearances. Clayton never made a single appearance for City, but was an unused substitute twice. City made the most signings this summer in the premier league, bringing in the likes of David Silva, Yaya Toure, James Milner and Aleksander Kolarov. City’s 150 million pound transfers still couldn’t highlight the fact that Premier league spending was the lowest since 2006. City lost their first match of the new premier league season, when they lost against Sunderland 1-0 owing to a Bent penalty.

Manchester United: Veteran Goalkeeper Edwin Van Der Sar has stopped being concerned about how long his career will go on at Manchester United. The shot stopper would be celebrating his 40^th Birthday in October and looks to be in place for yet another season at Old Trafford. It is expected that age would catch up to the Dutch eventually, but currently, he enjoys top form and fitness. There is still a lot of juice left in the player and is therefore not naming the day he would be hanging up his legendary gloves.

The player joined United back in 2005 from Fulham and was considered to be a make shift one as Ferguson was then looking for a long term replacement of Peter Schmeichel. The player proved his worth to club, which led to Manchester United establishing a permanent number 1 to the player. Van Der Sar claimed that he doesn’t worry about the day he would retire. “I am now exceeding my own expectations so it doesn’t bother me. When I was younger I thought maybe I would finish in my mid-30s. But that is a normal time to be thinking about it when you are younger and for players at this level”, claimed the veteran Goal keeper.

The player went on claiming that he is still enjoying his time at United and that is the only reason why he wants to keep on going. The goalkeeper ended the statement stating that coming to Old Trafford has given his life a new lease.

Newcastle United: 19 year old winger Kazenga LuaLua has completed his loan switch from Newcastle United to Brighton and Hove Albion. The player shined for a short time at the club last season and has agreed a deal till the end of this year. Seagulls manager claimed that he made a very big impact at the club last season and hopes that the winger repeats it at the new club.

The manager went on to say that he wished for the player to chip in some more goals. Gus Poyet, the manager of the club, confirmed that Lualua would not be able to play in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy match against Leyton Orient to be played on Wednesday, as the paper work was not completed in time.

Hosts South Africa gets favourable WC Draw

Jackson — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:53:47 +0000

South Africa got the fair pairing that should give Bafana Bafana hope, at least to come out of the group stages, but the Elephants of Ivory Coast were thrown into the deep end of the Pool of Death at the 2010 World Cup draw in Cape Town last night

Ireland’s nemesis France are drawn with hosts South Africa, Mexico and Uruguay.

In the group stages of the World Cup finals.

Lady Luck was smiling on England who have an easy draw.

In South Africa next summer the English have been drawn in the group stages with USA, Algeria and Slovenia.

Both Algeria and Slovenia qualified via the playoffs.

Brazil are in one of the toughest groups with Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea.

While another hard to call group is the one with Germany, Serbia, Ghana and Australia.

Co-host Charlize Theron – whose boyfriend Stuart Townsend is a Dub – controversially said ” no actions speak louder than words” when the French ball was pulled out.