CAF Awards: The Confederation of African Football on Monday the 16th of December 2024 held the 28th edition of Africa’s prestigious award in Marrakech, Morocco.
Various outstanding performances were rewarded and the list was as follows:
Men’s interclub player of the year: Ronwen Williams
Men’s Goal Keeper of the year: Ronwen Williams
Men’s Club of the year: Al Ahly
Women’s club of the year: TP Mazembe
Women’s interclub player of the year: Sanaa Mssoudy
Women’s Goalkeeper of the year: Chiamaka Nnadozie
Women’s player of the year: Doha El Madani
Men’s National Team of the year: Ivory Coast
Women’s National Team of the year: Nigeria
Goal of the year: Mabululu
Best Player (Women): Barbra Banda
Best Player (Men): Ademola Lookman
Lookman’s jaw-dropping performance and speech: Ademola Lookman went inspirational and thankful after being crowned the king of African football. His speech contained a big failure he experienced, when given the opportunity to take a penalty kick years back at Fulham. His coach Parker spoke of his lividity after that.
Parker said:
“I’m disappointed and angry. You can’t take penalties like that, and he knows that. He’s a young player, and he’s learning,” Parker said after the game.
Drawing from that, Lookman spoke at the CAF Awards:
“Just over four years ago, I failed in front of the world. Fast forward four years, and I’m the best player in Africa.”
“I want to say to the young children and people watching this: don’t let your failures weigh you down to the point they break your wings. Matter of fact, turn your pain into your power and continue to fight.”
“Firstly, I want to thank the Almighty God for everything He has been doing in my life and for all His blessings.”
“I want to thank the president, all my teammates, both club and country and everyone who has supported me with love.”
“This award today is a blessing to me, my family, and my nation. To be recognised as the best player in Africa is something incredible, and I’m extremely proud.”
FIFA Awards: After the Ballon d’Or performance that sparked many reactions (especially for the best player men’s category) in the world of soccer, the FIFA Award ceremony happened during the week, and several honors were awarded.
Here are the list of winners and the categories:
Alejandro Garnacho : Puskas Award (Best Men’s goal)
Aitana Bonmati : Best Women’s player
Vinicious Junior: Men’s best player
Emma Hayes : Women’s best coach
Carlo Ancelotti: Men’s Best Coach of the year
Alyssa Naeher: Women’s goalkeeper of the year
Emiliano Martinez: Men’s goalkeeper of the year
Marta: The FIFA Marta Award ( Best goal in Women’s Football)
Thiago Maia: FIFA Fair Play award
Guilherme Gandra Moura :FIFA Fan Award
FIFA Women Best 11:
GK: Naeher
DEF: Battle – Paredes – Girma – Bronze
MID: Aitana – Horan – Guijarro – Portilho
ATT: Parallelo – Hansen
FIFA Men’s Best 11:
GK: Dibu Martínez
DEF: Carvajal – Rüdiger – Dias – Saliba
MID: Bellingham – Kroos – Rodri
ATT: Lamine Yamal – Haaland – Vini Jr
UEFA Conference League Knockout Phase
The UEFA Conference League is now set for the next phase of the competition. Teams who did not qualify for the automatic round of 16, will have to battle it out in the play-offs. Below is the list of teams who will fight hard to get into the round of 16 via the play-off outcome:
Knockout round play-off first legs
Thursday 13 February
Gent vs Real BetisTSC vs Jagiellonia BiałystokCelje vs APOEL
Víkingur Reykjavík vs Panathinaikos
Borac vs Olimpija Ljubljana
Omonoia vs Pafos
Molde vs Shamrock Rovers
Copenhagen vs Heidenheim
Knockout round play-off second legs
Thursday 20 February
Real Betis vs Gent
Jagiellonia Białystok vs TSC
APOEL vs Celje
Panathinaikos vs Víkingur Reykjavík
Olimpija Ljubljana vs Borac
Pafos vs Omonoia
Shamrock Rovers vs Molde
Heidenheim vs Copenhagen
Weekend Fixtures For This Week
Saturday 21st Dec. 2024
ENGLAND: Premier League
Aston Villa – Manchester City 12:30pm
Brentford – Nottingham 3pm
Ipswich – Newcastle 3pm
West Ham – Brighton 3pm
Crystal Palace – Arsenal 5:30pm
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Eintracht Frankfurt – Mainz 2:30pm
Hoffenheim – B. Monchengladbach 2:30pm
Holstein Kiel – Augsburg 2:30pm
Stuttgart – St. Pauli 2:30pm
Werder Bremen – Union Berlin 2:30pm
Bayer Leverkusen – Freiburg 5:30pm
ITALY: Serie A
Torino – Bologna 2pm
Genoa – Napoli 5pm
Lecce – Lazio 7:45pm
NETHERLANDS: Eredivisie
G.A. Eagles – NAC Breda 3:30pm
Almere City – Heerenveen 6:45pm
AZ Alkmaar – Twente 7pm
Heracles – Groningen 8pm
SPAIN: LaLiga
Getafe – Mallorca 3pm
Celta Vigo – Real Sociedad 3:15pm
Osasuna – Ath Bilbao 5:30pm
Barcelona – Atl. Madrid 8pm
BELGIUM: Jupiler Pro League
Charleroi – St. Truiden 3pm
Dender – Antwerp 5:15pm
Beerschot VA – Kortrijk 7:45 pm
PORTUGAL: Liga Portugal
Famalicão – SC Farense 3:30pm
Boavista – AVS 6pm
Moreirense – FC Porto 8:30pm
Sunday 22nd Dec 2024
ENGLAND: Premier League
Everton – Chelsea 2pm
Fulham – Southampton 2pm
Leicester – Wolves 2pm
Manchester Utd – Bournemouth 2pm
Tottenham – Liverpool 4:30pm
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Bochum – Heidenheim 2:30pm
Wolfsburg – Dortmund 4:30pm
ITALY: Serie A
AS Roma – Parma 11:30pm
Venezia – Cagliari 2pm
Atalanta – Empoli 5pm
Monza – Juventus 7:45pm
NETHERLANDS: Eredivisie
Sparta Rotterdam – Ajax 11:15am
PSV – Feyenoord 1:30pm
Utrecht – Sittard 1:30pm
Willem II – Nijmegen 3:45pm
SPAIN: LaLiga
Valencia – Alaves 1pm
Real Madrid – Sevilla 3:15pm
Las Palmas – Espanyol 5:30pm
Leganés – Villarreal 5:30pm
Real Betis – Rayo Vallecano 8pm
BELGIUM: Jupiler Pro League
Genk – Anderlecht 12:30pm
St. Liege – Gent 3pm
Royale Union SG – Club Brugge KV 5:30pm
Cercle Brugge KSV – Leuven 6:15pm
PORTUGAL: Liga Portugal
Santa Clara – Braga 5pm
Gil Vicente – Sporting CP 8:30pm
