Category: Sports

YAOUNDÉ — Cameroon’s national football team, the Indomitable Lions, Sunday donated $85,000 and dedicated their 2-0 victory over the Scorpions of Gambia to victims of the stampede that killed eight and injured 38 at Yaoundé’s Olembe stadium this week. The Indomitable Lions say they cannot be indifferent after people died or were injured as they turned out to support Cameroon players taking part at the ongoing Africa Football Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroon.

Members of Cameroon’s national football team, the Indomitable Lions, sing that God will bless victims of this week’s crush at Yaoundé’s Olembe stadium. The players sang on Saturday evening in Douala, Cameroon’s economic hub and coastal city, after beating the Scorpions of Gambia in a quarter-final game in the Africa Football Cup of Nations, AFCON.

A statement after the match from Serge Guiffo, the Indomitable Lions press officer, said the players had donated $85,000 and dedicated their 2-0 victory over the Scorpions of Gambia to victims of the stampede that killed eight and injured 38.

The statement did not say how the money would be distributed to the victims, but said family members of those who died in the stampede will be given a share.

Narcisse Mouelle Kombi, Cameroon’s minister of sports and physical education, addressed the players at Douala’s Japoma stadium after the match.

Kombi said Cameroonians are happy that their national football team players have helped people who died or were injured while they struggled to watch the Indomitable Lions play. He said Cameroonians are happy that the donation comes after a historic victory against the Scorpions of Gambia.

The crush occurred as crowds struggled to get access to Olembe Stadium in the capital city Yaoundé. Cameroon President Paul Biya ordered the injured to be treated free of charge.

Ndukong Edward, a family member of a stampede victim, said the president did not make a statement about any assistance to the families of dead victims. Ndukong said he hopes the government will assist the injured and family members of the dead. He said security lapses by Cameroon’s police might have caused the stampede.

“If the gate was opened as it was supposed to be, nothing would have happened because people would have had access to the field. But if the gate was closed by some overzealous security officers for whatever reasons, then they should take responsibility,” he said.

Cameroonian authorities Friday blamed the deadly stadium crush on what they said was a massive influx of ticketless fans who arrived late to the game involving the host team and tried to force their way in to avoid security checks and COVID-19 screening.

Nasseri Paul Bea, governor of Cameroon’s Centre region, where Olembe is located, said the government will assist victims of the crush after the tournament. He said people attending football matches during AFCON should stop uncivil behavior such as jumping fences to get into stadiums.

“We are calling on this population to follow and respect the institutions, to be able to cooperate to be sure that Cameroon does not represent a bad image by being very patriotic and responsible. It should never happen again. Cameroonians should put in their mind that what happened in Olembe should never happen again,” he said.

Bea said some government ministers, senior state officials and well-wishers have been giving financial assistance to the victims in solidarity with the state of Cameroon.

After the crush, the Confederation of African Football suspended AFCON matches at Olembe until further notice.

Cameroon is hosting AFCON for the first time in 50 years. The tournament, which is the continent’s main football event, was originally scheduled in 2019. The confederation stripped the event from Cameroon that year because stadiums were not ready.

The competition that ends on February 6 began January 9.

Source: Voice of America

BLANTYRE, MALAWI — Hundreds of soccer fans in Malawi braved heavy rain Friday to cheer and welcome Malawi’s national football team, nicknamed The Flames, as it returned from Cameroon, despite failing to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) quarterfinals.

As the team arrived Friday at Chileka International Airport, soccer fans, many of them dressed in red, sang songs, praising the Malawi Flames with a welcome for heroes.

The honor was largely because of the team’s outstanding performance during the games that allowed it to reach the round of 16, a knockout stage, for the first time in the country’s football history.

The Flames lost to Guinea, one-nil, in their opening match, but then bounced back with a 2-1 victory over Zimbabwe and a hard-fought scoreless draw against 2019 Nations Cup finalist Senegal.

However, in the knockout stage, Malawi lost 2-1 to Morocco, booking itself a ticket back home.

Walter Nyamilandu is the president of the Football Association of Malawi. He told reporters upon arrival in Blantyre that although Malawi failed to proceed further at AFCON, Malawi’s mission in Cameroon was accomplished.

“Nobody expected that we would go this far, and to reach a group of 16 teams is mission accomplished. We went there to reach a round of 16, and we achieved exactly what we wanted. So, we are extremely happy that now we are among the top 16 teams in Africa, and this is where Malawi belongs,” Nyamilandu said.

Nyamilandu said much of the credit goes to coach Mario Marinica, a Romanian national who is the team’s technical director.

The Football Association of Malawi in November last year tasked Marinica to act as head coach for the Flames during the AFCON engagements.

“The coach is here to stay. It depends [on] what role he has to play, and he is an asset because he is delivering,” Nyamilandu said. “And it’s a question where will we deploy him? We will sit back and make a sober decision about what is right for Malawi in the short term and long term. But as far as I am concerned, he has passed all the tests, and if anything, we should give him an open visa, a Malawi citizenship to stay here because he has proved that he can deliver.”

Marinica told VOA this week from Cameroon, however, that he would love to introduce the new style of play he has instilled in the Flames to all the nation’s football clubs.

“Obviously, we need this system to be implemented throughout the country, and as much as possible adopted by all the coaches in Malawi. I hope that in the near future, we will see consistent results and much better players produced throughout the country,” Marinica said.

Sunduzwayo Madise is the board chairman for the Malawi National Council of Sports. He says the performance of the Flames at AFCON has given the country pride.

“It was the first time when you go to a country wearing a Malawian jersey and people see you, and they start clapping hands at you,” Madise said. “Yes, in terms of FIFA ranking we may not be up there, but I think we demonstrated that we have got a spirit and I think that we gave our best shot. Unfortunately, we didn’t go through, and I think we did very well.”

From the airport, the Flames proceeded to the Amaryllis Hotel in Blantyre, which hosted a celebratory dinner and provided accommodations for the team.

The government is pledging to provide more funding to make the team among the best in Africa.

Source: Voice of America

Limbe, Equatorial Guinea continued their giantkilling run as they reached the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations with a 6-5 penalty shootout victory over Mali after a goalless draw in Limbe on Wednesday.

Equatorial Guinea are the final side to advance to the last eight, where they will meet Senegal on Sunday, and had their 20-year-old goalkeeper Jesus Owono to thank for their progress as he made two saves in the shootout which was concluded after 16 kicks, Reuters reports.

Mali had been the overwhelming favourites but turned in an underwhelming performance, despite dominating possession and creating most of the chances.

Owono saved the final kick from Mali defender Falaye Sacko although it was checked first by VAR to see whether he had advanced off his line before the kick was taken.

He had indeed moved forward but his back foot was still trailing on the line as Sacko took his penalty and the kick was allowed to stand by the referee, setting off tear-filled celebrations.

Equatorial Guinea had beaten defending champions Algeria and Sierra Leone in the group stage and have now added another major scalp.

They had no real chances in the game but never allowed Mali to get into any rhythm, proving difficult to break down.

Mali were awarded a penalty in the 40th minute when Josete Miranda knocked over Moussa Doumbia.

Yet referee Bakary Gassama was encouraged to look again at his decision and, after consulting the pitchside VAR screen, changed his mind and overturned what had looked a soft penalty award.

Mali striker Ibrahima Kone shot wide on the turn early on and near the end of the first half Amadou Haidara had a good chance to open the scoring but did not connect properly with his effort.

As the game wore on, the clear-cut chances dwindled, with Mali making no progress into the Equatorial Guinea penalty area while the underdogs waited for rare opportunities on the counter attack.

Equatorial Guineas shootout win followed similar success for Egypt earlier in the day in Douala after they played out a goalless draw with Ivory Coast.

Its historic for us to get this far and it comes after excellent work by my players, said coach Juan Micha.

His Mali counterpart Mohamed Magassouba, whose country play in World Cup playoffs in March, said: Its an incredible disappointment because it should not have even gone to penalties. We deserved more today.”

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Houston Dejounte Murray and Jakob Poeltl combined for 37 points in three quarters to help the San Antonio Spurs coast to a 134-104 victory over the Houston Rockets Tuesday night.

Murray had 19 points and 10 assists and Poeltl had 18 points with nine rebounds by the end of the third quarter, and neither played after that with the Spurs up by 31, AP reports.

Houston led early in the first quarter, but the Spurs soon took over and were up by 15 at halftime. A 39-point third quarter put the game out of reach on a night San Antonio scored a season-high 82 points in the paint and shot a season-best 57.4 percent.

Kevin Porter Jr. had 16 points and nine assists for the Rockets, who lost their second game overall and ninth in a row at home. Christian Wood scored 15 points with seven rebounds for Houston.

Keldon Johnson added 16 points for San Antonio and Doug McDermott had 15.

San Antonio was up by 15 with about 8 ½ minutes left in the third quarter before using an 8-0 run with all the points in the lane, to extend it to 83-60 two minutes later. Houston had two turnovers in that stretch to help the Spurs pad the lead.

Jae’Sean Tate made Houston’s first points in almost 2 ½ minutes on a layup after that, but the Spurs used a 10-3 spurt to make it 93-65 with four minutes left in the third. Murray and Drew Eubanks had four points each to power that run.

The Spurs led 105-74 entering the fourth quarter.

TIP-INS

Spurs: Keita Bates-Diop missed the game due to health and safety protocols. … Eubanks had 13 points and nine rebounds off the bench. … San Antonio was 6 for 6 on free throws.

Rockets: Houston made just 9 of 34 3-point attempts. … Alperen Sengun, who had 14 points, received a technical foul in the second quarter. … Usman Garuba sat out with an injured left wrist. … Kenyon Martin Jr. had 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

Source: Bahrain Nwq Agency

Yaounde, Cameroon captain Vincent Aboubakar and Karl Toko Ekambi both scored twice as the host team recovered from going 1-0 down in the fourth minute to overwhelm Ethiopia 4-1 on Thursday at the African Cup of Nations.

Cameroon became the first team through to the knockout stages with two wins from its first two games, reports AP.

Ethiopia’s Dawa Hotessa Dukele had stunned the Olembe Stadium into silence with the opening goal.

But having come from behind to win its opening game against Burkina Faso, Cameroon again shook off that early blow.

Ekambi equalised four minutes later and Cameroon took control from then.

Aboubakar put Cameroon ahead with a powerful header in the 53rd and slid in to force home the third goal two minutes later.

Ekambi made it 4-1 by cutting back inside a group of Ethiopia defenders and firing into the bottom left corner.

The Indomitable Lions lived up to their nickname and also hit the post three times in the game.

Cameroon advanced from Group A, while Cape Verde and Burkina Faso will meet in the group’s other game later Thursday.

Aboubakar has four goals at the tournament after scoring two penalties in Cameroon’s opening 2-1 win over Burkina Faso.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Yaounde, Sadio Mané saved Senegal with a 97th-minute penalty to beat Zimbabwe 1-0 while Morocco won the first meeting of heavyweights at the African Cup of Nations with a late goal to edge Ghana 1-0 on Monday.

Neither game produced much high-quality soccer despite them involving three title contenders. It didn’t disappoint many fans in Cameroon, though, as both were played in front of sparse crowds as the African showpiece reverted to one of its perennial problems.

The tournament often struggles with poor attendances when the host nation isn’t playing. This year, only people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are allowed into the stadiums, meaning the crowds in Cameroon might be even smaller than normal.

Senegal, Africa’s top-ranked team, opened its campaign on the second day of the tournament with an unconvincing win in Group B over a team ranked 101 places below it. It was a win nonetheless.

Mané sent goalkeeper Petros Mhari the wrong way and drilled his very late penalty into the left corner at the Kouekong Stadium in Cameroon’s western city of Bafoussam.

The Liverpool forward took his chance after Zimbabwe midfielder Kelvin Madzongwe was penalised for handball in the fourth minute of injury time as the game suddenly ended in drama.

Zimbabwe protested vehemently but referee Mario Escobar of Guatemala stuck by his decision after referring to a video review, which is being used at every game at the African Cup for the first time. Madzongwe had thrown himself to the ground trying to block a shot and the ball struck his arm.

Mané’s penalty was effectively the last kick of the game as Escobar blew for full time as soon as Zimbabwe restarted.

Senegal played without goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and captain Kalidou Koulibaly, who were among a group of players ruled out for the game after testing positive for the coronavirus.

There have been virus outbreaks in many of the 24 squads in the buildup and at the tournament and it seems the African Cup will soldier on through them.

Guinea beat Malawi 1-0 in the day’s other Group B game with a first-half goal from Issiaga Sylla. Guinea-Malawi followed the Senegal-Zimbabwe game at the same stadium.

Morocco vs. Ghana at Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde seemed headed for 0-0 when Sofiane Boufal suddenly pounced on a loose ball that bounced off a Ghana defender to score Morocco’s 83rd-minute winner.

Ghana captain Andre Ayew finished the game with a bandage wrapped around his head and blood seeping through it after a clash of heads with Morocco skipper Romain Saiss.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Toronto, Pascal Siakam had 29 points and 10 rebounds, Fred VanVleet scored 32 points and the Toronto Raptors extended their winning streak to a season-high six games with a 105-101 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night.

OG Anunoby scored 12 points as the Raptors won their fifth straight and 10th of 12 at home. Toronto (20-17) is three games above .500 for the first time since opening the season 6-3.

“I feel like we’re getting better, we’re getting better as a team,” Siakam said. “Obviously it’s translating to wins right now.”

Siakam, who missed the first 10 games of the season while recovering from shoulder surgery, matched season-highs with three made 3-pointers and 10 made free throws.

“He’s being more aggressive and taking it at people more than he did when he first came back,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said.

Jonas Valanciunas had 20 points and 17 rebounds, and Brandon Ingram scored 22 points for the Pelicans, who have lost four of five.

“We stayed in the game till the last second,” Valanciunas said. “We were right there. It’s not an excuse, but we’ve got to do better to win those games. It hurts a lot just losing by three or four points.”

Herbert Jones scored 13 points and Devonte’ Graham and Nickeil Alexander-Walker each had 11 for New Orleans, AP reports.

Pelicans coach Willie Green said he was disappointed his team allowed Toronto 15 offensive rebounds, leading to a 24-6 edge in second-chance points.

“We were right there, we had opportunities to win the game,” Green said. “We did a lot of good things to put ourselves in that position. Down the stretch, we just have to have a mindset to know when shots go up, we’ve got to turn and hit bodies. We didn’t do a great job of that.”

Pelicans guard Josh Hart did not make the trip to Toronto. Garrett Temple replaced Hart in the starting lineup.

Toronto guard Gary Trent Jr. was scratched because of a sore left ankle. Khem Birch started for the Raptors.

Valanciunas scored in the paint to tie it at 93-93 with four minutes left to play in the fourth quarter. After a timeout, VanVleet hit a tiebreaking 3, but Graham and Jones answered with back-to-back 3-pointers for the Pelicans.

VanVleet responded with a deep 3 with the shot clock winding down. After Siakam forced a steal, VanVleet connected from long distance again to give Toronto a 102-99 lead with 1:32 remaining.

“That’s what VanVleet has been doing lately,” Green said.

VanVleet, who recorded his first career triple-double in Friday’s win over Utah, has scored 30 or more points six times in his past eight games.

Ingram’s driving layup made it a one-point game, but Chris Boucher tipped in Birch’s missed shot to restore the three-point lead and then grabbed the rebound on Temple’s missed 3.

Birch made one of two at the line with 5.3 seconds left to extend Toronto’s lead. The Raptors had made all 19 free throw attempts before Birch missed his second shot.

Graham missed a 3 on New Orleans’ final possession.

Toronto led 27-26 after one and 49-48 at halftime. Siakam scored 13 points in the third, but the Pelicans closed the quarter with an 8-0 run. The Raptors took a 79-77 lead to the fourth.

JONAS RETURNS

Drafted fifth overall by the Raptors in 2011, Valanciunas played in Toronto for the first time since Dec. 9, 2018. After missing time because of a left thumb injury, Valanciunas was traded to Memphis on Feb. 7, 2019.

“I do miss it,” Valanciunas said of his six-plus seasons in Canada. “It’s really good to see familiar faces.”

SOCCER TALK

Siakam, who is from Cameroon, was asked after the game about his country’s 2-1 victory over Burkina Faso Sunday in the opening match of soccer’s Africa Cup of Nations. Speaking in French, an excited Siakam proudly showed off a bracelet in Cameroon colors. The biennial tournament is being held in five cities across Cameroon.

TIP-INS

Pelicans: Signed F Gary Clark to a two-way contract and waived G Jared Harper. … G Tomas Satoransky (health and safety protocols) missed his fourth straight game.

Raptors: F Yuta Watanabe (health and safety protocols) missed his fourth straight game. … Siakam went 10 for 10 at the free throw line. He finished with seven assists.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Dakar, Senegal’s national soccer team was forced to delay its flight to the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon after three more players and six members of the backroom staff tested positive for the coronavirus, reports AP.

The Senegalese soccer federation named the players on Wednesday as Pape Sarr, Nampalys Mendy and Mame Thiam.

They and six members of the management team tested positive on Tuesday, when the squad was scheduled to fly to Cameroon, the federation said.

Federation spokesperson Kara Thioune said the squad was now due to leave Wednesday afternoon and the three players and six officials would remain behind in Dakar until they return negative tests.

The African Cup starts on Sunday and Senegal has little time before its first game of the tournament against Zimbabwe on Monday.

Senegal, with stars like Liverpool forward Sadio Mane and Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, is one of the favorites after losing in the final at the last African Cup.

The news of more virus cases underlines fears that the pandemic and the recent emergence of the more contagious omicron variant will cause chaos in the buildup and at the African Cup in Cameroon, where less than 3% of the population has been fully vaccinated, according to a tracker kept by Johns Hopkins University.

Top European clubs have made clear their concerns over sending their African players and have questioned if Cameroon and African soccer confederation organizers will be able to prevent major outbreaks at the monthlong event.

In response, organizers announced that only fully vaccinated fans with proof of negative tests will be able to attend games, meaning games are likely to be played in empty or near-empty stadiums because of Africa’s very low vaccination levels.

The Confederation of African Football employed pharmaceuticals company UNILAB to oversee the regular testing of all players and officials from the 24 teams.

But a growing number of teams have been affected by virus cases even before Africa’s biggest soccer tournament has kicked off.

Host Cameroon announced last month that it had positive cases in its squad.

Burkina Faso, which plays Cameroon in the first game of the African Cup on Sunday, has had to leave players behind in Abu Dhabi because of the virus and may not be able to field its strongest team in the tournament opener in Yaoundé.

Like Senegal, Cape Verde and Tunisia have reported new cases in their squads, while Gambia and Ivory Coast were forced to cancel warmup games because of outbreaks in their squads.

Malawi left three players behind in Saudi Arabia, where the team had a training camp, because they tested positive. Nigeria left striker Victor Osimhen of Italian club Napoli out if its African Cup squad because of his positive virus test.

Defending champion Algeria has also reported infections. Senegal already had the complication of Cheikhou Kouyaté and Alfred Gomis testing positive and staying behind with their European clubs to see out isolation periods.

The African Cup should have taken place in 2021 but was delayed a year because of the pandemic. It faced calls in recent months that it should be postponed again because of the emergence of omicron.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Cleveland, Jan. Rookie Evan Mobley had 24 points and nine rebounds, Kevin Love scored 20 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 108-104 win over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night.

Jarrett Allen scored 18 points and Lamar Stevens added a season-high 15 for Cleveland, which trailed 84-73 in the third quarter before going on a 17-0 run to take the lead for good. Love scored eight points in a row during the surge.

“Guys are all stepping up in different ways for us, like Lamar when we really needed it in the third quarter,” said Love, who has topped 20 points in five straight games. “We scrapped in the second half and we never really stepped back once we got started.”

Domantas Sabonis had 32 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Pacers, and rookie Duane Washington Jr. scored a season-high 20 points. Indiana has dropped four straight overall and hasn’t won on the road since Nov. 22 in Chicago, AP reports.

Washington drained a 3-pointer with eight seconds left to pull Indiana within 3 at 107-104, but Brandon Goodwin split a pair of free throws to restore the Cavaliers’ two-possession lead. Cleveland made 7 of 12 foul shots in the fourth quarter.

“Their run at the end of the third was the difference in the game, so that was tough,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “I’m proud of the way the guys competed all night, which makes this a really disappointing result, given the effort that was given.”

Allen also grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked three shots, while the recently signed Goodwin had seven points and five assists. Cleveland lost shooting guard Isaac Okoro to a left elbow injury due to a pick by Sabonis on a screen.

Mobley, the third overall pick from USC, is averaging 20.8 points and shooting 63.3% from the field in four games since exiting the NBA’s health and safety protocols. He made 11 of 16 shots against Indiana.

“We want Evan to shoot the ball more because we believe it’s going in every time,” Allen said. “If he keeps being aggressive, we believe that’s going to help us keep winning games. We really needed this tonight to give us a boost.”

Justin Holiday scored 18 points on six 3-pointers, and 28-year-old rookie Keifer Sykes had 10 points and five assists in his first start for Indiana. Sykes played in South Korea, Turkey, Italy, China, Greece and Australia before signing with the Pacers on Dec. 27.

“Our defense was the reason it slipped away from us,” Holiday said. “Sometimes, you don’t always stay hot offensively, but a few more stops and we win the game.”

Pacers guard Caris LeVert and center Goga Bitadze were added to the safety protocols earlier in the day. They have seven players in the COVID-19 program, including Malcolm Brogdon, Chris Duarte and Jeremy Lamb.

HOMECOMING

Pacers guard Lance Stephenson signed a 10-day contract Saturday, one day after playing for the Atlanta Hawks in their 121-118 win in Cleveland. Stephenson, who is in his third stint with Indiana, was out of the NBA for two years before joining Atlanta on Dec. 22. “He’s worked incredibly hard for this opportunity, coming back first to the G League (with Grand Rapids),” Carlisle said. “I know he’s going to go at it full bore.”

TIP-INS

Pacers: No event was scheduled at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Saturday, allowing Indiana to hold a practice after arriving in Cleveland. “We went through some defensive stuff, offense and defensive stuff again,” Carlisle said. … F Justin Anderson appeared in three games with the Cavaliers before signing a 10-day contract Saturday. … Indiana has the second-worst road record in the East at 3-14 after losing its last five.

Cavaliers: G Darius Garland and F Cedi Osman remain in the COVID-19 protocols. Top scorer Garland missed his fourth straight game, while backup swingman Osman has sat out five in a row. … G Kevin Pangos had seven points in his third consecutive start at the point. The 28-year-old rookie spent the past six seasons playing in Europe. “Kevin has seen a lot and the moments aren’t too big for him,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said.

Source: Bahrain News Agency