Looking for Soccer News?

Istanbul Basaksehir take on Paris Saint-Germain in Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Senegal’s Demba Ba and Cape Verde’s Carlos Ponck excluded from the starting XI.

The reigning Turkish Super Lig kings would be hoping to make a winning home debut in the competition against the French team who finished as 2019-20 runners-up.

To achieve this, manager Okan Buruk has decided to start the duo as a substitute, while Nigeria’s Okechukwu Azubuike is ruled out due to injury.

In a 4-3-3 formation, Mert Gunok will start in goal while Belgium left-back of Congolese descent Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo will anchor the backline alongside Rafael, Alexandru Epureanu and former Liverpool star Martin Skrtel.

The trio of Irfan Kahveci, Mehmet Topal and Berkay Ozcan occupy the midfield, while the Fatih Terim Stadium giants will rely on Enzo Crivelli, Deniz Turuc and Edin Visca for goals.

For Thomas Tuchel's Ligue 1 side, Senegal's Idrissa Gueye, Bandiougou Fadiga and Madagascar’s Mathyas Randriamamy are among the named substitutes.

PSG stuttered to a 2-1 home defeat to Odion Ighalo’s Manchester United on the opening day with Istanbul Basaksehir losing 2-0 to RB Leipzig in Germany. Victory for either team would be crucial on Wednesday night as they hope to qualify from Group H.

Peter Crouch says "there is no limit" to what Harry Kane can do, and that the Tottenham captain has become the best "creator" at the club.

Kane recorded his eighth assist in six Premier League appearances as Spurs earned a 1-0 victory against Burnley at Turf Moor on Monday night.

The England international headed an Eric Lamela cross straight into the path of Son Heung-min at the back post, who nodded past Nick Pope in the Clarets' net to earn the visitors all three points.

Jose Mourinho's side are now two points behind leaders Everton in the top-flight standings, with talk of a title challenge mounting with each passing game.

Kane's form has inspired Tottenham's impressive start to the campaign, with the 27-year-old also contributing five goals to their cause while taking his partnership with Son upfront to a new level.

The pair have combined for nine of Spurs' 16 goals, taking their overall tally as an attacking duo to 29, which puts them behind only Chelsea's Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard as the most deadly partnership in Premier League history.

Kane has been content to drop a bit deeper this season and pick out Son's runs in the final third, and Crouch has been hugely impressed to see him show off his passing range after so many years of being pegged as a traditional centre-forward.

“There is no limit to what this boy can do,” the former Tottenham forward told PA. “I played with him when he was a young kid at Tottenham and I was in the first team and he has always scored goals and he has always been a finisher.

“He scores every type of goal but when I look at him dropping deep and making those passes, it’s just fantastic to watch and he’s become a creator for Son and it’s mouth-watering when you add (Gareth) Bale in there as well.

“The runs they make are so quick and Kane’s ability to find them is just amazing. He drops deep into the pockets and pick out passes. He is Tottenham’s best goalscorer and also their best creator.”

Crouch is confident that Spurs can challenge for major silverware in 2019-20, but he thinks a run to the glory in the FA Cup is more likely than a tilt at the Premier League crown at this stage of Mourinho's project.

“It is a crazy league and it feels like anyone can beat anyone at the moment,” he added. “I would say [Manchester] City and Liverpool aren’t as strong as they were and other teams have got stronger. It is definitely something to do with fans not being in the ground, which is causing some strange results and lots of goals. The league is up for grabs.

“Can Tottenham win it? I’m not sure but I think they’ve got as good a chance as anyone. City and Liverpool have to be the favourites just because they’ve been the strongest team over the last three years.

“People have criticised Mourinho a lot. He seems to be getting a team together and building something again and you wouldn’t put it past him to win (something). Maybe the league is potentially too much for them, but for Tottenham fans, bringing the FA Cup home right now would be magical.”

Jurgen Klopp says he has three options to fill in at centre-back after Liverpool lost Fabinho to injury.

The Brazil international, who slotted into the defence to cover for the injured Virgil van Dijk, limped off in the first-half of Tuesday's Champions League win against Midtjylland on Tuesday.

Rhys Williams, 19, replaced the 27-year-old and impressed the Reds boss as his side ran out 2-0 winners at Anfield.

However Klopp insists the England Under-19 international is not the only one who can be trusted to partner Joe Gomez at the heart of the back line, with 23-year-old Nathaniel Phillips and Billy Koumetio, 17, also available.   

He told reporters: “[Williams] did really well. The only problem we have now is unfortunately we have four days to the West Ham game and you will make every day a story of him and then he has to prove he can deal with that as well because before everything was calm around him. We try to do that as well.

"He’s a talent, he plays for England U20s, he’s 19 years old. I didn’t tell any news when I said he has more Champions League minutes than Premier League minutes because he didn’t play in the Premier League yet and has now two Champions League appearances.

"Won both games on top of that, which is pretty exceptional. He did well, everything looks promising.

“Apart from Rhys, we still have Nat Phillips, who for the reason that we thought he might make a transfer to another club, he is not in the Champions League squad, which is strange - but he is a centre-half as well.

"Billy [Koumetio] the kid, I’m not sure if he can train now tomorrow or not but he will be back in training. So, we have very young and inexperienced alternatives, and in the moment it looks like we have to choose one of them.

"I don’t know yet. But to be really clear and positive, Rhys was not in one situation tonight our problem, he played a really good game.”

Liverpool are in action again on Saturday when they host West Ham before continuing their Champions League campaign with a trip to Atalanta on November 3.

Simba SC coach Sven Vandenbroeck has revealed he is yet to come to terms with the team’s two consecutive defeats in the Mainland Premier League.

The Wekundu wa Msimbazi, who were looking unstoppable when the 2020-21 campaign started, have now lost two matches in a row - a 1-0 defeat against Tanzania Prisons before falling to Ruvu Shooting by the same margin two days ago.

The defeat against Shooting saw Simba surrender the third spot in the 18-team table as they dropped to fourth while their rivals Young Africans (Yanga SC) who are still unbeaten, moved to second behind table-toppers Azam FC.

The two defeats have left the Belgian coach scratching his head and has gone ahead to apologise to the fans and also promised a quick comeback in their next league match.

“First of all, I want to apologise for the two losses in a row to the Simba family and it is very hard for us to digest,” Vandenbroeck said as quoted by Daily News. “If you look at the game, we missed some aggressiveness in the first half which was not our usual level of play.

“The second half was much better as we took some risks but in total, we were not efficient enough to take good results today [Monday]. It hurts to all of us.

“At this point, it is very difficult to point out what is the problem and if I have to analyse everything, it is something which I cannot share with the members of the media.

“According to the way we pushed in the second half, I do not think match fitness is the problem to point at. I think the question is what we have available in the striking position which made me play with a false number nine.”

Simba captain John Bocco, who missed a penalty to put the team level against Shooting, has also apologized to the fans.

“On behalf of the players, I want to apologise for the two defeats we suffered against Prisons and Ruvu Shooting,” Bocco said as quoted by the club’s social media pages. “We fell against teams that we should not have but we promise it will not happen again.

“Our promise to the fans is that we will rectify mistakes from the two matches and come back better and stronger to win the coming games.”

Prior to Monday's meeting, Simba and Ruvu Shooting had met 18 times in all competitions and Wekundu wa Msimbazi had managed to win 16 games, drawing the remaining two.

Simba will next take on Mwadui FC at Uhuru Stadium on Friday.

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi has admitted that they have been facing challenges in plotting against Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) who they host in a Premier Soccer League (PSL) encounter on Wednesday.

Tshakhuma have a newly-assembled team following the acquisition of their top-flight league status from Bidvest Wits.

After holding TS Galaxy in their opening league match last weekend, Tshakhuma visit Sundowns who are on a high after dismissing Kaizer Chiefs 3-0 in their first league game.

But Mngqithi is not reading much into their exploits against Chiefs as he concedes that they have very limited information to use against their Joel Masutha-coached opponents.

“It’s very difficult [to plan against Tshakhuma] because over the last two matches they have played two different line-ups,” Mngqithi told the Sundowns media team.

“You can see they are still bringing on new players into the team. It is a team that does not have too many patterns where you can know what they do when they build up from the back, what they do on transitions.

“Or what they do when they lose possession because they are using different teams and you can see most of their staff is still off the cuff. Players and coach have not been together for long.”

Tshakhuma have played two games in the season so far.

They were first edged 3-2 out of the MTN8 quarter-finals by SuperSport United, before the TS Galaxy draw.

After Masutha fielded almost different games in those two games, Mngqithi says that has made it difficult to gather notes against TTM, which makes the Limpopo side a potential minefield.

“Such teams are very dangerous because you do not know exactly who you will face,” said Mngqithi.

“For instance against SuperSport United, they played [Justin] Shonga, [Mogakolodi] Ngele and [Lerato] Lamola. And then you look at their other match against TS Galaxy, Shonga was no longer there. There was Lamola, [Celimpilo] Ngema, Ngele is still a big factor in that team.

“It is always very difficult to plan for a team like that. They are strong at set-pieces with Ndengane [Alfred], [Lehlohonolo] Nonyane and Ngele is known by everyone for taking them.

“But surprisingly now he has even scored with a header which suggests that we must just be aware of everything that happens in and around the box and try to defend intelligently. Not to give too many freekicks in and around the box because Shonga and Ngele can be very dangerous.

“So we are just planning mainly on individual profiles because the team as such does not have a clear tactical approach. They have no patterns and we are trying our level best to understand what each and every individual can do against us and I think we have made those pointers in our analysis.”

The Algerian Football Federation has tied Djamel Belmadi to a new deal that will see him remain as Desert Foxes coach until the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar.

Belmadi – who played for Manchester City and Southampton, was named as handler of the North African team following Rabah Madjer’s failure to lead them to the 2018 Fifa World Cup staged in Russia.

In less than one year after his employment, he led Algeria to win the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt – defeating pre-tournament favourites Senegal in the final after silencing Nigeria in the semi-final.

Addressing media at the Sheraton Hotel during the announcement on Tuesday, Algerian football president Kheireddine Zetchi said the 44-year-old’s contract extension was necessary following his achievements in a short time, while disclosing that the pact is not primarily financial but also related with aspects that could aid his work.

"When Belmadi arrived as the coach of the Greens, he had made no conditions,” said Zetchi.

“The national team was going through a difficult period and it is to his credit to have placed the recovery of the technical situation before any other consideration.

“With what he managed to do in record time and in the most beautiful way, it is logical that after the continental coronation in Egypt, we have reviewed his contract.”

Belmadi is on course to lead Algeria to the 2022 Afcon billed for Cameroon. With six points accrued from two games, the Desert Foxes lead Group H that boast of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana.

Their last outing at the World Cup was in 2014 Brazil, where they reached the Round of 16, before losing to eventual winners Germany.

Nevertheless, the tactician is not only eyeing a return in the Middle East, but also making an impact on the world stage.

“The objective will be to give everything and believe in the impossible,” Belmadi told Canal + Africa per Football 365.

"When we have done the work, when we have qualified, the objective will be to win it.

“We will now speak seriously, the objective will not be to just participate, the players do not set any limits.”

Borussia Monchengladbach star Marcus Thuram says his side must learn from their mistakes after they lost a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Real Madrid on Tuesday.

The Bundesliga side were 2-0 up in the Champions League encounter at Borussia Park, with the 23-year-old winger netting twice within the first hour.

But Zinedine Zidane's men fought back to earn a point as Karim Benzema fired past Yann Sommer in the 87th minute before Casemiro found the net deep in stoppage time to ensure the teams shared the points.

Gladbach now have two points from as many games in the competition and sit two points behind Group B leaders and next opponents Shakhtar.

Thuram was happy with his side's performance against the Spanish champions, but warned that they must be more vigilant in the future. 

“We played well on the whole, but we came up against an excellent side,” he told reporters.

“Everyone knows that such a tough opponent doesn’t give in – they fight to the end. We saw that in this match.

“Unfortunately, we conceded two late goals, but I hope we can learn from this and do things better in the next game.”

Thuram needed just two appearances in the Champions League to score his first goals in the tournament, giving him a better record than his father, Lilian. 

The former Juventus and Barcelona star needed 67 games to score his first goal in Europe's most prestigious club competition. 

When told that he had eclipsed his dad, Thuram replied: “I didn’t even know until now that he even scored a goal in the Champions League, but I’m pleased for him!"

But the France international feared his second goal was going to be disallowed and delayed his celebration for a few seconds.

“I thought that I might just have been standing offside. We know what it’s like with VAR, too," he added.

"I didn’t want to celebrate too early in case they intervened, but everything was fine and the referee gave the goal. Then I could celebrate.

“We’ll keep going and work hard to improve. We’ll also obviously try to perform at our best in the upcoming games. After the six group games, we’ll see where we’re at and whether we’ve managed to progress or not.”

Former Tusker captain James Situma has explained why the Harambee Stars players will find it easy to understand the new coach Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee and his playstyle.

Mulee was appointed to fill Francis Kimanzi’s place and Situma claims the two tacticians are almost similar tactically and that is why the players will find it easy to adapt.

“Mulee is more or less similar to Kimanzi, he is a good coach who would want players to freely express themselves and so I do think the players are going to find it rather easy to understand him,” Situma told Goal.

“Of course Mulee is going to come with one or two things that are new which would force the players to adjust but that again will not take a lot of time as this is just but a continuation of the Kimanzi reign.

“Mulee has been watching games for sure and what I know is he is not going to implement wholesale changes on the squad.

“The players called up have the chance to impress during training and if one excels then they would surely be given opportunities.”

With Mulee’s primary objective being an African Cup of Nations berth, the two-time Kenyan Premier League winner asserts the target can be attained.

“Why not? It all depends on the preparations made and if the management, the players and the technical bench work in unison then the dream is largely achievable,” the former Sofapaka captain said.

Situma pegged his hopes on a back-to-back Afcon qualification for Kenya on the previous participation where Kenya faced the finalists at the group stage.

“One of the teams we faced emerged champions and in football not all the participants are going to be champions but that fact cannot make one not to prepare,” he concluded.

“We learnt something, we were exposed to the new things and the good thing is that the FKF management that was there before will be there for the preparations of the next Afcon.

“We have to keep building the team and the last Afcon results should not weigh down on us. If we get our things right then we will be in a good place to harvest big things.”

Kenya will face Comoros in November for the third and fourth group stage qualifiers.

Karim Benzema has been caught telling Real Madrid team-mate Ferland Mendy not to pass to another player on the team during the club's latest Champions League outing.

Madrid's poor start to their latest European campaign continued as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany on Tuesday night.

The Bundesliga outfit found themselves 2-0 up before the hour mark thanks to a Marcus Thuram double and seemed on their way to a famous victory before Benzema's acrobatic volley halved the deficit in the 87th minute.

Casemiro then snatched a point for the visitors in stoppage time after turning home a Sergio Ramos header, with Madrid narrowly avoiding a fourth-consecutive European defeat - which would have been a new club record.

Zinedine Zidane's side were visibly rattled as they went in at half-time 1-0 down, and Benzema was seen criticising someone - reportedly attacking partner Vinicus Jr - while talking to Mendy in the tunnel.

In footage now doing the rounds on social media, the Frenchman can be heard telling his Madrid colleague: “Brother don’t play to him. On my mother’s life. He is playing against us.”

Reports of a dressing room divide had already been circulating in the wake of Madrid's 3-1 victory over Barcelona at the weekend, with Isco publicly criticising Zidane for restricting his playing time at the start of the new season.

“If he has to take me off, he takes me off in the 50th or 60th minute of the game. Sometimes even at half-time,” the Spanish midfielder told Movistar. “If he has to put me on, he’ll do it in the 80th minute.”

The Blancos missed their chance to build on their Clasico triumph against Monchengladbach, and now have a real fight on their hands to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages.

Zidane's men lost their Group B opener at home to Shakhtar Donetsk, and after the draw at Borussia-Park, they are sitting bottom of the group - three points behind the Ukrainian outfit.

Madrid will be back in La Liga action on Saturday when Huesca visit, three days before a vital European encounter against Inter at home.

Orlando Pirates assistant coach Fadlu Davids says his side’s biggest challenge in Wednesday’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) clash against Stellenbosch will be their opponents’ “well-drilled and organised defensive structure.”

The Buccaneers host Stellenbosch at Orlando Stadium, fresh from being held 1-1 by AmaZulu in their opening league match last Saturday away in Durban.

Pirates struggled to penetrate the AmaZulu defence with their goal coming from a controversial penalty converted by Frank Mhango.

After facing a difficult evening in Durban, Davids is expecting another tricky encounter against Stellenbosch on Wednesday.

“Stellenbosch have always had a well-drilled and organised defensive structure with five players at the back,” Davids told Orlando Pirates media.

“They are aggressive too. They are one of the organised teams defensively so it’s really about us to unlock this defence, to unlock this deep-lying block.”

Expectations on Pirates are very high after they made some big-name signings ahead of the season, including Bafana Bafana captain Thulani Hlatshawayo, Terrence Dzvukamanja, Deon Hotto and goalkeeper Richard Ofori.

Davids says the new arrivals are slowly settling in the team as midfielders Dzvukamanja, Hotto and Wayde Jooste have immediately become regular starters.

But the supply of goals has not improved as the Pirates forwards have so far struggled to score.

Two goals in as many matches define their season after Dvukamanja’s strike helped them edge Cape Town City 1-0 in the MTN8 quarter-finals before Mhango’s penalty against Usuthu.

“There are positives to take from the last two games,” Davids said.

“Not the result we wanted in the last match but the new players are beginning to understand. Gelling with their teammates, getting to understand our movements, non-verbal communication between each other, knowing exactly where to be on the pitch, in defence and in attack.

“The fluidity is coming in as we saw in the second half [against AmaZulu]. It is just about the finalising those chances we create to be able to score goals."

 Victory for Pirates is crucial as it would set the right tone ahead of Saturday’s MTN8 semi-final clash against old foes Kaizer Chiefs.

Chiefs are already geared up for the Soweto derby at Orlando Stadium after they edged Chippa United 1-0 in a PSL match on Tuesday.

Ruvu Shooting have revealed they warned Simba SC that they will beat them before their Mainland Premier League match on Sunday.

Shooting, indeed, were true to their warning after they silenced the Wekundu wa Msimbazi 1-0, to hand them a second consecutive defeat in the league as they had lost to Tanzania Prisons by the same margin in the previous fixture.

Media officer Masau Bwire has now revealed that prior to the match, they warned Simba they should expect a Barcelona-like display from his side but they were ignored and came into the match underrating them.

“I warned Simba in advance that the way we are playing currently is like Barcelona of Tanzania, but for them, they took it lightly and ignored, and came knowing we are not strong, but you see now, we beat them,” Bwire is quoted by Sokaletu.

“Simba always thought they will beat any team in the league, they have always bragged how they play good football, but again us, we proved them otherwise, we played like Barcelona, and I want to say we can still beat them if we replay tomorrow or even today.”

On his part, Shooting coach Boniface Mkwasa was happy with the performance from his players saying they played according to his instructions.

“In games like this, it becomes easier for the small team to shine because the big teams always underrate you as such; you have to take advantage of that scenario,” Mkwasa told reporters after the match.

 “Our game plan was to dominate the midfield play which was amicably fulfilled that is why we created a chance to score the winning goal. But in the second half, we were a bit down as Simba pressured us a lot no wonder we conceded a controversial penalty which they failed to convert.

“It was simply football made in Tanzania as we have a squad and technical bench which is comprised of Tanzanians as such, if given priority, domestic players can achieve more like the way you saw.”

The defeat saw Simba lose their third spot in the league and they will be seeking to recover when they take on Mwadui FC at Uhuru Stadium on Friday.

Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe has been advised how to deal with pressure by France legend Thierry Henry, who has urged him never to "lose the little kid inside of you".

Mbappe has become one of the world's best players in the space of just four years after a lightning-fast start to his professional career.

The Frenchman helped Monaco win the Ligue 1 title in 2016-17 and also played a key role in their run to the Champions League semi-finals, before being snapped up on an initial loan deal by PSG.

He helped the club win a domestic treble in his first season at Parc des Princes and became a permanent member of the squad after his €133 million (£121m/$155m) transfer from Monaco was finalised in the summer of 2018.

Mbappe then added a World Cup winners' medal to his collection, scoring in France's 4-2 final victory against Croatia in Russia.

The 21-year-old has scored 96 goals in 130 outings for PSG in total, and has 16 strikes to his name in 38 appearances for Les Bleus with his output in the final third as high as ever at the start of the 2020-21 campaign.

Former Arsenal and France frontman Henry, who was similarly prolific at the height of his playing career, has now offered Mbappe advice on how to ensure his longevity at the highest level.

“Don’t ever lose the little kid inside of you. Sometimes I did, I won’t lie," the current Montreal Impact boss told the PSG talisman at a promotional event for EA Sports alongside heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua.

"Sometimes with the pressure, after 10, 11, 12 years you kind of forget about the enjoyable part of the game. Make sure you listen to that kid because you know what, he brought you there."

Mbappe and Henry were then asked who would win in a race between them, with the former insisting he would have beaten the ex-Barca star in his prime. Henry refused to give a definitive answer before insisting speed in possession is the most important thing on the pitch.

"What?! No, no you know what? Listen, we can never know. You need to understand something; it’s not about speed, it’s about how fast you can be with the ball," Henry said.

"This is something that people do not understand. This kid right now, Kylian, put speed on the side, yeah he has speed - but [it’s different] to be able to shift the ball, stop it, go with power. To be able to block someone at the same time, shift it on your right, block here, shift it on your left and still have your head up and see what’s happening."

Mbappe went on to offer an insight into his killer instinct in the final third, and admitted that he still has a long way to go before emulating multiple Ballon d'Or winners Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at the very highest level.

“When you come one on one [with the goalkeeper] you wanna kill him, of course. That’s from me, that’s not something I work on, that comes from me since I was a young kid. I want to kill him, one against one you think you will stop my shot? No. It’s this spirit for me," he said.

“Sometimes I come to a one on one and I approach it too easy, too sure of myself, too much confidence. I’m not focused on what I want to do, I’m too confident as I’m thinking 'I can score easily', but that’s not the good way.

"I know what I have to do, today I see the best players in the world like Messi and Ronaldo and I’m really happy with the start of my career but I have more steps to reach their level and I know what I have to do to be there, I have to improve every day.”

Mbappe also opened up on his disappointment following PSG's defeat to Bayern Munich in the 2019-20 Champions League final, revealing he struggled to accept the result after working towards the goal of winning the trophy for so long.

“We lost the Champions League Final and people have to understand this; we train all year to be ready for this moment and when you lose, you can’t be happy," he added. "You can’t be happy because you remember all the sacrifices that you made to arrive there.”

Kylian Mbappe, Anthony Joshua and Thierry Henry were in conversation as Groundbreakers in EA SPORTS FIFA 21. They are just a few of the huge names from the worlds of football, music, fashion and beyond that are available to add to your VOLTA FOOTBALL squad each week through VOLTA FEATURED BATTLES. Anthony Joshua’s VOLTA FEATURED BATTLE is available in FIFA 21 from 6pm Friday 23rd October, so to pick-up your copy of the game and add him to your squad, head to https://www.ea.com/games/fifa/fifa-21/buy

Sofapaka have confirmed the exit of five players ahead of the 2020-21 season.

Batoto ba Mungu have named the five players as Brian Kayanja, Nicholas Sebwato, Cersidy Okeyo, Isaiah Wakasala, and Thomas Wainaina.

“We can confirm we have parted ways with five squad members ahead of the new season,” the club confirmed on their official website.

“The five are Brian Kayanja, Nicholas Sebwato, Cersidy Okeyo, Isaiah Wakasala, and Thomas Wainaina.

“Brian Kayanja, Nicholas Sebwato, and Thomas Wainaina have left the club on mutual consent while keeper Isaiah Wakasala and Cersidy Okeyo leave the club after the expiry of their contracts.

“We thank them for their services and wish them well.”

Sofapaka have been very active in the transfer window as they have already roped in seven new signings among them Michael Bodo, Isaac Mitima, Michael Karamor, Michael Bodo, Kevin Omondi, Roy Okal, and Paul Kiongera.

The exit of the five comes just a day after long-serving captain and defender George Maelo officially announced his retirement from football.

The 36-year-old player decided to call it a day after 17 years of active football which saw him also play for Police FC with Sofapaka confirming the decision by stating: "Captain George Maelo has officially retired from active football.

"Club captain Maelo has finally called it a day from football after 17 years in the game. Maelo joined the club from Police FC in July 2016 and went on to serve the club for four years.

On quitting, Maelo said: “I’m so happy and proud of what God has done to me with my talent, all the years of my career I didn’t encounter any serious injury, and when fully fit I managed to play a junk of the matches. As a leader, I did my best on and off the pitch for the betterment of the team.

“Football has built me as a person and taught me a lot about life. At Sofapaka I found a second family where unity and love prevail. The club forms and holds a huge part of me, the trust from the management and everyone in the team meant a lot. I love Sofapaka family and I wish the team the very best.”

Sofapaka will open the new season with a clash against KCB on November 22 before they take on Kakamega Homeboyz in their second fixture on November 29.

They will then face Wazito FC on December 5, confront champions Gor Mahia four days later before tackling Bandari on December 13.

Barcelona star Philippe Coutinho will not return to fitness before the November international break, according to the Brazil national team's medical staff.

Coutinho suffered a hamstring injury in Saturday's defeat to Real Madrid despite completing the full game at Camp Nou.

Barca said a timescale for the former Liverpool man's return "depends on how the injury evolves", but Brazil's doctors have also now assessed the player.

Doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said in a statement that he believes "there is not enough time for the recovery of the player for his participation in the next two rounds of [2022 World Cup] qualifiers".

Brazil have therefore called up Lyon's Lucas Paqueta in his place for the fixtures against Venezuela and Uruguay on November 13 and 17.

Should Coutinho be available for Barca again following the break, he would make his return against Atletico Madrid almost a month on from the initial issue.

Coutinho is set to be joined in missing Brazil's qualifiers by Liverpool's Fabinho. The midfielder, who has been playing in defence for the Reds since Virgil van Dijk's injury, sustained a hamstring problem in Tuesday's Champions League win over Midtjylland.

Liverpool were waiting for a scan on the injury on Wednesday, but Jurgen Klopp suggested Fabinho's absence would not represent a major blow for Brazil, as he has earned just 12 caps for his country and started on five occasions.

"I'm not sure if Tite's too worried because he plays him never, so he will probably now not sit on the bench for the next [two] international games," Klopp said.

He also told beIN SPORTS: "We have to wait for the scan obviously but you know these times when somebody is going off with a muscle problem, then it's really rare that the doctor calls me the next morning and says: 'False alarm, all fine, he can go again.'

"So it's now only about how long. That's all, and nowadays a week means three games, 10 days means four games, 14 days means seven games and all these kinds of things. So that's how it is. Yeah, absolutely not cool but that's the situation."

Inter Milan led the football world to felicitate with former Nigeria international Obafemi Martins who turned 36 on Wednesday.

Famous for his acrobatic goal celebrations, the striker began his football career at Nigerian side FC Ebedei before moving to Reggiana. After one season with the Maroons, he was snapped up by Inter in 2001 for a transfer fee worth €750,000.

Having scored 23 goals for the club’s youth team in his maiden season, he was drafted to the senior team by manager Hector Cuper to compete in a star-studded attacking setup that paraded the likes of Hernan Crespo, Gabriel Batistuta and Alvaro Recoba.

Before moving to Newcastle United after five seasons with the San Siro giants, he won one Serie A title, two Coppa Italia as well as the Supercoppa Italiana diadem in 2005.

At St. James’ Park, he scored 28 goals in 88 games while playing a crucial role in the Magpies' Uefa Intertoto Cup triumph in 2006.

He left for German side Wolfsburg in 2009, before featuring for Rubin Kazan, Birmingham City, Levante, Seattle Sounders and Shanghai Shenhua.

During his loan spell at Birmingham, Martins scored the winning goal in the 2011 Football League Cup Final as the Blues beat Arsenal 2–1 at Wembley Stadium, having been brought on as an 83rd-minute substitute.

He joined Chinese Super League side Wuhan Zall as a free agent in September 2020 after his departure from rivals Shenhua. There he was handed a one-year contract by the Han Army.

On the international scene, he made a scoring debut for Nigeria in a 2004 Unity Cup game against the Republic of Ireland.

Before drawing the curtain on his Super Eagles career, he featured in the 2006, 2008 and 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, as well as one Fifa World Cup final in 2010 – featuring in two games as Lars Lagerback’s men crashed out of the group stage that paraded the likes of Argentina, South Korea and Greece.

Below are tweets of how he was celebrated across the globe.

Manchester City have "peaked" under Pep Guardiola, according to Dietmar Hamann, who thinks "any other manager would be in big bother" if they had failed as often on the European stage.

Guardiola's nine-year wait for success in the Champions League was extended after City suffered a shock quarter-final defeat at the hands of Lyon last season.

The Spanish boss has not won the competition since leaving Barcelona, having also fallen short at Bayern Munich, with supporters at Etihad Stadium growing increasingly impatient with each passing year.

Guardiola has delivered eight trophies during his four-year stay in Manchester, including two Premier League titles, but a lack of success in Europe's elite competition is now beginning to threaten his legacy.

Hamann has suggested that the 49-year-old is only still in the job because he played alongside City’s director of football, Txiki Begiristain, at Barcelona.

Begiristain spent seven years in the same boardroom role at Camp Nou, the last two of which saw him work closely with Guardiola, and the former Blues midfielder thinks their alliance has kept his position safe.

“If you look at their record in the Champions League, any other manager would’ve been in big bother,” Hamann told talkSPORT.

“Obviously he’s got some Barcelona history in the boardroom and maybe that’s why he’s still there.

“He didn’t reach a final with Bayern Munich or Man City – and if you look at the teams who did, they don’t have the same funds.

“It’s simply not good enough. If you look at the teams who beat them, I just wonder what has to happen for them to make a change.

“We don’t like managers getting sacked, but I think any other manager would be in big bother.”

City made it two wins from two in the current Champions League campaign by beating Marseille 2-0 at Orange Velodrome on Tuesday, but Hamann doesn't think the club will win the trophy any time soon.

The ex-Germany international, who also played for Bayern and Liverpool, believes City have gone as far as they possibly can with Guardiola, adding: "Historically, he was at Munich for three years and he improved the team, but the players were happy when he left because he was so demanding.

“I think a manager like Guardiola can’t be at a club for more than four or five years.

“He’s done that at Man City and if you see the players they bring in, there is no continuity and I don’t see them improving enough with the money they’ve spent.

“I think they’ve peaked under Guardiola, I don’t see them winning the Premier League or the Champions League in the next few years.”

Kenyan Premier League side Wazito FC has read mischief in Fifa’s judgment that ordered them to pay former players fines amounting to KSh6 million.

The players who reported the Kenyan side to Fifa are Ghanaian forward Paul Acquah, Togolese defender Issofou Bourhana, Ugandan midfielder Mansoor Safi Agu, Liberian Augustine Otu, and DR Congo forward Piscas Muhindo for reasons of breach of contract.

Bourhana was awarded $9600 compensation (KSh1.04 million) for breach of contract while Otu was handed $7800 (KSh848,776).

Mansoor got Ksh1,698,000 with KSh370,000 outstanding remuneration. Paul Acquah will benefit with KSh2,165,806 plus Ksh150,000 remuneration while Muhindo has been handed KSh1,040,000 and Ksh200,000 remuneration.

A source at the club has now confirmed to Goal they were never given a chance to present their case and feel the all scenario is a "witch-hunt".

“We smell witch-hunt in all this expedition,” a Wazito source told Goal.

“First of all, we were never heard, we were never given an opportunity to be heard so that we give our side of the story, a judgement was just passed without a fair chance to explain our reasons for releasing the said players.”

Wazito said they were not furnished with the judgement pronouncing the orders and stated they first learned of the development from social media.

“Another fishy thing is we learned of the communication from the media. We only got the formal communication a day later yet the documents that should have reached us first were making rounds on social media,” the source added.

“Why would such documents hit social media platforms before reaching us and who is this that leaked or gave out the documents?”

Fifa gave a strict timeline within which Wazito must pay the concerned players to avoid facing transfer bans.

“In the event that the amount due, plus interest as established above is not paid by [Wazito] within 45 days, as from the notification by the Claimant of the relevant bank details to the Respondent, the following consequences shall arise,” the Fifa statement partly read.

“In the event that the payable amount as per in this decision is still not paid by the end of the ban of three entire and consecutive registration periods, the present matter shall be submitted, upon request, to the Fifa Disciplinary Committee.”

The players were among those who were released before the current transfer window was opened.

Gor Mahia striker Samuel Onyango has revealed why he feels the new coach Roberto Oliveira Goncalves is the right choice for the Kenyan giants.

The former Rayon Sports tactician was appointed to take over the reins at the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) champions following the abrupt exit of Steven Polack, who mutually terminated his contract with the club.

Oliveira has already started handling the giants in readiness for the 2020-21 FKF Premier League and Caf Champions League actions and his style has caught the eye of Onyango, who joined Gor Mahia from Ulinzi Stars two seasons ago.

“It is a good call, he is a good coach, he can speak English and even French and remember we have several foreign players here, who have to struggle what he says but for him, he has made it easier for the entire playing unit,” Onyango told Gor Mahia TV.

“The previous could maybe speak only English and it was tough for the foreign players, sometimes we had to do the translation in Kiswahili to help the players, but for him, he is doing the job on his own which is good news for the club, he is making the work easier and everyone is enjoying and looking forward to helping the team achieve its objectives.”

On how he coped with training during the Covid-19 lockdown period, Onyango explained: “It was a bit difficult but not that much difficult, I don’t know how some were doing there’s [training sessions] but mine was very okay.

“I did training on my own, I did jogging but still it was not enough because we missed group training, because it is good to train with the group.”

On the new signings at the club, Onyango revealed: “It is good, I have seen they are quality players, they are going to give us good competition, for you to be a good player you have to face competition from good players, so when they come in you also have to pull up.

“It is as simple as that because you are not in a comfort zone, but it is the coach’s work to pick who starts and I think it is a good challenge for me to work hard and keep my spot.”

On the delay of starting the league owing to Covid- 19 restrictions, Onyango said: “I will say it is a blessing somehow, but it all depends on how we will do preparations because the fixture is something which comes a week or before we start.

“Like now we will be playing in Caf competition, and we have to plan well, but the good thing is that we now have the experience to play in Caf competition., we are playing four years in a row, I think we have the necessity needed and it is the time to make a mark in the competition.”

Gor Mahia will represent Kenya in the Caf competition by virtue of being declared the champions of the 2019-20 campaign which was prematurely ended owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

Manchester United "will do very well" to get out of their Champions League group, according to Rio Ferdinand, who says the Red Devils are not among the favourites to win the competition.

United marked their return to Europe's biggest stage with a 2-1 victory away at Paris Saint-Germain last week, thanks to goals from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is now preparing his side to come up against Bundesliga leaders RB Leipzig, who currently sit top of Group H after recording a 2-0 home win against Istanbul Basaksehir.

Julian Nagelsmann's side have yet to lose a game in 2020-21, while the Red Devils have slipped to 15th in the Premier League standings after winning just two of their opening five domestic fixtures.

Ferdinand thinks qualifying for the knockout stages would be an impressive achievement for his old club considering their inconsistency, and that they shouldn't be regarded as one of the main contenders for the trophy at this stage.

"I don’t think Man United are going to be one of the teams I’d put as favourites. I wouldn’t put them in that bracket," the ex-United defender told BT Sport. "I think they’ll do very well getting out this group they’re in and they’ve had a fantastic start.

"They’ll do well getting out of that and then just hope to improve from there, but consistency is the key for this season for Man United improving on last season."

Ferdinand was also asked to assess Manchester City's chances after watching Pep Guardiola's men pick up a 2-0 victory away at Marseille on Tuesday, but he named Liverpool as the English club most likely to challenge Bayern Munich for their European crown.

Asked whether this could be the season that City finally win the competition, the Red Devils legend responded: "I don’t think so!

"I want to see exciting football and when Manchester City are flying they’re such an exciting team to watch and I enjoy sitting here watching them.

"Whether or not they’re going to have enough to get over the line, with their quality and the consistency that Bayern have [I don’t know]. I still feel Liverpool are a stronger outfit so I put City probably around third or fourth choice for me."

Former Orlando Pirates starlet Ricardo Lourenco has finally found a new club after leaving the Soweto giants last year.

The central midfielder has joined Jwaneng Galaxy as the club reinforced its squad ahead of their 2020/21 Botswana Premier League and Caf Champions League campaigns.

Lourenco has been clubless since he parted ways with the Buccaneers at the end of the 2018/19 season. 

Galaxy, who are the reigning Botswana Premier League champions, released the following statement regarding their new signings: 

"Jwaneng Galaxy Football Club wishes to announce that we have agreed terms with the following foreign players, who are free agents," a club statement read.

"Yali, Sangare: 19-year-old Ivorian U-20 midfielder. Sede Junior Dion: 22-year-old Ivorian U-23 and former ASEC Mimosas striker. Ricardo Torres Lourenco: 24-year-old South Africa former U-23 player and former Orlando Pirates MDC captain and first-team midfielder."

Prior to joining Pirates, Lourenco played for the Bidvest Wits academy, before moving to Europe where he turned out for Dutch club PEC Zwolle's under-21 side in 2015.

Lourenco was part of the South Africa under-20 side which won the 2015 Russian Commonwealth tournament in St Petersburg.

Upon his return to South Africa, Lourenco joined Pirates and he was one of the top players in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) reserve league, Multichoice Diski Challenge (MDC).

The diminutive midfielder was promoted to the club's first team ahead of the 2017/18 season by then-Pirates head coach Milutin 'Micho' Sredojevic.

His exploits for the Pirates reserve team had also caught the eye of Stuart Baxter, who included Lourenco in the Bafana Bafana squad for the 2018 African Nations Championship (Chan) qualifiers in 2017.

However, Lourenco did not feature for South Africa as they eliminated Botswana in the qualifiers under coach Baxter, who resigned as Bafana head coach in August 2019. 

Lourenco was released by Pirates in June 2019 along with Jackson Mabokgwane, Abbubaker Mobara, Ayanda Nkosi as well as Thabo Qalinge.

He left the Houghton-based giants without playing a single competitive match for the club's first team.

Galaxy posted a video of Lourenco in his first training session with the team on Thursday: