LATEST NEWS
In total, 48 countries will (hopefully) take part in this 23rd edition of the World Cup which will begin on June 11 in Mexico City when the hosts play South Africa.
Senegal sealed their second AFCON title when Pape Gueye netted a superb extra time winner against the hosts, Morocco, before 66,000 fans in Rabat.
But many of the headlines will feature the chaotic scenes prior to the end of the ninety minutes when the Teranga Lions staff and players protested the officials’ decisions to deny their team a goal and then award a penalty to the home side.
After a long delay the match restarted and, in a stunning moment, leading scorer Brahim Diaz weakly chipped his spot kick into the arms of goalie Edouard Mendy.
That was the last kick before the extra time period and the West African’s triumph.
Although the tournament had seen all the favourites predictably get through to the latter stages, nobody could have foreseen what would happen in the final.
Mamelodi Sundowns, led by Portuguese coach Miguel Cardoso, beat FAR Rabat 2-1 on aggregate, after the sides drew in Rabat, to claim their second Champions League title.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal will face the holders, PSG, in the final on May 30 in Budapest.
The Gunners edged out Atletico 1-0 in their second leg semi at a passionate Emirates while the Parisians held on to their single goal advantage over Bayern Munich to reach their second successive UCL final.
See John Bethell’s analysis of what may happen in ‘Reports & Analysis’.
Unai Emery again proved his European expertise as his Aston Villa easily beat Freiburg 3–0 in the final to lift their first major European crown since 1982.
Argentina’s Emiliano Buendia netted twice for the EPL team in Istanbul, in what could be a hat-trick of Euro titles for the Premier League.
Crystal Palace, whose coach Oliver Glasner will leave at the end of the season, will bid for an historic European triumph when they face Rayo Vallecano on May 27 in Leipzig.
On a typically tension-filled and emotional final day of the season, Tottenham held on to their status while West Ham were relegated, despite beating Leeds.
And Bournemouth, Brighton, and newly promoted Sunderland will all play in Europe next season, but not Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea.
Barcelona ended the season with an eight-point advantage over great rivals Real Madrid while at the other end of the table Mallorca, Girona and Oviedo were demoted.
Cesc Fabregas’ Como in their Serie A debut season, will take part in a first ever European campaign – in the Champions League.
AC Milan, Juventus (after a 2-2 in the Turin derby), and Atalanta will enter the Europa and Conference Leagues.
PSG clinched the title by winning 2-0 at Lens, although they did subsequently lose to city rivals Paris FC in their final league game.
The Parisians will now concentrate on retaining their Champions League crown when they meet Arsenal on May 30 in Budapest.
Champions Bayern Munich signed off with a 5-1 defeat of Cologne at the Allianz with England’s Harry Kane netting another treble (to make it 36 Bundesliga goals this season)
That was followed by another DFB Pokal triumph, and yet more goals from Harry Kane in a 3-0 defeat of Stuttgart in Berlin.
The top three, led by champions Porto, all finished the league season with victories (and Benfica, in third, even retained their unbeaten record)
GENERAL
Morocco remain the leading African nation (and in 8th overall) as per the latest FIFA rankings table.
After a substantial delay CAF’s appeal board has announced that Senegal have been stripped of the AFCON title and they have awarded Morocco a 3-0 victory.
But, perhaps inevitably, Senegal then responded by appealing to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS).
