Shift The Goalposts Of Disadvantage
By Simon Kuper Every year, in an election you may have missed, Belgian football coaches and journalists vote for the best African player in the Belgian league. The most recent “Ebony Shoe” went to the Senegalese striker, Mbaye Leye, prompting a worldwide chorus of “Who?” If you scan the list of previous winners of the […]
Ready, Willing and Able
Lolade Adewuyi profiles one of the continent’s most successful football coaches – the Big Boss, as he is widely referred to – and considers the arguments for more faith, more respect and more investment in the abilities of home-grown trainers. “I would like to dedicate the [AFCON] trophy to all African coaches. We’re not yet […]
Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Ghana Dominate Women’s Football
In a brief history of women’s football on the continent, Shina Oludari reveals that, despite the overwhelming favour afforded to the beautiful game and its star male players, African women have put foot on the pitches and proven that passion and skill trump gender. Despite the bias of massive investment in the playing and marketing […]
‘YOU DON’T GET PAID FOR SOCCER IN SOUTH AFRICA’
Playing football at the highest level in South Africa requires as much patience as it does passion, according to members of the country’s national women’s squad. The Chronic meets four players who have displayed healthy doses of both for the opportunity to don national colours and run the pitch for Banyana Banyana. JERMAINE SEOPOSENWE – […]
Roger and Me
Akin Adesokan writes in exaltation of the game of tennis, the sheer artistry of arguably its greatest and most storied male player and his 24 tricks of the forehand. With his second-round loss to an unknown Ukrainian player in this year’s Wimbledon, tennis great Roger Federer missed reaching the quarter-finals of a grand slam event […]