Marco van Basten once labelled a Dutch-born starlet, who snubbed the Netherlands for Morocco, as "stupid", but his comment came back to haunt him. Here are other African players who will participate in the next World Cup after snubbing European nations. "How stupid can you be to choose Morocco if you are in contention for the Dutch national team?" Van Basten, who was the Dutch national team's assistant coach at the time, asked in May 2016, as quoted byThe Guardian, after hearing

English-born Ghanaian youngster Arvin Appiah enjoyed a brilliant second half as England Under-17s came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 against Portugal in Chesterfield. Appiah lit up the Proact Stadium as he made it 2-2 and then set up the winner as England kicked off a mini-tournament of friendly matches. The hosts were two behind at the break after Eduardo Ribeiro capitalised on an awful back pass from Max Broughton in the 18th minute. Rodrigo Fernandes got a disputed second after 35 minutes

There's a lot of debate about which is the toughest confederation from which to qualify for the World Cup. Conmebol -- South America -- is generally considered to be the most competitive. Even with four and a half spots in the 2018 World Cup -- Peru is playing New Zealand in a playoff -- Copa America champion Chile was unable to qualify for the World Cup. CAF -- Africa -- is certainly the most unforgiving. With only six games and one team through from each group, teams have no margin for

Africa's World Cup representatives will all head to Russia confident that they can make an impact, but while several of the continent's top names will be part of the tournament, many have been left behind. The quintet who have secured their spots at the global high table - Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal - may be among the continent's strongest teams and best organised units, but they boast relatively few of Africa's genuine superstars. Indeed, only a third of the

We now know the identity of Africa's five teams in Russia, but what do they need to improve between now and next summer? Nigeria: Who plays in goal? Despite their fine qualifying campaign, the Super Eagles have concerns in various positions across their team. Abdullahi Shehu's continued improvement has done enough to end the concerns that he may not be up to the job, although the identity of the team's central striker isn't yet determined. Nigeria have no shortage of options,

The Egyptian national football team outperformed Ghana in the market value of the team, where the market value of the Egyptian national team amounts to 86m, while Ghanas is valued at 42.15m. The average price for Ghana players is 1.8m, while Egyptian players average value stands at 3.1m. According to statistics of the Transfermarkt website, the average age of Egyptian team players is 27.9 years old, against 24.4 years old for the Ghanaian team. Moreover, 17.6% of the Egyptian team are professionals

Who were the continent's star performers during the weekend's qualifiers? John Oguhas endured something of a frustrating recent revival with the national side. Discarded by previous managers, he's been recalled to the fold by Gernot Rohr, but has spend the recent international breaks watching on from the substitutes bench. While Rohr opted not to turn to Ogu when Nigeria arguably needed him most - in the draw against Cameroon - the Israel-based midfielder was handed a starting berth

Ghanaian female star Ernestina Abambila is thrilled to have clinched the double with Belarus sideZFK Minsk. The Ghanaian youngster won both the league and the Cup title in the Eastern European country . And the Black Princesses star is delighted with the feat chalked. What A Season For Me And My Team For Winning Double In One Season🔴#League Cup🔴🔵#Belarus Cup🔴🔵 Thanks to Everyone For your Support and Prayers, l really Appreciate it A lot Love You

  Medeama defender Paul Aidoohas had no contact whatsoever with Aduana Stars' representatives, the player has insisted. Aidoo's future has come under fresh speculation after he was reported to have attended a meeting with Aduana chiefs over a possible switch. Aduana Chief Executive Albert Commey claimed on Monday that the centre-back traveled to Dorma to hold talks with the club over a potential move. The claim has ruffled feathers in Tarkwa as the towering defender still

Medeama have denied making an approach for former Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak coach David Duncan. The Mauve and Yellows have moved quickly to dismiss stories emerging this week that they have made an approach for the 53-year-old, who is without a job since leaving Kotoko. GHANAsoccernet.com revealed on Monday that the Tarkwa-based side are holding talks with the former Ashantigold gaffer over the vacant position at the club. But the spokesman Patrick Akoto claims the reports are wide

Former Kotoko chairman Herbert Mensah could throw himself into the race for the Ghana FA presidency in 2019, multiple sources have claimed. The celebrated ex-Kotoko chief is reported to be interested in succeeding Kwesi Nyantakyi, who will step down after 14-years at the local governing body in the next two years. Mensah, who is the President of the Ghana Rugby Association, has been coy on the reported interested in the top job. But sources are claiming the astute football administrator

How the tables have turned. A few years back, Ghanas Black Stars swooped into Egypt and got a goal in a 1-2 loss to the Pharaohs. However, the loss meant little as Ghanas huge 6-1 win in Kumasi proved decisive in sending the Black Stars to its third straight World Cup. What happened in that tournament is a can of worms best left to rot away from memory. But a few days back, the Pharaohs strolled into town and pulled off a similar feat by drawing 1-1 with Ghana after booking its ticket to the

Legendary Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba will finally hang up his boots in 2018 as he prepares to bring his 20-year professional career to an end. After leaving Montreal Impact following the end of the 2016 Major League Soccer season, Drogba, 39, became the first player-owner in the history of the game when he took over United Soccer League outfit Phoenix Rising FC in 2017. The 2012 Champions League winner scored 10 goals in 14 regular season games to help his franchise into the USL playoffs,

The off-season GHALCA Top 8 tournament has been tentatively fixed for 6-21 January, 2018. According to circling reports, Kumasi and Cape Coast have been settled on as venues for the matches. Group A comprises Asante Kotoko, Aduana Stars, Dreams FC and Eleven Wonders. The other section contains Hearts of Oak, WAFA, Ebusua Dwarfs and Karela FC. Organizers Ghana League Clubs Association [GHALCA] will later unveil plans for the tournament....

With the thrilling race to secure the last berths at the 2018 FIFA World Cup about to conclude, ticket sales for the worlds biggest single-sport event will resume on 16 November 2017, 12:00 Moscow time (10:00 Central European Time), on FIFA.com/tickets on a first-come, first-served basis. A total of 622,117 tickets were successfully allocated (subject to payment) upon conclusion of the first window of sales phase 1 on 12 October 2017. Some 3,496,204 tickets had initially been requested with

Asamoah Gyan has launched his own energy known as Run as the Ghana captain expands his business empire. This comes weeks after it was announced the Kayserispor striker had acquired a license to operate an ariline in the country. The former Sunderland striker on Tuesday, 14 November, 2017 Tweeted: ''Hello Ghana... Let's RUN... proudly made in Ghana...'' This implies Gyan has set up a local factory which will employ thousands to produce the product for the market. It

Former Egypt captain Ahmed Hassan has stressed over the emergence of Mahmoud Abdelrazek Shikabala during Egypts final World Cup qualifier against Ghana. Shikabala scored Egypts only goal and his first in a very long time upon his return to the national team in the Pharaohs 1-1 draw to Ghana in Cape Coast. Head coach Hector Cuper also gave minutes to the likes of Amr Marei, Sam Morsy and Karim Hafez since the game counted for nothing after Egypt had sealed qualification to the 2018 World Cup

Black Stars newboy Kassim Nuhu says Kwesi Appiah is on course in building a fortified squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. The Young Boys player has been a revelation this year after getting a crack at international football under Appiah. He played his first competitive match on Sunday, 12 November, 2017 in the 1-1 draw with Egypt in a final 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier. Appiah failed to rescue Ghana's campaign as the Black Stars missed out on a fourth consecutive World Cup finals

Hearts of Oak attacker Patrick Razak says every team needs a player in mold of Winful Cobbinah as he reflected on the outcome of the just ended Ghana Premier League season. Cobbinah, who re-joined Hearts of Oak with nine games into last season, took the league by storm with his silky displays. The 26-year-old however, failed to help the Phobians win any silverware despite winning lots of plaudits with his consistent performances as they finished 3rd on the Ghana Premier League table as well

Head coach of Ghana's male senior national team the Black Stars, James Kwasi Appiah has called on the Ghana Football Association to set up a transition team to monitor young Ghanaian players across the globe and how they progress into the national teams. To him, the transitional growth of players from the junior national teams into the senior side has always been a matter of concern and believes a good transition team can keep tabs on the players to ensure the development. "I think