5 unexpected Deadline Day transfers.

The European Transfer Window came to a close yesterday. Well, Teams Definitely did some late minute spending. This summer transfer window has been a money spree one. Even the deadline day was so busy. But we'll  be looking at 5 umexpected Deadline Day transfers.


Timoune Bakayoko; Chelsea to Monaco

Chelsea has a really slim squad this season. And loaning out players should not be considered as an option because Frank Lampard is going to need the Squad Depth. What's more unexpected about this Loan move is that, just a month ago, He was on PSG's Radar. We all thought if he was to move from Chelsea, He'll head back to Milan or Paris bit definitely back home to Monaco.


Radamel Falcao; Monaco to Galatasaray

Radamel Falcao swapped Sunny sea side Monaco for Istanbul. Well, the unexpected in this transfer is the fact that Falcao seems to be forgotten. The Colombian has not been in the spotlight for a very  Long while. So it kind of seem surprising of his move to Galatasaray. Great move for his Career, He will come in Handy in Turkey.


Henrikh Mkhitaryan; Arsenal to AS Roma

The Gunners loaned out the Inconsistent Armenian to Rome yesterday. Henrikh being an important first team member of Arsenal is really surprising to find out about his loan move to Roma. But the plus side is the Gunners will be able to play their young stars more often.

Mauro Icardi; Internazionale to PSG

The Controversial player heads to a controversial Club. Inter Milan finally found an interesting suitor for Mauro and decided to loan him to Paris with an option to buy. This is a big break for Mauro and a chance to start a New Chapter in another Classic city. Best of luck Mauro & we hope Wanda doesn't mess it up for you.

Naylor Navas;  Real Madrid to PSG

For €13 million only, Real sold their only decent goal keeping back up option. When we thought keylor will get more playing time because Thaibut refuses to close his legs. Not a smart move for Madrid but it's a plus for Naylor. He'll definitely be picked ahead of Alphonse Areola and his experience will come in Handy for the Parisians.

Another Magical Night in Istanbul; a Liverpool Perspective.

History as they say do repeat itself. Last Night, Liverpool came out Victorious in the Fashion similar to what they did In that Same city In 2005. 14 years apart but the cascade of events seems very Similar. It was Like it was Happening all over again but this time around, History decided to alter the some details.

Throwback to the Champions League Final of 2005. A poor performance from Liverpool gave Milan a 3 goal Half time lead. One for Paolo Maldini and 2 for Hernan Crespo. Liverpool dressing room was said to be gloomy that even Rafa Benitez unknowingly wanted to field 12 players but thanks to Jaime Carragher for bringing him to reality, that didn't happen. We know how the second half went, Liverpool equalized 3-3 and went on to win The Game 4-3 on penalties.

The Man of the Hour was Jerzey Dudek, As he saved a Andriy Shevchenko's Paneka to win the game for the scousers.

Last night was no different. Adrian San Miguel stepped up to save Tammy Abraham's Penalty to win the game for Liverpool 5-4. But this time around, The Tournament was the UEFA Super Cup & not the Champions League.

A frustrating First half & then a comeback in the Second half. Followed by some extra time drama before Adrian Saved the day. We could say Istanbul is really a Magical place for Liverpool on European Nights.

From Barcelona to Stoke City; What went Wrong for Bojan Krkic?

From scoring 900+ goals for Barcelona's youth Set Up to getting Relegated with Stoke City to the Championships. We look at the highlight of once a promising talent of Bojan Krkic.


Born in August 1990 to Bojan Krkic & Maria Perez in Catalonia. Bojan Krkic Jnr was admitted into Barcelona's famed La Masia Academy in 1999. Quite impressive did he grow as a Player that he outclipped Messi to be the youngest player to play for Barcelona as at 2008 (Now the 3rd youngest ever) when he came on to play against Osasuna. The following game would see Bojan make his Champions League Debut while replacing Lionel Messi in a Game at Lyon. Bojan Would however make his first start against Villareal and marked it with a goal. He is the youngest player ever to Score for Barcelona.


Compared because of his style of play with Lionel Messi And also because of both of them Sporting the same haircut. Bojan was called up to link up with the Spanish Squad ahead of the 2008 Euros in which he declined stating he had mental unrest. Truth be told, Bojan was dealing anxiety. He just couldn't cope with how things were moving too fast for the 17 year old.

Spain won the Euro's in 2008.

Spain eventually w/o  the Euro's that year and Bojan was left rueing about a missed oppurtunity. But not someone to hold into the past, Bojan Continued to dominate with FC Barcelona as they conquered Spain and Europe winning Sextuple. However, Things took a turn for the youngster with the arrival of David villa.  Bojan was forced to look elsewhere for playing time. AS Roma came calling and which Bojan duely obliged. He was loaned to Roma from Barcelona.


Bojan racked up 7 goals in as many games for Roma but wasn't enough for the Giallarossi to trigger his release Clause for €24.5M. The next season, Krkic Bojan was Shipped off to A.C. Milan on Loan. He got the ground Running in Milan also but the Rosonneri didn't think he'll be Good enough. The following season, Bojan was loaned out to Ajax Amsterdam. Scoring only 5 goals. Bojan was not impressive to the Dutch side.

Purchased by Stoke City from Barcelona for £1.4M. Bojan had an interesting start to life in England. Scoring the winners against Arsenal, Everton and Tottenham in his first Season. But Bojan still wasn't able to make an impression enough in his 5 years stay with the potters. He was Shipped out to Slaves before his Contract ran out with the Midlands Club.

Now aged 29, Bojan has signed For MLS Canadian  side Montreal Impact. He hasn't really been that lucky in his Career but he'll be hoping to start a New Chapter of his Life far away in the New World.

Premeir League Gameweek 1 Review

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West Ham vs Manchester City: The game was as expected, Manchester City controlled the game from the starting whistle to the final whistle. Man City had the most possessions, shot on target, shots, touches, passes, tackles, clearance, man city attacked so well they had the most offside. Sterling and Mahrez were the star man. An absolute game of attacking Prowess.

Bournemouth vs Sheffield Utd: This is a shocking game as Bournemouth was expected to win the game. Bournemouth were a little disappointing, though they had the most possessions, most touches and most passes, they also had most shots with 13 but had only 3 of it on target the same with Sheffield. It was a good performance by Sheffield considering they just joined the Premier league since the 2006/7 season.

Burnley vs Southampton: this is one of those games where one team is the attacking force and the other team is the one that scored all the goals. Yeah, Southampton controlled the game for most of the game but their strikers weren’t clinical enough in the final third, while Burnley struggled but their strikers were on fire, they took almost every chance they got, not the performance Burnley wanted but this is a case of “THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS”.

WATFORD VS BRIGHTON
Vintage road was the venue as a decent & determined Brighton beat the hornets 3 goals to nil in the presence of the watching Watford Faithfuls. Abdoulaye Doucoure’s first half own goal gave Brighton the lead but Brighton had to wait for the second half for the moment of brilliance to happen. It took two super subs in Florian Andone and Neal Maupay to steal 3 points. A neat montoya's cross located Andone who tapped it in the bottom corner as Lewis dunk pass from his own half found Maupay who rounded up Forster before slotting it home. WATFORD threatened and Brighton responded with Lewis dunk block on Craig Dawson’s shot. Graham potter’s side was the better side of the encounter.

TOTTENHAM VS ASTON VILLA
Tottenham welcomed Aston Villa to the white heart Lane in a thrilling 4 goal encounter. Aston villa took the early lead in the 7th minute after a quick counter from a misplaced pass as John Mcginn slot it past Hugo Lloris. TOTTENHAM didn't find the break trough until late in the second half as New signing Tanguy Ndombele rocketed home from outside the box. Spurs scored minutes later as Harry Kane was found the net after a poor villa clearance. A 3rd was scored in Added time as Mauricio Pochettino’s side kicked of their campaign with a flying start.

CRYSTAL PALACE VS EVERTON
Jordan Pickford was the man of the hour as he made 2crucial saves to help Everton salvaged a point. The English goalie denied both Jordan Ayew and Max Meyer in the second half as Morgan Schnerderlin sees Red for Everton. Everton dictated Possesion and Gylfi Sigurdsson had an effort cleared of the line in the first half. Wilfred Zaha was introduced in the 65th minute to a warm applause from the palace fans for the Ivorian who handed a transfer request days ago. Marcos Silva and Roy Hodsgon both shared the pools as the game ended in a goal less draw.

Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal:

Gunners Edges the clarets thanks to Aubameyang decisive strike. The day started so bad with Mhkitaryan missing a big chance in the match's Early minutes, the goal finally came just before the hour mark thanks to maitland Niles pass to the Gabonese striker for a Sublime finish. Arsenal New signing Pepe also made his premeir league debut as he came on as a Substitute.

Leicester City 0-0 Wolves:

Wolves were left to Curse premeir league new Signee 'Var' for denying them an opening day victory. 

Dendocker noded in from close range a corner by moutinho but the goal was disallowed due to premier league new handball rule. The new rule states any goal scored or created with the use of the hand or arm will be disallowed this season in the Premier League, that was not all as they were lot of missed chances from both sides.

Manchester 4-0 Chelsea

Ruthless and Relentless!! That was the case at old trafford as the Reds thump chelsea to a 4 to Nil defeat. The day started bright for the visitors as chelsea looked so promising after hitting the woodwork twice, United got the first goal after a clumpsy attack from Zouma that gave away a penalty, Neatly Finished by Marcus rashford, at the 2nd period of the game united score 2 Goals in Quick succesion thanks to martial and rashford again. The devil's new man Daniel James came in as a substitute and scored from his first shot of the match to make it 4. The Blues were left to no avail as all effort proved abortive thanks to United Shot stopper, De Gea.

That Wraps up the first week of the new campaign and we go ahead next week dont forget to follow us on Twitter @3ifootball and Also like Our Facebook Page.

PREMIER LEAGUE STATS - GAME WEEK ONE

The Premier League has kicked of with some beautiful, Adrenaline filled, Shocking atmosphere. In just yesterday and Today, we've seen 22 goals scored in 7 games. That's a great stat to the campaign and we at 3i Football would like to bring to you 5

stats in this 7 games provided by Opta (the official stats partners of the Premier  League.

JACK GREALISH - UNLUCKY!

"Jack Grealish has now lost 19 Premier League games in a row - the longest run of any player in the competition's history. Suffering. "

Jack might have to wait a little bit more to grab a win or could he make 20 in the next game??

SCOTT MCGINN & TANGUY NDOMBELE - INSTANT!

Tottenham vs Aston Villa is the first match to see both sides have a player score a

Premier league debut goal since Burnley (Scott Arfield) vs Chelsea (Diego Costa) in August 2014.

Tanguy Ndombele

Scott Mcginn.

GRAHAM POTTER - STARTER!
Graham Potter has won as many premier league games as a manager as he did in eight appearances as a player in the competition; his only victory as a player was 6-3 against Man Utd with Southampton in 1996-97.

MANCHESTER CITY - CONQUERORS!
Today's victory against West Ham was Man City's biggest ever in an opening game of a top-flight campaign.

RAHEEM STERLING - HAT TRICK!!!!
Raheem Sterling is the eighth player to score a hat-trick on the opening weekend of a Premier League season, and the first since Didier Drogba in 2010-11.

TOP 10 WEIRD TRANSFERS OF THE 2019 SUMMER TRANSFER WINDOW

The English Transfer Window  closed officially today at 17:00 GMT bringing the Summer window over in England. It's been a really busy summer for clubs in England and also Europe. We've seen some Bargains and Transfer Records been smashed in the just ended window. But We at 3i Football would like to take a look at 10 weird transfers of  this Transfer window.


10. Andy Caroll

Steve Bruce & Andy Carrol.

The Reason why Andy is taking our No.10 spot is because many of us have forgotten Andy Carrol still plays Football. Initially from Newcastle, Andy Carrol returns home after spending 8 injury filled years at West Ham & Liverpool. The only weird thing we can see about this Transfer is why Newcastle picked him up after Signing Joelignton for £40M???.


9. Cancelo- Danilo Swap

Cancelo pictured left, Danilo pictured on the right.

Manchester City announced on wednesday to have parted way with Danilo in a deal which saw them secure the signature of Juventus fullback Cancelo; A young player at arguably the best moment of his best form ever .

It was indeed a shocking one as the Turin side let go of one of the Best Full back in the world,Juventus recieved  €28m and Danilo as part of the deal. Danilo had just 1 Premeir league start in the just concluded 18/19 premier league season .

The weird Part is what made Juventus sell Cancelo in the first place??. He only joined them last season from Valencia. Besides, Why would Manchester City buy Cancelo if they are still going to play Kyle Walker??, Could it be because of squad depth??.


8. Neto & Cillesen.

Neto was swapped with Cillessen indirectly. 

Look at it this way, Valencia bought Jasper Cillesen from Barcelona only for Barcelona to replace jasper Cillesen with Neto from Valencia. That's very weird right??.

Neto move to Barca is weird mainly because he swapped by from Valencia with Cillessen plus €35million. Now couldn’t Barca just swapped players and even if they’re going to add a price it shouldn’t be as high as 35 million. We can understand that Barca are trying to get rid of unused players, yes, Since singing Cillessen form Ajax in 2016 for €13million he’s only had 5 appearances for Barca, but will swapping Neto for Cillessen not end up in the same situation and Barca will be back to where it started. The question is do they plan on playing Neto more or is he going to rot on the bench like Cillessen did?

7. David Luiz.

David Luiz joined Arsenal from Chelsea for £8M

Dumping West London For North London is absurd but what's more weird is joining Arsenal from Chelsea. He’s definitely not the first to do so (3rd in recent times) but competition can not be the reason for David Luiz to Join Arsenal Because Chelsea are playing the Champions League and have limited options for players in their squad due to their transfer Ban.

The rivalry between Chelsea and Arsenal stretches back decades and a number of players have gone on to play for both clubs, now David Luiz is the newest player to make such a bold move.  David Luiz has moved to North London form West London. Yes, Luiz isn’t the first person to move from Chelsea to Arsenal and Vice versa but those players are considered a traitor by the fans of their previous team e.g Ashley Cole, we hope he can play we such a pressure breathing down his neck. 

It could be that David Luiz Preferred Unai Emery over Frank Lampard as his ideal coach. But what ever reason that made him leave, Only David Knows! 

6. Rodrygo Goes

Rodrygo joined Madrid fromSantos for €45M.

Imagine paying €50M for a relatively Unknown 18 year old from Brazil. Yup, Real Madrid paid €45M to Santos for his Services.

Rodrygo: Real Madrid paid a sum of €45 million for an 18 year old forward. This transfer is so weird because before the signing of Rodrygo, no one knew him and for Madrid to pay such a huge sum of money on an unknown player, you’d think maybe his stats are good and he’s a promising player but it’s not the case, Rodrygo has played 41 times for Santos scoring only 9 times, this is not a great stat or a sign of a promising young player. We did a little research to know more about him and his stats were nothing to talk about. Whoscored.com rated him as follows;

• Finishing                                WEAK

• Areal Duel                             WEAK

• Crossing                                 WEAK

• Defensive contributions     WEAK

To us at 3i he doesn’t worth such a huge amount, but who knows maybe this move might be what he needs to be the best amongst his peers. 

5. Lucas Hernandez

Lucas Hernandez in a Bayern Shirt.

Bayern Munich coughed up £67M for the Frenchman from Atletico this Season. Now that's a whole lot of money for someone who isn't  Andy Robertson.

The 23 year old World cup Winner joined The Bavarians this summer as a Replacement for Daniel Contento and hopes to boost their Defence line after Adding another Frenchman Benjamin Pavard to it's Ranks. But £67M seems a bit excess for Lucas Hernandez. We hope to see him perform this coming season.

4. The Hazard Situation.

Throgan Hazard & Kylian Hazard representing Belgium.

Chelsea sold Eden Hazard to Real Madrid for €130 Million and replaced him with Borussia Dortmund's Christian Pulisic.

Dortmund signed Borussia Mochengladbach's Throgan Hazard to replace Christian Pulisic.

In other words, we can Say 'Chelsea signed Pulisic to replace Hazard and Dortmund signed Hazard to replace Pulisic'. Now that's a funny but weird one.

3. Harry Maguire 

Harry Maguire joined Unted from Leicester for £80 Million.

Manchester United broke the world Record Transfer Fee for a defender for a Defender whose stats in the League last Season was no better than Mustafi's.  The 26 year old Sheffield product was sold by Leicester for a whopping £80 Million. That's £5M more than what Liverpool  paid for Van Dijk Last year. The price tag seems very absurd and it's gonna raise question to the players performance this season.

Harry has got to prove his worth this season or he'll be consider as one of the greatest flops of all times.


2.Antoine Griezmann

Griezmann in Action for Barcelona.

Why Leave Atletico and move to Barcelona only for you to go under Messi's shadow??. The move seems inappropriate for the fact that Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are bitter rivals at the moment.


The French Forward left atletico to a rival side, Barcelona. The catalonian giant had to trigger the released clause of the world cup winner to Secure his service and i can say it was one which no one saw Coming. Griezmann who have previously shown loyalty to the madrid side by turning down Transfer from top clubs of which England giant Manchester United are among. Griezman Signs a five year deal with barcelona with his new release clause set about €800million.

What's more weird is his release Clause, who would want to pay €800M for a 27 year old?. It's ridiculous!!!.

1 . João Felix

João Felix in Atletico.

Paying  £113M for a Teenager is Mind blowing, And binding him the no.7 seven shirt is weird. Although, Kylian Mbappe has put us wrong on the “He is too young” mentality . But João Felix move to Atletico is super weird. Atleti are replacing a 27 year old Griezmann with a 19 year old Felix. João Felix has some big boots too fill and he has to justify his Price tag.

Mind you, João Felix had only 1 international cap to his name and has a release clause of €350M. The whole transfer feels weird but João is an Amazing talent.

THE ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER OF FERNANDO TORRES

Fernando José Torres Sanz is one of most decorated strikers of the 21st century, who has won lots of trophies for both club and country. Let’s have a look at his journey as a footballer.

Torres started his career with Atlético Madrid, passing through their youth team to the first-team squad. He made his first-team debut in 2001 and finished his time at the club with 75 goals in 174 La Liga appearances. But before his La Liga debut, Torres played two seasons in the Segunda División for Atlético, making 40 appearances and scoring seven goals. At age 19, Torres was named the captain, captaining the now Atlético boss, Diego Simione.

Liverpool signed Torres in 2007, for a club record fee. In his first season he scored 24 goals becoming the first Liverpool player to score 20+ goal in a season since Robbie Fowler in the 1995–96 season. He went on to score 65 goals for Liverpool in 102 appearances. Sadly he didn’t win any trophies for Liverpool.

 Torres moved to Chelsea on a five-and-a-half-year contract on 31 January 2011 for an undisclosed fee reported to be £50 million, which set a new record for a British transfer and made him the sixth most expensive footballer in history. He made his Chelsea debut on 6 February 2011 in a 1–0 home defeat to former club Liverpool. On 23 April 2011, Torres scored his first goal for Chelsea against West Ham United in a 3–0 victory, which ended a run of 903 minutes of football without a goal. This was his only goal for Chelsea in the 2010–11 season, having made 18 appearances for his new club. He scored 20 goals in 110 appearances. What a bad move to Chelsea. But he did win the champions league and Europa league with Chelsea.

Torres later joined Italian Serie A club A.C. Milan on a two-year loan on 31 August 2014. On his arrival, he expressed a desire to emulate some of the club's greatest strikers, stating he said, "My shirt to rank alongside Marco van Basten, George Weah and [Filippo] Inzaghi."] He debuted on 20 September 2014, replacing Andrea Poli for the last 14 minutes of a 1–0 home defeat against Juventus and scored his first Milan goal with a  header in their 2–2 draw with Empoli two days later.

On 27 December 2014, it was announced that Torres' move to Milan would be made permanent on 5 January 2015, but two days later, he agreed to rejoin La Liga club Atlético Madrid on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season. The loan was agreed after Alessio Cerci went the opposite way from Atlético to Milan on the same day, 5 January. He scored a total of 14 goals in 49 appearances on his loan return.

On 5 July 2016, Torres signed for Atlético permanently on a one-year contract. In February 2017, he scored his 100th league goal in Spanish football when he netted a brace against Leganés. On 4 July 2017, Torres signed a new one-year contract with the rojiblancos to stay with his boyhood club for one more year after they were banned from signing new players. He scored two goals in his last match with Atlético in a 2–2 draw versus Eibar.

Torres signed for J1 League club Sagan Tosu on 10 July 2018. He scored his first goal for the club on 22 August in the Emperor's Cup, netting in a fourth round victory over Vissel Kobe.His first league goal followed five days later when he scored once and assisted a further two in a 3–0 win over Gamba Osaka. On 21 June 2019, Torres announced that he would retire from football.

Over the course of his career, he’s scores 198 goals in 571 club  appearances and he’s scored 38 times in 110 appearances for Spain.

Fernando Torres retired as one of the mode successful players winning a host of trophies.

Atlético Madrid
Segunda División: 2001–02[231]
UEFA Europa League: 2017–18[150]
UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2015–16

Chelsea
FA Cup: 2011–12[231]
UEFA Champions League: 2011–12[231]
UEFA Europa League: 2012–13[231]

Spain U16
UEFA European Under-16 Championship: 2001

Spain U19
UEFA European Under-19 Championship: 2002

Spain
UEFA European Championship: 2008, 2012
FIFA World Cup: 2010
FIFA Confederations Cup runner-up: 2013; third place: 2009

Individual
UEFA European Under-16 Championship Player of the Tournament: 2001
UEFA European Under-16 Championship top scorer: 2001
UEFA European Under-19 Championship Player of the Tournament: 2002
UEFA European Under-19 Championship top scorer: 2002
Premier League PFA Team of the Year: 2007–08, 2008–09
Premier League Player of the Month: February 2008, September 2009
BBC Goal of the Month: April 2009
UEFA Euro 2008 Final: Man of the Match
UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 2008
UEFA Team of the Year: 2008
FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2008, 2009
ESM Team of the Year: 2007–08
FIFA World Player of the Year third place: 2008
Ballon d'Or third place: 2008
FIFA Confederations Cup Silver Shoe: 2009
Marca Leyenda award: 2012
UEFA European Championship Golden Boot: 2012
FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Shoe: 2013

CONGO VS UGANDA; POST-MATCH ANALYSIS

Congo vs Uganda was a pretty even match, but Congo was expected to win, as they were the bigger side on paper. With players like Bolasie, Chancel Mbemba, Cedric Bakambu who are players with enough experience to give Congo the win.

Congo controlled the game having the most possession, but couldn’t fine the killer pass to break down the Uganda defense, and they were not clinical enough offensively, until Uganda broke down the defense with a beautiful set piece in the 14th minute, with a cross from Farouk Miya and a beautiful headed goal from Patrick Kaddu.

I’m the 48th minute Emmanuel Okwi found the back of the net with a header, with another beautiful set piece cross form Farouk Miya.

The game was pretty matched, but Congo was disappointing with the quality of players they have and couldn’t win the game. Congo had their chances but were wasteful. Was a good game, but Congo could do a lot better if they played more as a team, were more composed and more clinical in front of the goal.

UGANDA VS DR CONGO; Match Preview & Predictions

Congo and Uganda have met a just twice and both times were for the qualification of the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Both have a win to their names. With the first being on the 6th of June, 2004, with Uganda winning 1-nil and the second game was a year later, with Congo winning by 4 goals to nil.

The Cranes of Uganda.

But we’re tipping Congo to win because they have more experienced players that plays in well known teams in Europe, with players like;
• Parfait Mandanda who plays as a goalkeeper for Dinamo Bucharest in Romania,
• Christian Luyindama, defender for Galatasaray/Turkey
• Arthur Masuaku defender for West Ham/England
• Marcell Tisserand defender for Wolfsburg/Germany
• Merveille Bope, Paul-Jose Mpoku both midfielder for Standard Liege/Belgium
• Jacques Maghoma, midfielder for Birmingham City/England
• Chancel Mbemba. Midfielder for Porto/Portugal
• Youssouf Mulumbu, midfielder for Kilmarnock/Scotland
• Chadrack Akolo, forward for Stuttgart/Germany
• Britt Assombalanga, forward for Middlesbrough/England
• Cedric Bakambu, forward Beijing Guoan/China
• Yannick Bolasie, forward Everton/England
• Jonathan Bolingi, forward for Antwerp/Belgium

The Mighty Leopards of D.R Congo

With such experienced player, they should ease past Uganda. Because Uganda don’t have enough experienced players. But One thing that’s sure is that Uganda won’t go down without a fight.

Afcon 2019: Egypt Opens Afcon with a win against Zimbabwe as Salah blanks..

The pharoahs of Egypt opened their campaign with a win against Rivals Zimbabwe, goal came from their front man who plies his trade at kasimpasa.

    It all Begin with the Grand opening as this was the first match of the new edition of the continent's finest Tournament. Mohamed Salah popped up here and there on a sweltering evening in the Egyptian capital but it was trezeguet who supplied the goal just before half time.

Zimbabwe's goalkeeper succumbed to a knock with 10 minutes remaining, though replacement Elvis Chipezeze proved his worth with a brilliant late stop to deny Salah and ensure Egypt had to settle for a one-goal victory.

We'll be back tomorrow for not one, not two, but three more Afcon games LIVE right here, starting with DR Congo vs Uganda.



We'll see you then.

TIPS TO KNOW FOR THE 2019 AFCON

As the African Cup Of Nation (AFCON) starts today, everyone will obviously be glued to their screens. And in the past years there’s been a lot of fantastic winners over the years; let’s a take a quick recap of the winners over the years.

Year Winner

2019

2017 Cameroon

2015 Ivory Coast

2013 Nigeria

2012 Zambia

2010 Egypt             

2008 Egypt             

2006 Egypt            

2004 Tunisia                  

2002 Cameroon     

2000 Cameroon

Most Africa Cup of Nations winner since 2000? Egypt has won three times which is the most times since 2000. Cameroon has won twice.

African Cup of Nations winners list 1957-1998

AFCON winners list 1957-1998? African Cup of Nations Champions list 1957-1998? Here is the list with all Africa Cup of Nations Winners during 1957-1998:

Year Winner

1998 Egypt

1996 South Africa

1994 Nigeria

1992 Ivory Coast

1990 Algeria

1988 Cameroon

1986 Egypt

1984 Cameroon

1982 Ghana

1980 Nigeria

1978 Ghana

1976 Morocco

1974 Congo DR

1972 Congo

1970 Sudan

1968 Congo DR

1965 Ghana

1963 Ghana

1962 Ethiopia

1959 Egypt

1957 Egypt

With that being said, this years AFCON promises to be an interesting one. 24 teams will participate in the competition with three sides making their debut at an Africa Cup of Nations tournament: Mauritania, Burundi and Madagascar.

Group A: Egypt, Zimbabwe, DR Congo and Uganda. Egypt and Zimbabwe to qualify. 

Group B: Nigeria, Guinea, Burundi and Madagascar. Nigeria and Guinea to qualify. 

Group C: Senegal, Algeria, Tanzania and Kenya. Senegal and Kenya to qualify. 

Group D: Morocco, Ivory Coast, Namibia and South Africa. Ivory Coast and Morocco to qualify. 

Group E: Tunisia, Angola, Mauritania and Mali. Tunisia and Angola to qualify. 

Group F: Ghana, Cameroon, Guinea Bissau and Benin. Ghana and Cameroon to qualify. 

16 sides will progress to the next stage with with the top two sides from each group being joined by four of the best third placed sides. With South Africa, Algeria, Mali and Uganda to qualify as best third.

Though we’re not 100 percent sure if this’ll be the out come but based on the strength of the teams we and the difficulty of the groups is how we came up with this prediction. But it can go either ways as all the teams are good in their own way. 

CAN HAZARD BREAK THE “RONALDO NO.7 CURSE”

Eden Hazard after a successful career at Chelsea has left for Real Madrid in hopes of replacing Cristiano Ronaldo. But the question on everyone lips is, “Can he pick up from where Ronaldo left off ?”

Cristiano Ronaldo Dos Santos Aveiro is arguably one of the best player to every step foot on a football field and is one of, if not the best player to ever put on the number 7 jersey. He’s won numerous trophies for every team he has played for, and whenever he leaves, he leaves a big hole in the team.

Real Madrid has promised Eden Hazard the number 7 jersey, but there’s been rumors which suggest Hazard might flop at Madrid. Why? you ask.

You see any player that’s try to replace Ronaldo and also wearing the number 7 jersey has all failed, leaving rumors that Ronaldo curses anyone who wears the number 7 jersey for any teams he plays for.

Ronaldo left Manchester United in 2009 and ever since then United has been looking for a replacement for him, all who wore the iconic number 7 had all flopped.
• Micheal Owen, 31 appearances, 5 goals
• Antonio Valencia, 30 appearances, 1 goal
• Angel Di Maria, 27 appearances, 3 goals
• Memphis Depay, 33 appearances, 2 goals
• Alexis Sanchez, 32 appearances, 3 goals
And Manchester United still hasn’t been able to replace him since then.

Ronaldo left Madrid for Turin in the summer of 2018, when he left, Mariano Diaz and Vinicius Junior were brought in to replace the big man, with Mariano given the number 7 and both have failed to replace him, with both racking up just 5 goals.

It’s Hazard time to put on the iconic Number 7 jersey for Real Madrid, will this move to Madrid and having the 7 on his jersey be detrimental to his career and could he flop at Madrid because of the “Ronaldo No.7 Curse”?

Hazard who is known to be a good playmaker who create chances well and score goals even though he doesn’t score much, can fare much better than Mariano and Junior but can never replace the great Cristiano Ronaldo Dos Santos Aveiro.

But, will he flop like the rest of Ronaldo’s replacement, carrying on the curse or actually have a good performance for Real, thereby breaking the curse? To know this, we’ll have to wait.