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44 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2019
Uzoho bags first
career red card
SUPER Eagles goalkeeper
Francis Uzoho continues to hog
the headlines for all the wrong
reasons in Cyprus, with the latest
being the red card he was shown in
the ongoing game between
Anorthosis and Alki Oroklini.
It was his first match for
Anorthosis since his well-publicized
health certificate scandal, which Antonis
made him miss six successive games
in the Cypriot First Division.
Uzoho received the first red card
in his career after 23 minutes for
unsportsmanlike conduct and the
incident occurred shortly after
Anorthosis scored their second goal.
The fourth official, Timotheos
Christofi informed the referee
that the Nigerian made a
gesture towards the Alki
Oroklini supporters.
The 20-year-old Uzoho had
received four yellow cards in 37
matches across all competitions
prior to today's game at Stadio
Papadopoulos
(Lárnaka).
Uzoho has been cautioned
once in 13 games for the Super
Eagles, a dubious yellow card
in the 47th minute in an African
Cup of Nations qualifier
against Libya last October.
Emery: April will define Arsenal season
UNAI Emery says Arsenal's
results in April will define their
season as they fight for the "big
possibility" of Champions League
qualification.
In 2019, Arsenal have beaten top-four
rivals Chelsea and Manchester United
at home, as well as drawing away at
Tottenham, leaving themselves firmly
in the hunt for the top four. Emery says
these "key" performances have been
crucial in their race for Champions
League football, but with no games
against top-six opposition left, the
Arsenal coach has warned his players
not to get complacent. Speaking to Sky
Sports News, Emery said: "In April, we
are playing in a lot of matches and it is
the key for our season.
"We finished very well both in the
Europa League and Premier League
before the international break. But in
each match, we need to give a big focus
and every player must be ready to give
their best performance for us.
Mbappé takes over
from Neymar,
Cavani
PSG’s march to the Ligue 1
title continues apace and the
Parisians could have the title
wrapped up next weekend if
Thomas Tuchel’s side beat
•Kylian Mbappé
Strasbourg at home and Lille, their
nearest challengers, fail to claim three points
away at Stade Reims.
In any case, it would take a collapse of epic
proportions now for PSG not to lift the Ligue 1
title for a second consecutive season and when
the if becomes when, it will be largely due to
the influence of Kylian Mbappé, who has led the
side in the absence of Neymar and Edinson
Cavani in recent weeks and scored the only goal
of the game in the Stadium de Toulouse to
maintain PSG’s 20-point advantage over Lille.
Mbappé has now scored nine times in his last
seven Ligue 1 games, the same number of
matches that the Uruguay forward, who is the
side’s second highest scorer this season, has
missed with hamstring and muscle issues. In
three of those games, Mbappé hit the decisibe
goal.
Across all competitions this season, Mbappé
has scored 32 times and provided 15 assists in 36
games, cementing his place as the hottest
property in world football at the moment and
casting the high-profile absences of Neymar and
Cavani into the shadows. The Uruguayan is the
club's all-time record scorer and the Brazilian the
most expensive player in the world, but PSG fans
only have eyes for Mbappé at the moment.
• Ahmad
•Uzoho
CHELSEA
manager
Maurizio Sarri has
conceded that striker Gonzalo
Higuain is finding English
football ‘difficult’.
Sarri and Higuain were
reunited in January after their
2015-16 campaign together at
Napoli, during which time the
striker scored a recordbreaking
36 goals.
"[Higuain] said to me that it's
difficult, because the physical
impact of the defenders here
is really very strong,” Sarri
was quoted as saying by Sky
Sports. “The referees here are
really very different than in
Italy, and so it’s another
football for him, especially for
a striker and a goalkeeper, it’s
really very different.
“I think he needs time, but
we have no time. So we need
him at his top level in the last
two months. We need Gonzalo
at the top. It’s not easy I think
to get used to this
championship.”
CAF president rubbishes Comoros
CAS case against Cameroon
Caf president Ahmad Ahmad says the
case filed by Comoros at the Court of
Arbitration for Sport (CAS) asking for
Cameroon to be kicked out of the 2019
AFCON finals has no merit.
Cameroon was stripped of the 2019 Afcon
hosting rights due to ill-preparedness and
Egypt has replaced them.
Cameroon will host the 2021 edition.
However, Comoros are seeking the
Indomitable Lions' expulsion from the Afcon
tournament citing Article 92 of CAF
regulations.
According to Article 92: “If a country
having been entrusted with the
organisation of the final tournament of the
Africa Cup of Nations is desisting or the
tournament is being withdrawn from it, it
shall be subject, in addition to further
disciplinary sanctions, to a fine fixed
according to the following scale:
Sarri: Higuain finding
English football difficult
•Higuain
Buffon close to new PSG deal
Gianluigi Buffon is reportedly close to a new contract
with Paris Saint-Germain, which could take the
goalkeeper through to 2021.
According to ESPN, PSG are ready to take up their
option to extend Buffon’s contract for an extra season.
However, the broadcaster adds the French giants plan
to include an option of a further extension, potentially
keeping him at the club until he is 43 years old.
The former Juventus and Italy No 1 has made 20
appearances for PSG this season but was partly blamed
for their Champions League exit to Manchester United last
month.
Varane wants to leave Madrid
Madrid defender Raphaël Varane has reportedly
told the club he wishes to leave the Bernabéu this
summer despite the return as manager of his
compatriot Zinedine Zidane, who scouted the 25-yearold
for Madrid when he had played just a handful of
games for Lens and was instrumental in the signing of
the future France captain in 2011.
However, according to a report on Spanish
television sports program Jugones, Varane is
disillusioned with the club and will seek a
“change of scenery” in the summer,
with Juventus and Manchester
United keeping a close eye on developments.
AS understands that Varane is annoyed Real
Madrid did not lay on any kind of tribute after
France’s triumph at the 2018 World Cup, which
was somewhat overshadowed at club level
by Luka Modric’s Golden Ball and Ballon d’Or
awards.
Varane’s contract at Real Madrid runs until
2022 after he signed a new deal last year and
he has an eye-watering release clause of 500
million euros.
•Varane
“92.3. Withdrawal notified within one year
before the date of the final tournament: a fine of
five hundred thousand (500,000) U.S. dollars
and a suspension of the next edition of AFCON
of it’s A national team, without considering the
concerned edition.”
But Ahmad has hit back saying Comoros’ case
does not hold water.
“They are fourth in their group. Even if they
believe that Cameroon does not deserve to be
at the AFCON, Cameroon has just shown on the
pitch that they deserve qualification. Everything
must first be played on the pitch,” Ahmad was
quoted as saying by Radio France International.
“As for the victory on paper, it really takes some
irregularities for this to be taken into account.
Our rules are clear. Clause 92 talks about
withdrawal. And legally this is not the case. So
section 92 does not apply. It was CAF who
decided to postpone the AFCON of Cameroon,
and make this shift (now in 2021, edition).