#African Football League

[nervy-nerva]

African Football League : Mamelodi et WAC en finale, Ahly et Espérance démarqués

Mamelodi Sundowns (Afrique du Sud) et Wydad Athletic club de Casablanca (Maroc) se sont qualifiés en finale de l’édition inaugurale de l’AFL en se débarrassant respectueusement de Al Ahly (égypte) et l’Espérance sportive de Tunis (Tunis). Les Sud-africains de Mamelodi, victorieux (1-0) en match aller de ce demi-finale au Caire face à Al Ahly, n’ont eu besoin que d’un nul de 0-0, mercredi 1…

[iweb-rdc001]

African Football League : le TP Mazembe remporte le premier round face à l'Espérance de Tunis

Le Tout Puissant Mazembe a battu, hier dimanche 22 octobre l’Espérance de Tunis lors du match aller de la première édition de l’African Football League en Tanzanie Grâce au Malien Cheick Fofana. Dix minutes, c’est le temps qu’il a fallu au TP Mazembe pour inscrire le seul but de son match contre l’Espérance de Tunis. Une action superbe avec le tandem passeur – buteur KINZUMBI – FOFANA à la…

[maiteo]

the amount of casuals that are gonna be in manu’s business as well as the average evil prem fan (especially the united ones) I don’t think I can do this

please

[yudgefudge]

What Saudi Arabia is currently doing is sportswashing, and it is NOT okay.

Sportswashing is a term used to describe the practice of individuals, groups, corporations, or governments using sports to improve reputations tarnished by wrongdoing. [wikipedia]

By signing multiple [washed] players for their league and not producing any young "talent" all they're doing is drawing attention away from their own nationals and trying to fit in already popular footballers. They want you to watch the Saudi league without thinking of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia, along with basically the rest of the middle east has committed multiple human rights violations in terms of migrant workers, sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, the list goes on. And they get away with a lot of it because they are viewed as "unflinching" religious states - the same unflinching state that bent their own Islamic law just so Ronaldo could play for them, reportedly - and get conservative backing. But when the left (or to be honest, decent human beings) try and criticize them and bring these things to light, they disguise them through participating in sports events. I'm only familiar with the [recent] football examples of this:

Manchester City & Newcastle being [majorly] owned by Emirati and Saudi GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. Newcastle is literally DIRECTLY OWNED by the Saudi government through their treasury jesus

PSG literally being fucking owned by Qatar???

The 2022 World Cup being held in Qatar (Saudi also bid on the 2023 Women's WC as well but lost)

And obviously, Saudi Arabia beginning to push its own football league by signing (poaching) multiple players and not fostering any of their own talent.

Human right violations are not Muslim doctrine.

By playing for, and promoting, the Saudi league, you are either saying you don't care about the human right violations going on in the region, or you agree with them.

Every player is part of the problem. Including that one you like.

In these trying times, let's not lose the plot. I've seen people on Twitter, Instagram and even on here try and spin Saudi league criticism into some sort of islamophobia thing when that's as far from the point as you could get. It is anti-Muslim to commit the violations that are currently going on in the middle East.

Just had to remind you all.

Read more abt sportswashing on the wikipedia article and its attached sources

[dreamstz1]

Mamelodi Sundowns FC: South Africa's Footballing Titans

Nestled in the vibrant city of Pretoria, South Africa, Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club stands as a symbol of pride, tradition, and footballing excellence. With a rich history spanning over four decades, Mamelodi Sundowns has solidified its position as one of the most successful and iconic clubs in South African and African football. Today, we’ll delve into the journey, recent triumphs, and…

[footballmanageraddict]

Pentagon Pursuit | Part 27 | The Ultimate Revenge

#FM24 #PentagonPursuit Part 27: The Ultimate Revenge. Robaato Rasamu leads @KaizerChiefs to the South African title but has his eyes on a much-bigger prize. And a refereeing catastrophe results in an epic performance from his exciting team. Read here:

The magic touch of Japanese manager Robaato Rasamu was rubbing off on his Kaizer Chiefs side as they looked set to qualify from their African Champions League group and led the way in South Africa’s DStv Premiership. A welcome two-month mid-season break moving into 2035 gave Rasamu and his players a little time to recover, reset and refocus ahead of a huge few months. African Champions League…

[uniteds]

stuff that happened in the 2022/2023 football season that should send us into a coma but we’re too desensitized:

1. the whole ass world cup in the middle of the season. what was that

2. manchester united sacking ronaldo and announcing a sale of the club in the middle of the world cup

3. ronaldo getting dropped at the world cup and his replacement scoring a hattrick immediately after

4. keeping up with the belgians (world cup edition)

5. keeping up with the belgians (courtois saying he doesn’t respect kdb after stealing his missus)

6. ronaldo stans beefing with a little moroccan girl

7. the kingdom of saudi arabia buying newcastle united and then telling the premier league that they didn’t and the premier league going “oh okay if you say so”

8. megan thee stallion being romelu lukaku’s date to lautaro martinez’s wedding

9. pique cheating on shakira and then shakira releasing a diss track about it

10. shakira figuring out pique cheated on her because someone ate her strawberry jam and pique doesn’t eat strawberry jam

11. apparently the girl pique cheated on shakira with (clara) cheating on pique with pep

12. wagatha christie libel case

13. real madrid dropping a video accusing barcelona of fascism and the government of cataluyna getting involved

14. the pope coming out as a manchester united fan

15. the one napoli fan that basically made zielinski strip on the pitch

16. mount vesuvius park shutting down because napoli fans wanted to fake an eruption as a celebration

17. frank lampard taking everton into a relegation battle, getting sacked, and then taking chelsea into a relegation battle

18. on that note: chelsea were in a relegation scrap and finished 12th

19. mourinho lost his first ever european final to sevilla europa league black magic

20. whatever the fuck borussia dortmund did on the last day of the bundesliga season

21. anthony martial’s ex wife chasing his first wife down a french motorway with a baby in the passenger seat

22. psg suspending messi because he took an unsanctioned trip to saudi arabia and then unsuspending him two days later because they didn’t want people talking about geopolitics

23. the absolutely bizarre messi apology video released by psg

24. spurs refunding their fans’ tickets after being embarrassing

25. pep’s heartbreak over the fact julia roberts is a manchester united fan

26. chelsea scored one goal in the month of april

27. chelsea and spurs had six managers between them and won one match combined between march and april

28. mourinho fighting anthony taylor after the europa league final

29. milan derby in the ucl for the first time since 2005

30. luis enrique saying he’s cool with the spanish players having sex during the world cup as long as they’re not having orgies

31. luis enrique saying he doesn’t have sex anymore unless his wife wants to

32. man city charged with 115 counts of financial doping and trying to get the barrister in charge disqualified because he’s an arsenal fan

33. mourinho wire-taping himself to catch referees being corrupt

34. ryan reynolds and mac from it’s always sunny in philadelphia buying a football club and that football club getting promoted

35. pele died rip

36. women football awards sponsored by shein and klarna having a category for “male football ally of the year” and it’s just random men that went to one (1) women’s game

37. barcelona negreia case (how do you say calciopoli in catalan?)

38. infantino saying he feels gay, african, like a migrant worker, disabled, arab, and qatari

39. infantino saying he was oppressed as a child because he was ginger and italy is not safe for gingers

40. david alaba’s father in law getting arrested for being one the leaders of a far right group plotting to overthrow the german government

41. richarlison being tumblr’s it girl for a month and then not scoring a goal for the next four

42. juventus being in the middle of another corruption scandal and being docked points because of it

43. two teams getting investigated by the british government for playing football the weekend the queen died

44. gavi getting a yellow card in the first minute of a football match

45. pogba’s brother was arrested by french authorities for being part of a group-organized extortion attempt against pogba

46. richarlison getting a tattoo of neymar’s face and neymar paying him 30k to get it removed

47. iker casillas coming out, puyol implying they had a thing, and both of them retracting it in the most misha collins way possible.

48. sane and mane fight

49. zlatan retired from football

50. barca withholding about 50 million in wages from their players and somehow frenkie still didn’t want to join manchester united

[footytea]

disclaimer: these are all romain molina's claims. none of them are mine. romain is an investigative journalist who focuses on exposing corruption, abuse, etc. within the football world. i'm just sharing what he has said over the past few years. some of these claims might sound crazy, but not unbelievable, unfortunately.

trigger warning: his claims mention topics such as rape, abuse, pedophilia, etc. so if those are topics you're not comfortable reading about, please don't continue reading.

one particular topic romain molina has been repeatedly speaking about is the pedophilia and trafficking ring(s) within the football world, involving many (as molina said over half of the) federations, including the spanish federation and the french federation, but also in south & north america, asia, africa. what is happening within these federations is actively being covered up and romain claims that even the french government is involved in the shit happening within the french football federation.

here's a list of a few claims romain molina has made:

more than 400 international players from the premier league, championship, ligue 1 and ligue 2 have been raped multiple times during their youth. some of them had anal injuries and diseases as a result and would go to specialised clinics to be treated. this has been going on for at least two decades.

an international coach was caught raping two 13 year old girls in the middle of an international tournament. his employer covered everything up for him, but still fired him in 2017. romain molina later went on to say that this story was also covered up by a footballer who many idolise and would use as their profile pic on twitter.

a ligue 1 club covered up a pedophilia case, that took place in their training centre. the (foreign) victim was later sent back to his country of origin.

victims of abuse and people who knew about this cannot speak up without facing major consequences. a human rights lawyer who was in the space romain hosted also stated how dangerous it is for the victims to talk about the abuse they have suffered.

an ex-member of the french federation said the following: "when something happens, we keep quiet. they have too much power. the second you speak, it's over."

the ex-director of the french federation said: "at the FFF, everyone talks to everyone. they are all aware of these affairs but they are very quickly buried. it's a policy of silence. they are like ostriches: head in the sand. if you speak, you are eliminated."

didier deschamps apparently claimed he had no idea about the cases of abuse within the french federation, while he was in contact with several people involved these abuse cases and knew about everything happening, but kept quiet for financial reasons.

a lot of molina's work focuses on african football. he has shared stories of female players forced to get abortions (one even died as a result), luring children to their homes, giving children blowjobs and keeping their sperm in jars to perform rituals, academies ran by pedophiles. crazy stuff.

some claims he made unrelated to the pedophilia and trafficking rings:

a current (this was back in 2021, idk if he's still a current player) french international player would organise parties where he would shit in women's mouths and film himself doing it. he forced a girl to participate, who later on issued a formal complaint. molina was also sent a video.

apparently helium balloons are very popular at arsenal and there's a player who even threw a "nitrous oxide balloons"-themed birthday party.

generally, a lot of players smoke shisha. there was a time psg players would bring their shisha/hookah with them on away games. one of the players who would regularly smoke shisha is blaise matuidi.

a few notes:

these are just a few of his claims summarised. if you want more details i would have to deep dive into his work more. romain has written several books and has been doing investigative work for longer than a decade now.

this space was insane, i think there were about 80k listening, even clubs' official twitter accounts were tuning in. the rock was in the space at one point as well 😭 i can't remember who else tuned in as it's been 2/3 years already

these claims simply show how rotten football institutions are and how it isn't surprising that footballers with rape/abuse charges don't have their careers ruined, when the people in charge are doing the same things and even worse.

[pedripics]

Pedri: The island boy with the world at his feet

(via The Athletic - December 2020)

“It is very easy to say it now but the people who know me know that it’s true,” Ruben Delgado tells The Athletic. “When Pedri was nine years old, he reminded me of Iniesta. I always say that the first time I saw him, I knew he had something special."

“His way of playing — everything very simple but very important at the same time. He was not looking to nutmeg people or do lots of stepovers: just the simple thing and the right thing. He was just different: the way he saw football, understood the game, found spaces nobody else could, the maturity he had compared to his team-mates. That is very difficult to find in the world of football but he does it. And it does remind you of Iniesta; looking for the simple thing. It’s a gift. Not very common in football.”

Delgado is a youth football coach with the team in Tegueste, a village on the island of Tenerife. When Pedro Gonzalez Lopez, known then as now as Pedri, turned nine, Andres Iniesta had scored Spain’s winning goal in the World Cup final the year before and later that season won the third of his eventual four Champions League trophies with Barcelona.

Iniesta was also then maybe the most popular footballer in Spain, winning over team-mates, opponents and neutrals with a becoming mix of quiet good manners off the pitch and unshowy genius as he decided games for club and country.

So it was quite something to say that this shy young kid was like Iniesta, but Delgado has not changed his mind over the eight years since he first started coaching a shy, unassuming boy with the gift for playing simple but special football who has settled naturally into the Barcelona midfield since his arrival last summer.

“Pedri just transmitted something different than the other kids of his age,” he says. “Not just how he played with the ball but the respect he showed to his teammates, rival players, the coaches, everyone. One game he scored a super goal, dribbling (past) many players and finishing it perfectly. All of us on the sideline — our fans, and the opposition too — all just had to applaud. At the end of the game, I asked him, ‘Pedri, how did you do that?’ and he just looked at me and said, ‘I don’t know. it just came out naturally’. And I told him, ‘No, no, Pedri — that is not natural’.”

Pedri was born in November 2002 — just a few weeks after Iniesta made his Barcelona first-team debut — in Tegueste, a small town in the northwest of Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands.

He was also born into Barcelona — given that, eight years previously, his grandfather Fernando Rodriguez had established the Peña Barcelonista de Tenerife-Tegueste, one of the first official Barcelona supporters clubs in the Canary Islands. Pedri’s father, also Fernando, still runs it, along with family friend Oscar Ledesma.

“Tegueste is a small town of around 10,000 people, with a healthy rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid supporters, and the Rodriguez family were always known as ‘the Catalans’ as they were all Barca fans,” Ledesma tells The Athletic. “His grandfather was president of the town’s football club (Union Deportiva Tegueste) for many years and also president of the ‘Lucha Canaria’ club (a local form of wrestling developed by the Guanches, the earliest known natives of the archipelago off the north west African coast). His father was a goalkeeper for many years and had some trials with Tenerife, although he never played for them. The family has a restaurant here in Tegueste, which was established by his grandfather. His grandmother worked there, now his parents, his uncles; they all work together.”

Naturally, Pedri and his older brother Fernando (the third generation) began to play for Tegueste’s youth teams, where Delgado was their coach. Although two years younger than his brother, Pedri’s displays soon started to draw attention in their hometown and elsewhere on the island.

“There were people who came to our games just to watch Pedri,” Delgado says. “There was admiration from the parents of the other kids, from the opposition teams. He did not stand out just for the way he played: his dribbling or finishing, like some kids of this age do. With him, it was his maturity and way of understanding football, knowing very quickly to take the correct decision in every moment. You do not see that very often in a kid of nine or ten years old. People could see the potential that he had but also how humble he was, how normal. Tegueste is a small place where everybody knows their neighbours and it’s a family club which transmits those values — respect for referees and opponents, friendliness, to enjoy yourself.”

Tenerife-born Pedro was an important player in Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering Barcelona team of that time, while the Spain side which won Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 had David Silva, from the neighbouring island of Gran Canaria. Lionel Messi was by now the favourite player of most Barcelona-supporting kids the world over. However, the young Pedri and his father had a clear idea of who his model players should be.

“Pedri always says that Iniesta was his hero and his reference from when he used to go to the peña (supporters’ club) to watch the games with his father and grandfather,” says Ledesma. “He also spoke a lot about (Michael) Laudrup, even though he moved to Madrid and he never saw him play for Barca. His father used to show him videos.”

When the family realised that Pedri needed to be challenged more on the pitch, the two brothers joined Juventud Laguna, a bigger club in San Cristobal de La Laguna, still just a 10-minute drive from home.

“Pedri was the smallest on the team but every coach he had could see that they had a special talent,” Ledesma says. “He did not want to leave at first for Laguna as he was happy playing with his friends and there were also offers from stronger clubs, like Tenerife. The first time he made his debut on the Laguna juveniles (the under-18s, when he was 14), the senior side immediately called him and wanted him to play with them. His dad was worried that he would get broken up, with those little sticks of legs he had, but he just went with them and did amazing things. He is very special.”

By now, Pedri had also started to play for the Canary Islands’ representative side and scouts from some (but not all) Primera Division clubs had taken notice. Although there was still a reluctance to move and leave his friends and family behind, Las Palmas’ academy director Manuel Rodriguez made a persuasive case for him to move to another of the Canary Island clubs to progress his career.

“Offers kept coming and Las Palmas have a very good reputation in the Canaries for their youth system, and very good residences for the boys to live in,” Ledesma says. “It was tough for his parents to accept. He was moving to another island but they assured him about his studies too and they convinced the whole family with their ideas: where he would play, how they would help him to progress. He was very happy there.”

Delgado says that each step of the way, Pedri had help in keeping his career progressing forward at just the right pace.

“Good players always need new challenges and to move up,” he says. “The process has been ideal. He has overcome every challenge that came along each step of the way. He had various offers at different moments but they have known how to choose the right option. Not everybody has that good fortune and it has gone well for him. His father, his brother, his uncles, his friends; they have all kept his feet on the ground. They did not let him grow further than was best in every moment. That has helped him to get to where he is now.”

It was summer 2018 when Pedri moved into the Casa Amarilla youth academy of Las Palmas. After one year as the youngest player among the club’s under-18s, he was ready to move up the levels again.

Then-Las Palmas technical secretary Toni Otero picks up the story.

“I first saw him playing aged 15 and we decided to bring him up to the first team,” Otero tells The Athletic. “We just could not believe what we were seeing, that a player at that age could do what he was doing. We knew he had a lot of potential, could reach the very top. We were afraid that he was still too young but once we saw him train and then play for the first team, we realised he was an extraordinary player.”

Otero signed Pedri to his first professional contract in July last year but was still unsure whether the slight 16-year-old was ready to be pitched into a first team playing in Spain’s second tier.

“The only fear we had was that, physically, he was not ready for professional football with grown men, as he is not a big kid,” he says. “But from the first training session with the first team, we could see he would adapt very well. His first game with us was a pre-season friendly in Marbella against Almeria, after just two weeks of pre-season training with the first team — and he was the best player on the pitch. He did whatever he wanted: played comfortably, passed the ball, ran the game, dribbled past players. He was showing that, ‘I’m here now. I don’t care who you are but I am a proper football player’. That game told us that this kid has everything to reach the top.”

Las Palmas’ coach Pepe Mel was also convinced and Pedri started the first game of the season, doing well even though his team were beaten 1-0 by Huesca. A week later, he got the assist on veteran striker Ruben Castro’s goal in a 1-1 draw away to Malaga. The following month, his first goal in senior football brought Las Palmas’ first win of the season, at home to Sporting Gijon.

Except when called up for Spain’s age-group teams, including to play at the Under-17 World Cup in Brazil, Pedri played each week for Las Palmas. Opponents quickly realised their main creative threat was the tiny kid in midfield but he still finished last season with four goals and seven assists in 36 league games. Otero says that everyone in the dressing room automatically took to this quiet teenager who did his talking on the pitch.

“He was a young kid; skinny, very shy,” Otero says, “so the other players did not know what to expect, but that also helped them to take him into the dressing room. At Barcelona now, from Leo Messi to the groundsman, everyone naturally wants to look after him. And at Las Palmas, it was the same. We had to go along learning with him. I always think age is not important in football — some players of 40 seem like kids, others of 16 are already like men.”

Otero agrees with Ledesma and Delgado that Pedri had good people around him, including his agents Leaderbrock Sports, who also represent other younger Spanish talents including Manchester City’s Ferran Torres and Athletic Bilbao’s Unai Nunez.

“Pedri is very close to his family and they protect him,” Otero says. “His agents look after many young players and know how to protect these kids. Everything related to football and outside of football was looked after. He was playing in the Las Palmas first team and living in the residence at the training ground. We had to take the basketball hoop down as he just wanted to play it all the time, but he was not going out at night. He is not a party kid."

“He likes his PlayStation, his friends, going to the park. He is just such a quiet kid, which is helping him at the moment. It is very important that he is kept away from the parts of football which are not good.”

Given the family connection to Barcelona, it might have seemed obvious that Pedri would end up at the Nou Camp at some point but things could easily have turned out differently.

“Pedri was very close to joining Real Madrid,” says Ledesma. “When he was still playing for Laguna, and began to draw attention, various clubs came here — Deportivo La Coruna, Atletico Madrid, Villarreal and also Real Madrid. The Barca scout here did not rate him. At that moment, they did not think he was an interesting player."

“Madrid took him for a trial. He was there for a week but there was tremendous snow, so he could only do a couple of training sessions. They told him they would be in touch but nothing came of it. It is very funny, as he said he did not recognise himself wearing a Madrid jersey when he was there on trial. All of us here in the peña, including myself, tried to make contact with Barcelona in some way to tell them that this kid is going on trial at Madrid, and he’s Barca to the core — but nobody took any notice.”

Barcelona then had another stroke of luck. Otero had spent two years working as a scout at the Camp Nou and personally knew those running their youth structures, including the club’s former midfielder Jose Mari Bakero.

“When I saw this player, after just 10 minutes, I called Barcelona to talk to Jose Mari and tell him to come and look at this kid,” Otero says, “as he is a Barca player — not 100 per cent but 1,000 per cent. ‘You have to come here, even though he is just 16 years old, but if you take him now, it will be a lot easier than if you wait another year as by then, he will already be a ‘crack’.’ And Jose Mari took me at my word, came here and he could see it too after just 10 minutes.”

So, in early September last year, when he had still only played three senior games for Las Palmas, it was agreed that Pedri would join Barcelona this past summer for an initial fee of €5 million plus add-ons, including 15 per cent of the profit in any future sale. The deal did not make huge headlines at the time but, more recently, Barcelona figures including current sporting director Ramon Planes and former club president Josep Maria Bartomeu have taken credit for their supposed foresight.

“I imagine that many people want to put medals on their chests as now we can see Pedri is going to be a world-class player,” Otero says. “I made the first call, to Jose Mari Barkero, as I had worked at Barca and I knew perfectly well what was the best to do.”

Ledesma says Pedri and his family also received offers from other big clubs at that time. However, the connection with Barcelona was too strong to consider going anywhere else.

“When he was at Las Palmas, the offers started to come, and Barca got involved then,” says Ledesma. “There were various offers on the table but he told his father that if it were possible, he only wanted to join Barca. I believe there were better offers from other teams but both he and his father were clear they wanted Barca.”

After completing the season with Las Palmas, Pedri formally arrived at Barcelona to start pre-season in early August — just as most of his new team-mates were in Lisbon, about to crash out of the Champions League with an 8-2 quarter-final loss to Bayern Munich.

When Ronald Koeman took over as coach a few weeks later, he spoke publicly about Pedri needing to be sent on loan as he was too young to be considered for the first team.

Koeman has a reputation for showing confidence in youth but had also spoken a lot about giving a chance to Philippe Coutinho, who was returning from a season on loan at Bayern. The competition for places in attacking midfield roles also included World Cup 2018 winner Antoine Griezmann, €130 million France international Ousmane Dembele, €30 million Portugal international Francisco Trincao, homegrown fan favourite Riqui Puig and a certain guy called Messi.

However, Pedri’s performances in training, and in the first few friendlies before all the senior players had returned to full fitness after their brief close-season break having played on into August, led to a quick change of plans.

“I imagine Koeman had the same experience we did,” Otero says. “I was fully sure that if he did pre-season with Barca, then he would stay (rather than being loaned out) — no doubts at all — because Koeman would have seen that he was ready. Even though he looks small, he is physically strong and he is just a Barca player. After seeing him train for 10 minutes, Koeman realised that he had a player who was going to be one of the best in the world, for sure.”

Ledesma says that even those closest to Pedri thought it most likely he would spend another year gaining experience and playing time on loan somewhere else, possibly in Germany.

“We thought that he would go and do pre-season at Barcelona but we were sure they would loan him to another team where he would be able to play every week,” Ledesma says. “He could not go to Barca B. That was in his contract. There were many teams interested, including Borussia Dortmund, and we thought he could be loaned back to Las Palmas. He was prepared for that but the circumstances at Barca, the time of transition there, have helped for younger players to get opportunities. And he has taken it, and settled in there, playing a lot more than we expected.”

Delgado says that Pedri himself was always convinced that if given a chance, he could show he was ready to play in Barcelona’s first team.

“I am only surprised by how fast it is happening; that he has earned his place in the XI at Barcelona so quickly,” Delgado says. “We all expected it to happen but to take a bit more time. I remember talking to him in the summer and he was convinced he wanted to stay at Barca this season, and when this kid decides to do something, he usually does it.”

Most new players who have come to Barcelona in recent years have needed time to adapt, including many who were much older and with a lot more experience than Pedri, with Coutinho and Griezmann being obvious examples. This year could have been extra difficult, given all the turmoil around the club, including Messi’s attempt to leave last summer and Bartomeu’s resignation as president in October. However, those around Pedri say he has settled in remarkably easily.

“He speaks wonderfully about the atmosphere in the dressing room: above all, about the older players who have taken to him and to the other younger players, like Trincao and Ansu Fati,” says Ledesma. “Even at the start, when the mood was a bit strange and the president resigned, and all that, he felt very comfortable. He has that character — that people warm to him quickly. He speaks very well about everybody: (Sergio) Busquets, (Gerard) Pique, Messi and all of them.”

Pedri came off the bench in the first three La Liga games of the season, then was given a first start at Getafe in week four, with Coutinho dropping out. Barcelona lost 1-0 but the 17-year-old was one of their best players, with a strong run and clever pass that was key to a move which saw Messi hit a post from the visitors’ best chance to equalise.

“Since the start, Koeman has treated him with a lot of care, given him lots of advice,” says Ledesma. “Above all, he has given him confidence. When he trains and plays, he keeps telling him he is doing very well, to keep going like this, to use his imagination and not be afraid to try things, to do what he knows he can do — and for a kid so young, that gives you a lot of confidence.”

Four days later, he came off the bench to make his Champions League debut and marked the occasion with his first Barcelona goal in a 5-1 victory over Ferencvaros  He was back in the XI for October’s Clasico at home to Real Madrid but did not have his best game and was taken off early in a 3-1 defeat. Koeman kept faith, though, and started him again four days later at Juventus — and Pedri produced a phenomenal performance, regularly skipping away from Juan Cuadrado and frustrating the Colombian by stealing the ball from him, too. A few weeks later came his first La Liga goal, another confident finish in a 5-2 victory over Real Betis.

“As a 17-year-old, you have to understand there will be ups and downs, and better and worse games,” Otero says. “Maybe he did not stand out so much against Madrid but then, a few days later, everybody saw what he did against Juventus. But if the coach keeps putting him in the team, it is because he is happy with his performances.”

While Pedri’s season has been progressing as well as anyone could have hoped, his team have stumbled along and mixed some decent performances with other horror-show displays. Many local pundits say it is no coincidence that they have been playing better in recent weeks because Pedri has more responsibility in the team, and €155 million Brazil international Coutinho is featuring less. Koeman has also been experimenting with the team’s shape, and Pedri played a deeper role in the recent 2-1 win over Real Sociedad, when he drew even more admiration for a brave last-ditch Javier Mascherano-style challenge on Alexander Isak which prevented an almost certain late equaliser.

“Pedri is a player who understands football,” Otero says. “It is not that he is focused on playing in one position or another, or that the coach has told him he must do this or that. No. He understands what he has to do before a coach or anybody can tell him. He has the game in his head and knows perfectly well what he needs to do. It is something great that he has.”

The most difficult challenge for many new Barcelona players is to get on the same wavelength as Messi, something neither Griezmann nor Coutinho have managed to do yet. However, Pedri has quickly struck up an understanding with the Argentinian. Against Real Sociedad, 10 of the 31 passes Pedri completed were to Messi, while Barca’s No 10 found him nine times in return. Their connection was again clear in the 3-0 win at Real Valladolid just before Christmas, especially with the back-heel assist from Pedri for Messi’s strike and the joyous goal celebration between the pair.

“At Las Palmas, the players who he connected best with on the pitch were the most technical: Jonathan Viera and Ruben Castro,” says Ledesma. “When Viera arrived on loan, he told Pedri, ‘You look for me on the pitch and you and me, we are going to understand each other’. Maybe with Messi, it is not the exact same words but something similar has happened."

“Messi knows that if you give him the ball, you will get it back in a better position, and that is important when you play with these technical players. Pedri is also bursting with pride that Messi talks with him, gives him advice, having been his hero almost since he was born. That, for him, is something incredible. Messi speaks more in the dressing room than in front of the cameras. From what I hear, he is more a leader inside the dressing room than it might seem from outside. He lifts the others, he supports them, and that is helping Pedri a lot.”

Otero says Pedri has not had to change anything about his personality or his style of play to fit in at Barcelona — and has not tried to show off with any special tricks or unnecessary demonstrations of skill, instead just continuing to play the same simple way he always has.

“He has that humility and simplicity and naturalness,” Otero says. “With this kid, everything he does is so natural. He just has that talent inside him. That is what talent is: knowing what to do in each moment and being able to do it. Not just heading off on a dribble to show off. Messi has that, and Pedri too. It is all natural talent. He was born with it. He is too young to have learned to play like this. I am convinced he will be a world-class star and mark an era in Spanish football.”

While the Clasico was maybe his quietest game for Barcelona so far, little seems to have fazed the teenager so far. He has even played some of his better games when the team were struggling: such as in that first start at Getafe or in the 1-1 draw at Alaves when far more experienced colleagues let their team down.

After their title hopes took a huge blow in the 1-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid on November 21, he did the post-match Spanish TV interview, admitting that Barcelona had not played well and would have to look at their mistakes and improve — all this from a supposedly shy kid, just four days before his 18th birthday, and only a few months after moving to Catalonia.

“He is a little bit introverted or shy when he does not know the people he is with,” says Ledesma. “But afterwards, when he gets to know you and feels confident, he loves to joke around. It is true that on the pitch he changes, and he always has. When he was playing, he always took it seriously. Every game was very important; even just a kickaround with his friends, he always wanted to win."

“He has a sense of calm, even when Pepe Mel called him to the Las Palmas first team just past his 16th birthday. They all said he had the character, a security in himself that it seemed he had always played there. We were all confident that if Barca gave him a sniff of a chance, he was going to take advantage of it. He gets nervous sometimes, like everyone, but he does not show it. And once he is playing, even in front of fans, he puts everything else to the side.”

Recent months have also seen Pedri make his debut for Spain Under-21s while it would be no surprise if senior side coach Luis Enrique takes both he and close friend Ansu Fati to next summer’s European Championship.

Meanwhile, he has just been getting on with his normal life. He lives in Barcelona with his big brother Fernando, who cooks and looks after the apartment. They play a lot of FIFA in the afternoons while Pedri is also a fan of strategy board game Catan. Their parents have visited when possible amid the pandemic and their own work commitments. The only headlines he has made so far off the pitch have been for using a simple supermarket plastic bag to bring his personal effects to the stadium instead of the designer gear favoured by most of his team-mates, and using taxis to get to and from training and games.

“Pedri will keep his feet on the ground. He is very well supported by his family,” says Ledesma. “His parents still have the restaurant — the mother runs the kitchen and his father runs the dining room — but they go there when they can. With the character he has, it would be strange if he changed.

“He was surprised at all the noise made about him taking a taxi or bringing his things in the plastic bag. He says everyone has a bag like that for their clothes, due to COVID. The only thing is he did not then put it inside a Dolce & Gabbana bag, he just carried it in his hand. And if he does not have a driving licence, and his brother also does not have it yet, then he needs to get a taxi. He just gets on with things. He is a very normal kid.”

Back on Tenerife, the locals have recovered from the strangeness of supporting usual rivals Las Palmas last season and the Pena Barcelonista de Tenerife-Tegueste is packed for each Barcelona game.

“I don’t know what he can achieve. I can only say that if he aims for something, he will get it,” Delgado says. “I just hope he keeps going, keeps enjoying this moment and what is to come. I am convinced he will go very, very far. He is still the same kid I coached at nine years old, with the same friends and loved ones. He responds to your messages, shows respect, does not dominate the conversation, asks about you and your family. I am super proud to be able to say that.”

Nobody who knows Pedri thinks that he will plateau now and not aim to keep developing his game and become an even more important player for Barcelona over the next decade or more.

“He says that he wants to improve in everything,” says Ledesma. “Often, he speaks about scoring more goals, his finishing, shots from long range. He scored more for Las Palmas as he took more shots but he always says that he is happier to give an assist than score a goal. But he knows he is learning things every day, being with the best players in the world. It is an incredible opportunity for as long as it lasts at Barca, and I hope he retires there, to keep learning and improving.”

Such a strong confidence in one’s own ability, despite appearing shy and unassuming at first, also brings back the comparison with Pedri’s childhood hero.

“Hopefully they are similar in how they play, although Pedri still has a long way to go — achieving half of what Iniesta has would be marvellous,” says Ledesma. “Although he admires Iniesta a lot, he does not really like the comparisons. He knows he is Pedri and needs to play like Pedri.”

[lboogie1906]

Judge Frederick Wayman “Duke” Slater (December 9, 1898 – August 14, 1966) was a football player and judge. He was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 and was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Centennial Class in 2020.

He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Playing the tackle position on the line, he was a first-team All-American and a member of the Hawkeyes 1921 National Championship Team. He joined the NFL becoming the first Black lineman in league history. He played ten seasons in the NFL for the Milwaukee Badgers, the Rock Island Independents, and the Chicago Cardinals, garnering six all-pro selections.

He earned his JD and began to practice law as a Chicago attorney. He was elected to the Cook County Municipal Court, becoming just the second African American judge in Chicago history. He served as a Chicago judge for nearly two decades until his death.

He was born in Illinois to George Slater, a Methodist minister. He somehow picked up the name of the family dog, Duke, as a personal nickname, and he would carry it with him all his life. When he was 13 years old, he moved to Clinton, Iowa.

His father forbade him from trying out for football at Clinton High School, believing it to be a sport played by “roughnecks.” He went on a hunger strike for several days, and his father acquiesced on the condition that he must be careful to avoid injury.

He played three seasons of football for Clinton High School. Clinton claimed two Iowa state championships in 1913 and 1914, and the school compiled a 22-3-1 record in his three years there. He led Clinton in scoring as a senior, rushing for six touchdowns from the fullback position.

While playing in the NFL, he returned to Iowa in the off-seasons to attend law school. He earned his JD from the University of Iowa’s College of Law. He practiced law in Chicago while playing for the Cardinals. After one year as a high school coach and athletic director in Oklahoma City, he turned to Chicago as an attorney.

He married Etta Searcy (1926-62) until her death, they had no children. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #kappaalphapsi

[nervy-nerva]

African Football League : le WAC écrase Enyimba et rejoint les demi-finales

Wydad Athletic club de Casablanca a rejoint les demi-finales de l’African Football League après sa victoire écrasante à domicile (3-0) face aux Nigérians d’Enyimba FC, jeudi 26 octobre. Les Marocains se qualifient donc avec un score cumulé de 4-0, d’autant plus qu’ils avaient remporté le match aller 1-0 le weekend dernier. Les Marocains ont assuré leur victoire en marquant tous leurs buts en…

[iweb-rdc001]

African Football League : le TP Mazembe remporte le premier round face à l'Espérance de Tunis

Le Tout Puissant Mazembe a battu, hier dimanche 22 octobre l’Espérance de Tunis lors du match aller de la première édition de l’African Football League en Tanzanie Grâce au Malien Cheick Fofana. Dix minutes, c’est le temps qu’il a fallu au TP Mazembe pour inscrire le seul but de son match contre l’Espérance de Tunis. Une action superbe avec le tandem passeur – buteur KINZUMBI – FOFANA à la…

[mimi-0007]

1904Robert Wells Marshall (March 12, 1880 – August 27, 1958) was an American sportsman. He was best known for playing football; however, Marshall also competed in baseball, track, boxing, ice hockey and wrestling. When Marshall played baseball for Minneapolis Central High School, he played first base for three years. Central was the champion of the Twin Cities High Schools for Marshall's junior and senior years, of 1900 and 1901.

When he played baseball for the University of Minnesota, he also played first base for two years, 1904 and 1905, helping the university to win the Western Conference Championship in 1905.[4]

Marshall played end for the football team of the University of Minnesota from 1904 to 1906. In 1906, Marshall kicked a 48-yard field goal to beat the University of Chicago 4-2 (field goals counted as four points). He was the first African American to play football in the Western Conference (later the Big Ten). He graduated in 1907 and played with Minneapolis pro teams, the Deans and the Marines. From 1920 through 1924, he played in the National Football League (NFL) with the Rock Island Independents, the Minneapolis Marines, and the Duluth Kelleys. Along with Fritz Pollard, he was one of the two first African Americans to play in the NFL.

[hacash]

"Alright, bruv?"

Sam doesn't even notice Isaac's presence until he thumps the locker next to Sam's head with his fist: the team captain's preferred form of greeting. He jumps, and then with a sigh goes back to staring at his phone. The beaming faces of the newly called-up Nigerian football team, resplendent in green and white. "Huh? Oh, yes. Yes, I'm fine, thank you."

"Bullshit," Isaac scoffs. "C'mon, what's wrong?"

Sam doesn't want to admit that anything's wrong. Treat your wins with humility and your losses with grace, that's what his father always says. But he supposes to do that you have to admit that there was a loss in the first place. Besides, if anyone would understand it's Isaac, Isaac who's never once been called up to the England team, who hadn't even looked up when Beard was reading out the roster. England team's bursting with great players anyway, he'd grunted when Colin had asked if he was alright. Even if I was good enough, don't think they're too keen to call up a guy who tried to throttle someone in the stands a month ago. Their loss then, Colin had said. That's, like, top of my list for qualities of a best mate. Not to mention team captain. Harry Kane's quaking in his boots whenever he sees you on the telly, boyo. And Isaac's face had split into this massive grin, and that had been that. "I just found out Edwin Afuko is the reason I didn't make the Nigerian team," he says. "What - that guy who tried to sign you up to his African super-team?" "Yeah," Sam sighs. "When I turned him down he told me I'd never play for the Nigerian national team. Now I found out he bribed the government - my home, Isaac, the place where I grew up - not to invite me onto the team." "Jesus Christ." "Yeah." "You think it was to do with the Dubai Air protest as well?" Isaac asks. "Like, this guy made us all look like a bunch of corrupt dickheads, we ain't gonna have him represent our country sort of thing?" Sam's eyes widen, and then slam shut as his head falls back against his locker. "Well I do now." "That's bullshit," Isaac announces. For once, Sam is tempted to agree. Isaac is staring intently at the ground. Finally he looks up and clears his throat with uncharacteristic caution. "Would you have done the same thing? The protest, staying at Richmond - if you knew it was gonna go down like this, I mean?" It's something he's not wanted to ask himself: but there it's been, niggling away like some horrible little imp in the back of his mind. Sam thinks about that photograph hanging on his childhood wall, the feeling he had strolling through the British Museum alongside Edwin. He thinks about running over the beaches of Lagos as a child, how it felt to see those pictures of the destruction and the dying animals on those same beaches. The thrill of returning to the Premier League. The teenagers who'd come up to him in the street, newly arrived and still stumbling over their English, thanking him for speaking out even as the glass was still being swept up at Ola's. Men like Gary Lineker and Ian Wright quoting his tweets on Match of the Day, and the UK government not being able to do anything to stop them. The way his heart had skipped, seeing young men just like him playing on Richmond Green wearing his jersey. "Of course I would," he says finally. "I couldn’t have taken a place on the team if it meant not speaking out." "Right. You wouldn't have been happy just sitting down and shutting up. Or playing for some rich prick who bribes people all the time. And it's totally shit, but - I guess it's, like, the price you've gotta pay right now for doing so much awesome stuff." "I suppose it's worth that." They sit together in companionable silence for a little while. Finally Sam sighs. "I still really want to play for the Nigerian national team though, Isaac." Isaac nods and sets an arm around his shoulders. "You will, bruv. I know you will."

-

For @boasamishipper​. There’s something really interesting about seeing reality ensue when Sam faces the backlash of following his heart - but I’d have loved to get a little scene like this.

[yourdailyqueer]

Kevin Maxen

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Gay

DOB: 8 January 1992

Ethnicity: African American, Ashkenazi Jewish

Nationality: American

Occupation: Former prof American Football player, American Football coach

Note: First male coach in the NFL professional league to come out as part of the LGBTQ+ community.

[blastofsports]

Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard (January 27, 1894 – May 11, 1986) was an American football player and coach. In 1921, he became the first African-American head coach in the National Football League (NFL). Pollard and Bobby Marshall were the first two African-American players in the NFL in 1920. Football pioneer Walter Camp called Pollard "one of the greatest runners these eyes have ever seen."