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Azam FC have received a huge boost with the return of winger Salum Abubakar ‘Sure Boy’ as they prepare to take on Singida United in a Mainland Premier League match on Sunday.

The speedy player has sat out league matches for the past two weeks after he sustained a knock to his right knee but resurfaced on Friday after recovering and ready to claim his place in the squad.

Azam coach Aristica Cioaba is happy to have the player back, as the team aims to beat Young Africans (Yanga SC) to second spot after being knocked out of the FA Cup by Simba SC.

Azam had hoped to go all the way and win the domestic cup to earn a straight ticket to the Caf Confederation Cup but their hopes were dashed as Simba, who have already been crowned league champions, scored goals from John Bocco and Clatous Chama to win the quarter-final clash 2-0.

Cioaba has now told Goal the return of Abubakar will help their push to finish in the second position as they start their fight with a clash against Singida United at Azam Complex on Sunday.

“We have really missed Abubakar since he got injured and I am very happy to have him back in the squad,” Cioaba told Goal. “I always want to have my players fit and ready to play and his return will help us to fight for second spot.

“We still have a chance to beat Yanga to the spot, we still have six matches to play to end the season and anything can happen, Yanga can still drop points and we need to capitalise on that and take the advantage of sealing second position, we have been in the position before and want to reclaim it.”

On facing Singida, Cioaba said: “It will be a tough game, remember my players used too much energy against Simba and they must recover and be fit again to use another energy against Singida.

“I know Singida is not an easy team so we will make sure we play well and don’t underrate them, they can upset you if you underrate them and I have warned my players against complacency, it can cost us points and I don’t want that to happen.”

Azam are lying third on the log with 59 points while Yanga, who are second, have 60 points.

Hansi Flick and Manuel Neuer were delighted to welcome Leroy Sane to Bayern Munich on Friday but quickly turned their attention back to the DFB-Pokal final.

Bayern have confirmed the long-anticipated arrival of Sane from Manchester City on a five-year deal , with the fee reportedly worth up to €60 million (£55m/$67m).

But the Bundesliga champions have little time to reflect on their successful pursuit of the winger as they prepare to take on Bayer Leverkusen in Berlin on Saturday in the second leg of their treble bid.

Flick said of his new signing: "We're happy, but it's not the time to talk about it."

Captain Neuer was slightly more forthcoming when asked about his Germany team-mate Sane, but his primary focus is on lifting another trophy.

"I hope [Sane] can win the Pokal with Bayern in the future," he said. "We Bayern players are happy that he will be with us next season."

Flick hopes to have Niklas Sule back involved, with his defence tasked with containing Leverkusen's Kai Havertz, another Germany international linked with Bayern.

Leverkusen coach Peter Bosz says his side cannot rely solely on 21-year-old Havertz.

"He is important but cannot win the game alone," Bosz said. "I don't think the game has anything to do with his future."

Flick agreed individual quality alone would not decide the day, adding: "Both teams have very good players, but you cannot be successful alone.

"You need a good team effort. We shouldn't think about who the top player is."

Bayern have been in formidable form since returning to action following the enforced break because of the coronavirus pandemic. Playing in empty grounds has not proven to be a problem for Flick's men as they have enjoyed a 10-match winning streak, which includes a 4-2 victory over their Saturday opponents.

FCB are the defending champions, having enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 victory over RB Leipzig in the 2018-19 showpiece, in which Robert Lewandowski won the man of the match award after netting either side of a Kingsley Coman strike.

Leverkusen, meanwhile, have not won the cup since 1993, when they overcame Hertha BSC Amateure. It is the only occasion on which they have won the DFB Pokal.

Managing Director of Mandela National Stadium, Namboole Jamil Ssewanyana has explained why the facility is not in good condition to host the national team yet.

Late last year, the stadium was closed for renovation but Ssewanyana says it is not ready to host any matches including international assignments for the Cranes.

"Namboole can host the Cranes and league matches although the quality of the pitch is still not there," Ssewanyana told Football256.

"The pitch needs an overhaul to put it at competitive standards. Over usage is also a big challenge that we shall now manage from previous experiences."

Ssewanyana also called pitch managers in Uganda to ensure their own facilities are in good condition through renovations as sports activities remain banned due to the coronavirus restrictions.

"They should be working on re-greening their pitches," said Ssewanyana.

"There are normally three windows or phases for pitch recovery – offseason, mid-season break, and during the season. Now is the time for seeding or planting for those that don’t have a green turf."

In May, Uganda Minister of State for Sports Denis Hamson Obua confirmed the government's commitment to renovate the Namboole Stadium.

"What we have at the moment is an old testament stadium but we had already drawn the plan both in the short and long run," Obua said then.

"There are some things that were highlighted in the Caf report, for instance, the floodlights, the drainage system, pavilions, the playing surface and the dressing rooms.

"Some of these can be addressed in the short run.

"As the government, we want a stadium that will benefit us in various ways. When Caf stopped Fufa to host games there, we had already made our plans to renovate Namboole."

The stadium at Namboole is the only international sports facility in Uganda but the Cranes can use the St Mary's Stadium in Kitende, which has passed Caf tests, for international engagements should the Mandela stadium take too long to be renovated.

In October 2019 when the stadium was closed for an upgrade, Ugandan Premier League (UPL) clubs URA FC, Kyetume FC, and SC Villa were forced to look for alternative venues.

The national stadium has a carrying capacity of 42,000.

When the coronavirus put a standstill to football in March, leaving many leagues in limbo as to how to decide their campaigns if the season couldn’t be restarted, conversation surrounded deciding the title (if it was still in play), European spots and, particularly, promotion and relegation.

In England, the latter was discussed extensively given the state of the Championship standings at the time: Leeds United, absent from the Premier League since 2004, and West Bromwich Albion were seven and six points ahead of third-placed Fulham, and 10 in front of Brentford and Nottingham Forest who were joint-fourth.

Would the top two sides occupying the promotion spots ultimately miss out after their largely dominant campaigns?

Three gameweeks after, Leeds and West Bromwich are ahead of the side in third with six and five points respectively, with the gap only being reduced by a point since the return.

However, recent doubts surrounding The Albion keeping hold of their automatic spot has crept in, considering the form of the side in third.

Brentford, 10 points behind before football’s suspension, had reduced the chasm between them and Slaven Bilic’s troops to two points, before the latter played Sheffield Wednesday on Wednesday, after a run of three wins on the trot (four if you add the Bees’ 5-0 defeat of Wednesday in early March).

WBA, though, just when it seemed they were collapsing, responded with a hugely significant 3-0 success at Hillsborough Stadium, restoring their five-point advantage.

Interestingly, Slaven Bilic made a change at centre-back as the Baggies returned to winning ways: dropping Semi Ajayi, to pair Ahmed Hegazy and Kyle Bartley in central defence.

In fairness, that move wasn’t the reason the away side triumphed. After all, the Nigerian had played well when the West Midlands club kept their 10th and 11th clean sheets of the year against Swansea City and Birmingham City, so it's likely to just been a case of Bilic resting the Super Eagle.

Indeed, statistics show Bilic has an impressive trio in central defence, with little separating Ajayi, Bartley and Hegazy. Even though the towering Englishman leads the way for tackles, interceptions and clearances per game (1.4, 1.2 and 4.7 per match), the Egypt and Nigeria internationals aren’t slouches either, with Hegazy’s reading 1.2, 0.9 and 4.1 respectively, while Ajayi posts 1.0 tackles and interceptions per game, with 3.4 clearances per match.

The West African is the team’s joint-sixth top scorer with five, better than Bartley and the North African, while he wins 63 percent of his duels, better than the Pharaohs’ top centre-half and edged by the former Swansea City man (67 percent).

Frankly, The Albion’s recent issues aren’t defensively but in attack.

Their run of four games without scoring against Wigan Athletic, Swansea, Birmingham and the Bees either side of the pandemic is why Thomas Frank’s side have been given hope of reining in Ajayi and co. in the final weeks of the campaign.

The odds of the side from Greater London have been boosted given the imperious form of the remarkably talented Said Benrahma, the Algeria star whose playmaking has been instrumental in Brentford boasting the best attack in the division (70).

Interestingly, Brentford also possess the joint-stingiest backline in the competition, letting in 33 goals alongside Leeds, and since finding consistency, they've been hot on the heels of the top two.

With the stars seemingly aligning for the Bees at the right moment, West Bromwich, the second-highest scorers in the league, need to dispatch struggling Hull City at the Hawthorns on Sunday to record successive wins for the first time since February.

Bilic’s troops have tended to go on commendable runs after setbacks this season, and defeating the Tigers, who just ended a 14-game winless run vs Middlesbrough on Thursday, is the expectation before kick-off.

However, with two blanks in their last two home games against Birmingham and Wigan, the Albion have to be third-time lucky to prevent another surprising defeat, especially with Derby County, the league’s form side to come after Hull.

West Bromwich remain in pole position to secure automatic promotion with their Nigerian colossus anticipated to play a major part in the run-in. Still, the Baggies’ recent problems higher up the pitch will make or mar their automatic promotion joust.

Former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke has criticised the aggressive attitude of former team-mate Roy Keane with regard to his analysis.

The ex-Republic of Ireland midfielder recently hit the headlines as he suggested that he would be “swinging punches” at Red Devils goalkeeper David de Gea after a recent error that cost his side a goal against Tottenham. 

Yorke, who turned out for the Red Devils between 1998 and 2002, and was a key member of their treble winning squad of 1999, has suggested that such an attitude is the reason that Keane failed to cut it as a manager – and was one of his downfalls as a player.

“I played with him and played under him as a manager. I know what he’s like as an individual,” Yorke told The Mirror.

“You’ve just got to take it on your chin when it comes to him. He says what he likes to say. Some people buy into it, some people don’t.

“His harsh words, sometimes it’s warranted at times, but maybe the way he delivers it is how it gets under people’s skin.

“We all make mistakes. He wasn’t perfect when he played. He made mistakes along the way. He has to tone that back a little bit.

“Maybe one of the downfalls which I recognised from his management career is that the way he delivered his approach to players could be quite offensive.

“Although they needed a rollicking, there's a way of how you go about it.

“I looked at Keano in the past and sometimes it’s the way he says something which people do not take lightly and get upset by.

“De Gea knows it was a huge mistake against Tottenham. But as an ex-player, you have to be careful.

“At the end of the day, you made similar mistakes along the way. With Keano, you can only laugh when he delivers these things.

“But I dread to think if he said this kind of stuff, how players would react [today].

“That old school mentality, the Brian Clough, the Ron Atkinson, maybe even Sir Alex Ferguson at some point, you get those kinds of rollickings.

“Players of yesterday could easily dust those kinds of comments off and say: 'I’ll show you.'

“But in the modern day, things have changed. It’s the way you go about it which is important and that’s one of Keano’s problems. He doesn’t know how to deliver it.

“He was correct about De Gea making a mistake, but it was his delivery which made people sit up and think ‘wow’.”

United’s next outing is against Bournemouth on Saturday.

Simba SC coach Sven Vandenbroeck has sensationally claimed he was keen to face sworn rivals Young Africans (Yanga SC) in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

The two Tanzanian giants will square off again in the last four of the domestic competition after they both sealed their places with wins on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Yanga were the first to qualify after beating Kagera Sugar 2-1 before Simba followed them with a 2-0 win against Azam FC and now they will face off for the third time this season on July 13 at National Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

In the first match of the season, the two sides settled for a 2-2 draw before Yanga tuned on the screw in the second round fixture to win 1-0 courtesy of a well-taken free-kick from Ghanaian forward Bernard Morrison.

It is the reason the Belgian coach has now said he is eager to earn revenge and was the reason why he worked very hard to eliminate Azam so they can face off again.

“We lost to Yanga in the second round fixture because my players lost concentration and we could not push ourselves to get an equaliser or even a winning goal,” Vandenbroeck told Goal.

“We wanted to play against them again before the season comes to a close so we can rectify the mistakes we committed against them and beat them, I know it will not be easy but I want to prepare my team to be ready.

“It is a match I am really looking forward to, it is a derby and you know the fans will come in large numbers, the derby is the game for the fans and we will do all we can to make amends and beat them to reach the final.”

In a previous interview with Goal, Yanga coach Luc Eymael revealed he would rather have played Azam as opposed to Simba in the FA Cup semi-finals.

“Many have asked for my reaction after setting a date with Simba in the last four of the FA Cup but I will respond as I did already,” Eymael told Goal on Thursday.

“I know many of my players wished to play Simba in the semi-finals but would have preferred to play Azam. However, it is still okay; Simba were a good team, same as Azam, we will still give our best.”

In the other semi-final, division one side Sahare All-Stars will face Namungo FC.

Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic says that he is “very, very confident” as the Red Devils push to end the season in third place in the Premier League.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side currently lie fifth in the standings but were given a midweek boost as they saw rivals for the top four Leicester and Chelsea both unexpectedly slip up.

On paper, United have a relatively easy run in, with a Saturday match against Bournemouth followed by encounters against Aston Villa and Southampton.

And following a thumping 3-0 win over in-form Sheffield United and a convincing success over Brighton, the Serbia international believes United’s momentum will carry them onto the podium.

“We don’t depend only on us, we have to win our games and wait for others to drop points and I hope we can reach that third spot and, if we do that, then the season will be fantastic for us. I’m very, very confident and I think the team looks well at the moment,” he told the club’s official website.

“For us, every game is a final, it doesn’t matter if it’s a real final in the FA Cup or the Europa League, for us every game is a final, we have to think like that. We have to try to win every match and, at the end, we will see.”

He is wary that Bournemouth are currently fighting for their lives and will not prove easy prey.

“The Premier League is very hard, anyone can beat anyone, and it cannot surprise me because I’ve been here a long time and I’ve seen many things and anything is possible,” he said.

“They’re a good team and, in the last few years, they have played some amazing football and won a lot of big games against big opponents. We will prepare for that game as we do for every game and we will try to give our best with a lot of respect for them, but we know our quality and what we have to do.”

Meanwhile, he revealed how he copes with playing in an empty stadium in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

“I try to imagine the stadium is full,” he said. “It’s strange and not good for us. We like to play in front of our supporters because they sing during the 90 minutes and that gives you more motivation and you give more. But the situation is like this and we have to adapt and it’s the same for everyone.”

South Africa head coach Molefi Ntseki has explained why he will not consider Gaston Sirino and Samir Nurkovic for national team selection for now.

This comes after Serbian marksman Nurkovic, who has impressed at Kaizer Chiefs this season, declared himself available for Bafana Bafana.

While Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Pitso Mosimane has called for the inclusion of his influential Uruguayan playmaker Sirino in the Bafana squad in the past.

Sirino and Nurkovic are yet to play for their national teams at senior and junior level which makes them eligible for South Africa.

However, Ntseki, who has been in charge of the national team since last August, insisted that he is only focused on profiling South African-born players.

“The attention that we are giving is to profile South African players. We must be very careful. Let me make an example about Sirino and Nurkovic," Ntseki told IOL.

"Are we giving enough attention to what we have before we can move for a player that has to be naturalized? Are we comparing that player with what we have in the country and giving opportunities to what we have in the country?

“If you go to the junior teams, all the junior teams have given our players an opportunity to play for their country. That’s why most of them are playing overseas."

Tunisia, who lost to Bafana in the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) final, have enjoyed some success with naturalized players from Brazil in the past.

The Brazil-born duo of Francileudo dos Santos and Jose Clayton played an integral role in helping the Carthage Eagles clinch the Afcon title in 2004 with the former being the joint top scorer in the competition.

"I’m talking about the likes of Lyle Foster, Gift Links, Kabomelo Kodisang, Liam Jordan and Luther Singh. These players played for our junior teams and they are now in the overseas market,” Ntseki explained.

“If we don’t have anybody who can be of a level of the second player, it means we will always be looking into that player. Let’s say we approach a [naturalized] player and we say we are interested in him playing for our country but that has to be done in such a way that the player will be protected and the coach will also be protected.

"What will happen if that player doesn’t have a good first game or second game? People will start to say all the negative things about that player. We need to do it properly."

Ntseki indicated when the 2022 Fifa World Cup and 2021 Afcon qualifiers start he will only focus on South African-born players.

“For me, it is a very long process that has to be done properly without emotions but we should be highly tactical and technical to decide on such players. It might not be Ntseki alone doing this but it has to be done in the right manner,” Ntseki said.

“Let us make an example of Rushine De Reuck. He was born [in South Africa] in 1996 and then there is someone like Ricardo Nascimento [who is a Brazilian player] from Sundowns.

“Nascimento is older than Rushine. If you were to overlook Rushine, who are you disadvantaging? People will say instead of helping in the development of football and selecting Rushine, you’ve decided to convert a non-South African to be a South African. That is the reality of the situation and that’s why I say we should not be emotional about it.”

The 2021 Afcon finals have been postponed to 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Diego Simeone backed Joao Felix despite substituting the attacker again in Atletico Madrid's  3-0 win over Real Mallorca in La Liga on Friday.

Joao Felix was replaced early in the second half at the Wanda Metropolitano, where Alvaro Morata scored a brace before Koke's sealer.

A reported €126 million (£113m/$142m) signing from Benfica last year, the Portugal international has been substituted in 17 of his 21 La Liga starts.

But Atletico coach Simeone backed the 20-year-old and said he had full confidence in the attacker.

"We are absolutely confident in his quality, his talent and the way he plays and we need him to reproduce on the field," he told a news conference, via AS.

"We focus on the goal of the team and the club, we do not stop at individualities. On the basis of promoting individualities, we seek to improve the collective. If we stop at the singles it would be dangerous.

"Joao started well against Osasuna, he had good games, [against Mallorca] he was not as fine in his game and he understood that the team needed other characteristics as with Vitolo, who worked for what the team needed."

In 34 appearances in all competitions this season, Joao Felix has scored eight goals and provided three assists.

Simeone, whose side consolidated third place in the table, said his message to younger players was simple.

"I always try to convey to the young people who come here that this is a competitive team, that they have to win," he said.

"And we work as a consequence of looking for the best to win, we have no commitment to anyone, only that things go towards where we understand that it is better."

Morata snared the first goal after making the most of Mallorca players encroaching too soon into the penalty area to score from the spot, VAR giving him a reprieve after Manolo Reina had saved his initial effort. 

Mallorca’s captain guessed correctly with the re-taken spot-kick too, yet Morata had enough height on his strike to beat the goalkeeper and move into double figures for league goals this season. 

The striker had missed an earlier opening as Aleti started impressively, while both Yannick Carrasco and Joao Felix failed to hit the target with excellent opportunities before the opener arrived in the 29th minute.  

However, any hope of the visitors claiming a bonus in the capital disappeared when Atleti doubled their advantage in added time at the end of the first half, the excellent Marcos Llorente - lining up on the right wing - crossing low for Morata to tap in at the back post.

Scoring just prior to the break allowed Atleti to coast through the second half, though they did add to their tally. 

Captain Koke seized on a weak clearing header to get away a strike that took a heavy deflection off Antonio Raillo, wrong-footing the helpless Reina.

Atletico are in action again on Tuesday when they visit Celta Vigo.

Mohun Bagan have merged with three-time Indian Super League (ISL) champions ATK, which has ensured their participation in the Indian Super League (ISL) from the 2020-21 season. 

While the contract of most players ended on May 31 with Mohun Bagan, at least six of them still had a year or multiple years left. 

Academy graduates like Subho Ghosh, SK Sahil, Deep Saha, and Kiyan Nasiri were tied down to long-term contracts before the start of the 2019-20 season and they still have three more years left, while Lalramzauva Khiangte and Spaniard Fran Gonzalez are contracted till 2021. 

Mohun Bagan has already reached a settlement agreement with all the aforementioned players. 

"We have reached an agreement with all of them. There are some players who will be retained by the new entity and some have been asked to leave. Everything has been sorted. We are going to reveal the names and relevant details in the future," stated Mohun Bagan's financial secretary and board member of ATK Mohun Bagan Private Limited Debasish Dutta to Goal. 

It is understood that all the academy players will be handed fresh contracts with the merged entity. While Subho Ghosh and SK Sahil will be inducted in the senior team, Deep Saha and Kiyan Nasiri might end up playing for ATK Mohun Bagan Reserves. However, Spaniard Fran Gonzalez is in talks with a couple of ISL outfits and he is not on the radar of ATK Mohun Bagan.

Mohun Bagan won the league title for the fifth time in their history this year and ATK won their third ISL title beating Chennaiyin FC in the final back in March.

Other than participating in the ISL, the merged entity will also take part in the group stages of AFC Cup 2021 by using Mohun Bagan’s I-League 2019-20 champions’ slot.

Raheem Sterling is hoping Manchester City can reach two finals to finish the season.

With Liverpool having sealed the Premier League title, City's chances of adding to their Community Shield and Carabao Cup successes this season are in the Champions League and FA Cup.

Pep Guardiola's side will face Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-finals, while they will carry a 2-1 lead into their Champions League last-16 second leg against Real Madrid.

Sterling, who scored in City's 4-0 thrashing of Liverpool on Thursday, is eyeing two finals to finish the campaign.

"Hopefully, we can finish with an FA Cup final and a Champions League final," the star attacker said, via the club's website.

"We are a team that missed out on the Premier League and we have got to go on and try to do our best as we can in all competitions and that is the FA Cup and the Champions League.

"It is difficult seeing Liverpool take the title from us, but they have been brilliant all year.

"On Thursday, it was just another game, but it was a chance to finish high. In the Premier League we need to win all our games and finish on a high in the FA Cup and the Champions League."

Asked how motivated City were to get one over on the 2019-2020 Premier League winners, the 25-year-old told Sky Sports after the match: "They (Liverpool) have been brilliant all year, we wanted to have a good game against them.

"We knew we were behind, have been disappointing at times. We had a test against the current champions to make a point and we did brilliantly. Next season started today and we did well.

"This is a team that is evolving and changing, you can see the maturity Phil (Foden) is playing with. I think in the future we have some great players."

Guardiola will now start preparing his players for a trip to St Mary's to face Southampton on Sunday, which comes three days before a home clash against Newcastle.

Carabao Cup winners City could end up finishing the season with three trophies despite missing out on the Premier League, with the FA Cup and Champions League still up for grabs over the next two months.

Former Dempo player and coach Mauricio Afonso expressed his apathy towards Goan footballers owing to lack of representation from the state on the national stage. There was a time when there were four clubs from Goa which is not the case now.

As a consequence, not many Goan players get the chance to play at the top level, he feels.

Asked to give his take on the development of the sport in Goa, the 58-year-old said to Goal. "Football is okay but Goan football is declining. In the sense, it is not like before in the I-League. The top teams - Salgaocar [FC], Dempo [SC], Sporting [Clube de Goa] - have backed out."

Ever since the aforementioned trio decided to pull out from the I-League in 2016, in protest to the All Indian Football Federation's (AIFF) roadmap wherein the I-League was to surrender its top tier status to Indian Super League (ISL). Churchill Brothers have been the only club from the state to partake in the I-League since while FC Goa are the Goan franchise in ISL.

"When I was coaching in the I-League with Armando (Colaco), we won (National Football League and I-League titles combined) five times. That time, the league was very good. Players were given a lot of money and now there is nothing. I feel pity (for the players). That time, players were getting lakhs - [INR] 50, 60, 70, 80 lakhs (a season)," Afonso remarked.

"When I played football, there was no money. After I finished my career (1999), suddenly salaries started rising but I am not complaining. Whatever I got, I got, but now again it has gone down."

In the recent past, FC Goa have established a good grassroots programme in Goa. Players like Brandon Fernandes and Seriton Fernandes have made a name for themselves, playing for the Gaurs. Afonso added, "Players are getting good money (in the ISL). The standard of football is also improving."

Afonso is amongst the best midfielders the country has produced and played for Dempo for a good 15 years. thereafter he was part of the coaching staff at the club until he suffered a paralytic stroke in 2017 that has prevented him from actively being part of the beautiful game since.

Simy Nwankwo scored a hat-trick that powered Crotone to a 3-0 victory over Serie B leaders Benevento on Friday.

The 28-year-old's goals secured the Pythagoreans' first win since the restart of the Italian second division after three consecutive draws.

Simy grabbed two quick-fire goals within the first 20 minutes to put the hosts ahead at the Stadio Ezio Scida and he later sealed their big win with his 70th-minute effort.

The treble stretched the tally of the Super Eagles forward to 16 goals after 31 league appearances this term and he is currently enjoying his best goalscoring run in Italy since his arrival from Portuguese outfit Gil Vicente in 2016.

Simy was in action for 81 minutes before he was replaced by Samuel Armenteros while Libya midfielder Ahmed Benali played for 85 minutes in the encounter.

Crotone remain unmoved in the league standings as they sit second behind runaway leaders Benevento with 55 points from 32 games.

They will be aiming to build on Friday's victory when they visit fourth-place Cittadella for their next league fixture on July 10.

Since Nigeria's group stage exit at the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia, Simy has not been invited by Gernot Rohr to the Super Eagles' set-up.

He played only two minutes in two games in the global competition, coming on as a late second-half substitute against Croatia and Argentina which ended in defeats.

It’s been another thrilling week in the world of African football, with high-profile transfers, contract signings, title victories and outstanding performances dominating the headlines.

In this week’s episode, Malek Shafei talks through the big stories of the last seven days with Goal Africa Head of Content Ed Dove.

The major story of the week has been the Confederation of African Football’s decision to announce the reorganisation of the continent’s footballing calendar for the coming two years.

In light of the ongoing coronavirus, President Ahmad Ahmad announced the decision to push the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations back to January 2022, giving the continent’s teams time enough to complete their qualifying campaigns.

In light of Fifa’s decision to cancel the September international window for African sides, it was a no-brainer, as Caf were hardly going to take the tournament away from Cameroon…again.

Also on the agenda, the pod discuss Arsenal’s decision to offer Bukayo Saka a new contract.

It’s all change at the Emirates Stadium, where after two consecutive defeats, Mikel Arteta’s side have now romped to two back-to-back victories in the Premier League…and three in all competitions.

Suddenly, there is optimism back in North London, and Saka putting pen to paper on a new deal cements the positive feeling around this part of the capital.

It’s also been another big week for another uncapped Nigeria, with Eredivisie top scorer Cyriel Dessers swapping Heracles for Genk.

He netted 15 goals in the aborted Dutch top flight this season, and while he should thrive in Belgium, should Dessers have aimed higher?

Dove certainly believes the forward is ready for life in one of Europe’s five major leagues, while Shafei is confident that the switch to the Jupiler League is a good deal for all parties.

Also this week, we discussed the race for the Champions League in the Premier League, where the likes of Adama Traore, Odion Ighalo and Wilfred Ndidi are all in the running.

Leicester City—for whom Kelechi Iheanacho netted in midweek—are still in pole position, but their form has deteriorated dramatically since the restart, and they’ll need to improve if they’re to fend off the sides beneath them in the table.

Over in Tanzania, Simba SC clinched their third title in a row this weekend, as Sven Vandenbroeck’s side romped to the title. There’s no doubt that they’re deserving of the title, but just how did the domestic heavyweights get over the line so easily?

Stephane Diarra has stated he rejected interest from Premier League clubs Leicester City and Newcastle United as well as Lille, Monaco and Marseille to join newly-promoted Ligue 1 side Lorient.

The 21-year-old completed his move to the Stade du Moustoir this week from Ligue2 club Le Mans after he had a successful medical examination.

The forward revealed his dream to play in the French top-flight and the club’s director Christophe Le Rouxas well as manager Christophe Pelissier influenced his decision.

“Many clubs have contacted me, such as the English clubs in Newcastle and Leicester, but also French teams with Lille, Monaco or Marseille,” Diarra told Ouest-France.

“The speeches of Christophe Le Roux, sports director, and coach Christophe Pelissier were decisive in my decision-making.

“I knew it was a quality team that played football and I needed an efficient team. It was important for me to stay in France.

“Since childhood, I dream of playing in Ligue 1. And then, it was important for me not to skip the stages. I'm here to learn. I will stay in Ligue 1, progress and we will see later.”

Diarra, who signed a five-year deal with Lorient, feels joining the Merlucciidaes on a long-term deal indicated his confidence in the club.

“It is a wish of both parties. It proves the confidence that the club has in me but also the confidence that I have in the club,” he continued.

“It is neither long nor too short, it gives me time to progress and continue to grow. There is no clause in my contract for a possible relegation to Ligue 2. I am here in Lorient for the next five years.”

The young winger scored four goals and provided four assists in 28 appearances across all competitions for Le Mans in the 2019-20 season and hoped to improve on that performance at Stade du Moustoir.

“Of course I have to work on my efficiency, on the last finish. I'm here to progress and I think my teammates will help me get there,” he added.  

“Last year I finished with four goals and four assists but for me, it is not enough. We can always do better.”

The forward will be expected to make his debut for Pelissier’s side during their pre-season games.