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Portal:Football in Africa

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Introduction

Cameroon's Benoît Assou-Ekotto jostles for possession with Mustapha Allaoui of Morocco

Football is the most popular sport in Africa, alongside basketball. Indeed, football is probably the most popular sport in almost every African country, although rugby and cricket are also very popular in South Africa. The first football stadium to be built in Africa was the Alexandria Stadium in 1929.

The English Premier League is the most popular sports league in Africa. The most popular clubs in Africa are Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United. (Full article...)

Football was first introduced to Africa in the early 1860s by Europeans,[1] due to the colonisation of Africa. The first recorded games were played in South Africa in 1862 between soldiers and civil servants and there were no established rules for the game at this time;[2]" Initially, there were various forms of playing the game, which included elements of both rugby and soccer. It was not until October 26, 1863 that the "rules of association football were codified."[2] The first official football organization in Africa, Pietermaritzburg County Football Association, was established in 1880.Teams were being established in South Africa before 1900, Egypt and in Algeria during a similar time period. Savages FC (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa), L'Oranaise Club (Oran, Algeria) and Gezira SC (Alexandria, Egypt) are the oldest African football clubs that remain in existence. The tree clubs began play in 1882, followed by Alexandria SC (1890), CDJ Oran from Algeria in 1894 and CAL Oran from Algeria too in 1897. By the 1930s, football was being played in Central Africa. In 1882, the first national governing body on the continent was formed, South African Football Association (SAFA). SAFA was a whites-only association that became the first member of FIFA in South Africa in 1910.[2]

Egypt's national team at the 1920 Summer Olympics

The Angola national football team (Portuguese: Seleção nacional de futebol de Angola) represents Angola in men's international football and is controlled by the Angolan Football Federation and nicknamed as both Palancas Negras (Black Sable antelopes) and Diabos Vermelhos (Red Devils), the team is a member of both FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Angola reached its highest FIFA ranking of 45th in July 2000. Their greatest accomplishment was qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, their only World Cup to date.

Selected biography - show another

Yaya Touré during a press conference in 2009
Yaya Touré is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder. He has played for and captained the Ivory Coast national team.

Touré is known for combining passing ability and physical power with technique. A versatile player, he aspired to be a striker during his youth and has played centre back, including for FC Barcelona in the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final. He frequently plays as a box-to-box midfielder for club and country and often switches from defensive and offensive positions throughout matches. Touré began his playing career at Ivorian club ASEC Mimosas, where he made his debut aged 18. He was voted African Footballer of the Year for 2011, 2012 and 2013.

His performances attracted attention from Europe, playing for clubs in various European leagues. Touré played for Beveren in Belgium, Metalurh Donetsk in Ukraine, Olympiacos in Greece, and AS Monaco in France. In 2007, Touré moved to Barcelona, playing over 100 matches for the club and was part of the historic 2009 Barcelona team which won six trophies in one calendar year.

Yaya Touré then moved to Premier League club Manchester City in 2010, where he has since scored a number of key goals for the Citizens – most notably the only goals in the 2011 FA Cup semi-final and final. Touré has a distinguished international career with 82 caps for the Ivory Coast, representing the team in their first appearance in a FIFA World Cup, in the 2006 competition, and also played in the 2010 and 2014 tournaments. He is the younger brother of his Ivory Coast teammate Kolo Touré. They also played together at Manchester City for three years, before Kolo was transferred to Liverpool in 2013. Yaya himself left the club at the end of the 2017–18 season.

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Drogba holding the European Cup following Chelsea's penalty shootout victory over Bayern Munich
Drogba holding the European Cup following Chelsea's penalty shootout victory over Bayern Munich
Credit: rayand

Didier Drogba holding the European Cup following Chelsea's penalty shootout victory over Bayern Munich

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Sources

  1. ^ "The History Of Soccer In Africa". NPR.org. 2010-06-09. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  2. ^ a b c Alegi, Peter (2010). African Soccerscapes. Ohio University Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 9780896802780.