Gor coach Akonnor hints at secret weapon to beat Egyptian giants in C…

NAIROBI, Kenya, September 11, 2026 – Having lost to Egyptian giants Pyramids FC on home soil, rebuilding his players’ tattered self-belief has been the main task for Gor Mahia head coach Charles Akonnor.

The Ghanaian reveals that the players’ mental fortitude took a beating from that 2-0 defeat in the first leg of the first preliminary round of the Caf Champions League at Nyayo Stadium.

Ahead of their return leg in Cairo this weekend, Akonnor says there is a aura of optimism within the squad, never mind the complicated task at hand. hilogame.news

“We’ve dwelt a lot on that, to encourage the boys and also to believe in themselves. It doesn’t look good that we’ll go and win, but you never know. It’s all about the determination of the players and their mindset and how ready they are,” the gaffer said.

The former Ghana national team boss is further impressed by how his players have bounced back from the disappointing result on Sunday, noting the high levels of energy and enthusiasm exhibited in training.

“The training has been very good…very impressive. We saw the seriousness of these boys and the cohesion we have made…the things we want to do in the return leg. We put into practice and it was very exciting and encouraging,” Akonnor explained.

It is why the former Wolfsburg player insists that the outcome of the tie is not a forgone conclusion.

A huge upset in continental football could be on the books should they transfer the same spirit to the pitch, come Sunday night.

“Hopefully, this time around, there will be less mistakes and we’ll do well in terms of how we control the midfield, in terms of the pressing, counter-press and all those. If we do those things very good, there’s always a chance for us,” Akonnor said.

Even as he radiates confidence, Akonnor and Co are alive to the threat posed by the African moneybags who — like a leopard — have proven quick to pounce on any lapses in concentration to punish their opponents.

Add to the fact that they are yet to lose a match this season, K’Ogalo have a ‘mission impossible’ on their hands in Cairo.

” I mean, they are a team that if you allow them to play very smart, they can outsmart you in a lot of areas. You know how the movement of the players, of the attacking line, faking one side, going. It’s all about also our intelligence and how ready we are,” Akonnor said.

Good to know that the Kenyan champions have covered all the bases and checked all the boxes required to outsmart their opponents.

However, that is only half of the story, as they still have to execute their plan on the pitch.

This is easier said than done especially when playing away in North Africa, in a sold-out stadium full of partisan fans jeering your every touch of the ball while rousing their team to victory.

NAIROBI, Kenya, September 11, 2026 – Tusker head coach Julien Mette says he expects nothing short of a win in Sunday’s return leg of the Caf Confederations Cup preliminary round match against Al Ahli Madani at the Nyayo Stadium.

Mette says a defeat would be a damning indictment of their qualities as a team and their ability to play at the highest level.

“If I sum up, the first game I was not really stressed, but I had a little stress because we didn’t know really that team. Now that we have played them, we know them 100 per cent so we will not be surprised. If we are not able to win or to secure the qualification, means that we don’t have the level in terms of tactical and mental,” the gaffer indicated.

The Frenchman adds that they have studied their opponents closely and are ready to pounce on them in their quest for a positive result.

“We have some concerns, but not so much because we have watched it and we have been doing video sessions. My job is to work on the weaknesses we have had. We have trained on that, so now they are prepared,” Mette said.

The first leg between the two sides at the Kigali Pele Stadium, last weekend, ended in a 2-2 draw – the brewers surrendering a 2-0 lead in the second 45.

Mette attributes the slip to a litany of issues, including his charges’ relative inexperience at the continental level coupled with their scant knowledge of their Sudanese opponents.

“Everybody said it was a positive result but then again when you are leading 2-0, you have to secure it. The lack of maturity cost us because some of the experienced players were not on the pitch. There was the question of whether to keep the possession or to go for a third. We played long balls and were punished,” he said.

Mette added: “The player who scored the set-piece and then the penalty, we didn’t know much about him. We haven’t been able to identify him because we have only seen three of their friendly matches. That is the challenge of the first round in that we didn’t know much about the opponents.”

As a template for the continental campaign, Tusker have Nairobi United to look at as a team that have defied the odds to play at the highest level of the competition.

Naibois famously became the second Kenyan side to reach the group stages of the Confederations Cup, outrunning Tunisia’s Etoile du Sahel in last year’s competition.

Granted that the feat is not one to be sniffed at, Mette is determined to go one better by seamlessly progressing through, rather than go all the way to post-match penalties as was the case for Patrick Aussems’ side.

“It was very good news for Kenyan football and a huge performance. But, it was not a win…it was a draw and draws, go to penalty. These first rounds are always very, very tight. If we can copy paste what Nairobi United did, I will take it but I cannot imagine to go on the penalty,” he said.

Well, for them to even have the chance to fight for a slot in the group stages, the brewers will have to go through Al Ahli Madani.

As the first leg showed, Mette’s charges cannot afford a slothful approach or even treat their opponents with kid gloves.

They do that and it will turn into a game of razor thin margins – home crowd or not.

Lewis Hall va poursuivre son aventure avec Newcastle. À 22 ans, le défenseur anglais a signé un nouveau contrat de cinq saisons avec les Magpies, qui le lie désormais au club jusqu’en 2031.

Cette décision intervient alors que plusieurs formations de Premier League surveillaient attentivement sa situation. Manchester United faisait notamment partie des clubs intéressés par son profil, notamment pour renforcer son couloir gauche. Malgré ces sollicitations, Hall a choisi de rester à Newcastle et de s’inscrire dans la durée avec le club.

Arrivé à St James’ Park en août 2023, l’ancien joueur de Chelsea a progressivement pris une place importante dans l’effectif. Il compte déjà 107 apparitions sous le maillot des Magpies et s’est installé comme une solution régulière sur le côté gauche.

Newcastle sécurise son avenir

Avec ce nouvel accord, Newcastle s’assure donc de conserver l’un de ses jeunes éléments importants pour les prochaines années. Le contrat ne comporte aucune clause libératoire, ce qui place le club en position de force en cas de nouvelles sollicitations.

De son côté, Lewis Hall n’a pas caché sa satisfaction au moment de prolonger l’aventure. Le défenseur anglais s’est notamment dit fier de continuer à porter les couleurs des Magpies et à évoluer devant leurs supporters.

« Je suis tout simplement ravi. C’est un moment dont je suis vraiment fier. Jouer pour ce club et représenter les supporters est un immense privilège », a déclaré Hall.

L’international anglais affiche également de grandes ambitions pour la suite. Séduit par les premières semaines sous la direction du nouveau staff technique, il estime que Newcastle dispose des moyens nécessaires pour franchir un nouveau cap.

« J’apprécie notre début de saison avec le nouveau staff technique et je suis convaincu que nous pouvons accomplir de très grandes choses », a-t-il ajouté.

En conservant Lewis Hall jusqu’en 2031, Newcastle confirme ainsi sa volonté de miser sur la continuité et de construire une partie de son avenir autour de jeunes joueurs déjà intégrés au projet.

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Veteran centre Anton Lienert-Brown knows the key to victory for the All Blacks in Saturday’s Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry finale will come down to the “small margins”.

South Africa and New Zealand will clash at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium, with Dave Rennie’s men looking to level the four-Test series and cap an eight-match tour on a high.

The Boks won successive Tests in Cape Town and Joburg after the Kiwis drew first blood at Ellis Park three weeks ago, but Lienert-Brown believes the All Blacks have proved they are not far off competing with the world champions.

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“We can all see it comes down to small margins. In the last two Tests they’ve had the rub of the green at that; they’ll probably say the same thing about Ellis Park,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“Even though we ended up winning by a big margin [33-16], it really was small margins, so we expect nothing less this weekend.”

The New Zealanders kicked off their tour of the Republic with a five-match unbeaten run that included a clean sweep of the Stormers, Sharks, Bulls and Lions, giving confidence to the new era under Rennie.

“We’d hope to get another one at least over in South Africa, that would have been great,” Lienert-Brown added. “But as a group, we’ve learned a lot.

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“We’ve played the best team in the world in their backyard, and a lot of new players have been exposed to that kind of rugby.

“For a team that’s come together with a new coaching staff – I don’t know, we’ve been together for three, four months now – I think we’ve been building nicely.

“But we’ve got to put results on the board. The last two haven’t been what the jersey requires, so this weekend is extremely important to this group.”

The 93-cap Lienert-Brown, who will have played six times and started his fourth match in eight weeks on Saturday, also gave his take on his trip to Mzansi.

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“My experience with South African people and my time in South Africa is that they’re awesome people,” he said. “Even though you want to go out there and beat them, off the field they’re great humans.

“And obviously we spent 19 hours on a plane together, although everyone slept most of the time [laughs].”

Quizzed on whether similar tours should be more prevalent in future, the 31-year-old replied: “It’s not my job to figure out whether it’s feasible or not.

“But I’ve been around for a decade in this team, and it’s certainly one of the coolest things I’ve experienced as an All Black. It’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

Photo: Johan Orton/Gallo Images

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