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À Niamey et à Ouagadougou, le nouveau président béninois renoue le dialogue avec ses voisins
Après plusieurs années de tensions avec ses voisins du nord, Romuald Wadagni s'est successivement rendu au Niger et au Burkina Faso, ce mardi 2 juin, où il a rencontré le général Abdourahamane Tiani et le capitaine Ibrahim Traoré. Objectif de ces visites : « donner un nouvel élan aux relations séculaires » qui lient les trois pays et répondre aux problématiques qu'ils ont en partage, principalement en matière économique et sécuritaire.
Pays-Bas-Algérie Un choc, des enjeux !
Pleinement engagée dans la préparation de la Coupe du monde, la sélection nationale cherchera à avoir des certitudes, ce soir, à Rotterdam, en défiant une formation néerlandaise habituée des podiums internationaux. solvita.blog
La marche paraît un peu haute, à première vue. Mais dans la course à la progression en vue d’être prête quand les yeux de la planète foot seront braqués sur son vert éclatant le soir d’un tête-à-tête de prestige face au champion de la planète, l’EN voudra se prouver, d’abord à elle-même, qu’elle est parfaitement capable de ce nivellement par le haut quand l’occasion est belle.
Et quoi de mieux, pour se projeter dans la plus prestigieuse compétition qui soit, que de défier un grand d’Europe chez lui, à Rotterdam, dans un De Kuip qui fera assurément le plein avec ses 48.000 supporters attendus. Pour le premier de ses deux tests-matches avant de disputer la 5ème Coupe du monde de son histoire, l’EN devra, de fait, être immédiatement prête en cette fin de saison où bon nombre de ses éléments ont tiré la langue au moment de clore leurs chapitres respectifs en club.
Une répétition de haut niveau
Mesurant parfaitement l’impact psychologique d’un si beau rendez-vous international, Vladimir Petkovic devrait, à ce propos, présenter le meilleur et plus compétitif onze possible, question de donner le ton et de permettre à son équipe d’huiler ses automatismes à la faveur de cette répétition générale au pays du football total. Exception faite du forfait de son milieu de terrain niçois Hichem Boudaoui, le sélectionneur national aura, d’ailleurs, à disposition l’intégralité du groupe qu’il a choisi pour entamer cette exaltante aventure qui les conduira, ensemble, dans quelques jours de l’autre côté de l’Atlantique. Il ne devrait pas, pour autant, précipiter le retour de son gardien titulaire, Luca Zidane, encore convalescent mais plutôt lancer Melvin Mastil ou Oussama Benbot dans le grand bain.
L’occasion de présenter son meilleur onze
La défense ne devrait, en revanche, pas connaître un quelconque chamboulement avec le même quatuor qui a disputé la Coupe d’Afrique des Nations au Maroc l’hiver dernier. Rafik Belghali et Rayan Aït-Nouri animeront, de fait, les couloirs au moment où le tandem Aïssa Mandi-Ramy Bensebaïni verrouillera l’axe. Dans l’entrejeu, le retour de Nabil Bentaleb parmi le groupe conjugué au forfait de Hichem Boudaoui et à la non-convocation d’Ismaël Bennacer lui offre un avantage certain pour reprendre, en vert, le rôle de sentinelle qu’il occupe à la perfection à Lille.
Le mondialiste 2014 devrait, en parallèle, être associé à Ramiz Zerrouki pour le travail de sape alors que les manœuvres offensives seraient, selon toute vraisemblance, confiées à Houssem Aouar à droite et Ibrahim Maza à gauche. Si Petkovic optait plutôt pour un milieu à trois, Zerrouki en ferait certainement les frais pour laisser place à un trio offensif que devrait composer Riyad Mahrez, Mohamed Amine Amoura et Amine Gouiri.
A droite, une hiérarchie à renouveler ?
Là encore, un doute subsiste quant à l’identité de celui qui aura à charge de mener la fronde sur le flanc droit entre le capitaine légitime Mahrez et le régional de l’étape, Anis Hadj-Moussa, pour lequel ce sera une excellente opportunité de saluer une dernière fois son public de De Kuip avant son départ programmé à l’intersaison vers un club de plus grande envergure que le Feyenoord. De cette décision de Petkovic valoriser l’expérience du trentenaire ou l’explosivité du jeune loup s’écrira l’un des plus importants enseignements à venir de cette campagne préparatoire des Verts étant donné qu’elle lancera un signal clair, dénué de toute ambiguïté, sur la hiérarchie renouvelée côté droit avant le départ pour l’Amérique. Les autres leçons à tirer arriveront, quant à elles, au-delà du coup de sifflet final de cette affiche en haute altitude.
-RACHID BELARBI
L’article Pays-Bas-Algérie Un choc, des enjeux ! est apparu en premier sur Foot Afrique.
Bok star has unfinished business in Japan
A prominent, Japan-based Springbok says he won’t be following some of his fellow countrymen home just yet.
Bok centre Jesse Kriel has pledged to stay at the Yokohama Canon Eagles until he leads the club to League One glory. Teammate Faf de Klerk has left the club and has linked up with the Cheetahs, while the Stormers announced the return of the Suntory Sungoliath’s Cheslin Kolbe.
There’s also speculation that Kriel’s Bok midfield partner, Damian de Allende, is considering a move back to the Cape. The 34-year-old has been playing for the Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights since 2022 after previously representing the Stormers between 2012 and 2019.
MORE: Stormers could bring back another Bok
Kriel, who captained the Eagles this season, made the promise after a disappointing campaign that saw the star-studded side finish 10th despite boasting one of the strongest squads in the competition.
Kriel scored eight tries in 13 appearances and helped steer the team away from relegation trouble with a strong finish to the season, including three victories in their final four matches.
Now the 32-year-old has set his sights on a much bigger prize.
“As a member of the Eagles, I’m aiming for the League One title,” Kriel told the club website. “I’m confident that we’re building a team that can win in the end, and everyone has that mindset.”
ALSO: Dobbo hails Kolbe’s ‘huge sacrifice’
The double World Cup winner became the first foreign-born captain in the club’s history this season and believes it has made him a better leader.
“It was a new experience, different from anything I’d had before,” said Kriel. “I feel that I have grown as a leader and gained confidence. At the same time, I believe I still have a lot of room to grow as a captain.”
For now, Kriel’s focus shifts to the Springboks and the upcoming international season.
But when he returns to Japan later this year, he will do so with one mission.
“I decided to continue playing for the Eagles and declared that I would win the championship with this team,” he said. “No matter what happens, I want to achieve that goal.”
SAFFAS ABROAD: Marx leads Spears into League One final
Photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images
The post Bok star has unfinished business in Japan appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Franco’s Warriors wary of Bulls ‘man test’
The Glasgow Warriors believe they are perfectly positioned to deny the Vodacom Bulls a place in the URC final when the sides clash at Murrayfield on Saturday.
Franco Smith’s side has become something of a bogey team for the Bulls in recent seasons.
Not only did Glasgow stun Jake White’s men at Loftus Versfeld in the 2024 URC final, they have also beaten Johan Ackermann’s side twice this season – first in the league stage and then in the Investec Champions Cup round-of-16 playoff.
Now the Warriors stand one win away from another final and will enjoy home-ground advantage after finishing top of the URC table, even though the semi will be staged in Edinburgh due to the unavailability of Scotstoun Stadium.
Glasgow attack coach Nigel Carolan believes his side must make the most of the opportunity.
“It’s on us now to cash in on this massive opportunity and it’s a great position against really tough opposition,” he said.
MORE: 150 up for Grobbies as Bulls eye Glasgow upset
The Bulls arrive in Edinburgh carrying momentum after their convincing quarter-final victory over Munster at Loftus, but Carolan expects a fierce physical battle.
“Plan A when you play the Bulls is it’s going to be a man test and there’s no shirking that. If you don’t match it you’re in trouble. They bring a tremendous amount of physicality.”
The Scots, however, are drawing confidence from recent meetings.
“We’ve definitely matched them in that department and then it allows us to play the game we know we can.”
ALSO: Bulls to face Leinster in another Dublin decider
There is also good news on the injury front for Glasgow.
Scotland centre Huw Jones has returned to training, while scrumhalf George Horne is being given every chance to recover from the hand injury he suffered against Connacht.
The post Franco’s Warriors wary of Bulls ‘man test’ appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Stormers have been ‘working for this all season’, says Paul de Villiers
Rising Stormers loose forward talent Paul de Villiers is gearing up for the biggest match of his fledgling career, saying a huge United Rugby Championship (URC) semifinal encounter against defending champions Leinster in Dublin is exactly what the team has been working towards.
Since finishing second on the URC log in the first season of the competition, and going on to win, and third on the log in URC two, when they finished as runners-up, the Stormers have finished fifth on the log the past two seasons and been dumped out in the quarter-finals.
This season they finally finished in the top four again, with their third-place finish, earneding them a home quarter-final against Cardiff which they duly won in Cape Town last weekend.
Now, however, they travel to Ireland to take on Irish giants Leinster, with the Stormers gunning for a first ever away play-off win to get them to a third final in five seasons.
“For players and for the team, that’s what we’ve been working for all season. To be here and to be playing in a semifinal. And then, of course, to play against Leinster, which is a proper team, makes it an even bigger occasion,” De Villiers said.
“We understand we’re playing a very strong outfit. They are a team packed with internationals. It’s going to be a massive challenge.”
Powerful pack
Where the Stormers will look to get the upper hand will be at the step piece, with their forward pack one of the most destructive at scrum time, while their lineouts and mauls are very dangerous weapons, and De Villiers said he enjoyed playing behind a dominant pack.
“Playing in a good team and behind a good pack makes it so much easier for the individual to fulfil his role and play his best rugby. We’ve got an awesome pack and an awesome team, but there’s still stuff we can do better,” said De Villiers.
This has been a breakout season for the 23-year-old De Villiers, who has become a regular starter at No 6 for the Stormers, especially when Deon Fourie has been out injured, while he has also worked incredibly well in tandem with the Bok veteran when he has been fit.
A possible Springbok call-up is definitely on the cards for De Villiers after being invited to two alignment camps so far this year, and although that is a major goal for him, he says all of his focus is currently on the URC campaign.
“For every player in the Stormers at the moment, the focus is only on Saturday. After that we’ll see what happens, but for now it’s only about what we can do to make the team better.”