SPFL stars looking to shine as Afcon and Asian Cup kick off
The Asian Cup and Africa Cup of Nations both get underway this weekend in tournaments that will feature 15 players currently plying their trade in Scotland.
Celtic, Hearts and Hibs account for 11 of the total with the Scottish Premiership leaders losing no fewer than five playerstotheasiancup,which kicked off yesterday with hosts and defending champions Qatar claiming a 3-0 win over Lebanon.
Reohatateanddaizenmaeda were both called up to a Japan squadconsideredfavouritesfor the title as Asia's highest placed team in the Fifa rankings (17th). They also go into tournament on the back of a 10-match winning sequence that included a stunning 4-1 away victory in Germany in September. Hatate and Maeda will hope to be involved when Japan play their opening group match against Vietnam tomorrow.
Hyeong-gyu Oh and Hyunyan Yang could also go deep into the tournament with highly-fancied South Korea, who face Bahrain on Monday, while Maro Tilio, who has barely kicked a ball for Celtic since
Hibs winger Martin Boyle is on Asian Cup duty with Australia
his summer arrival from Melbourne City, has been called up to the Australia squad.
The Socceroos, who face India in their group opener this morning, account for six SPFL call-ups with one from St Mirren in the shape of midfielder Keanu Baccus, and two each being called up from Edinburgh rivals Hearts and Hibs – namely Kye Rowles and Nathaniel Atkinson from the maroon side with Lewis Miller and Martin Boyle from the green side.
Hibs are also without a further two players called up for
Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) duty with defender Rocky Bushiri representing DR Congo and goalkeeper Jojo Wollacott selected for Ghana despite his lack of minutes at Easter Road this season. Congo start against Zambia on Wednesday while Ghana kick-off against Cape Verde tomorrow.
Rangers will also have to make do without one of their key performers so far this season with on-loan Brighton forward Abdallah Sima earning a placeinthesenegalsquadafter netting 15 times in 33 games for the Ibrox side. Senegal are the defending champions and title favourites and kick off against Gambia on Monday.
Theremainingtwospflplayers to receive Afcon call-ups both come from the lower divisions with Ayr United centreback Frankie Musonda earning a place in the Zambia squad, while Tanzania have raided League Two for Forfar Athletic defender Roberto Nditi, who willcomeupagainstthestarsof Morocco in his country's opening match.
“It’s a special moment for me and my family. I can’t wait to get going,” Nditi told the Scottish Football podcast.
“It’s an opportunity I never thought would come but it has and I can’t wait. It’s a crazy situation when you put it into perspective – to go from Peterhead on Saturday to playing Morocco, world-class opposition. That would be an incredibleopportunity.evenjusttobe involved in that situation, you dream of that and representing your nation.”
The Ivory Coast, who kick off the tournament against minnowsguinea-bissautoday,will be aiming for a first Afcon title since 2015 in their first home tournament in 39 years and are one of the favourites.
The Asia Cup runs until February 10, while the Africa Cup of Nations ends on February 11.
Gridiron: New England Patriots have named inside linebackers coach and former player Jerod Mayo as their new head coach following the departure of long-serving Bill Belichick.
Belichick's successor Mayo played for the Patriots from 2008 to 2015 before returning when he joined Belichick's coaching staff in 2019. At 37, Mayo becomes the youngest current head coach in the NFL. Captain for seven seasons and a Super Bowl champion in 2014, he is the first former Patriots player to become head coach of the team.
Figure skating: Scottish ice dancer Lewis Gibson and his partner Lilah Fear are in silver medal position – just one point behind their Italian rivals – after the rhythm dance at the European Figure Skating Championships.
The six-time British champions, who scooped silver in last year’s competition and yesterday scored a seasons’ best of 85.20, said the close finish behind Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri at the competition in Kaunas, Lithuania, would spur them on in today’s free dance.
"It is always a lot of fun when it’s close,” said Fear.
by that momentum a break of 64 then saw Carter, who had been 4-2 up only for Trump to fight back with a break of 129 on his way to winning three frames in succession, through to only his second Masters semi in 13 attempts.
"For all the money, I looked like going 5-3 in front and lost my composure for a couple of frames," Carter said. "I was delighted to make an unbelievable clearance to force a decider. Then how I've held myself together there, I don't know - that's a feather in my cap."