Planet Sport Football Africa

We review African football over the past twelve months including the performance of teams at the World Cup in Brazil and presenter Solomon Ashoms recalls a personal highlight from the World Cup in Rio, visiting the statue of Christ the Redeemer overlooking the city.

This week we take a look youth football in Africa and ask if the continent is serious enough in youth football. Nigeria have won the FIFA Under-17 World Cup four times, Ghana have won it twice, and have also won the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, showing that there is great talent in Africa at youth level, but youth coaches of many African countries feel that they are not getting the support that they need. We hear from youth coaches in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Namibia.

This week we take a look at the 2014 Fifa Club World Cup, which and is currently taking place in Morocco. We look at the history of the tournament and we ask what the purpose of the competition is exactly. Also we assess Africa's chances and ask if anyone can beat Real Madrid.

This week we ask who is the best African player of 2014 and look at Yacine Brahimi of Algeria, Asamoah Gyan of Ghana and Gabon's Pierre-Emerick Aubemayang. Also we speak to South Africa women's team striker Portia Modise, who reached the milestone of 100 international goals this year, and we ask whether former Chelsea boss Avram Grant will be successful in his new job as Ghana coach.

This week we take a look at lower division football around Africa. The Gambia's most popular tournament is in progress, the Zonals, which have massive community participation and huge crowds. We'll compare this with the popularity of other lower leagues around Africa and hear from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Cameroon and the UK on how popular lower league football is in those countries.

This week we look back at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers as holders Nigeria missed out after a 2-2 draw with South Africa, and seven-time champions Egypt also failed to qualify. There was better news for Cameroon after missing out on the past 2 editions, and we hear that fans in Cameroon are happy that the tournament has been moved to neighbouring Equatorial Guinea. And in the EPL we look at the fallout between fans and players at Tottenham, with Togo's Emmanuel Adebayor involved in the storm.

This week we look ahead to the final two rounds of games in qualifying for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, and we hear from Ivory Coast, where fans are wondering why their team is struggling in their campaign. Also, we look at the contingent of African players at English club Stoke City, including Victor Moses and Mame Biriam Diouf.

This week we ask what makes a good role model, as we look at the complicated private life of the late South Africa captain Senzo Meyiwa. Meyiwa made a lot of people proud and was a role model to many, but was involved in scandals in his private life. Is it important, and what makes a footballer to be a good role model?

This week we focus on Ivory Coast great Dider Drogba, who has made his Chelsea comeback a successful one with three goals in three different competitions in the space of a week. Drogba is now 36 years old, how great a legend is he?
And we talk about the tragic death of South Africa captain Senzo Meyiwa, who was shot by burglars in Johannesburg.

This week we talk about women's football, as the 2014 African Women's Championship ends this weekend in Namibia. It's the most prestigious prize for women on the continent, but there have been small crowds for most of the games, so we ask what can be done to boost the popularity of women's football in Africa, and we look at the situation for the women's game in Europe and the USA.