5 February 2011 Lionel Messi hit a hat-trick as Barcelona made history by winning a record 16th successive Spanish League match to beat the previous best of Alfredo Di Stefano's 1960-1961 Real Madrid. Messi scored all the goals in the 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou as the defending champions opened up a 10-point lead over Real Madrid…

5 February 2011 South Africa created the first shock of the 2011 African Nations Championship with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory against Ghana in Sudan Saturday. Most of the winning team play for third-tier league clubs as Premiership and first division sides refused to release their stars for a tournament restricted to home-based footballers. Ghana, runners-up to the Democratic Republic of…

6 February 2011 Dolphin have reopened a four-point lead at the top of the Nigeria Premier League after a 1-0 home win over closest rivals Sunshine Stars. Dolphin thus have 30 points from 14 matches, while Sunshine Stars stay on 26 points. Ghanaian striker Owusu Addae was the match hero for the Port Harcourt side with a 20th minute strike…

4 February 2011 The 2011 African Nations Championship being staged in Sudan kicks-off this evening when the hosts take on Gabon in their opening encounter in Khartoum. DR Congo will be defending the crown they won in Cote d'Ivoire two years ago, but this time face an extended field after CAF increased the number of participants from eight to 16…

3 February 2011 Inter Milan moved up to third in the Serie A table after labouring to a 3-0 victory at rock bottom Bari on Thursday. Following league leaders AC Milan's 0-0 draw with Lazio on Tuesday, Inter closed the gap to their bitter city rivals to seven points and with a game in hand. Although the final score appeared…

4 February 2011 It will be first against second in a titanic clash of the NPL on Saturday when Dolphin host closest rivals Sunshine Stars in Port Harcourt. Two-time league kings Dolphin have led the standings for several weeks only for their lead to be cut back to a single point after they slipped 2-0 at Ocean Boys, while Sunshine…

3 February 2011 Round 19 of the Absa Premiership sees some interesting fixtures in place this weekend and includes a Soweto derby and a top of the table verse bottom of the log clash, to mention but a few interesting matches. The weekends action kicks-off in Cape Town on Saturday afternoon when Ajax host three time defending PSL champions SuperSport…

2 February 2011 Real Madrid will face arch rivals Barcelona in a mouthwatering Kings Cup final after Jose Mourinho's Madrid side defeated holders Sevilla 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday to reach their first final since 2004. Togo forward Emmanuel Adebayor scored his first Real goal deep in stoppage time to add to an 81st minute strike from German…

3 February 2011 The second edition of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) begins in Sudan on Friday with the host country taking on Gabon in Group A in Khartoum. DR Congo enter the tournament as defending champions, having beaten Ghana 2-0 in the final of the maiden competition in Cote d'Ivoire in 2009. The 16 competing teams have been split…

1 February 2011 TP Mazembe recorded a second straight victory in the African Super Cup at the weekend when they edged Morocco's FUS Rabat on penalties. The African champions have had a tremendous time of late, also reaching the final of the FIFA Club World Cup, where they lost to Inter Milan. And so given all of this success, just…

1 February 2011 We continue our series in the search to find the greatest African XI ever and this week we focus on the midfielders. You have sent in your nominations and together with our panel of experts, we have come up with the following 12 players who will compete for four places in our African XI. So have a…

31 January 2011 Chelsea smashed the British transfer record to sign Spain striker Fernando Torres for 50 mln ($80 mln) from Liverpool, who had earlier made a club record swoop for Newcastle forward Andy Carroll on a dramatic January deadline day. The Blues last week had a 35 million pounds (56 million dollars) offer for Torres rejected, a move which…

1 February 2011 We have yet another Wacky Wednesday ahead of us with a full fixture list on the cards in the Absa Premiership. The last wacky Wednesday on the 19th January saw 17 goals scored and plenty football drama, and with every team is in action again all will be hoping for similar action. Going into the 18th round…

31 January 2011 The four-point lead of table-topping Dolphin in the Nigeria Premier League has been cut to only a point after they crashed 2-0 at Ocean Boys Sunday. Second-placed Sunshine Stars defeated Lobi Stars at home 2-0 and are now within a striking distance of Dolphin. Dolphin have 27 points from 13 matches, while Sunshine Stars are a point…

31 January 2011 Orlando Pirates retained their place at the head of South Africas Absa Premiership standings with a comfortable 2-0 away victory over Free State Stars on Saturday afternoon. The Buccaneers found themselves under some pressure coming into the game after Ajax Cape Town had leapfrogged into pole position with a 2-0 defeat of Moroka Swallows on Friday evening,…