Cristiano Ronaldo’s first season in the Saudi Arabian league looks set to end without winning the championship. Rather, it is Odion Ighalo’s Al Hilal that is set to wear the crown.

Al Hilal defender Mohammed Al-Breik says the Saudi side have no concerns that fatigue could derail their quest for a record-extending fifth Asian Champions League crown when they host Urawa Red Diamonds in the first leg of the final on Saturday.

Al Hilal, who won their fourth Asian crown in 2021, go into the game at Riyadh’s King Fahd International Stadium showing signs that a packed season is taking its toll.

They beat Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr 2-0 before sealing a 1-0 extra-time victory over league leaders Al Ittihad in the King’s Cup in their last two games, but those wins ended an inconsistent run with many players showing signs of tiredness.

Despite appearances at last year’s World Cup and the team’s participation in February’s Club World Cup, the Al Hilal squad were taking the schedule in their stride, said Al-Breik

“We’re used to playing an intense schedule, we are used to doing this every season,” the Saudi international told Reuters

“Fatigue is not a problem. We know our obligations, how to take care of ourselves and we always do our best to recover.

“We might not have been at our best when we had a lot of games one after the other, but once all our injured players returned we showed the real face of Al Hilal against Al Nassr and Al Ittihad.”

A total of 12 Al Hilal players, including Al-Breik, were involved in Saudi Arabia’s campaign in Qatar, with 10 of them on the pitch for their stunning win over Argentina in the group stage.

“Our experience is going to help,” says Al-Breik. “But we’re facing an opponent who is going to be aggressive and who are going to make things difficult.

“This will my third experience of playing in a final against Urawa Reds and we know they won’t make things easy but I hope we can succeed.”

Al Hilal won the most recent encounter between the clubs in the 2019 Asian Champions League final, avenging a defeat at the hands of the Japanese outfit two years earlier.

After Saturday’s first leg, the teams meet again in Japan seven days later at Saitama Stadium for the return fixture.

Finals during the pandemic were played on a single-game basis but with travel back to normal this edition sees the return of the home-and-away format.

Al-Breik said Al Hilal’s demanding supporters will push their team to success.

“Our fans are always wanting everything,” he says. “They are our motor, our driver to achieve our goals. They have always been like this and it’s thanks to them that we’re always on top.”

As Napoli close in on their first Italian Serie A title in over 30 years, Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen’s selfless team-work and impressive goal-scoring skills have been attracting worldwide attention.

Osimhen first showcased his abilities at the 2015 CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations, where he scored three goals and won the tournament’s Golden Boot.

However, he is not the only former participant of the tournament making waves in world football.

From Patson Daka to Omar Colley, many players have used the tournament as a launching pad to success.

At the 2015 CAF U-17 AFCON in Niger, Osimhen’s star began to rise as he scored three goals in the group stages, including a goal in Nigeria’s opening game against hosts Niger and a brace in their final group game against Zambia.

His final goal earned him global recognition and the tournament’s Golden Boot. Osimhen used this platform to build his reputation and career, and his achievements with Napoli and the Nigerian national team are testament to his talent.

Gambia’s Omar Colley, who won the U-17 Cup of Nations in 2009, was one of the key players in his team’s run to the quarter-finals of the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon.

Colley, an accomplished defender who plays for Turkish club Besiktas, featured in all of Gambia’s games at the tournament. His success at the 2009 U-17 AFCON, where Gambia conceded just one goal in the entire tournament, was a proving ground for his career.

Patson Daka, the Zambian international and current Leicester City player, was a star in the making at the 2015 tournament in Niger.

Though he may have been in the shadows at the time, his ability to read the game, draw in defenders, and finish with the calmness of a centre forward was evident.

As his career moved on to Austria and then the Premier League, Daka’s qualities as a player have only grown.

Martin Hongla, the Cameroonian international, may have been eliminated early on in the 2015 tournament, but he showed glimpses of his potential.

Hongla’s desire and ambition to achieve bigger things in his career are now on full display.

Other notable alumni of the tournament include Kelechi Iheanacho, Burkina Faso’s Bertrand Traore, Mali’s Mohammed Camara, and many others.

The CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations has played a significant role in shaping the careers of many players and has proven to be a launching pad for players who have gone on to achieve great success on the global stage.

Players like Osimhen, Colley, Daka, and Hongla have used the platform provided by the tournament to showcase their talent, develop their skills, and earn recognition from clubs worldwide.

As we look forward to the start of the next edition of the tournament in Algeria on Friday, we can expect to see more young players using this opportunity to launch their careers and make their mark on the beautiful game.

For the class of 2023, there is plenty of motivation to draw on the achievements of these players and carve their own pathway forward by making their mark on the world of football.

Nigeria recorded her second-biggest win at the International Handball Federation Emerging Nations Championship with a 35-17 win over Azerbaijan.

Nigeria defeated Azerbaijan 35-17 on Thursday to record their first win in two games and the biggest win so far at the ongoing International Handball Federation (IHF) Emerging Nations Championship.

The result at the Culture and Sports Centre in Varna, Bulgaria, meant Nigeria finished second in Group D behind Cuba.

Cuba have qualified for the semi-finals with two wins, while Azerbaijan will finish bottom of the group.

The score set by the African side is the highest margin so far after 12 games played at the 2023 edition of the event.

It was an exciting start for Nigeria against Azerbaijan, as they duly took advantage of every mistake made by the Europeans.

This was with devastating fast breaks converted after their opponents turned the ball over 17 times in the attack.

Right-back Faruk Yusuf finished the first half with six goals, three of which came via fast breaks, as the West Africans were impossible to stop, displaying amazing speed on that part of the ball.

An 11-2 start for Nigeria, which saw Azerbaijan score only two goals in the first 15 minutes of the first half, was the cue the African side needed to cruise to the win.

Yusuf extended his superb run in the game, finishing it with a 13-goal performance, taking his overall tally in the competition to 19 goals.

It is the second-largest after the group phase, only two goals shy of the leader, Andorra’s Unai Ruiz.

Without missing a beat, Nigeria jumped to a 35-17 win, their second-largest in history at the tournament, failing to beat their record set in 2019, 40-13 against Malta.

Nigeria will now face Great Britain in the placement matches on Saturday, aiming to improve their best position in the competition, which was seventh place in Georgia in 2019.

The tournament, which began on Wednesday, is expected to end on Sunday.

World ranked No.12 Aruna will be the highest rated player in the competition

Quadri Aruna, the 2022 Africa Cup runner-up, and Fatimo Bello have been listed among the top elite players that will lead the Nigeria contingent to this year’s edition, which takes place at the Moi International Stadium in Nairobi from 4 to 6 May.

Aruna, who has been active in the WTT Series this year, will hope to claim the title this year after an injury knocked him out of it in 2022 in Lagos.

The Nigerian ranked 12th in the world as the highest-rated African in the competition and will head the seeding list ahead of defending champion Omar Assar of Egypt in the men’s singles.

In the women’s singles, Bello, a surprise runner’s up in 2022, will be returning to the big stage again with the hope of repeating her feat against the star-studded list released by the African Table Tennis Federation (ATTF) for the championships.

Bello, a three-time West African champion, is currently defending her title at the 2023 West Africa Regional Championships in Accra, Ghana, but will have to contest against defending champion Hana Goda of Egypt and former champion Dina Meshref, who has been in superb form in recent times.

Joining Aruna and Bello on the Nigerian team are Taiwo Mati and Tosin Esther Oribamise, who will compete in the men’s and women’s events in Kenya.

Mati, now based in Portugal, will hope to re-enact the performance that saw him hit the semi-final stage at the African Championships in Algeria last year as he works his way into the top echelon of the African table tennis ladder.

Oribamise was a last-minute replacement for Edem Offiong, whose club engagement in Europe prevented her from being part of the tournament.

Egypt has assembled a strong six-man team for the men’s and women’s event as Assar and Goda defend their titles while Meshref and Yousra Helmy, as well as Ahmed Saleh and Youssef Abdul-Aziz, complete the North African side.

The tournament also marks the return of Senegal’s Ibrahim Diaw, who is yet to get back to full fitness after an injury sidelined him.

Meanwhile, this year’s Africa Cup will serve as a dress rehearsal for the first World Championships taking place in Africa in 84 years, which is due to take place in Durban, South Africa from 20 to 28 May.