Lechantre appointed to coach Senegal

Former Africa Cup of Nations winner Pierre Lechantre has been appointed the new coach of Senegal.

Lechantre got the nod ahead of French compatriot Bruno Metsu, who led the Senegalese to the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals.
Lechantre replaces Amara Traore, who was fired after a disastrous Nations Cup earlier this year.
The Teranga Lions were one of the pre-tournament favourites but lost all three of their first round games.
The 62-year-old has previously coached Cameroon, leading them to the 2000 Nations Cup and Olympic titles.
He has also coached Mali's Eagles but with little success.
Lechantre's other national coaching post was in Qatar and he last worked with Qatari club Al Arabi.
The Frenchman has vowed to put his own imprint on Senegalese football as the country seeks to reach the dizzy heights of 2002.
Lechantre faces his first competitive match on 2 June against Liberia in a 2014 World Cup qualifier.

Senegal expect to name new coach within a week

Senegal expect to name their new coach within the next week, says the president of the Senegal Football Federation Augustin Senghor.

"Will we name him at the end of this week or start of next week," Senghor told BBC Sport. "We have a shortlist, but now is not the time to give names.

"The committee members will meet this week and we will finalise our choice.

"Then we will meet with the new minister for sport to decide who the coach will be for the future."

Senegal have been without a coach since sacking Amara Traoreshortly after their first round exit from the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

The appointment of a new coach, which was delayed by the presidential elections, was originally expected to have been made within the first two weeks of April but has taken longer than anticipated.

"During the election period we thought it was better to wait," explained Senghor. "Now we have the new minister of sport for our country, which was necessary because it is the government official who is in charge of paying the salary of the coach, we will be able to make an appointment shortly."

Although Senghor would not reveal the candidates for the position, he did say that the new coach would be a "charismatic" figure who would command respect from the players.

"We have very good players. Many are playing in the major championships in Europe - in England, France, Spain, Turkey - and I think that if we have a good coach who can manage these great players, we can do well at the next Africa Cup Of Nations in 2013 and also at the next World Cup in Brazil in 2014," added Senghor.

Meanwhile, Senghor is hopeful that his country's best players will be available for selection for their London Olympics qualification play-off match against Oman on 23 April in the English city of Coventry - the one-off tie is for the last spot in the 2012 Games.

"The difficulty for the African national teams is the 23rd of April is not a Fifa date so the players are not allowed to attend this competition if they don't have the co-operation of their clubs.

"It was very difficult, what we did was to visit the managers of all the different clubs and we think we have about 14 players from their teams in Europe to attend this match. Also we have four players in Dakar who will join them in Paris and go to Coventry."

Senghor believes qualifying for the Olympics would be a major boost for Senegal following their poor performance at the Africa Cup Of Nations in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon earlier this year.

"We have never played in the Olympic Games and if we qualify it would be an historic moment for Senegalese football." he said.

"It would be a great thing because in the last edition of the Africa Cup of Nations Senegal played very badly and went out in the first stage. If we qualify it will mean we have put that difficulty behind us, that we are still alive and we can go on with our football."

Botswana coach Tshosane 'not 100% happy' despite new deal

Botswana coach Stanley Tshosane has revealed he is not "happy with everything" despite signing a new three-year deal, keeping him in the job until 2015.

While Tshosane is thought to have doubled his salary to $9000 a month, players' bonuses remain an issue.

He said: "I signed a new three-year deal, but that does not necessarily mean I'm happy with everything.

"I'm not 100% satisfied - some issues I raised are yet to be resolved."

Tshosane and the Botswana Football Association started contract talks before the Africa Cup of Nations finals earlier this year but the veteran coach stalled, claiming the main problem concerned payments to the players.

"I think the most important thing for any coach is to have a group of happy players whose welfare is a top priority for the association," he told BBC Sport.

"But that is still a cause for concern because, as I speak, players are protesting.

" They are unhappy about the issue of bonuses and I should be meeting the technical director over the issue."

The Zebras are presently at a training camp in Gaborone preparing for the Africa Cup of Nations 2013 qualifiers.

BFA president, David Fani, said in a media statement that Tshosane's new contract was offerd as a result of his excellent record with the Zebras.

Under Tshosane, Botswana qualified for the Africa Cup Of Nations finals for the first time, although they last all three of their matches at the tournament in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

"In the light of the Zebras unprecedented achievements, the BFA believes that the offer of another contract to Tshosane is well deserved," said Fani.

"During the 36 months contract period, the BFA will support Tshosane to guide the Zebras through the qualifying matches for the Africa Cup of Nations South Africa in 2103 and Libya in 2015 as well as the 2104 Fifa World Cup in Brazil."

Egypt coach tips Eagles to rule Africa

All the players of the national team that lost 2-3 to Egypt last Thursday in an international friendly in Dubai, have vowed that they will not make the mistakes that caused the last minute loss in their qualifiers for the South Africa 2013 Nations Cup and the Brazil 2014 World Cup qualifier.

First to speak was the man regarded as a surprise pick by Coach Stephen Keshi for the encounter on Thursday, Enyimba of Aba’s Henry Uche. “The referee was poor, but I think we lost concentration at some point and that was why they were able to get the last minute goal”, the fair skinned midfield anchor, whose performance was rated above average said. He said he forsees a better outing when the team steps out against Gabon next month in Libreville.

Towering defender, Azubuike Egwueke of Warri Wolves, said the Egyptians were ordinary but were overrated by the team. “I think we thought of them as the team that won two Cup of Nations back to back and it affected us, but we are learning fast and soon the world will see the real Super Eagles”.;

Team skipper, Chigozie Agbuim, said he has taken some lessons from the game but noted that the entire team caved in at the wrong time. “We let our guards down thinking that we have drawn the game and we paid for it, I know that it won’t happen next time, because we have learnt this one the bitter way”, he said.

Egyptian Head Coach Bob Bradley on his part, while blaming his team’s lack of finesse against Nigeria on match rustiness, said he foresees the Nigerian side ruling African football in less than six months if the NFF is able to hold the team together. “Wonderful players with wonderful skills that we could not match, they have a bright future if they stick together”, he said.

Angola part company with coach Lito Vidigal

Lito Vidigal ended his tenure as Angola coach after the nation's poor performance at the Africa Cup of Nations made his position untenable.

"We announce the friendly and mutually agreed termination of the contract with national coach Lito Vidigal," an Angola Football Federation statement said.

"Unfortunately the results and the performance of Palancas Negras at the 2012 African Nations Cup created an atmosphere which does not allow the coach's continuity."

Angola failed to get past the group stages of this year's Nations Cup finishing third in Group B behind Ivory Coast and Sudan.

They managed a win over Burkina Faso in their opening game before drawing with Sudan and losing to Ivory Coast.

The FAF are yet to find a replacement for Vidigal, who had a contract until the 2013 Nations Cup in South Africa.

The first task for a new coach will be to prepare the team for two 2014 World Cup qualifiers in June.

They will begin their campaign at home to Uganda, whom they edged out to qualify for the 2012 Nations Cup finals.

A trip to face Liberia will be their second Group J game, Senegal are the other team in the pool.