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AFCON PREVIEW: ANALYZING BENIN VS BOTSWANA AS GROUP D QUALIFICATION REACHES BOILING POINT
Benin and Botswana meet this Saturday in a must-win AFCON clash. Can Benin's returning stars secure their first Group D victory?
Benin and Botswana, both trying to bounce back from losses at the start of the Africa Cup of Nations, are going head-to-head this Saturday at Stade Prince Moulay Abdallah. They both need a win to keep their hopes of moving forward in the competition alive.
Benin almost pulled off a tie against Congo DR in their last game, but Botswana got beaten pretty badly, 3-0, by Senegal.
Match in Detail
Even though Benin wasn't doing so hot coming into the Nations Cup, they did show some fight against the Congo DR.
Still, they ended up losing 1-0 after a goal in the first part of the match. A later goal was disallowed.
The team has lost three games in a row now, and they haven't been scoring, which is a worry.
If Benin wants to avoid getting knocked out in the group stage again, they have to win against Botswana. If they lose, their chances of going further are pretty much done.
Botswana is the lowest-ranked team in the group, so Benin will see this as their best shot at grabbing a win before they have to play Senegal, which will be difficult.
Botswana's last game saw them lose to Senegal, who are one of the teams favoured to win the whole thing. Senegal won 3-0.
Botswana held them off for a while, but once Senegal scored, things fell apart.
The team hasn't kept a clean sheet in seven games, and they haven't won in eight.
After the first games, Botswana is at the bottom of Group D. It's going to be tough for them to make it to the next round, especially since this is only the second time they've been in the competition in the last 13 years.
They probably remember their game against Guinea back in 2012, where they lost 6-1, which is still their worst loss ever in the competition.
Team Updates
Benin is getting Junior Olaitan, Steve Mounie, Andreas Hountondji, Mohamed Tijani, and Marcel Dandjinou back from suspension, which gives them more options.
Mounie and Hountondji are likely to be in the starting lineup.
Goitseone Phoko, the goalie, had a great first game for Botswana, making a ton of saves. He'll probably start again.
Kabelo Seakanyeng has scored the most goals for Botswana of any player still on the team, but he hasn't scored in a while, so the team needs to find someone else who can put the ball in the net.
Benin's possible lineup:
Dandjinou, Tijani, Verdon, Roche, Moumini, Ouorou, Dodo, Imourane, Kiki, Mounie, and Olaitan
Botswana's possible lineup:
Phoko, Johnson, Ditlhokwe, Gaolaolwe, Velaphi, Ditsele, Seakanyeng, Mohutsiwa, Cooper, Orebonye, and Kebatho
CRISTIANO RONALDO HITS $1.4 BILLION: BUT MEET THE STAR WHO IS 15X RICHER
Cristiano Ronaldo is soccer's first billionaire, but Faiq Bolkiah’s £16bn royal fortune makes him the world's richest player.
Cristiano Ronaldo made history earlier this year as the first soccer player to become a billionaire because of his awesome career. But even with all that cash, he's not the richest player out there.
Ronaldo's huge new deal with Al Nassr will pay him about £492 million over two years. In 2023, he signed a record-setting £173 million-a-year contract in Saudi Arabia. This latest deal pushed him over the £1 billion mark.
According to Bloomberg, Ronaldo's worth jumped to $1.4 billion (£1.045 billion) in October. So, it's not a big surprise that the 40-year-old wants to own a bunch of clubs someday.
Still, even Ronaldo's crazy money looks small compared to another player. It isn't Lionel Messi, his longtime rival, but a player that most people probably don't remember.
Faiq Bolkiah, who plays for Ratchaburi in Thailand, is worth way more than one of soccer's biggest stars. Word is, Bolkiah has a massive £16 billion in the bank.
The 27-year-old is the Sultan of Brunei's nephew and one of the people who could inherit a £200 billion fortune. He was born in Los Angeles and started playing soccer with Newbury before playing on youth teams for Southampton, Chelsea, and Leicester City.
The left-winger went to Maritimo in 2020, but he never actually played a game in England at a high level, and this was when he signed his first pro contract. He didn't do great there either, playing just one game for their under-23s before going to Thailand.
Bolkiah joined Chonburi and played 32 times, scoring two goals and getting four assists. Then, in 2023, he switched to Ratchaburi, who have played in the Asian Champions League.
Bolkiah is a citizen of both America and Brunei but grew up in England. Even though he never made a splash in the Premier League, he did play with guys such as Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham at Chelsea.
Another teammate from that time, Ruben Sammut, says they used to joke about Bolkiah's wealth. "You would never have guessed he was like 12th in line for the throne," Sammut told The Athletic.
He didn't act like royalty at all. He was a regular guy, working hard every day like every academy player. We would joke that he didn't need to play soccer, but he wanted to because he loved it.
We didn't bring it up all the time. It was just normal joking around, saying he's royalty and asking, 'What's he doing playing with us?' But we all knew he really wanted to play, so it was all in good fun.
Bolkiah might also know an English cricket player. He went to Bradfield College, which costs £58,000 a year, when he was growing up in England. Gus Atkinson, who is the same age as Bolkiah, also went to that private school in Berkshire.
AFCON 2025 PREVIEW: WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS COLLIDE AS BAFANA BAFANA CHALLENGE SEVEN-TIME CHAMPIONS
Hugo Broos demands total discipline as South Africa faces Mohamed Salah’s Egypt in a massive AFCON Group B clash in Agadir.
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