Mali 1-1 Zambia ( att : 5,000 est ) – 2025 Africa Cup Of Nations

December 22, 2025

The 35^th edition of the Africa Cup Of Nations is being held in Morocco, and due to the ever-congested global calendar, it is the first time the tournament has been played over Christmas and New Year. The Finals were initially awarded to Guinea, but they were stripped of being hosts due to the inadequacy and lack of progress in the preparation to be ready to host the tournament, and Morocco, who already had the infrastructure in place, were selected as replacement hosts.

24 countries were playing in the Finals, which were being played across 9 stadiums, and unusually, there are no countries making their first ever appearance in the AFCON finals.

Yesterday saw the first match in the Finals as Morocco beat Comoros 2-0. Today’s match was the second to be played, and was in the same group. The top two qualify for the last 16, plus the four best third placed teams from the six groups.

Football in Mali

In January 2025, these diaries reported on a game in the Mali Premiere Division, when Etoiles Du Mande lost 1-2 at home to AS Onze Createurs de Niarela. That report provided a brief summary of the national team as well as the top league in Mali.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2025/01/etoiles-du-mande-1-2-as-onze-createurs.html 

Mali currently had a FIFA ranking of 54 and are also known as The Eagles. In the recently completed World Cup qualification campaign Mali had finished 3^rd in their group with a 5-3-2 record, to end 7 points behind group winners Ghana. Both defeats came against Ghana ( 1-2 at home and 0-1 away ), whilst the draws were against Central African Republic ( 1-1 at home  and 0-0 away ), and 0-0 away to Madagascar.

Three home wins were recorded, 3-0 against Comoros, 3-1 against Chad and 4-1 over Madagascar, in what was Maili’s most recent competitive fixture.

The away wins were 3-0 against Comoros and 2-0 over Chad. Brest midfielder Kamory Doumbia ( 26 caps ) was Mali’s top scorer in the group with 7 goals.

Mali qualified for AFCON 25 by topping a four team group with all 6 matches played in 2024. Mali beat Eswatini ( 6-0 home and 1-0 away ), beat Guinea-Bissau 1-0 at home and drew 0-0 away, and drew 1-1 at home with Mozambique, with a 1-0 win away. Fenerbahce winger Dorgeles Nene ( 28 caps ) scored a hat-trick in the romp against Eswatini

Mali Squad

The only members of the Mail squad currently playing in England were Tottenham Hotspur’s defensive midfielder Yves Bissouma ( 46 caps ), who previously played for Brighton and Hove Albion, and 19 year-old Watford striker Mamadou Doumbia ( 4 caps ). Crystal Palace midfielder Chieck Doucoure ( 16 caps ) and Wolves midfielder Boubacar Doucoure ( 4 caps ), who is currently on loan at Metz, were not selected.

Central midfielder Lassana Coulibaly ( 53 caps ) had a season on loan at Glasgow Rangers from Angers but is now playing in Serie A for Leece, whilst full-back Woyo Coulibaly ( 3 caps  ) had a short spell at Leicester City and is now at Serie A side Sassuolo.

Right-back Hamari Traore ( 59 caps ) played in Spain for Real Sociedad but is now with Paris FC, midfielder Amadou Haidara ( 49 caps ) is a mainstay at RB Leipzig, and defensive midfielder Mohamed Camara ( 35 caps ) played for Monaco, but is now playing in Qatar for Al Sadd. Winger Lassine Sinayoko ( 26 caps ) was with Auxerre.

None of the Mali squad played in their own country and only two played their club football in Africa. Keeper and captain Djigui Diarra ( 61 caps ) played in Tanzania for Young Africans and was featured in these diaries playing for his club in 2022, and midfielder Aliou Deng played for Al Ahly in Egypt.

Mali’s squad of 28 players were spread across 15 countries, France being the highest represented with 8 players, with England, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey each providing two players.

Belgian Coach Tom Saintfiet is perhaps the definition of a journeyman International manager, with Mali being the 13^th country he had taken charge of.  

Football in Zambia

This would be the first time Fatbear had covered Zambian football…….

The MTN Zambia Super League consists of 18 teams who play each other twice for a 34-game season. The 2024/25 champions were Power Dynamos from the city of Kitwe, who finished 5 points ahead of Ndola based ZESCO United.

Fourteen rounds of the 2025/26 season had been completed so far, with Red Arrows 4 points clear of Zanaco, with Power Dynamos a further point behind.

Since 2007, ZESCO United had won 9 titles, Zanaco from Lusaka had won 3 times, Kitwe sides Nkana and Power Dynamos had both won twice, and Lusaka’s Red Arrows had also won the league twice.

In the 2025/26 CAF Champions League, Power Dynamos eliminated ASEC Mimosas of Ivory Coast and Ugandan side Vipers to reach the Group stages where they had so far lost at Moroccan Champions RS Berkane 3-0 and 0-1 at home to 2024/25 CAF Champions League winners Pyramids from Egypt.

In the 2025/26 CAF Confederations Cup, ZESCO United were eliminated 0-1 on aggregate in the First Round by Dynamos, the Zimbabwean Cup Winners.

Zambia National Team

Zambia currently had a FIFA ranking of 90 but had been as high as 15^th in 1996, not long after 18 players had been killed in an air disaster in 1993 when the team was en-route to a fixture in Senegal.

Zambia had never qualified for the World Cup Finals, but won AFCON in 2012, which was held in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, where they beat Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties after a 0-0 draw. They had been runners-up in 1974 and third place in 1984, 1990 and 1996.

In the recently completed World Cup qualification campaign Zambia finished a disappointing 4^th in their group with a 3-0-5 record. They were awarded a 3-0 forfeit away victory over Congo after a ban on the Congolese for government interference, having won the home fixture 4-2. The other victory was a 1-0 success at home to Tanzania but losses were recorded against Morocco ( H 0-2, A 1-2 ), Niger ( H 0-1, A 1-2 ) and Tanzania ( A 0-1 )

Zambia also topped their qualification group for AFCON 2025, impressively finishing ahead of Ivory Coast, who they beat 1-0 at home in front of a crowd of 49,800 in Ndola but lost 0-2 in Bouake. Sierra Leone were beaten 3-2 at home and 1-0 away, and a 0-0 home draw was played against Chad, but the away game, played in the Cameroon, was won 1-0. Striker Kennedy Musonda ( 17 caps ), who now plays in Israel for Hapoel Ramat Gan scored 4 goals in qualification.

Perhaps the most famous footballer to come from Zambia was former PSV Eindhoven striker Kalusha Bwalya, who scored 39 goals in 87 appearances. Striker Emmanuel Mayuka ( 61 caps ) was the top scorer at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, and played for Southampton, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Young Boys Bern amongst others.

Midfielder Enock Mwepu was making his mark in the Premier League with Brighton and Hove Albion when he was forced to retire at the age of 24 after being diagnosed with a hereditary heart condition. Forward Chanka Zimba was now with Inverness Caledonian Thistle, but appeared in these diaries for Maidenhead United whilst on loan from Cardiff City.

The nickname for the Zambia national team is Chipolopolo, which is nothing to do with small sausages, but instead means The Copper Bullets.

Zambia Squad

Unlike Mali, 13 of the Zambia squad plied their trade in their domestic league, with ZESCO United and Power Dynamos each providing 4 players. The rest of the squad were spread across 12 countries.

Three of the squad played in Isreal, and in addition to Kennedy Musonda, midfielders Kings Kangwa ( 39 caps ) and Joseph Sabobo ( 7 caps ) played for Hapoel Be’er Sheva.

The one player making his living in England was Leicester City striker Patson Daka ( 21 goals in 48 caps ) whilst defensive midfielder Miguel Chaiwa ( 11 caps ) played in Scotland for Hibernian. Striker Fashion Sakala ( 37 caps ) spent two seasons with Glasgow Rangers after having been with Spartak Moscow and Oostende, but was now playing in Saudi Arabia, whilst defender Frankie Musonda ( 19 caps ) was born in Bedford and began his career at Luton Town, with loans to Oxford City and St Albans City before moving to Raith Rovers and Ayr United, but is now playing in Bahrain.

There were two players from Italy, Leece midfielder Lameck Banda ( 17 caps ) and Cagliari’s 19 year-old Joseph Liteta, who was yet to play for the Sardinian’s first team and was uncapped.

Defender Stoppila Sunzu ( 93 caps ) was with second tier Chinese side Changchun Yatai, midfielder Lubambo Musonda ( 56 caps ) played for German Bundesliga 2 side FC Magdeburg, defender Benson Sakala ( 42 caps ) was with Czech Side Bohemians 1905, and defender Kabaso Chongo had 50 caps and was now back playing in Zambia for ZESCO United, having previously played in DR Congo for TP Mazembe.

Midtjylland forward Edward Chilufya ( 19 caps ) was missing due a long-term injury sustained on international duty in November.

Zambia’s coach was former International Moses Sichone, who won 14 caps, and played for German sides 1.FC Koln, Alemannia Aachen, Kickers Offenbach and Carl Zeiss Jena.

Matchday Information

The match was being played at the 45,000 capacity Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca, which is the home ground for Moroccan giants Wydad AC and Raja Club Athletic, and was featured in these diaries when Raja AC drew 1-1 with Moghreb Atletico Tetouan  in the 2022/23 Morocco Botola Pro 1

All AFCON matches were being shown live in the UK over the Channel 4 network, and this match was streamed on the 4seven channel ( Sky channel 137 ).

Bet365, who also live streamed the game made Mali 3/4 favourites, with Zambia at 9/2 and the draw 23/10.

Online tickets for the game ranged from 100 to 300 Moroccan Dirhams ( £8 to £25 ), which seemed pricey given average annual income in Mali is around $3k and less than $5K in Zambia.

The weather at the 15.00 local kick-off time ( 14.00 UK ) was 16 degrees and cloudy with some patches of blue sky, after some rain earlier in the day.

Mali were playing in all white kit, apart from a green, yellow and red pattern down the front of their shirts, with red numbers and names, whilst Zambia were in orange shirts with black shorts and orange socks.

Mali made three changes from their last competitive fixture against Madagascar. As expected, captain and keeper Diarra replaced Mamadou Samassa, whilst Besiktas striker El-Bilal Toure ( 26 caps ) and defender Abdoulaye Diaby ( 9 caps ) from Grasshoppers came in for Ousmane Camara and Lassana Coulibaly. Bissouma was missing with a reported ankle injury.

Zambia made five changes from the players that started their last World Cup qualifier against Niger. In came Power Dynamos keeper Willard Mwanza ( 1 cap ), Nkana right-back Mathews Banda ( 4 caps ), Power Dynamos centre-back Domonic Chanda ( 31 caps ), Chaiwa and midfielder Owen Tembo ( 4 caps ), also from Power Dynamos. Out went Mulenga, Mphande, Chongo, Kapumbu and of course Chilufya.

The referee was the highly regarded Omar Abdulkadir Artan from Somalia, who had refereed the 2024/25 CAF Champions League Final

Match Report

The stadium was scarcely populated, probably as few fans from Mali or Zambia could afford to travel to North Africa, and the game hardly capturing the imagination of the locals. The pitch looked in very good condition.

After a quiet opening, Fashion Sakaka pushed the ball through legs of Diaby to run into the Mali area, and then went down with no-one near him. The referee waved play on.

A minute later Mali patiently passed the ball around the Zambia area until Lens midfielder Mamadou Sangare ( 9 caps ) fed Nene on the left-hand side of the area, but the side footed effort was weak and bobbled a couple of feet wide with keeper Mwanza untroubled.

After 7 minutes played, Nene drilled the ball across the Zambia area but too far ahead of Toure. A corner was given but taken short and wasted, but a second corner was awarded, which was also played short and wasted.

At the other end Fofana conceded a corner to deny Daka getting onto a pass into the Mali area. Zambia decided to send the set-piece into the centre of the penalty area but Diarra punched away to safety. Shortly after Kangwa showed good skill to get away from two Mail players near half-way but over-hit his pass to Fashion Sakala and it went off for a throw in.

In the 14^th minute Sinayoko turned and shot from the 18-yard line, but keeper Mwanza went down to make a regulation save.

Mali had dominated opening 15 minutes and the pattern continued as a low cross from the right by Sinayoko was going to the Zambian keeper, but Chanda slid in to put the ball out for a corner. This time Mali played into the penalty area but Zambia cleared.

Zambia then lost the ball inside their own half and Toure ran at the defence and slid a pass to Nene inside the area, but the Fenerbache man was crowded out.

In a rare Zambia attack Kangwa played a nice ball down the right-hand channel but the cross from the byline from Mathews Banda went straight to the keeper.

Dante made ground down the left for Mali but his cross was headed away by Chanda into Doumbia, who collided into him. The ball went wide of the goal but the referee awarded a free-kick to Zambia.

Daka then got to the right-hand by-line and delivered a good cross but Diaby dived to head off, not too far away from his near post, for a second corner for Zambia.

The impressive Chaiwa made a good tackle to prevent Sinayoko from breaking into the Zambia area, and a minute later Sangare dragged a 20-yard effort well wide.

There didn’t seem to be much going on when Sinayoko played a low ball from right into the Zambia area and Mathews Banda appeared to get the ball and Nene, and injured himself in the process. Whilst Banda was receiving treatment, VAR checked the incident and the replay showed that Banda got the player first, so it was a penalty !

After a lapse of 5 minutes, Toure put the ball on the spot, then placed his kick to keeper’s left. However, Mwanza dived to make a fine save at full stretch, and Zambia scrambled the rebound off for a corner.

It was goalless at the interval. Mali had wasted a good chance to take the lead, but despite their 58% possession they hadn’t really threatened apart from the penalty. Zambia had an expected xG rating of 0, reflecting they had not yet had a shot, on target or otherwise !

Mali continued to dominate as the second half started but Sangare’s long range strike went straight at the keeper, who made a routine save.

Coulibaly then went down injured after foul by Chaiwa but no free-kick was given. Nene then wriggled into the area on the left and went down after a challenge from Mathews Banda and again the referee said play on, which looked like a good decision.

A nice Mali passing movement found Coulibaly in space on the right, who delivered a good cross, but Toure made a poor contact with his header at the near post, and the ball went yards wide. Chaiwa then committed another foul, but the referee kept his cards in his pockets.

Another rare Zambian incursion into the Mali half saw Diaby needing to cut out a pass from Fashion Sakala intended for Daka at the expense of a corner. A curling delivery from Kangwa sailed not too far from back post. Shortly after a Zambian cross was sent from the left wing but there was no-one in the middle to attack it. Zambia were still to have a shot !

Sloppy defending gave Mali a throw near the Zambia corner flag, which was quickly sent into the 6-yard box. The first effort from Sinayoko was bravely blocked by Chanda but Sinayoko slammed the rebound into the roof of the net from 6 yards. Mali led 1-0 after 62 minutes.

Zambia were rocked by falling behind but Doumbia’s 25-yard effort was mis-hit and bobbled wide. Then Doumbia ran past two defenders into the Zambia area and hit the deck, but again no penalty was given, especially as Benson Sakala had taken the ball away from Malian midfielder, and it was another good decision by the Somalian official.

The first yellow card of the game was shown in the 64^th minute when Dieng tripped Kangwa after the Zambian midfielder had surged from the half-way line. The free-kick was hit long and Fashion Sakala got on the end of it, but his effort was blocked at the near post by Diarra. However, the offside flag was raised so it didn’t count as a shot !

Zambia made the first substitutions of the game in the 66^th minute, including a debut for ZESCO United’s David Simukonda.

Mali were still looking the side more likely to score the second goal of the game, and with 70 minutes on the clock, Nene’s curling shot from the edge of the area was pushed away for a corner by the diving Mwenza. Diaby was deemed to have fouled the keeper at the corner, although the challenged looked fine to Fatbear, but goalkeepers are a protected species !

A long throw Mathews Banda was flicked on and Coulibaly needed to concede a corner at the back post. After the corner was partially cleared, Kangwa put the ball back into the mixer and after Coulibaly’s poor defensive header, an acrobatic kick from Chanda produced a dog’s dinner save from Diarra, looking good for the cameras. At least Zambia now had an effort on target…….

Mail made their first two changes, bringing on Mahamadou Doumbia ( 1 cap ) formerly of Antwerp but now playing in Saudi Arabia for Al Ittihad, and Feyenoord’s Gaoussou Diarra ( 5 caps ).

Zambia main weapon now appeared to be long throws from Mathews Banda but Mali were dealing with them. At the other end, Sinayoko cut inside but sent a fierce shot from the 18 yard line inches wide of far post.

Zambia were finally stirring and substitute Kennedy Kennedy Musonda made a neat turn to get away from two markers but his intended reverse pass for Daka was intercepted.

With two minutes remaining Zambia won a free-kick on the right wing, but for once Kangwa’s delivery was poor and headed away by the first defender. Zambia reworked possession and after good turn and cross by Simukonda, Daka’s header went high and wide.

With normal time just about up, Zambia played a corner short, but Tembo shot weakly from distance, but Daka was able to gather and put the ball wide for Kangwa to cross from the left wing. Under pressure, Benson Sakala could only head high over the bar.

Zambia continued to press and a delightful left footed cross from right from Mathews Banda was delivered into the Mali area, and Daka ghosted between Diaby and Dante to dive and head past Diarra from 10 yards. A rare moment of quality from Zambia, and it was 1-1 after 92 minutes.

Mali briefly threatened but a great tackle from Benson Sakala prevented Sinayoko from getting on to a cute pass into area. The final whistle went before Zambia could make a final substitution.

Zambia had played their get out of jail card to grab a late equaliser, after only being seen as an attacking force in the last 5 minutes of the game. Mali will rue not be able to see the game out, or making more of their possession, and of course, the missed penalty.

Highlights :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AShAUoi8OU

Mali : Diarra – Fofana Diaby, Dante - Sinayoko , W. Coulibaly, Dieng, Sangare, Nene ( M.Doumbia ) – K. Doumbia ( Haidara ) - Toure  ( G. Diarra )

Zambia : Mwanza – M.Banda, Chanda, B. Sakala, L Musonda - L Banda ( Sabobo ), Chaiwa ( Simukonda ), Tembo, Kangwa – Daka, F. Sakala ( K. Musonda )

 

Chinnor 47-10 Cornish Pirates ( att : 2,231 ) – 2025/6 English Champ

December 20, 2025

Today’s pre-Christmas entertainment saw Chinnor entertain Cornish Pirates as 7^th hosted 4^th in round 11 of the English Champ, but with only two points separating the two sides in the league table.

Chinnor Update

Two weeks ago Chinnor lost their 100% home record as they were narrowly beaten 6-11 by Nottingham in awful conditions. However, Chinnor bounced back on Saturday with a 55-15 victory at bottom side Cambridge, scoring 8 tries and 36 unanswered second half points. Chinnor now had a 6-0-4 record but today marked a run of four consecutive matches against the sides currently in the top 4 in the table.

Previous Meetings

Last season was the first time these two clubs had met, and Pirates narrrowly came out on top in both encounters. In Penzance in November, Pirates edge to a 15-13 victory in front of a Friday night crowd of 1,272. Pirates also won the return by two points, emerging victorious 33-31 in April at Kingsey Road, just holding off a stirring second half comeback from Chinnor after Pirates had led 33-12 at half-time. 1,867 were in attendance.

Fatbear’s report on the match at Chinnor included a brief histroy of Pirates, their squad and the player connections between the two clubs.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2025/04/chinnor-31-33-cornish-pirates-att-1595.html 

Cornish Pirates This Season

Pirates finished fourth last season, and were currently on track to achieve a similar placed finish this season.

Pirates arrived with a 5-1-4 record but despite having fewer victories than Chinnor they had earned more bonus points.  Away from the Mennaye, Pirates were 2-0-2.

Pirates started the season poorly, suffering two narrow defeats, 21-22 at home to Hartpury then 26-21 at Ampthill, where Saracens wonderkid Noah Calouri scored two tries for The Mob. Pirates were then held at home to a 15-15 draw by Doncaster Knights.

Results improved as five consecutive victories were racked up as they overcame London Scottish ( A 38-10 ), Caldy ( H 38-27 ), Nottingham ( A 36-28 ), Cambridge ( H 52-0 ) and Richmond ( H 28-19 ).

However, Pirates had been beaten in their last two outings, losing 24-40 at Worcester Warriors and then 26-27 at home to Bedford Blues, thanks to a late penalty.

The average home attendance for Pirates this season over their 6 matches was 1,570, with the highest attendance being 1,722 for the visit of Richmond. This was slightly up from the 1,531 average for last season.

In comparison, after only 4 home matches, the average for Chinnor was 1,460, although that figure was dented by the lower than usual crowd for the Nottingham game due to the extreme weather. Last season’s average at Chinnor was 1,793.

Cornish Pirates Squad

Former Dragons, Jersey Reds and Cardiff Welsh fly-half Arwel Robson was the leading scorer with 47 points, just ahead of livewire scrum half Dan Hiscock, who had 9 tries to his name, and wing Arthur Relton with 7 tries.

Of the Pirates players mentioned in last season’s match, winger Matt McNab, who scored four tries that day, is now with Doncaster Knights, hooker Harry Hocking is now with Richmond, centre Charlie McCaig had joined Edinburgh after being on loan from Exeter Chiefs, fly-half Bruce Houston was now playing in the French third tier with AS Bressane, wing Robin Wedlake had dropped two levels to play for Camborne, and hooker Dylan Irvine signed for Cambridge. The whereabouts of ex-Chinnor prop Jay Tyack was unknown to Fatbear !

This season Pirates had four dual registered players from Exeter Chiefs, full-back Louie Sinclair, who played for Taunton Titans last season, lock Alfie Bell, back-row forward Jack Forsythe and hooker Sol Moody.

Hooker Morgan Nelson had returned to the club after a season at Gloucester and prop Alfie Petch had played for Exeter Chiefs, Northampton Saints, Biarritz, Gloucester, and after a loan to Pirates last season, signed permanently for this campaign. USA back-row forward Tomiwa Agbongbon, who was on a season long loan last season from Ealing Trailfinders, had signed up again for this season.

Centre Chester Ribbons had previously been at Exeter University, as had fellow centre Joe Elderkin, who began his career at Redruth. Irish prop Alessandro Heaney has signed on loan for the rest of the season from US Major League Rugby side RFC Los Angeles.

Matchday Information

According to AA route planner, the journey from Penzance to Thame is 290 miles and should normally take five hours. It’s Pirates third shortest journey this season after Hartpury University and Worcester Warriors. A decent number of Pirates supporters had made the journey, but unlike last year I didn’t spy any of them wearing kilts in the cold weather !

The weather at the 15.00 kick-off was sunny with blue skies with a temperature of 8 degrees, although it felt a lot colder than that. The infamous Chinnor breeze was at its most gentle.

Adult tickets purchased online were £16 and £20 at the gate, and an online programme had been produced in advance of today’s game.

Pirates made three changes to the XV that started against Bedford Blues with Matty Ward replacing Harry Yates on the wing, Ollie Andrews replacing Alfie Petch at tight-head prop, and Alessandro Heany was in for Will Young at loosehead prop.

Chinnor made six changes to the side that thrashed Cambridge. Back in were hooker Alun Walker, prop Robin Hardwick, lock Conor Brockschmidt, flanker Will Cave, scrum-half Luke Carter, and wing Keiran Goss, with Luke Thompson, Kabous Bezuidenheut Callum Rafferty, Geroge Stokes, Callum Pascoe and Nick Smith missing out. Thompson, Rafferty and Pascoe were amongst the substitutes though.

Pirates were in a kit of mostly purple shirts and black shorts and socks rather than their usual red and black shirts. Chinnor were in their usual black and white hooped shirts.

Match Report

Pirates kicked off towards the ring-road end with the sun in their eyes and with the floodlights already on. Chinnor returned the restart and Pirates full-back Sinclair made the catch and set-up a ruck close to his 10 metre line. Robson’s high kick was fielded by Chinnor wing Kieron Goss and Chinnor kicked back into the Pirates half. The kick-tennis continued until Robson sent a fine kick bouncing into touch inside the Chinnor 22, but the referee took play back for a Pirates penalty on the half-way line.

Robson kicked to mid-way inside the Chinnor half, but the home side won the Pirates’ throw and appeared to knock-on in midfield, but the referee allowed play to continue and Chinnor kicked high for Pirates wing Relton to make the catch. Both sides then knocked on, so it was a scrum to Chinnor on half-way.

Chinnor centre James Bourton made a good break through the centre of the Pirates defence, and Carter then chipped deep into the Pirates 22 where a Pirates defender fumbled and the ball was fly-hacked forwards towards the Pirates line. A penalty advantage to Chinnor came to nothing, so it was back for a 5 metre line-out.

Lock Jamie Campbell secured possession for Chinnor, but the rolling maul and several drives for the line were repelled. Chinnor let their backs have the ball, and a pass through his legs by hooker Walker enabled Chamberlain to give centre Sam Hanks an easy run to the line. Fly-half Nathan Chamberlain added the extras to give Chinnor a 7-0 lead after 10 minutes.

Chinnor’s return of the restart was kicked out on the full to give Pirates a line-out just outside the Chinnor 22, which Chinnor again won and kicked into the Pirates half and when Pirates kicked back, Chinnor full-back Cousins found a good touch.

Pirates finally won a line-out but Hiscocks’ high kick bounced into the referee who had no option other than to stop play and award a scrum to Pirates, who then launched a good move but eventually sent a kick bouncing into touch just inside the Chinnor 22.

The home side won their line-out through Campbell and attacked down the blindside, and winger Freddie Owsley’s grubber kick was knocked on by Relton to give Chinnor a scrum. Chinnor again went blind through flanker Harry Dugmore, who was pushed into touch 10 metres from the Pirates line. Bell won the line-out for the visitors and Hiscocks cleared their lines.

Chinnor threw long and Scott Hall made the catch. Chamberlain kicked deep from the sebsequent ruck but Pirates again were able to gather and Hiscocks again kicked to touch. Brockschmidt won the Chinnor line out and were awarded a scrum after several drives in midfield. Carter made a snipping run and fed Chamberlain who passed to Owsley, who couldn’t hang on to the ball and dropped it 5 metres from the whitewash.

Despite a good shove at the scrum by Chinnor, Hiscocks was able to again find touch. Chinnor threw to the front of the lineout where Brockschmidt made the catch, and when Chinnor attacked, Pirates were caught offside, and Chinnor kicked to 10 metres from the tryline. Campbell won the lineout and the rolling maul moved slowly forward. With a penalty advantage, Carter scooted over for the try and Chamberlain’s conversion was good. It was now 14-0 after 26 minutes.

Chinnor’s supporters had barely stopped celebrating when a Pirates lineout was overthrown. Owsley picked up the loose ball and the Chinnor backs launched a blistering move featuring Bourton, Cousins, Goss, Chamberlain, and Carter gave Bourton a straightforward run for the line. A conversion from close to the posts increased Chinnor’s lead to 21-0 with 28 minutes on the clock.

Chinnor were winning the aerial battles so Robson decided to change tactics and tried to send a kick bouncing into touch inside the Chinnor 22. However, the ball bounced infield forcing Owsley to play the ball, but the Pirates attackers pounced on him and a penalty was awarded for not releasing. Agnongbon won the subsequent 5 metre line-out and the rolling maul barged over the line to open the Pirates’ account, with hooker Nelson being credited with the try. Robson’s attempted conversion drifted wide of the nearest upright so the score moved to 21-5 with 32 minutes played.

Agbongbon caught the restart and Hiscocks kicked high. Cousins made a good catch and Chinnor went wide. Goss kicked ahead but a Pirates defender was able to gather 5 metres from his own line and Pirates cleared. However, the ball stayed in play and Cousins made 20 metres, and Owsley chipped into the Pirates 22 where Hiscocks call for the mark, and kicked to his 10 metre line.

Dugmore caught the line-out throw for Chinnor and Campbell made a break but was illegally stopped, and some back-chat from the Pirates took them back another 10 metres to give Chinnor a penalty on the Pirates 22, which was kicked to 5 metres.

Campbell again ruled supreme at the line-out and Chinnor’s rolling maul trundled over the line, with Walker touching down. Chamberlain failed from the tee for the first time, so the score was now 26-5 with 40 minutes played

There was still time for a restart, from which Pirates won a penalty and kicked to 5 metres. However, they were penalised for delaying the throw, and Chinnor kicked the penalty off the field to end the first half, deservedly leading 26-5.

Pirates failed to deal with second half restart and Owsley picked up and ran down the touchline deep into the Pirates 22 but a Chinnor offence gave Pirates a penalty, which took them to their 10 metre line. A second penalty was won at the ruck after the lineout, so they edged their way to the Chinnor 10 metre line.

Matthew Cannon won the line-out for Pirates but when Pirates attempted to move the ball, Agbongbon dropped the ball in a central position and Chamberlain picked up the loose ball and headed for the try-line. He looked like running half the length of the pitch but was denied by a tremendous tackle 10 metres from the line. Chinnor’s forwards twice drove for the line but were pinged for crossing.

The visitors won another couple of penalties to get into the Chinnor half but Chinnor were then awarded a free-kick at a Pirates scrum. Chamberlain sent the ball into orbit for Relton to take the catch and set off on a mazy crossfield run, after which Robson kicked into the Chinnor half. Cousins made the catch and ran from his 22 metre line to the Pirates 10 metre but Pirates won another penalty at the ruck to take them back to just outside the Chinnor 22.

Pirates won their lineout and moved the ball across the field but it was Chinnor’s turn to win a penalty at the ruck which took them to just outside the Pirates 22. Campbell won the ball for Chinnor, and from the next ruck, Carter released Cousins to break through the middle, only to be brought down short of the line. Several Chinnor drives were defended but Chinnor then decided to move the ball and Dugmore was in acres of space to dive over close to the posts for a score against his former club. The easy conversion increased Chinnor lead to 33-5 after 52 minutes.

Pirates were able to claim their own restart, and Chinnor were penalised for a high tackle. The line-out just inside the Chinnor 22 was quickly thrown to a prop at the front of the line-out. Pirates drove several times for the line, and with a penalty advantage Robson chipped to the corner, and with the ball bouncing up nicely, substitute Ben Cambriani leapt the highest to take the ball and dive over in the corner. Robson’s attempted conversion from the touchline was sliced well wide of the uprights. The score was now 33-10 with 57 minutes played.

Agbongbon dropped the restart and the loose ball was kicked into the in-goal area where Pirates were able to touchdown for a drop-out from behind their line. Cousins fielded the clearing kick and ran 30 metres back at the Pirates, but the Chinnor attacks were defended until Chinnor knocked-on.

Pirates attempted to run the ball from the scrum but unfortunately for them the ball was dropped by Elderkin, enabling Carter catch and run unopposed under the posts for his second try of the match. Chamberlain added the easy conversion to make it 40-10 after 60 minutes.

Robson’s restart came down with snow on it, and Pirates won a turnover, and then a penalty. A quick tap was taken, but with a penalty advantage the ball was thrown into touch. Another quick tap was taken but the Pirates forwards were held up over the line to give Chinnor the goal-line drop out.

When the Pirates attempted to run back at the Chinnor defence, they knocked on to give Chinnor the scrum on their 10 metre line. The scrum was wheeled but Hall was able to pick-up and Pascoe kicked deep. Relton again caught and ran back at Chinnor, but Pirates were penalised for crossing.

Chinnor were back on the Pirates 5 metre line and Campbell won the line-out. The rolling maul was stopped, as were a couple of drives, so Chinnor spread the ball and Cousins raced over for his side’s 7^th try of the day. Chamberlain knocked over his 6^th conversion taking the score to 47-10 with 66 minutes on the clock.

Needing two tries for a bonus point, Pirates moved from left to right and back again before attempting to go through the middle, but failed to make any impression. Eventually the ball was spilled and Pascoe kicked back to the Pirates 22 where Ward call for the mark. Unfortunately to the Pirates winger, he dropped the ball when attempting to take the tap so Chinnor had a scrum inside the Pirates 22.

Chinnor pressed for another try, but Chamberlain’s attempted long pass was intercepted. Two Pirates backs ran away, and decided to kick ahead. However, Owsley was too fast, racing past the Pirates to slide and gather the ball close to the Chinnor line, and Chinnor were able to clear to touch.

Cannon won the line-out for Pirates, who won another penalty. A quick tap was taken by the replacement scrum-half Will Rigelsford, but he only suceeded in running straight into a tackle and conceded a penalty.

The closing stage were mostly played in the Chinnor half. After Charlie Rice won a line-out for Pirates, Ward went on a jinking run but then chipped ahead straight to Cousins, who sped down the touchline but Chinnor knocked on when the ball was moved infield.

From the scrum, Pirates attacked down the blindslide and Ward looked to be racing clear to score under the posts, but unfortuntely for the Pirates, the referee had seen the forward pass to the winger.

The final whistle blew shortly after to give Chinnor a convincing victory, and their third this season over a full-time side. Pirates had nothing to take on their long journey home.

With the win Chinnor moved up to 5^th, whilst Pirates fell to 8^th in the table.

Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2QLCRAjbis

 

 

SV River Plate Aruba 2-6 SV La Fama ( att : 40 est ) – 2025/26 Aruba Division di Honor

December 15, 2025

This weekend saw round 6 of this season’s top flight league in Aruba, which commenced on October 24^th , with this match being the third of the day in the same stadium.

Aruba

Aruba is situated in the Caribbean 29 kilometres north of Venezuela and 80km north-west of Curacao. It is a constituent country in the Kingdom Of The Netherlands together with Curacao, St Maarten and The Netherlands, so all citizens of Aruba have Dutch nationality. The other Dutch islands in the Caribbean, Bonaire, Saba and St Eustatius, are deemed to the special municipalities.

Together with Bonaire and Curacao, Aruba forms part of the ABC islands.

Aruba has an area of 179 square kilometres and a population of around 110,000. The capital is Oranjestad, and whilst the national languages are Dutch and Papiamento, English and Spanish are widely spoken. The currency is the Aruban florin but the US Dollar is accepted just about everywhere.

Since the closure of its large oil refinery, the main industries on Aruba are tourism and off-shore banking.  Aruba is on track this year to have 1.4 million visitors who stay at least one night on the island, and the number of visitors is much higher when day visitors from docking cruise ships is taken into consideration. 75% of the visitors come from the USA, attracted by the all-year round good weather, the beaches and casinos ! Around 15% of the visitors come from Latin America with the rest nearly all coming from Europe, mostly the Netherlands.

Aruba National Team

The Aruba national team are currently 191^st in FIFA’s ranking, having been as high as 112^th in 2014 and as low as 205^th in 2021.  Good results in the recent CONCACAF Series competition, where they drew 0-0 with Antigua and Barbuda, and beat Barbados 3-0, both of whom were ranked 20-30 places higher than Aruba, saw them rise three places in the rankings.

In the recent 2026 World Cup qualification process, Aruba finished 4^th in their 5 team group.  They started with two away draws, 2-2 in St Lucia and 1-1 with Barbados, but were beaten in their two home matches, 0-2 to Curacao and 0-5 to Haiti, both of whom went on to qualify for the Finals in Canada, Mexico and the USA. The attendance for the Haiti match was 673.

In the earlier 2024/25 CONCACAF Nations League B, Aruba lost all 6 matches, going down to Haiti ( 1-3 & 3-5 ), Puerto Rico ( 0-1 & 1-5 ) and St Maarten ( 0-1 & 0-2 ). A crowd of 1,011 attended the Haiti home match.

Like Curacao and Suriname, Aruba have been tapping into their diaspora in the Netherlands, and only 5 of the 23 players in their most recent squad played their football in Aruba. Their all-time leading goal scorer is Dutch born midfielder Rovien Ostiana ( 15 caps ) with 8 goals, and he started in the youth teams at Brentford, Queens Park Rangers and Cambridge United, and is now playing amateur football in the Netherlands. Striker Terrence Groothusen ( 22 caps ) has scored 6 times for Aruba and has played for Dordrecht, 3^rd Division football in Germany and for two sides in Malta, but is now playing in the 4^th level in the Netherlands.

Midfielder Isai Marselia ( 11 caps ) plays for eighth tier Sutton Coldfield Town in England whilst left-back Bradley Martis ( 2 caps ) had played for Sparta Rotterdam and Cejle in Slovenia, but is now playing in the Dutch Third level. Record cap holder centre-back Paul Nickenson ( 35 caps ) had a short spell with Third Division Paros in Greece, but is now back home playing for Dakota.

Aruba Division di Honour

The top flight of football in Aruba consists of 10 sides who play each other once. The top six then split to the Gold group for 10 more fixtures, after which the top 4 play each other again in a play-off league, and the top two then play a final to determine the overall Champion.  Simples !

The bottom four form two groups with the sides in the second division, with the top 3 in each group then playing off to determine the four sides to make up the Division di Honour for next season, with the two group winners automatically securing places.

All matches are currently being played at the Sports Complex Guillermo Prospero Trinidad, Dakota, which is commonly abbreviated as CDGT, or referred to as the Trinidad Stadium. It is the national stadium located in the Dakota district of the capital Oranjestad, and named after a local politician rather than the Caribbean Island ! The stadium has an artifical pitch surrounded by an Athletics track, and depending on which source you refer to has a capacity of either 2,500 or 5,000 !

The first two rounds of the league were played at another ground in Oranjestad, the smaller Sports Complex Frans Figaroa.

SV Britannia have won the last two Division di Honour titles, and 6 championships in total but the record title holders are SV Dakota with 17, although the last was in 2021/22, and SV Racing Club Aruba ( RCA ), also with 17. RCA won the 2022/23 title.

The champions of Aruba qualify to play in the CFU Club Shield, the second-tier club competition in the Caribbean.  The 2025 edition, held over a two-week period in Trinidad and Tobago was bizarrely structured with 24 sides playing in 4 groups of 6, but playing only two matches, with just the group winners going through to semi-finals. SV Britannia drew 1-1 with Paradise SC International from Grenada and then beat St Paul’s United of St Kitts and Nevis 2-0 to finish joint second in their group behind Moca of the Dominican Republic, who went on to win the tournament.

RCA participated in the 2024 CFU Club Shield and only played one match, losing 1-2 to Arnett Gardens of Jamaica in a game played in Curacao. The 2023 competition was held in St Kitts, and Dakota got to play three group matches, beating SWA Sharks of the Turks and Caicos Islands 3-0 and Solidarite-Scolaire of Guadelupe 1-0, but lost 0-3 to Club Sando of Trinidad, who won the group.

2025/26 Season

After 5 rounds of fixtures, Dakota led the table with a 100% record, with Britannia in second placed having drawn 1-1 with newly promoted Sporting, who were 5^th.

SV La Fama, who are based in the town of Savaneta in the south of the island, were in third place with four wins but had lost last time out 1-2 to Dakota. Their victories had been 2-1 against Estrella, 3-2 over Deportivo Nacional, 2-0 against Bubali and 2-1 over RCA.

La Fama had won the league championship on one occasion, in 2012/13.

La Fama had a cosmopolitan squad. Canadian centre-forward Timothe Makanzu-Tinadio was the top scorer with 3 goals and was one of four Canadian in their squad along with captain and midfielder Anthony Walsh, midfielder Gregory David and full-back Abdelatif Taleb. There were also two Dutch players ( forwards Delayno Jansen and Bas van der Weij ), two from Colombia ( midfielder Dixo Ordonez and forward Lewis Bermudez ) and one from Haiti ( Caleb Jean-Baptiste ) and one from Jamaica ( Kenroy Ranger )

SV River Plate Aruba are based in the capital Oranjestad and are not to be confused with the team of the same name in Argentina, or the teams in Uruguay, Paraguay or Ecuador for that matter !

River Plate had two titles to their name, but the last was back in 1997. Last season River Plate were the Silver champions, winning the competition played to determine the sides that either stay in the top division or get promoted. In River Plate’s case they stayed in the Division di Honour having finished 7^th in the regular season.

River Plate started the season with a 3-0 victory over Real Koyari but then lost 1-5 to Dakota and 1-2 to Britannia. They then beat Deportivo Nacional 2-1 and drew 2-2 with Estrella to start the weekend in 6^th place in the table.

They had an all-Aruban squad and Shakeme Stamper and Johndrick Kelly had both found the net three times this season.

Matchday Information

The weather at the 20.00 local time ( midnight UK time ) was dry and 27 degrees.

The match was streamed live on FIFA, as were all the other round 6 matches, but with no commentary.

River Plate played in the same colours as their Argentinian namesakes, with white shirts with a red diagonal sash, black shorts and red socks. La Fama were wearing lime green shirts, with white shorts and socks.

River Plate made five changes to the side that started against Estrella whereas La Fama made four changes to the team that narrowly lost to Dakota

Match Report

There was a dramatic start to the game, as La Fama should have opened the scoring in the opening 20 second. A curling shot from David from the edge of the area struck a goalpost, and with the goal at his mercy and the River Plate keeper on the deck, Jansen shot tamely at the keeper Elias Croes, whose hairstyle made him look like Taylor Swift’s ugly sister. Croes was able to block for a corner. When the ball bounced around in the penalty box from the corner, Makanzu-Tinadio put the ball high and wide. 

The game settled down after that early rush, with La Fama having the lion’s share of the possession and the bespectacled Jermaine Carty and Jansen being prominent on their right-hand side but the next chance didn’t arrive until the 10^th minute, when Jansen took the ball off team-mate Ranger, who had his back to the goal, to burst into the River Plate area, but Jansen sliced his shot horribly wide as River Plate centre-back Carlos Quandt came over to cover.

River Plate’s first real foray into the La Fama half saw Ajeem Morales win a free-kick, which Kelly sent long and the La Fama defence shepherded the ball out for a goal-kick.

With 14 minutes played Jansen teed up David, but the shot from just inside the area was straight at the River Plate keeper, who held onto the effort.

Rafael Karamantana made an important tackle to stop Ranger at the expense of a corner after he had run into the River Plate area. However, Rangel’s delivery sailed straight out of play for a goal-kick.

A long pass out of the La Fama defence found David just inside the River Plate area, and although the Canadian took a good first touch, Karamantana was able to shield the ball and keeper Croes came off his line to dive on it.

River Plate centre-back Elian Samper was shown the first yellow card of the match, for tripping Makanzu-Tinadio as the striker was about to enter the River Plate area, and conceded a free-kick just outside the area on the right-hand side. David sent the free-kick to the far post, where Makanzu-Tinadio dived to head the ball into the opposite corner of the goal. It was 0-1 with 25 minutes on the clock.

Three minutes later the River Plate defence failed to deal with a David corner, and La Fama defender Tyrone Boasman slammed the loose ball into the roof of the net with his left foot from 2 yards. 0-2 with 28 minutes played.

River Plate’s reaction to falling two goals behind was to bring on joint top-scorer Stamper, who was perhaps surprisingly dropped for this game, and also surprisingly, the player to make way was Brayan Villalobos, who had looked neat and tidy at left-back.

With 35 minutes played, Jansen made an outrageous dummy to fool Samper and run on to the ball, but neither David or Makanzu-Tinadio could take advantage of his low ball into the River Plate area. A lengthy delay soon followed when the ball hit River Plate’s Yan Gomez flush in the face from short range after a clearance from Kelly, but fortunately Gomez was able to continue after a concussion test.

Whilst Gomez was briefly off the pitch, Carty was forced to concede a corner to prevent Stamper getting on the end of a long ball from Kendrick Poulina for River Plate’s first corner. However, the corner was played short and wasted, and La Fama won a throw-in.

Carty then controlled a long cross-field pass and skipped past Samper, but his cross from close to the byline was poor and went high over the bar for a goal-kick.

With 40 minutes played, River Plate had a sniff of a chance. La Fama’s backline failed to react when a long throw from Poulina went over their heads in to the penalty area, but Stamper could only get a toe to the ball on the stretch, and the ball hit keeper Faro, who gathered the loose ball.

David went on a mazy run across the field and fed Jansen, but midfielder Paulina was back helping his defence and made a block to concede a corner to La Fama.

With half-time approaching, Rangel’s flicked pass enabled Jansen to push the ball past Quandt to get to the byline and his low ball across the goalmouth presented a tap-in for Ranger at the far post. La Fama now led 3-0 after 43 minutes.

La Fama’s Boasman received his side’s first yellow card as he needlessly brought down Morales as the River Plate forward ran towards the La Fama’s penalty area but didn’t seem to be going anywhere. Kelly could only fire the 25-yard free-kick into the wall, and Gomez smashed the rebound nearer to the corner flag than the goal, and which brought an end to the half

Behind by three goals at the break, River Plate looked to be in big trouble and La Fama’s play looked to be a class above.

River Plate began the second half by stringing together a few passes a couple of times without making much progress, until Ranger clattered into Quandt just inside the La Fama half to receive the second yellow card of the game for La Fama.

In the 50^th minute, River Plate worked a nice move as Juan Diego Croes, perhaps the shortest player in any top flight division anywhere in the World and whose large shorts made him look like Stanley Matthews, threaded a pass for Stamper to run at the La Fama backline. After being closed down, Stamper laid the ball back to Gomez, whose mis-hit shot went to Kelly, who passed to Gonzalez, who in turn put centre-forward Morales in space on the left inside the La Fama area. Morales rounded keeper Faro but with nearly all the goal open, his close-range shot was blocked by Maduro on the line. It was a golden chance squandered.

Shortly after, a River Plate long-throw was launched into the La Fama area, and Gomez attempted an acrobatic volley at the rebound, but his effort went narrowly over the bar.

River Plate were now looking a different side and La Fama were under the cosh. However, against the run of play, Makanzu-Tinadio picked up possession near half-way and surged forward. He played in Jansen, who ran into the River Plate area and sent a fierce shot in roof of the net at the near post. It was now 0-4 after 54 minutes and it felt like game over.

River Plate had other ideas though, and Stamper delivered a delightful left-footed cross, and Kelly hung in the air to head into the opposite corner from 8 yards, with Faro wrong-footed. The score became 1-4 with 55 minutes played.

River Plate defender Karamamtana then appeared to pull a muscle running back to escort the ball back to his keeper and needed to be replaced after treatment. Once the game resumed, La Fama were quickly on the attack. Jansen ran from half-way and found substitute Bermudez in space on the right, and the Colombian substitute played a ball across the area to the unmarked David, rather than going for goal himself. Although the pass went slightly behind David, he was able to stick a leg out behind himself, and cleverly flicked the ball in to the empty goal. 1-5 after 62 minutes.

Almost from the restart Poulina sent a free-kick into the La Fama area, and the ball fell to Stamper, but his left footed effort lacked power, and keeper Faro managed to kick it away as he fell to the ground going in the wrong direction, and Morales sent the rebound high and wide.

La Fama substitute Jean-Baptiste showed good pace to run away from Qyzjon Rodriguez on the left wing and played in Bermudez but the shot from close to the penalty spot was blocked by forward Morales tracking back.

An under-hit back-pass put the La Fama keeper under pressure but his sliding clearance found Makanzu-Tinadio in space just inside the River Plate, and the powerful striker charged into the opposition area. With just the keeper to beat, he put his left-footed finish inches wide of the post. The Canadian couldn’t believe he hadn’t scored !

The game fizzled out as a spectacle after a raft of substitutes were introduced by both sides, although Jean-Baptiste managed to wriggle free inside the River Plate area but his drive from a tight angle was pushed away by keeper Croes. At the other end, Stamper got ahead of his marker to get to a low ball in from the right byline, but his ambitious back-flick went wide of the near post.

Unexpectedly, River Plate pulled a goal back after some dreadful defending by La Fama. First, substitute centre-back Davidson Kaarsbaan, who could be a candidate as a prop for an Aruba rugby team, let a pass go under his foot and had to concede a corner. Siljean Vrolijk took the corner and would have been happy as Faro fumbled the cross under pressure under his crossbar and Quandt headed home from a yard. 2-5 with 85 minutes on the clock.

La Fama hit back straight away, and after Croes had punched away a cross, Maduro threaded a pass to Anderson Ceballos, who turned and hammered into the top corner from the edge of the area. It was now 2-6 after 87 minutes.

With the result a foregone conclusion, the referee blew for full time exactly on 90 minutes, there was no need for an unnecessary added time !

Overall, this was an enjoyable game to watch, with an absence of cynical play, diving, gamesmanship and cheating, as both sides played in a good spirit. La Fama were deserved winners, and looked to have some decent attacking players.

SV River Plate : E Croes – Karamantana ( D. Morales ), Quandt, Samper ( Rodriguez ), Villalobes ( Stamper ) – Gomez, Gonzalez Poulina, J. Kelly ( Nadall ) – J.D Croes ( Vrolijk ), A. Morales ( R. Kelly )

SV La Fama : Faro – Carty, Maduro, Rangel, Boasman ( Kaarsbaan ), Panneflek – Ordonez, David ( Jean-Baptiste ) – Jansen ( Farro ), Ranger ( Bermudez ), Makanzu-Tinadio ( Ceballos )