Andrew Watson: The 'most influential' black footballer for decades lost to history

Image
  By Andrew Aloia BBC Sport Last updated on 11 October 2021 11 October 2021 . From the section Football Watson was a trailblazer who helped transform how football was played There are two murals of black footballers facing one another across an alleyway in Glasgow. One helped shape football as we know it, the other is Pele. Andrew Watson captained Scotland to a 6-1 win over England on his debut in 1881. He was a pioneer, the world's first black international, but for more than a century the significance of his achievements went unrecognised. Research conducted over the past three decades has left us with some biographical details: a man descended of slaves and of those who enslaved them, born in Guyana, raised to become an English gentleman and famed as one of Scottish football's first icons. And yet today, 100 years on from his death aged 64, Watson remains something of an enigma, the picture built around him a fractured one. His grainy, faded, sepia image evokes many differen

Former Zamalek player labels Pitso Mosimane ‘ruthless’

 

Former Zamalek and Egypt midfielder Ayman Abdelaziz has labelled Al Ahly head coach Pitso Mosimane ‘ruthless’ despite getting along with the players.

Mosimane has been very successful since joining Al Ahly, as he helped them win the treble and finished third in the Club World Cup.

His success with the Reds earned him a lot of praise, especially for the way he treats his players.

“Mosimane is very funny, something we see with many Africans, he can easily attract the Al Ahly players. But on the pitch he’s ruthless,” Abdelaziz told OnTime Sport.

Al Ahly

Abdelaziz then discussed Ferjani Sassi situation and Zamalek’s chances in the Champions League.

“Zamalek must renew for Sassi, I know that there is difficulty in renewing due to the required sums,” he explained.

“But the Zamalek management’s job is to provide the financial resources that can keep the current team, because if a player or three of them leave, things will be different.

“Sassi has to be more lenient in his demands and the board has to keep the team’s structure for at least two more years.

“Zamalek does not lack players in any position apart from the attack.

“You had alternatives such as Omar El-Said or Osama Faisal, but you neglected them, you do not have a striker on which to base the attack.

“I blame Pacheco for relying on Zizo as a right-back in the presence of Hazem Emam. It’s not necessary for you to play all 18 players because they are all good.

“Changing the players’ positions for their participation only makes them perform badly, like what happened with Emam Ashour.

“Obama is one of the important players in Zamalek, and when you talk to him you feel that you are talking a kind-hearted kid.

“He is the best playmaker in Egypt, because he was a striker. But I warned him that the coaches think he’s careless because he sometimes deals badly with the easy situation.

“I don’t want the fans to worry about the team in the CAF Champions League. We only played one game, we were unlucky and some players weren’t placed in their normal positions.

“There’s still a long way to go before talking about qualifying, and Zamalek has the strongest team in Egypt and Africa,” he added.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Andrew Watson: The 'most influential' black footballer for decades lost to history

Are there any planets outside of our solar system?

If everyone on Earth sat in the ocean at once, how much would sea level rise?