SOCCER IN BONGO

Days off for Manchester United players might be rarer than a Luke Shaw start over the next two-and-a-half weeks and the left-back capitalised on some rest days by heading out into Manchester city centre on Saturday and Sunday evenings. Social media posts showed Shaw spent Saturday evening at a restaurant and the following night headed to rapper Drake's Arena after party at Bijou, where a video emerged of the United defender observing a magic trick. It was harmless and several United seniors and youth-teamers were at the concert, either in a box or in the standing area. The flip-side is Henrikh Mkhitaryan spent a day off in October at United's Carrington training complex in an effort to end his exile. If Shaw is to ever convince his manager it would be tantamount to pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Jose Mourinho will remain publicly diplomatic - Shaw is 'working well' - but at 21, Shaw is still naive and must win over his manager of the last seven months. ...

YOUNG Africans will now face Angolan side Sagrada Esperanca according to a draw conducted by CAF in its Cairo headquarters on Thursday.

GIANTS Young Africans and Azam won their crucial ties yesterday in separate venues to once again complicate the race for the Premier League’s title. The victories for Dar es Salaam giants helped them to close the gap with table-topping Simba.

GIANTS Simba crashed out of the Azam Sports Federation Cup (ASFC) after succumbing to a 2-1 defeat to visiting Coastal Union in their quarterfinal match at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

  THE country representatives in the CAF Confederation Cup, Azam are determined to upset the mighty Espérance Sportive de Tunis in their first leg second round match at Azam Complex in Chamazi, Dar es Salaam this weekend.

AZAM’s hopes of winning its second Mainland Premier League title suffered another blow yesterday after they were forced to a 2-2 draw by Mtwara’s Ndanda FC at the Azam Complex in Chamazi, Dar es Salaam.

The FC Barcelona defender scored Barça's only goal but admits the result was fair FC Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué , whose 55th minute strike put Barça up 1–0 in a game they would go on to lose 2–1 to arch-rivals Real Madrid, said the final result was fair.

DEFENDING champions Young Africans and Azam FC will be out to close the gap with Vodacom Premier League (VPL) leaders Simba, as they get into action at different venues this evening. The title rivals return to the league action after about two weeks break, in which they were involved in the CAF club championships and Azam Sports Federation Cup (ASFC).

THE Vodacom Premier League (VPL), defending champions Young Africans and Azam FC return to the league action tomorrow after about two weeks of the league action faced with the prospect of their heaviest fixture load in this month.

MAINLAND champions, Young Africans and Kagame Cup champions Azam Football Club, have qualified into the Azam Sports Federation Cup (ASFC) semi-finals after winning their respective matches in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

  The former Man Utd United boss opens up on the impact he thinks new Man City boss will have in the Premier League. Sir Alex Ferguson says landing Pep Guardiola was “a real coup” for Manchester City … but warned he won't find it easy in the Premier League. The former Manchester United boss has revealed in the past that he wanted the Catalan coach to replace him at Old Trafford, but Guardiola opted instead for a sabbatical from the game before heading to Bayern Munich.

EGYPT’S 1-0 win over Nigeria in Alexandria on Wednesday has put Taifa Stars in a tall order, with the country needing six points and five goals in their 180-minute task to qualify for the 2017, Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals.

Manchester City plan to beat Chelsea to the signing of Paul Pogba this summer, according to reports. Spanish outlet Sport claim Pep Guardiola has made the France international his primary target for when he takes over at the Etihad.

FEW days after Chad withdrew from 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) race, dealing a big blow to group G teams, especially Tanzania, former Nigeria’s Super Eagles assistant coach, Jean Francois Loscuito still thinks that Taifa Stars can perform better in the remaining two games.

COACH Abdallah ‘King’ Kibadeni has hailed the open nature of the 2015/16 Mainland Premier League race, saying it is the most exciting in recent years since all top clubs are still in contention, but sounded warning over match fixing in the title run in.

CHAD has withdrawn from the ongoing Afcon 2017 qualifiers citing financial constraints ahead of their return leg match against Taifa Stars on Monday.

THE national soccer team, Taifa Stars Technical Director, Abdallah Kibaden has expressed satisfaction with the ability displayed by striker, Abdillahi Yussuf, who plies his trade with UK League Two side Mansfield Town FC.

A FC Barcelona supporter offers his respects to the late Dutch soccer great Johan Cruyff at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, March 25, 2016. Dutch soccer great Johan Cruyff, who revolutionized the game as the personification of "Total Football," has died. He was 68. BARCELONA, Spain

The FC Barcelona duo meet in a World Cup qualifier, but the idea that they will warm-up together was only suggested in jest

Ronald Koeman, Hristo Stoichkov, Andoni Zubizarreta and Jose Mari Bakero of the great FC Barcelona team of the nineties with their personal memories of the late Dutch manager