By John Ray, follow on Twitter.

"Les Elephants", the footballers of the Ivory Coast, help captivate and enthrall a nation while playing against Madagascar: large outdoor television flicker and the metropolis of Abidjan rustles. Arouna Kone (PSV) crosses to Salomon Kalou (Chelsea) at the edge of the area; the supporters swell in deliverance as he belts the ball into the Malagasy net.

Team of the Week

African team of the week

Selection of a goalkeeper was pretty easy this week. Ivory Coast international keeper Boubacar Barry not only kept a clean sheet against Westerlo but he also scored a 63rd minute penalty to help his side Lokeren win four goals to nil.

After what we've seen at this year's Africa Cup of Nations it's perhaps a little foolish to talk in terms of more shocks. Why should we continue to be shocked when our predictions are continually thrown back in our faces time after time?

Sudan became the latest side to upset the African apple cart when they qualified for the quarter finals last night.

Read any preview of the Africa Cup of Nations and you'll read expert after expert talk of Senegal's striking talent. Football being football Saturday's tie between the Terranga Lions and Chipolopolos didn't really turn out that way. The undoubted talents of Moussa Sow, Demba Ba, Pappis Cisse and Mamadou Niang failed to fire and it was the trio of Christopher Katongo, Rainford Kalaba and Emmanual Mayuka who impressed.

The FIFA Club World Cup officially got under way today with two goals just before half-time giving Kashiwa Reysol a 2-0 win over Auckland City in the qualifying play-off to send the Japanese club through to the quarter-finals.

Kashiwa, who clinched the 2011 J-League title last weekend, had Junya Tanaka and Masato Kudo to thank as the pair struck in the 37th and 40th minutes respectively to send the host nation's representatives into the next round.

With this piece by new contributor Matthew Pentz, TSG kicks off it's African soccer coverage.

The Forgotten Footie Continent

The African Champions League exists mostly, if not completely, on the periphery of the soccer world. The tournament blends a strong history, passionate fans, and an up-and-coming class of young players, however, and its semifinalists each have a bit of the underdog in them.

The African Champions League saw the first legs of the semi-final stage this weekend with narrow wins for Moroccans Wydad Casablanca and Tunisians Espérance.

Wydad Casablanca, African champions back in 1992, were fearful of wasting home advantage as their game against Nigerian champions Enyimba FC looked to be heading to a goalless stalemate.

With just one matchday to play in the group stage of the CAF African Champions League only Nigerian champions Enyimba FC have secured a place in the semi-finals. Five teams kept alive their ambitions of progression into the final four of this year's competition and thus ensure an interesting finish to this stage of the tournament next weekend.

Game Intelligence digs up this week's buried treasure from the desert island of football news... TP Mazembe kicked out of African Champions' League African giants Tout Puissant Mazembe have been disqualified from this year's CAF Champions' League for fielding an ... Continue reading →

While the protests in Egypt have subsided from their peak last week, hardy anti-Mubarak protesters still occupy Tahrir Square in the capital, Cairo. While the world was enraptured with images broadcast by organizations able to avoid the secret police, such as Al-Jazeera, what effect did the protests have on football in the country?

CAIRO, Egypt Egyptian soccer authorities indefinitely suspended all soccer in the country Friday until there is a "return of stability" to a nation convulsed by protests and violence. The Egyptian Football Association said in a statement it was postponing league games across all four of its professional divisions, as well as youth and junior [.

The African Nations Championship (or CHAN) is unique amongst international football tournaments in that nations are restricted to selecting only domestic players in their squads. The 2011 edition of this tournament begins this week in Sudan with the hosts taking on Gabon in Khartoum.

As the competition only allows the selection of domestically based players the standards of each respective international side is a little different to "full internationals".

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa Veteran goalkeeper Muteba Kidiaba starred as Club World Cup runners-up TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo collected a seventh African title Saturday. Kidiaba saved a shootout kick against FUS Rabat from Morocco in southern Congolese city Lubumbashi and then converted a penalty to give his team a 9-8 victory [.