BEEAFRICAN.COM Ghana Make Africa Proud

The draw for the first three rounds of the 2009 African Champions League has been made in Cairo.

Champions Al Ahly of Egypt have a first round bye and will face either Young Africans of Tanzania or Etoile d'Or de Mirontsy of the Comoros islands in the second round.

Ahly will also likely face Nigerian champions Kano Pillars in the third round if the Nigerians overcome Elect Sport of Chad and the winners of the tie between Senegal's AS Douanes and Sierra Leone's domestic champions, who are yet to be decided.

The third round winners go into the group stage of the competition.

Ghana's Asante Kotoko will compete under their new Belgian coach Maurice Cooreman, who led Enyimba of Nigeria to this year's semi-finals.

Kotoko have a first-round bye and will meet the winner of the match-up between Wallidan of The Gambia and Moroccans Ittihad Zemouri, who will make their debut in the competition.

Kenya's Mathare United will also compete in the Champions League for the first time, and they will play the Zambian champions, yet to be decided, in the first round. The winners face Ivory Coast's Africa Sports.

This year's runners-up Coton Sport of Cameroon have a bye to the second round where they face either DC Motema Pembe of DR Congo or Gambia's Mangasport.

The winners of that tie are likely to face Heartland FC of Nigeria or ASFAR of Morocco in the all-important third round.

The other Cameroonian club, three-time African champions Canon Yaounde play Inter Star of Burundi.

The victors there will face Primero Agosto of Angola or Renaissance Aiglons of Congo Brazzaville.

Sudan's Al Hilal, the 2007 semi-finalists, may lie in wait for the winners of that second round match-up.

Al Hilal themselves have a bye to the second round, where they face the winners of Academie Ny Antsika of Madagascar and USS Tamponnaise from the Reunion islands.

Emmanuel Sheyi Adebayor will receive the 2007 BBC African Footballer of the Year trophy at a special gala in Lome on Tuesday night.

There is great excitement ahead of the function, being held at one of Lome's top hotels.

Togo's sports minister Antoine Folly will present Adebayor with one of the most prestigious awards in African sport.

"I'm greatly honoured to be given this award in front of my people," Adebayor told BBC Sport.

"I hope it will show my people that when you work hard, you will realise your dreams."

One of Adebayor's many fans turned up for the function with his body painted in tribute to the star.

On his chest was emblazoned the message: "You are carrying the flame of the nation."

Due to Adebayor's immense popularity, and the number of people hoping to witness him receiving the BBC award, the ceremony will be broadcast on screens outside the hotel.

Adebayor was a clear winner of the 2007 award

The striker is celebrating his award on a "Tour of Hope" of Ghana and Togo, with the aim of inspiring young people.

The Arsenal and Togo striker earned almost 42 per cent of the public vote for the award.

He beat Didier Drogba of the Ivory Coast into second place with Ghana's Michael Essien finishing third.

Liberians in California have been known for their soccer skills and over the past eight years have proven it.  California All Star Team as you may call them is combination of players of Sacramento and The Bay Area.  This All Star Team was the team to beat for many years through out The United States.

This team has been defeated through out The Bay Area for many years.In 2001-2002 The Dream Team took on their first outside challenge in an African tournament in Atlanta Georgia where they took first place. A year later, in 2003 they went back to Atlanta and lost to a Jamaican team in penalty shoot-out. The Dream team was than being coached by former Lone Star player, Teacher Gray as know by Liberians succeeded by George of the Bay Area.

In 2004-2005 the Team was involved in several tournaments in Los Angeles California where they were also unbeatable. In one of those tournaments they defeated an Ethiopian team from Phoenix Arizona 4-0 to take the first place trophy. The team was than being coached by Player Charlie of the Bay and Moses K. of Sacramento .In 2006 California All Star was still the team to beat. This time I had the opportunity to travel with the team to Phoenix Arizona for the Memorial Day weekend.

It was a very sunny weekend. The Desert Lone Star of Arizona fell short to the Dream team twice that weekend. The scored was 7-1 on the first day and 4-1 on the second day. The Team was then being coached by Frank M. of the Bay area. Later on that year, the Desert Lone Star of Arizona came down to Sacramento to return the Dream Team the favor.  It was a sunny Labor Day weekend. This time around the Dream team was forced to a one all draw.

2007 was a different year for soccer for the Dream Team. They return to Arizona for another Labor Day weekend of soccer. This time around The Dream Team felt short to The Desert Lone Star of Arizona 2-0. The team was being coached by Lobo M. of Sacramento . Later on that year, July 26, the Desert Lone Star of Arizona returned to Oakland California and defeated the Dream Team again in front of the home fans.That defeat was the turning point of the Dream team. After that defeat coach Frank M resigned his post.

In 2008 several players and former coaches decided to rebuild the team but to their surprised it brought chaos amongst the players. This brought major division among the players of the California team. The California Team commonly known as The Dream Team lost half of their key players.The questions that come to mind are; where does the fate of this team lies? Is there any hope for this team to be the team to beat in the West again? What is the major cause of the fall of The California All Star Team? Will this division hampered the July 26 celebration hosted by AFLIC this summer?