African Players in Europe: Wissa Wonder Goal for Brentford 

Football - Premier League - Brentford v Chelsea - Brentford Community Stadium, London, Britain - March 2, 2024 Brentford's Yoane Wissa scores their second goal. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Brentford v Chelsea - Brentford Community Stadium, London, Britain - March 2, 2024 Brentford's Yoane Wissa scores their second goal. (Reuters)
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African Players in Europe: Wissa Wonder Goal for Brentford 

Football - Premier League - Brentford v Chelsea - Brentford Community Stadium, London, Britain - March 2, 2024 Brentford's Yoane Wissa scores their second goal. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Brentford v Chelsea - Brentford Community Stadium, London, Britain - March 2, 2024 Brentford's Yoane Wissa scores their second goal. (Reuters)

A stunning goal by Democratic Republic of Congo forward Yoane Wissa helped Premier League strugglers Brentford draw 2-2 with Chelsea in a London derby at the weekend.

The 27-year-old acrobatically hooked a bicycle kick past goalkeeper Dorde Petrovic into the roof of the net midway through the second half to put the home side 2-1 ahead.

But French international Axel Disasi equalized to leave Brentford six points above the relegation zone with 11 rounds remaining.

Here, AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in the major European leagues:

ENGLAND

Yoane Wissa (Brentford)

Chelsea scored first through Senegalese Nicolas Jackson, who atoned for an earlier missed opportunity by giving the visitors a 1-0 half-time lead. After Dane Mads Roerslev levelled, Wissa struck on 68 minutes for the Bees. The memory of his breathtaking sixth goal this season will linger for all who saw it at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Antoine Semenyo (Bournemouth)

The Ghana midfielder scored his fifth goal this season to wrap up a 2-0 win at struggling Burnley. Semenyo struck in the 88th minute, breaking down the right flank and curling his shot inside the corner with unerring precision. His goal doubled Bournemouth's lead and ensured they would win for the first time in the league in 2024.

SPAIN

Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla)

Morocco 2022 World Cup star En-Nesyri scored twice within 13 minutes of the kick-off for bottom-half Sevilla in a 3-2 La Liga win over seventh-placed Real Sociedad. The goals took his season tally to nine -- seven less than chart-topper Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid.

Munir El Haddadi (Las Palmas)

Spain-born Moroccan international El Haddadi scored the last goal in a 3-3 thriller between Getafe and Las Palmas, who twice trailed by two goals. El Haddadi levelled on 57 minutes in the mid-table clash.

GERMANY

Serhou Guirassy (Stuttgart)

The Guinea international lifted his Bundesliga season goal tally to 20 by scoring twice for third-placed Stuttgart in a 3-2 win at bottom-half Wolfsburg. He is second in the Golden Boot race behind England star Harry Kane, who has netted 27 times for Bayern Munich.

FRANCE

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Marseille)

Aubameyang, the 2015 African Footballer of the Year, triggered a second-half goal rush by sixth-placed Marseille in a 5-1 triumph at bottom club Clermont. After the losers cancelled the half-time lead Senegal international Iliman Ndiaye gave the visitors, the former Gabon captain netted to put Marseille in front a second time.

Terem Moffi (Nice)

Moffi, who was in the Nigeria squad that finished runners-up at the Africa Cup of Nations won by hosts Ivory Coast last month, gave fifth-placed Nice an early lead at mid-table Toulouse. His goal was in vain, however, as the home side hit back in the second half to finish 2-1 winners.



‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
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‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)

The Paris Olympics look likely to get off to a soggy start.

Meteo-France, the French weather service, is predicting “flooding rains” Friday evening when the opening ceremony is set to unroll along the Seine River. But the show is set to go on as planned, starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT/7:30 p.m. CEST and should last more than three hours.

Already in the late afternoon, skies were gray with intermittent drizzle. There was a silver lining, though, with temperatures expected to stay relatively warm throughout the evening.

Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). Though 10,700 athletes are expected to compete at these Olympics, hundreds of soccer players are based outside Paris, surfers are in Tahiti and many have yet to arrive for their events in the second week, organizers said Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including 320,000 paying and invited ticket-holders, are expected to line the Seine’s banks as athletes are paraded along the river on boats.