The Africa Cup of Nations has reached the quarter-final stage and Saturday's matches promise the chance of history.
Host nation Cameroon will meet Gambia in the competition for the first time, their second successive game against tournament debutants, something they last experienced way back in 1972.
Tunisia meet Burkina Faso in the later match looking to end a fairly rotten recent record at this stage of the AFCON, although history favours their opponents.
Two of Egypt, Morocco, Senegal and Equatorial Guinea will lie in wait for winners...
Gambia v Cameroon (16:00 GMT)
Cameroon have enjoyed facing AFCON debutants of late: including their 2-1 win over Comoros in the last round, they have won three consecutive matches against such opposition, which is more than they managed in their first six such games.
Gambia, who surprised Guinea in the last 16, are bidding to become the first team to reach the semi-finals in their first Africa Cup of Nations since eventual winners South Africa did so back in 1996.
Unbeaten in their past eight matches in all competitions, Cameroon have progressed from two of their most recent three AFCON quarter-finals, having gone through on penalties against Senegal most recently in 2017. Defeat to Gambia, the smallest nation on the African mainland and one who had never before reached a major tournament, would go down as one of the competition's greatest upsets.
Yet for Musa Barrow, whose goal sent them into the last eight, there is little pressure.
"Everyone is happy back home," he told AFP. "It is a small nation. We love football. People learn football from the street so coming to this AFCON, reaching this stage is a big improvement, and it is going to take the Gambian name to higher heights.
"We have nothing to lose, but they are the host nation. If they lose it is going to be a big disaster for them."
One to watch: Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon)
Gambia will need little incentive to keep an eye on Cameroon's captain and most dangerous striker, but Aboubakar is chasing not just a place in the semi-finals here.
Not only has he scored in each of his past six games in the competition, but he could also become the first player in AFCON history to net in a team's first five matches at a single edition of the tournament.
Burkina Faso v Tunisia (19:00 GMT)
Tunisia might be favourites - they are ranked 30 places higher in the world than Burkina Faso - but, in the previous two meetings at the AFCON in 1998 and 2017, it was the Stallions who progressed at the quarter-final stage.
In fact, Burkina Faso have gone through from each of their three last-eight matches in this competition, a record only Mali can better (they have won each of their five previous quarter-finals).
No team has made it to this stage more often since its introduction in 1992 than Tunisia, who are 11-time quarter-finalists now, but this has not been a happy round for Mondher Kebaier's side: they have been eliminated from five of their past six such matches.
Still, after knocking out Nigeria in the last 16 despite COVID-19 cases badly depleting their squad, perhaps this will be their year.
One to watch: Youssef Msakni (Tunisia)
Msakni's winner against Nigeria saw him become the first Tunisia player to score in five different editions of the AFCON. There are only four players to score in six: Cameroon great Samuel Eto'o, Zambia's Kalusha Bwalya, and Ghana forwards Asamoah Gyan and Andre Ayew.
Maresca: Chelsea 'not ready' to complete for trophies with Man City and Arsenal
Enzo Maresca says that Chelsea "are not ready" to compete for major trophies against Manchester City and Arsenal this season.
The Blues have made a strong start to life under Maresca, losing just two of their 10 matches so far.
They are currently on a five-match winning run in all competitions, most recently seeing off Gent 4-2 in their Conference League opener on Thursday.
So far, Chelsea have scored 27 goals under the Italian, with 15 of those coming in the league, outperforming their 12.2 expected goals (xG), and only failed to score in their opening Premier League match against City.
However, Maresca has insisted people should not get carried away by Chelsea's recent form, playing down their chances of lifting any silverware this campaign.
"I really don't think we can compete with City or Arsenal," Maresca said.
"I really don't think that, because we are not ready. The reason is that City has worked with the same manager for nine years and Arsenal for five years. If you want to compete for big things, you need that time.
"After Arsenal beat PSG [in the Champions League] they asked Luis Enrique, and he said the same thing, that Arsenal have had the same manager for five years and [PSG] only a year and a half.
"Imagine us, only three months… so it's a huge difference. So, I am really convinced we cannot compete with those clubs."
Before Maresca's appointment, Mauricio Pochettino only spent a season at Stamford Bridge, while Graham Potter before him was only in the position for just under seven months.
After another busy transfer window for Chelsea saw them bring in 13 players, Maresca has urged for patience as they continue to find their footing in the early stages of his tenure.
"The target is to improve and slowly, slowly to get closer to those clubs but at the moment we are not ready for that," he added.
“There is no timeframe because you can continue to improve and add solutions to things always.”
Chelsea face Nottingham Forest at home on Sunday in their final match before the international break.
Ten Hag's future 'not my call', says Man Utd co-owner Ratcliffe
Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe says he does not hold power over the future of boss Erik ten Hag, amid the Red Devils' woeful start to the season.
United have taken just seven points from their first six Premier League matches, only beating Fulham and Southampton while suffering back-to-back 3-0 home defeats versus Liverpool and Tottenham.
That is their joint-worst return through six games of any season in the competition, having made identical starts under David Moyes in 2013-14 and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2020-21.
In the Europa League, meanwhile, United were pegged back in a 1-1 draw at home to Feyenoord on matchday one then squandered a 2-0 lead in Thursday's 3-3 draw at Porto.
Those results have led to fierce criticism coming Ten Hag's way, but Ratcliffe says United's new football hierarchy will make any decisions regarding the Dutchman's future.
Asked if he retained faith in Ten Hag, who signed a new contract in pre-season, Ratcliffe told BBC Sport: "I don't want to answer that question.
"I like Erik. I think he's a very good coach but at the end of the day it's not my call.
"It's the management team that's running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.
"But that team that's running Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They weren't there in January, February, March or April – [CEO] Omar [Berrada], [sporting director] Dan Ashworth – they only arrived in July.
"They've only been there… you can count it in weeks almost - they've not been there a long time, so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.
"Our objective is very clear – we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it's not there yet, obviously – that's very clear."
United go to Aston Villa for their next Premier League game on Sunday, having won 40 Premier League games against the Villans, with only the Red Devils themselves beating an opponent more often in the competition's history (41 versus Everton).
Villa have won just one of their last 25 Premier League home games against United (eight draws, 16 losses), with that victory coming in Unai Emery's first game in charge of the club in November 2022 (3-1).
FC Cincinnati v Orlando City: Noonan praying for hosts to become a team again
Pat Noonan said his FC Cincinnati side must become a team again in order to return to winning ways after their winless MLS run extended to three games in midweek.
The Orange and Blue were on the wrong side of a five-goal thriller, losing 3-2 to New York City FC as another slow start was punished at the Red Bull Arena.
While having already secured their spot in the playoffs, Noonan expressed the importance of team cohesion for the final two games of the regular season, starting this weekend against Orlando City.
"We need to be more of a team on the field. I think we have too many individual moments where we're not doing what is in the best interest of the team," Noonan said.
"It's a lot of players at a lot of different times. It's not a singular thing. We're making too many decisions where guys want to be the playmaker, they want to be the goalscorer, they want to be the assist man.
“We need to do simple things better. We overcomplicate the game right now."
Orlando, meanwhile, come into the encounter at the TQL Stadium having won five of their last six MLS games, the latest of which came in a 2-1 victory over Philadelphia Union.
Over that period of success, the Lions have scored 16 goals, conceding only six as they continue to build momentum ahead of their upcoming playoff campaign.
Head coach Oscar Pareja was pleased with his side’s display against the Union last time out, believing his side are currently the best team in the division at this moment in time.
“We are obviously very happy and satisfied with the way the team has found ways to win games and put us in a decent spot in the standings at this time of the season,” Pareja said.
“Another hard game, well played by us. We could’ve had more precision in certain moments when we could have put the game away from Philadelphia [Union], but we ended up just finishing with the 2-1 [win].
“Very tight plays at the end with them pushing and really making us feel that it could be a tight game. But all in all, I thought we were the best team on the pitch, and we have been one of the best teams in the league for me."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
FC Cincinnati – Luciano Acosta
Acosta has recorded a goal contribution in each of his last three matches, including scoring on Wednesday night.
This is the Argentine’s 11th different streak of three or more consecutive regular-season games with a goal contribution since the start of the 2022 season.
Orlando City – Facundo Torres
Torres scored in Orlando City’s win on Wednesday, his sixth straight match with a goal contribution, equalling the club record.
The Uruguayan is the third Lions player to record such a streak, after Martin Ojeda and Sacha Kljestan.
MATCH PREDICTION: FC CINCINNATI WIN
While Cincinnati are favoured to win by Opta’s data-led simulations, they have lost five of their last nine regular-season home matches (W3 D1) dating back to late May. Cincinnati had lost only three of their previous 31 home league matches dating back to June 2022.
Orlando, meanwhile, have enjoyed games away from home. Their win over Dallas last time out was their seventh road win of the season and 16th overall since the start of the 2023 campaign. Only Cincinnati (17) has more away wins since the start of last season than Orlando.
However, the last seven meetings between Cincinnati and Orlando have all been either drawn (two) or decided by a one-goal margin (Cincinnati W3, Orlando W2). There have been three total goals scored in the last four games between the sides.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
FC Cincinnati – 43.7%
Draw – 26.8%
Orlando City – 29.5%
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