Pele immortalized, Aouar dumps France for Algeria

In a bid to cement Pele's legendary status, Brazil's city of Rio di Janeiro has renamed a road outside the Maracana stadium 'King Pele Avenue'.

In Africa, Cape Verde has become the first country to respond to FIFA boss Gianno Infantino's call to name stadiums after Pele.

The country prime minister announced Thursday that 15,000-seater Estadio Nacional de Cabo Verde, located just outside the capital Praia, will become the Pele Stadium.

"As a tribute and recognition to this figure that makes us all great, I manifest the intention of naming our national stadium as "Pele Stadium", in an initiative that, I believe, will be followed by several countries around the world," Ulisses Correira e Silva wrote on Facebook.

"With the physical disappearance of Edson Arantes de Nascimento, King Pele, who soon became a planetary figure, an icon of the masses showing that sport has the power to unite the world, it is now our wish to pay tribute to him," added Mr Silva in a statement that stressed the importance of Pele to Portuguese-speaking countries like Cape Verde.

"Cape Verde and Brazil have a history and culture that go hand in hand, considering they are two sister countries, linked by language and very similar identities.

"Pele was and always will be a reference in Brazil, in our Portuguese-speaking countries and in the rest of the world, being an idol that links several generations."

Algeria

Olympic Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar has switched allegiances, dumping France to play for Algeria.

The announcement was made by the head of Algeria's football federation.

The 24-year-old made his France debut against Ukraine at the Stade de France, picking up two assists on his first and only start.

But he failed to make Deschamps’ France squads for Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Saudi Arabia

As the world waits for Christiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr debut, Former Man United and Nigerian international Odion Ighalo continues to shine in Saudi Arabia.

Ighalo scored as Al Hilal held on for a 1-0 victory over Al Ittihad to take his season's tally to eight.

He is one strike behind Al-Nassr's Brazilian forward Anderson Talisca for the top scorer of the season. Ighalo finished last season as the top scorer in Saudi Arabia contributing 24 goals for Al-Shabab and later Al-Hilal combined.