AFCON
New Form Order Emerging in Africa Cup of Nations
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
The tribe of the fumbling giants continues to grow in the qualifying series of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
Apart from the big teams of Nigeria, Zambia, Cote d’Ivoire, Sudan and the emerging power Cape Verde all losing at home, the recent number one team in Africa barely struggled to a 1-0 win over Togo as Match Day 1 series were brought to a close late Sunday night.
Great thanks to the 24th minute goal by Sofiane Hanni, Algeria could have possibly fallen and find themselves struggling when the Match Day 2 opens late March 2018.
Tunisia also managed a 1-0 defeat Egypt in a duel that could have gone either way considering the strong form of both sides.
The formbook now appears very unreliable in the series to the next Africa premier competition. Only Ghana among the football heavy weights in the continent confirmed their ratings by overwhelming visiting Ethiopia 5-0 on Sunday.
The shocks started Friday night with Sudan, always known to be strong at home especially when the oppositions belong to the lesser active football countries.
The Sudanese crumbled 1-3 before capacity home crowd to Madagascar which has never won any championship in Africa. Just like Nigeria tasted their first ever competitive loss to South Africa, another former African champion, Zambia lost at home for the first time to Mozambique.
Then the Cote d’Ivoire team became the next giants to fall at home, losing to Guinea. Cape Verde, which in recent years emerged as a force in the continent lost 0-1 at home to Uganda which had waited 39 years before qualifying for an Africa Cup finals this year.
The signals are out. More shock results are in the offing when the series resume in nine months. Twenty four matches are gone, There are still 120 more in the projected 144-match series.
ALL MATCH DAY 1 RESULTS
FRIDAY
Group E: Libya 5-1 Seychelles
Group A: Sudan 1-3 Madagascar
SATURDAY
Group B: Malawi 1-0 Comoros
Group C: Burundi 3-0 South Sudan
Group B: Cameroon 1-0 Morocco
Group K: Zambia 0-1 Mozambique
Group I: Botswana 0-1. Mauritania
Group J: Niger 0-0 Swaziland
Group K: Guinea-Bissau 1-0 Namibia
Group F: Sierra Leone 2-1 Kenya
Group E: Nigeria 0-2 South Africa
Group 1: Burkina Faso 3-1 Angola
Group G: RD Congo 3-1 Congo
Group C: Mali 2-1 Gabon
Group A: Senegal 3-0 Equatorial Guinea
Group L: Tanzania 1-1 Lesotho
Group H: Cote d’Ivoire 2-3 Guinea
SUNDAY
Group G: Zimbabwe 3-0 Liberia
Group H: Central African Republic 2-1 Rwanda
Group F: Ghana 5-0 Ethiopia
Group D: Benin 1-0 Gambia
Group D: Algeria 1-0 Togo
Group J: Tunisia 1-0 Egypt
Group L: Cape Verde 0-1 Uganda
AFCON
Libya’s AFCON dreams go up in flames!
The hopes of Libya securing a 2025 Africa Cup of Nations ticket seem to have gone up in smoke. This is the sequel to the 2-1 defeat that Rwanda inflicted on the Benin Republic on Tuesday evening.
With the result, Libya’s position is further cemented at the bottom of the table. Nigeria, even with an outstanding match, still leads with seven points.
They are followed by Benin Republic who have six points. Rwanda followed with five points.
The star men were Innocent Nshuti and Djihad Bizimana who scored in the space of two minutes as Rwanda came from behind to defeat Benin 2-1 at Amahoro Stadium on Tuesday, October 15.
AFCON
Rwanda breaks 12-year jinx in victory over Benin Republic
Rwanda’s defeat of Benin Republic is not just their first win in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series, the victory terminates a 12-year winless streak against the Cheetah of Benin.
It is also a renewal of their hopes of qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. But they still have two more games to play.
The German made two changes from the side that started against Benin last week as Samuel Gueulette and Emmanuel Imanishimwe came in for Kevin Muhire and Claude Niyomugabo respectively.
AFCON
Libya vs Nigeria: CAF lifts the burden off Nigeria
The press release on Tuesday by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) may have lifted a burden off Nigeria as the match with Libya is considered postponed rather than the Super Eagles refusing to play.
The continental body remarked that the matter would be referred to the competent CAF bodies.
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