AFCON
CONGO FACE ZERO OPTION IN CLASH WITH EGYPT IN GROUP A
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
DR Congo could be the first team to be eliminated from the 2019 Africa Cup of Nation if the 1974 champions lose to hosts, Egypt in a Group A match on Wednesday.
On the other hand, a win by Egypt will see the hosts qualifying to the Round of 16, even with a match to spare.
The encounter therefore holds contrasting fortunes for the two sides, but with odds weighing more against DR Congo who surprisingly lost 2-0, their opening match to Uganda on Saturday.
Saturday’s win was symbolic for Uganda as it was their first in 41 years since beating Nigeria 2-1 on March 14, 1978 in Kumasi, Ghana. Uganda’s surprise victory has pushed DR Congo into desperation for survival as they face Egypt and their vociferous crowd.
DR Congo will hope to replicate their surprise 3-2 defeat of Egypt in Cairo enroute their winning the trophy in 1974.
That win remains the country’s only defeat of Egypt in an Africa Cup of Nations’ contest. In two other confrontations, Egypt won 1-0 in 1970 and 4-1 in 2006
Egypt opened their account on Friday with a hard fought victory over Zimbabwe.
The technical crew is considering offering their iconic Mohamed Salah a special role that could destabilize the Congolese. Egypt’s Mexican coach, Javier Aguirre looks for what matters most, the three points.
“We had some defects especially in the second half, but what’s important is that we started the campaign with a win”, the Mexican tactician said after the opening game.
While defender Ahmed Hegazi might be doubtful after having a head injury against Zimbabwe, it’s most likely that Aguirre will field an unchanged lineup on Wednesday, with Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah once again being the man to watch for.
The Libyan Football Federation (LFF) has sacked its Serbian coach, Milutin Sredojević who is popularly known as Micho.
This is coming ahead of Libya’s back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations clashes with Nigeria next month.
Paradoxically, Sports Village Square gathered that the coach’s contract was only recently renewed for six months before the axe fell on the Serbian.
His sack was precipitated by the results obtained in their teo matches of the AFCON qualifiers.
Libya drew 1-1 with Rwanda at home and lost 2-1 away to Benin Republic despite beig a goal up at half time.
The Libyan side, Mediterranean Knights are due to play against the Nigeria Super Eagles in Uyo on 6 October while the return leg holds on 14 October at the 11 July Stadium in Tripoli.
According to information Sports Village Square gathered from Tripoli, the Mediterranean Knights’ coach, Micho led the Libyan national team to win nine matches since taking over in October of last year, he failed to build a strong team due to his poor choices.
He also took a risk with the footballers chosen in the AFCON qualifiers, and the result was shocking to the Libyan sports audience.
According to sources close to the Libyan Football Federation, there is a strong tendency to sign a national coach to lead the Libyan team during the remaining qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe has lashed out at Ghana and some other African countries whose home grounds were recently banned from hosting CAF matches owing to inadequate facilities. He made the remarks in Nairobi, Kenya during a press conference,
After the MatchDay 2 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, CAF ruled Ghana’s Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi as being inadequate to host international matches. Being the only approved ground in the country, Ghana will now look towards either Cote d’Ivoire or Togo for their remaining home matches of the Afcon qualifiers.
Other African countries without approved home grounds are: Djibouti, Chad, Niger, Eritrea, Gabon, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, São Tomé and Burundi.
Motsepe voiced his frustration over the recurring issue of nations being unable to host home games.
“Nothing frustrates me more than a national team or club side having to play home matches outside,” he stated.
He stressed the significance of playing in front of home fans, adding, “You can’t grow football if the national teams or club sides aren’t playing in front of their home fans.”
Motsepe reiterated CAF’s commitment to working with countries to ensure they have at least one suitable stadium to host international fixtures.
“Our conversations in every country are to make sure there is at least one stadium capable of hosting a CAF category C game,” he emphasized.
The on-going CAF AFCON Cote d’Ivoire 2023 Coaches Symposium in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire has brought together, the last three coaches that handled the Nigeria national football team.
Gernot Rohr, Jose Peseiro and Austin Eguavoen are part of the the elite coaches currently gathered in Abidjan.
Gernot Rohr whose tenure of 5 years and 55 matches is the longest ever by any coach in Nigeria, is currently handling Nigeria’s Africa Cupof Nations and World Cup qualifying rivals, Benin Republic. He was succeeded in the interim by Austin Eguavoen who is currently having another interim stint.
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