AFCON
U23 AFCON QUALIFIER: NIGERIA’S OLYMPIC EAGLES LOSE TO SUDAN
Cup holders Nigeria on Thursday lost by the odd goal to their Sudanese counterparts in an U23 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match at the Al Merriekh Stadium in Omdurman.
The home team scored on the dot of 45 minutes as the Nigeria defence faltered from a counter attack, although Stephen Odey, Blessing Muyiwa and Taiwo Awoniyi all had chances to put Nigeria on the scoreline even before then.
Odey fluffed gilt-edged opportunities in the 17th and 48th minutes that would have handed Nigeria the advantage. Instead, the 1996 Olympics men’s football tournament winners must overturn a deficit and then look for the winner when both teams clash in the return and final leg of the qualifying series in Asaba on Tuesday.
The deficit is in no way daunting for the Imama Amapakabo wards, who in the earlier round, hammered Libya 4-0 at the same Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba after losing 0-2 to the Libyans in the first leg in Tunisia.
Nigeria won the second edition of the U23 Africa Cup of Nations hosted by Senegal in December 2015, beating Algeria in the final, and both teams then represented Africa at the Rio 2016 Olympics, where the Olympic Eagles won the bronze medals.
The third edition of the U23 Africa Cup of Nations will be staged by Egypt 8th – 22nd November this year.
Faced with internal challenges that include players’ injuries and boycotts, the Libyan coach, Nasser Al-Hadhiri is believed by local press as facing a ‘near-impossible mission’ in Nigeria.
“The team’s mission against Nigeria seems almost impossible. The Nigerian team has a strong squad, led by names such as Ademola Lookman and Victor Boniface, which makes the task more difficult for the Libyan team”, Akhbarlibya24 editorialised.
It further reported that despite the difficult situation, the Libyan coach, Nasser Al-Hadhiri remains somewhat optimistic, as he hopes to achieve a positive result. He remarked: “We realize that winning against Nigeria is difficult, but we seek to return with a draw that will be positive for us and restore our hope in competing for qualification.”
According to Libya’s news outlets, there are palpable fears in the Libya national team which faces successive crises and trying to avoid early elimination from the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series.
The team which faces the Super Eagles this week has been plagued with players’ absences occasioned by injuries and boycotts.
The coach recently appointed has revealed the names of players refusing to represent the national team.
In a press conference held on Saturday, Coach Nasser Al-Hadhiri remarked that the absence of several players were due to real injuries.
In that class are Ahmed Al-Tarbi, a defender of Ahli Tripoli; Mohammed Al-Tabbal of Al-Nasr club and Ali Youssef who also suffered the injury while playing with Tunisia’s Club Africaine.
If the Libyan national team sticks to plans, the players are expected to have arrived in Nigeria ahead of their Friday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifying duel in Uyo.
With most players drawn from the domestic league, the national team had daily training sessions in Tripoli under coach Nasser Al-Hadhiri and his assistants Akram Al-Hammami and Abu Bakr Al-Hark.
However, according to media sources in Libya, the team faces injury worries even though the absence of Victor Osimhen in the Nigerian squad is being celebrated.
Even though it did not mention the injured Libyan players, Libya Al-Ahrar Channel reports that replacements were found in Al-Tahadi FC defender, Mohammed Khalil and Al-Nasr midfielder, Abdullah Abdul Rahim as well as Al-Akhdar winger, Faraj Ghaidhan. They take the places of the absent regular players.
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