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AFCON

JOE ARIBO’S BRACE SOUNDS WARNINGS TO SIERRA LEONE

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As the Super Eagles rev their engine for this week’s Africa Cup of Nations’ qualifying match against Sierra Leone in Benin on Friday, one of Nigeria’s invited midfielders, Joseph Ayodele-Aribo has given an indication of what the visitors should expect  as his brace on Sunday propelled his Scottish side, Glasgow Rangers to a 8-0 mauling of Hamilton last on Sunday at Ibrox stadium in Glasgow.

On a day that Rangers were ruthless and recorded their biggest win under Steven Gerrard against Hamilton to stay nine points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

Aribo, who is among the 23-man invited players for Friday’s match against Sierra Leone scored twice but it was James Tavernier that was voted as the ‘Man of the Match,

Scott Arfield struck the opener, Kemar Roofe headed the second and Joe Aribo’s deflected shot made it three.

Aribo’s second of the night also took a nick off a defender as bottom side Accies toiled.

Roofe tapped in after the break before substitute Brandon Barker slotted in and James Tavernier contributed a penalty and another strike.

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Gerrard’s side have played two games more than nearest challengers Celtic and are yet to concede a league goal at Ibrox this season.

The margin of victory makes it the biggest win since the top flight was rebranded as the Scottish Premiership in 2013, which was also the last year Rangers won a match 8-0 against Stenhousemuir.

The hosts showed attacking intent from the outset and Connor Goldson, Ryan Kent and Tavernier were all denied by goalkeeper Ryan Fulton early on.

The pressure told on 16 minutes when Jermain Defoe stole possession just inside the Accies half and released Kent with a reverse pass – the winger squaring for Arfield to apply the finish.

Tavernier then crossed for Roofe to head his fourth goal of the season. And it got worse for Hamilton when Aribo worked the space to get a shot away, with the ball spinning off Scott McMann and Hakeem Odoffin into the net.

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There was no let-up from the home side and Roofe set up Aribo again, the midfielder’s shot diverted over Fulton by Will Collar.

Arfield fancied another and drew a save from Fulton in added time and the keeper was called into action again early in the second period when Tavernier struck.

McMann almost scored an own goal when preventing Arfield’s cross reaching Defoe, the ball hitting the post and presenting Roofe with an easy chance for his second goal of the afternoon.

Defoe set up Kent’s replacement Barker to slide home and the striker was then fouled by Odoffin to give top scorer Tavernier the chance to score his 11th goal of the season.

And Tavernier soon made it 12 for the campaign, reacting quickest in the box after Fulton had blocked Roofe’s effort.

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Rangers had let a two-goal lead slip in Thursday’s 3-3 Europa League draw with Benfica and they showed a hunger to make amends for the late lapses in Lisbon.

The movement of their front players consistently stretched Hamilton and, but for Fulton, the rout could have made it into double figures, while Bongani Zungu made his debut as a second-half substitute.

For Hamilton it was a far cry from March’s 1-0 win at Ibrox as their run of league defeats stretched to four, during which they have conceded 20 goals.

Their lengthy injury list prompted head coach Brian Rice to add Aaron Martin and Nathan Thomas to his squad in recent days and captain Brian Easton returned after a nine-month absence to get 90 minutes under his belt on a difficult afternoon.

Hamilton continue their League Cup group campaign away to Stranraer on Wednesday evening and at home to Albion Rovers next Saturday.

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Rangers return from the international break against Premiership visitors Aberdeen on 22 November, the day after Accies visit Dundee United in the league.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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AFCON

Libya sacks coach ahead of AFCON qualifying back-to-back matches with Nigeria

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Milutin Sredojević

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.

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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.

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AFCON

CAF president blasts Ghana, others over stadium ban

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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.

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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.

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AFCON

Present and Past as CAF Coaches Symposium unites Rohr, Peseiro and Eguavoen

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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.

Peseiro left his position after the Africa Cup of Nations

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