AFCON
ROHR DRAFTS MORE HOME-BASED SUPER EAGLES TO FACE BENIN AND LESOTHO
Nigeria trainer Gernot Rohr drafted two more home-based stars to bolster the Super Eagles for the forthcoming Total Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021 qualifiers against Benin and Lesotho, following late withdrawals by some of his overseas stars.
The German coach earlier named a strong cast of 23 players, including home-based Enyimba International goalkeeper John Noble and ‘non-playing’ captain Ahmed Musa, but the team was depleted in the wake of travel restrictions by some European clubs due to the on-going COVID-19 protocols.
After replacing France-based duo of Samuel Kalu (Bordeaux) and Moses Simon (FC Nantes) respectively with Henry Onyekuru (Galatasaray) and Paul Onuachu (Genk) who were initially on standby, Rohr has further brought Nigeria Professional League (NPFL) stars including Abia Warriors defender Adekunle Adeleke and Enyimba striker Anayo Iwuala, as replacements for Spain based Kenneth Omeruo and Sadiq Umar.
Currently topping qualifiers Group L with eight points, one point ahead of closest rivals Benin, the Super Eagles will be away to face the Squirrels at Stade Charles de Gaulle in Porto Novo on 27th March, before concluding their campaign three days later against visiting Lesotho Crocodiles at Teslim Balogun Stadium, in what would be their first official game in Lagos in a decade.
The last competitive game Nigeria played in Lagos was a 1-0 AFCON qualifiers’ win over Zambia in January 2001.
“We want to finish our qualification on a positive note, and the two matches against Benin and Lesotho are very important,” Rohr told CAFOnline.com.
“Of course, we know that Benin is difficult to beat after our last game in Uyo (Nigeria won 2-1) and we need at least a point against them to qualify for next year’s AFCON,” added the 67 years old coach.
“Then, we are playing our final game in Lagos. We want to win in Lagos because it has been a long time since we last played there, and we want to conclude the qualifiers with a victory as well.
“These are not going to be easy matches because Lesotho drew with Benin, but we are going to give our best against these opponents,” noted the former Bayern Munich defender.
Rohr told CAFOnline.com that the inclusion of Captain Musa – who has been without a club since last October when he left Saudi Arabian side Al Nasr – was strategic and mere morale booster to the three-time African champions.
“Musa is our captain, and he is a part of the team though he won’t play because he has not been active, but we want to assist him to train and he will also help our team as we prepare for these two important matches,” concluded Rohr.
-CAF
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.
Peseiro left his position after the Africa Cup of Nations
Anthony Joshua seeks world title and redemption against Dubois
Beckenbauer to have street named after him near Munich’s Allianz Arena
Diamond League raise 2025 prize money to over $9 million
Breaking! Uzoho suspended from Super Eagles’ next match with Sierra Leone
No longer Super League as CAF changes name of its new clubs competition
AIU releases its report on Tobi Amusan
-
AFCON1 week agoRwanda newspaper gives 5 lessons gleaned from Rwanda-Nigeria clash
-
AFCON1 week agoPresent and Past as CAF Coaches Symposium unites Rohr, Peseiro and Eguavoen
-
CAF Confederation Cup1 week agoEnyimba continues unbeaten run against Burkina Faso clubs
-
AFCON4 days agoLibya sacks coach ahead of AFCON qualifying back-to-back matches with Nigeria
-
CAF Champions League1 week agoEnugu Rangers in slim CAF Champions League win over Angola’s Sagrada Esperanca
-
WOMEN'S FOOTBALL1 week agoFalconets crash out from U-20 Women’s World Cup
-
Governing Bodies6 days agoStorm in CAF over proposed statutes amendments
-
World Cup2 days agoMany fans risk missing 2026 World Cup as Visa window for visitors is closing