AFCON
SUPER EAGLES ARE AFCON’S 6TH MOST EXPERIENCED SIDES
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
After 150 of 151 projected qualifying duels, 23 of the 24 slots for the 33rd Africa Cup of Nations have been decided.
The last and the only controversial duel is that of Sierra Leone and Benin Republic which has now been rescheduled to hold in June.
If a table of participation were to be constructed, the Super Eagles will be joint sixth with defending champions, Algeria as both are going into the competition for the 19th time.
Egypt top all-time appearance table as Cameroon 2021 which will be played in 2022 will be their 25th appearance in 33 editions out of which they have won a record seven times.
Cote d’Ivoire going into the championship for the 24th time are second in terms of experience. But they have won only twice in 1992 and 2015.
Ghana’s Black Stars making their 23rd appearance are third in the ranking. But they have won the trophy four times in 1963, 1965, 1978 and 1982.
Cameroon, hosts, and Tunisia making their 20th appearances are joint fourth. Cameroon have won the cup four times.
Coincidentally, their first three championships were won at the expense of Nigeria in 1984, 1988 and 2000 before beaten Senegal to win the 2002 edition.
Nigeria too would have been among those with 20 or more appearances, but for the politically motivated boycott of the 1996 edition to which they qualified as defending champions.
The attendant sanction of suspension from the 1998 edition is also a contributory factor to the reduced number of appearances by Nigeria.
At Cameroon 2021, The Gambia and Comoros will be debutants.
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 Thursday’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.
Franck Mawuena who recently renewed his contract with Remo Stars has received a call-up to the Togolese squad for this week’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match. He had previously featured in the Belgian League.
He was part of the Remo Stars squad that finished second in the Nigeria Premier league last season. He scored six goals.
Togo will be away to Algeria on Thursday before hosting the reversed fixture on 14 October.
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