AFCON

Sierra Leone reach Afcon finals for first time in 25 years

Published

3 years ago

June 15, 2021

The 24^th team for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations has now been decided as Sierra Leone beat Benin 1-0 to clinch the last sport.

Striker Kei Kamara scored a first half penalty for Sierra Leone and that proved the decider that put the country into the continental championship for the first time since 1996.

The qualifier had twice been postponed due to coronavirus-test issues.

Kamara converted from the spot after 19 minutes and the Leone Stars held on for a famous victory to join the other 23 teams at the finals in Cameroon in January.

Sierra Leone needed to beat Benin who required just a point to seal second place behind Group L winners Nigeria.

The tie was moved to Tuesday from Monday after Covid-19 issues saw the game delayed just ahead of kick-off.

Both teams were at the stadium ready for the fixture when Sierra Leone were informed that six of their players had returned positive Covid-19 tests.

All the players involved were re-tested on Monday with only goalkeeper Ibrahim Sesay returning a negative result on Tuesday.

It meant that the Leone Stars had a depleted squad of 20 players, including two goalkeepers, for the game.

The Sierra Leone delegation complained that in the build up to Monday’s game they had been informed by a Confederation of African Football official that the whole squad were negative after tests carried out in Guinea.

The players had also returned negative tests in Sierra Leone on Saturday before they travelled to Guinea for the match, which had been moved as the stadium in Freetown was not up to standard to host a Nations Cup qualifier.

After meetings at the stadium on Monday the Confederation of African Football (CAF) agreed to postpone the match by a further 24 hours.

It was the second time the qualifier had been hit by disputes over players returning positive Covid-19 tests, after the same issue saw the game called off on 30 March when it was originally due to be played.

AFCON

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

Published

3 days ago

September 17, 2024

Kunle Solaja

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.

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.

AFCON

CAF president blasts Ghana, others over stadium ban

Published

3 days ago

September 17, 2024

Kunle Solaja

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.

AFCON

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

Published

1 week ago

September 12, 2024

Kunle Solaja

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