AFCON
Osimhen’s injury was horrifying; eye ball came out of its socket, says surgeon…may undergo a 2nd surgery
The injury sustained by Super Eagles and Napoli forward Victor Osimhen in a Serie A match days ago was more serious than imagined.
According to a report by UK newspaper, Daily Mail, the injury was horrifying as not just the cheek bones that were broken, the eye also came out of its socket.
The report has it that Osimhen, who is ruled out of football for 90 days had 18 screws inserted in his cheekbone to address the horrendous facial injury .
The injury was sustained after colliding with Inter defender Milan Skriniar. The force was so much that Osimhen’s eye came out of its socket and his face looked as if it had ‘ended up under a press’ said Gianpaolo Tartaro, the surgeon who treated the 22-year-old on Tuesday.
‘The eye came out of its socket. It is not simple at all, in fact it is very delicate due to the crushing of the socket, due to the curving of the malar bone [which is] practically destroyed.
‘The various fractures, not only the cheekbone, obviously brought complications and six plates and 18 screws had to be inserted.’
Tartaro explained the extent of the injury made the surgery far from straightforward, adding the Nigerian will in all likelihood have to wear a special face covering once he returns to action.
‘[Surgery] took three hours, we had to cut him in three places on his face,’ he continued.
‘We have to now look at a special mask for his case. It is not something banal, there is a nerve there, it is all very difficult. We will see how his situation evolves.’
Osimhen will miss the African Cup of Nations in January and may well have to undergo surgery again, Tartaro warned.
‘Victor has to be very careful because if there is a problem he must return to the operating room,’ he said.
Osimhen has scored nine goals in 14 appearances for Napoli this season, and his injury is a potentially devastating blow for Luciano Spalletti’s men, who are top of Serie A ahead of AC Milan on goal difference after 13 games.
Napoli’s 3-2 loss against Inter last week was their first in Serie A this season and saw the defending champions cut their gap to the duo at the top to four points.
Inter travel to Venezia on Saturday night, while AC Milan host Sassuolo on Sunday afternoon and Napoli take on sixth-placed Lazio on Sunday night.
AFCON
Libya sacks coach ahead of AFCON qualifying back-to-back matches with Nigeria
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
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
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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