AFCON
Oh! Egypt star goalkeeper and legendry El Hadary are Covid-19 positive
Eighth-title chasing Egypt have been dealt a heavy blow ahead of their opening match with Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations.
According to Ahram, a popular Egyptian outlet, the team goalkeeper, Mohamed Abo Gabal and the goalkeepers’ trainer, Essam El Hadary have both tested positive for COVID-19.
That possibly explains the delay of the team departure to Cameroon on Friday and will now fly to Garoua this Saturday, the eve of the opening ceremony of the Africa Cup of Nations.
In the report which was reportedly announced by the Egyptian FA, “PCR tests have showed that Abo Gabal and Essam El-Hadary have tested positive for COVID-19 and they will miss the trip to Cameroon to take part in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.”
Egypt’s national team coach Carlos Queiroz canceled Thursday’s training session with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) national team and postponed the Pharaohs’ flight to Cameroon until Saturday.
The Pharaohs underwent PCR tests on Thursday morning in preparation for the flight to Cameroon, which has been moved to Saturday morning to give the players enough time to rest before traveling.
The seven-time African champions will be playing in Group D alongside Nigeria, Sudan and Guinea Bissau, and will begin their AFCON 2021 campaign with a clash against the Nigerian Super Eagles on 11 January.
Meanwhile, coach Queiroz hoped for a quick recovery of the infected players so that they could return to the team.
“Unprecedented times. The more the situation becomes difficult, the more we stay together & strong. Better we stand together & focus on what we need to do to meet the challenges. Dear Friends & Team Mates, we all pray for your health, wishing fast recovery and return to our Team.” Queiroz tweeted early on Friday.
The EFA called the Olympic team’s goalkeeping coach Tarek Soliman to join the Pharaohs’ crew as a replacement for El-Hadary.
Queiroz also decided not to name another goalie to replace Abo Gabal as he will instead make use of the three previously named goalkeepers, according to a statement by the EFA.
The Pharaohs’ final squad witnessed a recall of four goalkeepers including Ahly’s and Egypt first choice Mohamed El-Shennawy, Farco’s Mohamed Sobhy, Enppi’s Mahmoud Gad and Zamalek’s Mohamed Abo Gabal.
There was speculation that the tournament, which was delayed due to coronavirus, might be delayed again because of the spread of the Omicron variant but the Confederation of African Football (CAF) eventually decided to hold it as scheduled.
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
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