AFCON
Past AFCON record swings in Egypt’s favour over Cote d’Ivoire
If history is anything to go by, Egypt will have every reason to believe that they can brush aside Cote d’Ivoire and reach the African Cup of Nations quarters when both sides meet in Cameroon’s Douala on Wednesday.
The Pharaohs can boast of a proud Nations Cup record against Cote d’Ivoire, whom they overcame en route to three out of their last four triumphs.
In 1998, Egypt defeated the Elephants on penalties following a 0-0 draw in the quarters before they met twice in the 2006 edition.
Egypt won their group-stage clash against Cote d’Ivoire 3-1 in Cairo before beating them again in the final, also on penalties, following a goalless draw.
They also met in the semis of the 2008 edition, with a star-studded Ivorian side led by prolific striker Didier Drogba overwhelming favourites at the time to take revenge.
However, Egypt keeper Essam El-Hadary, now the team’s goalkeeping coach, pulled off a string of impressive saves and his team proved clinical on breakaways to claim a memorable 4-1 victory.
Egypt coach Carlos Queiroz is not getting carried away though as he believes his team should do the talking on the pitch if they are to continue their bid towards a record-extending eighth Nations Cup crown.
“Stats are important, and they highly regarded by the press, but the players are the ones who will play tomorrow,” the Portuguese told the pre-match news conference.
“We have to write our history; our past won’t help us. The players are completely focused on the present and that is what matters to us.”
Cote d’Ivoire take on Egypt on the back of an impressive run, having suffered only one loss in their last 15 matches, winning 10 times and drawing four.
They also concluded their Nations Cup group-stage campaign with a superb 3-1 win over Algeria last week to send the reigning champions packing.
“The game will be a tactical one … and we have a plan to stop the danger our opponent poses,” Cote d’Ivoire coach Patrice Beaumelle said.
Egypt, who produced some stuttering displays in the group stage, are boosted by the return of key left-back Ahmed Fattouh, who has been out of action since picking up an injury in the opening 1-0 loss to 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.
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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