AFCON
Burkina Faso and Cameroon battle for place on the podium
As it was in the begining, so shall it be today as Cameroon and Burkina Faso have an encore tonight.
Both contested the opening match in which two penalty kick goals enabled Cameroon to come back from behind to a 2-1 winning start.
The penalty goals also aided Cameroon’s skipper, Vincent Aboubakar who looked set to be named the tournament’s highest scorer.
The rematch is however not what any of the two teams would have wished for.
They are contesting in the losers’ final match for the third place rather than for the ultimate trophy.
For Burkina Faso, a third-place finish will be a good outing as they merely rank among the middle level powers in African football. A podium finish is a good outing only that it is a step below their best achievement of runnersup to Nigeria in 2013.
Above all, Burkina Faso will seek revenge against the Indomitable Lions, who won the tournament’s opener 2-1 last month during the group stage.
The coach, Kamou Malo summed it up: “It is true that we are disappointed following our elimination in the semifinals, but we have to prepare ourselves properly to play this match for third place in the best conditions. We have to remobilize now. We are physically and mentally ready for play our game.”
The captain, Bertand Traoure added: “we are obviously down after our elimination, but we have to remobilize to get the bronze medal. At this level of the competition, we feel tired but we will do everything to have a good match and end the tournament on a good note.”
As for the hosts, the match is not what they had bargained for. They had revelled in beating lower-level teams like Ethiopia, Comoros among others before facing an ultimate and deadly challenge by Africa Cup of Nations record-winners, Egypt.
The title aspirations of the hosts just dissolved in smokes. Now decimated after their elimination on their own land, Cameroon seem that they still can’t get out of this defeat.
The disappointment is better gleaned from the comments of their Portuguese coach, Antonio Conceiçao: “The sadness is great especially when we do not achieve our objectives. The players have worked well, and I am proud of them. It is up to us to learn now and move forward. I give the best of myself to have the best results with this team. We wanted to write history, but it didn’t work out”.
Barely 48 hours after penalties’ heartbreak, the Indomitable Lions will have to regroup and try to give their faithful supporters something to cheer at.
“It’s difficult to live in such a situation but that’s football,” said Indomitable Lions goalkeeper André Onana. “We ask our supporters and all Cameroonians to stay around our young team. We have to go after our goals,” he added.
“It’s true that disappointment is great, but that’s life. We have to regroup to win this third place this Saturday against Burkina Faso.
“We have to try to forget elimination in the semifinals and think about the future, especially this classification match and the World Cup qualifiers. We have confidence in ourselves, and we must recover quickly”, said the goalkeeper.
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
The goalless outing of Rwanda and Nigeria in Tuesday’s Africa Cup of Nations’ qualifying match has thrown up some lessons, according to New Times, the leading newspaper in Rwanda.
New Times reckons that both teams put up a great show as Amavubi showed their pedigree against one of the giants in African football. It then pointed out the five elements that shaped the game.
Amavubi played with total confidence
No African country comes close to Nigeria in terms of “big players” country. Almost all their players are playing for top clubs in Europe’s top leagues but that did not deter Frank Spittler’s men.
They played with total confidence and self-belief. At a point in the game, Rwanda and APR FC left-back Claude Niyomugabo was mesmerizing former Chelsea and Lazio player Ola Aina who is now with Nottingham forest to the point that he was booked his jersey when he couldn’t match his pace.
Confidence among Rwandan players was high and it helped them to get goalless draw results.
Bizimana, the midfield controller
The Amavubi skipper pocketed Nigerian midfield led by Wilfred Ndidi. He run a one-man show in the middle of the pitch as he was unplayable.
His passes and tackles were superb. He track-backed several times as deep as his own penalty box to win balls.
Lookman’s danger left Rwandan defense shaking
Victor Osimhen is arguably Nigeria’s star man but it is clear that Ademola Lookman is the most dangerous player in the team.
He could hold on the ball, dribble, shoot and pass. The Atalanta winger was the best player for the visitors as he gave Amavubi a tough time before being substituted in the 89th minute for Taiwo Awoniyi.
Amavubi’s attacking problem
“The only problem with my team is in attack. You could see the difference between my attackers and the Nigerian attackers but that is what we have now. Maybe it is the Nigerian attackers who should have played against the Nigerian defenders. We created some chances but couldn’t score.”
These were some of the comments made by Amavubi head coach Torsten Spittler in the post-match press conference.
Rwanda looked solid both at the back and in midfield but the likes of Innocent Nshuti and Gilbert Mugisha weren’t up to the task in attack.
They wasted three good chances that could have resulted in goals.
Goal scoring is a problem for Amavubi and Spittler is ready to find an antidote. The German gaffer was, however, happy that his team was able to create chances which is a sign of improvement.
Fiacre Ntwari’s heroics
The Amavubi shot stopper was the hero of the day for Rwanda, and he has showed why he is among the best goalkeepers in Africa now.
Against a rampaging Nigerian attack of Victor Boniface, Osimhen, Lookman, Awoniyi and Samuel Chukwueze among others, Ntwari pulled as many as nine superb saves to keep his side in the game.
The Kaizer Chiefs shot stopper was very cool in the posts as he prevented the Nigerian attackers from scoring.
Ntwari, is gradually carving a niche for himself and he is proving to be a key component of the Amavubi set up.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has clarified the position of interim manager of the Super Eagles, Austin Eguavoen. “He is still in charge”, the NFF Head of Communications, Ademola Olajire told Sports Village Square, this Wednesday.
Austin Eguavoen who is the Technical Director at the NFF was drafted to handle the Super Eagles when the negotiation with Germany’s Bruno Labbadia broke down. Eguavoen, a former Super Eagles player and later coach was drafted to rescue the situation.
It was claimed that having executed the Super Eagles’ immediate assignments, his job was done. But the NFF spokesman has clarified that nothing has changed from the initial announcement concerning Eguavoen.
“He remains with the team and his is an employee of the NFF which has drafted him to the Super Eagles. He remains there until the federation takes another decision.
“He was surprised when we landed from our Kigali trip and I showed the trending news on the social media.”
The Super Eagles’ next assignment will be on MatchDay 3 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers next month when the team hosts Libya in Uyo.
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