AFCON
AFCON Final Match Facts – Senegal v Egypt
Senegal faces Egypt this Sunday at Olembe Stadium in Yaoundé, as the 33rd edition of Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021 reaches its Grand Final.
● This will be the fifth encounter between Egypt and Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations and the first such meeting since 2006, with Egypt winning 2-1 in the semi-final on their way to lifting the trophy that year.
● In their four previous meetings at the Africa Cup of Nations, Egypt and Senegal have won two games each, with three of the four matches finishing 1-0 (Egypt’s win in 2000 and Senegal’s in 1986 and 2002).
● Egypt will play in their ninth final (excluding final groups) at the Africa Cup of Nations, losing their most recent one in 2017 (2-1 against Cameroon) – including the 2021 final, no team have played in the tournament showpiece on more occasions than the Pharaohs (Ghana level on nine).
● Senegal are playing in their third Africa Cup of Nations final (runners-up in 2002 and 2019), while the Lions of Teranga are the first side to play in consecutive finals in the competition since opponents Egypt in 2010.
● Senegal are looking to win their first Africa Cup of Nations title, in their 16th appearance in the competition – no team have played in more AFCON tournaments without ever lifting the trophy.
● Egypt have progressed via extra time (and/or penalties) in their last three matches at the Africa Cup of Nations, only one team have played in four consecutive knock-out matches, with all going to extra time in the competition’s history – Tunisia between 2006 and 2015 (lost all four in quarter-finals, three in extra time and one on penalties).
● Senegal have won 11 Africa Cup of Nations matches across the last three tournaments (since 2017), more victories than any other team, while they’ve also kept the most clean sheets (12) in this time.
● Senegal have scored nine goals from 81 attempts at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations – only Cameroon (12.1%, 11/91) have a better shot conversion rate than the Lions of Teranga at this year’s tournament. Meanwhile, Egypt’s rate of just 5.3% (4/76) is the lowest among teams to progress to the knock-out rounds.
● Since Mohamed Salah’s debut at the Africa Cup of Nations in January 2017 he’s been directly involved in 68 shots at goal for Egypt (41 shots, 27 chances created), only Tunisia’s Wahbi Khazri (70 – 40 shots, 30 chances created) has been involved in more in this time.
● Sadio Mané has been directly involved in nine (six goals, three assists) of Senegal’s last 14 goals at the Africa Cup of Nations (64%), having either scored (2) or assisted (2) in each of his last three matches. The forward could register goal involvements in four consecutive games in the competition for the first time.
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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