AFCON
Nigeria’s injured Boniface set to miss African Cup of Nations –
Nigeria’s Bayer Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface indicated on Monday that he will miss this month’s Africa Cup of Nations after suffering a groin injury while training.
The 23-year-old was sidelined for his country’s final warm-up friendly against Guinea on Monday and local media reported that he will be out for up to six weeks.
“Good luck guys. Wish you guys all the best at afcon @ng_supereagles,” Boniface wrote on his Instagram account.
He is Bundesliga leaders Leverkusen’s top scorer, netting 10 goals in 16 league games this season.
Boniface made his international debut in October and has since earned four more caps.
His injury comes on top of the recent withdrawal of Nigeria midfielder Wilfred Ndidi who was injured in Leicester City’s 2-0 win at Cardiff City on Dec. 29.
Ndidi’s Leicester team mate Kelechi Iheanacho is also struggling with injury and the striker was still being assessed at Nigeria’s training camp with the expectation that he will be fit for the tournament, which starts on Saturday.
Nigeria open their Cup of Nations campaign with a Group A game against Equatorial Guinea on Sunday before meeting hosts Ivory Coast and then Guinea Bissau.
-Reuters
The hopes of Libya securing a 2025 Africa Cup of Nations ticket seem to have gone up in smoke. This is the sequel to the 2-1 defeat that Rwanda inflicted on the Benin Republic on Tuesday evening.
With the result, Libya’s position is further cemented at the bottom of the table. Nigeria, even with an outstanding match, still leads with seven points.
They are followed by Benin Republic who have six points. Rwanda followed with five points.
The star men were Innocent Nshuti and Djihad Bizimana who scored in the space of two minutes as Rwanda came from behind to defeat Benin 2-1 at Amahoro Stadium on Tuesday, October 15.
Rwanda’s defeat of Benin Republic is not just their first win in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series, the victory terminates a 12-year winless streak against the Cheetah of Benin.
It is also a renewal of their hopes of qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. But they still have two more games to play.
The German made two changes from the side that started against Benin last week as Samuel Gueulette and Emmanuel Imanishimwe came in for Kevin Muhire and Claude Niyomugabo respectively.
The press release on Tuesday by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) may have lifted a burden off Nigeria as the match with Libya is considered postponed rather than the Super Eagles refusing to play.
The continental body remarked that the matter would be referred to the competent CAF bodies.
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