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Group A – Cote D’Ivoire V Guinea Bissau: Facts & Figures –

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Group A - Cote D'Ivoire V Guinea Bissau: Facts & Figures -

The 34th edition of the  African Cup of Nations kicks off on Saturday with hosts Cote d’Ivoire taking on Guinea Bissau.

Ahead of the tricky match, CafOnline.com takes a look at some interesting facts and figures of the two sides.

  • This will be the first encounter between Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea-Bissau at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations.
  • Côte d’Ivoire are taking part in their 25thCAF Africa Cup of Nations; only Egypt have made more appearances in the continent’s premier competition (26). They will be attempting to win the trophy for the third time, after 1992 and 2015.
  • Côte d’Ivoire are hosting the CAF Africa Cup of Nations for the second time, 40 years after it was initially held in the country, in 1984. Cameroon won the title whilst Côte d’Ivoire were knocked out in the group stages.
  • The hosts/co-hosts of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations have systematically reached the knockout stages of the tournament in all bar one of the last 14 editions – the exception was Gabon in 2017. However, no host has won the AFCON since Egypt in 2006.
  • Côte d’Ivoire are unbeaten in their last 12 opening matches at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (W7 D5) – the last time they lost their first match in an edition of the tournament was in 1996 (0-2 v Ghana). Their opening match will be their 100thin the AFCON, becoming the third team to reach that tally after Egypt and Ghana.
  • This is Guinea-Bissau’s fourth Africa Cup of Nations appearance after making their debut in the competition only six years ago in 2017 – they have finished bottom of their group in each of their three previous participations, with a total of three draws and six defeats.
  • Only Benin (14) and Mozambique (12) have played more matches than Guinea-Bissau (9) at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations without ever winning one.
  • Guinea-Bissau have failed to score in their last seven matches at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations, a record for any team in the history of the competition. In total, it’s been over 11 hours since they last found the net (707 minutes), a goal by Piqueti against Cameroon on 18 January 2017.
  • If Max Gradel plays, this will be his seventh CAF Africa Cup of Nations, equaling Boubacar Barry, Siaka Tiéné and Kolo Touré as the Ivorians with most AFCON appearances. He was part of the winning squad in 2015.
  • The duo of Zinho Gano and Jorginho scored 55% of Guinea-Bissau’s goals in the qualifiers for the 2023 CAF Africa Cup of Nations (3 goals each, out of a total of 11 team goals).

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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Olympics

This is my story: Odegbami on how he is stranded in London

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BY SEGUN ODEGBAMI, LONDON

Cancelled Eurostar train services from London to Paris, and other local services within France, have left hundreds of thousands of attendees of the Paris Olympic Games in the limbo of uncertainty. 

Even as I am also stranded until the security measures are lifted, there are ‘eyes’ over the Olympics and the city of Paris that reveal that the excitement over, probably, the most romantic Olympic Games in history, is unscathed, buzzing and alive all over France. 

The Falcons of Nigeria played against Brazil yesterday and lost. They play again on Sunday in Nantes! Life goes on! 

On ‘90 mins with Mathematical’ tomorrow morning I shall chat with Dr. Vincent  Okumagba, Chairman of Super Eaglesl Supporters Club, in Nantes; and Aramide, a former diplomat and a Nigerian resident in Paris, on the first days of Paris 2024! 

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BREAKING! Odegbami stranded in London as saboteurs  cause  travel chaos in France  before Opening Ceremony

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Travellers from Sydney, Australia, wait outside the Gare Montparnasse train station as they try to search for other trains after their trip was affected when vandals targeted France's high-speed train network with a series of coordinated actions that brought major disruption, ahead of the Paris..

Nigeria legendary former footballer,  Segun Odegbami is among thousands of people unable to travel by train to Paris to witness the novel Opening Ceremony that Paris 2024 intends to put up.
Ahead of the formal opening of the Games, arson attack has caused travel chaos thwarting athletes’ travel plans to Paris.

High-speed trains around France were hit by several “malicious acts” this Friday that heavily disrupted traffic on the day of the high-risk opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

Arsonists attacked the French high-speed rail network early Friday, paralyzing travel to Paris from across the rest of France and Europe for some 800,000 people, including Olympic athletes heading to the grand opening ceremony of the Games in the evening.

French officials condemned the attacks as “criminal actions,” though they said there was no sign of a direct link to the Games. Prosecutors in Paris opened a national investigation saying the crimes — among them property damage threatening the nation’s “fundamental interests” — could carry sentences of 10 to 20 years.

“It’s a hell of a way to start the Olympics,” said Sarah Moseley, a 42-year-old traveler waiting at the Gare du Nord station in Paris as she learned that her train to London was delayed by the rail chaos.

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Olympics

Host club at Super Falcons’ Olympic match venue, Bordeaux is bankrupt

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 General view inside the Bordeaux stadium where Super Falcons played against Brazil REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File Photo

After their lone goal loss to Brazil in their Group C opener of the Olympic Games, Super Falcons leave Bordeaux today for Nantes.

The host club of Bordeaux, FC Girondins de Bordeaux have filed for bankruptcy. This is coming just days after they were relegated to the third tier of French football after Liverpool soccer club’s owner withdrew from takeover talks, the former Ligue 1 club said on Thursday.

Earlier this month the six-times French champions were demoted from Ligue 2 by the National Directorate of Management Control due to financial concerns.

Once Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group, pulled out from takeover talks, it effectively ended the club’s survival hopes.

“It’s a difficult decision that anticipates an inevitable consequence of the restructuring process underway,” the club said in a statement.

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Bordeaux will also abandon their professional status they have held since 1937 and close their renowned training academy, which has helped to develop players such as Bixente Lizarazu, Jules Kounde, and Zinedine Zidane.

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