AFCON
Cote D’Ivoire In 48-hour Anxious Wait To Know Fate In Cup Of Nations –
Cote d’Ivoire will spend Tuesday and Wednesday waiting to see whether they will be able to continue at their own tournament after a horror loss in their last Africa Cup of Nations group game, which will go down as the biggest shock in finals history.
Equatorial Guinea, a country of only 1.6 million people and with a motley team comprised mainly of players from the lower leagues in Spain, upset the Ivorians 4-0 on Monday in the heaviest defeat ever suffered by a host nation.
It was a humiliating loss that left the Ivorians, jeered off by their own supporters, third in Group A and now waiting to see whether they will qualify for the last 16.
The top two teams in each group advance to the knockout stage, along with the four best third-placed finishers.
With Groups A and B completed on Monday, the Ivorians are still in contention especially after neighbours Ghana conceded two goals in stoppage time against Mozambique and drew 2-2 to finish third in Group B.
While the Ivorians collected three points from their trio of group games, Ghana managed only two and are likely to be eliminated with Groups C and D concluding on Tuesday and Groups E and F on Wednesday.
Ghana’s shock demise was a glimmer of light on a dark day for the Ivorians, whose defeat set off rioting among angry supporters with vehicles and buses stoned along the route from the Alassane Ouattara Olympic Stadium.
The game was an endless series of missed chances for the Ivorians while everything their lowly-ranked opponents touched turned to gold.
“In life, there are sometimes matches that turn into nightmares, matches where everything seems linked,” said Ivory Coast coach Jean Louis Gasset.
“We call this the disaster scenario. We have three points, because we won a match,” he said of their 2-0 success in the tournament opener against Guinea Bissau on Jan. 13.
“And we hope to still qualify as one of the four best third-place finishers. We are waiting for the results of others.”
Gasset, a former France assistant coach, said he could not fathom what went wrong.
“This is a difficult question. What went wrong with the players? I don’t think is their state of mind. When I see players crying in the locker room, it hurts me. The players tried. I think we’ve tried everything,” he added.
“When you have a scenario like this, which borders on a nightmare, there is not much to say or do.”
-Reuters
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.
Hitherto first choice striker, Victor Osimhen was again benched in Nigeria’s second match of the on-going Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series.
In Saturday’s match with Benin Republic, his having to start from the bench was hinged on his late arrival to camp. He came off the bench and found the net within six minutes.
But on Tuesday, he came in much earlier in the second half. Another striker, Taiwo Awoniyi who sat all through in the first match was a late substitute in the game against Rwanda.
At the post-match interview in Kigali, Eguavoen said that the striker’s fitness level was put to the test after a difficult summer that saw a failed move to Chelsea and a falling out with Napoli.
“Osimhen is our brother, you can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. We know what he is going through in Napoli. He just moved to Galatasaray and has not been playing active football for a while now,” Eguavoen explained.
“We are trying to manage his fitness. He played the last 25 minutes in the previous game, and today we had a word with him that he can’t play 90 minutes or else he will get injured,” he added.
The coach also addressed his decision to limit minutes for other key players, including Taiwo Awoniyi, stating that fitness and the need to balance squad rotation were key factors.
“Awoniyi had a few minutes at his club before joining us,” Eguavoen explained. “We have 23 to 40 players to choose from, but only 11 can start. It’s frustrating, but the bonding is there, and everyone is on board.”
On the team’s formation, Eguavoen revealed the challenges of preparing the squad in a short period.
“We trained for three or four days before the Benin game and then had to come here. It’s very difficult to change formation,” he said, noting that the limited time prevented the opportunity for tactical adjustments.
Despite the tactical and fitness challenges, Eguavoen remains confident in his squad’s ability to qualify for AFCON 2025.
Benin Republic came from behind to defeat Libya 2-1 in the second match of Group D’s MatchDay 2 contest in Abidjan on Tuesday night.
With the victory, Nigeria’s western neighbours now rank next to the Super Eagles of the group’s log. The Nigerians on four points and not conceding any goal yet remain atop of the group while Benin Republic with three points rank next.
The Cheetahs of Benin however have a two goal deficit in goal difference. They opened their Tuesday night game with their back on the wall as they conceded a 9th minute penalty kick that was converted by Libya’s Faisal Saleh.
The Libyans carried the lone goal advantage to half-time. Five minutes into the second half, Benin Republic restored parity from a rifling shot by Steve Mounie.
They seized the momentum and got a penalty kick which Junior Olaitan converted. The match day 3 will hold next month as Nigeria hosts Libya while Benin, playing back-to-back at home will host Rwanda. Both matches will hold on 7 October.
Tuesday’s match results
Rwanda 0-0 Nigeria
Benin 2-1 Libya
Gabon 2-0 CAR
Botswana 0-4 Egypt
Cape Verde 2-0 Mauritania
Liberia 0-3 Algeria
Chad 0-2 CIV
Zambia 3-2 S’Leone
Guinea 1-2 Tanzania
Eswatini 0-1 Mali
Mozambique 2-1 G’Bissau
Namibia 1-2 Kenya
Zimbabwe 0-0 Cameroon
S’Sudan 2-3 S/Africa
B’Faso 3-1 Malawi
Austin Eguavoen remains the ‘Big Boss’, says NFF
Former Chelsea manager, Pochettino takes over US men’s team
IOC set to block Sebastian Coe’s presidential bid
Breaking! Uzoho suspended from Super Eagles’ next match with Sierra Leone
No longer Super League as CAF changes name of its new clubs competition
AIU releases its report on Tobi Amusan
-
TRANSFER MARKET7 days agoPoints of Interest as Napoli’s coach apologises to Victor Osimhen
-
AFCON21 hours agoSuper Eagles lead Afcon Group D qualifiers despite Benin’s defeat of Libya
-
AFCON21 hours agoWhy I benched Osimhen again – Eguavoen
-
TRANSFER MARKET1 week agoLukaku pays respect to Osimhen
-
PARALYMPICS1 week agoHow Mikano powered Eniola to Nigeria’s first medal at Paris 2024
-
AFCON4 days agoHurray, Super Eagles back to winning ways!
-
TRANSFER MARKET1 week agoAnother window opens for Osimhen
-
International Football1 week agoBREAKING – Video: Osimhen accepts to join Galatasaray