AFCON
Super Eagles Not Worried About Scoring Few Goals To Reach AFCON Last 16 –
“We don’t care if we score 20 goals, the most important thing for us is the victory,” Nantes forward Simon said after collecting his award for man of the match.
The only goal of Monday’s encounter at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan came in the 36th minute, as a low cross by Simon was emphatically turned into his own net by defender Opa Sangante, who had Victor Osimhen lurking behind him.
The result took the Super Eagles through to the last 16 in second place in Group A with seven points, behind Equatorial Guinea whose 4-0 destruction of hosts Ivory Coast left them with a far better goal difference.
Nigeria’s domination had been sterile before the goal came, but they should have added to their lead after the break.
African player of the year Osimhen and substitute Zaidu Sanusi both had goals disallowed for offside in the second half, while Calvin Bassey had a penalty appeal turned down and Ola Aina blasted a good chance over.
“The main point is that we conceded no goals and we scored one. If we keep doing that we can reach the final,” insisted coach Jose Peseiro, whose team were the top scorers in qualifying for the tournament with 22 goals in six games.
Nigeria, who drew 1-1 with Equatorial Guinea in their opening game, have since been efficient if not spectacular, defeating the Ivorians 1-0 with a William Troost-Ekong penalty before this result.
“My responsibility is to choose the best way to win this competition. I chose another strategy and the players believe in it — to not concede goals because we will score at least one,” Peseiro said, pointing out that Senegal only scored once in the group stage at the 2022 AFCON before going on to win the trophy.
Peseiro’s team will now stay in Abidjan for a last-16 tie on Saturday against the runners-up in Group C, which will be Senegal, Guinea or Cameroon.
Franculino Dju had a goal ruled out for Guinea-Bissau, who were already eliminated before this game and finish with three defeats.
Shock winners away to Nigeria in qualifying last March, they have still never won a game in 12 attempts across four appearances at the Cup of Nations itself.
-AFP
Faced with internal challenges that include players’ injuries and boycotts, the Libyan coach, Nasser Al-Hadhiri is believed by local press as facing a ‘near-impossible mission’ in Nigeria.
“The team’s mission against Nigeria seems almost impossible. The Nigerian team has a strong squad, led by names such as Ademola Lookman and Victor Boniface, which makes the task more difficult for the Libyan team”, Akhbarlibya24 editorialised.
It further reported that despite the difficult situation, the Libyan coach, Nasser Al-Hadhiri remains somewhat optimistic, as he hopes to achieve a positive result. He remarked: “We realize that winning against Nigeria is difficult, but we seek to return with a draw that will be positive for us and restore our hope in competing for qualification.”
According to Libya’s news outlets, there are palpable fears in the Libya national team which faces successive crises and trying to avoid early elimination from the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series.
The team which faces the Super Eagles this week has been plagued with players’ absences occasioned by injuries and boycotts.
The coach recently appointed has revealed the names of players refusing to represent the national team.
In a press conference held on Saturday, Coach Nasser Al-Hadhiri remarked that the absence of several players were due to real injuries.
In that class are Ahmed Al-Tarbi, a defender of Ahli Tripoli; Mohammed Al-Tabbal of Al-Nasr club and Ali Youssef who also suffered the injury while playing with Tunisia’s Club Africaine.
If the Libyan national team sticks to plans, the players are expected to have arrived in Nigeria ahead of their Friday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifying duel in Uyo.
With most players drawn from the domestic league, the national team had daily training sessions in Tripoli under coach Nasser Al-Hadhiri and his assistants Akram Al-Hammami and Abu Bakr Al-Hark.
However, according to media sources in Libya, the team faces injury worries even though the absence of Victor Osimhen in the Nigerian squad is being celebrated.
Even though it did not mention the injured Libyan players, Libya Al-Ahrar Channel reports that replacements were found in Al-Tahadi FC defender, Mohammed Khalil and Al-Nasr midfielder, Abdullah Abdul Rahim as well as Al-Akhdar winger, Faraj Ghaidhan. They take the places of the absent regular players.
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