AFCON
Odegbami turns a prophet, sees Nigeria – Cote d’Ivoire finale on February 11! –
Nigerian football legend, Segun Odegbami who won the Africa Cup of Nations with the then Green Eagles in 1980 and third placed in 1978 has prophesied that Nigeria and hosts, Cote d’Ivoire will play the Afcon final match on 11 February.
In essence, he sees Nigeria scaling the South African hurdle on Wednesday while Cote d’Ivoire too will defeat DR Congo in the semi-finals.
If the ‘prophesy comes to past, it will be the second time that Nigeria will face a team in its group stage at the final match.
That happened the last time Nigeria won the cup in 2013. The Super Eagles were held to a draw by Burkina Faso and later met in the final match which Nigeria won.
According to a press statement by the NFF, Odegbami addressed the Super Eagles at their Pullman Hotel in Abidjan on the eve of their encounter with Guinea Bissau which was the last group match.
“Some persons who were there did not quite share in his conviction that the Super Eagles would be champions”, remarked Ademola Olajire, the spokesman of the NFF.
“Today, many have been ‘converted’, and the 71-year- old legend says he is happy that things are going according to his expectations, Olajire concluded.
Odegbami.
“I said long before the finals that we would be champions of Africa. Many people thought I was just sounding off. Now, they are seeing their light. Everyone appears to believe now that the Super Eagles can do it”, Odegbami reportedly said.
“Now that we are in the semi-finals, I am seeing that we are going to be playing the host nation, Cote d’Ivoire in the Final. We are beating South Africa and Cote d’Ivoire will beat Democratic Republic of Congo. The stage is set for a classic Final match on February 11.”
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Figuratively, Nigerians will have a feel of Morocco when the Super Eagles play their last Morocco 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match in 20 days. Moroccan quartet of Samir Guezzaz, Zakaria Brinsi, Abdessamad Abertoune and Kech Chaf Mustapha have been assigned as officials for the Match Day 6 of the qualifying series in which Nigeria will engage Rwanda.
Samir Guezzaz will be the centre referee. He officiated Nigeria’s 2-0 loss to Mali earlier this year at the Stade de Marrakech in Morocco.
His compatriots Zakaria Brinsi, Abdessamad Abertoune and Kech Chaf Mustapha will serve as assistant referee 1, assistant referee 2 and fourth official respectively.
The match slated for 5pm will hold at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo.
Prosper Harrison Addo from Ghana will be the commissioner while Somalian Ali Mohamed Ahmed will be in the role of referee assessor.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA
The Libyan national football team still received a reprieve when CAF announced its decision to cancel the Libya versus Nigeria Africa Cup of Nations qualifying duel that was to have been held on 15 October.
According to a Libyan outlet, Libya Akhba, the CAF Disciplinary Board recommended banning Libya from hosting three of their next home matches.
But CAF decided to cancel that penalty. Had the penalty not been cancelled, Libya would have to play their next three home matches on neutral ground.
The matches to be affected would have been their last 2025 Africa Cup qualifiers against Benin Republic on 18 November and their Group D match days 5 and 8 World Cup qualifiers against Angola on 17 March 2025 and Eswatini on 7 September 2025 respectively.
According to Libyan News Agency, WAL, the decision not to impose the three-match ban at home came after the intervention of Libya’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in the Libyan government, Abdel Hadi Al-Huwaij.
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Senegalese referee Issa Sy has been handed the task of officiating next month’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match between Group D table toppers and second-placed Benin Republic at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan.
It is the second time that the 40-year-old will handle an African Cup qualifier that pitched the two countries.
He had earlier handled Nigeria’s 2-1 win over Benin in a 2021 AFCON qualifying game decided at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo in November 2019.
Last February he also handled Nigeria’s defeat of Angola at the semi-finals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations played at the Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan.
Incidentally, Sy will be returning with the same set of on-field officials of that AFCON duel. He is being supported by compatriots Djibril Camara and Nouha Bangoura as assistant referee 1 and assistant referee 2 respectively.
The fourth referee for the 14 November match is El Hadji Amadou Sy.
Rene Williams Sere of Cote d’Ivoire will be the match commissioner while Inacio Manuel Candido of Angola will be the referee assessor.
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