AFCON
Egyptian Omar To Take Charge Of Nigeria, South Africa Clash In Bouake –
The Confederation of African Football has appointed Egyptian official Amin Mohamed Omar as referee for Wednesday’s Africa Cup of Nations semi-final encounter between Nigeria’s Super Eagles and the Bafana Bafana of South Africa.
The match, which will commence at 5pm Cote d’Ivoire time (6pm in Nigeria), will see Omar’s compatriots Mahmoud Kamel Abouelregal and Ahmed Hossam Ibrahim playing the roles of assistant referee 1 and assistant referee 2 respectively, while Sudanese Mahmood Ali Ismail will serve as fourth official.
Attia Essa Amsaaed from Libya will be the reserve assistant referee, with Yacoub Ali Elmi from Djibouti as commissioner and Aboubacar Doumbouya from Guinea as referee assessor.
Three-time champions Nigeria and 1996 champions South Africa face off in their second-ever Africa Cup of Nations semi-final clash at the Stade de la Paix. Their only previous meeting at the same stage, at the National Stadium in Lagos when Nigeria co-hosted the 2000 finals with Ghana, ended 2-0 in favour of Nigeria.
Wednesday’s clash is being billed as the more potentially-explosive of the two semi-finals (hosts Cote d’Ivoire are up against Democratic Republic of Congo), given the pedigree, rivalry and ambition of the two teams.
South Africa has only beaten Nigeria twice in 14 previous meetings at full senior level, though Nigeria edged an African Nations Championship clash by beating the hosts 3-1 in Cape Town in 2014.
The Eagles are presently ranked 42nd in the world by FIFA (6th in Africa) while the Bafana Bafana are 66th in the world (12th in Africa).
Four years ago, both teams met at the quarter-final stage, with the Super Eagles edging the encounter at the Cairo International Stadium 2-1, the goals coming from Samuel Chukwueze and William Ekong. Both players are in the present squad and likely to be part of Wednesday’s battle.
What a turn-around! After four previous competitive matches without a win, the Super Eagles have regained their winning mentality after a 3-0 defeat of Benin Republic in their opening 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series.
The win also put the Super Eagles at the top of the Group D after both Libya and Rwanda played 1-1 draw last Thursday.
It is also the biggest win by the Super Eagles since their 2023 6-0 win over Sao Tome & Principe last year September.
Great man Ademola Lookman, he put in two goals straightening the possibility of his emerging as 2024 African Footballer of the Year.
The current title holder, Victor Osimhen proved his mettle coming off the bench in the second half to double Nigeria’s lead after Lookman’s late first half goal.
The Super Eagles will now honour their next fixture against Rwanda on Tuesday with the hope of consolidating their lead.
Benin Republic with no points and a deficit of three goals are rooted at the bottom of the log.
BY JOSEPH ODOEKWU
The National Chairman of the Nigerian Football Supporters Club (NFSC), Rev. Samuel Ikpea has called on all Nigerians to rally round and pray for the Super Eagles ahead of Saturday’s Morocco 2025 AFCON qualifier against Benin Republic in Uyo.
Ikpea who is mobilizing support for the Super Eagles ahead of the clash in Uyo said that whatever Benin Republic come with both spiritually and physically in the game, we will surely overcome them.
“In the NFSC we have Christians, Muslims as well as those who believe in traditional worship and we respect the rights of freedom of worship of every member and all Nigerians.
“When we are faced with this kind of crucial game, we call on everyone to pray through their various believes because we foresee that Benin Republic are most likely coming to fall back on ‘black magic’ to enable them perfect a back-to-back victory over our Super Eagles after beating us 2-1 in our last meeting in a World Cup qualifier”
“We cannot underestimate the efficacy of the black magic” Ikpea further stressed, “but we believe that when we come together we can neutralize it’s efficacy.
“This is no time to sleep, we all have to rally round and do our best to support our Super Eagles because they cannot do it alone without the prayers and support of all Nigerians.
“While charging Nigerians to be positive with the team, we at the NFSC have done everything positive to overturn whatever plans they are coming with and we enjoin everyone to toe that path through prayers”.
Meanwhile, the Super Eagles camp is bubbling with training in Uyo, as team Coach Austin Eguavoen, has been working hard to perfect tactics with the boys and ensure the Super Eagles soar on Saturday.
The Super Eagles have not won a qualifying match for any competition since their 6-0 defeat of Principe & Sao Tome on 10th September 2023 in Uyo. That was their last qualifying match for Cote d’Ivoire 2023 played in 2024.
Since then, they have played four World Cup qualifying matches without a win despite being the overwhelming favourites at those matches.
A forensic analysis of their World Cup qualifying since that of Qatar 2022 will reveal they had played seven consecutive matches without a win starting from their 1-1 home draw with Cape Verde in Lagos which qualified them for the play off. In the play off with Ghana, the Super Eagles drew the two matches.
In the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, they have gone four matches, getting three draws and a loss. The prospect of their getting a straight qualification from the group is doubtful as they have a mountain to climb by winning the remaining six matches, three of which are away duels of which are most likely to be played in South Africa, the home ground of their main rivals.
Zimbabwe and Lesotho play their home matches in South Africa and Nigeria also still have an away duel with Bafana Bafana.
The qualification series of AFCON 2025 presents the Super Eagles a new beginning. Starting from the semi-finals of the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, the team has won none of their four competitive matches in regulation time. The players have a date with destiny in Uyo this Saturday to wipe off the sagging image they have had in recent time.
A win will give the team the confidence expected in anticipation for future fixtures.
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